The WORD – 2/12/09

After the new US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner rolled out the Obama administration’s new recovery program, the response was underwhelming.  Now, I am no economist and I have absolutely no opinion whatsoever on the possible efficacy of this plan.  However, what I find interesting is that many pundits and experts are calling for Secretary Geithner to solicit some advice and assistance from former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.  It seems that there is some consensus that in these troubled times, Mr. Geithner who is 47 might benefit from the wisdom of Mr. Volcker who is 81.  In other words, no matter how smart and experienced we think we are, we all need mentors at various points in our lives. 

 

In this week’s parashah, Yitro, we are reminded of the importance of mentors.  The biblical narrative picks up with Moshe welcoming, his wife Tziporah, his two sons Gershom and Eliezer as well as his father in law Yitro into the Israelites’ camp in the Sinai Desert on the safe side of the Red Sea.  Moshe told his father in law all about how the Israelites were able to leave Egypt thanks to God’s miraculous intervention. 

 

Yitro was impressed by what he heard from Moshe.  However, he was also taken aback when he saw what Moshe’s daily schedule looked like.  Moshe sat in front of the people and settled disputes from morning until evening.  Yitro’s response was, “What is this thing that you are doing to the people?  Why do you act alone (Exodus 18:14)?”   In other words, Yitro – who was himself the chieftain of the Midianite people – recognized that Moshe needed some help even after career accomplishments which included the Ten Plagues and the splitting of the Red Sea.  Moshe’s approach wasn’t good for Moshe and it wasn’t good for the people.

 

Yitro virtually insisted that Moshe find and appoint honest men within each of the tribes to handle smaller disputes, and only bring the major disputes before Moshe.  In this way, Moshe’s schedule improved greatly, and the people began to make the transition from a nation of dependent ex-slaves to an independent, free people involved in their own governance.  Through this exchange between father-in-law and son-in-law, we learn an important lesson about communal organization and participation.  More than that, though, we learn about the importance of the mentor/disciple relationship.

 

In these difficult economic times, no one should be afraid to ask for some help.  While many of us may have done pretty well on our own in the past, things are clearly different today than at any time in recent history. 

 

Here at the JCC, we are in the process of figuring out how we can connect our most knowledgeable, experienced members with those who are suffering financial and career crises.  We haven’t put it all together yet.  More details will be forthcoming in the Chronicle and other forms of communication.  However, if you find yourselves at a crossroads and you’re not sure how to proceed, it’s possible that your Yitro is right here at the SJCC.  Please be in touch so that we can start looking for him.

 

RAF.

 

The WORD – 2/5/09

One of my favorite Jewish customs is the placement of two hallah loaves on the Shabbat dinner table each Friday evening.  Although there are a number of theories to explain the origin of this tradition, the most common explanation comes from this week’s Torah portion.

 

Once the Israelites found themselves safe and sound on the far side of the Red Sea, they realized that they had no means to sustain themselves, no food to eat.  So, they turned to God for help.  God responded by providing the mannah – angelic or heavenly food which the Israelites collected each morning. 

 

After six days of finding the mannah and eating it during the course of the day, the Israelites were surprised when no mannah could be found on the seventh day.  God said to the Israelites through Moshe:  “Look, Adonai has given you the Shabbat; therefore God gives you two days’ food on the sixth day.  Let everyone remain where he is: let no one leave his place on the seventh day (Exodus 16:29).”

 

As a result of this double portion, which our ancestors received each Friday in the wilderness, we now place two loaves of bread on Shabbat table.  This practice serves to remind us that we need not bake or purchase bread on Shabbat.  The second loaf reminds us of much more than that, though.

 

Although the Israelites were dependent upon God’s generosity to subsist in the wilderness, God provided the food in such a way that they could preserve their dignity.  They could still observe Shabbat; they were still entitled to rest one day a week.  This is an important lesson for us all.  If we are in a position to help others, we must do so in a way that is respectful of the recipient. 

 

Furthermore, in these difficult times, if we find ourselves on the receiving end of assistance, we should not be ashamed.  This story reminds us that all of our ancestors required help to get through their difficult years.  When we turn to friends or relatives for some help, we are not alone.

 

So, when we see the second loaf of hallah on our tables next Shabbat, let us think about the ways in which we hope to make our Shabbat special.  In addition, though, let us think about how we treat our fellow human beings during difficult times.

 

RAF.

The WORD 1/29/09

We’re all familiar with the phenomenon.  Sometimes, it is our parents who ask us the same question over and over again.  Eventually, guilt kicks in and we do whatever it is that they ask.  Sometimes, it is our children who ask the same question over and over again.  Eventually, our desire for a moment of peace kicks in and we let them do whatever it is they want.

 

From one angle or another, our resistance gets worn down and we consider changing our mind.  That’s exactly what happened to Pharaoh in this week’s portion.  After Moshe and Aharon kept appearing before him saying, “Let my people go,” he began to reconsider.

 

So, he asked Moshe who would be going on this little journey into the wilderness.  Moshe could have answered in a number of different ways.  Moshe could have said, “All of us.”  Or, Moshe could have asked, “Who will you permit to go?”  But instead, Moshe offered the following reply to Pharaoh’s question:  “Moshe said, ‘With our young ones, with our elders we will go, with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and with our oxen we will go,’ (Shemot 10:9).”

 

 

With this verse, Moshe answered the Pharaoh’s question.  In doing so, however, it seems that also Moshe defined the community.

 

Is this a comprehensive list of the community’s members?  Obviously, able-bodied adults of both genders are missing from this list.  The Midrash, though, tells us that Pharaoh offered to let them go earlier in his conversations with Moshe.  That offer, however, was not sufficient.  Able-bodied people alone did not constitute the entire community.

 

So, who is missing?  Today, we can list other sub-groups of our community which are not listed:  the physically challenged, the mentally challenged, gay men, lesbians, survivors of abuse, orphans and others.  These are people who are often excluded from our definition of community.  They are often pushed to the periphery.

 

However, it is not clear that Moshe excluded them.  Perhaps, Moshe’s answer to Pharaoh is a symbolic one.  “Our young ones and our elders” represent ALL who are dependent upon the community for support.  “Our sons and daughters” represent the future of our community.  “Our sheep and oxen” represent our ability to provide for ourselves and sustain ourselves as a community.

 

So, we see that Moshe essentially defined a community as: A group of people that works together to provide not only for its productive members, but for its dependent members and its future members as well.

 

In doing so, Moshe also defined success for a community.  We are successful when we provide not only for ourselves, but when have enough for those in need as well as for future generations.  That is the challenge issued to us in Parashat Bo.  May we have the strength to meet that challenge.

 

RAF.

The WORD – 1/22/09

In this week’s Torah portion, we read of the interactions between God’s representatives (i.e., Moshe and Aharon) and the Pharaoh.  Ultimately, God sent the Ten Plagues to get a message across to Pharaoh, whose heart had hardened.  We read the first seven of those plagues in this week’s portion. We will read the remaining three next week.

 

This story is familiar to us.  This is the story that we tell each year the service known as the Passover Seder, which Dr. Ron Wolfson of the American Jewish University calls a “talk-feast.”  When we teach our children about this story each spring around Pesach time, they inevitably learn the famous phrase that Moshe spoke to Pharaoh, “Let my people go.” 

 

While it is true that Moshe said these words on God’s behalf, the truth is that this is only a part of God’s message that God had Moshe deliver. These words never appear alone.  They were always uttered together with the reason behind God’s demand that the Hebrews should be freed. 

 

For example, in Exodus 7:16, we read:  “Let My people go that they may worship Me in the wilderness.” 

 

This is a reminder to us that although the story of the Exodus is largely about freedom, it is also about the responsibility that goes along with that freedom. 

 

God did not take the Israelites out of Egypt in order for them to ignore Divine teaching.  Nor did God take them out of Egypt in order for them to worship as Egyptians did.  That is why God got so angry at the Children of Israel during their wanderings in wilderness.  Instead of appreciating the opportunity which God had given them, they complained about the food and they built a Golden Calf. 

 

God took the Hebrews out of Egypt so that they could continue to be a part of the Covenant between God and our people which began with Avraham.  Yet, the freed slaves forgot what they were supposed to do with the great gift of freedom. 

 

In this country, we like to celebrate our rights and freedoms.  They are certainly worthy of such approbation and we are fortunate that American Jews have never really had to experience life without those rights and freedoms.  However, in Judaism, we must also acknowledge that the greatest benefit of our freedom is the opportunity to do God’s will through the Mitzvot (commandments). Otherwise, we’re just wandering aimlessly in the wilderness.

 

RAF.

The WORD – 1/15/09 – MLK Day

Exactly 46 years ago, from January 14^th-17^th of 1963, a group of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish leaders came together in Chicago for what was called the National Conference on Religion and Race.  The idea was to figure out the role of religious leaders in solving the nation’s ongoing racial problems.  Among the organizers of this conference were Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.  It would be the beginning of a special bond between these two remarkable men.  Each of these giants would refer to the other as “a prophet.”

 

When Rabbi Heschel got up to deliver his address (entitled The Religious Basis of Equality of Opportunity) to the conference, he started off by saying, “Friends, at the first conference on religion and race, the main participants were Pharaoh and Moses [see Exodus 5 in this week’s Torah portion].”  In other words, humanity’s capacity to treat other human beings unjustly is nothing new. 

 

Professor Heschel and Dr. King both understood that the story of the Exodus from Egypt was the perfect analogy for the journey of the African-American community.  It would require nothing less than divine intervention and extraordinary human leadership to enable a people to make the transition from slavery to freedom.  Intuitively, we understand how amazing this kind of transformation is – which helps to explain why over 90% of Jews celebrate a Passover Seder each year some 3,000 years after the Exodus.

 

This powerful analogy, though, goes even deeper.  In the case of our ancestors in Egypt, it took a leader like Moshe to remind the people that they were children of God who deserved a better life.  He pushed, prodded and cajoled them out of the land of Egypt in the wilderness.  He gave them a purpose (the Torah) and a dream (the Promised Land).  After forty years of wandering, his disciple, Joshua, completed the journey into the Land of Canaan.  The settling of the land would take many years.  It was not an instantaneous conclusion to the transformation, but it was a significant moment nonetheless.

 

In March, 1968 – just weeks before King’s assassination – Heschel introduced King to the Rabbinical Assembly Convention where he was to deliver an address.  Heschel said, “Where in America do we hear a voice like the voice of the prophets of Israel? Martin Luther King is a sign that God has not forsaken the United States of America. God has sent him to us. His presence is the hope of America.”  King gave the African-American community a purpose (civil rights) and a dream (full equality).  Sadly, that voice was silenced.

 

However, here we are forty (and a half) years later, and an indirect disciple of Dr. King’s is completing the journey to the Promised Land.  It is incredible, really, that next week at this time we will have our first African-American president.  Putting all politics aside for a moment, it is incumbent upon all of us to recognize the historicity of this moment.  The transformation of the people is not necessarily complete – racism, bigotry and injustice still exist among us – but this is a huge step in the right direction.

 

The City of Summit will be observing Dr. King’s birthday next Monday (one day before Barack Obama’s historic inauguration).  For a complete list of the day’s events, please check out: http://www.ci.summit.nj.us/pdflibrary/2009mklflyer.pdf.  Many of these programs are intended for families (as there is no school that day).  The day will conclude with a 7:00pm service at Fountain Baptist Church at which I will be delivering the benediction. 

 

 

RAF.

The WORD – 1/8/09

In this week’s portion – the final chapters of the Book of Genesis – Jacob died and the brothers who had sold Joseph into slavery came to a scary realization.  Joseph was the second-most powerful man in the world and he had every reason to want to punish them for their actions.  Now that their father was gone, who could stop him?

 So, they did what any self-respecting group of offenders would do – they groveled!  They went before Joseph and said, “Please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father… we are prepared to be your slaves (Gen. 50:17-18).”

 The collective fate of his brothers was in Joseph’s hands.  He could determine if they would live or die.  If he decided to let them live, he could determine the quality of that life.  His power and authority in this matter were limitless.  How would he respond?

 Joseph answered his brothers graciously and intelligently by saying, “Have no fear!  Am I a substitute for God?  Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result – the survival of many people (Gen. 50:19-20).” 

 I could not help but think of this exchange as I watch events unfold in the Gaza Strip.  We could have a long conversation about the efficacy of Israel’s actions over the past two weeks.  Will the rockets stop?  Will Hamas be diminished in power and esteem?  Will there be a workable, lasting truce between the two warring parties?  No one knows the answers to these questions.

 However, I think it’s important to take a moment to consider the failed leadership of Hamas.  Like Joseph, the leaders of Hamas have the collective fate of their Palestinian brothers and sisters in their hands.  They will determine whether the Palestinian people will live or die.  If they are to live, Hamas has the power to determine the quality of that life.  How has Hamas responded?

 They have responded by turning a generation of disaffected youth into suicide bombers – rather than inspiring them to peacefully resist like MLK or Gandhi.  They have responded by using their hospitals, schools and mosques as weapons depots and missile launching sites so that Israel will necessarily destroy these institutions when returning fire.  They have responded by taking children with them wherever they go – rather than building shelters for their children – so that attacks on the Hamas leadership will inevitably cause the deaths of children – a P.R. coup for them.

In short, Hamas is not necessarily interested in the survival of the Palestinian people.  They are more interested in the destruction of Israel, which explains why they do not care how many of their own people will die in their effort to destroy Israel and why they are unwilling to negotiate or compromise.

 Israel is not perfect, but as a nation, Israel has a history of establishing peaceful relationships with Egypt, Jordan and Turkey among her neighbors.  Hamas has not even made peace with their fellow Palestinians of the Fatah movement. 

 The power is in Hamas’ hands.  Will they continue to punish their people or will they realize the possibilities that are open to them through compromise and negotiation?  I fear it will be the former and not the latter for quite a while yet to come.

 RAF.

The WORD – 12/25/08

Our children – and even some of us adults – look forward to it all year. It is among the most widely practiced traditions in all of Judaism.  We have eight chances to get it right. We are so familiar with it that we could probably do it in our sleep.  Yet, we’re usually in such a rush to get to the presents that we rarely take a moment to consider its symbolism. 

 

The ‘it’, of course, is the lighting of the Hanukkiah – the special nine-branched menorah that we use to celebrate Hanukkah. So, let’s take a moment to think about some of the little things that are easy to overlook regarding the Hanukkiah. 

 

(1) It is important to place the Hanukkiah in a prominent location that can be seen from the street.  We have an obligation to publicize the miracle.   At first, we might think that this simply means that we are reminding anyone who goes by our homes that the miracle of the oil took place  some 2200 years ago.   However, there’s a second layer.  We should be proud of our tradition.  We should not feel compelled to hide our different views and practices.   Thoughtful people of other faiths will have even more respect for us when we are proud of our own faith and take it seriously. 

 

(2) Each of the eight candles which represent the eight days must be at the same level.  The shamash (the candle we use to light those eight) can be higher, lower or off to the side.  The eight candles must be even to remind us that no one day is any more important than the others.  This symbolism should also remind us that no person, community or movement is any more important than another. 

 

(3) Each candle must have a distinct flame; the flames may not touch one another.  On the fourth night, for example, there must be four flames. Yet, together, they provide more light than any single candle could on its own. Similarly, let us remember that individual people can – and must be – distinct. Our differences bring a richness to our community.  The collective is stronger as a result of the variety among individuals. 

 

And so, as we light the remainder of our candles this Hanukkah, let’s not concentrate exclusively on the food we eat, the games we play and the gifts that we will give and receive – though those are each an important part of making this holiday so special.  Let’s take a moment to consider the type of community we want to create between this Hanukkah and the next.  

 

RAF.

The WORD – 12/18/08

I probably don’t have to tell anyone that this coming Sunday we will welcome in the festival of Hanukkah.  Somehow, whether it is “early” or “late” we all seem to figure out when Hanukkah will arrive. 

 

Although we all enjoy the latkes, the dreidels and the gifts, the major obligation on the Festival of Lights is what the ancient rabbis called “pirsuma d’nissa – publicizing the miracle.”  We do this in a number of ways, but the most prominent way is through the public display of lights.  The special nine-branched menorah – or hanukkiyah – is a testament to the victory of our outnumbered ancestors over the powerful Assyrian-Greek army. 

 

This year, we have two special opportunities to participate in publicizing the miracle:

 

• (1) Summit Community Menorah Lighting. Sunday, December 21^st, 4:00 PM, at Temple Sinai. The three Jewish congregations in Summit have joined together to purchase an oversized menorah, which will rotate among the congregations from year to year. This year, it will be on display on the grounds of Temple Sinai. We will join together for the first lighting of this menorah this Sunday.

 

• (2) New Providence Community Menorah Lighting, Monday, December 22^nd, 7:00 PM, at Faith Lutheran Church. For the second year, Faith Lutheran Church will have a menorah on its lawn during the eight days of Hanukkah. Since there is no synagogue in the borough itself, Faith Lutheran has graciously agreed to display the menorah so that we need not put one on public grounds.

 

Lastly, if you find yourself stuck in an elevator, store or office with Christmas Muzak playing, perhaps these lyrics will help you publicize the miracle…

 

Pancakes frying in a vat of oil,

New socks gripping at my toes.

Colored wax drips on aluminum foil

From the candles lined up in rows

 

Everybody knows a latke and some applesauce

Help to make this holiday.

Spinning tops on the table all across

Perhaps will end up on a ‘hey.’

 

Kids love this Festival of Lights,

They look forward to each of the eight nights.

And every Jewish child is gonna know

That our presents have blue and silver bows.

 

And so I’m offering this simple phrase

For kids from one to ninety two

Though it has been spelled many times, many ways –

Happy Hanukkah to you.

 RAF.