tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82419619751550734202024-03-05T17:03:40.731-08:00Rabbi Robert Scheinberg's pageRShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16307561588543002832noreply@blogger.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-9923712756495325532023-12-11T08:26:00.000-08:002023-12-11T08:26:40.187-08:00 Talking peacefully? (Parashat Vayeshev 5784 / 2023)<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Talking peacefully?</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-eb3845f1-7fff-1988-6574-da0b89dfe30b"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Parashat Vayeshev 5784 / 2023</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This week I saw a very chilling video and a very inspiring video, both of which were both recorded on the same day in the same location. Both videos were recorded at a place very dear to me, the campus of Columbia University in New York City, this past Wednesday December 6. Both were recorded in the lobby of the Columbia School of Social Work.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A student group in the Columbia Social Work school had announced a ‘teach-in’ in support of Gaza to take place this past Wednesday December 6. If the topic of this event had been the plight of people in Gaza currently, the difficulties and horrifying loss of life faced by civilians in Gaza in the face of Israel’s bombardments, that’s something I would have expected. But that’s not what this event was. This event planned by Columbia Social Work students was an event specifically to applaud the violent events of October 7. In fact, the title that the students gave to this “teach-in and discussion” was “Significance of the October 7th Palestinian Counteroffensive.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After that got some press coverage, the Columbia Social Work administration withdrew approval for the event. A </span><a href="https://socialwork.columbia.edu/about/deans-messages/statement-regarding-social-media-post/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">statement from the Dean</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> said, “This is not a CSSW-sponsored event. The students who organized the event did not seek approval for the fliers and text as required by CSSW processes. CSSW supports free speech but does not condone language that promotes violence in any manner, which is antithetical to our values. This event will not go forward at CSSW.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">However, the dean’s statement notwithstanding, the event did take place. The students ran the event anyway. They just did it in a hallway in the school of social work rather than in an actual classroom. And that’s the </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0hkmoNPUTN/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">chilling video</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> that I saw. Student speakers covered their faces with kefiyyas or umbrellas so that they wouldn’t be identified, and yes, they unambiguously spoke in favor of the events of October 7, with no nuance whatsoever. One speaker </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0hkmoNPUTN/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">said</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, for example: “On October 7, the Palestinian Liberation fighters demonstrated their refusal to be dominated. They showed the world that the Palestinian people will fight for freedom instead of quietly adapting to subjugation. They showed us that through creativity, determination, and combined strength, the masses can accomplish great feats.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(I admit that these words contradict my stereotypes of how I would have imagined social workers would discuss mass murderers, kidnappers and rapists.) </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But then there’s the more </span><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ava.spiel/video/7309595537311796511?_r=1&_t=8hy2D0Ww1i3" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">inspiring video</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> I saw this week, from later on in the same event (and I encourage you to watch it). A woman received permission to speak, and people held up umbrellas to block her face from everyone’s phone cameras, just as they had done for all the other speakers. But this speaker said: I don’t need your umbrellas. I am comfortable speaking publicly. and if you’re not comfortable speaking publicly, I don’t know why you’re having a public event.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And this student started out by noting that one of the student organizers had made reference to relatives of hers who had been killed in Gaza. And this student speaker said: I am so sorry to hear about your relatives. I would love to meet privately and learn more about them. I am so sorry for your loss. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And then the student then went on to identify herself as an Israeli social work student. She expressed to the student organizers how very disturbed she was by the things they had been saying, by their use of dehumanizing language, referring to Israelis as “Zionist dogs” despite their also accusing Israel of using dehumanizing language about Palestinians. And she said: “</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">To characterize the events of October 7 as a counteroffensive where my people were killed and maimed, and yes, raped whether you like it or not, whether it fits your narrative, to characterize that as anything else but terrorism and a massacre, is unacceptable from people who are studying to be social workers…. When you say ‘by any means necessary,’ is my life a ‘means necessary’?" </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And she continued: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> "If you want to talk about the military operation in Gaza, we can do that, I would love to have a genuine and real conversation with any of you, but I cannot do that when in these hallways you call for violence against me, against my children." She concluded by again expressing condolences to the student organizer who had lost family members.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The video inspired me in part because of the courage of this Israeli student to be publicly identified and to have her words circulated on social media, knowing that some would likely see the video and disapprove of her message. And also that while she was clearly angry and impassioned, she also went out of her way to express empathy about the losses of one of the Palestinian students -- an empathy which she presumably knew would not be reciprocated. She affirmed the essential humanity of the people with whom she was speaking even though they did not appear eager to affirm hers. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Many of us may have watched videos of the </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VtAZBvmzcQ" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Congressional hearing</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> where presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT frankly blundered when asked questions about whether calls for genocide against Jews would be tolerated on their campuses - their answer was that it depends on the context. (Thankfully they then each clarified that there is no context in which a call for genocide against Jews should be tolerated on campus, but the damage was done.) The question was asked as a theoretical, but it was abundantly clear that it’s not so theoretical -- this week at the Columbia School of Social Work, students spoke approvingly of the massacres of October 7 and lauded it as an example of “creativity” and “determination.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Admittedly it is challenging for me to find inspiring material from our Torah portion to address the challenges of this moment. But there is a detail in the beginning of our torah portion which at least reminds us of our ideals when we approach the most challenging conversations. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At the beginning of the Torah portion of Vayeshev, Joseph has a conflict with his brothers. They see that Joseph is their father’s favorite, and their father Jacob has given Joseph a “coat of many colors.” Then we read </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.37.4?vhe=Tanach_with_Ta%27amei_Hamikra&lang=bi&aliyot=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the verse</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> וַיִּרְא֣וּ אֶחָ֗יו כִּֽי־אֹת֞וֹ אָהַ֤ב אֲבִיהֶם֙ מִכָּל־אֶחָ֔יו וַֽיִּשְׂנְא֖וּ אֹת֑וֹ וְלֹ֥א יָֽכְל֖וּ דַּבְּר֥וֹ לְשָׁלֹֽם </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> 4 And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him and they could not say a word to him in peace.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Our tradition includes 2 opposite ways of understanding the end of this verse. What does it mean that the brothers “could not say a word to him in peace”? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.37.4.1?lang=bi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rashi’s commentary</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> from the 11th century in France suggests that this verse actually gives the brothers a back-handed compliment: ולא יכלו דברו לשלום" - מתוך גנותם למדנו שבחם</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> שלא דברו אחת בפה ואחת בלב </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">From these words of criticism [of the brothers], we also learn something positive about them, that they did not speak one way with their mouths and another way in their hearts.” In other words, considering their extreme anger at their brother, it’s a good thing that they didn’t speak to him peacefully, because had they done so, they would have been hypocritical and duplicitous. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I can relate to this interpretation today. It would be hard for me to pretend to be able to speak civilly with those who have applauded acts of murder and kidnapping and rape. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And yet there’s another interpretation of these words from the Torah, from a later scholar, the 18th century Rabbi Jonathan Eybschutz of Prague. In his commentary to the Torah, </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/65xd4h2a31vye1cw52e0c/yonatan-eybschutz-on-Vayeshev-dabro-leshalom.png?rlkey=gvxkg9dvgs8u3msd646ouawj5&dl=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Tiferet Yehonatan</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, he says: the lesson of this passage is the opposite of what Rashi says. When you have a complaint against someone, the most important thing to do is to express it in words, as civilly as you are able. If you don’t do this, the hatred grows and festers. Joseph’s brothers were unable to speak with him peacefully, and that's the reason why their hatred for him grew to the point that they threw him in the pit and sold him into slavery.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This interpretation urges us to do what we can to have communication even with those who frankly don’t deserve our communication. Through dialogue, adversaries can sometimes come to understand that they are closer together than they might have thought. And sometimes they even reevaluate their positions.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I am also thinking of a study I read this week by </span><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/from-which-river-to-which-sea-anti-israel-protests-college-student-ignorance-a682463b?st=od4lpnbpj4q8lyu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">a professor at Berkeley</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, who interviewed hundreds of students who had participated in pro-Palestinian protests in the last several weeks in which they chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” He asked them: in that chant, which river, and which sea, are you talking about? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And the answers were all across the map, literally -- the Nile, the Euphrates, the Dead Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean. Fewer than half of the students in this study were able to correctly identify that it’s about the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Some students indicated that they participated in the chant because of their belief that a state of Israel and a state of Palestine should coexist side by side, and when they were guided to look at the map and to see where the river and the sea are (and that this chant precludes an Israeli and Palestinian state coexisting), they indicated that maybe they didn’t agree with the chant as much as they had previously thought they did. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This Berkeley professor, Ron Hassner, suggests that his study suggests that not everyone who is using incendiary language on campus has an idea of what they’re actually talking about, and that face to face contact often helps people to be more moderate in their speech and in their views. There are things that people chant that they would never dream of saying to someone else’s face. And the experience of being face to face with someone with contrary views sometimes leads people to be more thoughtful about their own views. Not always - I don’t think that this face to face contact with the social work students pushed them towards a more moderate direction -- but sometimes it does. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Last month we hosted our Concert for Israel benefiting various charities in Israel - one of which is an organization called </span><a href="https://www.handinhandk12.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hand in Hand. </span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> The CEO of Hand in Hand, Lee Gordon, will be our guest for Shabbat in March so that we can hear from him directly. This organization supports a network of schools in Israel that educate Israeli Jewish and Arab kids together, in Hebrew and Arabic, with the goal of promoting a shared society and mutual respect. Wherever one stands on any Israeli political issue, there is agreement that the cooperation between Jews and Arabs in Israel is one of the necessary ingredients of a strong future for the region and its inhabitants, and Hand in Hand has this as its primary goal.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rabbi Jonathan Eybschutz’s lesson from the beginning of our torah portion is applicable not only to disastrous breakdowns in communication like we are seeing now. It is also applicable on a smaller scale to every one of our relationships. Tensions fester when we don’t talk about them, and talking about them is (not always, but sometimes) a first step to getting these tensions under control.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And we can take a lesson from a heroic Israeli social work student, who -- despite everything -- insisted on speaking to fellow human beings like a fellow human being. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With best wishes for a happy Hanukkah -- like our Hanukkah candles, may we help the light in the world to increase day by day. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rabbi Rob Scheinberg</span></p><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-4016134609105617592023-09-27T11:05:00.006-07:002023-09-27T11:05:45.942-07:00Yom Kippur Day 2023/5784: "Asking 'When' rather than 'Why'<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">If you’re going to invite a speaker to speak in your community, you probably want to make sure you know how to introduce them correctly - how to pronounce their name, what titles they prefer to be known by, and if you’re inviting someone who is known for having written a best selling book, you probably want to get the title of the book correct.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-99e8594b-7fff-4d8e-61f8-88036707bc72"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This year the world lost a great author of several wonderful books who was especially known throughout his life for one of those books in particular, and he had story after story about people getting the title of this most famous book wrong when they would meet him or introduce him. For many years this author was probably the most famous rabbi in the United States, and definitely the most famous Conservative rabbi. You may have guessed that I am referring to Rabbi Harold Kushner, who died this year at age 88. He was also known as a mentor to so many of my colleagues, and a person of outstanding intellect and also outstanding sensitivity. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Everyone seemed to remember that the title of his most famous book, published in the 1980s, had something to do with “Things,” and “People,” and “Good,” and “Bad,” but people would remember it with every possible permutation of these words. Sometimes people would meet him and say, “Aren’t you the person who wrote “Why good things happen to bad people?” Close, but not exactly. Yes, it’s very vexing when good things happen to bad people, but Rabbi Kushner wrote about a phenomenon that is arguably even more troubling. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But there was another error that people made all the time, as frequently he would be referred to as the author of the book “Why bad things happen to good people.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In fact, </span><a href="https://www.jta.org/2023/05/02/obituaries/friends-colleagues-and-fans-remember-rabbi-harold-kushner-whose-voice-will-continue-to-resonate" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s obituary for him</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> began by noting that this is often how people mis-remembered the title of the book. But Rabbi Kushner would note that he specifically avoided the word ‘why’ in the title of his book, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">which he very deliberately titled “When Bad things happen to good people.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As we approach the Yizkor memorial prayers today, I wanted to make reference to Rabbi Kushner in part because of everything I have learned from him, from his books and from the many many times I met him and heard him speak, and the many many times we have learned from his words here. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In addition to that most famous book of his, our synagogue makes use of the Humash Etz Hayim edition of the Torah every Shabbat, and he was the author of the commentary ‘below the line’ on every page of that massive book. And for many years, his book “To Life” served as the central book in our Introduction to Judaism program. But in addition to all this, there is some wisdom we can learn from Rabbi Kushner even from this detail regarding the title of his most well known book - wisdom that is deeply connected to the themes of this Yom Kippur day.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rabbi Kushner’s story is probably well known to many of us, and I assume many of us have read the book in question. It was a book borne of tragedy - Rabbi Kushner and his wife Suzette had a son named Aaron, and when he was around age 1 they noticed that he did not seem to be growing. After multiple doctors visits and tests, they received a devastating diagnosis that Aaron had an extremely rare neurological disorder called progeria - a rapid aging syndrome that would mean he would never grow larger than a 3 year old, but that very quickly his body would start to go through all the stages of aging, until in his early teens he would die, essentially of old age. And because there is no cognitive impairment associated with this disorder, he would know and fully understand everything that was happening to him - both the fact that he looked unusual which would often prompt people to treat him differently, and and that his life would end much sooner than that of his peers. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Kushner family did everything they could to give Aaron as wonderful and normal a life as possible, but as you can imagine, the experience for him and for the entire family was excruciating in numerous ways. It was shortly after their son Aaron died in 1978, Rabbi Kushner wrote this book “When bad things happen to good people.” He noted that of course he was motivated in part by struggling with the question of “Why” bad things happen to good people -- but he deliberately did not want that to be the title of the book, in part because he found so many people’s answers to that ‘why’ question to be terribly hurtful. In the face of terrible tragedy, people would often not know what to say, and they would often feel compelled to say something to fill the silence, and what they had to say was often unhelpful at best. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And in particular, well-meaning people would sometimes offer comments clearly intended to strengthen them, comments that the speakers thought would be helpful and inspiring, but that Rabbi Kushner and his family emphatically did not interpret them this way. For example, people would remind them that “God only gives us what we can handle,” or “God works in mysterious ways and this is obviously part of God’s plan.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For Rabbi Kushner, these statements were reminiscent of a painful theme in the Biblical book of Job, which became the most important book in the Bible for him. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Job experiences a series of unspeakable tragedies, and Job’s three friends come over to sit on the floor with him and cry with him.These friends are a model of a supportive presence for Job at this difficult time. But then they start to speak - and it becomes clear that they were much more comforting when they were simply sitting and crying with him. Because, whether they realize it or not, the words of Job’s friends are not really for the purpose of helping Job, but rather their words are self-protective. The friends are terrified to live in such a precarious world where such tragedies could happen, and where what happened to Job could potentially happen to them. So they presume: there must be some good reason WHY this tragedy happened to Job and wouldn’t happen to them. They are saying things to protect themselves from the fear and pain of living in a world where such tragedies can happen seemingly randomly. (It’s no wonder that the experience of Job’s time of bereavement is the Biblical source for the Jewish teaching that we can be most helpful to those who are enduring a difficult time not with the content of our words, but simply by being present.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rabbi Kushner wrote that he and his family found that any time people gave them theological explanations for their family’s difficulties, it exacerbated their pain. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And especially, any time people suggested that God was the cause of their misfortune, he felt like -- not only did he have to deal with the difficulty of raising a beloved son under such tragic circumstances, but now he is being asked to accept that God to whom he looks for consolation and support is actually the architect of his suffering. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">All this led Rabbi Kushner to his own theological understanding, which is that God may be supremely powerful but there are areas of the world over which God does not have dominion. For example, God does not overrule human decisions, no matter how heinous. So the Holocaust, or acts of terrorism, or whatever other tragedy perpetrated by a human being, he said, should be regarded as a consequence of the human exercise of free will. And according to Kushner, God does not reverse the processes of nature, which sometimes include terrible diseases and catastrophic weather that afflict people whether they are deserving or not. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But truly, if Rabbi Kushner believed the most important thing about his book was the theological explanation part, he would have called it ‘WHY bad things happen to good people.” But he called the book “When bad things happen to good people.’ First of all, he would say: when people are asking “why” questions at a time of anguish, they are often not really seeking a direct answer to that question. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rabbi Kushner would sometimes tell the story that long before this tragedy befell his family, as a young rabbi in his first congregation, Rabbi Kushner was called to visit a family shortly after a devastating loss. And one of the shocked family members turned to Rabbi Kushner and said “I just don’t understand how this tragedy could have happened. Why us? Why would God have done such a thing to us? Why is God punishing us?” </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And Rabbi Kushner says that in his naivete he thought: well this is a terrible situation, but at least they’re asking me about something I actually studied in rabbinical school. And so he shares some of the traditional Jewish explanations for why there is tragedy in the world. He notices that the family members’ eyes are glazing over, so he asks them: “You seem a little confused. Should I go over any of that again?” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And they say: “No thank you, Rabbi - we have suffered enough.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Not every “why” question is really seeking an answer. That’s something that Jews have noticed since Biblical times. The Hebrew name for the Biblical book of Lamentations is Eicha,’ which means ‘how.’ because that’s the first word of the book -- ‘how can it be that this once proud city of Jerusalem is now bereaved and despondent?’ And the question never gets answered in the book because that’s not what the questioner is looking for. Like so many ‘why’ questions today, it’s not really a question in search of an answer. It’s a lament in search of a supportive and empathetic presence. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">are</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> religious communities that see themselves as particularly good at answering the question ‘why.’ There are actually 12 books being sold by Amazon right now that are called ‘Why bad things happen to good people’ or some variation thereof. For example, there’s one called “21 reasons why bad things happen to good people,” and there’s one provocatively called “Why bad things DON'T happen to good people.’ Most of these books claim to be written from a religious perspective and purport to present ‘the’ religious answer, with abundant confidence. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Now there’s plenty of focus on theological belief in Judaism - and I am grateful that Judaism has plenty of writings about theodicy, efforts to come to terms with the pain and tragedy in our world. But I agree with Rabbi Kushner that the essential religious questions, in religion in general, and in Judaism in particular, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">are not the ‘why’ questions but the ‘when’ questions. “When” a tragedy happens, when a bad thing happens to good people, what happens next? How do individuals respond? How do communities respond? And Judaism is particularly good at answering the question ‘when’ -- as befits Judaism as a religion focused on action, that asserts that what God most wants from us is not belief but action. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Some of us in our community got to discuss this theme in the context of Jewish mysticism, on our synagogue’s trip to Israel this summer. Among so many places we visited in Israel, we visited the city of Tzfat, which was for centuries the worldwide center of Jewish mysticism. We visited the synagogue where Rabbi Isaac Luria, known as the Ari, used to pray. Rabbi Luria was the dominant personality in the Tzfat community in the 16th century, though sadly he lived there for less than 3 years before his untimely death. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rabbi Luria wrote almost nothing, but his disciples filled many books with his teachings, including his imaginative description of the story of creation and how the world came to be the way we experience it, with its mixture of joys and sorrows.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">According to Rabbi Luria, before God created the world, God’s divine light filled the entire universe. Step One in creating the world is that God needed to make space for the world to come into being. God needed to withdraw some of God's essence so it would no longer fill up the entire universe. It has been suggested that you can picture this concept by imagining that it’s like God inhaled some of God's Divine material to make more space in the world. And thus the world came into being. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But there was a problem -- What was God supposed to do with this excess Divine material that God has inhaled? In this elaborate metaphor, Luria suggests that God created special jars to contain this Divine material, this Divine light. But somehow, something unexpected happened. The divine Light is just too powerful to be contained in the jars, so the jars explode and shatter. And bits of the shards of the shattered jars rain down onto the created world - but so do the sparks of divine light that adhere to the shards. (A commentator suggests that in order to picture this, you can imagine a glass jar of honey that falls and smashes, so that sweet honey adheres to every dangerous shard.) These dangerous shards are the sources of all the pain in our world. God then responds by creating human beings, and giving us the task throughout our lives to assist God in cleaning up, by collecting the divine light, while not getting too injured by the shards. Rabbi Luria referred to this clean-up process by a name that may be familiar to you: “Tikkun Olam,” the repair of the world.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Contemporary scholar of Jewish mysticism Shaul Magid </span><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sin_a_gogue/X86pDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=bashevkin&printsec=frontcover" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">says</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> that Rabbi Luria “reads creation as an act of divine failure, of rupture and devastation that is our world.” Why did God put the divine light in jars that were going to break? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Did God not see this coming? Rabbi Luria does not answer. Rabbi Luria’s vision does not have a great answer to the question of ‘why’. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Why</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is there brokenness in the world? The answer is unclear. but Rabbi Luria’s vision has a very good answer to the question of “When’- </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> there is brokenness the world, how do we respond? - the answer is very clear. We respond by doing whatever we can to work together with God to heal and repair the world. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There are people who regard the essential task of any religion to give answers to the big “why” questions of the universe. And there are people who will judge the strength of that religion based on its answers to the ‘why’ answers - and sometimes not so much on the quality of those why answers, but on the assertiveness with which those answers are offered, because there are definitely religions that are very very confident that they’ve conclusively figured out the ‘why.’ And there are people who will reject a particular religious tradition because they reject its answers to the ‘why’ questions.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But I’ve never thought that Judaism specializes in ‘why.’ Rather, I think Judaism specializes in ‘when’: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> I wake up in the morning, what are some recommended thoughts to be going through my mind? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> I eat, when can I say or do to help me to express my gratitude? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> I have a new child in my family, or any other special life blessing, what can I do to recognize and express the significance of that moment? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> I hear about injustice in the world, how can I respond? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I am faced with an ethical dilemma, what can help me to reach the best decision? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> I experience a tragedy, what steps can I take that can eventually help me to find wholeness?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And especially - </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">when</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> someone else experiences a tragedy, what can I do to support them and help them towards the path of wholeness?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">From time to time Rabbi Kushner would meet people who would suggest, directly or indirectly, that the fact that he wrote a beautiful book that opened so many people’s hearts could maybe be understood as the reason for the terrible tragedy in their family. Of course Rabbi Kushner was gracious in his conversations with everyone, even when he emphatically disagreed. He did not disagree that his book brought comfort to many people, but he was adamant that his book was an answer to a “when” question rather than a “why” question. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> tragedy happened, Jewish tradition had encouraged him to take his sorrow and channel it into a way to heal some of the world’s brokenness.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In our own way we are each called to do something similar. Yom Kippur encourages us to recommit ourselves to the When of Judaism, by examining our lives and our actions and planning for the most thoughtful and impactful future. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And the Yizkor memorial prayers we are about to recite also invite us to recommit ourselves to the When of Judaism. These prayers we are about to recite remind us to take note of our position in the flow of the generations and the flow of history, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to recall that our time on this earth is more limited than we like to think, and to think of our loved ones who have died and their lives, their values, the lessons of their lives, and how we can perpetuate these in our world.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><br /></span></p></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-16147954989554023562023-09-18T15:08:00.001-07:002023-09-18T15:09:05.726-07:00Rosh HaShanah Day 2 5784 / 2023: "To Be Alone" and to be together<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Winning the lottery was the worst thing that ever happened to me.”</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5f59f27d-7fff-91cb-a9d0-79a0f70908ce"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That’s the kind of statement you might expect to hear from someone who has led an extremely charmed life. Like you ask them ‘what’s the worst thing that ever happened to you,” and they say -- “come to think of it, with all the awesome things about my life, winning the lottery was a little disappointing by comparison.” But actually this is a true story. And it’s a sad story. This is what a hospital patient named James said to his doctor when describing the origin of his very significant health problems. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">James’ doctor went on to write a book about his experiences. He wrote: James “looked tired as he spoke. His gestures were listless. He seemed defeated by life.” “He was dealing with diabetes, high blood pressure, .....stress…..” And then he shared these surprising words - that winning the lottery had something to do with his medical problems. James’ doctor writes: “ It turned out [James] was being quite literal: he actually had won the lottery. Prior to that.. .he’d been a baker. He was good at his craft, and his customers appreciated his talent. He enjoyed his work and was gratified that the food he prepared gave people happiness and pleasure. ….He was single, [and] he had a community of people he liked. They worked alongside him at the bakery, so he never felt alone. When he won the lottery, all that changed. Suddenly, he was ‘rich,’ so he thought he should upgrade his life. Taking his cue from the messages he’d absorbed from television and movies and advertising… he decided to enter the world of luxury and leisure. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He assumed this would make him happier.. . James quit his job and moved to an upscale neighborhood in an oceanside community. There, with all his needs met and a constant stream of money coming in, he was living the proverbial dream. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Yet … this dream felt like a nightmare. Instead of being fulfilled, he was sick and miserable. Previously good-natured, humorous, and outgoing, James grew increasingly withdrawn, isolated, and angry, … …..eventually … diagnosed with the diabetes and high blood pressure that brought him in to see me. Instead of spending time with his bakery colleagues and regular customers, he now visited doctors and otherwise sat alone at home. Too late, James realized that it had been a terrible mistake to do what he thought a lottery winner ought to do, instead of heeding his own heart.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">James’ doctor said he listened carefully, asked questions, adjusted medications, and made a referral to a hospital social worker. But he had truly no idea how he was supposed to help James to address the central problem at the root of his medical difficulties - which was his loneliness and isolation. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">James’ story is such a tragic exemplar of the </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.4.1?vhe=Torat_Emet_357&lang=bi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">statement found in Pirkei Avot</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> - Ethics of the Fathers - about the definition of wealth: איזהו עשיר השמח בחלקו - who is rich - the one who is happy with what they have. Which really is the only definition of wealth that makes any sense.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You might have heard of James’ doctor. He is Dr Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States who also served in that role in portions of the Obama and Trump administrations. When he first became surgeon general, he knew he would want to use his position to call attention to important health challenges in the United States, and he expected that he would make an impact by speaking and writing about the cost of medical care, or addiction, or the need for medical research. But as he traveled around the United States he found over and over </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">stories like the story of James that he remembered from earlier in his career -- </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">so much so that he came to regard loneliness and isolation as one of the top </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">medical</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> challenges for American society. A third of Americans report persistent feelings of loneliness; more than half say that no one knows them well. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">40% report "they lack companionship," that their "relationships aren't meaningful" and that they feel “isolated from others." One quarter of Americans are estranged from their immediate family. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You might guess that the problem of loneliness is especially acute among the elderly, and you would be correct. But actually it’s younger people among whom these issues are MOST prevalent. In this same study, the percentage of young adults who report feeling lonely almost all the time is 61%. Amid skyrocketing rates of depression and anxiety disorders and tragic deaths of despair, for which loneliness is regarded as an aggravating factor.</span></p><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">All this led Surgeon General Murthy to do what continues to surprise him -- instead of writing about basically any other medical issue that might have been more in his area of expertise, he wrote a book about loneliness and its health implications. He notes that the health risks associated with loneliness and isolation, especially among older adults, are comparable to the health risks of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Helping people to not be isolated can literally save their lives. </span></div></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This trend was aggravated by the pandemic, but loneliness was recognized as a public health crisis long before -- In Great Britain, it was back in 2018 that a government position was created - a “loneliness minister,” in recognition that loneliness was a UK health emergency - By 2021, there was also a loneliness minister of Japan and various other countries. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">==============</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">If you seek the theme of loneliness in the Torah, you don’t have to look far, because it’s addressed at the very beginning of the Torah - immediately after the creation of the world, whose anniversary according to Jeiwsh tradition is this holiday of Rosh HaShanah. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Over and over, in the account of creation, we read after everything is created, וירא אלקים כי טוב - </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.1.4?vhe=Tanach_with_Ta%27amei_Hamikra&lang=bi&aliyot=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“God saw that it was good.”</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> And then the first human being is created. But shortly thereafter, for the first time ever in the Torah, the Torah identifies something as לא טוב - not good - And what is that? לא טוב היות האדם לבדו - “it is not good for the person to be alone.” (</span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.2.18?vhe=Tanach_with_Ta%27amei_Hamikra&lang=bi&aliyot=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Genesis 2:8</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). Aloneness appears to be God’s first dissatisfaction about the created world. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But let’s take a closer look at that word לבדו which means ‘alone.’ There are some words in Hebrew that always have a positive valence or that always have a negative valence. And then there are words where it really depends on the context. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This words </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">levad </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">לבד and בדד </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">badad </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> can refer to a state of abject loneliness, even though a related word, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> hitbodedut </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">התבודדות, is a very positive word, referring to spending time alone in self-introspection and meditation. Some of the most intense, and intensely positive, moments described in Jewish tradition happened when people were alone. Moses is alone when God calls to him from out of the Burning Bush, and later, Moses ascends by himself to the top of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. The prophet Elijah is alone when he perceives the קול דממה דקה, God’s still small voice. Being alone is so associated with spiritual insight that the Hasidic master Rebbe Nahman of Breslov’s best known prayer (which is found in our Mahzor on p.37) begins with the words: “God, Grant me the ability to be alone, to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass and other living things… and to talk with the One to whom I belong.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Depending on the context, being alone can be refreshing and energizing - </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">but it can also be deflating and terrifying. Dr Murthy points out a distinction between loneliness, on the one hand, and solitude, on the other hand. Solitude is being alone, but in a peaceful way that’s usually voluntary. We are all going to be alone sometimes, and solitude is the ability to be by oneself as an experience of introspection and self-knowledge, and sometimes even greater spiritual depth. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In fact, developing comfort with solitude can serve as a protection against loneliness. But this does not mitigate the challenge of loneliness.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dr Murthy also noticed that some people experienced a sense of shame when they told him that they felt lonely - including people who were very accomplished in their professional fields. Because actually the literature on loneliness notes that there are different kinds of loneliness, so it’s possible to feel lonely even if someone has significant deep connections with others. There’s “intimate loneliness” which is the “longing for a close confidante or intimate partner” who really understands us. “Relational or social loneliness is the yearning for quality friendships.” And there’s “Collective loneliness” which is “hunger for a network or community of people who share your sense of purpose and interests.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> All this might explain why someone might have a wonderful marriage and still feel a longing for friendships, or even why someone with a wonderful circle of friends may feel a yearning for this elusive thing called “Community.” And it might explain why I am often talking with couples who have very strong relationships, about the challenges that they have in making friends with other couples. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You may be familiar with the longest running health study ever conducted, which was a longitudinal study of Harvard undergraduates in 1938, and then following up with them every few years for the rest of their lives. Almost all of these subjects are now deceased, but the study yielded a huge amount of information about the aging process and what yields a healthy and happy life. When Dr George Vaillant, director of the study, was asked in 2008 to sum up its most important findings, he said: “That the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">only</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> thing that really matters in life is your relationships to other people.” And a further summary in 2018 indicates: “Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives.… and….. help to delay mental and physical decline…</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So how did this problem of loneliness come to be? Was it always this way? And how is this issue relevant to us as a synagogue? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In its own way, I think of this as an issue at the very heart of synagogue life.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The last 20 years have brought a precipitous decline in religious affiliation in the United States. Church and synagogue membership and attendance are at their lowest levels in the history of such things being measured. Of course some explain this as a consequence of lack of religious belief, or declining confidence in religious leaders after so many horrifying scandals. All this may be part of the story. But also, these declines in religious affiliation have been accompanied by declines in participation in various other civic institutions. and all kinds of membership organizations, so it’s probably not just about the churches and synagogues.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Almost 25 years ago, Robert Putnam described this phenomenon in his classic book </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bowling Alone</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, in which he noted as emblematic of changes in American communal life, that even though people (in the 1990s) did just as much bowling as they ever did, participation in organized bowling leagues was way way down by the 1990s. We’re more likely to be ‘bowling alone,’ and hiking alone, and golfing alone, and eating alone, and maybe praying alone, rather than doing these things in the context of an organization or a community. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former chief rabbi of Great Britain, wrote extensively about this change and actually refers to it as “social climate change.” That over the last half century, most societies around the world have moved even more so from a focus on We to a focus on Me. And the more we are focused on individual experience, the less of a need we think we have for community. But that need for community actually still exists.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It won’t surprise you to hear that rabbis get really concerned about declining membership in synagogues. It happens that at USH we have had pretty steady growth for decades -- most people who leave our congregational life do so because they move out of the area, and we have a steady stream of new people all the time. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That’s an amazing blessing, and it’s one of the features of our community that keeps me constantly energized. But - this also means that here in Hoboken, we are not seeing what’s happening in numerous synagogues around the country where membership is declining and synagogues are merging or closing. There are ways in which this is a Jewish question -- we all know that it takes a lot of energy to nurture a minority religious identity, and some people find that it’s just too difficult or not worth the effort. But truly it’s not just a Jewish question. It’s also the Jewish version of a broader societal change - there’s a dramatic decline in religious affiliation and church attendance too, and in membership organizations generally. </span><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/christian-church-communitiy-participation-drop/674843/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Christian journalist Jake Meador</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> described the issue this way: “</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The problem in front of us is not that we have a healthy, sustainable society that doesn’t have room for church. The problem is that many Americans have adopted a way of life that has left us lonely, anxious, and uncertain of how to live in community with other people.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I am often asking people what values in Judaism they find most appealing. This will come up when I speak with people contemplating conversion, or new parents welcoming a Jewish child, or couples about to get married, and at various other times. When I ask “what Jewish values do you find especially appealing,” often heading the list will be “the priority that Judaism places on family” and “the priority that Judaism places on community.” Now I love it any time anyone says ANYTHING positive about Judaism. So I love these answers - but sometimes I would think: I wonder what I could do to help more people answer this question with more items that are more directly tied to Jewish content itself, like the specific messages of any of the Jewish holidays or any of the values that are specified in the Torah, or the Jewish historical experience. But — maybe I haven’t been giving enough credit to the fact that increasingly, Judaism’s commitment to community is actually refreshingly counter-cultural. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In fact, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has listed a large number of ways that being connected to a religious community is countercultural: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“An extensive survey carried out throughout the United States between 2004 and 2006 showed that frequent church- or synagogue-goers are more likely to give money to charity, regardless of whether the charity is religious or secular. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">They are also more likely to do voluntary work for a charity, give money to a homeless person, give excess change back to a shop assistant, donate blood, help a neighbor with housework, spend time with someone who is feeling depressed, …. offer a seat to a stranger, or help someone find a job.…. there was no good deed among the fifteen on the survey more commonly practiced by secular Americans than by their religious counterparts. Religious Americans are simply more likely to give of their time and money to others, not only within but also beyond their own communities. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And Rabbi Sacks goes on to ask: what is it that motivates frequent church and synagogue goers to act like this? -- and there’s research to indicate that it’s probably not religious belief. These people are not necessarily the people who say they are strongest in their religious faith. Rather, they’re the “frequent church- or synagogue-goers.” They are the people who show up. They’re the people who are most committed to community. (And by the way - they also are more likely to report that they are happy -- but that’s a whole different sermon.) This does not mean that there aren’t extraordinary people who are full of kindness and generosity and happiness who are not religiously affiliated. Obviously there are, including so many who are adjacent to our synagogue community and many of our families. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But yes, a goal of a religious community is to specialize in helping people to develop deep and authentic connections, to be truly seen and to truly see others, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">so it doesn’t surprise me that religiously affiliated people are more likely to orient their lives towards others.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">One hundred years ago this year, the Jewish theologian Martin Buber wrote an amazing and influential book called </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ich und Du, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">or in English, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I and Thou.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It was his effort to describe in contemporary language what the Jewish mystical tradition prioritizes in connections between people. The language of this little book is difficult but the core idea is very simple. There are two ways in which a person can interact with their surroundings: Through an I-It relationship, or through an I-Thou relationship.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">An I-It relationship is a relationship with an object. For example: I'm standing at this table; it's performing a specific function for me - holding up my notes. I care about it to the extent that it fulfills this function for me. But it's possible to have an I-It relationship with a person as well. Let's say I take an Uber. The driver will perform a specific function for me - to drive me where I need to go, maybe turn up the a/c if I ask. As long as the driver performs this function correctly for me, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I may care very little about the driver’s problems, crises, dreams and hopes, and I might even forget that these even exist. And frankly the driver cares about me to the extent that I tip and give a 5-star rating. That’s a mutual I-It relationship. It’s an instrumental relationship. That’s not a bad thing - but it’s different from the other kind of relationship, which is the I-Thou relationship, which is experienced with the entire being, when I look at another person and perceive that person's humanity, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">recognizing that this person is a human being, just as I am, with needs, crises, dreams and hopes. I even anticipate some of these or supportively inquire about them. In Buber's thought, when we enter into an I-Thou relationship, we get a taste of how God sees us - and how we are seen by God.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9toWeNZ9r-URuq4-9r2n9cWgak958S2HEHyNvioMB_2HS2pb_sR8vSp_9k6NAAXBrefOKmpuzgCE99xKFpxJR3AXc94d9trkqthnHcIbR3leyPgQdb1XL-BEvFAnZNZH0nQ7x8SBt0kSFBlamLxsVRef6HzgAx0bNb7u-FO-AKSnowXUk0gkZaaFBaBU/s3456/IMG_0489.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="2592" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9toWeNZ9r-URuq4-9r2n9cWgak958S2HEHyNvioMB_2HS2pb_sR8vSp_9k6NAAXBrefOKmpuzgCE99xKFpxJR3AXc94d9trkqthnHcIbR3leyPgQdb1XL-BEvFAnZNZH0nQ7x8SBt0kSFBlamLxsVRef6HzgAx0bNb7u-FO-AKSnowXUk0gkZaaFBaBU/s320/IMG_0489.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We can’t have I-Thou relationships with everyone. but every time we encounter another person, that's a potential I-Thou relationship. And yes, part of our purpose as a synagogue is to be a place where these relationships happen. We have part of our mission statement painted onto the facade of our building outside - the original Hebrew name of our synagogue, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Kochav Yisrael</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, is preceded on our building by the Hebrew letters ‘</span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/z9pzivcf0gvrsy8wke45e/IMG_0489.jpg?rlkey=t0e8gu2s8y0re4levgbyrj437&dl=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">kuf kuf</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">,’ standing for ‘kehilah kedoshah’ - ‘holy community.’ </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We strive to help people live lives of holiness, and we strive to help people to live lives of connection to each other. </span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Synagogues have as their goal to be the place where people truly get seen. Every synagogue in the world is a successor institution to the Temple in Jerusalem that was built on Mount Moriah, about which we read in today’s torah portion, בהר ה’ יראה - on the mountain of Adonai you will be seen. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dr Murthy and other writers about loneliness have various suggestions for addressing and mitigating it -- suggestions for people who are lonely, and suggestions for people who share the world with people who are lonely (which includes all of us). These include volunteering, prioritizing relationships with others, and growing in comfort with solitude. And -- our synagogue is also an ingredient in the answer. Our goal is to make a place for every individual here. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">To have every person who visits our synagogue to meet many new people, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">and to have conversations that are as deep and enduring as you want them to be. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">From the first time I set foot in this community I knew that this is a place that is radically non-pretentious, and really interested in helping people to be seen and heard and to be understood and connected.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For our community to be a place where deep connections are formed is as important a role as ever. And we are also aware of our community’s growth edges. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I have a mentor who likes to say that of course every religious community creates events and opportunities for people to gather -- but the magic of a religious community really happens in small groups, when you get a small group of maybe 10-20 people together who really get to know each other and connect with each other, celebrate with each other and joyous times and support each other at times of challenge. When that happens, synagogue communities are even more life-transforming. That </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">often</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> happens in our community - many of us in this room know that and have been transformed by such experiences. But we need it to happen more systematically. In addition to offering the outstanding events and programs and performances and meaningful services and life cycle events - </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">we know we can more consciously connect individuals and families in our community with each other, in small gatherings which are just as likely to meet in people’s homes, or in coffee shops or parks, as at the synagogue. And we’re hoping that you’ll participate in our small group initiatives about which you’ll hear more soon and that it will help you to feel more deeply and authentically connected. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Repeatedly in our high holy day services we repeat the words ויעשו כולם אגודה אחת לעשות רצונך בלבב שלם -- let everyone form one bundle to do God’s will with a whole heart. May this new year 5784 be a year of community and connection, a year of being seen and being heard. May it be a year we truly experience together. </span></p><br /><br /><br />RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-49252064084758911572023-09-18T13:32:00.006-07:002023-09-18T15:21:39.994-07:00Rosh HaShanah Day 1 5784 / 2023: Understanding this year in Israel<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I could tell you so many stories from our magnificent congregational trip to Israel this summer - but the story I </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">have </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to tell you today is about giraffes. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-97a16da3-7fff-0df1-bf45-59c4f7813771"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You’re wondering, where did you see giraffes in Israel? -- Having been to Israel many times, I had visited most of the historical and cultural and religious sites on our itinerary for our congregational trip, but I had never been to this little place called the Ayalon Institute, and frankly I was a little skeptical when our tour provider suggested it. But I HAVE to tell you the story.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Ayalon Institute is a kibbutz that was built not far from Tel Aviv, in 1945. It was a Jewish agricultural settlement like hundreds of others all across what was then called Palestine, with communal buildings like a dining room, a laundry, a kitchen and bakery, and dwelling places for the people who lived there and who worked in the fields and cared for the animals. So far, not exciting. But -- this place had a secret, that even most of the residents of the kibbutz itself did not know. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Like, for example, a young woman I'll call "Michal,"</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> who came to the kibbutz in 1946 and was assigned to work in the kibbutz laundry. The supervisor of the laundry was another young woman named Esther, and one day around lunchtime, Esther told Michal: bring the wet laundry to hang it up outside, and bring the dry laundry back inside. Apparently it took Michal much little less time to do this task than normal. And she came back and she couldn’t believe her eyes - suddenly in this small laundry room were 20 other members of the kibbutz - friends of hers that she knew worked in the fields and the citrus grove. What were they all doing suddenly, crowded together in the laundry building? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And then she saw that the huge industrial washing machine had been moved from its location -- something she did not think was possible --revealing a staircase going down, and yet more members of the kibbutz were climbing up this staircase -- Michal could not possibly imagine from where. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And as surprised as Michal was to see this sight, all her friends seemed equally surprised and alarmed to see Michal. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So this is when Esther pulls Michal aside and says: I’m going to explain everything but you have to understand that you are sworn to absolute secrecy about everything you have seen and everything I am about to tell you. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And Esther tells her: I know you think this is a regular kibbutz, and you think you’re working in a regular laundry room, but in fact, of the 120 of us living on the kibbutz, there are about 40 people, including many dear friends of yours, who go to work every day in a secret location 20 feet below this laundry building. Even their friends and their romantic partners and even their spouses think they work in the fields, but actually they work down there. They were all leaving for their lunch break when you surprised us and came back early. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Because, Michal, this place was not really built to be a kibbutz. The real purpose of this community is to conceal the fact that there’s a secret underground ammunition factory 20 feet below the ground.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Already in the 1930s there had been enough attacks against the Jewish community in pre-state Palestine that they had the sense that a time would come when they would really need to defend themselves if they wanted to survive. The Yishuv leadership had found ways to manufacture guns - but surprisingly enough, the hardest part was manufacturing bullets, which is a process that is noisy and smelly and therefore very difficult to do in secret when the British authorities prohibited it. Not to mention extraordinarily dangerous.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Someone had the idea of manufacturing bullets underground and concealing the whole operation by building a kibbutz on top. Esther continued: Most of the residents of this Kibbutz have no idea that the bullet factory even exists. The consequences if anyone found out this secret are so dire, it was decided that the secret would be better kept if even those other kibbutz residents, like you, didn’t find out what was going on below your feet. There are many couples where one partner works in the ammunition factory and the other partner has no idea there even is an ammunition factory. So Michal, we are sorry to burden you but now you know the secret, and now you have to bear with the consequences of knowing the truth.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And Michal, absolutely shocked, did a valiant job of keeping the secret for the next several years. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At this point in this intense story, I know what you’re thinking: Where do the giraffes come in. The rabbi said this was a story about giraffes.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Those who worked in the factory frequently needed to warn each other when someone approached them who did not know the secret about the factory and about the kibbutz’s true purpose. And their code word for the dozens of people on the kibbutz who didn’t know about the factory was ‘giraffe.’ Because giraffes are so tall that they have no idea what is taking place below them. Just like those dozens of residents of the kibbutz had no idea what was happening under their noses. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Michal had been a giraffe until suddenly she wasn’t anymore.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">real</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> story of the </span><a href="https://www.touristisrael.com/ayalon-institute/16168/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ayalon Institute</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is that the ammunition that it manufactured from 1945 to 1948 is part of what enabled the State of Israel to survive in those early years. It’s an incredible story of ingenuity and heroism. And it’s worth a visit the next time you’re in Israel because I am not even scratching the surface of this remarkable story.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But today I remain transfixed by the experience of the giraffes - the people who were in the dark about something absolutely central to their lives. In this case it was clearly for their own good - they actually were safer through their not knowing the kibbutz’s true purpose. But in general, being oblivious to one’s surroundings is no virtue - it’s usually deeply unfortunate. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In Jewish tradition, we regularly use metaphors for God that are the polar opposites of the giraffe metaphor. For example, on most major Jewish holidays we recite words from </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.113.5-6?vhe=Tanach_with_Ta%27amei_Hamikra&lang=bi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the book of Psalms</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> - מי כה' אלקינו המגביהי לשבת המשפילי לראות בשמים ובארץ. “Who is like God - who sits on high but descends to see what is happening throughout the heavens and the earth.” We picture God as being above, but intimately aware of everything taking place below - unlike the giraffes in their blissful ignorance of what’s happening under their neck.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sometimes we may think it’s a relief to be unaware of what’s challenging and complicated that is happening around us - sometimes we really prefer not to know - it’s easier, maybe less stressful, and definitely less complicated. But truly, the Ayalon Institute situation is the outlier. Almost all the timeת it’s much worse to be a giraffe than it is to have a more accurate understanding of what is happening around us. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On this Rosh HaShanah holiday, I am thinking about some of the ways that I, like many of us, truly am a giraffe - times when there’s something central to my life and my society to which I am basically oblivious. I think, for example, about how most of the time, most of us don’t really know exactly where our food comes from or who produces it. I couldn’t tell you exactly where our garbage goes when we throw it away in Hoboken. Most of us who aren’t service workers probably have very little understanding of the lives of those who stock our grocery shelves, deliver our packages, harvest our produce, pick up our garbage, and fulfill other tasks that those of us in a different stratum of society may take for granted. And all this is worthy of consideration and personal learning that I am committing to myself. But today, I am especially thinking about the giraffe metaphor </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">regarding challenges that Israel is facing this year. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You may know that this year we have seen the largest protest movement in Israel's history - every Saturday night without exception since this past February, protesters gather - usually more than 100, 000 - to protest against the current Israeli governing coalition. Some accounts say as much as 30% of Israel's electorate has participated in at least one of these protests. And in the face of a massive protest movement in the largest Jewish community in the world, American Jewish communities shouldn’t be like giraffes. It behooves American Jews to get a good understanding of this conflict. (actually… a better understanding than we’re going to get from this discussion today. But for some of us, these comments will be a start.)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This controversy centers centers on the role of the judiciary in Israel today - </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Israel’s governing coalition would like to reduce the power of the judiciary, suggesting that judges in Israel hold disproportionate power, more power than the judges in other democracies; those in the governing coalition seek to bring the power of the Supreme Court justices in line so that they will no longer be able to override the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">elected</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> leaders of Israel.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And the opposition and the protesters respond by saying: First of all, this ruling coalition claims to represent the majority of Israel, but it rose to power even though fewer people voted for them than for the opposition, as such things can sometimes happen in Israeli elections (we in the US also know a thing or two about that). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">They won the election, but they don’t necessarily have a mandate to make sweeping changes in the structure of the government and basically dismantle its system of checks and balances. Second, they are misrepresenting the Israeli judiciary which actually has powers not that different to those of other democracies.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But third and most important: if we today think of Israel as a free country, aspiring to be a democracy that safeguards civil rights and civil liberties, that’s largely thanks to the strength of the Israeli Supreme Court. It’s not coincidental that the current government that is the most right-wing in Israel's history, by far, is the one that wants to weaken the Supreme Court. The current governing coalition </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">includes several members of the Otzma Yehudit party that are followers of Meir Kahane -- who was briefly a member of Knesset in the 1980s but was expelled from the Knesset because of his racist ideology. The rest of the Knesset -- from the left to the right! -- used to walk out of the room when he got up to speak. Well, now there are at least 6 members of Israel's Knesset who share that ideology, including Itamar ben Gvir who is a government minister with control over Israel’s police. Ben Gvir didn’t serve in the Israeli military because when he was army draft age, he was considered a security risk because of his far-right wing activism. And now he’s supervising the police. Zionism is emphatically not racism -- but the ideology of the Otzma Yehudit party actually IS racist and they are not embarrassed about that. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Whereas this is not the primary issue that the protests are about, the specter of the far right is definitely in the background of what’s on the protesters’ minds as they confront the direction that they fear Israel is moving. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Supreme Court has often been the key supporter of civil rights and civil liberties in Israel. The fact that the Israeli judiciary has frequently advocated for Israel's minority groups has often been a source of frustration for some on the Israeli far right. That Israel’s non-Jewish citizens can appeal to the Supreme Court and often find a supportive ear - or that Israel has an enlightened perspective on LGBTQ rights especially by the standards of the Middle East-- or that non-Orthodox Jews have some right for their religious perspective to be recognized in recent years- all this is really thanks to Israel’s independent Supreme Court. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So it is not surprising that there are various groups in Israeli society that would like to block the power of the Supreme Court because they find that it empowers groups in Israel that they don’t want to empower. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Our community here in Hoboken is politically diverse -- in American politics and in attitudes about Israel. We don’t presume that anyone here shares any particular political perspective, whether with regard to this country or Israel. But I do note that this is a non-Orthodox congregation. And that means that people who gather here, regardless of whatever other issues they care about, tend to be interested in the rights of non-Orthodox Jews in Israel. And that’s one reason why overwhelmingly, non-Orthodox Jews who live in Israel are concerned that the current coalition has no interest in granting any measure of equality to non-Orthodox Judaism in Israel. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7sD7_VRSdOE7AyR8EVEsE4pt5OoHfAFsgHCXSTwBtdqdtJy3joI3U6F7vcrYHmB6-wr7jvojvsCeYa6o2xILsJyLc_UVIblHq40SXtRC6a7pqaMRPqS84Geijjldo8ilGFSm5lNiZwczmAKxZ3g98U98aa7RKtda_OTWoFRZXMZ5ovCUQag0jVOGNrk/s259/neemanim%20limegilat%20ha-atzma'ut.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7sD7_VRSdOE7AyR8EVEsE4pt5OoHfAFsgHCXSTwBtdqdtJy3joI3U6F7vcrYHmB6-wr7jvojvsCeYa6o2xILsJyLc_UVIblHq40SXtRC6a7pqaMRPqS84Geijjldo8ilGFSm5lNiZwczmAKxZ3g98U98aa7RKtda_OTWoFRZXMZ5ovCUQag0jVOGNrk/s1600/neemanim%20limegilat%20ha-atzma'ut.jpeg" width="259" /></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">One of the slogans of the protesters is נאמנים למגילת העצמאות - “loyal to the declaration of independence’ -- because Israel’s declaration of independence spells out the vision of its founders, including that Israel “</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture.” </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And it has been the Israeli Supreme Court that has historically upheld these values especially when these values have been challenged by other segments of the society and government.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4P--AcNaQ13zp3QBVvSfMpVI7r0iFgXbNvD3PIdeIESZaGQwZBEZLx2zRHxShUdybwpInUNpNnjJH56gwv5CXmt0E2BpkBneXLyy1LGizbS1jj_-0F0Rqkz2Ihi0mp0m-8ITC3gCFYtWiIy2m1EJeTo5zAtYEa43HHfr0jUxvJRpUBDV4Gb1rdoymISE/s400/declaration%20of%20independence%20israel.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="149" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4P--AcNaQ13zp3QBVvSfMpVI7r0iFgXbNvD3PIdeIESZaGQwZBEZLx2zRHxShUdybwpInUNpNnjJH56gwv5CXmt0E2BpkBneXLyy1LGizbS1jj_-0F0Rqkz2Ihi0mp0m-8ITC3gCFYtWiIy2m1EJeTo5zAtYEa43HHfr0jUxvJRpUBDV4Gb1rdoymISE/s320/declaration%20of%20independence%20israel.png" width="119" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After returning from Israel I shared many stories of conversations I had had on my trip- Today I will share just two. One was a conversation with a leader of Masorti Judaism in Israel, who has been a guest speaker at our synagogue. His family has lived in Jerusalem for 10 generations. When I saw him in July, he said: I did two things yesterday I never expected that I would do, but I felt compelled to because I feel the future of my country is at stake. First, I blocked traffic on Israeli highway 443 yesterday morning together with other protesters - I felt I needed to remind israeli society as a whole that if this proposal to essentially neutralize the Supreme Court goes forward, normal life in Israel will </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">not</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> go forward. And second, I told my son something I never thought I would say to my son -- which was - if you get arrested today I will be so proud of you. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And I also had a fascinating visit this summer with friends of friends who live in the Druze village of Isfiya. You may know that the Druze are an Arab community living especially in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. They practice a religion that is similar to Islam but also different from Islam. Those Druze who live in Israel tend to serve in the Israeli military and otherwise be actively involved Israeli citizens. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The couple I visited are from families whose roots in the land of Israel go back for centuries - the father of the family was born in that same village some 80 years ago. He served in the early years of the Israeli military and pursued a career in Israeli civil service, as did many of his siblings and his children. It was quite sad to hear from him his perspective on the current government. He feels that as part of the 20% of Israel’s citizens who are not Jewish, he and his family have been loyal and dedicated, shouldering their share of Israel’s security burden. He has always felt part of Israeli society, but the extreme nationalist turn of this current government truly makes him feel like he and the sacrifices that his family have made are not being appreciated. Like the other 20% of non-Jewish Israeli citizens, he has no desire to be a second-class citizen. And of course beyond that 20% are millions of others who are not Jewish but are living under Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank in a situation that is clearly not sustainable - and the chances of devising an equitable solution seem to be increasingly remote - not only because of the current government situation, but we could call it an aggravating factor. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You know that I regard Israel as a crowning achievement of the worldwide Jewish community, a remarkably vibrant society; and the home of so many people who are deeply and lovingly connected to me and to our community. I shudder to think about what Jewish life would look like around the world if Israel had not come into being. That’s part of why we invest so much time and energy in our congregation thinking and teaching about Israel; why we had a trip to Israel and are eager to plan for the next one -- and it’s why in addition to having an American flag in our sanctuary, why we have an Israeli flag here. And some may understand this as a sign that with regard to Israel, we American Jews are giraffes -- peering at Israel on high from a distance, and not necessarily taking an interest in potentially uncomfortable details about Israel. But that is manifestly false. We’re not giraffes. It is specifically because of my deep connection to Israel and affection for Israel, and my yearning to see Israel thrive for many many generations in the future, that I say, quoting the book of Isaiah: למען ציון לא אחשה ולמען ירושלים לא אשקוט - for the sake of ZIon I will not be silent, for the sake of Jerusalem I will not keep quiet. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Many people in our community have told me this year that they are intensely concerned by what is happening in Israel. And they are wondering what they can do with their intense feelings.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And in fact, I have 3 suggestions.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">#1: Learn. Read up on the issues from a variety of different sources -</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rAvWZfWhwfGFVem8ePdb7PRRntZn4t7kbLblwv09_Ko/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> I have some suggestions</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> that cover the gamut from left to right, including sources specifically about the overhaul controversy, and more general books, web sites, and podcasts focused on Israel.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">#2.Remember that you are a stakeholder in Israel even as a diaspora Jew. In fact, there’s a very specific and tangible way that you can affirm that you’re a stakeholder - you can vote in the World Zionist Congress elections. When Theodor Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress, 120 years ago, he said that it needed to be a </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">representative</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> body of the Jewish people. The World Zionist Congress preexisted the state of Israel, and The State of Israel, surprising as it may sound, was founded as a project of the World Zionist Congress. And the World Zionist Congress continues to meet and in fact it controls a not insignificant portion of the budget for some Israeli institutions. And if you are Jewish, and you are over age 18, you have a voice and a vote because you are a stakeholder. If you’re not an Israeli citizen, of course you’re a different kind of stakeholder than Israeli citizens are - you don’t pay taxes or serve in the military - but you do have a voice. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is an official way in which Diaspora Jews can make our voices heard. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The next elections aren’t until 2025 -- watch for updates about this from our community, and please be in touch if you would like to be a leader of our voter turnout campaign for the World Zionist Congress elections. Even more important than the election itself, is the mere fact that the election exists -- that’s a powerful demonstration that diaspora Jews are officially recognized as stakeholders in the project of Israel. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">#3: Acknowledge the complexity, that this protest movement is active at exactly the same moment when there are numerous vicious attacks against Israel and its people. This situation is not black and white. Sadly there are illegitimate attacks against Israel all the time. There have been several horrifying and murderous terror attacks against Israelis this summer and earlier in the year. Just in the last couple of weeks we’ve seen Palestinian premier Mahmoud Abbas spout antisemitic rhetoric, claiming that the Nazis weren’t really racist but they just objected to Jewish financial activity, and he denied any Jewish connection to the Middle East. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And he’s the MODERATE Palestinian leader next to the terrorist organizations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. (I am heartened that a group of Palestinian academics and thought leaders </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/11/intellectuals-condemn-mahmoud-abbass-attempt-to-justify-antisemitism" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">condemned Abbas’s speech</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.) The challenge to us as mature thinkers is to allow these facts coexist with the idea that Israel also has growing edges, even as it is up against extreme challenges. Like everything else in the world, sometimes Israel is criticized unfairly, and sometimes it is criticized fairly. That’s also true about the United States, or about each of us as individuals. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The existence of someone like Ben Gvir does not make the enterprise of Israel illegitimate. And the ignorant antisemitism of Mahmoud Abbas does not make the claims of the Palestinians illegitimate. We should acknowledge the complexity of every place - in Israel or the US or anywhere else. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This summer I did attend one of the Saturday night protests in Jerusalem. And the final speaker of the evening was</span><a href="https://youtu.be/FUtuSawhXyI" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> former member of Knesset Tzippi Livni,</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> who was for many years associated with the Israeli right of center. She concluded her remarks by sharing the iconic story from the Talmud about an old man planting a carob tree. When this man was asked if he was aware that carob trees take 70 years to bear fruit, he responded that yes, he was aware - he knew he wouldn’t survive to see this carob tree bear fruit - but he was planting it for his descendants. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And she continued that her parents, and she, had done whatever they could to build Israel as a Jewish and democratic state for the benefit of future generations.And that same impulse had brought her out into the street to make her voice heard, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to safeguard Israeli democracy for the future. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It might be easier to be a giraffe. But we aspire to a greater level of responsibility. It’s our lot and our responsibility to be as fully aware as we can be. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Any time Jews gather for prayer, Israel is not far from our minds. Israel is literally all over our prayerbook. Over and over again in our High Holy Day prayers we pray for שמחה לארצך וששון לעירך -- Joy for the land of Israel and happiness for the city of Jerusalem. We pray for wisdom for its leaders, peace and security and justice for its residents. For everyone may it be a Shanah Tovah.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">=========================</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">[Note: The story about "Michal" was told by our tour guide at the Ayalon Institute, but I was not able to find confirmation of her name or of some of the details of the story.]</span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-20333290086659655962023-09-18T12:14:00.004-07:002023-09-18T12:17:15.535-07:00 Rosh HaShanah evening 5784 / 2023 -- “A Shabbat Fish Story for your Soul” <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b> <span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rosh HaShanah evening 5784 / 2023 -- </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">“A Shabbat Fish Story for your Soul” </span></b></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-71dff1a0-7fff-a47f-e810-41cbee3acdf5"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><SING></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> מַאן דְּיָזֵיף שַׁבְּתָא — פַּרְעֵיהּ שַׁבְּתָא </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Man de-yazif shabta, par’eih shabta</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79KvumpLE6av8N46cQmtK1S3mMz_tACVRIYe6Z1ZHEIn9q9ZLwa8LkDK_DE0J4QOdEM3Ll7as5JCKpkorW0m_TlblHXnjNWzlBYXn3mqDva-dMXTFMA9GMwqMXILnplGA4NSR8J1vkyEeVo5r33QZlk0qcjMayM_-H54YzqdtRdZEhB7n-cILdstngqA/s1805/birds%20and%20fish%20window%20cropped.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; text-indent: 48px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1805" data-original-width="871" height="667" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79KvumpLE6av8N46cQmtK1S3mMz_tACVRIYe6Z1ZHEIn9q9ZLwa8LkDK_DE0J4QOdEM3Ll7as5JCKpkorW0m_TlblHXnjNWzlBYXn3mqDva-dMXTFMA9GMwqMXILnplGA4NSR8J1vkyEeVo5r33QZlk0qcjMayM_-H54YzqdtRdZEhB7n-cILdstngqA/w321-h667/birds%20and%20fish%20window%20cropped.jpeg" width="321" /></a></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Believe it or not, we’ve just been singing words that are on </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/m87yb74za2oqckp3jwkwc/birds-and-fish-window-cropped.jpeg?rlkey=f4j3ri84cw8sj0gzqidylsfuz&dl=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">that stained glass window over there. </span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Earlier this summer we had a brief ceremony here with Susie Klein, our extraordinary stained glass artist, and Norman and Myrna Kasser, who donated this window. Sadly Myrna passed away in August. She had spent numerous years in remarkably devoted service to our community over the course of decades. It’s really impossible to imagine our community without her. And it seems appropriate even before I share any comments over the course of these High Holy Days, to pause to remember this most remarkable, wise, sometimes provocative and always loving and devoted, leader and friend. We join her beloved husband Norman, in sadness following the loss of his life partner of nearly 60 years and we pray that he, and all her loved ones, may find comfort. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Yehi zikhrah barukh -- </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">may the memory of Myrna Kasser, מאירה בת לאה ונח, be for a blessing always. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But back to this window. At our gathering over the summer I shared some reflections on that new window, The theme of this window is the 5th day of creation - according to the Torah that’s when birds and fish were created - so this window has images and texts related to birds and fish throughout the rest of the bible and rabbinic literature, including that on our new stained glass window is a </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lgy0a72fl10g9inxttklx/fish-that-swallowed-jewel-image-from-stained-glass-window.jpeg?rlkey=wxghex899l03dncslhnjw5329&dl=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">fish that swallowed a jewel. </span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2D2bEs-K08LiXVq_R-FEgyWXjXrEg-NUPh5Ggbp6XzcUvlUvMsMg2BSgMOrJh6A8mzYsUuaJ5lGIHSrHqasYqR7GEbKpCz4DR-mYZNlYHXx2aYSXdMT81NmRd5o_gRqsGUL_5sRdQJX-jbggxPB0Mv0RfZy-8DIis9Y7Hg8cgKEbZIeMP938Rg4nZFHw/s2048/fish%20that%20swallowed%20jewel%20image%20from%20stained%20glass%20window.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; text-indent: 48px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2D2bEs-K08LiXVq_R-FEgyWXjXrEg-NUPh5Ggbp6XzcUvlUvMsMg2BSgMOrJh6A8mzYsUuaJ5lGIHSrHqasYqR7GEbKpCz4DR-mYZNlYHXx2aYSXdMT81NmRd5o_gRqsGUL_5sRdQJX-jbggxPB0Mv0RfZy-8DIis9Y7Hg8cgKEbZIeMP938Rg4nZFHw/w319-h426/fish%20that%20swallowed%20jewel%20image%20from%20stained%20glass%20window.jpeg" width="319" /></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Let me tell you the story -- </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.119a.5?vhe=William_Davidson_Edition_-_Vocalized_Aramaic&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">it comes from the Talmud</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> -- from the tractate called </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Masekhet Shabbat</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> -- the part of the Talmud that discusses Shabbat. The story is about a man named Joseph, whose nickname was ‘Joseph who honors shabbat’ - </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Yosef mokir shabbei. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The story goes that Yosef would live very frugally throughout the week in order to save money, so that he and his family and guests would be able to have the most extraordinary meal for shabbat. This means that all the fish vendors in his town knew him, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">and one day when a particularly large fish came in to the market on a Friday morning, the vendors said: “You know who would love this fish? Joseph who honors shabbat!” so they find him and bring him to the market and they show him the fish, and of course he buys it. He prepares it and then he and his family are sitting down for their shabbat dinner, and they start to serve the fish, and inside they find a precious jewel, that apparently the fish had swallowed. (The Talmud also tells the back story of how this jewel came to be swallowed by the fish, but I am less interested in that part of the story.) </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The concluding line of the story is the words we were just singing: there’s a Saba - an elderly man - who hears about this and responds to this story: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">man de-yazif shabta, par’eh shabta. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">One who is dedicated to Shabbat, one who invests in Shabbat - that person will be rewarded by Shabbat.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So when Susie Klein asked me for stories about fish in Jewish tradition, for a window about birds and fish in Jewish tradition, I thought of this story, and Susie made it happen - in her inimitable way, because of course she did it with a real gemstone there in the window, and you have to come up to look at it after the service. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There’s no question that the early generations who told this story got a particular message from the story: that God provides miraculous rewards those who make sacrifices to observe shabbat. Yosef’s righteous behavior got him noticed by God, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">who took note of him and decided he deserved a reward, and orchestrated this situation by which he received the reward. Over the course of Jewish history there have been many who have taken that kind of attitude about Jewish ritual and observance. That observing shabbat, or keeping kosher, or praying, or fasting on Yom Kippur, serves as a kind of insurance policy to make sure you’ll be blessed and rewarded. And sometimes people for whom this miraculous ‘insurance policy’ idea doesn’t resonate </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">at all</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">-- might conclude that a story like this has no value in the modern era.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But there’s another way to understand this story -- and frankly this is how I understand it and why I love it, and why I suggested to Susie that we put it in the window. I think this is absolutely a true story about what happens when people make Shabbat a part of their lives. Because what was Yosef doing? -- It was a value for him to make a nice meal for his family every week. To give his family an opportunity to come together and prioritize each other, free of distractions; to savor good food, probably to say words of appreciation to each other that maybe they didn’t have time to say over the course of the week. And then, after weeks and months and years of having lived like this, after weeks and months and years of making Shabbat a priority, suddenly he notices: Because of the choices I have made and the way I have lived my life, I have this jewel on my table. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He realizes that over the years he has nurtured something so special and precious (though my sense is that he probably didn’t find it all at once, but that it gradually grew over the course of the years). I think that’s really what the elderly man’s words mean at the end of the story - </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">man de-yazif shabta, pra’eh shabta.’ </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">one who invests in Shabbat will be rewarded by Shabbat. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I chose to tell this story tonight in part because, whereas this is the first night of the new year, it is also a Friday night like any other. And how can a rabbi resist the opportunity to share some thoughts about Shabbat, which remains one of Judaism’s very greatest ideas and more relevant now than ever. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Earlier this evening we sang one of the classic passages about Shabbat from the Torah -- </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.31.16?vhe=Tanach_with_Ta%27amei_Hamikra&lang=bi&aliyot=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Ve-shamru.....”</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> The Shabbat is an eternal covenant between God and the People of Israel, that God made the heavens and the earth in six days, [which is according to tradition what we are commemorating on Rosh HaShanah], וביום השביעי שבת וינפש And on the seventh day, God rested.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Now in the Hebrew, this passage includes two words for "rested"-- </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">uvayom hashvi'i - shavat vayinafash. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Both those words mean “rested,” but with somewhat different connotations. First is the word “Shavat” - it means "rested" in the sense of "ceased from work. But next we have a different word - the word "</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">vayinafash</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.” The word </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Vayinafash</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is often also translated just as "rested," but it has a deeper meaning than that - this word contains the word "nefesh," the Hebrew word for "soul." So another way one could understand this word is that on the 7th day God ceased from work and, in addition to ceasing from work, God did something else: even though this is a very provocative idea: that God "activated God’s soul," or God "permitted the soul to be fully alive." And in imitation of God, it’s traditional for us too, to rest on Shabbat in both senses of the word: to cease from work, and to activate our souls. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There’s an implication here that when it’s not Shabbat, our soul is not fully activated - </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">vayinafash </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">is apparently not our state of being at all times. </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Beitzah.16a.12?vhe=William_Davidson_Edition_-_Vocalized_Aramaic&lang=bi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A mystical teaching in the Talmud</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> tells us that we each get a </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Neshamah Yeterah</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, an extra, additional soul, on Shabbat -- or at least that’s how it feels, Because you can only hear the sweet song of your soul When you quiet all the background noise that fills up our lives. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But I think this story has truths that go even beyond Shabbat. The concluding line of the story reminds us -- that by and large, what we choose to invest in will reward us. What we choose to nurture will grow, for better and for worse. And that which we refrain from nurturing will not grow, again, for better, and for worse. Nurture shabbat, invest in Shabbat, and we benefit from Shabbat, just like almost everything else in our lives. Don’t nurture it, and it doesn’t yield its benefit. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Recently I heard an interview with the </span><a href="https://gravity-27ccc098.simplecast.com/episodes/on-loneliness-with-vivek-murthy-S3BSdC66" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">physician and author Dr Lucy Kalanithi, </span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> who said that one of the bits of wisdom she learned recently was actually from her physical therapist, whom she was seeing for back pain. And the therapist was reminding her of the importance of doing the prescribed exercises on her own in between the sessions with the therapist. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The therapist says to Dr Kalanithi: “You WILL do the exercises, will you?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dr Kalanithi says “Yeah, I’ll do them.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The therapist says: “No, really - I’m asking you to commit. Because you really have to do the exercises. If you kind-of do them, it kind-of works. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But if you REALLY do them, it REALLY works.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For Dr Kalanithi, this became a metaphor for so many things in our lives </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">which we </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">know</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> they really help, we </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">know</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> we probably ought to do them, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">but we don’t necessarily feel fully committed to them -- so we ‘kind-of’ do them. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And you know what? -- that ‘kind-of’ level of commitment really does ‘kind-of’ work. To take some Jewish examples, someone who has a lukewarm commitment to Shabbat, or Jewish prayer, or Jewish learning, really will get a kind of a lukewarm benefit from these. But that’s an entirely different thing from REALLY doing it - and it shouldn’t be surprising if you invest ‘kind-of’ effort, that you might get a ‘kind-of’ effect rather than a ‘real’ effect.’ Like almost everything in our lives, we get out of it what we put in. Or as that elderly man in the Talmud used to say, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">man de-yazif shabbat, par’eih shabbat.’ </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">One who invests in Shabbat will be rewarded by Shabbat.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So tonight on the cusp of this new year: What will you nurture? What will you invest in? What relationships will you prioritize? What traits in yourself will you work on to improve? What aspects of your soul will you tend to, and grow and water? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It’s a good idea to decide carefully, because we probably can’t do everything, and it’s likely that our decisions about what to invest in and nurture will truly influence what will grow in our lives during the coming year and what will not. And remember that one of the themes of these high holidays, to put it bluntly, is that sitting here on the cusp of a new year, and making decisions about the coming year, is a most remarkable privilege. It’s something we only get to do a finite number of times; none of us get unlimited trips around the sun.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Before we resume tonight’s service, though: you probably know that there’s a competition each year for who will be the person who’s not Jewish who gets quoted in the largest number of high holy day sermons each year. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Last year I think it was Queen Elizabeth.I am thinking that in the running this year is going to be Greta Gerwig - co-creator of the Barbie movie that has been such a sensation this summer. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rabbis all over the United States preparing for the High Holy Days took notice in July when </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/magazine/greta-gerwig-barbie.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">a profile of her appeared in the New York Times Magazine</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and she talked about the back story of this movie, how it is that she wanted to make a movie that people would experience as warm and affirming, evoking the freedom of childhood in the best possible sense of the word, recognizing each person as an individual and encouraging them to build a better world. (In addition to selling some merchandise.) And when she reached back into her memories, guess what she talked about: </span></p><br /></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span><p style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"[Greta Gerwig] </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">told me that when she was growing up, her Christian family’s closest friends were observant Jews; they vacationed together and constantly tore around each other’s homes. She would also eat with them on Friday nights for Shabbat dinner, where blessings were sung in Hebrew, including over the children at the table. May God bless you and protect you. May God show you favor and be gracious to you. May God show you kindness and grant you peace. Every Friday the family’s father would rest his hand on Gerwig’s head, just as he did on his own children’s, and bless her too. “I remember feeling the sense of, ‘Whatever your wins and losses were for the week, whatever you did or you didn’t do, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">when you come to this table, your value has nothing to do with that,’” Gerwig told me. “ ‘You are a child of God. I put my hand over you, and I bless you as a child of God at this table. And that’s your value.’ I remember feeling so safe in that and feeling so, like, enough.” “I want people to feel like I did at Shabbat dinner,” she said. “I want them to get blessed.” </span></p></span></blockquote><span><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So now you know something incredible - which is that the Barbie movie at its essence was an effort to bring the joy and satisfaction of a Shabbat dinner </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to the rest of America and the world.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Joking aside, my sense is that for most human beings, that’s one of our deepest desires and yearnings: to be blessed and validated, not for what we make and produce, not for the role that we play and what we achieve, but simply for who we are. To feel like we are activating our actual </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">nefesh</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, our soul, and it’s being recognized and validated by someone else. To be recognized as “enough,” and worthy of blessing just by virtue of being a human being. Because only when we feel like we are “enough” are we able to take the steps to grow and change and nurture and build.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I wonder if that’s what these words </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">shavat va-yinafash</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> שבת וינפש mean. Only when I stop producing and making and achieving can I listen to my own soul, get to know my own soul so that I can fully activate it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And that’s my prayer for all of us for for this new year 5784: May we know the feeling of </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">vayinafash</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> וינפש - may we know what it feels like when our soul truly comes alive. And may we use that feeling to make wise decisions about what we’re going to nurture during the coming year. Because that which we nurture is likely to grow - and that which we invest in is likely to reward us. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-77270595516452927412023-03-30T10:26:00.002-07:002023-03-30T10:26:58.806-07:00Seder Trivia Game, 2023 editionAt our synagogue's congregational seders for the last few years, we have played the following game: I have collected unusual Pesach stories, and shared three such stories with the community: two true stories, and one fictional story. Participants then have to guess which two stories are true and which one is false. (If you listen to <i>Wait, wait, don't tell me,</i> you get the idea, except that only one story is false.)
You can see previous editions of this game here <a href="http://rabbischeinberg.blogspot.com/search?q=trivia">http://rabbischeinberg.blogspot.com/search?q=trivia</a>.
This is what was presented at our congregational seder in 2022. 2 are true; one is fictional. Answers at the bottom!<div><br /></div><div>===================================================================</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-fbf439cd-7fff-a3fb-8c9b-d3c58f7ea2a6"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe you’ve seen the news about the “great Passover Kosher chicken shortage of 2022.” It inspired our trivia game this year: All our three stories this year are related to unusual stories in the news about the availability, or lack of availability, of specific Passover foods. Two stories are true and one is false. </span></p><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Story #1.</b> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The global supply chain. Some of us didn’t even know what that was a few years ago. And now we are all aware that because of the pandemic’s delays in getting items loaded on ships, there are backups in many of the world’s most important ports, and that is delaying production of lots of necessary products.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example: The food thickening agent with the unusual and repetitive name “agar-agar” is made from seaweed. Any product made from seaweed needs to be produced under strict conditions of rabbinic supervision to make sure there are no non-kosher fish products mixed in by mistake. And one of the few places in the world where the thickening agent called agar-agar is produced under rabbinical supervision is the southern coast of India. But supply chain issues and port backups have reduced the supply of kosher supervised Indian agar-agar this year. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that had a devastating effect on the market for a particular Passover staple: jellied fruit slices. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 0pt;"><img height="245" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/BQcsBxJGMOo03Sz5HyPNhGl6buwzjTWev2PVTRS86wGbRv8ZDK7CJHexyvbsip1zLR5B-dxK3_VP2KT0UHqqnzcUEdWeKXcvzuRI4M8xhAEFmxCVygwQ8J7Lc6j4P6VVzyRSZWf7wS98p0axGT0SMhw=w316-h245" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;" width="316" /></p><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Inexplicably, jellied fruit slices have been one of the most popular Passover desserts in the United States for more than 75 years. But kosher shoppers noticed that the cost of Kosher for Passover jellied fruit slices were 50% more expensive in 2022 than before the pandemic. Some manufacturers sought to change their recipe for the fruit slices to do without the agar-agar, with mixed results - some of the slices didn’t retain their shape. One manufacturer had to put a sticker on the 2022 boxes that says “This year, please refrigerate your Mazon jellied fruit slices.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Story #2: </b></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span> <span id="docs-internal-guid-ea52046d-7fff-4057-02eb-81e77bb6167e"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Passover Seder is not complete without Matzah -- and for most of us, that Matzah is handmade shmurah matzah. For many of us, shmurah matzah just makes a seder feel like a seder, in a way that machine-made matzah doesn’t. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But handmade shmurah matzah is not so easy to find. In fact, most of the world’s supply of hand-made shmurah matzah comes from just three places in the world. Two of these top shmurah matzah producers won’t surprise you, but one might. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lots of Shmurah Matzah sold around the world is made in various matzah bakeries in Israel.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And lots of Shmurah Matzah sold in the United States is made in various Shmurah matzah bakeries around the New York area. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s the 3rd Shmurah Matzah factory that is more surprising. It’s located in Dnipro, Ukraine - the city that was known as Dniepropetrovsk until 2016. (You get extra points if you are able to correctly pronounce the word “Dniepropetrovsk.”) This is the third largest city in Ukraine, and the city with the largest Jewish population in Ukraine. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ec6f5767-7fff-5109-98a9-1740355ac5be"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 387px; overflow: hidden; width: 415px;"><img height="387" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/mqT-zd1EZmK37DUTc1Kbf6FeeEMexJdbOlo5ZUrK7zc0m83urDzO3vGGQHY8HSm_3Afqqc4bK45EwpDyYHaCzwNo1cfUhdO3jKSfgqqkbkXpIZoG8sDyE_TZdIJx1o0bFv2tdkzKAhVLOKSK8uINAlY" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="415" /></span></span></span></div><br /><br /></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Under many years of Soviet oppression, it was almost impossible to buy Matzah in Ukraine or anywhere else in the Soviet Union. There are records of Jews in the Soviet Union being put on trial in the 1920s for the crime of baking matzah in secret. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But since the fall of the Soviet Union, the matzah factory in Dnipro has provided a large proportion of the shmurah matzah sold in Europe, and also sells a lot of matzah to the United States and Israel. Its matzah bakery annually produces about 100 tons of Shmurah Matzah -- or about 2 million 1-pound boxes. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However: Whereas much of the 2022 matzah was baked before the Ukraine war began, as of late February 2022 there were 20,000 pounds of matzah on a ship in Ukraine’s port of Odessa that were not permitted to leave. And much of the remaining matzah made in Dnipro was not able to get where it was intended to go because of the war.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This drop in product available for sale was enough to drive up the price of shmurah matzah around the world in 2022.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 100 employees of the Dnipro matzah bakery were, however, confident that, come Passover 2023, they would be back to their normal volume of Matzah production. Imagine what an amazing symbol of freedom and resilience Ukrainian Shmurah Matzah will be, we pray, for Pesach of 2023!</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Story #3: </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-b70a91ae-7fff-c3e9-bdd3-0f863cf2b23b"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s the most unusual food you could serve at your Passover table? The Biblical Museum of Natural History in Israel has a new recommendation for your Seder table. Can you guess what it is? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s a hint: think about the Ten Plagues. Consider: Which of the plagues are edible? And if edible, which of the plagues are kosher? </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s go through the list. </span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blood: theoretically edible, but not kosher.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Frogs: edible - but not kosher. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lice: hopefully not edible. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wild beasts: theoretically edible; some wild animals might be kosher; let’s come back to that one if we need to.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cattle disease: Cattle are kosher, but diseased cattle are not. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Boils: Yech.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hail: theoretically edible. Also theoretically kosher. Let’s come back to that one. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Locusts: well, theoretically edible. And also - Kosher, according to the book of Leviticus. Locusts and grasshoppers are described in the Torah as being kosher -- even though by the time of the Talmud most kosher observant Jews had stopped eating them…..</span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">…. Until now…. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">because -- new in 2022 - in time for Passover - the gift shop of the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Israel is selling jars of kosher certified dried locusts! If you’re willing to pay the shipping costs, you can even get them delivered to the United States! Apparently they taste like sesame seeds. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-f2b8ecb1-7fff-7579-5976-3557090863ad"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 387px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="265" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cq8IZj4hrWvFq-XVBUVnsWMqiifYctk6lPF2951bZQl4dnRsJhJieQkFA7hvUF4DT1JZcWRMHb4JfhPI8hs_BjSRblXaBdmRXZvuljj6Kli0HJJdcrmkdtTHGBsW7D2U-ox_LcMwW5xmFXgn1tOKrmM=w427-h265" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="427" /></span></span></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only one problem, though. A note on the Facebook page of the museum notes: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many people have asked if they [the dried locusts] are kosher for Pesach….. While there is no formal certification regarding Passover, it is our view that they are perfectly permissible for consumption on Passover. The ovens are never used for anything else and are regularly cleaned and disinfected, the locusts are fed nothing other than greenery, and these are whole locusts with nothing added to them.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The museum has, however, indicated a desire to have Kosher for Passover certification for the locusts for 2023. (And yet we hereby promise you that we will never serve locusts at our congregational seder.) </span></p><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div>================================================================</div><div><br /></div><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-061cdd8c-7fff-52f9-ceaf-28c11c783b03"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ANSWERS:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Story #1 is false. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Story #2 is true (see </span><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/war-in-ukraine-threatens-to-put-the-crunch-on-matzah-prices-in-us/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.timesofisrael.com/war-in-ukraine-threatens-to-put-the-crunch-on-matzah-prices-in-us/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> among other articles)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Story #3 is true (See </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/biblicalnaturalhistory" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.facebook.com/biblicalnaturalhistory</span></a> and search for 'locusts'<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-63618410927969719232022-09-29T10:36:00.009-07:002022-10-02T16:10:13.020-07:00 Looking in the mirror (Rosh HaShanah Day 2, 5783 / 2022) <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every year shortly before Rosh HaShanah, there’s an Israeli music video that I like to watch, which presents a thoughtful metaphor about our interpersonal and spiritual goals at this time of year. The </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7nK_Mt9teA" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">brief video</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> set to the music of Israeli musician Evyatar Banai, shows us a young man who is carrying a full length mirror under his arm. We see that that mirror has a number of dots on it - some of which are black, and some of which are white, in neat, orderly rows.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3774f147-7fff-12fc-bc8f-b5a8f43cf1da"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J7nK_Mt9teA" width="320" youtube-src-id="J7nK_Mt9teA"></iframe></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While he is carrying this mirror through a beautiful Israeli wilderness trail, ‘e see some scenes in his life that are presented as flashbacks, and we also see how this mirror came to have all these dots painted on it. We see him talking with a friend in a way that makes a third person feel excluded. And then we see a brief scene of him, ostensibly at home, dipping his brush into a container of black paint, and painting a new black dot on the glass mirror. Then we see a scene of him visiting an elderly woman, apparently a relative who is delighted to see him. And we see a brief scene of him again, at home, dipping his brush this time into a container of white paint, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">and painting a new white dot on the glass. And we see him in what appears to be his parents’ home, having a serious argument with them and storming out - followed by an image of him dipping his brush again into the black paint, and painting a somewhat larger black dot on the glass.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now having some sense of how the glass got all these dots, and what the dots mean, we see him walking along the wilderness trail, to a stream by a waterfall. He looks again at the glass, at the dots and at his reflection, and then he takes the pane of glass and slowly dips it into the water.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And he slowly pulls it up -- it is completely clear. He is ready to start a better year.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In our prayers and in rabbinic literature, this day of Rosh HaShanah is referred to as Yom HaZikaron -- the day of remembrance -- a day for God to remember us, and a day for us to remember our core values and our core purpose and how we have measured up against our best selves. Repeatedly we use the Hebrew word ‘</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teshuvah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ to describe our agenda for this time of year - a word often translated as ‘repentance’ but that is also connected to the Hebrew words meaning ‘return’ and ‘renewal.’ Our goal is to return to the image in the mirror that best reflects us as we are and that reflects ourselves at our best - and then to do what we can to achieve that vision of ourselves, as individuals, as a community, as a people, and as an entire global population.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the success of this process relies on our ability to look lovingly but also honestly and unflinchingly at that mirror. Because if we can’t handle seeing our faults, we are never going to be able to change. But if we see ONLY our faults, we will despair of ever changing. My colleague Rabbi Angela Buchdahl says this is the real reason why the Shofar blasts are primarily broken blasts - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shevarim</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teruah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. (Jewish tradition actually says that we fulfill the mitzvah of hearing the shofar </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with the shevarim and teruah notes. The broken blasts are the real MESSAGE of the Shofar - the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tekiah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> unbroken blasts are just like the punctuation but that’s not where the meaning is.) Only when we are comfortable enough to acknowledge our brokenness </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">can the teshuvah process help us to become whole.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being willing to look at oneself honestly in the mirror is agonizingly difficult. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s even a story in the Torah that suggests that Moses, one of the most outstanding human beings ever to live, was unable to honestly come to terms with his mistakes. In the first chapter of the book of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deuteronomy, Moses provides a recap to the people of Israel to explain why he won’t be accompanying them into the land of Israel. Many of us already know the story, which is told earlier in the Torah. We remember that in the </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.20.7?vhe=Tanach_with_Ta%27amei_Hamikra&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Book of Numbers</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the people are thirsty and they start complaining, God says go to this rock and talk to the rock and it will yield its water. And that’s not what Moses does. Instead, he and his brother Aaron say some angry words to the people, and then instead of speaking to the rock he strikes the rock with his staff. Water comes forth, but then God informs Moses of the consequences. Moses as well as his brother Aaron are told that they have made a big mistake and that they are not going to be allowed into the land of Israel. For just one mistake? Yes. It appears that God regards this as one mistake, but it’s a large one and a symbolic one that communicates something about Moses’ present and future fitness as a leader. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So that's the story as it’s presented in the book of Numbers - when it “actually happened.” </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But that’s not how Moses recaps the story in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 1, where we get Moses’ own perspective on what happened and why. According to Moses, this is </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> primarily a story about Moses hitting the rock; it’s primarily a story about how vexing the people of Israel had been, how frustrating with all their complaining, how impossible, such that God has punished the people of Israel and is not letting them enter the land of Israel, and then to top it off, </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.1.37?vhe=Tanach_with_Ta%27amei_Hamikra&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moses says </span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: גַּם־בִּי֙ הִתְאַנַּ֣ף ה' בִּגְלַלְכֶ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר גַּם־אַתָּ֖ה לֹא־תָבֹ֥א שָֽׁם׃ “Because of you, God was incensed with me too, saying: You shall not enter the land of Israel either.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And when we read this passage every year, I want to say - Moses, can’t you look yourself honestly in the mirror? Can’t you admit that the mistake was yours? Yes, you were vexed by the Israelites, but what God was responding to was that you lashed out in anger - no one made you do that - you bear full responsibility for that. How can it be that Moses, the greatest Jewish leader ever, had trouble acknowledging and owning up to his mistakes and presented himself as the victim!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But as soon as I get a little frustrated at Moses, of course I remember all the times that I have behaved in much the same way. All the times I would prefer to think of myself as a bit better than I am, all the times I would prefer to blame some of my mistakes on other people. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">No one said this teshuvah project was easy, there’s no one to whom it comes naturally all the time. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This summer I had an experience that reminded me of some of the complexity of this process of looking honestly in the mirror - on an individual level and on a communal level. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn't expect that my first major trip outside the United States since the pandemic would be to Germany and Poland. But I had two trips to Israel in the last couple of years that got canceled because of the pandemic, and I ended up with some flight credits that were due to expire </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and then an opportunity arose to tag along with my wife Rabbi Naomi Kalish who was leading an interfaith group of seminary students on a trip to Germany and Poland. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll shared more about my trip another time - but what’s relevant now is that I got to see a phenomenon that my sense is, many people experience when they visit these two countries in quick succession. Remembering the Holocaust is very important in both countries, but the discourse about HOW the Holocaust is remembered is extremely different because these two countries look at themselves in the mirror very differently. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Someone who walks around any city in Germany today and looks down at the pavement is likely to see engraved stones set into the pavement which are referred to as </span><a href="https://www.stolpersteine.eu/en/home/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stolpersteine</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or ‘stumbling stones.’</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> there are almost 100,000 of them, mostly in Germany but also in some other countries in Europe, and they are inscribed with the names and the locations of death for Jews who were murdered during the Holocuast. People can get them installed near the homes that had been inhabited by Jews who were murdered. Collectively, these stones are regarded as the largest decentralized memorial in the world -- as they are identical except for the names and dates and places, and are spread out in all kinds of towns and cities. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[While most of these stones are in Germany where the project originated, there </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> also some of these stones in some other countries - in fact, 2 weeks ago, our synagogue member Pierre Alexandre Kahn sent some of us </span><a href="https://www.dna.fr/societe/2022/09/18/des-pavees-en-or-pour-trebucher-sur-l-histoire-de-la-communaute-juive" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">an article</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> about how the home where his great-grandparents had lived in France has just had Stolpersteine installed near it, bearing their names and the dates when his great-grandparents were murdered at Auschwitz. But overwhelmingly this is a project associated with Germany.]</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course these memorial stones are intended in part for the loved ones of those who have died. But they are also intended as a reminder to the society as a whole. Each one of the Stolpersteine is crafted and engraved by hand -- it is felt that that is the best way to commemorate those who were murdered by an astonishingly cruel mechanized process. The designer of the stones says that embedding these stones in the pavement is deliberate --so that “</span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/18/stumbling-stones-a-different-vision-of-holocaust-remembrance" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to read the stone, you must bow before the victim.</span></a><span style="color: #ab0613; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” </span><span style="color: #c70000; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course there are other monuments to the holocaust all over Germany, including huge Jewish museums in cities like Berlin and Frankfurt. But those museums are destinations that you either set out to visit, or you could avoid if you wanted to. The Stolpersteine are so ubiquitous that someone walking around any city in Germany is likely to see several of them on an average walk -- and be reminded that this place may today be a vibrant democracy, but its oppressive past remains part of the history of this place. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In other ways as well -- the memorials, the intensive state-sponsored Holocaust education in German schools that has been going on for decades, the strict laws against speaking in favor of the Nazis, the reparations -- all support the general sense that Germany is engaged in a process similar to </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teshuvah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on a national scale. Obviously not everything is rosy in Germany’s response to the Shoah - there is a terrifying ascendant nationalist right wing in Germany that glorifies some ideas of the Nazis. And obviously time requires that I simplify this description. But overall, Germany is regarded as a country that has looked at itself honestly in the mirror -- and by doing so, it has been able to move on and to chart a brighter future.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then there’s Poland of today, which has taken a different approach</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Obviously it was Germany rather than Poland that was the primary perpetrator of the Holocaust -- And yet Poland was the place where so much of the Holocaust was perpetrated. More Jews died</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Poland than from almost anywhere else, because of Poland’s huge Jewish community, and more Jews died </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Poland by far than within the borders of any other country or region. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Poland also has numerous Jewish museums and memorials - some among the country’s top sites for visitors from abroad. But the current government of Poland is extremely sensitive about how the Holocaust is described and taught. So much so that a Polish law makes it illegal to suggest that the Polish people bear any responsibility for the Holocaust. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Historians tend to believe that Poland was a logical place for the Nazis to place the death camps in part because there would be less outcry from the Polish population, considering the long history of antisemitism in Poland, and the numerous 20th century incidents of anti-Jewish violence that were perpetrated not by Nazis but by Poles, before, during, and even after the Holocaust. But to say such a thing in Poland today could get you in trouble with the law. A campaign right now is underway to rewrite the texts in Polish Holocaust museums to make sure that they stick to the official narrative -- to remove any challenges to the idea that the Polish people, just like the Jews, were victims of the Holocaust. And so the museums highlight stories of the Polish people who risked their lives to save the lives of Jews. Of course it is appropriate for these heroic stories to be highlighted; there are in fact more righteous gentiles recognized by Yad Vashem who were Polish than of any other nationality. These are people of tremendous heroism and ethical steadfastness whose courage and goodness should be celebrated, and they include the Polish people who risked their lives to save my own relatives. But these Polish righteous gentiles were outnumbered by the Polish people who collaborated with the Nazis, or who actively betrayed Jews, which is also part of the story.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The contrast is remarkable. In a variety of ways it appears that Germany appears to be facing up to its actions, while Poland evades responsibility, largely because it has such a strong self-perception as a victim. Here are two societies that differ so strongly in their willingness to look honestly in the mirror. And without a doubt, the stronger and freer society is the one that is more honest, more willing to be self-critical, more willing to acknowledge the difficulties in its history. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Poland and Germany are not the only places where some national and communal conflicts focus on peoples’ willingness, or lack thereof, to accept that </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shevarim</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - broken shards - are part of their own story. that’s true also in this country, though obviously in very different ways from the countries we have just described. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You may be troubled, but probably not surprised, to hear that </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/08/26/civil-war-mar-a-lago-violent-extremism/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a survey by the University of California at Davis </span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">asked people this spring if they expected civil war in the United States in the next few years -- and chillingly, about half said yes. </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And we could make that long list of the issues are that seem to be tearing the American body politic -- </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from guns to abortion to LGBTQ inclusion, to to Covid policy and vaccinations, to January 6, to law enforcement, to to voting rights, to immigration, to the environment, to the legacy of racism. And this past year we’ve had lunch and learn sessions to learn Jewish texts about all these issues, and in my opinion, Judaism has at least something helpful to say about all these issues, which we are not addressing today. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is, though, a subset of these disagreements that are based to some degree on differing approaches to uncomfortable moments in the American experience -- and how willing we are to look in the mirror. Some seek an accurate reflection. But that’s not everyone’s top priority. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">You may know there’s a setting on Zoom called “touch up my appearance” -- making your face look a little smoother and a little more symmetrical than it is in real life. Which is fine for Zoom. But that’s not fine when we are urged to stand before each other and before God and take stock of ourselves and our society. When we think about painful chapters in American history -- whether about the Native American experience, or the Black American experience, or the Jewish experience, or the immigrant experience more generally -- are we remembering historical events the way they happened, or the more benign way we might wish they had happened? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The writer and educator Betty Sue Flowers has a </span><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/8_Habits_of_Love/hTm-lVFQ-QMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=betty%20sue%20flowers" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">suggestion</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which was not originally developed as a Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur exercise, but you will see that it certainly fits the themes of this day. She says: if you really want to come to a deeper level of understanding of yourself, you should sketch out the basic outline of your autobiography - but you should do it 3 times, in 3 different ways. First, you should sketch your autobiography as a victim. And second, you should sketch your life story with you as a hero. And third, you should sketch your autobiography with you as a learner. I wonder if this technique works for communities and national groups when they sketch out their historical narratives. Hopefully each person and each group can grow to self-identify as learners - acknowledging our flaws but not being overwhelmed by them. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Earlier this month my colleague Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg published a new book called </span><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710956/on-repentance-and-repair-by-danya-ruttenberg/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“On Repentance and Repair.” </span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It’s a powerful discussion of Jewish texts about repentance and forgiveness, especially the classic texts by Moses Maimonides. Among the things that she notes is that when this material is taught, teachers tend to focus a lot on apologies - noting that apologies are an important part of the process of repentance, and that Maimonides indicates that as a rule, good apologies honestly offered ought to be graciously accepted. And yet, Rabbi Ruttenberg points out that according to Maimonides, the apology comes towards the end of the process. The first part of the process and the most important part of the process is </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vidui</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - confession - being able to articulate before God and before oneself that what one has done is wrong, and why. It’s the first step but also the hardest. And she suggests maybe we spend too much time trying to train people to give good apologies when really, most incomplete or unsatisfying apologies happen because the first step, the confession step, has not really happened. The person who did something wrong has not succeeded in articulating that what that person did was wrong, and why. And a good </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vidui</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a good confession - is what paves the way for a good apology. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s another reminder that the most important part of the teshuvah process is the part that seems deceptively simple - to admit one’s mistakes and to understand why they were wrong. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year may we have the strength and confidence to look in the mirror.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shanah tovah!</span></p><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-47547434940326400292022-09-29T10:08:00.001-07:002022-09-29T10:08:32.628-07:00 Awe in the new year (Rosh HaShanah Day 1, 5783/2022)<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s start by taking a vote on a very important issue. We are voting on the correct way to refer collectively to these days of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Option #1 is to refer to them as the “High Holidays” - 2 words. Option #2 is to refer to them as the “High Holy Days” - 3 words. <VOTE> </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0451ad00-7fff-7e7b-97fd-7a529c36dbe8"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are various ways to address this question. You can do a Google search and you find that “High Holidays” - 2 words - has 1 million 600 thousand hits, whereas ‘High Holy Days’ - with 3 words - has a paltry 692,000 hits. So the people have spoken: “High Holidays” with two words is vastly more popular than “High Holy Days” with 3 words. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And yet -- “the people” are completely wrong. (In my humble but correct opinion.) High Holy Days is correct - and I will show you why.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hebrew words upon which this expression is based are </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yamim Nora’im</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -- often translated as “Days of Awe,” because “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nora</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’’ is a Hebrew word for “awe.”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yamim</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is “days.” If your preferred phase is “High Holidays,” then you are suggesting that these days are “holidays” that are especially important. But that’s not what the expression “Days of Awe” means at all. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yamim Norai’m</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” means these are “days” of awe - or in other words, these are days of “high holiness.” Or in other words, these are highly-holy days - or High Holy Days. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not proud of this, but whenever I see any writing of the synagogue that says ‘High Holidays,” I change them to “High Holy Days.” The result, of course, is that we’re inconsistent, and on our web site you can definitely find it spelled both ways. (But by the way: web sites are more likely to say “high holidays,” but prayerbooks and other books </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">written by rabbis</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tend to say “high holy days.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But why should this name matter? Because these days are not merely holidays. They are ‘</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yamim nora’im</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ -- they are days of some kind of special emotion which we call “awe.” Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur have been called Yamim Nora’im, or Days of Awe, since the 15th century. A German scholar named the Maharil started to use this expression, though it is not found anywhere in the Torah in the Hebrew Bible or in the Talmud. But the expression caught on, and presumably it expresses something important about the qualities and character of this day. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s investigate what this word “awe” means. It refers to an emotion -- not an emotion that is on the spectrum between happy and sad, but an emotion that is on the spectrum between lightweight and intense. (and of course it’s closer to ‘intense.’) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are people who find “awe” to be an old-fashioned word describing an old-fashioned emotion, which people used to experience a long time ago before we better understood our world. But I don’t think there’s anything old-fashioned about “awe.” On the contrary - it may be easier for us to experience awe in our contemporary world than it was for our ancestors. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Actually, seeking out moments of awe -- and its related emotion of ‘wonder’ - are at the heart of what it means to be a religious person. A thinker especially associated with this idea is Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who was the teacher of many of my teachers. He famously wrote that the central goal of all of a Jewish spiritual outlook on the world is promoting what he called </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/115414?lang=bi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“radical amazement,”</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a sense of wonder and awe at everything extraordinary about our world. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and he summed up </span><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Abraham_Joshua_Heschel/-SdrAQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=All+worship+and+ritual+are+essentially+attempts+to+remove+our+callousness+to+the+mystery+of+our+own+existence+and+pursuits.&pg=PA30&printsec=frontcover" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the purpose of all religious ritual </span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from his perspective: “All worship and ritual are essentially attempts to remove our callousness to the mystery of our own existence and pursuits.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Awe is often associated with vastness in nature. When I think of the word “awe,” I am likely to think, for example, the immense waterfalls and great mountains and oceans I have been privileged to see, or even the stars when I have a chance to get a little further from the New York area and can actually see them. All these tend to be experiences of feeling tiny in the presence of something overwhelmingly vast and powerful. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking at stars is like a paradigm for this feeling. On the one hand, looking at stars is a glorious and relaxing quiet experience. And then on the other hand, once you think about it just a little bit, there’s almost no life experience that makes you feel smaller, even to the point of insignificance, than looking up at stars, each of which is roughly as large and ferociously powerful as our sun if not more so, or in other words, most of those beautiful and quiet stars are a million times larger than earth and are so hot that they would incinerate anything that got within about a million miles of them. And if the stars don’t seem that huge or that ferocious, it’s only because they are so incredibly absurdly far away from us - and by comparison all of life on earth is collectively a smear of chemicals on a tiny pebble hurtling through space. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvOnSGdwVG34fOpvw1CKLBpUsM12E-RylD7tR8zsFlhaLN5QCMTtBcQkZbozkUSllNMdDj57Fjv8k9s895I1znx1wpwTj2B0sozoM8p1O4th6AmgZx5DF_35StkIAluE7D1vYZ-5A6IczVZ2rtqGkS_C3OOWsFjQZCNoaDNUBHcqf_L5L7xl-U-Nlw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvOnSGdwVG34fOpvw1CKLBpUsM12E-RylD7tR8zsFlhaLN5QCMTtBcQkZbozkUSllNMdDj57Fjv8k9s895I1znx1wpwTj2B0sozoM8p1O4th6AmgZx5DF_35StkIAluE7D1vYZ-5A6IczVZ2rtqGkS_C3OOWsFjQZCNoaDNUBHcqf_L5L7xl-U-Nlw" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even thousands of years ago, our ancestors looked up at the stars and it made them feel small and insignificant. In Jewish tradition, this idea is expressed in </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.8.1?vhe=Tanach_with_Ta%27amei_Hamikra&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 8</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - כִּֽי־אֶרְאֶה שָׁמֶיךָ מַֽעֲשֵׂי אֶצְבְּעֹתֶיךָ When I look at your heavens, your handiwork, יָרֵחַ וְכוֹכָבִים אֲשֶׁר כּוֹנָֽנְתָּה: the moon and the stars which you have shaped - ה מָֽה־אֱנוֹשׁ כִּֽי־תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ וּבֶן־אָדָם כִּי תִפְקְדֶֽנּוּ: what are mortals, that you should be mindful of them, mere mortals, that you should take account of them?” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The author of that Psalm used to feel small when he looked at the night sky, and saw the moon and stars. But today we know that he was even smaller than he could have imagined. That’s one way we often describe the feeling of “awe” -- feeling in the presence of something so vast that it can hardly even be comprehended. This actually is our situation every day, though we often don’t think about it. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some psychologists at the University of California at Berkeley have been especially interested in understanding awe -- including what makes people feel awe. These researchers have found that nature is one among many routes into experiencing awe. Awe can be inspired by learning about people of extraordinary talent or extraordinary goodness. It can be prompted by appreciation of art or music, and awe can be prompted by experiences in the context of a religious community - in part because it’s in religious communities that we’re likely to meet people who are inspiring in their goodness. And life cycle events often inspire awe (and are often celebrated in the context of religious communities). Giving birth or being present at a birth, or celebrating a birth, bar and bat mitzvahs and weddings and graduations all remind us that we, or people we love, are miraculously moving to a new life stage.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The team at Berkeley is also specially interested in what does the feeling of awe do to and for people? How do people act differently when they feel awe?. And they have devised a series of experiments to find out. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s one example. It happens that near the Berkeley campus is a grove of the </span><a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_awe_makes_us_generous" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tallest eucalyptus trees</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in North America. And they would have the experiment subjects come to look at the eucalyptus trees - for a full 60 seconds - and then they would be asked some questions about their experience. And there was also a control group that was brought to the same spot but with their backs to the trees, and asked to look at a not very interesting university building for 60 seconds - and then they would be asked the same questions about their experience. But one of the experimenters, in the process of asking the questions, would -- “accidentally” but really on purpose -- stumble and drop a bunch of pens onto the ground. What was really being measured by this experiment was: who is more likely to help to pick up more pens: the person who has just been looking at some of the tallest trees in North America, or the person who has just been looking at a building? The answer, of course, is the person who has been looking at the trees is consistently likely to pick up more pens, even though they have no reason to believe that anyone is paying attention or that this act of kindness is in any way part of the experiment.. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the investigators consistently found, in this and similar experiments, that people who have had an experience of awe are less focused on themselves -- </span><a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_do_we_feel_awe" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the experience of awe</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “leads people to cooperate, share resources, and sacrifice for others.” Psychologist Dacher Keltner of Berkeley </span><a href="https://m.dailygood.org/story/1305/why-we-feel-awe-dacher-keltner/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">writes:</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Being in the presence of vast things calls forth a more modest, less narcissistic self, which enables greater kindness toward others.” Awe makes us more deeply connected to other people, less self-centered, and more likely to put others at the center. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This should not surprise us at all - in fact it’s exactly what the High Holy Day Mahzor tells us. In every Amidah in the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur service, immediately after the Kedusha, we have a reference to awe; we read: </span></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">וּבְכֵן</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> תֵּן פַּחְדְּךָ ה' א-לקנו עַל כָּל מַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ וְאֵימָתְךָ עַל כָּל מַה שֶּׁבָּרָֽאתָ </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Adonai our God, instill Your awe in all You have made and created,</span></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> וְיִירָאֽוּךָ כָּל הַמַּעֲשִׂים וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְפָנֶיךָ כָּל הַבְּרוּאִים.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">so that all You have fashioned revere You,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and all You have created bow before You,</span></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and all be bound together, carrying out Your will wholeheartedly.” (</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be-levav shalem -</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- that’s actually the line from the prayers that gives the Lev Shalem Mahzor its name.) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In other words, one of the effects of the entire world experiencing awe and reverence is that the entire world would be more likely to bond together, be less focused on themselves, more focused on the needs of others, more likely to make decisions that are the best for everyone, not just for ourselves. The psychological experiments and the Mahzor are in agreement. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If our world could use more concern for the needs of others, and more decision-making based on the needs of everyone, maybe our world could use more </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yir’ah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - more awe. And the first step to having moments of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yir’ah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, of awe, even every day, is simply to open ourselves up to them -- which is one of the functions of berakhot, the blessings that punctuate a Jewish day, with a goal of reaching מאה ברכות בכל יום </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">me’ah berakhot bekhol yom </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- one hundred blessings each day.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Research on awe suggests that we can have experiences of awe not only when we look at the natural world -which is always accessible to us - but we can also experience awe and reverence when we come into contact with extraordinary people, people who inspire us through their talents, their goodness and generosity.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So on these Days of Awe, I would like to tell you about 3 people, or categories of people, who inspire in me experiences of awe - of yir’ah. These people have each had a tremendous effect on our synagogue community. And I think that thinking about them will help us all to deepen our experience of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yir’ah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">===============================</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, I am thinking of two people whose names I don’t know. One of them is definitely deceased, and the other is probably deceased. I am thinking of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the Sofrim -- the Torah scribes -- </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">who wrote the torah scrolls that we read from this morning -- one of which was probably written in Lithuania, 160 years ago, and one was probably written about 50-60 years ago, in the US or in Israel or possibly in Europe. Every letter in each of these scrolls was written on parchment by hand, with an ink and a quill pen that are identical to what was used to write torah scrolls thousands of years ago. The work that goes into writing a torah scroll has to be described as awe-inspiring. It could be assumed that most people who plan to write a Torah scroll have memorized most of the Torah -- and yet the scribe is not supposed to write any of it from memory, always reading every word from a printed text before writing it carefully, shaping each letter with exacting precision, for each of the hundreds of thousands of letters in the Torah. Torah scrolls are expensive, but when you remember that each scroll represents 8 to 12 months of full time work, plus materials that can be costly, you can see that no one is getting rich off of this work. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhD3jIyXTop-OdIlJSajTbgIrJfNq_mZL0XapG1AnRk7FBp6QyYLgv3fZ6T1QwAxmCnTDePh9j948KxOjvEq2egAY8svCsH07F7Ecdm39ijk9cXIOO1vvnhoH8gxEEPO8abK72Lb8G_bXCasCGkILrFteM5RC1VJZ3EeD1gomoqepm1xzchzOx9VOW" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1030" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhD3jIyXTop-OdIlJSajTbgIrJfNq_mZL0XapG1AnRk7FBp6QyYLgv3fZ6T1QwAxmCnTDePh9j948KxOjvEq2egAY8svCsH07F7Ecdm39ijk9cXIOO1vvnhoH8gxEEPO8abK72Lb8G_bXCasCGkILrFteM5RC1VJZ3EeD1gomoqepm1xzchzOx9VOW" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The scribe creates a remarkable hand-made, one of a kind, document in expert calligraphy. Reading from the torah reminds us that the torah is passed down from generation to generation, but also from individual to individual: from individual scribe, to individual reader, as we in our community - people of all ages - are reading words that an individual put down on parchment in such exquisite and precise fashion. Something else amazing is that Torah scribes never sign their work. That’s why we don’t know who wrote it. When I picture someone so devoted to the ideals of the Torah that they would spend that length of time immersed in the activity of writing so that words of Torah would be available to synagogues around the world - to be such a tangible link in the chain of Jewish tradition - and that they would do it anonymously - that’s something that fills me with reverence and even awe. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the second person on my mind </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> here today - and that’s </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Susie Klein, who designs and creates our stained glass windows </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which are a remarkable part of this room and of our synagogue’s identity. We love taking visitors through to show them these unique windows, each one providing creative interpretations of the stories in the Hebrew Bible, while also being so innovative simply as examples of contemporary stained glass art, with their use of stones and shells. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is a magical experience to see the process by which the designs and ideas form in Susie’s head, and gradually the sketch and design and the text are transformed into pieces of glass that are cut and shaped and assembled. Also remarkable is that Susie does this as a volunteer, leading a team of other volunteers who assist her in implementing her vision for these windows, creating not just something beautiful but creating numerous images in each window that make you think and make you appreciate the natural world. Like the scribes: Susie’s commitment to artistry, generosity of spirit, and religious dedication inspire reverence and even awe in me.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJaUyBJwdgCUjfi6wZIpzHuvVKQ2oLI7Xbb6CkJL3e83CefMwPJZUPd1DVZRzSsvCFKM4AQA3jp1RBGadWKyBlnc3TklkWgcirBK4HngPJOYZ66UEF7G2ncIXcyDyTFV8xk-XR2MvhB3n1sC37qDgG5x0dlX5dBOwoeKOCAGQ22G8kCiUMspTNDcYz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJaUyBJwdgCUjfi6wZIpzHuvVKQ2oLI7Xbb6CkJL3e83CefMwPJZUPd1DVZRzSsvCFKM4AQA3jp1RBGadWKyBlnc3TklkWgcirBK4HngPJOYZ66UEF7G2ncIXcyDyTFV8xk-XR2MvhB3n1sC37qDgG5x0dlX5dBOwoeKOCAGQ22G8kCiUMspTNDcYz" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><span><br /></span></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the third person on my mind is someone who is not here today, but he has visited our community many times and spoken from this bimah several times to inspire us with his words. I am thinking of</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> our friend Alain Mentha, a founder of the </span><a href="https://welcomehomerefugees.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Welcome Home Jersey City </span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">organization</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that has transformed the lives of hundreds of families of refugees in the Jersey City area. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://welcomehomerefugees.org/stories/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alain</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’s father was from Switzerland, and during the Holocaust his family saved Jews fleeing from the Nazis, and that bit of family history gave Alain a life-long interest in helping refugees.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He and his family began volunteering with refugee resettlement immediately after the 2016 election, realizing that this was a program that the new administration would likely try to dismantle. With other friends and activists he created the organization Welcome Home Jersey City, for which he has served as the volunteer executive director for most of the past 6 years. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Picture yourself as a refugee (for Jews, this is not a stretch; most people of Jewish ancestry have at least some refugees in the family). You have been living under a government so repressive that you have fled the country, have been living in a refugee camp, and then applied for and received refugee status in the United States though you have never been there and you know no one there. You aren’t even sure who is going to pick you up at the airport, let alone where you’re going to stay immediately upon arrival, how you’re going to go shopping, open a bank account, register your kids in school, learn English, and find employment in your field. But if you’re assigned to arrive in Jersey City, New Jersey -- you’re soon paired up with volunteers who will help you do all these things, thanks to Welcome Home.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I get goosebumps when thinking about the hundreds of our neighbors in Jersey City -- from places like Eritrea, Iraq, Chad, and Syria, -- who have been so lovingly cared for by volunteers from Welcome Home at such a vulnerable time for them, in what is close to a dictionary definition of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chesed</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - lovingkindness expressed through tangible action. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So many people from our congregation invest countless hours in Welcome Home, including our members Bess Morrison and Fred Miller who chair the effort to help refugees to find employment, the members of our refugee support committee led by Hope Koturo, so many people who have volunteered at the Fun Club to help kids with homework and to help adults with English, including several bar and bat mitzvah students in the last several years who have done their Mitzvah projects in conjunction with Welcome Home and often reported that doing so has been </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">among the very most impactful things they have done in their lives up to this point. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it won’t surprise you that the caseload for Welcome Home has increased dramatically this year with the arrival of numerous Afghan refugee families. If you want to be part of the work of Welcome Home, </span><a href="https://welcomehomerefugees.org/volunteer/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fill out one or more of these volunteer forms</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.) </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our prayers right now are with Alain and his family as he faces a challenging health situation. I am in such awe at what he has achieved and at the enduring impact he has made in the lives of so many people in our community and our region. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyn9xnCBjJeoQ_xjC_p3Uc_l_wNk6knb_Mp1-QYkixSELs5orXpads199xH4Qzm1Yo-XOAIW5l_y8hcvnszGwXqSky-7VEBKzK63zEKOz8AB3z8cOr7KdzAso-ecrG5N1-g2YvFYlm8Sl0dKBCoK8lp653HoksJmCj5e33gYZ2OXE3lz0LvQSqPRPF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1640" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyn9xnCBjJeoQ_xjC_p3Uc_l_wNk6knb_Mp1-QYkixSELs5orXpads199xH4Qzm1Yo-XOAIW5l_y8hcvnszGwXqSky-7VEBKzK63zEKOz8AB3z8cOr7KdzAso-ecrG5N1-g2YvFYlm8Sl0dKBCoK8lp653HoksJmCj5e33gYZ2OXE3lz0LvQSqPRPF" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A common denominator among all these people I have mentioned is that their achievements are magnified by the actions of others. The words written by the Torah scribe are only heard when our community’s torah readers read them. The actions of Susie with her stained glass, and with Alain with Welcome Home, are magnified by the many many partners who are inspired to work alongside them. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Early in the Torah, Jacob has a dream in which he comes to understand that earth and heaven are more closely connected than he had previously realized. And when he wakes up he says “God is in this place and I hadn’t realized.” He then says מה נורא המקום הזה - how awesome is this place.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He could have been talking about that spot - or the entire world. Or he could have been talking about THIS place - which is dedicated to helping people to find their sources of inspiration - and to become sources of inspiration and awe to others. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May your coming year of 5783 be filled with </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yamim Nora’im</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - not just these High Holy Days, but many more days when you will find YOUR sources of awe and inspiration - in the natural world, in the expression of our values, and in encounters with people who can inspire </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to be “highly holy.” </span></p><div align="left" dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;"><br />Shanah tovah!!</div><br /></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-4645344676263116212022-09-06T09:47:00.003-07:002022-09-06T09:48:47.333-07:00Et Shaarei Ratzon: A remarkable piyyut about the Binding of Isaac, for Rosh HaShanah<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>This article is to introduce people to the remarkable piyyut </i><i><b>Et Shaarei Ratzon, </b>which I will be discussing with the Rabbinical Assembly in September 2022. </i></span><i><a href="https://opensiddur.org/prayers/lunisolar/days-of-judgement-new-year-days/rosh-hashanah/eit-shaarei-ratson-by-yehuda-ben-shmuel-ibn-abbas-ca-12-c/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">See here</span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for the text of the piyyut and two English translations.</span></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of the thousands of piyyutim written over the centuries, only a very small fraction are still recited regularly in any contemporary synagogues. Over the past 800 years, the piyyut "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon Le-hipateach,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" which retells the story of the Binding of Isaac, has become one of the best known and most beloved piyyutim in the Sephardic and Mizrahi traditions. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No one can explain definitively why some piyyutim attain great popularity in many different liturgical traditions, while others are neglected and fade into history. However, some of "</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"'s distinctive features may have been factors in its massive popularity, including its clear language, its unusually emotional content, and the poet's own unconventional twists on the story of the Akeidah. In addition, its popularity may have been fueled by its presumed connection to events in the life of the paytan. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">The poet</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" was written by Judah ben Samuel ibn Abbas, a paytan from Fez in the 12th century who lived and wrote in many different places in the Arabic world, including present-day Morocco, Syria, and Iraq. Our information about him comes primarily from two sources: the anti-Jewish writings of his son, Samaual ben Judah ibn Abbas (Samau'al ibn Yahya al-Magribi), who converted to Islam, and a brief reference in </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer Tahkemoni</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Al-Harizi, in a poem listing and describing the major poets of his day. <span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://moreshet-auctions.com/content/images/thumbs/0069149_-19.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="515" height="550" src="https://moreshet-auctions.com/content/images/thumbs/0069149_-19.jpeg" width="354" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has been suggested that the elegiac nature of the poem "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" was influenced by the events in ibn Abbas's own life -- that like Abraham, Abbas had a fraught relationship with his own son. The Israeli literary scholar Judah Ratzaby notes that it makes little difference to us whether the composition was actually a result of ibn Abbas's son's apostasy, or whether it was perceived as such by the public, who saw within the piyyut the "sacrifice" that befell the poet as a father.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like most piyyutim of the period, "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" is based on midrashic material. Many lines in the piyyut have analogues in midrashic collections, including </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Breishit Rabbah</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanhuma Breishit</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, as well as lesser known works. See the Appendix at the end of this essay for a list of the major midrashic analogues to each stanza of the piyyut. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Stylistic features of the piyyut</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The poem is highly dramatic and emotional. While many piyyutim allude to Biblical events, this is one of the few that tell a complete story in chronological order. Only the first and last stanzas are addressed directly to God (only 14% of the piyyut), while all other stanzas are devoted to telling the story. (Piyytim being liturgical poetry, it is not surprising that most of the content of most piyyutim is addressed to God. This is also true about other piyyutim that are based on the Akedah. For example, </span><a href="https://www.nli.org.il/he/piyut/Piyut1song_010029300000005171/NLI" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Im Afes Rova Ha-Ken</span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a piyyut about the Akedah that is recited in the Ashkenazic tradition on Tzom Gedaliah, includes 6 of its 16 stanzas addressed to God, or 37%.) An additional factor that heightens the drama in "</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" is Ibn Abbas' predilection for dialogue. Of the twelve middle stanzas in the piyyut, only three are fully narrative; other stanzas include the words of God, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, the servants, and the angels. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The piyyut's clear and comprehensible Hebrew may have been another key to its longevity; unlike many piyyutim, the basic meaning of "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" can be understood without a commentary, and its Midrashic allusions are not too elliptical to be comprehended. Unlike most Ashkenazic paytanim and the early paytanim from Eretz Yisrael, ibn Abbas generally refers to characters and concepts by their simple names, rather than by complicated and obscure "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinu'im</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" (epithets). (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ratzaby, 308-309)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Retelling the story in the piyyut</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the bulk of "</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" is derived from earlier Midrashic sources, ibn Abbas chooses these midrashim selectively and manipulates them so that the piyyut presents a distinctive perspective on the story of the Akeidah. In particular, ibn Abbas raises the stature of Isaac, lowers the stature of Abraham, and calls attention to the friction between them. While the bulk of the piyyut takes place in the distant past, the poet makes subtle allusions to the conditions of his own generation's worshippers.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Isaac at the center</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whereas other Avodah piyyutim, and most midrashim, see Abraham as the central character in the Akeidah, it is clear that ibn Abbas places Isaac at the center of the story. Isaac's speeches take up two full stanzas and more than half of another; his two full stanzas towards the end of the poem represent its dramatic peak. (In many Sephardic synagogues, these two stanzas are given as an honor to a respected elder in the community, further emphasizing their centrality to the poem.) Abraham's speeches, however, are fewer, shorter, and concentrated at the beginning of the poem; he never speaks in the piyyut's second half. In two of Abraham's three speeches, he speaks deceptively: he tells Sarah that he is taking Isaac for religious training, and he tells Isaac that God will provide a lamb for the offering. This is quite a contrast to Isaac's speeches, which are emotional, heartfelt pleas. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The refrain of the poem, "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oked ve'ha'ne'ekad ve'hamizbeach</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," clearly intimates three focal points of the story - Abraham, Isaac, and the altar that would develop into the Temple in Jerusalem. Unlike other liturgical references to the Akeidah (like that in the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zikhronot </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">section of the Rosh HaShanah Musaf) which do not even mention Isaac by name, "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" puts Isaac at least on equal footing with Abraham. The angels in the twelfth stanza request that the sacrifice be halted, not because of Abraham's merit, but because of Isaac's: "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Al na yehi olam bli yareach</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "Do not let the world be without the moon [a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinui</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for Isaac]."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ambivalent presentation of Abraham</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dynamic between Isaac and Abraham also differs in this piyyut from its description in many midrashim. Ibn Abbas was certainly familiar with the many Midrashim in which Isaac proclaims his willingness to be slaughtered. (Examples include: Isaac's statement to Satan: "</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Al menat ken,</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" "Nevertheless, I will go with my father" (B.R. 56:4); "</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kol asher diber eleicha adonai avi e'eseh be'simcha uv'tuv lev</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "Everything God has said to you, my father, I will do joyfully and willingly" (</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 45b); "</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Im bachar bi, harei nafshi netunah lo</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "If God has chosen me, then I hereby turn over my soul to Him" (</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanhuma</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 23); and the many midrashim in which Isaac requests that he be bound tightly so he will not invalidate the sacrifice (B.R. 56:5, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanchuma</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 23, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 46b, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Midrash Vayosha</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> p.37).) In "</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," however, these Midrashim either do not appear, or they are presented ambiguously. (See appendix below, stanza 11, re: "</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ve'et ma'sari chazek</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"; according to Ratzaby's interpretation, this request in the piyyut demonstrates Isaac's fear and anger, rather than his willingness to be sacrificed.) Isaac's reaction in this poem is fatalistic, but he utters not a word of clear complicity or complacency. While in some midrashim, both Abraham and Isaac cry while their hearts rejoice at the opportunity to fulfill God's will (e.g., </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer haYashar</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 46b), in this poem, only Abraham cries ("</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">va'hamon d'ma'av nozlim bachayil</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"), so the ambivalence reflected in "</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ayin bemar bochah ve-lev sameach</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" applies only to Abraham.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another place where Isaac's hesitance is demonstrated is in his question to Abraham in the sixth stanza, "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ha'at beyom zeh dat'cha shocheiach</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?" "Have you forgotten your custom/rite on this day?" This can be understood both as an innocent question (per </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ratzaby, p. 316), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and as a biting put-down: have you forgotten that slaughtering me is contrary to the principles by which you abide?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of the two verses at the end of the poem which are devoted to Isaac's speeches, one concerns his mother, and the other concerns his father. The lack of parallelism in these stanzas is notable. The tenth verse, in which Isaac anticipates Sarah's sorrow at hearing the news of the Akeidah, is addressed not to Abraham, but to the general public (the verb "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sichu</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" is a second person plural imperative). In the eleventh stanza, Isaac gives Abraham three specific instructions, one of which (the instruction to collect his ashes) refers to Sarah. While Isaac spends an entire verse on his mother's sorrow, he does not mention the sorrow his father will feel upon losing a son. His words to Abraham are distant and task-oriented. He saves his empathy for Sarah, not for Abraham. The ashes are for her to keep, not for him. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">References to tragic inter-group relations</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An analysis of ibn Abbas's space priorities for the piyyut points us to another oddity: two of the fourteen verses in the poem explore one particular midrash, that the two servants who are told to wait with the donkey correspond to the oppressors of the Jewish people. This midrash (found in Breishit Rabbah and other sources; see appendix, stanzas 4-5), suggest that Abraham’s words to the servants, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"shvu lachem poh im ha-chamor” </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(“stay here with the donkey”), should be understood through wordplay to mean </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“am ha-domeh la-chamor</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" (“the nation that resembles a donkey.” The Hebrew word עם can mean “with” or “nation,” depending on how it is vocalized.) The special focus on this one midrash seems strange, especially when we note that the midrash is not mentioned in all texts, and it is not usually considered one of the most important aspects of the story of the Akeidah. In </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a midrashic text that also devotes disproportionate space to this tradition, the character of Ishmael is clearly a symbol for Islam (his wife is named Fatima, the name of one of Muhammad's daughters), and one scholar believes that the character of Eliezer serves as a symbol for Christianity.</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> When Abraham tells Ishmael and Eliezer that they are "the nation[s] that are compared to donkeys," the author expresses his anger at the pain that those nations caused Jews over the centuries. It is possible that, like the author of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, ibn Abbas uses this midrash to present his reaction to anti-Jewish persecution. The theme of persecution is addressed later in the piyyut as well, when Israel is referred to as </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Edah so'arah un'gu'ah</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "the storm-tossed, stricken people." Some have seen the poem’s angry focus on the relationship between Jews and other religions in light of Abbas’s son’s conversion to Islam, which presumably was influenced by, and also contributed to, conflict between the Jewish and Muslim communities.</span></span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">===============</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even today, the piyyut </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon Le-Hipateach</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is one of the emotional high points of the Rosh HaShanah service in Sephardic and Mizrahi synagogues. While most piyyutim have faded out of the liturgy entirely, and most of those that are still said have faded into the background of the service, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et Sha'arei Ratzon</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> endures in a position of prominence. We can assume that its survival is not a fluke, but a consequence of the fact that many generations of Sephardic Jews recognized its special charm and resonance.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><span style="font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Appendix: Midrashic material in the piyyut</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The following is a list of the major midrashic analogues to each stanza of the piyyut. Many of these references are summarized from the notes in the analysis of this piyyut by </span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100131055957/http://www.vbm-torah.org/vtc/0024831.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ratzabi</span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="http://old.piyut.org.il/articles/789.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elitzur</span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first line of the second verse refers to Abraham's ten trials, mentioned in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pirkei Avot</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 5:3 and alluded to in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">B.R.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 56:11. Ratzaby posits that "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">haben asher nolad lecha misarah</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "the son who was born of Sarah," could be an allusion to the fact that Muslims believe that Ishmael, rather than Isaac, was the bound son; this line is inserted into the piyyut to make it completely clear that the son is Isaac. (Ratzaby, p. 314)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: super;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Another plausible explanation is that this line alludes to B.R. 55:7, in which God's instructions to Abraham develop from the most general to the most specific. One of Abraham's responses in the Midrash is, "This one is the eldest of his mother, and this one is the eldest of his mother." (55:7)</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last line of the second verse, which refers to "the mountain where glory unto thee will shine," alludes to the midrash, found in many collections (inc. B.R. 56:2, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 44a, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanhuma</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 23), that God told Abraham which mountain to ascend by means of a special cloud or light. This is the first of several points of correspondence between the poem and the account of the Akeidah in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The latter work, which is written in Biblical Hebrew, often quotes long sections of the Tanakh verbatim; at the beginning of the Akeidah story, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> quotes God's command to Abraham, but with the addition of the words "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">asher yireh lecha bo sham anan uch'vod adonai</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," ". . .on one of the hills upon which you will see a cloud and the glory of God." While many other midrashim include this detail, it is not included within God's command except in this piyyut and in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the third verse, Abraham deceives Sarah by telling her that he is taking Isaac away to learn about "the service of heaven." This idea is found in "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Midrash Zo hi she-ne'emrah b'ruach ha-kodesh</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" (2a-b), from the Cairo Geniza, as well as in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanchuma</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (22) and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Of all of these, the account in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> corresponds most closely with the piyyut. Sarah's response to Abraham's request includes the words "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Al tarchik et beni me'alai</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "don't take my son too far away from me"; this is very similar to her words in the piyyut, "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">aval al tirchak</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">." In addition, in both the piyyut and in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Sarah's answer is followed by Abraham's response; this is not the case in the other sources.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4-5:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fourth and fifth verses refer to the Midrashim of "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Am Hadomeh lachamor</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," found in B.R. 56:2, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanchuma</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (23), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanchuma Buber</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (46), and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (45b). In all of these sources, while Abraham and Isaac can see God's presence on the mountain, the two servants (usually understood as Eliezer and Ishmael) do not see it. Through a pun, Abraham's words "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shvu lachem po </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">im</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hachamor</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "Stay here with the donkey," are read as "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Am</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hadomeh lachamor</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "the donkey-like nation" (in all versions except </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). </span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6-7:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sixth verse seems to be derived directly from the Biblical account, without major midrashic additions. In the seventh verse, the use of the word "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kisei</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "chair," is reminiscent of the midrash in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanhuma Buber</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in which Abraham's altar is compared to God's throne (41).</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The line "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">haben lehizavach ve'av lizboach</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" ("the son to be sacrificed... and the father to sacrifice") is the exact parallel of "And the two of them walked together - one to bind and one to be bound; one to slaughter and one to be slaughtered." (B.R. 56:2) The reference in the ninth verse to the weeping of Abraham has parallels in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Breishit Rabbah</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (56:6), in which only Abraham cries, and in "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zo hi shene'emrah</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," in which both Abraham and Isaac cry (2b). The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Breishit Rabbah</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> account describes Abraham's emotional confusion with words that are very similar to the piyyut: "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ayin bocheh. . .af al pi chen halev sameach</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "His eyes cried, but despite this, his heart was happy." An even closer parallel, however, comes once again from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in which the exact words "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ayin bemar tivkeh ve'lev sameach</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" are used to describe the ambivalence of Abraham and Isaac. (46a) </span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the tenth verse, Isaac reflects his concern over Sarah's projected sorrow upon hearing of his death. In both </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanchuma</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (23) and "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zo hi shene'emrah</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" (3a), Isaac expresses concern that, if Abraham relates the news to Sarah when she is on the roof or at the edge of a pit, she is likely to be so distraught that she will fall (or, in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanhuma</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, that she will jump) and die.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The words in the piyyut "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ve'et ma'sari chazek</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" are reminiscent of the tradition (brought in B.R. (56:5), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanchuma</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (23), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(46b), and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Midrash Vayosha</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (p. 37) ), that Isaac begged his father to bind him tightly, lest he make an involuntary movement that would invalidate the sacrifice. This is one of the Midrashim that most clearly demonstrates Isaac's willing participation in the Akeidah. The words in the piyyut could, however, refer to a slightly different Midrash, found in "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zo hi she-ne'emrah</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," that implies Isaac's hesitance at the deed - Isaac requests to be bound tightly lest he inadvertently thrust an arm or leg towards Abraham and be guilty of death for showing dishonor to his father. A similar idea appears in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ner Haskalim</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a midrashic work preserved by the Jews of Yemen: "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chazek hakesher, shema ev'ot b'cha ve'evtol mikvodecha</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," "Tighten the knot, lest I kick you and diminish your honor." Ratzaby holds that the wording of the piyyut (especially the use of the word "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chazek</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," which does not appear in the parallel midrashim) expresses a preference for the interpretation in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ner Haskalim. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Ratzaby, p. 312)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: super;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Under this interpretation, ibn Abbas refers to Isaac's desire to be bound tightly not to demonstrate his excessive religious zeal, but to show that Isaac recognizes that he is unable to contain his extreme terror - and maybe even anger.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the same stanza, Isaac asks his father to bring Sarah some of his ashes, so she will know what happened to him. This idea is also found in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer HaYashar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (46b, including the exact words "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">zeh leyitzchak reiach</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Midrash VaYosha</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (p. 37), and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yalkut Shim'oni</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (247:101).</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The idea that the angels prompted God to save Isaac is also found in B.R. 56:6, in which the knife is melted by the tears of the angels.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This stanza draws upon numerous midrashim that refer to the merit received by Abraham and Isaac's descendants as a result of the Akeidah.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">With thanks to Dr. Marc Bregman, who guided me in this research project when I originally worked on it in 1994 at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><br /><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Additional links: </span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Musical renditions of the piyyut:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> See </span><a href="https://www.nli.org.il/he/piyut/Piyut1song_010002400000005171/NLI" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.nli.org.il/he/piyut/Piyut1song_010002400000005171/NLI</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (57 different renditions!) Also see Youtube (</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%D7%A2%D7%AA+%D7%A9%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%99+%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%9F" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">עת שערי רצון - YouTube</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and Spotify (</span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/search/%D7%A2%D7%AA%20%D7%A9%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%99%20%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%9F" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spotify – Search</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Translations: </span><a href="https://opensiddur.org/prayers/lunisolar/days-of-judgement-new-year-days/rosh-hashanah/eit-shaarei-ratson-by-yehuda-ben-shmuel-ibn-abbas-ca-12-c/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://opensiddur.org/prayers/lunisolar/days-of-judgement-new-year-days/rosh-hashanah/eit-shaarei-ratson-by-yehuda-ben-shmuel-ibn-abbas-ca-12-c/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">Articles about the piyyut (in Hebrew): </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wikipedia: </span><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A2%D7%AA_%D7%A9%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%A4%D7%AA%D7%97" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A2%D7%AA_%D7%A9%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%A4%D7%AA%D7%97</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">scholarly analysis of the piyyut by Prof. Yehuda Ratzabi: </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100131055957/http://www.vbm-torah.org/vtc/0024831.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://web.archive.org/web/20100131055957/http://www.vbm-torah.org/vtc/0024831.html</span></a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">scholarly analysis of the piyyut by Prof. Shulamit Elitzur: </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://old.piyut.org.il/articles/789.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://old.piyut.org.il/articles/789.html</span></a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Israeli musician Ehud Banai comments on the piyyut: </span><a href="https://www.nli.org.il/he/discover/music/jewish-music/piyut/articles/personal-insight/cycle-of-year/et-shaarei-ratzon-about-the-poem" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.nli.org.il/he/discover/music/jewish-music/piyut/articles/personal-insight/cycle-of-year/et-shaarei-ratzon-about-the-poem</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-d5af0cc2-7fff-011b-c616-73ffa5b555de"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Notes:</span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">[1] <span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ratzaby, Judah, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mi-Ginzei Shirat haKedem</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Jerusalem: Misgav Yerushalayim / Institute for the Study of Sephardic and Mizrahi Heritage, 1981), p. 313. Note also that the chronology of Abbas’s son’s embrace of Islam is unclear, and at least one source suggests that it happened after his father’s death.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; white-space: pre-wrap;">[2] </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Visotzky, Burt, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reading the Book</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (New York: Anchor Doubleday, 1991), p. 92. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pirkei De'Rabbi Eliezer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, 30.</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p><div><br /></div></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-54234780102452776812022-06-27T08:13:00.003-07:002022-06-27T08:17:19.348-07:00Responding to the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade<p> </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_6573948681522241393template-body" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; text-align: center; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr></tr><tr><td align="center" style="font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><div style="background-color: #d1e6d1;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_6573948681522241393bgimage" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: initial; background: url("") 0% 0% repeat; border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: auto; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="margin: 0px;"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_6573948681522241393main-width" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 610px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="m_6573948681522241393layout" style="margin: 0px; padding: 15px 5px;" valign="top"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" bgcolor="#4aa0da" class="m_6573948681522241393layout-container-border" style="background-color: #4aa0da; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" valign="top"><table align="center" bgcolor="#4aa0da" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="m_6573948681522241393layout-container" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="m_6573948681522241393editor-col m_6573948681522241393OneColumnMobile" style="margin: 0px;" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="margin: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="height: 1px; line-height: 1px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px;" valign="top" width="100%"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" hspace="0" style="display: block; height: 1px; width: 5px;" vspace="0" width="5" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="m_6573948681522241393editor-col m_6573948681522241393OneColumnMobile" style="margin: 0px;" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_6573948681522241393editor-image" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 10px;" valign="top"><img alt="" border="0" hspace="0" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" vspace="0" width="392" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="m_6573948681522241393editor-col m_6573948681522241393OneColumnMobile" style="margin: 0px;" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="margin: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px;" valign="top" width="100%"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; height: 1px; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 600px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" bgcolor="#4aa0da" height="1" style="background-color: #4aa0da; border-bottom-style: none; height: 1px; line-height: 1px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" hspace="0" style="display: block; height: 1px; width: 5px;" vspace="0" width="5" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="" class="m_6573948681522241393editor-col m_6573948681522241393OneColumnMobile" style="margin: 0px;" valign="top" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="m_6573948681522241393editor-text m_6573948681522241393editor-text" style="color: #777777; display: block; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 10px 20px;" valign="top"><div></div><div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"><i>Note sent to the United Synagogue of Hoboken community, Sunday June 26, 2022: </i></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Dear friends, </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;">Many of us have been especially focused on the Supreme Court decision</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> released on Friday that overturns Roe vs. Wade and eliminates a federally assured right to abortion. Already, trigger laws in several states make most abortions illegal currently or imminently.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;">The comments below are excerpted from my comments during yesterday's Shabbat morning service</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> at the United Synagogue of Hoboken.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">There is a lot to say about the issue of abortion from a Jewish point of view. And there is a lot of disagreement. But I would like to share with you </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;">three fundamental points of agreement across the Jewish spectrum. </span></div><div><br /></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;">In Judaism, the fetus does not have the same rights of personhood as the mother, at ANY point during pregnancy. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">The classic traditional Jewish source expressing this is the Mishnah, Ohalot 7:6, </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauK3AzbPL_I0J9tuEVBCEPvsMW4ru_MWMKIo6ni2Ugt9wTHnNyRKozC5nLynsaRa65d2vp30P4QIsKYz3VMKszk4SJcrvhA4aPJRJMDrjwGwdficm5q3ucZrCYx3hutsZ0E1J3JWtrwix28wM7B_6IHr_mvYyvY1ialeXdOqd86pO9qEvTx4c0EJ8rhMVjqCza_%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw09Pdb5_vksWsCOg0OIo1fk" href="https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Oholot.7.6?vhe=Torat_Emet_357&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;" target="_blank">https://www.sefaria.org/<wbr></wbr>Mishnah_Oholot.7.6?vhe=Torat_<wbr></wbr>Emet_357&lang=bi&with=all&<wbr></wbr>lang2=en</a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">, and the various sources derived from it. The idea that full rights of personhood kick in at the moment of conception is an idea that can be found in Christian writings, including some Catholic and Evangelical communities, but it is not an idea that you can find in traditional Jewish texts. I have no objection to people holding this perspective based on their deeply held religious beliefs, but it should not be imposed on those who do not share those religious beliefs.</span></li></ul><div><br /></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;">Abortion is permitted and even required according to Jewish law if the potential harm to the mother warrants it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> Different rabbis at different times have different opinions about how we understand “potential harm to the mother,” and this is the primary way that different Jewish legal authorities have differed from each other on the question of abortion. But note that evaluating “potential harm to the mother” is exactly the calculus that any pregnant person contemplating abortion is considering.</span></li></ul><div><br /></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;">“Mental health” is part of “health.” </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> Today fortunately there is an evolving consensus across the Jewish spectrum that we are obviously including mental health as part of what the word “health” means -- and that a concern about the mental health of the person who is pregnant can justify abortion. </span></li></ul><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">When I talk and teach about Jewish perspectives on abortion, I tend especially to quote Orthodox sources. Clearly I am not Orthodox, and I don’t necessarily agree with the totality of these Orthodox sources, but there is such obvious unanimity among non-Orthodox Jewish organizations that abortion should remain safe and legal, that any quotations of the statements of non-Orthodox organizations and leaders tend to sound obvious. But the Orthodox organizations also have consensus on these three points above, though their perspectives are seen as less obvious. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">This is why I want to share the statement of the Orthodox Union from May 3 of this year, when the draft opinion was leaked. The Orthodox Union is the mainstream Orthodox Jewish organization in the US and it’s the organization that puts the OU on your kosher food. This is an excerpt from the statement: (</span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKcD8vyVQOwPGnn5mVpppL02mJBbuijzhhyXTYfou2qgPA4b6kNOa-sp8vG9acyjTvE5RLGs1vYTzrc4anB6yxga1QokcZ5VIhfou99T2eIaYtU2HrZp3nR1ssqX-hEjwuX79OENErHCy6LzpADLHDay0yR9XKC1VW1LNFoNTTkQr5LoCS-bThSFaUfFNVTTKPkjZ2ywJyzYr7JdbwqwlqTMbV7V4r9PnN-hMEGQpeyD8Smbi8ycnFxlummjjLM2Dg%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw0Or2fLNxMEPVgBmI50XKHU" href="https://www.ou.org/news/statement-by-the-union-of-orthodox-jewish-congregations-of-america-on-us-supreme-courts-potential-overturning-of-roe-v-wade/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.ou.org/news/<wbr></wbr>statement-by-the-union-of-<wbr></wbr>orthodox-jewish-congregations-<wbr></wbr>of-america-on-us-supreme-<wbr></wbr>courts-potential-overturning-<wbr></wbr>of-roe-v-wade/</a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">) </span></div><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-style: italic;">Jewish law prioritizes the life of the pregnant mother over the life of the fetus such that where the pregnancy critically endangers the physical health or mental health of the mother, an abortion may be authorized, if not mandated, by Halacha and should be available to all women irrespective of their economic status. Legislation and court rulings -- federally or in any state -- that absolutely ban abortion without regard for the health of the mother would literally limit our ability to live our lives in accordance with our responsibility to preserve life.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">At two different points in this statement, there are specific references to how “health” includes “mental health,” in part because some of the bills being considered in some states, if they have exceptions to save the life of the mother, specify that they’re talking about “physical health,” to specifically exclude mental health considerations. However, the mental anguish of the person who is pregnant has, for centuries, been considered as part of the decision-making criteria for abortion in Jewish law, and the OU felt it was necessary to emphasize this.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Additionally, the OU statement makes it clear that there is a real concern that some state abortion bans would literally infringe on the religious freedom of the Orthodox Jewish community.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Further amplifying this point, in sessions I have taught about abortion in Jewish law, I have included a quotation from a Hasidic medical professional who says: “It is nearly impossible to create a law that limits abortion and does not put a secular legal ban on some halachically permissible abortions. What Jewish community would want to continue to live in a place where they are potentially barred from following halacha? Is a community even allowed by halacha to continue living in such a place, if they have the option of leaving? It appears to me that the Jewish community cannot justify staying on the sidelines of this national American issue. We need to take the side of allowing for safe, legal, available abortions. Jewish law does not align with the Christian right on this issue, and neither should Orthodox Jews.” (</span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKuiA9j8LjGOLTs7GJeQ1eY211CKJUUFHZa_Z2ZAVJhOeSXVOFP1djHcK4SQOZpkx5MfCnVf0sLejvGKRFmXfD_zHfDJCIPfcVorT7OxmvhWmmVJdqYEmSOfR0HUZyKD5YEcQsNKNWlMXo9uGrE03_QUxXnB0BT6CPLR-KhBLHtHQ%3D%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw1HUcv075PAL7D7gbpr54Rj" href="https://www.jta.org/2019/05/22/opinion/what-jewish-law-really-says-about-abortion" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.jta.org/2019/05/<wbr></wbr>22/opinion/what-jewish-law-<wbr></wbr>really-says-about-abortion</a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">) </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;">Most people who have abortions do not make this decision cavalierly. It is almost always a “pro-life” decision in the most literal sense, in that it is a decision made out of anguished concern for the pregnant person’s health and wellbeing, or for the needs of other family members, or of potential future children.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> This has been reinforced for me in so many conversations I have had with people who are contemplating abortion or have had an abortion. And the spectre of a country where women are scared to get pre-natal care, where every miscarriage is treated as a potential criminal investigation, and where doctors hesitate to perform abortions that they believe are necessary to save the life of the mother (because they could be second-guessed after the fact by other doctors, or non-doctors, who suggest that the abortion was actually not the only way to save the life of the mother, potentially resulting in doctors serving jail time for making their best professional judgments on behalf of their patients), sounds terrifyingly dangerous.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Some of you know that my brother Mike works as the business and development director of a health care center in Virginia that provides abortions as well as other health care services. He has also volunteered for many years as a clinic escort, helping clients to walk into the clinics and giving them the strength to walk through the lines of protesters calling them vile names and assuming the worst about their intentions and their integrity. Shortly after I heard about the Supreme Court decision, I contributed in his honor to the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;">National Council of Jewish Women’s Abortion Access Fund, </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKkZG1TvUJgMj7s4lJ8H2eaFYfy3tJLP_857T5c5rjdya-Wz3_9OhQ976CVgkSdL1s53rWfSBBOUlnsX0Ouo31kqUqa2tB1LdiuixVIhbDImA%3D%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw2D-he-gOU4YG9XfGXtayvP" href="https://www.jewsforabortionaccess.org/fund" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>jewsforabortionaccess.org/fund</a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;"><wbr></wbr>,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> which supports a long-standing network of organizations that give guidance and financial support to women nationwide about their options and provide financial assistance to those seeking abortions. I do not presume that everyone in our community agrees with what I have written -- but for those who do, this may be an example of tangible action that can make a real difference at a difficult time. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">I am listing some additional links and articles below.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">With best wishes for health and strength,</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Rabbi Rob Scheinberg</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-weight: bold;">some links for additional reading and listening:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> </span></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Rabbi Elhanan Poupko, September 2021: </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKJiqV2bW_yT0Q7PXdF2j8qaxkO94BFTBZvYahMMgrjF1TO6zdsEzULiMJbMwyCq-lQaKMRfEcNc8ZaTzzWfSOrdCg25ptEhaY65xjzL0fnGvhvdtlS66zfUx1YnmRxQJuNVNLq5djD9jWSiThAZUNJi29p3KG461P%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw07xG7AY_M9E7FBNKcK_j3a" href="https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKJiqV2bW_yT0Q7PXdF2j8qaxkO94BFTBZvYahMMgrjF1TO6zdsEzULiMJbMwyCq-lQaKMRfEcNc8ZaTzzWfSOrdCg25ptEhaY65xjzL0fnGvhvdtlS66zfUx1YnmRxQJuNVNLq5djD9jWSiThAZUNJi29p3KG461P&c=VNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA==&ch=AV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"> </a><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKJiqV2bW_yT0Q7PXdF2j8qaxkO94BFTBZvYahMMgrjF1TO6zdsEzULiMJbMwyCq-lQaKMRfEcNc8ZaTzzWfSOrdCg25ptEhaY65xjzL0fnGvhvdtlS66zfUx1YnmRxQJuNVNLq5djD9jWSiThAZUNJi29p3KG461P%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw07xG7AY_M9E7FBNKcK_j3a" href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/texas-abortion-law-an-assualt-on-orthodox-judaism/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://blogs.timesofisrael.<wbr></wbr>com/texas-abortion-law-an-<wbr></wbr>assualt-on-orthodox-judaism/</a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> -- a critique of the Texas abortion law from an Orthodox perspective. Subtitle: “</span><span style="color: grey; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-style: italic;">This ban is not really a pro-life stance; rather, it is forcing fundamentalist Christian beliefs on the many who do not share those beliefs.” (</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> I am not Orthodox, but I share these Orthodox writings because most people reading this already know that non-Orthodox Jews are overwhelmingly likely to take the pro-choice perspective.) </span></li></ul><div><br /></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, May 2022: </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKgMmvz34aL1bqaTSRe64VAn5M4LYPrLsUEn6blHyQJAKBkWDrTGyHPhVB9H0aIl-ENJeVip4yCAPdawZeNBp2o7qIYhUOTC5VmkMdNslSyzlMh7fQrctqc8xOHHYFQhh_aAvZqpZWDBIuITr3tDfsR6ldJYOGyRAdzcvm28GpJqegJLjdfd2Hl-Tj1qwQ033DjwTovRvPUBrvwB1OYwfSqLMBG7upstKCtnEpgnjGkil2a0sdNi7oUQ%3D%3D%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw0WhWfB-ilCyFdObnMHKsUE" href="https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/clarifying-abortion-in-halacha-and-reasons-not-to-favor-overturning-roe-v-wade/2022/06/02/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.jewishpress.com/<wbr></wbr>indepth/opinions/clarifying-<wbr></wbr>abortion-in-halacha-and-<wbr></wbr>reasons-not-to-favor-<wbr></wbr>overturning-roe-v-wade/2022/<wbr></wbr>06/02/</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> -- Yeshiva University Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Jeremy Wieder (Orthodox) discusses why he would oppose the overturning of Roe v. Wade. An audio interview on this topic with Rabbi Wieder from May 2022 is here:<a href=" https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/abortion-in-jewish-law-and-roe-v-wade-in-jewish-public-discourse-110/"> </a></span><a href=" https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/abortion-in-jewish-law-and-roe-v-wade-in-jewish-public-discourse-110/"><span style="color: #4aa0da; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif;">https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/</span><wbr></wbr><span style="color: #4aa0da; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif;">abortion-in-jewish-law-and-</span><wbr></wbr><span style="color: #4aa0da; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif;">roe-v-wade-in-jewish-public-</span><wbr></wbr><span style="color: #4aa0da; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif;">discourse-110/</span></a></li></ul><div><br /></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKSLNEJSZ6unw59LydmGZZaw21cdyy9ggtotT-UqzYH55Ds3EBesrr9BtEYumP6CUhEL9X8x4wKIYfR4mcruhimOShjns8vQhkWc4W9IctPifo3Tp_k0AoCsL3CbdCSJ37wG5Ezb6y14gUbARYcgQoeg%3D%3D%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw37GGqKHElb2YPIK1dJ7zjh" href="https://forward.com/life/406674/orthodox-jewish-women-abortion-stories/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://forward.com/life/<wbr></wbr>406674/orthodox-jewish-women-<wbr></wbr>abortion-stories/</a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> -- </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> Stories shared by Orthodox Jewish women about their abortions.</span></li></ul><div><br /></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative) statement about the Supreme Court opinion: </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKgcQFdlgH7JlNArXkagbD-t387y6x6Gr6Z6wENWO8-mzBkU37PC3QUg1UHe40B-MaQC0K2_10-a0D_Gz8gr6qEHM7IB2BazpxyDdB6AIv1TJe6C8f0r8nh40AaIE-XHxlJvgokVj7gA05TCBaq_y5s2TCeHuwWaWkV8IFx-p4gL1aKf_pjFOxPGFD6Erg3dk2x7dm35-xRKNBjPsXFnwJbPMFlD_L4tnk%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw3QkDpyTOlXt_4BSDKUXfmV" href="https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/story/conservative-rabbis-strongly-condemn-us-supreme-court-decision-overturn-abortion-rights" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>rabbinicalassembly.org/story/<wbr></wbr>conservative-rabbis-strongly-<wbr></wbr>condemn-us-supreme-court-<wbr></wbr>decision-overturn-abortion-<wbr></wbr>rights</a></li></ul><div><br /></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Rabbinical Assembly resources on reproductive freedom: </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauKvHIP4gM8Z2rVCFSWCZKheDKWOlGVmVSg29FVXnNZgxCg0WtXmP2TKZstl2NWZRWTppGWMh2Ccb8JE1WxB84LZ3c65A-5oQ8tiByTlb9dijN6nwSMqg41vgPpIo-pPNXh6iDV_FfBniuDFdH7YVLlQQ%3D%3D%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw0gfgEKeg-XHNIxjg5a5w7B" href="https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/story/resources-reproductive-freedom" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #4aa0da; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>rabbinicalassembly.org/story/<wbr></wbr>resources-reproductive-freedom</a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"></span></li></ul><div><br /></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauK09ikYBGvcLPWlCOhZS_QbruEgAjTe_cDvmUDB01GB8BsUPRFYxtsQRy0nzXfJ05m5Uiy23CvdPouSDKThtGCvtxtz-ArCN86UKJwkwYw1_rtu5WpJzLmnHMY1n4jOSZ1S3T_-ubRcf27ErVlvI43UIu_JtgfvPXRLZiJIGixAcfjQal_2X4mrzYPrUzWEXDLnxaaGvIr6NDjFjQS4fhIA6hYXPlj6rr8fILn4pO7CRa2xIrQMK9EFr4iPD8fJL6wJJXPHuqLh5-Wy82QM4l5RX9exkh7dGBKV7tMYdzLeoZOT-UT3TEA9A%3D%3D%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw0f2o3oWLPpGE9G7sSjVhJT" href="https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/06/24/anti-abortion-clinic-protests-are-getting-bigger-and-more-aggressive/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonian.com/<wbr></wbr>2022/06/24/anti-abortion-<wbr></wbr>clinic-protests-are-getting-<wbr></wbr>bigger-and-more-aggressive/</a><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"> - an article from Friday that quotes my brother, Mike Scheinberg. </span></li></ul><div><br /></div><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><li style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Members of IKAR, a Jewish community in Los Angeles, tell their abortion stories on this podcast: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"></span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D001x99NzLR8Y0E6KXBEsmZ6udanhlwe1vpD99RRzikCzIvglSB6umgM8kN8z1LrdauK-F3sw3UnXLl7n7tKmvK3tqjQkXfhw6q5iEExE6iv8hkcqOpKWjyPqzwK0ssN76Y62ZYVihq2lkuQOzzCRMc_Jh4lHK7CWZbvLa9ekfHdG0u34KU2yuFgIr9C5DZWJ3WBlFo9GlWI6AYtFxX2lM9EyYL-2s5dBnP_Ybgl-7dSj9w%3D%26c%3DVNFLAhcNQCJjF-_HTsI_StTaH8H2odt7JISTvwkHU2IRHZaoidrRZA%3D%3D%26ch%3DAV5Tii5YN_vf3RjcdEI9GjH9sEA3FEL9dTjqJSPn20DSBM837I3r0g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1656429125947000&usg=AOvVaw2rtwYbAt0NksNO8eYWBpMS" href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6FniDGVe44ziOxhFLVqkON?si=ddsRQLW5Ru6fBvvCclYkYQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #4aa0da; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/<wbr></wbr>episode/<wbr></wbr>6FniDGVe44ziOxhFLVqkON?si=<wbr></wbr>ddsRQLW5Ru6fBvvCclYkYQ</a></li></ul><div><br /></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-76033334336188225402022-06-18T21:10:00.002-07:002022-06-18T21:14:17.271-07:00Second chances: In the Torah and Jewish tradition, and in American history (Parashat Behaalotecha / Juneteenth)<p>(Delivered to the United Synagogue of Hoboken, June 18, 2022)</p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1d21aa90-7fff-c27a-e8f7-599b758575e6"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the most fascinating rabbis in the time of the Talmud was Rabbi Akiba. Growing up in meager circumstances, he never had the chance to attend school as a child. He was illiterate until age 40, and he worked as a shepherd. When he fell in love with Rachel, the daughter of one of the wealthy philanthropists of Jerusalem, </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Nedarim.50a.2?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">her father effectively disowned her </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">because he were so appalled that she was marrying someone who was so ignorant that he couldn’t read or write. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Avot_D'Rabbi_Natan.6.2?lang=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But at age 40</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Akiba was watching his sheep and went to a brook to get some water, and he noticed that in this brook, there were drops of water that were falling on a stone, and over the course of many many years, the drops of water had carved a hole in the stone. It occurred to Akiba: if these drops of water, just a little at a time, were able to carve a hole in this rock,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">maybe if I invest some effort every day, eventually I may be able to read. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At that time, he had a school-age son, so he went to school alongside his son. Quickly it became clear that he had an aptitude for study, and of course he learned to read, and soon continued his studies in the rabbinical academy, and not only was he ordained as a rabbi, but he actually became one of the most illustrious rabbinic leaders and teachers of his generation. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Akiba became a prime example of someone who got a second chance in his life, and he continues to be a special source of inspiration for those who find their path to education as adults, and those who begin their serious engagement with Judaism as adults (including many people in our congregation). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Akiba is on my mind this week because one of the themes in our torah reading for this week is second chances. We read in the Torah portion of Beha’alotecha that each year, exactly one month after the first night of Passover, the first night of Pesach, there should be another holiday known as </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.9.9?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pesach Sheni, or Second Passover</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This holiday is not intended for everyone, but specifically for those who, for whatever reason, missed the observance of Passover at its appropriate time. Perhaps they were ill, or on a journey, during Passover and weren’t able to bring the prescribed Passover offering at its appropriate time. They get a second chance: they can bring the offering exactly one month later.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Interestingly, </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Numbers.9.10?lang=bi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rashi’s commentary on this passage</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tells us that to participate in the ritual of Pesach Sheni, you didn’t even need a particularly compelling excuse for why you missed Passover the first time around. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, if during the actual holiday of Passover, you were right outside the doors of the Tabernacle or the Temple, and for some reason you didn’t go in, you could still fulfill the Passover ritual on Pesach Sheni. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In other words, there is maximum openness to granting this second chance. This is a theme that we see throughout Jewish tradition. For example, our concept of Teshuvah (repentance), so important during the high holidays, is predicated on the notion that there are very few mistakes we can make that are truly irreversible. We almost always can get a second chance to change our conduct and our attitude and our life priorities. </span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The story of Rabbi Akiba, and of Pesach sheni, are also on my mind because of where we are on the American calendar. This Sunday is June 19, known as ‘Juneteenth.” As of last year, it is now an American federal holiday. It commemorates how June 19, 1865, marked the end of enslavement of Black Americans in Texas and finally brought the era of American slavery to its conclusion. It is, in that sense, an American equivalent to the Jewish holiday of Passover that marks the end of Jewish enslavement in Egypt. And accounts of the original celebrations of Juneteenth in Texas in 1865 clearly echo the jubilation that we read about in the Book of Exodus when the Israelites were freed from their enslavement. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Juneteenth has been celebrated in Texas since the 1860s, and in communities throughout the United States for more than 100 years. Observances of Juneteenth waned during the Jim Crow era and the era of the Great Migration, and were revived again in the 1960s. And believe it or not, making Juneteenth a federal holiday was one of not very many things that the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">two main presidential candidates in 2020 agreed upon</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Last year at this time, President Biden signed the bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. State and federal employees will have the day off on Monday as the closest weekday to June 19. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Juneteenth also marks the beginning of what we could call the “second chance” for the United States, which was ostensibly founded on principles of democracy and equality but made a mockery of these principles for as long as there was slavery and institutionalized racism and white supremacy. As we know, this country still has a long way to go, but we can be so grateful for this opportunity for a second chance. Like those who missed the chance to offer the Passover sacrifice because they were right outside the Temple door, the earlier generations of Americans did not have a particularly good excuse for missing the chance to embrace the values of equality and freedom. Many countries around the world had made slavery illegal by the early 1800s, and the United States shamefully lagged behind. But the United States got a second chance. Historian Eric Foner famously refers to the abolition of slavery as part of the “</span><a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393358520" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">second founding of the United States</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,” with the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution being like the documents of incorporation for this second founding of the United States. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second chances don’t happen once and for all; they have to be renewed each day. Rabbi Akiba began taking his second chance when he began to accompany his son to school. but he renewed this second chance every day when he continued his studies and his teaching and leading. The United States began its second chance in the 1860s. We pray that together we can help this country to renew its commitment to the values of justice and equality each day. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-50204762124833949192022-04-10T18:41:00.001-07:002022-04-10T18:41:15.656-07:00Seder Trivia Game, 2021-22 edition<p> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 11.5pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At our synagogue's congregational seders for the last few years, we have played the following game: I have collected unusual Pesach stories, and shared three such stories with the community: two true stories, and one fictional story. Participants then have to guess which two stories are true and which one is false. (If you listen to </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #006677; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wait, wait, don't tell me</span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 11.5pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> you get the idea, except that only one story is false.)</span></p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; max-width: calc(100% - 48px); position: relative;"><br style="font-size: 14.85px;" /><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can see previous editions of this game here </span><a href="http://rabbischeinberg.blogspot.com/search?q=trivia" style="background: transparent; color: #006677; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://rabbischeinberg.blogspot.com/search?q=trivia</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div><span style="font-size: 14.85px;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14.85px; font-size: 14.85px;"></span><br style="font-size: 14.85px;" /><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is what was presented at our congregational seder in 2021. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 2 are true; one is fictional. Answers at the bottom!</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span id="m_-8722109425240458941gmail-m_9083317433192166886docs-internal-guid-584cd699-311c-6802-df0c-ff9bf3560a14">==============================<wbr></wbr>=========================</span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Passovers of 2020 and 2021 have truly remarkable in Jewish history. Our trivia game this year includes three stories about pandemic-era Passover observances; 2 of these stories are true and one is false. </span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7927b7f2-7fff-ac24-b85c-3d369872689e"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-893608e9-7fff-4206-c306-5d82cede70d5"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">#1: </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seder 2020 required a lot of changes in the seder procedure - coming as it did at the very beginning of the pandemic when a lot of the dangers of the virus were not well understood -- and so there were a number of halakhic questions that came up. One question was submitted to a group of rabbis to offer a halakhic ruling: knowing that we cannot have guests at the seder, will that change our procedures for opening the door for Elijah? </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCWR99kSbWKXkeIBCqN7Y-1J1zdckGkqXhHzYf2_UtVg_YiFDHSXj-wwSewxPpbCFPfTamcCX-Al9Xqz4BoJrUaFmJNWxA5jarEevTSK0nf7IxtOs1NaOeJAaG1UZUL4V673465yQBSEVeg82deI60YdRcYUkb2rgPp03GRt8ApESGfNdaETfx6eL3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCWR99kSbWKXkeIBCqN7Y-1J1zdckGkqXhHzYf2_UtVg_YiFDHSXj-wwSewxPpbCFPfTamcCX-Al9Xqz4BoJrUaFmJNWxA5jarEevTSK0nf7IxtOs1NaOeJAaG1UZUL4V673465yQBSEVeg82deI60YdRcYUkb2rgPp03GRt8ApESGfNdaETfx6eL3=w460-h259" width="460" /></a></div></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Prophet Elijah, of course, is traditionally regarded as traveling to every seder in the world -- and taking a sip of the wine poured for him in each location. This would mean that Elijah would visit millions of homes without quarantining in between, and in each home, at least briefly, he would be unmasked. And he would also be consuming immense quantities of alcohol. This is not a winning combination for Covid safety. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The scholars carefully considered this question: is it safe to open the door for Elijah this year? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Menachem Posner responded, surprisingly enough: “This question should be answered after you carefully review the guidelines from your local health officials as close as you can to Passover.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This answer, I am sure, prompted various frantic queries to health departments around the world, asking for clarification to determine the safety of opening one’s door to an invisible inebriated prophet from thousands of years ago. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though if they read the remainder of Rabbi Posner’s ruling, perhaps their minds would be put at ease. He continued: “However, I'm going to hazard a guess that as long as your door does not face your neighbor's door and you're keeping your distance, opening the door for Elijah should be fine.”</span></p><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">===========================</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">#2. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You're on mute!” How many times have we heard this in gatherings of all kinds over the course of this year, seeing someone’s lips move and not hearing any sound coming from their mouth. (Though awkward, it’s of course much less awkward than the reverse - which is not being muted when you should be.) </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People try to speak when they are on mute, millions of times each day, in work meetings, in gatherings of family and friends, and in Jewish prayers and rituals. You might think this unusual phenomenon would be unprecedented in Jewish history - but in fact it marks a revival of an ancient practice at the Passover Seder. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvNIlL-TzI1s3FM1-kdqio4nxACe6NB3usyeNMnq5n3GYerw_rrVp1X_sEGIipo8WCTNReBVv108ZTJ1dbUeLCI5YmmuUS-iBwDyuYsuZdRiGBET4LLmEweASXxFNarjcP-g1XuyuvO9_P-hl6KeTAitLucflyF8DMdo28rVbD3ak4Se5BfZQqjz0C" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="550" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvNIlL-TzI1s3FM1-kdqio4nxACe6NB3usyeNMnq5n3GYerw_rrVp1X_sEGIipo8WCTNReBVv108ZTJ1dbUeLCI5YmmuUS-iBwDyuYsuZdRiGBET4LLmEweASXxFNarjcP-g1XuyuvO9_P-hl6KeTAitLucflyF8DMdo28rVbD3ak4Se5BfZQqjz0C" width="240" /></a></div>The Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Pesahim, tells about Rabbi Rafram bar Pappa and his much younger brother, the future Rabbi Uktzin bar Pappa, who celebrated the seder together in the city of Peta<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">h</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Tikva. Shortly after the food was served, Rabbi Rafram began to speak - but no sound came out of his mouth; as the Talmud says, “he was like Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel: ‘lips were moving, but no voice could not be heard.’ ” Young Uktzin said to his older brother: “What are you saying?” Rabbi Rafram responded: “As it is said in the book of Exodus, at the beginning of the Exodus story: ‘Moses spoke to the people of Israel, but the people of Israel did not hear Moses.’ ” This appears to have been one of many techniques in use in 4th-century Israel’s Jewish community to prompt children to ask questions at the seder.</span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Based on this Talmudic story, some Jews of the ancient city of Petach Tikvah adopted the practice of beginning the storytelling portion of the seder silently, with their lips moving, until someone asks a question about it. But I’m sure this custom would cause great confusion if any Jews with that tradition are having a Zoom seder this year. Someone might assume that the “child who does not know how to ask” is actually “the child who does not know how to unmute.” </span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">3.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we know, synagogues around the world have responded to the Covid pandemic in different ways. However, there has been a bright dividing line between Orthodox and non-Orthodox communities: non-Orthodox communities have by and large been willing to use Zoom on Shabbat and holidays, and Orthodox communities have categorically forbidden the use of Zoom on Shabbat and holidays.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvptcpGo8SljzYgqTu619wVpMDIlPp_l7y1BuViApSfsxl_Qg8jNwbK9AATVQanoF5D5QPCHJqyBGYn-clA4QBRRe9Z1wm9ky9OF5oZtmic7Zl5ZraLnyWBon0C3d3HU9JuZCnRPH7EDZIDNT6jckEdRmL1JLT1Bffgli_iRP_NMp0iwbHW19uWUPc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="866" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvptcpGo8SljzYgqTu619wVpMDIlPp_l7y1BuViApSfsxl_Qg8jNwbK9AATVQanoF5D5QPCHJqyBGYn-clA4QBRRe9Z1wm9ky9OF5oZtmic7Zl5ZraLnyWBon0C3d3HU9JuZCnRPH7EDZIDNT6jckEdRmL1JLT1Bffgli_iRP_NMp0iwbHW19uWUPc=w311-h356" width="311" /></a></div><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But wait - not so fast. Remember what happened shortly before Pesach 2020, otherwise known as the ‘early pandemic period.’ 15 Israeli Orthodox rabbis issued a ruling that permitted the use of Zoom at the Passover seder as a way to connect with older relatives, to help people feel less isolated. They said that if the Zoom transmission is begun before the holiday begins, this should not be regarded as a violation of Jewish law. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The response was swift and not very generous. These rabbis came under significant verbal attack from key voices in the Israeli establishment, including Israeli Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi David Lau, who said the ruling was irresponsible, and the rabbis who issued it “lacked even a minimal understanding of the implications of the ruling.” Some of those who had signed the letter either retracted their statements, or simply denied that they had ever signed it. However, 8 rabbis stood by the statement, and one of them made an effort to match Rabbi Lau’s rhetoric, saying: “Rabbi Lau is a child; he has not even opened the books of [the scholars we quoted in our opinion.]” So much has changed this year -- but at least it is comforting to know that communication among disagreeing Torah scholars is the same as always. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">==============================</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Answers:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#1 is true (see guidance from Chabad.org; </span><a href="https://shulbythesea.co.uk/coronavirus-nixed-your-pesach/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://shulbythesea.co.uk/coronavirus-nixed-your-pesach/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#2 is false (for many reasons: Peta</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">h</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Tikva is not an ancient city; ‘Uktzin’ is the name of a tractate and not a rabbi; and for the people who are really in the weeds, Rafram bar Pappa was a sage from Babylonia, not from the land of Israel). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#3 is true (see </span><a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/zoom-passover-seder-rabbis-hit-back-at-critics-622494" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/zoom-passover-seder-rabbis-hit-back-at-critics-622494</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) </span></p><br /></div></div></h3>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-39547991118593519612022-03-02T19:52:00.001-08:002022-03-02T19:52:41.269-08:00Wordle in the Torah? (Parashat Pekudei)<p>With all the turmoil and tragedy in our world, some of us are glad to have Wordle to distract us. You probably know that Wordle is the incredibly popular word guessing and unscrambling game that a software developer in Brooklyn created as a present for his spouse, and in November 2021 it had been played by a total of 90 people. Now it is played by millions every day (many of whom, for unknown reasons, are eager to tell you their score). </p><p>Believe it or not, there are connections between Wordle and this week’s Torah portion of Pekudei, which describes the garments of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) and the other Kohanim. The Kohen Gadol would wear a Choshen Mishpat, often translated as “the breastplate of decision,” which looked a little like a Wordle grid, with four rows of three precious stones, each stone corresponding to one of the tribes of Israel and engraved with the name of that tribe. </p><p>The Torah portion goes on to tell us about the “Urim ve-Tumim,” which were to be put in the Choshen and to help the leaders of the Jewish people to make decisions. Commentators disagree about what exactly these words “Urim ve-Tumim” refer to. <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Ramban_on_Exodus.28.30.1?ven=Commentary_on_the_Torah_by_Ramban_(Nachmanides)._Translated_and_annotated_by_Charles_B._Chavel._New_York,_Shilo_Pub._House,_1971-1976&vhe=On_Your_Way_New&lang=bi" target="_blank">Ramban</a> (13th c. Spain) suggests that the Urim ve-Tumim was not an additional item worn by the Kohen Gadol, but rather it’s a name for how the Choshen Mishpat functioned as a decision-making device. Noting that the word “Urim” means “lights,” and that the breastplate was engraved with the names of all the tribes of Israel, nearly every letter in the Hebrew alphabet was engraved somewhere on the breastplate. When the Kohen Gadol would ask an important question, Hebrew letters on the breastplate would light up, and those letters would spell the answer to whatever question was posed. But here’s the problem. those lit letters wouldn’t necessarily be in order. The Kohen Gadol had to unscramble the letters. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1PqQKI2bKdCFQ5-jhZjNHCAiARsZxXTlTVkI8yY073d_MFyDn5FBta1GhiMFEUsbeMlk0cM7KQ_-xB7QtJJUNRR8u3vQkQQCsgzpYHwiXnDFTE8M9Iyo6On9hfybMeYTGQV5EXXYdwu8BRBMldBung4DsTfJgn93O4vkB_BPgyXExMse-tmR_63ut=s886" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="696" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1PqQKI2bKdCFQ5-jhZjNHCAiARsZxXTlTVkI8yY073d_MFyDn5FBta1GhiMFEUsbeMlk0cM7KQ_-xB7QtJJUNRR8u3vQkQQCsgzpYHwiXnDFTE8M9Iyo6On9hfybMeYTGQV5EXXYdwu8BRBMldBung4DsTfJgn93O4vkB_BPgyXExMse-tmR_63ut=s320" width="251" /></a></p><p>In fact, the 18th century scholar Rabbi Elijah of Vilna, known as the Vilna Gaon, said* that Ramban’s interpretation can help us to understand a famous story at the beginning of the Book of Samuel. The High Priest Eli sees Hannah, who is distraught because she desperately wants to have a child. She is moving her lips but making no sound, and Eli is troubled by this and accuses her of being drunk. </p><p>The Vilna Gaon says: The High Priest Eli posed this question to the Choshen Mishpat: What’s going on with that woman? Then letters in the breastplate started to light up: the letters Shin, Kaf, Resh, Hey. ש. ר. כ. ה</p><p>Eli unscrambled these letters and realized that they could spell the word שכרה <i>shikorah</i>, which means “drunk,” so Eli concluded that (by the standards of those times) she should be chastised and thrown out of the Temple.</p><p>However, there’s often more than one way to solve the puzzle. Eli didn’t realize that those letters also can be rearranged to spell the word כשרה -- which could mean <i>k’sherah</i>, “appropriate,” and could mean <i>ke-Sarah</i>, “like Sarah.” The Choshen Mishpat was really trying to communicate that Hannah was appropriately crying out in sorrow, similar to her ancestor the matriarch Sarah.</p><p>This is an imaginative story -- but it’s also true to our experience, in Wordle and in our lives. When we make assumptions too soon, without all the information, we’re more likely to get it wrong. When people’s lives and dignity are at stake, before making a rash decision, collect all the necessary information and consider all the possibilities! </p><p><br /></p><p><i>* See description in Maayanah Shel Torah, Alexander Zusha Friedman, 1956:</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgimNkxrUBWP9YHGnFGFgfEsERBn9jCsw2bjNeRtv6E8j9nMlkRKSEzqR7U8QLriRYTKXYBrVGMjKYVpsH47iH712tJ3RdwS3iun2oH9eSydgXxiUcTxxeFlRYGVeDAZWFCSYKIlmpTIBqk6ajkPy3WJGI6yLM3Uz15i9iJrY48cgsxjDy51NakHoUd" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="645" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgimNkxrUBWP9YHGnFGFgfEsERBn9jCsw2bjNeRtv6E8j9nMlkRKSEzqR7U8QLriRYTKXYBrVGMjKYVpsH47iH712tJ3RdwS3iun2oH9eSydgXxiUcTxxeFlRYGVeDAZWFCSYKIlmpTIBqk6ajkPy3WJGI6yLM3Uz15i9iJrY48cgsxjDy51NakHoUd" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-3030021932325042252022-01-14T11:15:00.001-08:002022-01-14T11:15:13.763-08:00Looking up, or looking down? (Parashat Beshalach)<p> <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking up, or looking down? <br /></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-bed9b24d-7fff-e5d1-1794-a6185d3aab4b"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me share a memory from January 2021, otherwise known as the “middle pandemic period.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My daughter is a student at a high school in New York City. Last winter, she was attending two days a week in person, and three days remotely. In a normal world she would be commuting by bus or subway, but in the winter of 2021 we were not comfortable with this -- so when she would be going to school, I would drive her in and pick her up. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whereas Fridays were normally designated for her as remote days, there were some occasional Fridays that were in-person days for her, but only for half the day. One such day took place in January 2021. On that day, it was clear that it would just not be worth it for me to drive into the city, drop her off, return to Hoboken, and then less than an hour later, drive back into the city to pick her up. It would be much better for me to stay in the city and work from remote. In a normal world, I would have parked the car, found a Starbucks or some similar place, and done my work while waiting for my daughter -- but this story takes place when there was no indoor dining in New York City, so it was better for me to work from the car. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However: for the last many years, my Friday morning routine has included visiting all the kids in the various preschool classes and singing songs with them. Or at least that’s what I would do in non-pandemic times. When the weather permitted, I would sing with the kids outside, but in January of 2021 it was too cold to do this outdoors, and at that time, state regulations prohibited visitors inside preschool classes under any circumstances. This is why, last winter, I would spend a chunk of my Friday mornings sitting in my office playing guitar and singing over Zoom, and a big TV monitor would get brought into the classes so they could see me. Some of the kids started calling it “Rabbi TV.” I would sing songs with them and do some prayers with them.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But what was I going to do on this Friday in January? Well, I decided, I can bring my guitar in the car with me when I drive my daughter to school, and I guess I can Zoom these music sessions from the car, using my phone. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So that’s what I attempted that day. I am parked illegally in Manhattan, sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, using the Zoom Phone app, with the guitar strap over my shoulders. And for some reason the Zoom is not connecting. Apparently I have the wrong Zoom link. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Frantically I try to contact anyone at the school. And perhaps you have also had this experience -- when I am agitated, my texting becomes more erratic, and I misspell more words. But fortunately, Autocorrect comes to the rescue. But when I’m trying to say that I need the new Zoom link so that I can sing songs with the preschool, Autocorrect apparently has a mind of its own, twisting around every word I am trying to type, and thinks I’m trying to go on a safari with my dentist or something else that makes no sense. (Though frankly it also doesn’t make sense that I’m trying to play guitar with preschoolers in Hoboken from the driver’s seat of an illegally parked car on Riverside Drive.) And I’m about to scream, because autocorrect is so garbling this urgent message I am trying to send to the preschool. I am so frustrated, and I begin to wish Autocorrect had never been invented. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Later, after I had the chance to calm down, I realized that this scene reminds me of something from the Torah portion of Beshalach which would be read the following day (and will be read this year on Saturday January 15). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The people of Israel have left Egypt, but they haven’t gotten far before Pharaoh has a change of heart and decides to race after them. When the people reach the Sea of Reeds, they become terrified. Moses instructs them to walk through the sea on dry land. Miraculously, that’s what they do -- they walk through the sea and that’s how they escape Egypt and escape their oppressors. The splitting of the sea is regarded as the most amazing miracle in the entire Torah. And yet -- no sooner have the people crossed through the sea, they start complaining again. Which leads the commentators to ask: how is it possible that the people could be so ungrateful, and so oblivious to this most extraordinary miracle that they just witnessed? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The midrashic collection Shmot Rabbah (24:1) records this about some of those who walked through the sea: “When the people of Israel entered the Sea of Reeds, it was full of mud, because until [the parting of the sea, the floor of the sea] was damp from the water, and it resembled mud. [While walking through the sea,] One person would complain to another: “In Egypt we had mud, and in the sea we have mud!” It’s so incredible that the Israelites people could be in the presence of such an extraordinary miracle, but rather than being so glad to be free, they were annoyed that their shoes were getting ruined by the mud. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhh2Aw3crg5o7aS5J-P9xRVot8VA6jFgmkSUxv1TEfuO6e8Bwpc7_xljRxhJ6GgyNd0KU1z20WXuKEE4LQYRoYtfzZ0SwPGYbjTUsneOMI1YGpGCyVDjsyA5xkdJ3LBKXAlrHnjmBcm89evEFrmyOiYnVdEflgSz7i-dxTwsOuLoDcmRavtceOa1FfQ=s640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhh2Aw3crg5o7aS5J-P9xRVot8VA6jFgmkSUxv1TEfuO6e8Bwpc7_xljRxhJ6GgyNd0KU1z20WXuKEE4LQYRoYtfzZ0SwPGYbjTUsneOMI1YGpGCyVDjsyA5xkdJ3LBKXAlrHnjmBcm89evEFrmyOiYnVdEflgSz7i-dxTwsOuLoDcmRavtceOa1FfQ=w320-h240" width="320" /></a></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Lawrence Kushner suggests that the best way to understand this midrashic story is that these complaining people were looking down rather than up. It’s not that they were ungrateful for the miracle; rather, they actually missed the miracle -- they didn’t see it, because they were looking down. Their memories of this occurrence will just be memories of trudging through the mud. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With my determination not to be like one of these complaining Israelites, I thought that perhaps I should think again about what had led me to be playing my guitar in a car on Riverside Drive, cursing the inventor of Autocorrect. Of course it was the pandemic that brought me to that unusual place. Without the pandemic I probably wouldn’t have been driving into the city. But remarkably, the pandemic notwithstanding, it is miraculous how we can be maximally connected to people across the river and around the world. Even five years ago we didn’t have effective technology to do some of the things that we have taken for granted during this challenging era. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">About fifteen years ago, in the runup to the publication of </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mahzor Lev Shalem</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the Rabbinical Assembly was doing a webinar about our new book. Webinars were also new at that time, and to create the webinar, we went to a webinar studio -- during the very brief period of time when there used to be such a thing. Fifteen years ago, you couldn’t imagine creating a webinar if you weren’t doing it from a webinar studio. And fast forward fifteen years and I’m doing a live musical performance from the front seat of my car. We all realize that had the pandemic had happened five years earlier or ten years earlier, the amount of life upheaval would have been so much worse -- and it probably would have been significantly deadlier in every way than it has been.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not to say that we shouldn’t complain about the horrifying effect of the pandemic on our lives. But maybe it means that I didn’t really need to be complaining about Autocorrect on that day in January 2021. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Similarly, the Israelites leaving Egypt had what to complain about -- including the violence they had seen and experienced, and the years of oppression they had endured. The problem was not that they complained. The problem was that they complained about the mud. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From their example, may we learn to be judicious about what we choose to complain about. May we spare no opportunities to affirm when we are in the presence of miracles.</span></p><div><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 100px;"></span></span></p>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-3695484555725366562021-12-03T12:37:00.002-08:002021-12-03T12:37:57.407-08:00Sevivon Take Five.... <p> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last year on the 5th night of Hanukkah, I posted the piano part of this Hanukkah song. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl q66pz984 gpro0wi8 b1v8xokw" href="https://www.facebook.com/carol.lester.946?__cft__[0]=AZV5aPgjRx8vBKWpfMTmYvd_79Z4kJ6fikenLchKI2gdPtIvS8XahzgkIcWEMam1CVQMlG6jtVZbSQKscVvLL1YXigfMenaR6oqfA4huoFaSa1Q71cUNiBkXQrARfpXCGZk&__tn__=-]K-R" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="nc684nl6" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">Carol Lester</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> then added vocals. This year we re-recorded it and are excited to bring you the most appropriate song to sing on the 5th night of Hanukkah while you spin your five-sided dreidel… with appreciation to the great Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck. Happy Hanukkah! </span></p><p><br /></p>
<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/07QeVVph8Aa1WBMpijRVhN?utm_source=generator" width="100%"></iframe>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-28722080709261760132021-11-25T05:17:00.004-08:002021-11-25T05:17:26.683-08:00Fear, in Jacob's day and in our own: Comments on Parashat Vayishlach and the Rittenhouse verdict<p><i> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is adapted from my sermon on November 20, 2021 at the United Synagogue of Hoboken, referencing the Rittenhouse verdict: </span></i></p><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">About 30 years ago, the award-winning Israeli novelist David Grossman wrote this children’s book, איתמר פוגש ארנב - “Itamar meets a rabbit.” </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">It’s a story about a boy named Itamar who loves animals of all kinds, except that he is terrified of rabbits. He is so scared of rabbits that he refuses to even look at a picture of a rabbit in a book. He is so scared of rabbits that when he goes to the zoo, he makes his parents warn him when they are approaching the rabbit cage so he can close his eyes. As a result, the only ‘rabbits’ he has ever seen are in his imagination. They are huge and ferocious and they eat children, and they even have teeth on their tails.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Until one day, Itamar is in the forest and sees an adorable little creature that he has never seen before, and he strikes up a conversation with this animal, at which time he learns two surprising facts. (a) He is speaking with a rabbit, and rabbits are small and cute and nothing like the rabbits in his imagination. (b) When the rabbit finds out that Itamar is a child, the rabbit is terrified because he believes that children are ferocious huge creatures that eat rabbits -- and they even have teeth on their tails. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Clearly the story is an allegory. Itamar and the rabbit fear what they do not know. Their fears fester when they are separated from reality. And when they meet each other, they realize that these fears are unfounded. But we could imagine an alternate reality in which they meet each other each with their guard up, each terrified, and the beautiful meeting that we read about could have been tragically different.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The central story of the Torah portion of Vayishlach may have some parallels with the story of Itamar and the rabbit. Our main character today is Jacob, and he wants to return home after decades of living away from home, but he knows that he cannot return home without in some way confronting his relationship with his estranged brother Esau. He knows Esav is angry at him - and justifiably, because Jacob committed identity fraud against him 21 years earlier.Jacob sends messengers to Esau offering a reconciliation - but he then learns that Esau is approaching him with 400 armed men. We read -- ויירא יעקב מאד ויצר לו -- Jacob is terrified and distressed. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Later that night, Jacob has a famous nighttime wrestling encounter with an angel, who gives him the new name “Israel” - “The one who wrestles with God.” Contemporary commentators often explain this nighttime wrestling story as a manifestation of Jacob’s anxiety as he contemplates the confrontation with his brother. And in fact there is one medieval commentator, Rashbam, who says that the function of the angel is simply -- given Jacob’s extreme fear -- to keep Jacob from running away as he has done so frequently in earlier chapters of his story.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">But other interpretations suggest that Jacob is so afraid, but he is also ready to use force if necessary. According to the Rashi, the Torah is apparently redundant in saying ויירא יעקב מאד - Jacob was terrified -- and ויצר לו - and he was also distressed -- because these are actually two different things that Jacob was feeling. “Jacob was terrified” lest he be killed, and he was also “distressed” lest he be forced to kill others in self-defense, something he was absolutely prepared to do even if he would find it to be troubling.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">In this posture of fear and guardedness, Jacob resembles many of us when we approach situations that are unfamiliar or that we expect to be conflicted. When we are afraid, we may operate on a hair trigger - not necessarily with a weapon, but with whatever response is available to us, including harsh or angry words and vindictive actions. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And maybe this is a story of mutual fear. Why would Esau have come after Jacob with 400 armed men, more than 20 years after his last encounter with his brother? It could be that Esau is still angry, or vindictive, or just wants to pursue fairness and feels that he has been unfairly treated. Or could it also be that Esau regards Jacob with some kind of fear, knowing that Jacob has a history of taking advantage of him, and that somehow Esau always emerges from their interactions at a severe disadvantage. Jacob is scared and is ready to kill if necessary - and so is Esau. Actually, they both had good reason to be afraid of each other. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Seen in this light, it is a heroic action of both of them to defuse the situation at least enough so they can embrace and exchange best wishes to each other before they proceed on their way. You can easily imagine an alternate tragic ending to this story where one or both of them ends up dead, even if that was not their intention. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Obviously fear is an emotion whose purpose is to keep us safe - to make sure we are aware of threats and dangers and protect ourselves from them. But an overabundance of fear distorts our perception of the world, making us see everything as a threat. One of the terrifying curses in the Book of Leviticus is וְרָדַ֣ף אֹתָ֗ם ק֚וֹל עָלֶ֣ה נִדָּ֔ף You will be pursued by the sound of blowing leaves. The sound of leaves will make you scared that someone’s chasing you even though no one is chasing you. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">If you assume that everything in the world is threatening, you’re likely to be involved in more conflict. And if you assume that everything in the world is threatening, and you are heavily armed, you may be more likely to stumble into conflict, even deadly conflict. Picture, for example, someone with an overabundance of fear, who is also heavily armed. Speaking theoretically, suppose you’re picturing someone who is age 17 and brings a semi-automatic rifle into a politically charged situation, a rifle that it is not legal for him to purchase or own, and he feels that an unarmed emotionally disturbed man is a threat to him, and shoots and kills him, and then shoots and kills and maims the people who are trying to disarm him -- as after all, he is an active shooter. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">A jury in Wisconsin issued a verdict yesterday that the shooter in such a case was acting in self defense - even though it’s abundantly clear from the descriptions of the event that no one’s life would have been in danger in these interactions had this 17-year-old not been openly armed. His claim of self defense requiring lethal force was based on his perception that people were trying to grab his gun -- which actually is not a bad thing to do if you are confronting an active shooter.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">If the net effect of this verdict is to encourage more people to bring more weapons to demonstrations, it’s hard to imagine how that helps our world to be safer. It just introduces more opportunities for people to stumble into disastrous conflict because their fear response takes over. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">How many other situations in our world might we see as situations of mutual fear, like Esau and Jacob? This does not have to mean that the two sides are equally at fault. And obviously our world includes many genuine dangers from which we must protect ourselves. But this story, like the children’s story of Itamar, does highlight that having our guard up does not always make our world safer. Sometimes fear makes our world more dangerous. And sometimes the way to make our world safer is to encounter the other directly — and to verify that, regardless of what we have imagined, the other does not actually have teeth on their tail.</div></div>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-19069405696117606462021-09-12T15:38:00.006-07:002021-09-12T20:57:04.457-07:00"Shabbat Shalom, Earth!" (2nd day Rosh HaShanah, 5782 / 2021)<span id="docs-internal-guid-88556080-7fff-5c67-8841-7644197a027b"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shabbat Shalom!....... </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How embarrassing! I got you all to say ‘Shabbat Shalom’ even though as far as I know it’s Wednesday!! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Actually, this happens all the time. Raise your hand if you have ever mistakenly said ‘Shabbat Shalom’ to someone when it wasn’t Shabbat. I bet this is especially likely to happen in the synagogue - where many of us are here so frequently on Shabbat that it just seems natural to say Shabbat Shalom when we’re here. (And being here more often than most, I am a prime offender.) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well I have some good news for you: Today, you’re entitled to say Shabbat Shalom even though it’s Wednesday. And in fact, every day for this entire year of 5782 you are entitled to say Shabbat Shalom -- (though truly, most people don’t). Because Jewish tradition defines this entire year that started yesterday as a Shabbat La-Aretz - a Shabbat for the land. We are beginning what the Torah describes as a Shnat Shmitah - often referred to as a sabbatical year. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Sabbatical Year is one of the more unusual institutions in the Torah. According to the book of Leviticus -- שש שנים תזרע שדך ואספת את תבואתה Six years you shall plant and harvest in your fields, but the seventh year will be שנת שבתון יהיה לארץ שבת לה’ - A year of Shabbat for the earth -- a Shabbat to God. (The Torah actually uses the word “Shabbat” to describe it.) Fields in the land of Israel would not be planted or harvested. You could only harvest that which grows naturally without cultivation. And everything that grows belongs equally to everyone who needs it. And people who have been impoverished and buried by crushing debt are forgiven of those debts. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Shmitah system is inspiring to me, first of all, because it’s amazing we have been keeping track of this cycle of seven years since ancient times, reminding us of our continuity with our ancestors in the time of the Bible. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I am not talking about the Shmitah - Sabbatical Year - today simply because I am interested in the details of ancient Jewish agricultural laws, and not only because I’m inspired at how it represents Jewish continuity across thousands of years. Rather, Shmitah carries lessons that are remarkably, even devasatingly, relevant to our world today and our relationship with the earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You might have gathered from my description That there’s one central message of the Shmita year - which is that God says - לי הארץ - the earth belongs to God. We may understand those words differently, but we can agree on one central thing - “God” is not us. Whoever the earth belongs to, it’s not us. According to Judaism, the Earth is not the plaything of the human community to do with it whatever we would like. The Earth is not our ATM from which we extract wealth and value whenever we want. Our ancestors knew this, and Shmitah was one of the ways that they expressed it -- essentially treating the earth as a party to a covenant that entailed mutual responsibility. The earth provides sustenance for us -- if we treat the earth in the right way.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Observing the Shmitah year in ancient Israel was not easy. If you were a farmer, you would have a significant loss of income during the Sabbatical Year, when the land would lie fallow and would not be planted. (Though at the same time: whatever the land would yield without being purposefully cultivated would belong to everyone -- so while some people in the society would have a more challenging time financially, for others it would probably provide greater financial security than in some other years.)</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many people today describe the Shmitah year as a pie in the sky idea, that could not possibly have ever been put into practice. It’s utopian, it would cause the economy to come to a grinding halt, and the Talmud spends pages and pages telling people how to get out of some of its restrictions, especially the part about the release of debts. In fact, in Israel in the 20th century, the predominant approach was to do an end run around the entirety of the Sabbatical laws. Because the agricultural aspects of Shmitah apply only to the land of Israel, and the laws of the Torah apply specifically to Jews, a comically easy way to get around all these restrictions is basically to sell the entire land of Israel during the shmitah year to someone who’s not Jewish -- who then rents it back to the Jewish people who are then permitted to farm on it. Throughout the 20th century, believe it or not, that actually was the approach - and for much of the Jewish community the shmitah system was mostly treated as an annoyance rather than an idea of great spiritual depth.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But by about 21 years ago, which is about three Sabbatical years ago, a change in perspective about the Shmitah year was clearly underway. There became more Jewish teachers and scholars suggesting that in fact, the Sabbatical year is a commandment of such extreme importance that no one should be doing an end run around it, and in fact we should rank it among Judaism’s greatest ideas, just as the weekly Shabbat is. Just as Shabbat is ideally an oasis of peace in the midst of the otherwise chaotic week, the Sabbatical year can be a brief taste of a different kind of world, a year in which we learn to make do with less and also spend less time focusing on our possessions, on productivity, and on ownership, and spent more time focusing on meeting the needs of others and our relationship with the earth. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judaism is not so radical as to deny the existence of private land ownership or private property. But the institution of the Shmitah year reminds us that though we usually act as if the earth exists for us, the Torah never described it that way. No sooner are human beings created that we are told וַיִּקַּ֛ח ה' אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּנִּחֵ֣הוּ בְגַן־עֵ֔דֶן לְעָבְדָ֖הּ וּלְשָׁמְרָֽהּ׃ The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to serve the land and to protect it. (Genesis 2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My friend and colleague Rabbi David Seidenberg goes so far as to say that the shmitah year is the ultimate objective of the covenant between God and the people of Israel, which has as its goal to restore the balance of the relationship of humanity with the earth -- a relationship that was already starting to veer off balance even in biblical times. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Seidenberg also notes that many indiginous societies around the world have some rituals to give the land a rest, which resemble Shmitah, but with slightly different details as befits their different agricultural realities. But their common denominator is that these rituals in diverse cultures express the idea that the earth does not belong to people but people belong to the land and have responsibilities to the land. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the principles concerning the Shmitah year is that the land is in charge, rather than us and if you don’t give the land the rest that it needs at regular intervals, one of these days it’s just going to seize its rest. Perhaps this is a variation of something we may be more likely to say about human beings: if you don’t make sure to get some rest on a regular basis, the need for such rest may overtake you at an unexpected and inconvenient time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that’s exactly, chillingly, what the Torah says will happen, in the book of Leviticus in the midst of a passage about the consequences of neglecting God’s will: the land will become desolate because of the exile of its inhabitants; אָז֩ תִּרְצֶ֨ה הָאָ֜רֶץ אֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתֶ֗יהָ כֹּ֚ל יְמֵ֣י הֳשַׁמָּ֔ה וְאַתֶּ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ אֹיְבֵיכֶ֑ם Then shall the land make up for its sabbath years throughout the time that it is desolate and you are in the land of your enemies; אָ֚ז תִּשְׁבַּ֣ת הָאָ֔רֶץ וְהִרְצָ֖ת אֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתֶֽיהָ׃ then shall the land rest and make up for its sabbath years. (Lev 26:34)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In other words, don’t worry about the earth. The earth is going to be fine. The earth knows, so to speak, how to take care of itself and to take what it needs. We’re not going to destroy the earth. We won’t even render the earth uninhabitable to life. Yes, some species may become extinct because of our conduct, and others will evolve, but we can take comfort that life on earth in some form will always endure. So what’s the problem? -- Well, the problem is, we just might render the earth uninhabitable to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">us</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.jewishtimes.com/with-merger-baltimore-is-set-to-become-a-center-of-jewish-environmental-work/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nigel Savage, </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the leader of the orgnaization Hazon who spoke at our synagogue several years ago, wrote recently: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“In the end, COVID is a kind of wake-up call to the American-Jewish community, and to the world, about the need to plan for potential disruptions to human civilization. And as huge as COVID-19 has been, it still pales besides the changes that a changing climate will bring.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Could we doubt it anymore? Think about what happened in our region last week:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our neighbors in places like Elizabeth and Queens dying last week in apartments filling suddenly with rain water in the wealthiest country in the world. Two record breaking storms exactly one week apart. 100-year storms happening in the Northeast every few years. Plus: every year bringing a new record-breaking California wildfire season. Rain falling in Greenland instead of snow and ice. Enough ice melting in Greenland every day to cover the entirety of Florida with </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/30/greenland-ice-sheet-florida-water-climate-crisis" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">two additional inches of water.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We’ve had the luxury to think that weather problems are problems our ancestors had to deal with, but not in our technologically advanced society which permits us to insulate ourselves from the outside world. But it’s hard to pretend that’s the case now. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Knowing that some people’s eyes glaze over whenever there is discussion of climate change, because you would prefer to talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or global antisemitism, or any other challenging isuse in our world -- you can know that climate change is going to make that other challenging issue, whatever it is, more difficult to solve than it already is. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know some of us expect that human ingenuity is going to help us to engineer our way out of this crisis. Our amazing technological capabilities will help us either to mitigate climate change or to adapt to it, And hopefully we can. A personal hero of mine in this regard, among many, is Yosef Abramowitz - CEO of the Israeli solar energy company called Energia which now provides 100% of the daytime electricity in the Arava (Israel’s southern region) from solar energy -- and within a few years it will provide 100% of the electricity in the Arava from solar energy, 24 hours a day. But the people who are doing the most are often the most discouraged. Here’s what Yosef wrote recently: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 72pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Who shall live, and who shall die, who by fire, who by plague and who from our continued indifference to how our actions and our governments’ policies and subsidies fuel the climate crisis. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 72pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 72pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a species we have but seven short years to drastically change our energy, red meat and other consumptions before the worst manifestations of climate change accelerate. The new UN report is Noah hammering in the final nails in the ark to the disregard of his generation. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 72pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 72pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we are a life affirming people, then we know what kind of car we should be driving, what we should be eating, how to power our homes and synagogues…. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 72pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We also note that there is almost no issue for which there is a greater opinion gap based on age cohort than climate change. Young people today know that they will deal with the consequences, and they are worried. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When they observed the Sabbatical Year, our ancestors in ancient times were asked to do some very difficult things for the sake of their relationship with the earth. We also are being asked to modify our way of life, involving a new relationship with technology. We are being asked to understand that so many technological advances that have made our lives more pleasant and convenient, which have permitted us to live to longer ages with better health, have also moved us towards crisis.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So often we tell the Talmud’s story of the old man planting the carob tree - even though he knows he will not see it bear fruit - saying ‘just as my ancestors planted for me, so I plant for my descendants.’ I fear we’re living in the dystopian version of this story -- born into a world full of carob trees planted by our ancestors, and we’re cutting them down in disregard of the needs of our descendants. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My friend and colleague in Bethesda, Maryland, Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, has published </span><a href="https://shmitaproject.org/submissions/a-shmita-prayer-to-and-for-our-children/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the reading that his congregation is reading this Rosh HaShanah </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for the beginning of this Shmitah year - with the adults in the congregation turning towards the children of the congregation and saying ‘Sla</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">h</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Lanu’ -- we are guilty of not handing off to you a world in the condition that it was handed to us. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the one hand, this Ashamnu is not truly being recited from individual to individual -- but rather from older generations (plural) to younger generations (also plural). And obviously this crisis was not created primarily by people who are alive today. But it remains our responsibility to repair.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are well aware that whereas it’s crucial to recycle, to reduce waste, and to purchase more energy efficient appliances and vehicles, most of the changes that are necessary to avoid the worst climate change future are not in the hands of the consumer. What we need is the kind of differences that corporations and governments can make. And yet, the decisions of a society are the aggregate of the decisions made by individuals. And the priorities of a society as a whole are likely to mirror and be influenced by the priorities of those individuals. Societal changes in attitudes and priorities start with each of us. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And you know what? As disruptive as the Covid crisis has been for us, it has also shown us what we’re willing to change about our lives on a societal-wide basis if it’s really necessary. Again, as Rabbi Seidenberg has said: people say that our way of life is so wedded to fossil fuels that we’ll never free ourselves and our society from reliance upon them. But if you were told two years ago that there would be a significant period of time when no one would travel - you would think they were crazy - but for an imperative that is important enough, now we know that people will make that kind of sacrifice, at least for a while.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Jewish tradition we usually divide the mitzvot into categories like commandments between people and God, and commandments between people and people. It is hard though to know how to categorize the Shmitah laws in this schema. On the one hand, they have classically been interpreted as being between people and God. And on the other hand - if we truly took these principles to heart, and helped to bring about a new kind of relationship between people and the earth, it would benefit future generations. Just as during the Covid crisis every religious group mustered all its spiritual resources to direct them towards this crisis, the sabbatical year may be some specifically Jewish wisdom that could be part of the Jewish response to this globlal crisis. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The organization </span><a href="https://hazon.org/shmita-project/overview/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hazon</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the foremost Jewish enivronmental organization today, has remarkable resources for helping Jews and non-Jews see the Sabbatical year not as a curiosity of ancient Jewish agricultural law, but as a system to promote a thoughtful and sustainable relationship with the earth. And a new organzation approrpiately called </span><a href="https://dayenu.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dayenu</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, meaning ‘it is enough for us,’ is also focused on using Jewish teachings to promote a thoughtful Jewish response to the looming climate crisis. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s something else notable about the Shmitah year in that it helps us to mark the timing of our lives, just as weekly shabbat gives us a chance to look back to what happened on each day of the week that ended. Shmitah can function in the same way -- most of us will get to experience somewhere between 8 and 13 Shmitah years in our lives - which isn’t very many, and is a number that may incline us to think about our lives in the context of history and the next generation. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we contemplate our lives in terms of Shmitah units, we’re invited to think about our lives in the grand scheme; per my colleague Rabbi Scherlinder Dobb, the Shmitah cycle “beckons us to approach the big questions intergenerationally.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shortly we will resume our service with Musaf, in which we will remind ourselves - Hayom Harat Olam - today is the birthday of the world - and the day that every person stands in judgment. -- we know that we stand in judgment not only before God but before future generations. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May this new year 5782, a Shabbat La’aretz - a Shabbat for the land - bring as much rest and renewal to our world as we can. May it help us to restore a balance to our relationship with the earth so that we can know we have appropriately planted for our descendants. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shanah Tovah! (And to the earth we also say - Shabbat Shalom!)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am grateful to my colleagues Rabbi Andrea Merow; Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb; Rabbi David Seidenberg; and many other teachers who have inspired me with their teachings about Shmitah in the current context.</span></p></span><p> </p>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-8878488690973081172021-09-09T21:39:00.002-07:002021-09-09T21:39:45.573-07:00Listening Boot Camp, a.k.a. Rosh HaShanah (1st day Rosh HaShanah 5782 / 2021)<span id="docs-internal-guid-acc0a465-7fff-f162-e60b-ea14a14474ef"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hebrew and Yiddish writer and Zionist leader Shmaryahu Levin would tell a story of a transformative incident that took place when he was age 10, in Eastern Europe. He received a gift of his very own Shofar. So as Rosh HaShanah approached, he was so excited to practice blowing the Shofar. But try as he could, he just couldn’t get any sound out of it at all. Each day, during the month of Elul leading up to Rosh HaShanah, he would spend at least an hour - holding his mouth in various positions, making various kinds of rude vibrating noises with his lips, trying to produce any sound with the Shofar. But to no avail. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The day before Rosh HaShanah, as he was practicing outside his home, a Russian farmer came by. “What’s that?” So he explained it, and the farmer said, “Can I try?” and he took the Shofar, held it up to his lips - and out came a Tekiah Gedolah that would be the envy of any Shofar-blower in the world. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And young Shmaryahu raced back to his teacher and choking back tears, he said, "It’s just not fair! I spend all this time, for more than a month, practicing to blow the Shofar, and this farmer, who has never even HEARD of a Shofar, gets a beautiful sound out of it!” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the teacher reassured him: “The blessing that the shofar blower says before blowing the shofar is ‘</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lishmoa kol shofar,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ blessed are you who commanded us concerning LISTENING to the sound of the shofar. So even for the shofar blowers themselves, the mitzvah, the commandment, isn’t in the blowing. The mitzvah is in the listening. The trick isn’t how to blow the Shofar. The trick is how to listen.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have long been inspired by that story, and in fact, especially this year, I wonder if maybe the entire holiday of Rosh HaShanah is best understood as a holiday about training ourselves to listen. As if God is saying: You are starting a new year: so get yourself in shape and practice the single most important skill you’ll use throughout the year. It’s time for “Listening Boot Camp,” otherwise known as Rosh haShanah. You’ll listen to each other, you’ll listen to the sound of the shofar, You’ll listen to Biblical stories about people who for one reason or another are unable to listen to each other. And hopefully after this holiday you’ll be better equipped to start a truly new year. <span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every part of Jewish tradition trains us to listen. For example, think about the Shema, which is the closest thing we have to a creed of the Jewish people. “Shma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.” “Hear O Israel: Adonai is our God, Adonai is One.” Most of the time we say that the message of the Shema is there’s only one God, and we regard the first two words ‘Shma Yisrael’ as the preamble. And yet there is a strain of interpretation of these words that says: No: Shma Yisrael is not just the preamble; Shma Yisrael is a commandment in and of itself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While there are eminent rabbinic sages who have taught this idea, I am moved by how this idea was expressed by a famous Jew who was </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a rabbinic scholar: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steven Spielberg remembers, “I was taught by my mom and dad that in Judaism, the most important prayer is the Shema. ...It was taught to me from childhood that the most important thing I could do as a Jew was to listen. [this] wasn’t a way for my parents to say, “I know more than you.” [they didn’t mean that I needed to listen to THEM.] … They meant listen to yourself. Listen to those little whispers that we tend to not want to hear because they’re too soft and we tend to listen to the shout, not the whisper. “So listening carefully was what I was taught all my life.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My colleague Rabbi Amy Eilberg was the first woman to be ordained as a Conservative rabbi, and today she focuses on training people in compassionate listening. And </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Enemy-Friend-Jewish-Wisdom-Pursuit-ebook/dp/B00IKRM9J0/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=amy+eilberg&qid=1631247552&sr=8-1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">she notes</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that the second paragraph of the Shema also uses language about listening - והיה אם שמוע תשמעו את מצוותי - it shall happen, God says, if you listen to my commandments, then you will have adequate rain and the crops will grow and if you fail to listen then the rain will stop and the crops will die.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Eilberg notes that from a literal perspective, “this text strains credulity.” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, intrigued by this line, Rabbi Eilberg would ask participants in her workshops to recall a time they were deeply listened to and then describe what it felt like: “Across a wide range of experiences, people use words such as ‘healed,’ ‘loved,’ ‘whole,’ and ‘at peace.’ ” And Rabbi Eilberg would then ask the opposite question: “to think of a recent time when they listened to someone absently and to note what happened next.” She notes that the differences were stark. Some participants would talk about ignoring a child’s need for attention - and soon thereafter there would be a temper tantrum. Or how distracted or self-centered listening with an intimate partner evoked a storm of negative emotion. All this leads Rabbi Eilberg to say that the passage in the Torah is absolutely true, just not in meteorological terms. “The puzzling passage predicted dire consequences for poor listening. Relationally speaking, this is a description of life as it is.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And perhaps we are even more aware of the consequences of poor listening this year than even last year at this time. One of our themes from last High Holy Days was that whereas it was so challenging that we were all contending with the pandemic, at least it was something that was pulling us all together, and helping us to notice the commonality of everyone, and to listen to our common experience. Well that’s so 2020. We’re clearly in a different place this year. Our neighbor the Rev. Dr Willard Ashley in Jersey City, who is a world authority on how communities respond to disasters, has noted that disasters of all kinds follow a common life cycle that often includes a heroic phase, when people do things like applaud health care workers at 7pm each night. And you should enjoy the heroic phase while it lasts because, no matter how beautiful it is, inevitably it’s going to be followed by a disillusionment phase and a communal conflict phase. I’ll admit - I’ve lived through several disasters and every time I am heartened and inspired by the heroic phase, and I’m always surprised and disappointed when it ends -- </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I shouldn’t be. But I am stunned by the quickness of people refusing to listen on such a wide range of contentious issues, from mask mandates and vaccine mandates, to voting rights and the way that the United States’ history of racial conflict should be taught, and in such a wide range of venues, from airplane aisles to school board meetings to legislative halls. And of course 5781 was the year in which rioters stormed the United States Capitol and nearly succeeded in stopping the certification of Electoral College ballots. It doesn’t get much worse than this - or so we hope and pray.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Israel this year saw the greatest intercommunity strife in its modern history. Amid strife over the Temple Mount and the Shekh Jarrah neighborhood, and conflict between Israel and Hamas, there was widespread rioting and arson in cities in Israel with mixed Jewish and Arab populations. Amid other acts of terrible violence, a gang of Arabs in the Israeli city of Akko beat a randomly selected Jewish motorist nearly to death. A gangs of Jews in the Israeli city of Bat Yam beat a randomly selected Arab motorist to death -- in both cases, in regions that had long prided themselves on relatively peaceful relations between Arab and Jewish neighbors. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But there were also some rays of hope this year, of which I would like to mention two. The better known of these rays of hope is that, surprisingly enough, within weeks after this outburst of violence that was so roundly condemned by the entire Israeli Jewish and Arab political spectrum, Israel’s Knesset formed a coalition government that included right wing Jewish parties, left wing Jewish parties, parties with mixed Jewish and Arab participation, and also the second largest Israeli Arab political party. This of course does not mean that everything is rosy in Israel in terms of intergroup relations -- there are serious serious problems remaining to be addressed. But it is a reminder that even those in conflicted relationships can manage to learn to listen to each other, to sit at a table together and even to create government policy together. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And less well known but also a ray of hope is that during the weeks days of violence this past spring, a fascinating dialogue began taking place on the social media app called Clubhouse, which you may know is an audio-only app, meaning that its entire focus is on listening. What started as an informal conversation between friends who were Israeli and Palestinian grew into a multi-day global online gathering, continuing around the clock for more than a week, called ‘Meet Palestinians and Israelis.’ Israelis and Palestinians would be invited to speak, alternating, not debating but speaking personally about their own experiences with the conflict -- often sharing terribly traumatic stories of violence and fear -- and sharing their own feelings. With many hundreds of people speaking and with hundreds of thousands listening in, including many from around the world, from all sides, who had never listened in a serious way to a perspective on the conflict that was different from their own. Clubhouse seemed to be uniquely suited to host this conversation, as it had to happen in real time, and demanded listening to people’s actual unedited voices, in what was described by participants and observers as history’s most wide-ranging and genuine grassroots conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, this is not to say that Israel and her residents and neighbors are now poised for the future of peace that we have so long dreamt about. Peaceful coexistence between Israel and all of its neighbors, and between Israelis and Palestinians, is still a far-away dream. But it is inconceivable that such a future could possibly be achieved without listening, and every act of listening brings that dream just slightly closer.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every failure to listen is different, and our biblical readings on this holiday describe a number of different listening failures, and we can learn something from every one of these stories as we commit ourselves to a new year of better listening. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This morning, in the Haftarah: we were introduced to a couple, Hannah and Elkanah, who do not have children together -- but whereas this fact is devastating for Hannah, It is merely mildly disappointing for Elkanah, presumably because he already has children from another marriage. Elkanah responds to his wife Hannah’s sorrow with questions that, while sweet, reflect a tragic failure to listen to what his wife is going through. He says: לָ֣מֶה תִבְכִּ֗י וְלָ֙מֶה֙ לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְלִ֔י וְלָ֖מֶה יֵרַ֣ע לְבָבֵ֑ךְ “Hannah, why are you crying and why aren’t you eating? Why are you so sad? הֲל֤וֹא אָֽנֹכִי֙ ט֣וֹב לָ֔ךְ מֵעֲשָׂרָ֖ה בָּנִֽים׃ Am I not more devoted to you than ten sons?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, Elkanah asks Hannah a question. But as Alex Trebek of blessed memory might say: Sometimes what looks like a question is actually an answer in the form of a question. Elkanah’s question demonstrates that he seems unable to stretch himself, unable to ask Hannah to express her feelings more fully, unable to demonstrate that he truly hears her and empathizes with her. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nor does Elkanah’s question emanate from curiosity. In essence, he’s saying “Wouldn’t you agree that I am an absolutely excellent husband to you?” He does it because he wants to get Hannah to change the way that she is thinking, rather than to listen deeply to her. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Step One of sacred listening is to suspend all judgment, to simply be in the presence of another person and receive their thoughts and their feelings. It’s deceptively simple - and it’s all too rare. And those of us who know the experience of being listened to without judgment know that it is remarkably healing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The psychiatrist and author Victor Frankl, who survived the Shoah and used his Shoah expeirence to help him to devise his theories, tells the story of a patient of his who once called him distraught in the middle of the night having lost the will to live. And Dr Frankl stayed on the phone with her for 2 hours talking with her and listening to her, trying to give her all the insight he could share about why life was worth living, until eventually she told him that her feeling of crisis was over and she had resolved to live. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a follow-up conversation some days later, Dr Frankl asked this patient with curiosity - “What was it that I said that helped you to resolve your crisis?”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the patient said: “It was nothing that you said. It was the fact that you were willing to stay on the phone and listen to me for two hours in the middle of the night.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If only Elkanah could truly have listened to his wife Hannah in her time of need. The example of Elkanah reminds us that listening to someone else - whether it’s a stranger or a beloved family member - is an act of radical generosity of spirit, of humility, and of suppression of ego.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But our readings for this day include yet more examples of failures to listen. There are times when we can’t listen to others because even before we hear them, we have formed assumptions about what they will say. And that’s what happens in the next scene in our haftarah. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The whole family goes to the shrine called Shiloh -- and while at the shrine Hannah expresses her deepest and most heartfelt prayer for a child. We read: וְחַנָּה הִיא מְדַבֶּרֶת עַל־לִבָּהּ רַק שְׂפָתֶיהָ נָּעוֹת וְקוֹלָהּ לֹא יִשָּׁמֵעַ Hannah was speaking only in her heart. Her lips were moving, but her voice could not be heard. A High Priest named Eli who presided over the shrine in Shiloh sees this woman, presumably with her eyes closed, moving her lips but making no sound, and he comes to the most logical conclusion: she must be drunk. So, disparagingly, Eli says to her: Get rid of your wine! Even before hearing Hannah, he had already sized her up. And Eli’s failure to listen to Hannah reminds us that listening to another person entails curiosity, and a willingness to be surprised, a willingness to suspend all expectations. And after having been stereotyped by Eli, treated as a member of a category rather than as an individual, it must have taken Hannah much courage to respond as she did, saying: I’m not drunk; rather, I am pouring out my heart to God in sorrow. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So frequently in recent years I find myself responding to items in the news by quoting the song from Simon and Garfunkel long ago: “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” We’ll listen to what fits into our preexisting narrative on any subject And not only will we be unlikely to change that preexisting narrative, but we’re likely to discount and even disparage information that doesn’t fit with our assumptions. So it is significantly to Eli’s credit that he acknowledges his mistake and offers his own prayer for Hannah. While his prior assumptions were a barrier that prevented him from truly listening to Hannah, he also is a model to emulate, in his ability to overcome his assumptions.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During this past Jewish year, the Jewish world lost two of the very greatest scholars and teachers and prolific writers who will each have an enduring effect on the Jewish world and on the entire world for generations to come: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, formerly chief rabbi of Great Britain, and Rabbi Abraham Twersky, psychiatrist and founder of the Jewish recovery movement. For each of them, listening deeply was absolutely critical to their work and their writing and their influence. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Twersky did more to normalize discussion of addiction and mental health in the Jewish community than any other person. At a time when people made assumptions that substance abuse was a problem that did not exist in the Jewish community, Rabbi Twersky encouraged a Jewish spiritual discourse around the Twelve Steps and showed how open and non-judgmental listening can go such a long way towards helping people towards recovery and healing. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And for Rabbi Sacks, listening - especially listening to those with whom we disagree - is one of the most prominent themes in his voluminous writings. He would note that the instruction to listen is found not less than 92 times in the Torah. In one of his final essays written just shortly before his death last year, Rabbi Sacks wrote about how the Greek and Roman world tended to use words connected to sight to communicate understanding - like ‘I see what you mean’ - Jewish writings in the Bible and in the Talmud almost exclusively describe understanding using the metaphor of hearing rather than seeing. After all, the torah says, remember when you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">heard </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God’s voice on Mt Sinai, and don’t be led astray by your </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eyes. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the Hasidic master Mordecai Leiner, the rabbi of Ishbitz - suggests that this is because when we see, we can detect only that that is visible on the surface of something, but it is through listening that we can probe more deeply and detect what is under the surface. And Rabbi Sacks described a blessing of the pandemic era that it had temporarily quieted the world and at least for a moment, enabled deeper and more sensitive listening. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes there are more tragic reasons</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> why people fail to listen - like the episode in today’s torah reading about Hagar and Ishmael, in which Hagar fears that Ishmael will soon die, and she moves away from him so she will not see him die or hear his cries. And in fact, neither Hagar nor the narrator of the story hears Ishmael’s cries - But we read וישמע אלהים אל קול הנער “God heard the cry of the child.” Hagar’s failure to hear her son’s cry is devastating and violates every parenting instinct. It is likely a response to Hagar’s horrifying and traumatic circumstances.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But then there is an unusual formulation in the text. The Angel of God tells Hagar, כי שמע אלקים אל קול הנער באשר הוא שם -- “God has heard the call of the boy there, where he is.” And these last words - ‘there, where he is’ -- are perplexing and appear to add nothing to help us to understand this story. The dominant approach of our commentators including Rashi is to say: God heard Ishmael at that moment. That was not a moment for God to consider Ishmael’s prior history, and any mistakes he had made in his life, andit was not a moment for God to consider anything in Ishmael’s future. It was a moment when God was completely present to Ishmael at that moment. That’s the gift of the truest listening -- and ideally the paradigm for the kind of listening for which we strive. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And this kind of listening can be instructive for us when we engage in conversations with people with whom we disagree. When I talk with someone with whom I disagree, how can I do so with the person באשר הוא שם </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ba’asher hu sham </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- being fully present to the person ? That often means listening for the emotions behind the words. I find, and maybe you also find, that when I speak with people who have strongly held beliefs with which I intensely disagree, I can often detect </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fear</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> behind those beliefs. (And the people who disagree strongly with me may also detect fear behind my beliefs.) Fear is an emotion - so fear is not right or wrong. It simply is. And that leads to a suggested technique for having conflicted conversations, suggested by my colleague Rabbi Amy Eilberg among others, which is: when listening to someone else, including in a conflict situation, to affirm that I have heard the emotions that underlie the person’s perspective. Whereas it doesn’t necessarily prompt a breakthrough, it may go a long way towards helping people communicate when we listen for and affirm the emotion that we hear behind the words. At the very least, they are more likely to leave the encounter with the feeling of having been heard.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On my mind today is a friend and colleague of mine who was voted by our rabbinical school class to be our class speaker at our ordination. Actually Naomi and I met him on the same day that we met each other at a Hillel conference for Jewish in the performing arts. He was an outstanding actor who then went to rabbinical school, and we all knew throughout all of rabbinical school that he would be our class’s outstanding communicator. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In his ordination speech, he said: “When I entered rabbinical school, I was excited to fulfill this sacred role of being able to talk with people at special moments in their lives - to know what to say to a couple about to get married. To know what to say to a grieving family members at a time of loss. To know what to say to a person at a time of crisis and heartbreak and spiritual distress. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“And today I am just as excited to fulfill the sacred role of being a rabbi even though I now know I got it all backwards. Because the sacred role of being a rabbi is being able to listen to people at special moments in their lives - to know how to listen to a couple about to get married. To know how to listen to grieving family members at a time of loss.To know how to listen to a person at a time of crisis and heartbreak and spiritual distress.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s not that the talking is not important - but the talking doesn’t help if you don’t know how to listen. I so appreciate how Rabbi Sacks, also a world famous orator, </span><a href="https://rabbisacks.org/eikev-5776/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Would say:</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “</span><span style="color: #777777; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Crowds are moved by great speakers, but lives are changed by great listeners.” During the new year of 5782, let’s use the power of listening and change some lives - The lives of others, and our own. Shanah tovah!</span></p><p><span></span></p><!--more--> <p></p>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-65121388858357876332021-09-09T21:13:00.004-07:002021-09-09T21:40:09.808-07:00Question Marks for the New Year (1st eve of Rosh HaShanah, 5782 / 2021)<p style="text-align: center;"><b>Question Marks for the New Year </b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>(1st eve of Rosh HaShanah, 5782 / 2021)</b></p><p><br /></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d74ae30a-7fff-57ca-e477-57492f583466"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me tell you about the song I can’t</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> get out of my head today as we begin the new year 5782. Noting that it is, after all, the ‘80s: years ago, back in the 1980s, there was a minor Israeli hit pop song that began with the words כל שנה מתחילה בסימן שאלה </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kol shanah mat’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">h</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ilah be-siman she’elah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, ‘every year begins with a question mark.’ but it rhymes in Hebrew. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now there’s nothing earth-shattering about this insight. Obviously we begin the new year with a question mark, because we begin the new year with uncertainty about the future. That has been a theme of new years since ancient times. Even the image of the book of life that is written on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur affirms that we’re preoccupied at this time of year with uncertainty about what the coming year will bring. New years always fill us with uncertainty, and that is probably what the writers of this Israeli pop song from the 1980s had in mind. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However: I have a sense, and maybe you agree, that we are experiencing the new year beginning with a question mark in an entirely different way. Emblematic of this year was the experience that many of us in Hoboken had last Wednesday night. I wonder if you had this experience: at 9.15pm seeing an emergency announcement from the National Weather Service that said: “</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Flash Flood Emergency has been issued for Metro New York City. This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!”</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then 3 minutes later at 9.18pm, receiving an emergency text: “National Weather Service has issued a Tornado warning until 9:30pm tonight. Take shelter now in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And you’re thinking: I know I have had a crash course in risk management over this last 18 months - I’m constantly calculating and comparing the probabilities to help me decide: should I go to the store, should I visit my relatives, should I send kids to school, should I get yet another Covid test, and should it be PCR or antigen -- but even after 18 months of statistical training, how I am supposed to figure </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> one out? Do I seek higher ground, or do I go to the basement? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or I think of the following exchange that I actually had with my high school age daughter in February, which I share with you basically verbatim, with her permission. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She said, at one point this past February: “This Saturday night, can I go out in the city with my friends?” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I said: “Go out to dinner with your friends? Of course not!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And she said: “No, not to dinner. We just want to go axe throwing at this place in Brooklyn. But you have to sign a waiver for me.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I said: “Oh, axe throwing, no problem. So long as there’s no indoor dining involved.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe you wouldn’t have made the decision that way, but I know not all of you would have made the decision that way, but I think you’ll agree that it wasn’t an irrational way of calculating the risks.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This may be how our experience of 2021 is different from 2020: In 2020 we knew, or we thought we knew, what it meant to be careful and what it meant to be foolhardy. And in 2021 we’re reminded that so much is unknown, and it’s simply impossible to be adequately careful about everything that could be risky. Hopefully we’re all doing our best to balance different kinds of risks and make wise decisions even knowing that there’s no way to simply avoid the risk. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A colleague of mine, </span><a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-shofars-question/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg,</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in London, has noted that in Jewish tradition, we actually do begin our new year with a question mark -- in more than one way. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, he notes that, with a little bit of imagination, the shofar is shaped like a question mark. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDb7-VjsXdhMLisQAZOkUjW50Z5tl2yvUR3mpvGFUNoVEL7e8FtYWcjWaQjV71eHAsabEQPxEsT4u3_lPTHH5xSwXzxE4GjdkbLkKv_Bjn4BVj2ISHTK5l1DJRv5oUvHjUk3dg5zh_3lU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDb7-VjsXdhMLisQAZOkUjW50Z5tl2yvUR3mpvGFUNoVEL7e8FtYWcjWaQjV71eHAsabEQPxEsT4u3_lPTHH5xSwXzxE4GjdkbLkKv_Bjn4BVj2ISHTK5l1DJRv5oUvHjUk3dg5zh_3lU/w228-h228/Yemenite-Shofar---Large---Polished-SM-K6070-P_large.jpg" width="228" /></a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And maybe more to the point: the shofar differs from almost any other musical instrument. Strike a key of the piano, or pluck a string of a guitar, and you know pretty well what sound is going to come out. But even for the very best shofar blower, there is at least a little bit of uncertainty. Pianos, guitars, trumpets, are all made to careful technological specifications, while the shofar retains some of the wildness and unpredictability of its natural materials. And that makes the shofar a quite good metaphor image for a new year that is full of uncertainty, not only in that we don’t know what will happen this year, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But in that the one thing we can predict about this year is that we’ll be spending a lot of time this year juggling uncertainties, and making decisions with insufficient information.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example: Even 1 month ago, our plans for these High Holy Day services looked very very different, and much closer to normal. And now we have reduced capacity, masks, and uploads of vaccination cards. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are we making the right decisions in all cases? We’re doing the best we can. We can honestly say that if there is something about our Covid policies for these high holidays that you would have done differently - you are in good company with every single person in this room and on this Zoom. No one knows our own personal risk tolerance the way </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> each do, which means no one’s risk profile looks exactly like our own. And the stakes, in the decisions we’re making every day, are terrifyingly high. Hopefully we can make the decisions that are right for us and also be patient with those whose risk profiles are different from our own. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And maybe we can take some comfort in knowing that we are not the first to deal with the challenges of living in such an uncertain environment - especially at a time when it feels like the world as we had previously known it, the world of carefree large gatherings, no longer exists, but whatever world is coming next is not really here yet. As we sit here with one foot in 5781 and one foot in 5782, we may also feel like we’re standing in a doorway between the pre-pandemic world and the post-pandemic world.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What guidance can Jewish tradition give us as we start a year with such a profound question mark? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, we can take comfort in Jewish tradition affirming that confidence in decision-making, and humility, are not opposites. One of the qualities of a righteous person, as defined by Moses Maimonides, is someone who does not waffle when making a decision, someone about whom you could say </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Human_Dispositions.5.13?vhe=Torat_Emet_363&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אוֹמֵר עַל לָאו לָאו וְעַל הֵן הֵן</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. -- When that person says no, it’s a real no, and when that person says yes, it’s a real yes. But this can coexist with a sense that we often cannot know what decision is objectively correct. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Centuries earlier, in </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.1.14?vhe=Torat_Emet_357&lang=bi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pirkei Avot</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Hillel the Elder presents two apparently contradictory teachings, one right after another: - If I am not for myself, who will be for me, but if I am only for myself, what am I?” In other words, when making a decision you should prioritize your own needs, but you should not </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">only</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> prioritize your own needs. And should this advice sound unclear, Hillel goes on to add a third clause to this advice: ואם לא עכשו אימתי -- and if not now, when? -- As if to say: whatever unresolved tensions there are in the first two clauses, know that you don’t have the luxury to take all day to figure them out. If not now, when? Sometimes you just have to make a decision now. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the tragic stories in the Talmud concerns a rabbi named </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Gittin.56a.4?vhe=Wikisource_Talmud_Bavli&lang=bi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zecharia ben Abkulas</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> who led the Jewish community at a time of significant conflict between the Roman Empire and the Jewish community of Jerusalem. We often tell his sad story on the fast day of Tisha B’Av. When faced with a difficult dilemma with no easy answer, Rabbi Zecharia responded by refusing to make any active decision, so concerned that he would make the wrong choice. But later sages point out that his hesitatance and reluctance to make and then to own a hard decision actually led directly to the Roman Empire destroying the city of Jerusalem and destroying the Temple. The consequences of his decision paralysis were arguably even worse than the consequences would have been if Rabbi Zecharia had decisively made any choice, even the wrong choice. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I find it helpful to note that our ancestors’s feelings about uncertainty make up a good percentage of the contents of the torah. You know that ⅘ of the torah takes place in a span of just 40 years - it’s the 40 years of wandering in the desert - and the people of Israel basically spend that time complaining non-stop. We usually explain that their complaining is related to their general immaturity and obnoxiousness. But there’s another approach, which is to see their complaining as a symptom of their anxiety at being at a time of transition. They have left behind the oppression of slavery - which while extraordianily unpleasant, was at least predictable. Suddenly they are thrust into freedom in the desert. You would think they would be overjoyed -- and they do sing songs of victory -- but very quickly they revert to complaining. On several occasions they actually speak wistfully of Egypt, and on a few occasions they actually turn around and head back towards Egypt. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps the simplest explanation for our ancestors’ behavior is that they craved certainty and stability - just as we often do -- and as we do, they complained when they didn’t have it. Our ancestors knew they were leaving a time of stability, and eventually a new time of stability would emerge, but the current moment was a time of transition from one stable condition to another. And these transitions make everyone uncomfortable. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anthropologists including Arnold van Gennep and most famously, Victor Turner, have used a particular term to refer to the kinds of moments of transition that seemed to give our ancestors such anxiety - and maybe to us as well. These are moments of liminality -- following the Latin word for a doorway. These are times in our lives when we find ourselves walking through a doorway without a clear sense of what will greet us on the other side. Such liminal moments hold promise and the excitement of new possibilities -- and also they are necessarily times of uncertainty, times when we leave behind what we have become accustomed to. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think about any Jewish life cycle ritual - it probably takes place at a liminal moment when someone is at the doorway between two stages of being. Two individuals becoming a couple. A child growing towards adulthood. A new person coming into the world, and a person leaving the world. Maybe it’s obvious to say: we ritualize these moments of transition, these times when someone’s walking through a metaphorical doorway from one stage of life to another, at least in part because these moments always include uncertainty and anxiety. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it may be that our Jewish tradition of putting a Mezuzah on the doorpost is a ritual that helps us to feel protected at this moment of instability when we walk through a doorway from one state to another. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The anthropologists who study liminal moments in cultures around the world notice that, first of all, everybody is a little afraid of these moments, which are times of anxiety and uncertainty and even of danger. And yet, at the same time, these liminal moments are also so often the times of maximum creativity and growth. Certainly that is true of the 40 years of wandering in the desert which was the time when our ancestors became forged as a people. So often, our most valuable achievements and most valuable insights take place at these critical junctures of uncertainty. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #0f0f0f; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Franciscan father and author Richard Rohr describes liminal moments in this way (quoted by </span><a href="https://susanbeaumont.com/2019/10/29/how-to-lead-when-you-dont-know-where-youre-going/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Susan Beaumont</span></a><span style="color: #0f0f0f; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">): </span><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“All transformation takes place here. We have to allow ourselves to be drawn out of “business as usual” and remain patiently on the “threshold” (limen, in Latin) where we are betwixt and between the familiar and the completely unknown. …. Get there often and stay as long as you can by whatever means possible…... This is the sacred space where the old world is able to fall apart, and a bigger world is revealed. If we don’t encounter liminal space in our lives, we start idealizing normalcy. The threshold is God’s waiting room.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our year begins with a question mark - as every year does, but this year even more so. As we pray for the best possible outcomes for our family and friends and community, and our nation and our world, we also note that we’re standing in a doorway - from year to year, and from one way of being in the world to another that is unknown.We ask God and each other to be patient with us, to recognize and soothe our discomfort, to guide us to make wise decisions even without all the information we wish we had, and to help us to fully appreciate this liminal moment and approach it with all the creativity that it demands and deserves. In the words of an Israeli pop song from the 1980s - כל שנה מתחילה בסימן שאלה -- Every year begins with a question mark - ואנחנו נמצא לה תשובה -- Together may we identify its answer. Shanah Tovah!</span></p><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-27083473883122283392021-05-14T09:27:00.002-07:002021-05-14T09:27:49.369-07:00Thoughts on violence in Israel, May 2021<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been spending some time this week sending notes of concern and support to some of the many many people I know who live in Israel -- relatives, colleagues, and friends, including many who used to live in Hoboken and Jersey City. </span></p><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Though because of the time zone difference, many of these notes were sent between 2am and 4am Israel time, in many cases I got a response on Facebook or email immediately - because these friends and relatives were spending sleepless nights. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">A friend in Tel Aviv described the challenges of comforting her terrified young children after waking them up to bring them into the safe room, while also being terrified herself. A colleague in Ashkelon was awakened by a barrage of rocket fire and then learned that a woman was killed by that rocket fire in her home just a block away from his home -- and another fatality was in the southern Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letziyon not far from the home of my cousins. A friend in Herzliyya sent me videos of the Iron Dome missile defense system, just beyond a eucalyptus grove from her backyard, successfully intercepting many of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets. It is so clear that without the Iron Dome system, Israeli casualties would be in the hundreds if not thousands. And yet this barrage of rockets is so large that even the minority of rockets to get through the defense system this week have inflicted terrible damage and ended lives of young and old, of Israel‘s Jewish and Arab citizens as well as one visitor from abroad, and – per its primary objective -- have been terrorizing the entire Israeli population of millions. Our hearts right now are joining our friends and family in Israel in their safe rooms, praying for their safety and security and protection, and helping them to know that they are not alone.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, if my relatives and friends and former congregants lived in Gaza, they would tell a story that is similar but different. They would also be terrified by nighttime attacks and fear of injury or bereavement. They would not take particular comfort to know that Israeli missiles headed to Gaza are not for the purpose of terrorizing a civilian population and ending civilian lives, as Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets clearly are, but rather are an effort to get the other side’s rockets to stop -- and that large numbers of the Gaza fatalities are fighters from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militias, as well as the victims of rockets shot from Gaza that “accidentally” also landed in Gaza. But the effect of attacks on the population is similarly horrifying as well as probably radicalizing, and the deaths of civilians are similarly devastating to their families and friends.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">There’s a reason why issues involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are hard to talk about: lots of people think the situation is very very simple when it is anything but. In many such conversations -- as Simon and Garfunkel sang long long ago -- “a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” There are so many data points that no one ever has trouble finding the facts that will support their pre-existing narrative. Take, for example, the conflict in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem that was the precipitating event for some of the current violence. Supporters of the Israeli right note that this conflict is really about property rights -- that homes in Sheikh Jarrah’s Jewish community, property that unambiguously belonged to Jews before they were expelled from that neighborhood in 1948 by the Jordanian army, should be returned to their rightful owners, and that the Israeli legal system is playing out exactly the way it should in a democracy. Supporters of Palestinians, however, note that if that legal principle is truly to hold, then the 30% of homes in West Jerusalem that had belonged to Palestinians before 1948 should also be returned to their rightful owners - and if Israeli law has no provision for this, that is confirmation of that legal system’s injustice. Some in-depth articles will tell both sides of this story, but those who learn their Middle East history from Twitter and Facebook or TV news are unlikely to confront the facts that are inconvenient for their own narrative. (So it is with so many other aspects of the conflict that I cannot address at length here.)</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Especially troubling in these last two days has been the rioting and street violence in many cities with mixed Arab and Jewish populations, cities that Israel has long regarded as examples of coexistence. Synagogues were torched by mobs in the Israeli city of Lod on Tuesday night -- and also on Tuesday night, two of those who were killed by Hamas rocket attacks on Israel were Arab residents of the city of Lod. Horrifying video circulated on Wednesday of an Arab man being beaten up and almost killed by a Jewish mob in the Israeli city of Bat Yam -- and horrifying video circulated on Wednesday of a quite parallel event of a Jewish man being beaten up and almost killed by an Arab mob in the Israeli city of Akko. The symmetry in these events does not mean that every aspect of this conflict is symmetrical, but it is a reminder that the conflict defies simplistic explanations. (I am heartened that political leaders all across Israel’s Jewish and Arab political spectrums have harshly condemned these episodes of street violence, in a sadly rare display of unity.) While urging us all to connect with and support the people we know who are directly impacted by this conflict, I would also encourage us to read reputable pieces -- left and right -- that both support and challenge some of our assumptions about the conflict. Standing in solidarity with our friends and relatives facing rocket fire is not the same thing as applauding every Israeli policy decision -- just as wanting the best for the Palestinians is not the same thing as applauding the actions of the Islamist terrorist group that is ruling Gaza. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I continue to be heartened by the words and actions of those on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who establish and nurture meaningful person-to-person relationships across difference. We have been blessed to welcome to our synagogue in recent years many such people, including Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Antwan Saca of the Israeli/Palestinian group Roots/Shorashim/Judur, as well as the students of the Israeli Jewish/Arab group Debate for Peace. The work of such groups continues even at these difficult times. The relationships that emerge from these groups help us all to remember that we are all created in God’s image, and that protracted conflict and bloodshed is in no one’s interests.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I conclude with the words of the Prayers for Israel and Prayer for Peace in our Siddur Lev Shalem, with the hope that this can be a time of safety and security for our friends and relatives and community in Israel and in our world.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">“Sovereign of the universe, accept in lovingkindness and with favor our prayers for the State of Israel, her government, and all who dwell within her boundaries and under her authority. Open our eyes and our hearts to the wonder of Israel, and strengthen our faith in Your power to work redemption in every human soul. Grant us also the fortitude to keep ever before us those ideals upon which the State of Israel was founded. Grant courage, wisdom, and strength to those entrusted with guiding Israel’s destiny to do Your will. Be with those on whose shoulders Israel’s safety depends and defend them from all harm. Spread over Israel and all the world Your shelter of peace, and may the vision of Your prophet soon be fulfilled: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4)</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">when a great peace will embrace the whole world.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Then nation will not threaten nation,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">and the human family will not again know war.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">For all who live on earth shall realize</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">we have not come into being to hate or to destroy.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">We have come into being to praise, to labor, and to love.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Compassionate God, bless the leaders of all nations</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">with the power of compassion.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Fulfill the promise conveyed in Scripture:</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I will bring peace to the land,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">and you shall lie down and no one shall terrify you.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I will rid the land of vicious beasts</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">and it shall not be ravaged by war.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Let justice and righteousness flow like a mighty stream.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Let God’s peace fill the earth as the waters fill the sea.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And let us say: Amen.”</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Shalom,</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Rabbi Rob Scheinberg</div></div>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-192792380568355302021-04-23T08:59:00.001-07:002021-04-23T08:59:26.898-07:00Thoughts on the verdict RE the murder of George Floyd: "Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor" (Leviticus 19:16)<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jewish tradition calls us to view events in our lives and in our world through the lens of the Jewish calendar -- and so the Minneapolis verdict that was announced this week resonated in for me in this week’s torah portions of Aharei Mot / Kedoshim, especially in the verse לא תעמד על דם רעך, “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:16). </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-888af2cd-7fff-64ff-6422-9ae153f5f4fe"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 73a), this is the commandment requiring bystanders to become upstanders, with the requirement to save lives of those we see in danger. The ancient midrashic collection called Sifra adds: מניין שאם אתה יודע עדות לחברך שאי אתה רשאי לשתוק ת"ל לא תעמוד על דם רעך “From what verse do we know that someone who knows testimony about another that they are not allowed to be silent? From the verse: ‘Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor’ .” (Sifra Kedoshim 4:8)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During George Floyd’s tragic final moments, there were remarkable acts of heroism by many bystanders who became upstanders, people with no prior connection to George Floyd who tried valiantly to save him from his murderer. Darnella Frazier, age 17 at the time, embodied the teachings of this commandment when she took the cellphone video to document his murder. (We know what likely would have happened had she not taken the video: the </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/20/how-first-statement-minneapolis-police-made-george-floyds-murder-seem-like-george-floyds-fault/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minneapolis Police’s initial statement</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which blamed Floyd’s death on a “medical incident” and did not mention that an officer’s weight was on his neck for almost 10 minutes, probably would have remained the Police Department’s narrative of the event.) </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Donald Williams also embodied this commandment when he called 911 to report the crime in progress, as did 911 dispatcher Jena Scurry who notified her supervisory sergeant that she felt she was witnessing an act of horrifying police misconduct. Minneapolis Police Chief Arredondo embodied the teachings of this commandment by coming forward to testify that the officers’ actions were absolutely contrary to what should be police procedure. Others who were present that day and did whatever they could to save his life also embodied this commandment; a number of witnesses broke down on the stand in sadness that they could not have done more. Their collective acts of heroism did not succeed in saving George Floyd’s life, but we pray that these actions will save future lives, by communicating that murderers will be held accountable.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When they operate at their best, the role of law enforcement officers in the United States is also to fulfill this commandment to “not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor,” by actively intervening to save lives and ensure safety and accountability. But as long as people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds experience differential treatment by law enforcement, this commandment is being tragically violated. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the sake of the people of color in our own synagogue community and in our own families, for the sake of people of color throughout this country, and for the sake of every American, none of us can rest until this country truly embraces the Torah’s injunction, משפט אחד יהיה לכם, “You shall have one single standard of justice.” (Leviticus 24:22).</span></p><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-83597939722917608032020-10-09T06:45:00.003-07:002020-10-09T06:45:54.394-07:00Yizkor 2020 / 5781: Remembering three great teachers<br /><br /> I offered these comments immediately before the Yizkor memorial prayers on Yom Kippur 2020, which took place on the street in front of our synagogue. <br /><br />=========================================================<br /><br />Take a moment to ask yourself: who are the currently living famous people for whom you have the greatest respect, who embody the very best of humanity?<br /><br />Now -- imagine if someone had asked you this question at the beginning of Rosh HaShanah 5780, in September 2019 - the beginning of the Jewish year that has recently come to an end. Who would have been on your list at that time? <br /><br /><br />I know that my list of the very finest people alive last year at this time, the most deserving of emulation, would have included Representative John Lewis, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, all of whom have died in the last few months. I would like to share a brief reflection on each of their lives that can guide us as we go forth into this new year. <br /><br /><br />Representative John Lewis in his 20s was undoubtedly one of the bravest people alive - you would have to be to be a Freedom Rider, to know you would be surrounded by racists who were offended by your very presence and your very insistence on being treated equally. In 1961 he was the first of the Freedom Riders to be seriously injured, when he was beaten by a mob at the Greyhound Terminal in Rock Hill, South Carolina. (This would be only the first time he was seriously injured as he protested for the opportunity to be treated equally.) In 2009, as a member of Congress, he visited Rock Hill, where the mayor and one of the surviving attackers apologized to him. At that occasion, Lewis said: “I don't hold the town any more responsible than those men who beat us, and I saw those men as victims of the same system of segregation and hatred." Lewis would talk about times when as a Freedom Rider sitting at a lunch counter, white men would pour ketchup and mustard on his head, or even put out their cigarettes in his arm. His response would be to look at them and picture them as infants who were not in control of their actions. This would help him to evoke compassion for them -- both because responding with violence, even though it would have been clearly justified, simply would not have been as effective for the effort to sway American public opinion, and because he genuinely believed that his attackers were victims just as much as he was. We all know his motto: “Get in good trouble”: be a person who is willing to go against the status quo and be brave in pursuit of what is right. May his memory be for a blessing always.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz was the greatest Jewish educator of the century. I feel privileged to have met him, just once, though I have benefited from his teaching and writing on almost a daily basis throughout my adult life. Anyone who met Rabbi Steinsaltz was overcome by his learning -- but just as much, by his humility, the way that all the words of praise that were lavished upon him, and the numerous awards he received, truly meant nothing at all to him. He knew that he was blessed with an extraordinary mind and vision and energy, and he regarded it as a gift from God, and he was going to give that gift back to the world -- which he did by making Talmud study accessible to millions of people for whom it would otherwise have been a set of permanently closed books. Maybe surprisingly (and maybe not), Rabbi Steinsaltz was a disinterested and rebellious student in high school, until finally he found teachers who had the patience for him as a student. “Sometimes,” he said, “I tell the children [in my schools] that their job is to make the lives of the teachers miserable by asking them questions and making them study something.” Of the many stories of our tradition, one of his favorites was the story from the Midrash about Abraham smashing up his father’s idol store. He once told an interviewer: “Jewish history,” Steinsaltz said, “basically begins with a naughty boy who went to his father’s business and asked ‘Who cares about this?’ That’s our history.” May his memory be for a blessing always.<br /><br /> <br /><br />And Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg z’l: So much has been said recently about her brilliance, her ability to excel at a time when women in the American legal profession faced every barrier and there was no expectation that they could possibly advance to the highest levels of the legal system. How long before ascending to the court, she became the person most personally responsible for the strides that this country has made towards women being treated as equals under the law and in society. As a lawyer and as a judge, she embodied the best aspiration of every legal system: that law is the domain of intellect. She famously said: “Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one’s ability to persuade.” She was unrelentingly independent and a model of <i>mahloket le-shem shamayim</i>, productive conflicts for the sake of heaven. Before her nomination to the Supreme Court, some progressives were concerned that she seemed to take such delight in fraternizing with her conservative colleagues. Three of the four walls of her Supreme Court chambers were adorned with artistic renditions of the words from the Book of Deuteronomy - צדק צדק תרדוף - Justice justice shall you pursue. May her memory be for a blessing always.<br /><br /><br />As we approach the Yizkor memorial prayers, each of us turn now to our memories of those who have played significant roles in our lives, making us into the people we are. The three people I mentioned may have been giants -- but hopefully each of us has giants in our own lives, who taught us some of the same values and character traits that these three leaders embodied. <br /><br />Who taught you to be courageous?<br /><br />Who taught you to appreciate the gift of the intellect?<br />Who taught you to stay committed to your goals in the face of adversity?<br />Who taught you to go against the grain when necessary?<br />Who taught you to speak up for justice? <br /><br />Who taught you to ask good questions? <br /><br />Who taught you how to disagree respectfully? <br />Who taught you how to see the best in others? <br /><br />Who modeled for you what it means to live fully, deeply, and lovingly? <br /><br /> <br /><br />As individuals, as a community, as a nation, and as a world, we face challenges ahead that will demand every bit of Representative Lewis’s courage; Rabbi Steinsaltz’s dogged pursuit of his goals; and Justice Ginsburg’s incisive intellect; amid all their other extraordinary qualities. <br /><br /> <br /><br />In their memories, and memory of everyone we remember today: let us learn. Let us pursue justice. And let us get in good trouble.<br /><br /> <br /><br />RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-30561717570105894892020-10-02T04:09:00.002-07:002020-10-02T04:09:07.495-07:00 Yom Kippur 5781: What to do when “the entire people has erred”<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-94c132d9-7fff-f358-3168-c7c76da14aca" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Yom Kippur 5781: What to do when “the entire people has erred”</b></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-94c132d9-7fff-f358-3168-c7c76da14aca"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know I have already commented about how unusual it is that our service is upstairs, we have readers zooming in from around the country, we have participants zooming in from literally around the world, and now we just said: “Now let’s go live to President Jeremy Morley </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">standing by in his home!” And then -- “Let’s go live to Rabbi Scheinberg in his office!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then again, I realize that even in a normal year, our High Holy Day services may have the feel of a TV studio, as we switch from location to location and time period to time period. You know that any good book is an exercise in time travel - and I definitely think that’s true about the Mahzor, which sends us back to biblical times, sends us back to review our year, sends us to our childhoods and the lives of people who have influenced us. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so -- considering this, Let’s -- go live to our correspondent at the Temple in Jerusalem, 2500 years ago, where the High Priest is about to begin the Yom Kippur service in the Temple. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m standing here in Jerusalem where the High Priest is preparing for his role today. Looking over the vast crowd, there must be tens of thousands of people packed in here today - pilgrims from all over Israel and all over the world. As you can see, he has two goats in front of him -- in a moment he will draw lots and randomly designate one of them as the Se’ir ladonai, the goat to be dedicated to God, and the other will be the Se’ir La’azazel, the goat that will be sent into the wilderness. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three times today the High Priest intones nearly identical words of confession. First he offers a personal confession on behalf of himself and his family. Second, he recites the same words but confessing on behalf of the leadership class, the Kohanim - the priests. And now he is about to recite the confession a third time, on behalf of all of Israel. Each time he pronounces God’s otherwise unpronounceable name - on this holiest day of the year in this holiest space. So listen closely to the words of the Kohen Gadol in Hebrew -- if you listen closely I think you can hear him now…. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m sorry everyone - I think we’ve just lost the Zoom transmission from our correspondent from Jerusalem. But I hope you heard the words of the High Priest, who proclaimed: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please, God, I and my community and the whole house of Israel have failed you, we have done evil, we have evaded responsibility. Please, by your Name, grant atonement for the failures and evils and evasions we have committed in your presence. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My little fantasy about having an actual Zoom correspondent at the Temple in Jerusalem ends here. But I invite you to consider some of the ways that such a gathering at the Temple in Jerusalem would be hard for us to imagine and different from our current experience. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First -- it would be hard for us to imagine being in the midst of a large crowd right now. Second, it would be hard for us to imagine our people worshipping using animal sacrifice which is so remote to our experience. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But you know what may be the single most unusual thing about the Temple Yom Kippur scene for us? It’s that that ritual involves a leader, the High Priest, publicly admitting having personally made mistakes and requesting forgiveness for them, and then requesting forgiveness on behalf of the entire leadership class, the Kohanim, and then requesting forgiveness on behalf of the entire nation. Suffice it to say, it’s been a while since we have seen such a thing. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s appropriate for us to wonder: Why does this three-part confession constitute the core of the Yom Kippur ritual? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps hearing the leader confess is a technique to train us, ourselves, to admit our own defeats and mistakes. Because deservedly or not, leaders set the tone for the community or for the nation. A leader who is willing to admit errors is likely to have followers who are similarly willing to admit that they are imperfect. And it is well known that good decisions and good governance depend in part on a willingness to admit having made mistakes, and to change course when necessary. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We read about this theme in the Book of Leviticus, In a passage that begins with the words אשר נשיא יחטא </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">asher nasi yeheta</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - if a leader sins. And it goes on to describe what offerings the leader is supposed to bring when the leader sins. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Talmud notes something unusual about the language of this phrase. </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Asher </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is a strange Hebrew word that usually doesn’t get translated. Here it means ‘when’ -- ‘when a leader sins.’</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai noticed - ‘</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">asher</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ sounds a lot like another Hebrew word which is ‘</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ashrei</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ - which means ‘happy.’ Rabbi Yohanan said: instead of reading the verse as ‘</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">asher nasi yeheta</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ - ‘when the leader makes a mistake,’ read it as ‘</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ashrei nasi yeheta</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.’ </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Happy </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is the generation whose leaders have made a mistake -- </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">if</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the leaders are willing to admit it and go through this process of contrition described in the torah. Because it’s good for leaders to recognize that they’re not all-powerful. And the converse is even more important: it’s disastrous when leaders think they’re all-powerful, when they assume they will never make mistakes. They then convey to those who follow them that apologies are for the weak, that </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">real</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> strength is conveyed in bluster and overconfidence. And hopefully it’s obvious how destructive that could be. And Rabbi Yohanan continues: if the leader expresses contrition, all the more so you would expect that that would be a generation in which non-leaders express contrition too. </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sifra ad loc., also BT Horayot 10b)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After confessing for his own sins, the High Priest recites a nearly identical confession on behalf of all the Kohanim, all the priests, and then he recites a third confession on behalf of all of Israel.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which raises a question addressed by our sages: This confession on behalf of all of Israel - is it for sins that are individual, or collective? Is the High Priest atoning generally for all the individual sins that the people of Israel may have done over the course of their lives, or is this prayer about sins that the entire people committed together? Truly, it could be either. Immediately after Kol Nidrei last night, we chanted a verse from Numbers 15 that acknowledges that it sometimes happens that the entire community could be collectively guilty, as we chanted, כי לכל העם בשגגה -- </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ki le-khol ha-am bishgagah -- </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the entire people has committed a collective sin, inadvertently. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We ought to spend much of our Yom Kippur day thinking about and expressing contrition for our own </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">highly personal</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> misdeeds and the effect that they have on our circle of influence in our lives- on our families, coworkers, and community. But classically speaking, the core of the Yom Kippur ritual in ancient times that we read about today in the torah, was this highly public confession of sins committed by leaders and by the entire community. Sometimes these are sins that are harder to talk about. But it’s our responsibility on Yom Kippur and is part of what Yom Kippur has always been about. Contemplating how our entire society could have done better is our special responsibility. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think for a moment: under what conditions does an ENTIRE SOCIETY all together commit the same sin? My sense is that it’s often a situation where the community behaves in a particular way that seems normal and appropriate, until they eventually come to realize that actually they have been making a grievous error. This may be why the torah specifies that such a sin is likely to be בשגגה </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bishgagah</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - not done maliciously but inadvertently, maybe systemically. Not necessarily with ill intent, but with ill effect. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of the wide variety of collective sins of this type that I could have chosen to talk about, I want to focus on just one category of them. And I want to start by telling you something that happened to a dear friend of friends of mine. She’s an observant Jewish woman living in the Boston area, a remarkably dynamic Jewish educator and parent of four children who attend Jewish day schools.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few years ago, she pulled into a gas station and got out of her car to pump the gas -- this being a non-New Jersey story -- and suddenly a police officer yelled at her: “Get back in your car!!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And she says “ “Why? Is there something wrong?” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I said get back in your vehicle!” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As she tells the story, she realized that because she was driving in an unfamiliar area, she had been driving slowly before pulling into the gas station - she had actually missed the turn she was trying to make. And she said: “Officer, did I miss a sign or something when making my turn, I’m actually trying to get to Costco around the corner to buy …”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This time, with a drawn gun in her direction, he screams, “I said get back in your vehicle NOW!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By the way - you might have guessed that the woman in this story, Yavilah McCoy, is Black, and that seems to be relevant to the story. (And yes, I started telling the story without that detail, and playing up the ways that she is at the very center of the Jewish community, knowing that for some of us in the Jewish community, that makes us more ready to hear the story, to really hear it.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yavilah goes on to describe the rest of this harrowing encounter which she wrote about in an </span><a href="https://www.jta.org/2020/06/03/opinion/i-was-innocent-and-afraid-for-my-life-then-i-got-a-glimpse-of-what-an-ally-can-look-like" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">article for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">earlier this year - how two more police cars arrive and surround her minivan, how she tries to get her husband on the phone but he doesn’t pick up; she says: “I start to cry. All sorts of images pop into my head as fear sets in…” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She continues: “Within a few minutes, another car with a white man inside comes to the scene and the officers begin pointing at me and my vehicle as they converse with him. Scenes of every movie I’ve seen where a person of color is framed for a crime they did not commit flash through my mind.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She decided to call the police - and explained: “I am a black woman being surrounded at a gas station by police officers and told to stay in my car without any explanation of what I’ve done wrong, and I’m calling because I want a record to be made of the fact that I’m scared and feel like my rights are being violated.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a short hold, she gets a police captain on the line and tells her story -- the captain puts her on hold again and returns to say: although it might appear she is involved in a racial incident, he would like to assure her that this is not the case. She continues: “It seems a person driving a vehicle with my description had been called in earlier that evening for a hit-and-run. The officers had pulled me over and sequestered me in my car because I had been driving slowly and they thought I might have been driving drunk. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She continues: “As I hear this, more tears come and I find myself saying through sobs to the officer, ‘And what about my person, outside of my skin color… do you feel validated your officers in making this assumption? Why have I not been asked any questions? There is another white man here talking to your officers and they have not said a word to me outside of ordering me to stay in my car. Do you realize that had I not returned to my car, I could be dead right now around a false assumption?’ </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The captain continues to assure me that I’m </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">experiencing a racial incident and he is sending over a car to ensure this incident is handled well. Having spoken to the captain and assuming that he had spoken to his officers, I summon up the courage to get out of my car again and take some pictures. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I get out and say to the officers loudly, ‘I just spoke to your captain and I need to take a record of what is going on here.’ As I go over to the police car behind my vehicle and snap a photo of the license plate, the officer that told me to get in my car repeats that I need to return to my vehicle. While shaking from head to toe, and with tears streaming, I say to him, ‘I spoke to your captain, and I will go back to my vehicle after I have pictures of my and your cars.’ Despite more yelling from the officer, I proceed to go to the vehicle of the gentleman that had arrived on the scene and take pictures of his car and then pictures of my own. While I am doing this, I notice that the police have also started yelling at another white man who has been parked getting gas at the opposite side of the pumps since I arrived at the gas station.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Although I didn’t see him initially, I realize that he has been standing off to the side watching the entire episode. The police were vociferously asking him to leave and he seemed to be saying to them that he was not willing to comply. At some point this man left the officers and came over to ask me if I was all right. I looked at him through tears and said I was OK. He handed me his business card and said, ‘I’ve been here the whole time and when I saw that the police wouldn’t listen to you, I stayed to see that you were all right. They are asking me to go now, but if you need me to be a witness for you to say what happened here, just call and I’d be happy to help.’</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“As I looked into the eyes of this stranger, the events of the evening shifted significantly for me. I realized that despite the grief I felt over the presence and ongoing threat of racism in the new millennium, there was also hope in the presence of this white ally that seemed willing to stand with me and even put himself at risk to ensure that justice was really for all and not just for himself…. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Over the past year, as issues of race and racism have exploded and taken center stage in our national discourse, many of my white colleagues have asked me: ‘What can white people do in this moment?’ Given my own experiences, what I find myself saying most often is that it is essential for white people to find ways to stand with people of color in their vulnerability and be a witness to racial injustices that are often going on around them every day.”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yavilah McCoy’s story ended, so to speak, without incident (though also without apology). And most of these stories end without physical injury. But they leave a profound psychological impact. And Black Americans (including members of our community and their families) report that they experience such stories at unacceptable frequency - overwhelmingly reporting that they experience interactions with law enforcement that give them the sense that their lives and rights are being treated in a cavalier manner. As if -- if they are put in a level of danger that most of us would be unwilling to tolerate -- well, it would matter less.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And sometimes those interactions are catastrophic. That earlier this year an officer had his knee on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds while he begged for mercy with his final breaths - and people were horrified but no one was particularly surprised -- does lead many of us to believe that in this country too often Black lives are treated as more expendable, as if the commandment to preserve life does not apply to all.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That earlier this year it took months for the killers of Ahmaud Arberry in Georgia to be charged with a crime -- does lead many of us to believe that as a country we would not measure up very well to the criteria articulated in the Talmud by the ancient Babylonian sage known as Rabbah: מי יימר דדמא דידך סומק טפי -- “Don’t assume that your blood is redder than anyone else’s.” Don’t assume that some lives matter more than others. (Sanhedrin 74a)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, there are some people who assert that the majority of Black Americans are misunderstanding their own story and their own experience, that they are mistaken, that they live in a country where their rights and safety are prioritized just as everyone else’s is -that they are given every opportunity to succeed and that we have achieved racial equality in the United States. There are people willing to say all these things. But I know I would want to have a whole lot of excellent evidence before I accused a group of millions of people of misrepresenting their own story. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The protests that we have seen this summer in support of racial equity, constituting one of the largest social protest movements in American history, are overwhelmingly peaceful - and any moments of violence in these protests is reprehensible. But these protests do express an uncomfortable idea: that the story that this country has been telling about itself is an idealized picture that reflects the dream but does not yet reflect the reality. We tell the story that we’ve basically conquered racism, but the effects of racism continue to run deeply in American society. Maybe Jews can especially relate to this because </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have seen how antisemitism has continued to run deeply in European society even after hundreds of years of struggling against it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s amazing to me how little I understood before this year about the episodes of violence and terrorism that led millions of Black Americans to migrate from the South to the North in the last 80 years. I have a friend who notes how enraging it is to hear people say that 9/11 constitutes the first arrival of terrorism to these shores, saying, “Why are you not using the word “terrorism” to refer to what happened to Black Americans?” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it is also amazing - and embarrassing - to me to realize how little I truly understood about how redlining and unfair lending practices, unfairness in hiring, and inequity in schooling -- taking place today, but even when it took place in the past -- help to ensure that two people of different races but the same level of ability might still not have the same life outcomes today. And how these historic patterns can EVEN explain the racial disparity in covid deaths between people of different races and different economic levels. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you may know, the Ashamnu - short form of the confessional prayer - is preceded by the words </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">aval anahnu va-avoteinu hatanu</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, “...but we and our ancestors have sinned.” There are other versions of this prayer that lack the word </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">va’avoteinu</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and it is peculiar to have a reference to the sins of our ancestors. The </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mahzor Lev Shalem</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> editorial committee that I was privileged to be on had a vibrant debate about which version of this prayer to use. I think this year I have a better understanding of why it is a good idea that we included the word </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">va’avoteinu </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in this prayer. Sometimes the sins of “our ancestors” are not our own sins, and yet they remain part of our </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teshuvah </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">agenda until we have fully rectified their enduring effects. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People of different political perspectives may differ about the best strategies for rectifying these historic inequities, but no one can claim that we’re achieving the dream, and no one can claim that we don’t have serious work to do to rectify inequity in this country. This country is still a ways away from affirming the vision that the 18th century Jewish scholar Pinhas Eliyahu Horowitz wrote about in his</span><a href="https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%94%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA_(%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A5)" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sefer Habrit</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ““The parameters of the commandment to love your neighbor mean that one should love every human being, of whatever origin, whatever language, simply because that person is a human being, created in God’s image as oneself is, and participates in the betterment of the world…’ And I don’t think Rabbi Horowitz thought he was being controversial or speaking politically when he said that. I think he was simply explaining the commandment in the Torah as he understood it. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now sometimes people who identify the ways in which the United States’ racist past continues to endure in the present שre caricatured as people who hate the United States - or who are claiming that the United States is irredeemably racist. Truly that’s not what I see. What I see is people of all races and creeds and backgrounds who are grateful to live in the United States -- but want it to live up to its commitments. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Earlier this summer our world lost Representative John Lewis, often regarded as the last of the greatest generation of civil rights leaders. There’s a story from his childhood that he tells that reminds me, in a way, of the way the High Priest would request atonement on Yom Kippur for the entire people, restoring the balance of the nation to set the stage for a new year of healing and striving. He wrote this story </span><a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-12/walking-wind" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in his memoir</span></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“About fifteen of us children were outside my aunt Seneva’s house, playing in her dirt yard. The sky began clouding over, the wind started picking up, lightning flashed far off in the distance, and suddenly I wasn’t thinking about playing anymore; I was terrified… </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aunt Seneva was the only adult around, and as the sky blackened and the wind grew stronger, she herded us all inside.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her house was not the biggest place around, and it seemed even smaller with so many children squeezed inside. Small and surprisingly quiet. All of the shouting and laughter that had been going on earlier, outside, had stopped. The wind was howling now, and the house was starting to shake. We were scared. Even Aunt Seneva was scared.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then it got worse. Now the house was beginning to sway. The wood plank flooring beneath us began to bend. And then, a corner of the room started lifting up.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. None of us could. This storm was actually pulling the house toward the sky. With us inside it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was when Aunt Seneva told us to clasp hands. Line up and hold hands, she said, and we did as we were told. Then she had us walk as a group toward the corner of the room that was rising. From the kitchen to the front of the house we walked, the wind screaming outside, sheets of rain beating on the tin roof. Then we walked back in the other direction, as another end of the house began to lift.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so it went, back and forth, fifteen children walking with the wind, holding that trembling house down with the weight of our small bodies.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More than half a century has passed since that day, and it has struck me more than once over those many years that our society is not unlike the children in that house, rocked again and again by the winds of one storm or another, the walls around us seeming at times as if they might fly apart.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed that way in the 1960s, at the height of the civil rights movement, when America itself felt as if it might burst at the seams—so much tension, so many storms. But the people of conscience never left the house. They never ran away. They stayed, they came together and they did the best they could, clasping hands and moving toward the corner of the house that was the weakest.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then another corner would lift, and we would go there.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And eventually, inevitably, the storm would settle, and the house would still stand.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But we knew another storm would come, and we would have to do it all over again.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And we did.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And we still do, all of us. You and I.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Children holding hands, walking with the wind. . . . "</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Yom Kippur prayers send us back in time to the Temple in Jerusalem, enabling us to hear the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, intoning a confession on behalf of the leaders and the entire nation. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As individuals and as a community - we pray for a year of healing, and of forgiveness and reconciliation. A year when we can be quick to acknowledge our errors, and a year when we can be quick to forgive those who take honest steps towards </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teshuvah </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- repentance, return and renewal. May this be a year when again we can hold hands and walk with the wind. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br /></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-59900386161099494492020-09-23T07:37:00.007-07:002020-10-01T08:01:37.599-07:002nd day Rosh HaShanah 2020: "The 7:00 p.m. Shofar"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you remember -- back in March? Yes, I know it seems like several years ago. </span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8ef559c7-7fff-f207-d516-7850d471c80c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Way back when in March, when the health crisis was so abominable in this area, people in various New York neighborhoods, and here in Hoboken, started an apparently spontaneous practice of stopping whatever they were doing at 7pm each night and applauding for health care workers. Apparently this practice started near hospitals where shifts tend to change around 7pm, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">so such a salute could be heard by health care workers as they left or arrived at the hospital. We clapped and cheered, some of us used other homemade materials to make noise, generating a brief daily feeling of togetherness and solidarity. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few days after this practice started, I got a question from someone in our congregation, a question of Jewish law: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"In the file of questions I never thought I’d need to ask my rabbi... in the event of a global pandemic and a community’s desire to honor first responders by making lots of noise, would it be appropriate - or sacrilegious - to blow the shofar as our way to contribute to the cacophony?” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I responded that it would be very appropriate. And I appreciated the idea and also began to blow the shofar out the window of my home at 7pm - as did others in my family. And we know we weren’t the only ones: shofars at 7pm soon became a social media phenomenon across the New York area. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnub95ye9KoSwm9JsUJSvyGgRFzYh6rIza_TkUMuJsy0iUS1Bj7geV7H5i_XVO7hrufWvH3CWQcO7CToG6e_8hswYQxPR7zAr30EPq0Vltxp9NsciqEtSV-6JZX3YPVC7tPNAZ8qRI-EM/s553/IMG_0597.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="341" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnub95ye9KoSwm9JsUJSvyGgRFzYh6rIza_TkUMuJsy0iUS1Bj7geV7H5i_XVO7hrufWvH3CWQcO7CToG6e_8hswYQxPR7zAr30EPq0Vltxp9NsciqEtSV-6JZX3YPVC7tPNAZ8qRI-EM/s320/IMG_0597.PNG" /></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started to look forward each day to blowing the shofar at 7pm. It became my wordless prayer that summed up the complex blend of emotions I was feeling and couldn’t necessarily articulate -- just as, for so many centuries, the shofar has been the complex wordless prayer of the Jewish people. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On one of those evenings in March, one of my daughters took a video of me blowing the shofar. Amazingly, because it was not long ago, it’s like a time capsule from an earlier era, when we thought lockdown and quarantine would last maybe a month or two, when there was still some illusion that our country would speedily defeat this virus by pulling together. In the video, my face while blowing the shofar reflects an earnestness and determination that I have to say - several months on - is refreshing and even nostalgic, because I think we’re in a different place now.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Biblical book of Ezra tells a story that I think we will relate to.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (I am grateful to Rabbi Tali Adler for directing me to the special resonance of this story for Rosh HaShanah this year.) It’s a story about shofar blasts at a time of similarly complicated emotions, when a remnant of the Jewish people had the opportunity to return to Jerusalem after decades of exile in Babylonia. They even got permission to rebuild the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem, and they gathered in Jerusalem to lay a new foundation for the Temple. Many of the people celebrated with joyous singing, accompanied by the sounds of trumpets and the shofar. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But not everyone was joyously singing. Many of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">zekenim</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the elders --אֲשֶׁ֨ר רָא֜וּ אֶת־הַבַּ֤יִת הָֽרִאשׁוֹן֙ who had memories of having seen the first temple before it was destroyed -- started weeping loudly. Commentaries suggest that it was because they saw how small this second temple was going to be, so diminutive next to the powerful structure that the first temple was. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">While at the same time, the younger generation were shouting joyously at the top of their voices, with unbridled joy. They of course had no idea there was anything disappointing about this experience; they had nothing to compare it to. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then the book of Ezra tells us: וְאֵ֣ין הָעָ֗ם מַכִּירִים֙ ק֚וֹל תְּרוּעַ֣ת הַשִּׂמְחָ֔ה לְק֖וֹל בְּכִ֣י הָעָ֑ם כִּ֣י הָעָ֗ם מְרִיעִים֙ תְּרוּעָ֣ה גְדוֹלָ֔ה וְהַקּ֥וֹל נִשְׁמַ֖ע עַד־לְמֵרָחֽוֹק׃ The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the people’s weeping, for the people were intoning a great </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teruah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -- a great and powerful sound of the Shofar -- and the sound could be heard at a great distance. The joyous sounds and the weeping sounds and the Shofar sounds all became conflated together in an indistinguishable cacophony expressing the complicated mix of emotions of that day -- because at intense moments of our lives, we don’t usually feel only one thing. And especially, when we gather together in community with others, as a community we certainly don’t feel only one thing. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The returned exiles were expressing their intermingled feelings of sadness and joy and relief and discouragement and loss and hope.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And maybe their gathering sounds familiar to us as we come together this Rosh HaShanah to hear the sound of the shofar, at a time of strong and contradictory emotions. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year, the Shofar is our desperate non-verbal prayer for healing of body and spirit and society and nation and world. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Shofar is our cry of agony at beautiful lives cut short, illness and funerals and shiva that we’ve experienced without the embrace of loved ones, with the pain of grief compounded by the pain of loneliness. We will have more to say in tribute to those who have died, and to console the bereaved, as our holiday continues.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the Shofar is also our cry of concern for jobs lost, businesses suffering, financial insecurity; our cry of concern for those who are scared and those who are isolated; those who are coping in unhealthy ways, by taking risks or descending into despair or irrationality and conspiracy theories. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the shofar is our cry of frustration when we empathize with teachers and so many workers facing impossible choices, and with anxious and overworked parents, and with kids whose childhoods suddenly look very different.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But can there possibly be, at this moment, a קול תרועת שמחה - the shofar call of resounding joy, like there was in the time of Ezra? The answer is yes - in fact, for our Shofar call to also convey joy and appreciation is also our responsibility. The Shofar is also our vociferous cheer for our health care workers and first responders and medical researchers, who so generously share their wisdom and skill and their energy to help the world through an unimaginable time. The Shofar is our cry of gratitude for the creativity of teachers, for the resilience of students, for the energy of grocery workers and transportation workers and postal workers and all essential jobs that don’t usually get celebrated. For the mental health professionals and others providing care for those in most need. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the Shofar is also our cry of joy to amplify all the muted celebrations from the last six months, as we cheer for all the birthdays that have been celebrated since March, all the graduations, all the weddings, all the babies born, all the Zoom bar/bat mitzvahs, all the times of celebration. The shofar is also our cheer for all those, of all ages, simply managing to live our lives - including the children who have lived like this for a startling percentage of their lives and are starting to think of it as normal. And it is not our job to take away their exuberance.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Shofar that is blown in one location and can be heard at a distance is also our way of marking that we have learned to experience distance differently this year. We’ve had the technology for a while, but only this year are more of us regularly connecting with people from around the country and around the world - gathering to learn together, to pray together, and even to sing together. In recent months, our synagogue has welcomed people from at least 7 countries on at least 4 continents, and maybe more. At a time of physical distancing, we may have learned to see the world as smaller and more connected. In our torah reading today, we read that וישא אברהם את עיניו וירא את המקום מרחוק - Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the location he was headed to -- from a distance. Some of our commentators understand the word המקום here - usually translated as ‘the location,’ as being a name of God -- because God is in every location - and also can be perceived at a distance. And there are many of us who have found this challenging time to be a remarkable opportunity to connect with Jewish learning and Jewish life as we emulate Abraham in connecting with God from a distance. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that’s not all. The Shofar is also our cheer at the explosion of every kind of creativity. It’s our applause for all the gardening and homemade mask making; all the deliciously baked sourdough bread; the meticulously edited videos of choirs singing apart but together. And it’s our cheer at every kind of generosity: all the meals made and delivered; all the grocery shopping for friends and neighbors, all the advocacy for justice that of course keeps on being necessary at times of global crisis and doesn’t take a break. The shofar is our cheer for the leaders and volunteers of non-profit organizations who are investing so much time and energy to assist those most vulnerable, made even more vulnerable at this time of crisis. And the Shofar is our cheer for all the rabbis and cantors and volunteers and religious leaders of all faiths - and in this congregation - who have suddenly learned how to lead our communities in prayer in bizarre and new ways, while simultaneously leading and comforting our communities through extraordinary challenges for their communal institutions and all the individuals and families.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The call of the Shofar means all of these things, and more. That verse from Ezra is probably true about each one of us. וְאֵ֣ין הָעָ֗ם מַכִּירִים֙ ק֚וֹל תְּרוּעַ֣ת הַשִּׂמְחָ֔ה לְק֖וֹל בְּכִ֣י הָעָ֑ם Even within each of us, we probably can’t disentangle all these emotions, which is one reason why we begin this year like every year with a sound of undifferentiated emotion, that represents the intermingling of the bitter and the sweet. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=============================</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s something that I know I teach about the meaning of the sound of the Shofar every year, but I can’t help it - I find that it’s just the teaching about the sounds of the Shofar that most resonates for me and transforms the Sounding of the Shofar into a prayer and a meditation. This is the teaching of the Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, the baal Shnei Luchot Habrit, who taught that the order in which we hear the sounds of the Shofar tells a story - in fact, though he didn’t use these words, the Shofar is telling us </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> archetypical story of the Jewish people. That story has four chapters - which are </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tekiah - shevarim - teruah - tekiah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Or in other words, the chapters of our story are ‘whole; broken; shattered; whole.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Shenei_Luchot_HaBerit%2C_Aseret_HaDibrot%2C_Rosh_HaShanah%2C_Torah_Ohr.6?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the Baal Shnei Luchot Habrit</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this is the story of the individual undergoing the process of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teshuvah, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">repentance and renewal. We start out whole and we carefully analyze our actions, we break ourselves down to determine what parts of us are going to endure for the following year, and then we build ourselves back up anew. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have other sages who understand this pattern as a reflection of the journey of a human life with our inevitable disappointments, and hopefully with our ability to build ourselves back into wholeness and completeness following disappointment and difficulty. And still other sages regard it as the story of Jewish history with its moments of brokenness and tragedy followed by opportunities to rebuild and to celebrate, or a story of the world -</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">broken and shattered by</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">human beings, and natural forces, that with God’s help we can build.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I hear each pattern of the blasts of the Shofar, I make every effort to picture some element of my own experience of the world where this pattern exists. Sometimes the blasts of the Shofar give me the opportunity to marvel at the resilience that I have shown, the ways that I have been broken and have managed to endure. Sometimes the blasts of the Shofar encourage me to do the repair work that I know I need to do. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And sometimes all I can do is to pray that the brokenness that I see around me will be able to be repaired. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because the sound of the Shofar is a sonic representation of the words of the Hasidic master Rebbe Nahman of Breslov: </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Likutei_Moharan%2C_Part_II.112.1.1?vhe=Likutei_Moharan_Tinyana_-_rabenubook.com&lang=bi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אם אתה מאמין שיכולין לקלקל תאמין שיכולין לתקן </span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> If you believe that something can be damaged, also believe that it can be repaired. Our shofar blower demonstrates this truth by taking a whole and intact blast - a tekiah - And then breaking it in three parts, or in nine parts, or in three parts and THEN in nine parts, a</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">nd then putting it back together again. And doing so over - and over - and over - and over. Because if the breaking is possible, then the healing is possible. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today as I hear the shofar’s blasts, I think about how -- at least on my block - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we haven’t made noise at seven o-clock in many months. That’s for a lot of reasons - some of which are very good, like that those most dire days God willing are behind us. But also - we got tired. We who have lived through our share of disasters know that, for better or for worse, there’s a life cycle to every disaster. Actually there is a lot I have learned from the writings of our neighbor in Jersey City, the Rev. Dr. Willard Ashley, who is a world authority on the pastoral impact of disasters. He writes that in the immediate aftermath of the disaster you have the ‘heroic phase’ when everyone pulls together, when people set aside their differences and cheer for the extraordinary and self-sacrificial actions of remarkable people. The feelings of unity and togetherness are energizing -- but they rarely last as long as we need them to. Soon we get tired - and we move into what he calls the ‘disillusionment phase’ -- characterized by disappointment and conflict and incrimination and anger. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guess which stage our entire country seems to be in now - together with much of our world. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe not surprisingly. Even before the pandemic, the stage was not particularly set for unity and togetherness and cooperation in the United States. It has been a long time since these were words that would come to mind when you think of our country and its leadership.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I take to heart the words of Rebbe Nahman, and the message of the Shofar: if I believe the breaking is possible, I should believe the repair is possible. The archetypical Jewish story told by the Shofar - which is also an archetypical human story - ends in wholeness rather than brokenness. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Jews returning to the land of Israel in the time of Ezra had many different emotions and different responses -- and yet they were united. Our American community, our worldwide Jewish community, and our global community can achieve similar unity in diversity. It is not easy, but we know it is possible because we have seen it happen before. May the sound of the Shofar help us to redouble our efforts to repair what has been ruptured. If the breaking is possible, the repair is possible.</span></p><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8241961975155073420.post-50038029974177317872020-09-21T16:14:00.004-07:002020-09-21T16:43:04.807-07:00Rosh HaShanah 2020, 1st day sermon: "The Secret to Finding Things that are Lost"<p><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t need to tell you that every aspect of these High Holy Day services are a new ex</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">perience for me: just 14 people in the sanctuary, everyone wearing masks, and giving sermons in my office. These are among the many ways that this Rosh HaShanah is different from every other Rosh HaShanah. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9ac05549-7fff-ce48-75ac-15b33487da14"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then there are the more trivial differences: For example, I have never before given a sermon inspired by a refrigerator magnet.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For many years we had a refrigerator magnet on our refrigerator that I picked up at a Jewish book store many years ago, because it intrigued me and it sounded like it would be very useful for our family at the time. It was labeled סגולה למציאת אבידה </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">segulah li-m’tzi’at avedah</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a ritual or charm to bring success in finding lost objects. At that time with several young children at home, we were losing things all the time,and I thought I should take whatever help I can get. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So even though I am not most attracted to the parts of Jewish tradition that focus on mystical rituals to bring good luck, I picked up the magnet and it had a place of honor on our refrigerator for the next ten years or so.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rest of the text on the magnet said - in Hebrew: if you ever lose something, here’s what you should do to find it again. You should recite the following passage from the ancient midrashic text Breishit Rabbah - an ancient midrashic commentary on the book of Genesis: </span><a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah.53.14?vhe=Midrash_Rabbah_--_TE&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אמר רבי בנימין הכל בחזקת סומין עד שהקדוש ברוך הוא מאיר את עיניהם, מן הכא ויפקח אלוקים את עיניה</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Rabbi Benjamin taught: all people are essentially blind, until the Holy Blessed One lights up their eyes, as we read in the story of Hagar: ויפקח אלקים את עיניה God opened Hagar's eyes.</span></p><img alt="" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2nTdXy9V0qTddZ-i1dimPRRaCNI-WpKHgXesQ3dE_MRhXypj7gbkcqlHU84Grsu5daZpCaJS_ee6ygYb44c0GCg8LAnhytO8Wy_XQUKw45Cvj5ysVOKS_dtu95B9XCfaAzEgsj2iD7Xk/" width="320" /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to this magnet, then, if you want to locate a lost object, you should focus on one detail from the Torah reading for the first day of Rosh HaShanah. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abraham has sent Hagar and Ishmael into the desert. For whatever the reason, they are given insufficient water, and the water runs out. Hagar fears that her son Ishmael is going to die of thirst. But then, at the last possible moment, an angel of God calls out to Hagar, and tells her that God has heard the cries of the child, and they will be saved.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Usually, when we tell the story, we understand the next thing that happens as a miracle. Suddenly, a well of water appears, to revive Ishmael and Hagar. But - as Rabbi Benjamin reminds us - that’s not exactly what the Torah says. What we actually read is “ויפקח אלקים את עיניה ותרא באר מים - God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw the well of water.” The implication is that the well was there all along, but for some reason Hagar was unable to see it. This is why the ancient sage Rabbi Benjamin tells us to learn from this story that all of us are as if we are blind, until </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God opens our eyes. And if you have lost something - it’s not really lost. God just hasn’t opened your eyes to it yet. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, many of our sages have suggested that this is a primary way that God answers prayers -- not in making things magically appear when they weren’t there previously, but by opening our eyes to what was there all along. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, I wish it were that easy. I think we’re all looking for shortcuts these days to deal with everything we’re frustrated and anxious about and everything we may feel we have lost. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can’t say that this magnet helped us to find lost objects. (In fact, I can’t even find the magnet.) </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">But focusing on this detail in the story can help us to better understand some things that have happened to all of us this year. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hebrew word that is used here, פקח, to refer to God opening Hagar’s eyes, is the same Hebrew root we see in other places in the Bible not to refer to literal sight, but to insight - such as when Adam and Eve have the sudden realization that they really ought to get dressed (Genesis 3:7). And this root is also used in the torah and in rabbinic literature to refer figuratively to enlightenment - to being blessed with wisdom and insight that is not necessarily visual. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If there has been a theme for us this year - as a world community, as the United States community, as a Jewish community, even as a local Jewish community - that theme has been that our eyes have gotten opened wider this year. In fact, on my mind are three themes from these Rosh HaShanah prayers that often seem remote and abstract and hard to grasp - but this year, our eyes are opened wider to these realities. I’m </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> someone who believes that bad things always happen for a reason, or that the purpose of misfortunate is to teach us a lesson. However, I do believe that we all should take every life experience as an invitation to engage in some introspection and learning, and there is much we can be open to learning this year.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, I notice that every year, as I plan High Holy Day services, I include a number of stories and extra readings to amplify the idea that our lives are finite and that we have less of life remaining now than we did last year at this time. This is a major theme of the High Holy Days -- and yet, something tells me that we don’t need additional readings and stories to remind us this year. Whether we’re younger or older, I imagine most of us know or know of someone who is about our age, about our level of health, who had a devastating health experience this year. Our eyes have been opened on a societal level as they rarely have been before to life’s precariousness and capriciousness. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This does not mean we all have the same response to the confrontation with mortality that frankly all of us have faced this year. Some of us respond by being extremely careful and some of us respond by being reckless. Some of us respond with greater appreciation of each moment and each day, and some of us respond with a sense of life’s meaninglessness or with overwhelming anger and fear. Some of us respond by trying to control our environment, while others of us respond by going with the flow. But despite our different responses, we all have a different kind of understanding that we are not invincible. We may be more open than usual, to the teaching from the Book of Psalms: למנות ימינו כן הודע ונביא לבב חכמה - “Teach us to number our days, that we may attain a heart of wisdom.” (90:12) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second, this year our eyes are especially open to the commonality of all humanity. You saw the photos from earlier this year of empty public squares all over the world, photos of just about every iconic market and monument closed and quiet, With a stunning percentage of the human population staying at home this spring. It’s not often that we get to experience what the text of the Mahzor encourages us to feel - ויעשו כולם אגודה אחת לעשות רצונך בלבב שלם - make all of humanity into one bundle, one common bond. Our eyes are opened a little wider to the common bond of humanity that we share. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whether you prefer the religious account or the scientific account of the origins of humanity, or some combination thereof, both affirm that we’re all descended from a common ancestor. And as a result, we all share a biology that makes us vulnerable. Also, we note that on a communal and societal level we face a virus that preys especially on our desire to eat and drink and celebrate together, to sing together, to embrace each other and mourn together. There’s not a society or culture on earth that does not share these desires. To some degree, the challenges in getting compliance with wise health guidelines shows just how much these guidelines go against the grain of what we are all primed to do as human beings. We want to BE TOGETHER. In fact, the first time in the entire Torah that God identifies an imperfection in the world is when God says, לא טוב היות האדם לבדו - it is not good for this human being to be alone. (Genesis 2:18) We also note the intelligence and insight that we share, that - God willing - is helping us to work together to triumph over the threat. This is one of those rare times when potentially, the eyes of every single human being could be opened up to better understand our common bonds with every single other human being. Usually we have to work so hard to remember this. Imagine what we could achieve together if we all remembered that feeling and took it to heart. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is also a third High Holy Day theme on my mind that we understand better than ever before. These days are referred to as the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah - the seven days of repentance and return and renewal. On these we focus on the choices we make and their implications on others. In his discussion of the message of the Shofar, the Rambam (Moses Maimonides of 12th c. Egypt) teaches us that we should see ourselves as if we, and the entire world, had amassed exactly the same amount of good deeds and bad deeds, Such that our own personal future, and the future of the entire world, is going to be determined by our next action. (Laws of Repentance 3:4) Rationally, we know that the character of our society is an aggregate of all the decisions that we each choose to make as individuals, and we are bidden to act thoughtfully because our actions have implications on everyone. This lesson too is usually quite abstract. But not this year. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The ancient sage Shimon Bar Yohai used to make this point by describing a person sitting on a passenger boat, who pulls out a drill and starts drilling a hole under his seat. The other people on the boat start yelling at him: what do you think you’re doing?! Are you trying to sink the boat and get us all killed?! And he calmly responds: Why should you care? Am I drilling under YOUR seat? (Vayikra Rabbah 4:6) It is stunning to see such exact parallels to this story playing out throughout the United States. Most of us don’t need this story to remind us that there are profound ethical implications to our every small decision - where to eat, how close to stand to other people, whether to wear a mask and how to wear it - these are not only self-protective actions, but also ways we protect others.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of us may have wondered: how would I act when the chips were down, if history had its eyes on me, and I were faced with challenging decisions when even my small actions would affect others. Well, now we all know how we would act, because we’re all doing it. Our eyes are opened to something about ourselves, whether it’s something we wanted to know or not. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are also other ways our eyes have been opened this year. Some </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of us are opening our eyes to truths that we had desperately hoped were not true. I’ll tell you that I </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">began this Jewish year with a hopefulness that even though I was well aware of people buying in to terrible anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and lashing out with irrational violence against Jews - I was hopeful that such a thing could not possibly happen in my home community of Hudson County, in Hoboken and Jersey City. Sadly my eyes are open even wider to the endurance of anti-Jewish hatred in our world and even in our local community. Trust me, we’ll be talking further about that over these High Holy Days as we remember the lives of our neighbors in Jersey City who were murdered in an act of anti-Jewish violence. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I imagine some of us began last year with a hopefulness that whereas this country has a terribly problematic racist past, we’re now more than 150 years since the Civil War, more than 50 years since the triumphs of the civil rights movement, more than 10 years since a Black man was elected as president, and we may therefore have regarded racism as a theme of the American past but not of its present and future. If that’s how we felt at the beginning of the last Jewish year, my sense is that our eyes have been opened in new ways -both to the overwhelmingly disproportionate treatment by law enforcement that is part of the experience of most Black people in the United States, including those in our own Jewish community, and also to other ways that the legacy of racism continues to be felt and experienced today in this country which has always proclaimed the noble value that all people are created equal but has too often fallen short of its fulfillment. And trust me: this, too, we’ll be talking further about over these High Holy Days. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I am sure there are yet more ways our eyes have been opened this year. Truths each of us has learned about ourselves this year, for better or for worse. How we deal with stress; how we deal with risk and uncertainty; how we prioritize our values under conditions of duress; how we soothe ourselves at moments of difficulty. And truths we’ve learned about this country - and its freedoms and values and vulnerabilities and divisions. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But here’s the thing about Hagar and Ishmael. God opened Hagar’s eyes - but then God stood back. God opening Hagar’s eyes was only Step 1. Next we read: ותרא באר מים ותלך ותמלא את החמת מים ותשק את הנער She saw the well - but then she had to go to the well (which was at some distance from her) - then she had to fill the bottle of water, then walk what the torah describes as the distance of an arrow shot over to her son and to give him the water and revive him. God did not do any of those things </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Hagar. God simply opened Hagar’s eyes, and then Hagar figured out what next steps were possible and necessary. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our eyes may now be opened to our lives’ finitude - But it’s up to us to incorporate that knowledge into the way we live our lives, ונביא לבב חכמה - so that we can truly benefit from the wisdom and insight that such knowledge brings us. Our eyes may now be opened to the commonality of all human beings, but it’s up to us to take the next step and to translate our empathy into action, to explore what we can do as individuals, as a community, and as a wealthy nation to meaningfully ameliorate the lives of those in need around the world for whom we may have developed a newfound empathy. And our eyes may now be opened to the ways that our actions affect others in ways that are big and small - but it’s up to us to use that knowledge to live differently, to see that balance scale before our eyes and to know that the future of others, even the future of the world, depends on what we decide to do next.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I so wish that my misplaced refrigerator magnet could really function like an incantation to guarantee that we could find all the things we’ve lost this year -- because we’ve lost so much this year. Including so many lost moments that we could have spent together, and so much lost time and lost opportunities to steer our world on a better path. Sadly some of what we have lost is simply lost. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the same time, we pray that this coming year continues to be a year when God opens our eyes. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May this new year 5781 תשע’א be a year when we never miss an opportunity for insight and realization that will bring us ever closer to finding what we seek. May it be a year when we emulate Hagar who took wise and decisive and life-sustaining action once God had opened her eyes.</span></p><div><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>RShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564588571193733971noreply@blogger.com0