We Remember

Here we are on the 3^rd day of Passover.  Spring is here.  We are looking forward to the Festival of Shavuot which celebrates the giving of the Torah and the summer harvest.  It is only seven weeks away. This ought to be a happy time on the Jewish calendar.

The seven weeks between the 2^nd day of Passover and the Festival of Shavuot are called the Omer (sheaf) because our ancestors brought a sheaf of barley each day as they counted down from Passover to Shavuot.  It was a celebratory time of year in the agricultural cycle.  At some point, though, this joyous countdown became a period of mourning.  There are a number of theories as to why.  Here are two: 

According to an obscure passage in the Talmud (BT Yevamot 62b), some 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva’s disciples were killed by a plague during this time period.  Some scholars have suggested that it was not, in fact, a plague which was responsible for these deaths.  Rather, these disciples died in the Bar Kochba revolt which took place in the year 135CE – the Jews’ last attempt to evict the Roman Empire from the Land of Israel.  Regardless of the actual cause of these deaths, this huge loss caused the entire Jewish people to plunge into a period of mourning.  The customs of mourning – no shaving, no haircuts, no weddings or other celebrations – have persisted until today.  The one exception is the 33rd day of the Omer, or Lag Ba’Omer – the one day out of 49 upon which Rabbi Akiva’s army seemed to have some success.  The Talmud itself, though, never legislates a period of mourning for these fallen men.  It’s just something that people did out of a profound sense of loss.

In addition to the loss of Rabbi Akiva’s students, some later sages suggested that the mourning was the result of the massacres of Ukrainian Jews in 1648.  Bohdan Chmielnicki the leader of the Cossacks, wanted to free the Ukraine from Poland’s control.  He and his followers used a violent uprising to make their case.  The main targets of their violence were Jews.  Perhaps as many as 100,000 Jewish people were killed, and nearly 300 Jewish communities were destroyed.  Ultimately, Ukraine was annexed by Russia, and the anti-Semitism in Ukraine grew even worse.  It was the worst violence against Eastern European Jewry until the 20th Century. The name “Cossack” became synonymous with “Antisemite.”

It’s been nearly 1,900 years since Bar Kochba and Rabbi Akiva, but we still remember.  It’s been over 350 years since the Chmielnicki massacres, but we still remember.  Through the customs of the Omer, we still mourn.

It’s been 202 days since October 7^th.  There are still 133 hostages.  There are still rockets flying into Israel.  There are still dead bodies that haven’t been recovered.  While the rest of the world may be ready to forget and to move on, that’s not the way we are wired.  We remember.

Shalom, RAF.

Let My People Go

I remember very clearly adding a reading called “The Matzah of Hope” to our Passover Seders when I was growing up.  It spoke of the 3 million Soviet Jews who could not celebrate Passover.  It gave special significance to the words “Let my people go,” in the Seder liturgy.  We have always understood that the lessons of Passover are not just history.  They must be applied to the contemporary context.

Well, we know that the Soviet Union ultimately fell and many of those Jews who wished to leave were able to leave.  Many of them made their way to Israel and the US.  Our prayers for them were answered.

Today, we once again find ourselves in a similar situation.  When we tell the story of redemption and freedom, it’s hard not to think about the remaining hostages in Gaza.  How can there be a Festival of Freedom when our brothers and sisters are not free?

So, as we have always done, we add to the Passover liturgy in order to speak to current events.  There are many suggestions as to how we can do this.  One idea is to tie a yellow ribbon around the stem of your wine glass.  Each cup represents one of God’s promises of redemption.  The ribbon forces us to think about the hostages when we remember God’s previous acts of redemption.

Another possibility is to add a lemon to the Seder plate.  It is the color that Israelis are using to raise awareness for the hostages and it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth – just like the hostage situation.

And of course, we add readings.  Hadassah is suggesting that we add an extra piece of matzah just as we did years ago for Soviet Jews.  This time, it is called “The Matzah of Healing.”  Together with the Israel Committee, I put together a Seder Supplement with that reading as well as some others.  Hopefully, the hostages will soon know freedom just as the Soviet Jews did a generation ago.

Best wishes for a happy and meaningful Passover celebration.

Shalom, 

RAF.

Healing

Just a couple of months ago, I sent out emails to our fourth grade families with the date of their child’s B Mitzvah in three years.  Inevitably, I get the same question from at least one of the families with a spring date:  Is this the Torah portion that talks about bodily fluids and skin diseases?  The Torah portion that causes such fear and anxiety in parents is – of course! – this week’s Torah portion Tazria which is often combined with next week’s portion Metzora.

Many parents want to avoid having their children give a speech about these “icky” subjects.  And if there’s another available date, we’re happy to make a switch.  However, the truth is that there is nothing to be afraid of. This week’s Torah Portion is not really about diseases or bodily fluids.  It’s about healing.

Now, we may go about healing in a completely different manner than our ancestors in the Bible, but the truth is that the topic of healing is never obsolete or irrelevant.  It’s a part of all of our lives – whether it is physical healing from sickness or injury, or emotional healing from a trying experience – we all want and need healing.  We were still in the process of healing from COVID when we were hit with upsurge in antisemitism.  We were still in the process of healing from that when October 7^th happened. 

Even our heated political discussions are ultimately about healing – healing from hard economic times, healing from pandemics, healing from wars, healing from the impact of criminal activity or healing from the destructive language that has become the standard in politics.

For a very long time, our tradition has believed that bringing healing to those most in need is a distinctly sacred act – possibly the most sacred act.

We can do this in so many ways – visiting someone who ailing, calling someone who is lonely, making a shivah call, buying flowers for someone who is feeling down, having a drink with a friend and MORE!  But sometimes, we get so caught up in our own lives and our own challenges that we don’t take the time to think about the impact that we could be having on others.

In this week’s Torah portion and next week’s, the priests – who had the highest social status in Israelite society – had to literally go to the outskirts of the camp in order to evaluate someone with a skin disease that put them at the bottom of the social order.  I imagine that it was risky and it was scary.  I am quite certain that the priests did not always look forward to this aspect of their jobs.  But they did it. They modeled for the rest of us that we must set aside petty concerns when given the opportunity to bring healing into the world.

After all, what could be more important than bringing healing?

Shalom, RAF.

The Good Guys

It seems like only yesterday that I saw the movie “48 Hours” transform Eddie Murphy into a bona fide movie star.  Although it was definitely a comedy, there was a pretty serious moment at the end.  The bad guy of the movie, who had already killed a number of people, was holding Eddie Murphy in front of him with a gun up to his head.  Nick Nolte, who was Eddie Murphy’s partner, came upon the scene with a gun of his own.  Eddie Murphy calmly told Nick Nolte to shoot the bad guy, and Nick Nolte calmly did.  Immediately afterwards, Eddie Murphy screamed out, “Are you crazy?!”  (There might have been an expletive or two.)

It’s been over 40 years since that movie came out and I remember it vividly.

On the one hand, Eddie Murphy was correct at the beginning of the scene: there’s no way to negotiate with a killer who has a gun up to your head.  On the other hand, Eddie Murphy was also correct at the end of the scene: how can you shoot at a bad buy when one of the good guys could potentially get hurt.

I have never wavered in my opinion that Nick Nolte’s character was completely in the right.  In any movie or TV show, when I see a bad guy holding a gun up to the head of a hostage, I root for one of the good guys to take the shot and end it – even if it puts a good guy at risk.  

And while it may seem simplistic, I bring this approach to my understanding of the current situation in Israel and Gaza.  There is no doubt in my mind who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.  It was Hamas that started this war on October 7^th through their murders, rapes and kidnappings.  They are the ones holding hostages – now for over 180 days.  They are the ones who have turned down proposed cease-fires time and time again.  Israel has no choice but to go after Hamas even if it means going through their human shields – their fellow Palestinians, the hostages and, yes, the NGO’s working in Gaza.

I know what you’re thinking.  I’m using an Eddie Murphy movie to justify my position on Israel.  But, that’s not exactly what I’m doing.  I’m using that movie to help me explain a position that is rooted in Jewish law.

In the Talmud, we read the following: “One who pursues another to kill him; or pursues a male to sodomize him; or pursues a betrothed young woman to rape her; or pursues a woman who is forbidden to him by a prohibition… all these people are to be saved at the cost of the life of the transgressor (BT Sanhedrin 73a).”  In other words, like Nick Nolte’s character, you’re supposed to take the shot.  The rabbis explained that this is rooted in the biblical injunction, “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor (Leviticus 19:16).” 

Israel cannot stand idly by the blood of the hostages.  We know that some of the hostages being held by Hamas are already dead.  We know that the women are being sexually abused.  Israel is obligated to use all means at their disposal to save those who are still being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Many people are using the tragic deaths of seven aid workers as a justification to call for Israel to stand down. Many of these same people called for Israel to stand down on October 8^th before Israel had even secured its borders. While I also mourn the loss of those innocent lives, it does not mitigate Israel’s responsibility to save the lives of the hostages.  People who are calling on Israel to unilaterally stop its operations in Gaza are simply ignoring history.

First of all, they are ignoring the history of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was held by Hamas for FIVE YEARS before Hamas agreed to exchange him for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners including Yahya Sinwar the mastermind of October 7^th.   If Israel withdraws from Gaza, how long will Hamas hold the remaining hostages?  What price would Israel have to pay to get them out?

Secondly, people are ignoring the history of war.  War is horrible even when everything goes right.  It’s even worse when mistakes are made.  In October 2015, the US Military bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan killing 42 people including DWB doctors and volunteers.  It was a horrible mistake, and 16 US Military personnel were punished for their role in that mistake.  However, investigators ultimately concluded that it was not a war crime.  It was just an awful mistake.  

Israel is fighting a war on six fronts – Gaza, Lebanon, West Bank, Yemen, Syria and Iran – with a citizen army.  There are going to be mistakes.  That does NOT make the Israeli army a band of war criminals.  Quite the opposite, they are a bunch of good guys who have been put in a horrible situation by the bad guys who are the ones actually perpetrating war crimes every single day starting on October 7^th.  

And I know exactly what I want the good guys to do.

Shalom, RAF.

Making Room

I still remember my childhood bedroom.  I had one wall completely covered with images that I had cut out from magazines.  They were mostly my favorite players from my favorite teams.  That wall made it my room as opposed to anybody else’s.  It made my room special and memorable – for here I am all these years later and I can still picture it.

This week’s Torah portion – the last one in the Book of Exodus – is all about creating special space.  We read about the conclusion of the construction of the Tabernacle and Moses putting it into action.  Our Haftarah (prophetic selection) from the first Book of Kings describes the transition from our ancestors’ first sacred space to its second – Solomon’s Temple.

In order for the Temple to be an accepted successor to the Tabernacle, it had to remind people of the previous space.  So, the Ark had to be transferred to the Temple.  In addition to the Ark, there were many features of the Temple that were virtually identical to their counterparts in the Tabernacle – the table, the lampstand, the laver and the tapestries.  It made it easy for the people to make the transition from the Tabernacle to the Temple.

Then, of course, the Temple was destroyed and most of the Jewish people were forced to leave the Land of Israel?  It was much harder to create sacred space in the diaspora.  But, our ancestors learned from the success of the Temple.  They brought with them an ark, a table, a lamp, a laver and the tapestry.  It made their new places of assembly feel comfortable and sacred.

And if you look around just about any synagogue today, you’ll see many of those same things (the images on the left are replicas of Temple furnishings; the images on the right are from our synagogue):

That is just one more way that our people have remained connected to the land of Israel over the last 2,000 years.

Shalom, RAF.

Making Coffee

The story is told of a funeral that took place on a bitter cold day.  People were lined up around the funeral home waiting to get in and offer some words of comfort to the family.  Some were shaking with cold, while others were trembling with tears.  

Suddenly, a man appeared with cups of hot coffee, and he started passing them out to the people standing in the cold.  Eventually, everyone in line had a hot cup in their hands.  One of the funeral attendees saw the man walk back to the coffee shop across the street from the funeral home.

After the funeral, that attendee made her way to the coffee shop and found the man behind the counter.  He was the owner.  So, she thanked him for the coffee and asked what motivated him to do it.  He answered, “I felt so bad for them, and I wanted to do something, but all I could do was make coffee.  So, I made coffee.”

I think we can all identify with that coffee shop owner.  We see pain and suffering around us, and we are not sure how to help.  Of course, today marks five months since Hamas’ horrible attack on Israel.  Over 130 hostages are still being held, IDF soldiers are in harm’s way, rockets are landing in Northern Israel, and the entire country is in pain.  

Here in the US, incidents of antisemitism continue to rise, and college campuses are increasingly inhospitable to Jewish students.  In Europe, physical attacks on Jews are all too common, and just today, Russia claims that it thwarted an attack on a Moscow synagogue by Islamic extremists.

These are huge problems with no easy solutions.  It would be easy to throw our hands up in despair.  However, perhaps the answer is to “make coffee.”

Instead of focusing on all the ways in which we cannot solve the world’s problems, we need to think about the things we CAN do to make our corner of the world a little better.  

So, we can reach out to our friends and family in Israel and let them know that we are still speaking out about Israel.  We can continue to try to educate people in our lives who may not have all the facts about the Israel-Hamas conflict.  We can call the college students in our lives and make sure that they are doing okay.  We can write emails to thank politicians and journalists who are speaking out against antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric.  

A cup of coffee – or tea or hot cocoa – may not eliminate the problems that we face, but it can help us muster the strength to face them today, tomorrow and the day after that.  Make mine a double!

Shalom, RAF.

Some Help for Oz

I first met Oz Balas Bareket when he accompanied a group of his students from MetroWest High School in Ra’anana on their visit to New Jersey.  He was very interested in discussing non-orthodox Judaism in the US.  A couple of years later, I traveled to Ra’anana with a group of students from our congregation, and I was happy to spend time with Oz once again.

After that, we stayed in touch through social media.  This past October, when Oz reported for duty with his reserve IDF unit, I started texting with him to wish him safety and success.  While he was sitting in the Negev awaiting orders to enter Gaza with his unit, he recommended that I follow Ella Travels on X (nee Twitter), who used to tweet about nature and travel in Israel.  Since October 7^th, she has been a prolific creator of pro-Israel content on the internet. It was a great recommendation.  I read her stuff every day.

I’m happy to report that Oz returned home safely from his service in Gaza.  However, this past week, he let me know that his unit is being called up again due to the increased violence in Israel’s north, and they are in need of some new equipment.  In a perfect world, an army would provide every single item that a soldier needs, but unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way.  

Oz’s note about what his unit needs is under the photos.

Shalom,
RAF.

Dear Friends and Family Far and Wide,
We are a combat medical unit of reserve soldiers from the Nachal brigade. We were drafted on October 7 after the terrible atrocities of that day. The following day we were already stationed by all the yishuvim and kibbutzim down south to cleanse them of terrorists. We were the 1st reserves unit to go into Gaza to the Be’eri area. For 28 days we completed defense and attack tasks during which time we provided medical assistance to wounded soldiers and saved many others’ lives. We were discharged after 75 days and are already now preparing to go back in in a few weeks as we have received a callback. In getting ready for the next round up north we are in great need of helmets and heavy duty bags which fell apart during our 1st round. The cost of a new helmet is $330 and each bag $250 Our goal is to raise $10,000 by the beginning of March so we can be fully prepared for our next call up. Please consider sponsoring us today 
 
With much love and appreciation,
 the Taagad Unit of the Nachal brigade 
 
Tax deductible donations can be made through Cardknox.  Please earmark all – combative medics
 
For donations via PayPal – Berk@juno.com Please earmark all – combative medics
 
Can also donate through Lev Lachayal:  Please earmark all – combative medics

You Are What You Wear

I’m old enough to remember having to dress up to travel by airplane.  I have a very specific memory of a tan leisure suit that my parents made me wear to fly to Florida.  Given all the videos of people putting their bare feet all over airplane seats, perhaps the old ways were not so crazy after all!

We may not dress up to travel anymore.  In fact, since COVID, most of us don’t dress up at all anymore!  However, there are still some moments when our clothing sends a message. Sometimes, it something simple like where we went to college or what sports team we root for.  Sometimes, it reflects a cause that is important to us like gun legislation or environmentalism.

In the Torah, the priestly vestments – as described in this week’s Torah portion – were clearly intended to send a message.  The ornate outfits worn by Aaron and his sons gave them appearance of leaders who were close to God.  These special uniforms were called “בִגְדֵי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ” (bigdei koshesh)– sacred garments, sacral vestments or clothes of holiness.  

One can only imagine how these clothes were perceived by everyday Israelites.  They sent a strong signal of holiness to all who saw them.

Today, we also try to send signals through the items we wear, but perhaps we are a bit more subtle.  Since October 7^th, many Jews have started wearing Jewish star or ‘chai’ necklaces to declare their Jewishness and support of Israel.  Some of us have been wearing blue ribbons to call attention to the hostages being held in Gaza.  At some point in Israel, they switched to yellow ribbons.  Others have been wearing a small blue square pin which is part of the “Stand Up to Jewish Hate” campaign.  

In Israel, Rachel Goldberg-Polin – who is the mother of one of the remaining hostages – started a new way of sending a message through what we wear.  Each day, she puts a piece of masking tape on her clothing with a number.  It is the number of days that her son Hersh has been in captivity.  Today is Day #139.  It pains me every time I see her.

When we wear these items, it makes it harder for others to forget what is going on in Israel and Gaza.  It makes it harder for others to forget that there has been a historically significant spike in antisemitism the last few months.  I wish we didn’t have to send that message, but unfortunately, it’s important that we do. 

Shalom, RAF.

A Little Piece of Israel

Every Friday morning, our ELC students march into our Sanctuary singing a song about the Torah.  They march up on to the bimah and say “Shabbat Shalom” to the Torah scrolls in the Ark.  Some of them notice the Lamp about the Ark – the Ner Tamid.  They are careful to avoid the reading table – or Shulchan – which is just the right height to hit many of them in the head.  

They feel comfortable in that space.  They know that they belong there.  What they don’t know is that it is a recreation of our ancestors’ sacred spaces as described in this week’s Torah portion and Haftarah.  

From the Torah, we read the details of how our ancestors built the Tabernacle while wandering in the wilderness on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.  Among the details were an Ark to carry God’s words, a Table from which to offer God gifts and a Lamp to represent the Divine Presence among the people.  That portable sacred space served our ancestors until they entered into the Promised Land.

Then, in our Haftarah, we read that 480 years after the Exodus from Egypt, Solomon oversaw the construction of the First Temple in Jerusalem.  Like the Tabernacle, it had an Ark, a Table and a Lamp.

As Judaeans and Israelites moved further and further away from the Temple – sometimes by choice, sometimes by force – they took a little of the Temple with them.  They started building synagogues with elements of the Temple so that they could reach out to God and preserve their traditions.  

So, when the Second Temple was ultimately destroyed in 70CE, Jews around the world turned to these synagogues to take the place of the Temple in their lives.  For nearly 2,000 years, wherever Jews found themselves, they sought to create a little replica of the Temple in order to perpetuate the Jewish tradition and maintain a link with the Promised Land.

Sure, our connection to Israel can be found in our prayers and in our writings.  More than that, though, it can be found the design and furnishings of our synagogues.  Maybe one of the reasons that we Jews feel at home when we go visit Israel is that we have been visiting a little piece of Israel all our lives without really knowing.

Shalom, RAF.

Just Another Witch Hunt

We throw around the term “witch hunt” pretty casually these days.  Anyone who has lost their job or anyone who thinks that they are being unfairly accused of wrongdoing immediately claims to be the target of a witch hunt. 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a witch hunt as “the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (such as political opponents) with unpopular views.”  But, historically speaking, witch hunts were much more serious, and often lethal.

In this week’s Torah portion, the Torah simply states, “No witch shall you let live (Exodus 22:17).”

The only problem is that the Torah doesn’t tell exactly what a witch does or how to identify one.  Perhaps, people back then just knew.  Although sorcery was prohibited, when King Saul was unable to communicate with God after Samuel’s death, he traveled to En-Dor in order to ask a sorceress for help (see I Samuel 28).  He and his courtiers just knew that this woman was out there.  

Certainly, the religious leaders and judges of colonial Massachusetts thought they knew how to identify witches, and they executed 20 people during the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692-93.  Some of those found guilty of witchcraft were members in good standing of Salem Village’s only church.  It took until 2022, but all those who were found guilty of witchcraft were ultimately exonerated.  

Still, no one really knows what a witch does or how to identify one.  It seems to me that a witch’s greatest “crime” is going around the powerful men of her community and seeking direct contact with the spiritual world. So, those powerful men get upset when a woman tries to ignore or evade them.  She must, therefore, be a witch.

We might write those events off as distant history that could never happen today, but the truth is that actual witch hunts still take place today across Africa leading to terrible violence against women and children.  And then we might dismiss these African witch hunts as something that could never happen here in our enlightened and modern society.  And, hopefully, that’s true.

However, anyone who’s been reading the conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift need not wonder how these witch hunts may have started.  For the “crimes” of publicly dating an NFL player and having some political opinions – in addition to being a wildly successful singer/songwriter and businesswoman – she has been accused of, essentially, witchcraft.  According to her accusers, she is guilty of fixing the Super Bowl, influencing the outcome of the next presidential election, camouflaging Travis Kelce’s homosexuality, indoctrinating citizens to an elite agenda and away from religion and much much more.

In order to all that, I think she’d really have to be a witch.  Perhaps instead of killing of witches, it’s actually time to kill off witch hunts.

Shalom, RAF.