In This Moment Shabbat-O-Gram, February 12, 2021 - Making History During Black History Month; Purim's Coming, Doggone it! Vaccine Blessings; Snow in Jerusalem

In This Moment

Shabbat-O-Gram, February 12, 2021

Israel woke up to it's largest snowstorm in years

"The Joy of Snow" headline in Yediot Ahronot, above, 

with views of Jerusalem below - and click here for more beautiful photos.

This coin below from 2,000 years ago was discovered accidentally by an Israeli soldier.

Click here for the backstory

Shabbat Shalom

There is so much to talk about today.  Let's start with a reminder that this is Shabbat Zachor, which is the Shabbat preceding Purim, when we are reminded of the evil done to our ancestors by Amalek. There is a tradition from the Talmud that Haman, the antagonist of the Purim story, was descended from Amalek. Zachor means "remember."  Read why Jewish memory matters.

And for a sneak preview of my remarks tonight on Jewish memory, read this fascinating article about the "Ant-Nazi Jam" that took Twitter by storm this week.

Speaking of Jewish memory, last night I had the thoroughly enjoyable opportunity to deliver a Zoom talk for a Jewish book group in New Brunswick, N.J. on my book, "Embracing Auschwitz: Forging a Vibrant, Life-Affirming Judaism that Takes the Holocaust Seriously."  You can watch it here.

Purim's Coming, Doggone it!

Yes, that's me, hidden behind a virtual poodle mask.  This is the year to bring your Snapchat and Zoom filters to our grand masked spectacular - or just come as you are!  We'll read the Megillah, check out vintage Purim photos, announce the winners of our Purim Scavenger Hunt, sing and parade - all virtually - this Thursday evening.  And when I get tired of all the Haman noisemaking, I'll just mute you! Gotta love a virtual Purim!

See this guide to all things Purim from MyJewishLearning.

BTW, apropos to my poodle mask, dogs are often regarded warily in Jewish sources. Read here why dogs were actually big heroes of the night of the Exodus (for not yapping).  And see Emmanuel Levinas' reflections on a dog who made his home for a short time in the Nazi labor camp where he was imprisoned, and who joyfully greeted the inmates when they returned from forced labor.  It's time to give dogs their due (so to speak)!

News from our TBE Family

 

This past week, composer Shanan Estreicher premiered a piece called "All You Shining Stars" for improvised trumpet and strings. This work features the Israeli trumpet player Itamar Borochov and members of the Chamber Orchestra of New York. Each of the three movements is a meditation based on Psalms. Shanan's mom, Lori Frank and his brother Adam were inspirational to many of us before they died, and, as you will hear, Shanan has taken the creative torch from them. 

All You Shining Stars

 

I also want to celebrate the pending publication of Elon Green's highly acclaimed book, "Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York," which has been selected by Goodreads and Literary Hub as one of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021.   It's due out March 9.  Mazal tov also to Elon's parents, Hank and Diane, and sister Rachel (and her extended TBE family too!). See more about the book and Elon at his website.

 

Elon and Shanan were teens here many years ago.  I had a chance this week to Zoom chat with our current TBE teens just to check in to see how they are doing.  I was reassured by their resilience and their ability to make the most of a horrible year.  When I asked them whether the teen years are the worst time to be dealing with Covid and quarantine, surprisingly, and refreshingly, they said no, understanding that other demographic groups, like young professionals denied a chance to have a normal social life, or their grandparents, fearful for their lives, all have it worse.

Also, keeping it in the family, Wil and Carol Brewer have been telling me about their cousin in Australia, whose life has been disrupted tremendously by Covid. Ryan Abramowitz works on Jewish calligraphy and art, and Ryan's creations are exquisite. Ryan writes:

My Ketubah business is named Today Tomorrow Forever, inspired by a philosophy of creating Ketubot and art for all of life's simchas, which is cherished across time. The website and Ketubah gallery can be previewed at http://todaytomorrowforever.com.au/ 

Take a look for yourself.  I've featured one of the ketubot below:

 

Making History during Black History Month

 

As we commemorate Black History Month with this weekend's showing of "Shared Legacies" and our panel discussion on Sunday (see flyer at the bottom of this email), it's important to understand just how complicated the relationship has been.  As this article indicates, American Jews need to come to grips with the racism in our midst.  We have both been targets of White Supremacy and at times its accomplices.  Similarly, Black Americans have both joined hands with us to combat all forms of hate and have, at times, abetted anti-Semitism.  It's not an easy conversation to have, but we can't avoid it.  At the same time, we need to build up a foundation of trust, and that is what we have been doing this year.  Nurturing and re-establishing those historic ties between the Black and Jewish communities is the most important things we can be doing now, for there is strength in numbers, and that is precisely what is needed now, post January 6, as the task at hand has been so clearly defined.  Racism must be undone, and white supremacism must be ended.

 

Plan to stream the film this weekend and join us on Sunday.  Register now at this link, as the film stream link is now live and will be sent to you upon registration.  After Sunday, we are planning more opportunities to focus on this topic, including the book discussion on "Caste" this Monday, the Freedom Seder on March 21, and more.  We are making history during Black History Month, and well beyond.

The Season of our Liberation...

But When Will the Miracle Happen?

With Purim taking place this coming week, Passover is just a month behind.  Rarely before in our lives has the festival of Passover been so well-timed.  If all goes well - and that's a big "if - as we mark the liberation of our people from Egyptian slavery, we'll begin to liberate ourselves from the quarantine of Covid, not to mention the wicked winter we've endured.  At long last we will begin to inch toward normalcy, or at least what now passes for it.  Here at TBE, we'll hopefully be able to begin taking baby steps back into our indoor and outdoor prayer venues, while still Zoom-casting most events for those who remain home-bound. 

While the precise timing of this modern-day exodus is far from certain, what is certain is this: None of this would be possible without the vaccines, which are a modern miracle biblical in scope.  The partnership of science, faith and pure doggedness, made possible by the unlikely partnership of national and corporate rivals, enabled this miracle to occur in record time. 

I had my second shot a few weeks ago.  It seemed almost anti-climactic.  That week at services I reflected on what blessing would be most appropriate to say at the big moment, because there is a blessing for everything - if there is a blessing for the Czar than there has to be a blessing for SARS. 

It seemed to me that Shehechianu was the way to go - it reflected the once in a lifetime aspect of this moment, the triumph of life over death and the resuscitation of our entire society. Plus it was short and hey, there people behind me and I could just see them starting to kvetch as I pulled out a page from my pocket and started to recite something longer. 

There are lots of options.  For those who will be taking the vaccine this month, and I assume that will be many of you, here are a number of blessing options that I shared in last week's Shabbat-O-Gram: Here is a suggested blessing. Here is another  and another, and here's a nice selection, and some from the Rabbinical Assembly and here's a full halachic discussion of the matter from Orthodox sources. 

Then, once you've chosen the blessing, there is the question as to when is the right time to recite this blessing.  Here are some options:

(1) When the vaccine begins being distributed in our area (already happened)

(2) When people have been using it for a few months, and its efficacy has been clearly demonstrated

(3) When you, personally, receive it

(4) when you receive the second shot

Or (5) when the scientists say that we have achieved herd immunity.

When does the miracle take place? At the beginning or the end?  Was the miracle of the Exodus the execution of the first plague, the blood in the Nile?  Or was it the crossing of the Red Sea, the final plague?  Was it consummated when each individual Israelite emerged from the Red Sea - for that individual - or was the miracle complete only when the entire nation had emerged from bondage?

When should a blessing be said?

Is a personal healing the same as a national one?  We learn from Exodus 21:19 that we are obligated to heal a person who has been injured due to our negligence.  The Hebrew root word "R-P-H" is repeated, "Rapo - yerapeh," which teaches us two things.  First that the healing is both personal and national.  When we heal a single person in a society, we are also healing that society.  And second, the double injunction here has been taken as emphasizing the Torah's endorsement of the science of medicine. 

So healing is both personal and collective, and Judaism and science are partners.

This tells us that perhaps we should recite blessings both when we have received the vaccine individually and again when it is declared that we have achieved herd immunity, both here in the US and around the world.

May that happen speedily - or at least by Rosh Hashanah!

An additional question is whether we recite the blessing before or immediately the shot is administered, or perhaps the next day, after side effects have worn off.  Blessings are typically recited before an act takes place (think of ha-motzi or the kiddush).  But in this case, maybe it more proper to wait, so that we might literally soak in the moment, and its impact on our bodies and our world.  I'll leave it up to you to decide when to say a blessing  and what blessing to say.  But at the very least, just utter a "Thank God!" before you get into your car and head home (or for those at drive-through vaccine stations, before you simply drive away, liberated).

As for Passover, let's take those baby steps out the door and back into our sanctuary as soon as it is deemed safe to do so, as we pray that this holiday, which will still be different from all other nights, will also be the Season of our Liberation.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

Things to do on yet another snowy day...

Another no school, no shul morning.  Minyan is cancelled. 

So what do we do when one storm follows another and we are stuck in an endless cycle of snow? 

Here are some suggestions:

  

1)     Take a look at over 60 photo albums covering a quarter century of TBE history - including last weekend's World Wide Wrap.  Check back in a day or two for Temple Rock photos.

2)    Read a sensational best seller explaining Israel's triumphant and tragic history with great honesty and empathy, Ari Shavit's "My Promised Land." This book is so important that I have set aside an evening to review it and discuss it - save the date of Thursday, March 27 @ 7:30. 

  

3)   Read my Jewish Week column welcoming the New York Jewish community to Stamford next week for the Limmud NY conference.  Let's hope the weather improves!

4)     Plan your next visit to Israel. Check out the Tourist Israel website to see the latest cool sites and tourist hotspots. And we still have room on our trip this summer.  Explore our group's site and book it now!

5)   Read my blog postings about snow, including this photo essay, "Blanket of Peace,"  "A Jewish Guide to Shoveling Snow,"  and Snow in Jewish Culture: A Spiritual Web Journey.    

6) Just submit.  Rather than fret, understand that there are simply things we can't control.  Consider the simple pleasures of winter days.  Yes, make this "Snow Appreciation Day." 

Who has not been awed by the beauty of the city or countryside covered in snow? The serenity and whiteness of snow attracts us. We sense the purity of snow when we wake up in the morning and the streets, which are so often filled with grime, are all covered with a white blanket of snow. Snow is a great equalizer - no matter how big the building, or the car, whether a Lexus or a Hyundai, they're all covered equally by the snow. Snow has the ability to cover over the impurities of life and remind us of our own purity.   

Rabbi Simon Jacobson

As Robert Frost wrote:

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

And ponder how snow brings us to places we thought we had left long ago.

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, who use to serve a synagogue in Sudbury, Mass., writes about how one year, in the middle of November, he was telling the young children a story. Midway through,  snow started to fall outside - the first snowfall of the year. As you might expect, there was suddenly great excitement in the room. "Look! It's snowing outside! Winter is here!" They all ran over to the window, completely oblivious to the fact that the rabbi was trying to tell them a story.

Now, there's a special blessing to be recited upon seeing spectacular natural events -such as the first snowfall of the year. Rabbi Kushner thought about telling the kids about the blessing and having them join him in reciting it. But he decided just to recite the blessing to himself. He realized that for the children, there was no reason to recite the blessing. Their spontaneous reaction, their excitement, was an even stronger affirmation of the wonder of nature than any adult's blessing could ever be. After all: for the preschoolers, this was snowfall number five or six of their entire lives!   There's no way that adults can be amazed at snow the way  kids can.

As Rabbi Kushner writes, "There are places children go that grown-ups can only observe from afar."

As the snow falls this week, again and again, let's take a moment to figure out how we adults can get just a little closer to those sacred snowy places....  (As for freezing rain and sleet, well, that's another matter entirely!)

Stay safe.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

A Blanket of Peace

Perfect storms are hard to appreciate when you are living through them. Taking the dogs out last night in blinding blizzard conditions, I thought all three of us would blow away. Even when I promised an extra treat, they were not intent on making that trip a productive one. But how could I blame them; I was asking them to do something perfectly normal at a time when we felt like we were aboard the Andrea Gail.

But in its wake the storm, like life, left a blanket of peace. I just spent a few moments of solitude at the cemetery next door, until the wind chased me out, reminding me of the fine line that exists between a bucolic New England scene and a forbidding Arctic tundra.

Our cemetery is always beautiful, but it never looks more beautiful than when it is covered by a foot and a half of fresh, blowing snow, and then add to that skies as blue as they became this afternoon. The blowing snow almost seemed playful, sifting spiritlike between and among the gravestones, and then churning up a whirlwind in the distance. The snow's surface is smooth and velvety, but with ripples looking somewhat like rings on a tree trunk or the grain of rounded olive wood. Some of the graves are nearly completely covered by the blanket of snow. Everything, everywhere is touched by its frosting.

See the pictures below and click to enlarge. May all who lie beneath that white blanket rest in peace.

(And note that this is not one of those photo essays where I would use the heading "Wish you were here." :))

A Jewish Guide to Shoveling Snow (Koach)

A Jewish Guide to Shoveling Snow
http://www.uscj.org/Koach/kocfeb04joke.htm

Ehud Barak - "You must shovel most of the driveway, but the exact dimensions of shoveling will be determined in discussions with our neighbors. No, wait, you can shovel only in places where snow had previously fallen, but you cannot shovel in places where no snow had fallen - wait, don't do any shoveling until you hear from me!"

Yossi Sarid - "You should not shovel any part of the driveway, since you really do not have any valid historical or legal claim to the driveway, and it will soon be given back to its rightful owners.

Artscroll Hilchos Sheleg ("Laws Regarding Snow; Ashkenaz version, chapter 5) - "First approach the snow with the proper kavanah, meditating on the concept of snow removal. Recite the "...Who commanded us concerning the shoveling of snow" benediction," then take three steps back, bend the knees slightly with feet together, then look at the snow, lift shovel and dig, turning right and then left, bend knees fully, take three steps forward and deposit snow deliberately. Repeat until done, then recite the Sheheheyanu benediction, go indoors and have a hot drink, remembering to say the Shehakol brocha (see Artscroll Hilchos on Drinking Hot Liquids)..."


Tikkun Magazine - "What right do we have to violently take snow from its rightful resting place? Snow has rights: each snowflake is a unique individual, and we have absolutely no right to do anything with it. Let the snow decide for itself what it wishes to do, and then if it wishes to be shoveled, do so humanely.


Rashi - "Snow, this is a form of solid precipitation that clings to one's beard if you remain outside too long in the winter season. (Old French: neige). Shoveling is a Rabbinic precept, based on the verse in Isaiah 1:18-"If your sins be like scarlet, they will turn as white as snows"

Birthright israel - "It does not matter how the shoveling is done, but the very act of a young Jew shoveling snow for ten consecutive days, under proper supervision will have a lifelong impact on Jewish identity."

Meir Ben-Meir (Israeli Water Commissioner) - "Just shovel the snow as fast as you can, and ship it here. We are running out of water fast! Is anyone listening to me?"


Rabbi David Hartman - "Snow is a potent force in the world which unites all Jews. It falls on us all, regardless of religious denomination and belief, and is therefore instrumental in our understanding of Jewish unity and diversity. In fact, just this week, I was explaining the significance of snow to the Prime Minister, President Weizman, President Clinton, and His Holiness the Pope, who had asked my opinion."


The Late Lubavitcher Rebbe (from an epistle to a disciple) - "Shoveling snow is a distraction from our efforts to bring Moshiach, may He come soon, when in any case there will be no snow to shovel. So leave it and let it melt. If the Messiah does not come by Shavuos, the snow will have miraculously disappeared anyway."

"God says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth...'" Job 37:6 - Snow in Jewish Culture

"God says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth...'" Job 37:6

Little-Known Facts About Snow in Jewish Tradition and Lore:

Many traditional Jewish congregations refuse to count snowmen in the prayer quorum.

Medieval Jewish mystics practiced rolling in the snow to purge themselves from evil urges. They were the first snow angels.

Moses Maimonides, 10th century physician to the Egyptian Khalif, prescribed snow as a cure for the hot Cairo summers.

The elders of Safed have 36 different words for snow -- but none for snow removal.

During 3 particularly cold Sinai winters, the Israelites were led by a pillar of snow.

It is forbidden to write in the snow on the Sabbath. (if you are interested in this topic, see here
and here) – halachot on writing on Shabbat and on walking on snow)

Following the great Jerusalem blizzard of 1900, Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl proposed the "Uganda option."

According to some rabbinic authorities, one must wait six hours between going out in the snow and in the rain.

On snowy days, the procession of King Solomon's immediate family was pulled by 2,800 reindeer and 1,200 huskies.

Israel's national hockey team participated in the 1992 Winter Games, dominating both the Olympic village and concession area.

On January 9, 1896, a snowball from St. Patrick's elementary school landed in Mrs. Manischewitz's kitchen, inspiring her to invent matzo ball soup.


See more from the Shabbat-O-Gram archives for a snowy day: Snow in Jewish Culture: Snow in Jewish Culture

So snow is heaven speaking to us - speaking to us through purity, speaking to us gently and gradually on our terms. Snow is the intermediary stage between heaven and earth; ice is a little closer to the level of earth; sleet is in between snow and ice. Thus every weather condition sends us a message and lesson - whether it’s rain, snow, ice, sleet or hail. (Simon Jacobson)