In This Moment: March 25: Why Zelensky Drives Israelis Crazy; The Red Heifer and the Refrigerated Trucks of Dnipro; Spotlight on Berdichev

In This Moment Purim: Back and Better than Ever!

It was great to get back into our sanctuary for Purim last week, and into the social hall for Temple Rock. Thank you to Lisa Gittelman-Udi for the photos seen here. Click here to see all of Aviva Maller's fantastic photographs from Purim, which can be downloaded individually. If you share them on social media please tag Aviva Maller and use her copyright as well - AvivaMaller Photography.

Jewish g

Shabbat Shalom As our concern for Ukraine continues to grow, our interfaith community will be gathering virtually for a prayer vigil on Tuesday at 7. I've engaged a special guest speaker for the event, Larry Cohler-Esses, who just returned from the region, reporting for the Forward. Larry (pictured here), an acclaimed and well-traveled journalist, spoke here several years ago following his trip to Iran, where, according to The New York Times, he was the first journalist from an American Jewish pro-Israel publication to be given an Iranian visa since 1979. Please join us on Tuesday as we welcome Larry and pray together with our neighbors. You have likely seen our revised Covid protocols, which, mirroring the world around us, reflect a deep desire to enable people to gather in person comfortably and safely. Still, with the threat of a new variant growing, we are not going to be caught with our guard down yet again. So we are focusing our efforts on instantaneous adaptability. The new tent will help, as will our commitment having all our services be engaging on multiple levels. We strive for excellence in person AND online. And that's where you come in. In order to provide excellent Zoom options for Shabbat mornings and many Friday nights, we need people to run the Zoom for us. We'll train you! We'll help you! But we need you! Without a Zoom operators, we will not be able to move Shabbat morning services to in-person in April, as we are hoping to do. So please contact me or our office if you are interested. More details can be found in the weekly announcements. And we have a big social justice event for TBE teens this weekend. Several will be participating in a Midnight Run on Sat. night, bringing food for people without homes in Manhattan. Finally, I am happy to announce that I have just begun posting on Substack. I'll be sending out emails on a regular basis, some of them mirroring what you see here plus new material. Click here to subscribe (it's free) and share the link with your friends!

The Red Heifer and the Refrigerated Trucks of Dnipro

This week is Shabbat Parah, the third of the four special Torah readings read before Passover. Parah means cow, and the section, from Numbers chapter 19, describes the red heifer that was killed as part of an ancient purification ritual when coming into contact with a corpse. We are reminded to purify our homes - and ourselves - with the festival fast approaching. But this ancient ritual gains special meaning for us this year, both in light of the weekly portion, Shmini, which speaks of the tragic and sudden deaths of Aaron's two young sons Nadav and Avihu, and with the specter of death everywhere in Ukraine. I was taken by a report shown on CNN today, featuring the deputy mayor of Dnipro, 240 miles southeast of Kyiv, a city that has seen its share of death and suffering and an area with a rich and tragic Jewish history as well. The reporter was shown the cemeteries where Ukrainian soldiers are buried, and then large refrigerated trucks, within which 700 Russian soldiers lie, awaiting transport to Kyiv and then, presumably, back to Russia - if the Russians will take them back.

The deputy mayor does not open the trucks, not wanting to show the faces of the "dead guys," preferring to preserve some sense of their dignity. The reporter asks why go through all this effort, and he replies, "We cannot leave this body on our fields, on our streets or another place. It is not normal." This small example of human dignity in the midst of an inhuman war reminded me of another biblical purification rite involving a heifer and a corpse. In Deuteronomy 21, we read:

Heschel said, "In a free society, some our guilty, all are responsible." This ritual, however strange, reminds us that if we come across a calamity, even if we didn't cause it, even if it's outside our area of prime responsibility, we are obligated not to ignore it - especially if it involves a death. The Russians have retreated without taking the corpses of their comrades with them, whether out of fear of causing panic back home, sheer denial or simply reflecting the wishes and character of their nihilistic leader. The Ukrainians are providing a more dignified repatriation, in line with the values espoused by the Torah. What the Russians are doing to their dead brothers, and what they are doing to their Ukrainian cousins, is not normal. May we all possess such caring hands as those of the deputy mayor of Dnipro, and may those caring hands purify our hearts, as the season of liberation approaches.

Should Russia's War Be Compared to the Holocaust? Why are Israelis Really So Angry at Zelensky?

The screaming headlines from Israel’s newspapers said it all, quoting Prime Minister Naftali Bennett: "Zelensky is fighting for his nation's survival, but it is forbidden to compare the Holocaust to anything else."  Volodymyr Zelensky was crying for help from his bunker when he addressed the Knesset on Sunday. Yet while Kyiv literally burned, Israelis fiddled with the Ukrainian president’s misguided use of the term, “Final Solution.” How is it that this icon of democratic values and steadfast self-determination, who would have been the envy of Israel’s founders, felt the wrath of Israel over a couple of misplaced words of an otherwise galvanizing speech? Something is happening here, and it has little to do with the Holocaust.  This overreaction demonstrates that Israelis have no idea what to do with a man who has turned Zionism on its head. Zelensky is the antithesis of what was supposed to happen in a dying diaspora – and in Ukraine of all places, the deadest of the dying diasporas. He represents a new form of Jewish hero, more Mordechai than Maccabee, combining the courage and battlefield prowess of the IDF with the chutzpah and street smarts of Ukrainian-born Golda Meir, whom he quoted in his Knesset speech, along with the transformational, earth-moving faith of another Ukrainian Jew, Reb Nachman of Bratzlav, whom he also referenced. Diaspora Jews are supposed to be disheveled shlemiels and good fundraisers and maybe occasionally smart politicians and media stars. This guy is all of the above and more.  He’s a hero, in the way that Israelis used to be heroes. He’s Moshe Dayan and Yoni Netanyahu – and he’s Jon Stewart too. And, to top it off, he’s a political leader who isn’t standing trial for corruption. Who knew? And that’s driving Israelis crazy. Here's the perfect partner that your child brings home, and the parents are complaining, “Yes, but he’s not a doctor!” And to top it off, they refuse to give Iron Dome as a wedding present, and they want to invite Putin to the wedding. Zelensky has been pitch-perfect in addressing government gatherings throughout the world. But when he addressed the Knesset last Sunday, he touched that third rail when he compared Russia's actions against his country to the Holocaust. Specifically, he appealed that Russians are aiming for a "final solution" for his people. Zelensky was not totally wrong about that. But “genocide” is the word he should have used. There was only one "Final Solution." For decades, we’ve all had to navigate verbal minefields to avoid using that term. Israeli-Palestinian peace plans always include provisions for a "Final Status" agreement; never a "Final Solution." Synonyms like "end result" or "ultimate consequence" have found their way into the vernacular to replace the Holocaust expression that rolls so effortlessly off the tongue. So Zelensky, who lost family members during the Holocaust and who successfully compared this conflict to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor when addressing Congress, and to Dunkirk when speaking to the British Parliament, slipped up here. It was an unforced error but give the guy a break! The energy with which Israeli politicians pounced on this modern Jewish hero who has done more to save democracy than anyone since Churchill, was even more tone deaf than Zelensky's remark. It's even greater chutzpah for the Israeli government to act so offended when the state is now aligning itself squarely on the side of neutrality, at a time when even Switzerland - Switzerland! - has taken a side. They are choosing the way of Kissinger realpolitik when a strong Wiesel-like moral stance would be both morally right and politically prudent, at a time when Congress is voting on a 4.8-billion-dollar security package for Israel. Neutrality in the face of evil is itself evil; and to Putin, it reeks of weakness. Perhaps a month ago neutrality might have made sense - perhaps. But now, who cares if Israel is the peace broker? Others can take up that mantle. Ukrainians and the world need to see Israel being a true beacon of justice here - precisely because of the Holocaust. Because of the Final Solution. Zelensky's analogy was spot on; he just used the wrong words. This battle between good and evil is every bit as fateful as the one fought 80 years ago. Call it what you want, but Putin is aiming to annihilate the Ukrainian people, which incidentally, includes tens of thousands of Jews. This enemy has proven himself to be every bit as craven as the one the allies defeated in World War Two. Zelensky should be absolutely embraced by his fellow Jews, not relegated to a Hollywood Squares Zoom session with nit-picky Knesset members looking for gotcha quotes. He is the ultimate Jewish hero envisioned by Herzl and the founders of Zionism. He's the ghetto fighter who survives in the bunker. But they can’t stomach that he's a product of the exile, a diaspora Jew who has stolen their mojo. When hundreds of thousands of Jews left for Israel after the Soviet Union fell, Zelensky's family stayed behind in the land of Golda and Reb Nachman and Bialik. He chose to continue to identify proudly as a Jew and yet won a national election by a landslide. He reduced corruption and antisemitism in his country. His army could give the IDF a run for its money. And he's not afraid to take on Putin alone. All of this makes Israel look like the diaspora weakling begging the Russian bully to return their lunch money in Syria. Zelensky has turned Zionism on its head, and that's why Israeli politicians are treating him with such disdain, when they should in fact be embracing him, as everyone else in the free world is, including American Jews across the political spectrum. He got a standing O in Washington. He got a muted Zoom wave in Jerusalem. There is still time to change that. Ukraine still needs what Israel has to offer. And this war has not yet reached its final…resolution. Pilgrimage to Jewish Ukraine Spotlight on Berdichev

Members of the Bene Tsiyon (Sons of Zion) society with visiting writer Sholem Aleichem (second row from front, fifth from left) and composer Mark Varshavski (third from left), Berdichev (now Berdychiv, Ukr.), 1900. (YIVO) One of the hidden gems of Jewish Ukraine is the city of Berdichev, about a three hour drive west of Kyiv and 25 miles south of Zhytomir, a site of nearly daily Russian bombardment. Last week, Berdichev (also spelled Berdychiv) was also attacked. Another holy place desecrated. According to the census of 1789, Jews constituted 75% of Berdychiv's population (1,951 out of 2,640, of whom 246 were liquor dealers, 452 houseowners, 134 merchants, 188 artisans, 150 clerks and 56 idlers). Around the turn of the 20th century, Berdichev counted some 80 synagogues and Jewish schools and was famous for its cantors. At that time it was an epicenter of constant debate between Hasidim, Mitnagdim (their rationalist, legalist opponents) and Maskilim (proponents of the Enlightenment). Throw in some socialists Zionists and Yiddishists - like Shalom Aleichem - and it was quite a volatile mix, Jewish culture at its absolute zenith. You can read all about the history of Jewish Berdichev at this website. The most influential Jew to come from there was Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev (1740–1809) who transformed it into one of the great early centers of Hasidism. Following an old tradition that dates back to Abraham, Levi Yitzchak was known to challenge God. One Rosh Hashanah he went far beyond that, actually putting God on trial. (And you think I have chutzpah!) He claimed that God had no right to extend Israel's exile when other more sinful nations were allowed to live in peace and prosperity. The verdict is rendered: "guilty," after which the rabbi rises to praise God's name by saying Kaddish. Elie Wiesel wrote of such a trial actually happening among the prisoners at Auschwitz. Musical renditions of this "Kaddish of Levi Yitzchak" became staples of cantorial repertoires around the world. Here's an example of how that "Kaddish" has resonated far beyond its original setting. One could imagine Levi Yitzchak repeating his emotional appeal, with his hometown facing renewed devastation from the skies. He raised his fist to the heavens to defend his people - such was his sense of compassion and devotion. He also had a keen sense of humor, as is seen in this story, with which I'll conclude this tribute to Berdichev, another magical place being trampled upon by the Russian oppressors. R. Levi Yitzhak’s every pronouncement was punctuated by a love for the Jewish people. When R. Levi Yitzhak once chanced upon a Jew standing in the street on Shabbat and smoking a cigarette, he did not approach the young man with harsh admonishment: “My beloved brother, you probably do not realize that today is the holy Shabbat.” The smoker responded in a belligerent tone: “I know that today is Shabbat,” and demonstratively placed the cigarette back in his mouth. “Then, dear friend, you probably do not realize that it is forbidden to smoke on the holy Shabbat.” “I know that it is Shabbat and I know that it is forbidden to smoke on Shabbat!” replied the smoker cantankerously as he exhaled puffs of smoke. Seeking some line of defense, R. Levi Yitzhak’s brow became knitted for a moment until suddenly his eyes lit up and with a satisfied grin he said: “My friend, you must be ill and the doctors have told you that the only remedy for your health is to smoke and you must smoke even on Shabbat because of your life-threatening condition!”  The Shabbat smoker’s eyes were ablaze as he aggressively responded: “I am perfectly healthy, I know it is Shabbat and I know that it is forbidden to smoke on Shabbat.” And with that he blew smoke straight into the face of the Berditchever Rebbe. R. Levi Yitzhak raised his eyes heavenward and called out to God: “Master of the universe! Look how unbelievably worthy Your children are: They will smoke on Shabbat, but they would never dare to tell a lie!”

Recommended Reading Israel jumps to 9th in World Happiness index, its highest-ever ranking (Times of Israel) Finland again tops the UN-sponsored list, with the US in 16th, Britain 17th, France 20th; research was completed before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Why Jewish refugees from Ukraine are choosing Germany over Israel (Haaretz) With much of the Jewish world focusing on Ukrainian refugees fleeing for Israel in what could become the largest aliyah wave in decades, a key aspect of the Ukrainian-Jewish refugee crisis has been largely ignored: the growing numbers of refugees who are automatically eligible for Israeli citizenship who choose to wait out the war in Germany or even settle there permanently. Over 400 Companies have left Russia, but some remain (Yale School of Management) See the full list of companies that have left and those who refuse to participate in the boycott. Synagogues of Ukraine, Past and Present (Explore 18 of them) His Software Sang the Word of God Then it Went Silent - Who was Thomas Buchler, the late creator of beloved Torah program TropeTrainer? And can anything be done to revive his life’s work? You can now listen to the soundtrack of "Encanto" in Hebrew Clowns help mend the broken spirits of Ukrainian refugees Israeli medical clowns are bringing a much-needed moment of levity and calm to Ukrainian refugees in seven shelters in Moldova. Israel opens humanitarian field hospital in war-torn Ukraine

Shabbat Shalom!  Rabbi Joshua Hammerman 

Temple Beth El

Shabbat-O-Gram for March 13: Social Distancing and Prayers for the Pandemic, The Voice of Eden

Shabbat-O-Gram

Let's start with a smile and a song!

 

It was a great Purim, last Monday, though it seems so long ago!  

To see more photos - click here and scroll down.

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Now the song: Eden Alene has burst on the Israeli music scene and will be its representative at Eurovision in May (assuming it is held).  Here is the multi-lingual song (including Amharic, Arabic, Hebrew and English) from this Jerusalem-born singer with parents born in Ethiopia.  A remarkable singer and a true Israeli success story. Read more about her.

Eden Alene - Feker Libi - Israel - Official Video - Eurovision 2020

And listen to her stunning rendition of "Mi Ohev Otach Yoter Mimeni" (Who loves you more than I do) sung at Israel's 70th ceremony in 2018, complete with 300 drones overhead.

עדן אלנה המדהימה בשיר מי אוהב אותך יותר ממני בטקס יום העצמאות 2018 כולל מופע אורות של 300 רחפנים

Shabbat Shalom! 

This weekend we welcome Cantor Arielle Green, our third finalist.  The full schedule has been sent out in another email. Services on Friday night and Shabbat morning will be live-streamed from our sanctuary. 

The clear message that we wish to send - and that all responsible organizations are now sending - is that the public good is best served right now by not gathering in large crowds and by what public health experts are calling social distancing.  While the pandemic cannot be stopped at this point, its impact can be mitigated if we decelerate the rate of transmission of the virus.  That way we won't overwhelm hospitals as the number of patients begins to rise exponentially.  What's right for the NBA and NCAA is right for Temple Beth El -  so especially since we live a stone's throw away from one of the hottest of hot spots, New Rochelle.

We are having services this Shabbat in part because because there will not be another opportunity to meet Cantor Green.  But while we are not discouraging people from attending, by providing the livestream option, we are not discouraging you from praying-in-place.  You can even say Kaddish remotely.

The HIAS Refugee Shabbat scheduled to be featured this Friday night has been postponed and will be rescheduled.  

Another important announcement. During this crisis, clergy visits to the hospital will not be held on a routine basis.  It becomes even more important, then, for friends and loved ones to let me know personally when someone is ill, either in or out of the hospital. Please email me the person's contact info.  No one should go through this illness - or any illness - alone.

This week is Shabbat Parah, the third of the four special Torah readings read before Passover. Parah means cow, and the section describes the red heifer that was killed as part of an ancient purification ritual . We are reminded to purify our homes - and ourselves - with the festival fast approaching. What better time to remind us to be specially mindful of healthful cleanliness.  Our homes will never be better cleaned for Passover than this year.

Keeping with the bovine theme, the portion of the week, Ki Tisa, includes the story of the Golden Calf.  Here's a summary from Bim Bam.

Parshat Ki Tisa: Seeing the Golden Calf

Prayers and the Pandemic

Few of us have ever experienced anything like what we are going through now. Social distancing goes against the very fiber of what religion is meant to be (the word religion means to connect), yet disconnecting is precisely what we need to do right now.  So while we usually focus on having lots of great food following our services, now we are giving everyone doggy bags to take home.  So while we typically create prayer environments that emphasize intimacy, this week I'll ask everyone to spread out in the sanctuary, leaving ample space between people.  While we usually do lots of hugging, handshaking and high fives, we've moved to less direct forms of human physical connection - like namaste greetings, elbow bumps and siddur taps.  We're also throwing away our environmental concerns for recycling - this week, we'll be using disposable chop sticks as Torah pointers. 

The disruption has been so jarring and so total.  Economic, health and political jitters have brought about a panic that yearns for community and connection, yet we are supposed to stay away from the very sources of strength that have sustained us through so many crises.

As Nicholas Christakis wrote in the Washington Post today: 

But just as the coronavirus's spread has forced us to consider suppressing our democratic impulses, it also calls on us to suppress our profoundly human and evolutionarily hard-wired impulses for connection: seeing our friends, getting together in groups or touching each other. Even spouses in the same household are implausibly advised to stay physically distant if one of them is sick. None of this comes naturally to us, nor is it easy. In my own case, since I have spent much of my professional career studying marriage, friendship and social networks, and the health benefits they offer, I am finding it ironic to be strongly advising against human contact - but that's what I'm doing.

And Bill McKibben, in the current issue of the New Yorker asserts that "Hell is No Other People."

...when Hurricane Irene devastated my state, Vermont, in 2011, people turned out within hours, bringing tools from backhoes to brooms. They mucked out basements and rebuilt driveways, and they kept coming back for weeks, until the job was done. They did it for strangers, mostly-although they didn't remain strangers for long.  But, with coronavirus, none of that is possible. There's little way to be of use except to disappear inside your home, so that you can't infect anyone. 

Indeed, even the places we gather for solace are increasingly off limits. Churches are closed in Italy and in South Korea (where one particular sect was the epicenter of the growing epidemic). Schools, where people find community during the first two decades of their lives, are increasingly shutting their doors or moving to "remote instruction." Even the things that take our minds off crises are going to be closed off: with every disaster that I can recall, including unnatural horrors such as 9/11, the resumption of pro sports some days later was a way to ease the feelings of pain and fear and anger. But now ski races in Norway are being held in empty arenas, Italy has cancelled league soccer matches, and there's talk that the Summer Olympics, scheduled to be held in Tokyo, may need to be postponed....

If we pay attention, we may value more fully the moment we're released from our detention, and we may even make some changes in our lives as a result. It will be a relief, above all, when we're allowed to get back to caring for one another, which is what socially evolved primates do best.

Fortunately, there are ways to stay connected even from home, even without services and classes.  The Shabbat-O-Gram, for example, is virus proof (I hope), so I'll do my best to stay in touch a little more often, to help keep you informed, entertained and connected.

And here are some other suggestions.....

- A prayer that's been making the rounds:

Last week, Ruth Messinger spoke - and the large crowd of 125 people now suddenly seems the relic of a bygone era - and she inspired us to bring change to the world.  See her packet of quotes and insights here. She directed our gaze "upstream," to look for the source of our global and local challenges and not just focus on cleaning up the mess that washes up on our downstream shores.

I thought about that when I saw this Twitter thread by Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman, the founder of "Sinai and Synapses," who spoke here last year. Rabbi Mitelman works at bridging the gap between science and religion.

Rabbi Mitelman makes an important point.   We will never know empirically how many lives have been saved by our social distancing.  We will never know if our own lives were saved by our not attending that large group gathering, or whether we unknowingly saved the life of our best friend.  We won't know how many lives - perhaps millions - will have been saved by our cancelling events at TBE - large and small.  

Each life that is saved is worthy of celebration.  In the special reading for Shabbat Parah, we read about the strange ritual performed to purify the people when they came into contact with death.  What is important here is less about the weird ritual and more about the need to take responsibility for the lives of all human beings, even those we don't know.  

Social distancing is most likely going to save lives of people we will never meet, and thereby absolve us from the sin of indifference and inaction.  Our very inaction - not leaving our homes and staying away from others - becomes the very action that can arrest this disease upstream, before the corpses start piling up on the river bank.

But when this plague has passed, if it passes with relatively little damage, we should celebrate. 

And then.  And then.  We should look upstream again and work toward eliminating the problem at its source.  How do we do that?  With a vaccine, for one thing.  With better coordination among world leaders.  And with a little humility and a reaffirmation of our faith - our faith in science.

In the words of the greatest Jewish physician of all time, Maimonides, "Teach your tongue to say 'I don't know' and you will progress."

I'll close with this "Prayer in Response to the Coronavirus," by Rabbi Shmuley Yanklowitz.  See it at here, at the Open Siddur Project - and check out that site.  We're going to be doing lots of praying on our own over the coming weeks.  It's an excellent resource.

Master of the Universe,
Our Creator and Liberator of diseases
We are afraid and unprepared.
We beseech you for guidance and support.
Grant victims the strength to persevere.
Grant caregivers the courage to heal.
Grant researchers and experts the insights to detect, to treat, and to vaccinate.
Grant medical providers the abilities to heal all who suffer.
Grant officials the courage to speak the truth and not to violate public
trust.

May You bless us with the strength to remain calm. Allow us to not use fear and suspicion as paths to xenophobia, selfishness, or isolation. May You grant us empathy for those affected. May you refine our empathy for those who suffer all over the world. May we look past cultural differences and disagreements to strengthen global collaboration to preserve life.

Oh, Giver of Life, grant us serenity in moments of uncertainty, give us the ability to help the vulnerable in the most effective ways possible. May those who are needed be prepared to take on the necessary risks in our pursuit for sustaining lives, helping those around us deal with this new reality.

May we work together to prevent the spread of this virus among our fellow human beings.

May we support those working on a solution for this disease. May we all use this time as an opportunity to realize the fragility of life and strive to make the most of our short time here, to form and (re)establish meaningful relationships, to bolster our fervent commitment to our moral mission. 

May it be your will O Lord, our God, Master of the Universe, that we will continue to (physically & spiritually) strive to overcome this new challenge. Like many problems in the past that we thought were impossible, help us overcome this new trial and give us the opportunity to work for the welfare of all humanity, for the sanctity of all life.

May You be here with us in this trying time.

Cuba 2021!

Our TBE Cuba trip was set to go this coming Sunday.  But with travel being actively discouraged, and a considerable risk of running into potential quarantine upon our return - we have postponed the trip.  Fortunately, we were able to arrange to have land and flight costs transferred to the new trip.  It will now take place, most likely, in January of 2021. I  expect that most of our current group will choose to go on that trip, but there will undoubtedly be some openings.  We'll address that once this crisis is behind us. 

Have a Shabbat of peace, good health and hope.  And don't be a stranger to my in-box.  Let's stay in touch, remotely.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman