The WORD – 10/30/08

This week’s Torah portion is named after the gentleman who built an ark and brought the world’s animals on board with him during the Flood.  As we are introduced to Noah, the Torah tells that he was “Tzadik tamim…b’dorotav – righteous and blameless in his generation.”

 

For centuries, readers of the Bible have wondered why that extra word “b’dorotav – in his generation” was added.  Couldn’t Noah simply be righteous and blameless?  Why the qualifier?

Ultimately, the rabbis decided that this was meant as a compliment, because it takes incredible strength to follow your faith when it seems as though everyone else is going in a different direction.

 

Noah may have been the first to discover this reality, but he was certainly not the last.

 

Tomorrow evening, every young Jewish person – your children, your grandchildren, your nieces and nephews included! – will get a taste of this dilemma that we all face as American Jews.  As we all know, tomorrow is October 31^st – better known as Halloween.  It is probably one of the top three days of the year for any kid – rivaling the first night of Hanukkah and one’s birthday.  Yet, tomorrow is also Friday, which means that we also welcome in Shabbat at sundown.  Is there a way to acknowledge both of these events?  Is there a way to have one foot in the Jewish world and one foot in the secular world?  I think that there is.

 

While much is made of Halloween’s pagan origins, the truth is that the Halloween celebrated today by Americans bears little or no resemblance to the harvest festival celebrated by the ancient Celts and Gaels.  It has become a secular holiday with two major customs associated with it: dressing up in costume and trick-or-treating.  It seems to me that we can infuse these customs with Jewish values.

 

For example, when choosing costumes with our children, hopefully we can take the opportunity to talk about modesty.  In particular, some of the costumes available for girls are incredibly inappropriate.  Further, when choosing what to give out for Halloween and in assessing the night’s “haul” it is an opportunity to discuss Kashrut – what may we eat and what is not permissible.

 

However, there is an additional layer.  We can “Juda-ize” this holiday and make it better.  Instead of focusing on getting as much candy as possible, give kids a chance to give out the candy and feel the pleasure of sharing with others.  Or, when our kids come home with enough candy to last until 2010, take them over to a hospital and donate the candy to the pediatric unit for children who were not able to go trick-or-treating.

 

Finally, when Halloween falls on a Friday night as it does this year, we have another opportunity.  No matter how quick your dinner is going to be tomorrow night, you can still add candles, challah and grape juice in order to make your dinner a Shabbat dinner.  Plus, here at the SJCC, we will also be celebrating as Gabby Zepnick becomes a Bat Mitzvah.  She will be making a public declaration about her intention to be a contributing member of our community.  It would be a shame if no one from the community were present to hear that declaration.  

 

Services start at 7PM.  I know that in my neighborhood most of the Trick-or-Treating will be done by then.  So, I won’t feel so uncomfortable leaving my house unattended at that time.  It sure would be a great statement to Gabby – and to all of our kids! – if we could figure out a way to juggle a secular American holiday with our observance of Shabbat.

 

In today’s world, it is not reasonable or necessary to ignore Halloween because of our Judaism.  However, I would like to suggest that we should not ignore our Judaism in order to celebrate Halloween.

 

 

RAF.

 

The WORD – 10/23/08

This past week, Sarah Palin – the Republican nominee for the office of Vice President – said the following: “I know at the end of the day, putting this in God’s hands, the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4 (Boston Globe 10/23/08).”   All politics aside, I could not disagree with her more on theological grounds.  The truth is that in the Jewish tradition, we believe that God has put the world into OUR hands, not the other way around.

 

In this week’s Torah portion, Breisheet, we are introduced to the very first set of siblings.  Not surprisingly, they each considered the other a rival and as a result, did not get along so well.    There was the first brother, Kayin (a/k/a – Cain), who worked the land; and the second brother Hevel (a/k/a – Abel) who tended flocks.  In order to thank God for their good fortune, they each decided to offer a gift up to God.

 

According to the Torah, Kayin’s gift came “mipri ha’adamah – from among the fruits of the soil (Gen.4:3).”  On the other hand, Hevel’s gift came “mib’chorot tsono – from among the firstborn of his flocks (Gen. 4:4).”  One can immediately sense the difference between the two gifts.   Kayin gave whatever he happened to have on hand, whereas Hevel made an effort to find the best possible gift.

 

In the ensuing verses, we learn that God accepted Hevel’s offering and rejected Kayin’s, exacerbating the quarrel between the two brothers.  Kayin was immediately depressed.  God asked him why he was so distressed over the situation.  God reassured him, saying, “Im teiteev – if you do well, there is uplift.  But if you do not do right, sin couches at the door (Gen 4:7).”  God obviously wanted Kayin to try a little harder in the future.  Unfortunately, we all know how the story ended.  Kayin killed Hevel to relieve himself of his jealousy.  He eliminated the problem. 

 

The ancient rabbis asked an important question:  Why did God allow this to happen?  Why didn’t God step in and stop Kayin?  After all, there weren’t so many people in the world to keep track of – God surely should have been on top of this.  The rabbis answered their own question with a Midrash (rabbinic story) in which they added some dialogue between Kayin and God. 

 

When God confronted Kayin with the words, “Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground (Gen. 4:10).”  The rabbis imagined that Kayin asked God:  “Isn’t it your fault because you didn’t command me to stop?”  In this Midrash, God answered:  “I made you in My image with a brain and a soul.  Were I to direct your every action, you would be just like a puppet.  You have a will of your own and you are responsible for your actions (Midrash Breisheet Rabbah 22:8).”

 

From the 2^nd generation of humanity until today, those words ring true.  God has given us tremendous gifts – the ability to create, the ability to love among them.  But we also have the capacity to destroy and to hate.  The same God, who gave some humans the ability to fly airplanes into crowded skyscrapers, gave other human beings the ability to sacrifice their lives attempting to rescue people in those very same towers.

 

Which of these paths we choose to take in our lives is up to us.  We know which way Kayin went.

 

RAF.

The WORD – 10/16/08

Next week, we will come together for the conclusion of the Festival of Sukkot as we observe Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah.  On Shemini Atzeret, we will turn to the Book of Deuteronomy and read from the 14^th through 16^th chapters.  Ostensibly, the purpose for reading this passage is that concludes with a description of three Pilgrimage Festivals – Sukkot, Pesah and Shavuot.  However, in choosing this text, the rabbis made sure that we started all the way back in Chapter 14. 

The opening words of this Torah reading are “Aser T’aser – tithe you shall surely tithe (Deut. 14:22).”  This repetition is a common grammatical form in the Torah.  Perhaps the best-known example is the one that I cited on Rosh Hashanah:  “Rapo Yirapeh – heal, he shall surely heal him (Exod. 21:19)”, which obligates us to seek a doctor’s help and not rely upon faith alone for healing. 

Nonetheless, when the rabbis saw this sort of repetition of language, they could not help but delve in to the text, looking for some deeper meaning.  In “Pesikta d’Rav Kahana,” a collection of midrashim (rabbinic explanations) of the biblical texts which are read on Festivals dating back to the 6th Century CE, the rabbis suggested an alternative reading. 

Because there are no vowels in the Torah, they chose to set aside the correct reading of the text “Aser T’aser – tithe you shall surely tithe”.  Instead, they chose to read it as “Aser Tay-aser – tithe and it will increase tenfold.”  It’s amazing what one little vowel can do in Hebrew.  But this reading is very consistent with Jewish values.  Now, to be sure, when they read it in the synagogue, they read this text correctly.  However, they wanted us to hear a different message.  They wanted us to remember that when we give tzedakah, we not only help other people, we make ourselves better people.  We ultimately give more to ourselves. 

In July (the last month for which statistics are available), over 29 million people participated in the federal food stamp program (Source: Food Resource & Action Center).  This was only the second month in the history of the program that more than 29 million people sought assistance.  That was before the hurricanes which hit the Gulf Coast again this summer.  That was before the fiscal crisis in which we currently find ourselves.  We can only imagine how many more people are seeking assistance today. 

On Yom Kippur, I announced that a member family of the congregation has made a generous offer.  If we can raise $1800 for the Oheb Shalom Kosher Food Pantry, they will match the $1800 so that we can give $3600 to feed the hungry.  Please, if you have not yet had the chance to do so, please send a check (made out directly to the food pantry) to the synagogue office so that we can take advantage of this opportunity. 

While we are all “tightening our belts” during this difficult time, let us remember that there are families struggling just to feed their children.  “Aser T’aser” – let’s not forget to give our fair share.  

RAF.

The Ethics of Kashrut

Yesterday’s New York Times magazine is devoted to food.  Among the many articles is one called “The Kosher Wars” which discusses many of the issues I raised in my sermon on Yom Kippur Day.  I am just glad that this did not come out last Sunday or I might have felt compelled to find a different topic.  (Perhaps, the NYT knew that 90% of Conservative rabbis were going to speak about this topic during the course of the High Holidays and graciously waited until after Yom Kippur to run this article.)  In any event, the Heksher Tzedek program is mentioned is this article as well.  

As an aside, the Festival of Sukkot (which begins at sundown this evening) is one more way for us to re-connect with the agricultural rhythms by which our ancestors lived.  Through the lulav, etrog and sukkah, we connect with the harvest in the Land of Israel.  Hope to see you at services during the course of the festival.

RAF.

The Word – 10/10/08

The Jewish calendar is crazy!  I am still exhausted from Yom Kippur, and yet it is time to prepare for Shabbat.  And if that were not enough, the festival of Sukkot begins Monday evening (which, by the way, requires the construction of a sukkah).  It’s hard to get excited about Shabbat and Sukkot when one is “recovering” from the previous holiday.  Yet, that is what our tradition asks of us.  In fact, the Torah goes so far as to command us to be happy on the festival of Sukkot: “You will rejoice in your festival…you shall be altogether joyful (Deut 16:14-15).”  So, how are we supposed to do this?

 

I remember when I was in college there was this song that took the nation by storm.  It was called “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”  While the tune was certainly sort of catchy, it was not your typical Top-40 hit.  First of all, it was written and performed by Bobby McFerrin – a trained opera singer who has also guest-conducted for most of the prestigious symphony orchestras in the country.  In addition, it was all vocals and no instruments.  Yet it was wildly popular – reaching #1 on the Billboard charts.  The accompanying music video was all over MTV – surely a sign of success in the pop music world.  So, how do we explain it?

 

I believe that the song did speak – and still speaks – a message that is important for us to hear.  Sometimes, we must force ourselves to be happy and to project confidence even when we don’t feel it.  This past summer, Jodi and I took our kids to Hershey Park.  Jessica – my 5-year-old – wanted to go on some horrible ride that went 100 feet up into the air and spun around and around.  I hate heights and spinning around makes me nauseous.  But, I couldn’t talk her out of the ride.  Once we got up in the air, she was petrified (as was I!!).  Somehow, I forced myself to seem calm and happy despite my utter misery. 

 

Many of us are feeling great trepidation and anxiety about the current economic crisis in the country – and with good reason.  Intellectually, we know that fear and panic can make a bad economic situation worse.  But, it’s hard to ignore the reality of what is going on.  This is where the lesson of Sukkot comes in to play.  I may be dreading the next few days’ of preparation for Sukkot, but I know that I will ultimately enjoy the time I spend in my sukkah with family and friends. 

 

Similarly, our traditions begs us to find a way to put on a happy face during these difficult times because we know that doing so will enable us to reach the better days that lie ahead.  As we welcome in the Festival of Sukkot this coming week, I pray that we all find a way to rejoice in our festival and to be altogether happy.

 

RAF.

The Year of Living Kosher

On Yom Kippur day, I once again found myself talking about food.  I can’t seem to help it.  In the course of my sermon about the Conservative Movement’s Hekhsher Tzedek program, I mentioned a program called “The Year of Living Kosher” by Rabbi Jack Moline.  As promised, here is his one-year plan for transforming your kitchen into a kosher one .  I would be thrilled to help anyone who would like to try. (Please note that Rabbi Moline uses the Hebrew months for his plan; we are currently in the month of Tishrei.)

 

Tishrei – Separate dairy and meat products

 

Heshvan – Wait 3 hours between meat and dairy

 

Kislev – Eliminate shellfish and non-kosher animals

 

Tevet – Purchase only kosher packaged products

 

Shvat – Purchase only kosher meat

 

Adar – Eat no shellfish or meat in restaurants

 

Nisan – Pesach, experimental full-kosher run

 

Iyar – Purchase necessary replacement items

 

Sivan – Kasher the kitchen

 

Tammuz – Get comfortable with it

 

Av – Celebratory BBQ (after Tisha B’Av)

 

Elul – Invite families not currently keeping kosher over to dinner

 RAF.

Notable Deaths 5768

Each year, during the Yizkor Service on Yippur, I present a list of notable deaths from the previous here.  Here is this year’s edition.  What do you think?  Did I leave out someone whom you would have included?  Let me know.

 

1)      Marcel Marceau (mime) — Died September 22, 2007. Born March 22, 1923. French mime, had the only spoken line in Silent Movie, member of the French Resistance, helped hide Jewish children from the Nazis and later served as a translator for US troops.

 

2)      Joey Bishop (comedian) –  Died October 17, 2007. Born February 3, 1918. Last surviving Rat Packer, had a late night talk show for two years that succumbed to The Tonight Show.

 

3)      Robert Goulet (singer/actor) — Pulmonary fibrosis (died awaiting a lung transplant). Died October 30, 2007. Born November 26, 1933. His magnificent voice led to being cast as Lancelot in the original Broadway Camelot; married to Carol Lawrence during the ’60s and ’70s, did some funny commercials for Emerald Nuts in the months before he died.

 

4)      Paul Tibbets (pilot) — Died November 1, 2007. Born February 23, 1915. Served as a pilot throughout World War II, best-known for piloting the Enola Gay which dropped the first A-bomb on Hiroshima.

 

5)      Norman Mailer (writer) –  Kidney failure. Died November 10, 2007. Born January 31, 1923. Controversial, pugnacious writer, acclaimed for his first novel The Naked and the Dead, he was considered counter-cultural in the ’50s and helped found The Village Voice.

 

6)      Ira Levin (writer) –  Heart attack. Died November 13, 2007. Born August 27, 1929. Wrote Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives. and Deathtrap.

 

7)      Dick Wilson (actor) –  Died November 18, 2007. Born July 30, 1916. Lots of bit parts on TV, most-seen as Mr. Whipple in the Charmin commercials.

 

      Evel Knievel (Daredevil) — Diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis. Died November 30, 2007. Born October 17, 1938. Famous for spectacular motorcycle stunts in the ’70s.  

 

9)      Ike Turner (singer/songwriter) –  Cocaine overdose. Died December 12, 2007. Born November 5, 1931. Wasted a potentially great career, Proud Mary.

 

10)  Benazir Bhutto (politician) –  Assassination. Died December 27, 2007. Born June 21, 1953. Western-educated, former prime minister of Pakistan forced out on corruption charges.

 

11)  Sir Edmund Hillary (mountain climber) –  Heart attack. Died January 11, 2008. Born July 20, 1919. In the ’50s, first white man to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.

 

12)  Johnny Podres – baseball pitcher.Died: January 13, 2008 (Queensbury, New York). Winning pitcher of Game 7 and Series MVP as the Brooklyn Dodgers won their one and only World Series Championship in 1955 (against the Yankees).

 

13)  Richard Knerr – toy inventor and entrepreneur; Died: January 14, 2008 (Arcadia, California) – Best Known as: co-creator of the Hoola Hoop, the Superball, and the Frisbee.

 

14)  Bobby Fischer (chess genius) –  Died January 17, 2008. Born March 9, 1943. Reclusive chess champion, famously beat Boris Spasky during the ’70s and emmigrated to Iceland.

 

15)  Suzanne Pleshette (actress) — . Lung cancer. Died January 19, 2008. Born January 31, 1937. Lots of Disney and made-for-TV movies, memorable as Emily on The Bob Newhart Show.

 

16)  Heath Ledger (actor) — . Died January 22, 2008. Born April 4, 1979. Astonishing in Brokeback Mountain, died before The Dark Knight was released and while The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was being filmed.

 

17)  Tom Lantos – congressman; Died: February 11, 2008 (Bethesda, Maryland). Best Known as: the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress; Tom Lantos was a long time democratic representative of California, who was the only Holocaust survivor to ever serve in Congress. He represented a district that included his hometown of San Mateo and the southwest region of San Fransisco.

 

18)  William F. Buckley, Jr. (writer) — Emphysema. Died February 27, 2008. Born November 24, 1925. Conservative commentator and publisher of the National Review, wrote God and Man at Yale just after his college graduation.

 

19)  Howard Metzenbaum (US Senator) Died March 12 at age 90.  Influential US Senator from Ohio 1974-1995.

 

20)  Sir Arthur C. Clarke (author) –  Respiratory problems. Died March 19, 2008. Born December 16, 1917. Not only did he write science fiction (2001, Childhood’s End), he developed the concept of the geosynchronous communications satellite.

 

21)  Charlton Heston (Actor/NRA activist) — Alzheimer’s. Died April 5, 2008. Born October 4, 1923. Ben Hur, Planet of the Apes, Touch of Evil, president of the NRA for several years.  

 

22)  Albert Hofmann – Swiss chemist. Died: April 29, 2008. Best Known as: Swiss Chemist who created LSD in 1938.

 

23)  Sydney Pollack (director/actor) –  Cancer. Died May 26, 2008. Born July 1, 1934. Out of Africa, Tootsie and many more.

 

24)  Harvey Korman (comedian) –  Died May 29, 2008. Born February 15, 1927. The Carol Burnett Show, Blazing Saddles.

 

25)  Yves Saint-Laurent (designer) — Died June 1, 2008. Born August 1, 1936. Worked for Dior and popularized suits for women and haute couture.  

 

26)  Bo Diddley (guitarist) — Heart failure. Died June 2, 2008. Born December 30, 1928. “I Am a Man”, professional musician for over 50 years.

 

27)  Jim McKay (sportscaster) –  Died June 7, 2008. Born September 24, 1921. “Spanned the globe…” — Wide World of Sports.

 

28)  Tim Russert (political analyst) –  Heart attack. Died June 13, 2008. Born May 7, 1950. Hosted Meet the Press for many years.

 

29)  Cyd Charisse (actress) — Heart attack. Died June 17, 2008. Born March 8, 1921. Dancer in many movies, including Singing in the Rain.

 

30)  George Carlin (comedian) — Heart attack. Died June 22, 2008. Born May 12, 1937.

 

31)  Jesse Helms U.S. Senator Born: 18 October 1921 Died: 4 July 2008 Birthplace: Monroe, North Carolina Best known as: Conservative senator from North Carolina, 1973-2003

 

32)  Dr. Michael DeBakey (heart surgeon) –  Died July 11, 2008. Born September 7, 1908. Pioneering surgeon who helped to develop MASH units while in the Army in WWII, various kinds of heart surgeries and multi-organ transplants.

 

33)  Prof. Randy Pausch (professor) – July 25, 2008.  Author/deliverer of “The Last Lecture.”

 

34)  Bruce Adler – the son of two Yiddish theater stars (Bruce Adler & Henrietta Jacobson) he was a two-time Tony-nominated actor who transitioned from the Yiddish theater to the Broadway stage, died Friday, July 25, in Davie, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale.

 

 

35)  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (writer) — Died August 3, 2008. Born December 11, 1918. Wrote the controversial One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, won the Nobel Prize, expelled from the Soviet Union and lived in Vermont from the mid-70s until he returned to Russia in the ’90s.

 

36)  Isaac Hayes (actor, songwriter) — Stroke. Died August 10, 2008. Born August 20, 1942. Wrote the theme for Shaft, “reborn” as Chef on South Park.

 

37)  Paul Newman (actor, race-car driver, philanthropist) Died September 26

RAF.

Sermon Topics

As I mentioned in my first entry, I was asked yesterday (the day after Rosh Hashanah) how I pick my High Holiday sermons.  Now, I must admit that there is no real scientific method.  When I first started writing HH sermons, I would ask myself, “What are the 2 or 3 messages that I want to deliver to people (on the assumption that I only get these 2 or 3 opportunities)?”  The truth is that – thanks to the internet – I get many more opportunities to reach out to many more people.  That being said, the HH’s are still special. 

So, as I thought about this question this year, I realized that I wanted to talk about the little things that we can do as both individuals and as a congregation to draw closer to God.  On Day 1 of RH, I spoke about using instrumental music as a means of connecting with God for people who are struggling with the rhythm and language of Jewish prayer.  On Day 2, I talked about partnering with God to bring about healing for ourselves and for others.  (These sermons will be available on the website – hopefully before Yom Kippur!)

On Yom Kippur, I will continue with this overall theme of the things we can do to draw closer to God – but I won’t give away any more than that. 

RAF.

Hello world!

Welcome to my blog.  I have always wanted to blog, but I have been a little too intimidated to start one.  Now that we have a new website and a Facebook group, I felt that I had no choice but to see if I could pull it off in this new year of 5769.   I plan to post my weekly WORD here if people would like to comment.  In addition, I hope to use this space to answer questions and engage in conversation.  Just this morning, for example, someone asked me how I chose my topics for High Holiday sermons.  I hope to get to that one in the next few days (AFTER I complete my Yom Kippur sermon, of course!).

RAF.

The WORD 10/2/08

The first ten days of the New Year – beginning with Rosh Hashanah and concluding with Yom Kippur – are known collectively as the Ten Days of Repentance – Aseret Y’mei Teshuvah.  During this time period, we make a number of liturgical changes to emphasize the theme of repentance.

Perhaps, the most notable of these changes takes place during the Mourners’ Kaddish – as it is so familiar to us.  In truth, this change is made to all the different versions of the Kaddish prayer in our service – the full Kaddish, the half Kaddish and the Kaddish D’Rabbanan as well.  So, what is this change?

In the second paragraph, we add a single word.  As we declare our praise of God – which is the basic premise of the Kaddish – we ordinarily say that God is: ‘le-eyla min kol birchata ve-shirata – higher than any blessing or psalm.’  In other words, our attempts at praise cannot possibly do justice to the reality of God.  Nonetheless, we try as best we can.

 

During these ten days at the beginning of every year, we say that God is ‘le-eyla le-eyla mikol birchata ve-shirata – higher and higher than any blessing or psalm.’  Even though God was already at a height beyond our ability to comprehend or describe, somehow God reaches still higher during these days.  It is an example for the rest of us to follow.

We might think that we are good, kind, decent people – and in fact we may very well be just that.  Nonetheless, we must use this period as a springboard to reach new heights.  If we already perform acts of tzedakah, we should strive to do more.  If we already make Shabbat a special day in our week, we should add a new wrinkle or custom to our current practice.  If we have already learned a great deal about our tradition, pick up a book or take a class on an unfamiliar area of Judaism.  If we already go to services on Shabbat, come for a weekday Minyan.  It is always possible to go just a bit higher.  If God can do it, so can we.

I look forward to scaling new heights with you in the coming year.

Once again, Jodi and the kids join me in wishing you a Shanah Tovah – Happy New Year!

RAF.