In This Moment: Nov. 18

 

In This Moment

Watch the video of last weekend's B'nai Mitzvah Shabbat Shalom! Last weekend's adult B'nai Mitzvah was a real highlight for the year, and well worth the three year wait. You can see some photos, screen grabs and congrats from the chat by clicking here. And see my charge to the class here. Since we always stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, here are the booklets from prior adult b'nai mitzvah classes from the past three decades. They were all very special (if booklets exist for prior ones, please send them to me). 1994 1998 2002 2004 2007 2021 This evening at 7:30, we'll be honored to host (on Zoom), Israel's new Consul General to New England, Ambassador Meron Reuben. Join us at 7:30 and send me any questions you might want asked. Click here to register and get Zoom access. Now some recommended reading - with commentary... Hanukkah 101 (MyJewishLearning). How to light the menorah. Publicizing the miracle. The Hanukkah Blessings. Call For Philip Morris....to go smokeless. In this article in the Stamford Advocate, the tobacco company pledges to turn over a new leaf, so to speak. So here's what I've been asking myself. What is it about Stamford that draws such edgy (or worse) businesses, from Purdue Pharma (whose settlement seems quite shady) to WWE (I know, it's entertainment) to Jerry Springer? I was once accused of being inhospitable to Springer for questioning whether I would give him an aliyah. Okay, most Stamford-based companies are just fine (I'm looking at you, NBC Sports), but you've got to admit to getting that queasy feeling when reading this company's full page NYT ad, where Marian Salzman, their VP of Global Communications has the chutzpah to compare skepticism directed toward Philip Morris to hate speech:

PMI is giving us all a little feel of PMS. The company's record is hardly spotless and certainly not above criticism. Still, even companies can do teshuvah, and I'm not ruling out an aliyah for Marian Salzman just yet. I'd welcome her into a dialogue, as long as she promises not to bring up the hate speech thing again. I think what's bothering me even more is that we get so taken in by a Chamber of Commerce mentality when the rich and famous come a-calling that we lose our objectivity. Instead of blurting out, "They like us! They really like us!" let's hold companies to high moral standards, especially if they are responsible for, allegedly, seven million deaths a year. I kvetched about Stew Leonard back in the '90s, and they were just cheating on taxes, not killing millions and covering it up. Stew Junior responded by sending over a bushel of cornstalks for our sukkah. Okay, that was a little shady too, but we met and talked things through. Is Phil Morris going to respond to this by accusing a rabbi of hate speech - because, according to their definition, hate speech is anything critical of them. So, while I'm happy that we've got lots of nice companies here too, still, what is it about Stamford??? See below this timely headline from JPost front page - along with Times of Israel's, "Newly found ancient fortified building seen as 'tangible evidence' of Hanukkah story."

Larry David spilled coffee on a Klansman's robe. We asked rabbis if he has to pay for the dry cleaning. (Forward) The fact that Judaism has its own vast corpus of legal arguments is of little interest to Larry David — he’s a law unto himself. But every so often his actions give way to a question of Talmudic precedent. When, for instance, Larry accidentally spilled coffee on a Klansman’s robe on Sunday’s episode and then promised to have it laundered in time for two upcoming “hate rallies” in Tucson and Santa Fe, he stumbled onto an area well-trod by commentators and scholars: property law. Throughout the episode, Larry explains how he feels obligated to pay for this white supremacist’s dry cleaning, even convincing a Jewish dry cleaner to do it, telling him, a la Jesus, that he’s deciding to “turn the other cheek.” Taylor Swift and a Time Honored Jewish Tradition (Forward) The brouhaha surrounding the Swift-Gyllenhaal saga got us thinking of the great tradition of “kiss-off” songs — particularly those written and performed by Jewish songwriters. If Bob Dylan did not invent the genre, he certainly set the bar high with such early songs as “Positively 4th Street” (“You got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend”), “Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)” (“You say you love me and you’re thinkin’ of me but you know you could be wrong”), “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (“You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last”), “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (“You just kinda wasted my precious time”), and perhaps the greatest kiss-off song of all time, “Idiot Wind” (“You’re an idiot, babe / It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe”). Ouch! What Would Maimonides Say About Dennis Prager? (R.N.S). Once upon a time, Dennis Prager was one of my favorite authors. His book co-authored with Joseph Telushkin, "Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism," influenced me greatly during my formative years. I once brought him to Stamford to speak. Yes, Rabbi Hammerman brought Dennis Prager to Stamford. He spoke to teens about Jewish pride, but his first words, "Kids stink," didn't exactly endear him to his audience. Over the years, he's drifted far to the right, but it is has his stance on vaccinations that Doctor Maimonides would have found so offensive, according to this opinion piece. Top European court says Hungary's 'stop Soros' migrant law violated EU law (Jerusalem Post) I've been fortunate to experience very little anti-Semitism first hand in my life, but one such time was when our 2017 Europe group crossed the bridge from Slovakia to Hungary and what greeted us was this sign. it did not say, "Welcome to Hungary, Jews." We had literally just come from Auschwitz and before our wheels even set down on Hungarian soil, we see a sign stating, "We can't let Soros get the last laugh." Well, we all need to dedicate our lives to getting the last laugh against those who traffic in anti-Semitic tropes and strike fear in the hearts of Jews and "others."

Anti-vaxxers protest with swastikas and yellow star outside Jewish politician's office in the Bronx (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) Because, well, just because. On the other hand, with Covid numbers rising here again, see how Israel's experience with boosters has, for now, prevented a new outbreak there. And see this WaPo column on how to assess and minimize Covid risk in your Thanksgiving meals this week. Last year I wrote this op-ed / d'var Torah, with the focus on this week's portion of Vayishlach and how at times the best way to keep a family together is to divide it up, as Jacob does when confronting his brother Esau for the first time in two decades. Though things are much better now, with vaccines and better, medically approved treatments, much of last year's message still resonates. I'm so happy to say that this year, both of my kids will be in town and we will be spending Thanksgiving together. But what I wrote last year still has resonance. As Jacob prepares for the worst, he prays:

The fear of Jacob is reflected in our own. The patriarch realizes how unworthy - in the Hebrew, how "small" - he is (katonti), how ill-equipped to defeat this foe. Ramban finds a prophetic quote to back up this feeling of futility: “How will Jacob survive, as he is so small” (Amos 7:2). The greatest danger to us as we face this overwhelming third wave of Covid is a sense that we fool ourselves into thinking that we really understand this disease, that we’ve been here before. But we have not. While March and April were bad in the NY area, Americans have never seen the entire country afflicted with such overwhelming force at the same time. Complacency and Covid fatigue are dangerous, but the gravest danger of all is a false sense of control. Masks and outdoor ventilation are helpful, we now know, but they are not foolproof. Today, in order to protect ourselves, many families will voluntarily stay apart. In the Torah, Jacob shows us that such a decision requires a selfless humility that can help us to confront enemies seen and unseen. Covid may be microscopic and microbial, but we are the ones who are small. Links from this week's "Jewish Canon" class: Ruth Calderon's heralded inaugural Knesset speech, "The Heritage of All Israel," (transcript) (video). Zoom recording of the class session, "Identities and Communities." Next class is on Nov. 30. There will not be a full Shabbat-O-Gram next week (though I reserve the right to send you something), so my best wishes for a happy Thanksgivukkah for you and yours (from me and mine)! I close with some quotations on gratitude for your Thanksgiving table - or Zoom table, as the case may be. The word Jew actually means to give thanks. Today we proudly display our Jewish and American identities together by offering our appreciation to God for all of our bounty and blessing Happy Chanksgivukah! Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

Temple Beth El 350 Roxbury Road Stamford, Connecticut 06902 203-322-6901 | www.tbe.org    A Conservative, Inclusive, Spiritual Community

In This Moment for November 27: A House Divided

 In This Moment

 Shabbat-O-Gram, November 27, 2020

Mazal tov to Ilana Gilbert, who becomes Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat morning. The Shabbat-O-Gram is sponsored by Lori and Raphael Gilbert in honor of  Ilana.

Screen grab from last week's Bar Mitzvah Zoom service for Owen Herz.  Click here for Zoom Recording, Screen Grabs and Owen's D'Var Torah for Toldot, along with a list of Hebrew dog commands, courtesy of Owen's Mitzvah Project,  The Israel Guide Dog Center.

On Sunday, over 50 of us enjoyed a tour of the Way of the Patriarchs, given by old friend and super tour guide / educator Peter Abelow.  Watch it here.  Peter is involved in a new virtual touring website called "Israel is Beautiful," which provides excellent tours of many of Israel's most famous - and some off-the-beaten-track - sites.  See it at 

https://israelisbeautiful.com/.  Peter will be returning for a Hanukkah-themed tour on Sunday, December 13 at 11 AM.

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A House Divided

In one of his most famous addresses, President Lincoln said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

But sometimes a household needs to be divided in order to survive. And that is the case this week, as millions of Americans are heeding the advice of experts and staying separate on this holiday.  It's excruciating for many, though not a difficult choice when faced with the alternative of placing loved ones (and total strangers) in grave danger.  On Thanksgiving day, my family will be Zooming with relatives from coast to coast, having cancelled some travel plans, but knowing that there is now officially light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of vaccines.

This is not the first time when household division made everyone safer.  This week's Torah portion of Vayetze details the comings and goings (really the goings and comings) of Jacob and has family.  The return, which is completed in next week's portion of Vayishlach, brings Jacob face to face with a potential massacre of his family at the hands of his brother Esau, who came toward him with an army of 400.

Jacob's plan is to shower Esau with gifts, but he devises a back up strategy if that stimulus doesn't work.  He divides his camp into two.  That way, if one side is attacked by Esau's viral anger, at least the other half of Jacob's family will survive.  It is the first case of family distancing on record.

As Jacob bids farewell to half his family, and with the existential threat on his doorstep, he utters one of the most heartfelt prayers of the entire Torah in Genesis 32:  Katonti mikor hahasadim u'mikol ha'emet....

As you read this, listen to these words rendered into beautiful contemporary Israeli songs.  Here are two versions:

Katonti Katonti - HaZamir 2019 Gala Concert

Listen to these songs and reflect on these verses as you sit down for your real and virtual Thanksgiving dinner.  The fear of Jacob is reflected in our own.  The patriarch realizes how small he is, how ill equipped to defeat this foe. Ramban finds a prophetic quote to back up this feeling of futility:  "How will Jacob survive, as he is so small" (Amos 7:2).

 

The greatest danger to us as we face this overwhelming third wave of Covid is a sense that we really understand this disease, that we've been here before.  But we have not.  While March and April were bad in this area, we've never seen the entire country afflicted with such overwhelming force at the same time.  Complacency and Covid fatigue are dangerous, but the gravest danger of all is a false sense of control.  Masks and outdoor ventilation are helpful, we now know, but they are not foolproof.

Which is why we need to split our families apart.  Right now, as with Jacob and sons - and wives and daughter, and lots of sheep - a house divided is the house that will stand.

Here is a suggestion for your real / virtual dinner - and do plan to touch base with us at our morning minyan on Thursday, and at our services this weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

A house divided will stand (Times of Israel)

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A house divided will stand

As Jacob the patriarch had to split up his household for safety, this year we too are separated. And that's a good thing

NOV 25, 2020, 11:53 PM

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In one of his most famous addresses, President Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

But sometimes a household needs to be divided in order to survive. And that is the case this week, as millions of Americans are heeding the advice of experts and staying separate on this holiday.  It’s excruciating for many, though not a difficult choice when faced with the alternative of placing loved ones (and total strangers) in grave danger.  On Thanksgiving day, my family will be Zooming with relatives from coast to coast, having canceled some travel plans, but knowing that there is now officially light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of vaccines.

This is not the first time when household division made everyone safer.  This week’s Torah portion of Vayetze details the comings and goings (really the goings and comings) of Jacob and has family.  The return, which is completed in next week’s portion of Vayishlach, brings Jacob face to face with a potential massacre of his family at the hands of his brother Esau, who came toward him with an army of 400.

Jacob’s plan is to shower Esau with gifts, but he devises a back up strategy if that stimulus doesn’t work.  He divides his camp into two.  That way, if one side is attacked by Esau’s viral anger, at least the other half of Jacob’s family will survive.  It is the first case of family social distancing on record.

As Jacob bids farewell to half his family, and with the existential threat on his doorstep, he utters one of the most heartfelt prayers of the entire Torah in Genesis 32:  Katonti mikol hahasadim u’mikol ha’emet….

As you read this, listen to these words rendered into beautiful contemporary Israeli songs. Here are two versions:

Katonti

Katonti – HaZamir 2019 Gala Concert

Listen to these songs and reflect on these verses as you sit down for your real and virtual Thanksgiving dinner. The fear of Jacob is reflected in our own.  The patriarch realizes how small he is, how ill-equipped to defeat this foe. Ramban finds a prophetic quote to back up this feeling of futility:  “How will Jacob survive, as he is so small” (Amos 7:2).

The greatest danger to us as we face this overwhelming third wave of Covid is a sense that we fool ourselves into thinking that we really understand this disease, that we’ve been here before.  But we have not.  While March and April were bad in the NY area, where I live, Americans have never seen the entire country afflicted with such overwhelming force at the same time.

Complacency and Covid fatigue are dangerous, but the gravest danger of all is a false sense of control.  Masks and outdoor ventilation are helpful, we now know, but they are not foolproof.  Today, in order to protect ourselves, many families will voluntarily stay apart. In the Torah, Jacob shows us that such a decision requires a selfless humility that can help us to confront enemies seen and unseen.  Covid may be microscopic and microbial, but we are the ones who are small.

Which is why we need to split our families apart.  Right now, as with Jacob and sons – and wives and daughter, and lots of sheep – a house divided is the house that will stand.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman is author, most recently, of “Embracing Auschwitz: Forging a Vibrant, Life-Affirming Judaism that Takes the Holocaust Seriously” (Ben Yehuda Press, 2020)

In This Moment: In this Moment: November 20 - Truth and Consequences, "Here I Am," Israel Virtually with Peter Abelow

 

In This Moment  Shabbat-O-Gram, November 20, 2020 Mazal tov to Owen Herz, who becomes Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat morning. The Shabbat-O-Gram is sponsored by Nancy and Jeff Herz in honor of Owen.     From last week's Bar Mitzvah Zoom service for Austin Eisenstein.  Click here for Zoom Recording, Screen Grabs and Austin's D'Var Torah for Hayye Sarah.  And click here to play online Jewish Jeopardy (Jew-pardy), as we did last week in memory of Alex Trebek. -------------- Shabbat Shalom! Join us this evening and tomorrow morning for Shabbat services.  And then on Sunday at 11, join us on Zoom for a special virtual tour of Jerusalem led by Peter Abelow, a guide who led several of our TBE tours over a decade ago.  Peter was co-founder of Keshet Educational Tours and revolutionized educational tourism in Israel.    No charge for this virtual tour, but wear comfortable shoes!    Peter has started a website that provides many virtual tours and activities about Israel with new content each month.  You can enjoy many new adventures and become connected to Israel from your home. Check out the website: https://israelisbeautiful.com/.  See you there! I was honored to deliver the invocation at the AJC Westchester / Fairfield Diversity Breakfast on Thursday morning.  You can watch it below. Thanksgiving Diversity Breakfast 2020: Invocation by Rabbi Joshua Hammerman You can see the full program here. At a time that is so fraught, it was inspiring to share ideas with upwards of 400 people from our area, people of all faiths and ethnicities, people of immense accomplishment and courage, all of whom share a deep love of their fellow human beings. Here I Am א  וַיְהִי כִּי-זָקֵן יִצְחָק, וַתִּכְהֶיןָ עֵינָיו מֵרְאֹת; וַיִּקְרָא אֶת-עֵשָׂו בְּנוֹ הַגָּדֹל, וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו בְּנִי, וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, הִנֵּנִי. Gen 27:1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said unto him: 'My son'; and he said unto him: 'Here am I.' ב  וַיֹּאמֶר, הִנֵּה-נָא זָקַנְתִּי; לֹא יָדַעְתִּי, יוֹם מוֹתִי. 2 And he said: 'Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death. At times like this we are called upon to be fully present and aware of each step that we take and its impact on others.  That is certainly true with COVID and the impact our actions have on others, both those whom we love and those whom we will never meet.  It's also true as we pursue justice in the world and care for those who are suffering - and protect the foundations of democracy. The Hebrew term "Heneni," "I am here," never felt more relevant.  In the Torah the phrase is repeated often, particularly when someone notable is summoned by God - like Adam, Abraham and Moses.  But in this week's portion of Toldot, a simple parent summons his child - Isaac calls for Esau - and Esau responds with that same word, "Heneni."  Isaac replies by echoing and affirming Esau's response, saying "Henay na," "Behold now..."  Their conversation begins with a reciprocated affirmation of presence.   Neither Isaac nor Esau have the reputations of being especially attentive people. Quite the contrary, in fact; Esau is a hunter and Isaac's blindness is seen as metaphoric as much as physical.  Neither are the top ten on the Torah's "Who's Who" list.  That doesn't matter.  Nor should it matter for any of us.  We don't need to be biblical superstars.  Attentiveness shouldn't be reserved for the holy and the haughty.  We all need to be saying "Heneni," to our parents, and other family members who may be vulnerable, to our community and to our country. And to be fully present, you don't even need to be in the room.  If we've learned nothing else these past ten months, it's that one can be fully present, virtually. These will be the Heneni Holidays.     Truth and Consequences A key turning point in the morning service is right at the conclusion of the Sh'ma, where we transition from prayers celebrating the loving gift of Torah and begin to apply it toward repair of the world (redemption).  That pivot revolves around the word "truth," "Emet."  In our Shabbat service, we mark that transition with a mesmerizing (yet at the same time calming) mantra-like meditation.  Here is how it is appears in our Shabbat-in-the-Round prayerbook:   If ever we needed to repeat a term again and again, it is "emet," and the time is now.  We have reached the apex of the post-truth era, the climax (some might say the death-throes) of a struggle that began many thousands of lies ago. Dangerous conspiracy theories are threatening to upend our democracy and the notion of truth itself has become perilously relativized in the hands of artful (and occasionally sleazy) peddlers of falsehood. If you are seeking some perspective from our sources, I recommend this primer essay, "Truth and Lies in the Jewish Tradition."   And also look especially at this quote from Jeremiah 9:4:   Indeed, those who repeat lies incessantly lose the capacity to distinguish between falsehoods and truth.  That's how truth dies, and that is what conspiracists are hoping to accomplish.  But at the same time it is so exhausting to perpetuate a lie - as we are seeing happen right now - that the perpetrators "wear themselves out working iniquity."  The facts just refuse to go softly into the night. Jeremiah knoweth what he is talking about. One additional reminder is needed.  Every false and debunked global conspiracy theory ultimately comes back to you-know-who. Even when Jews aren't specifically mentioned (and at least one distinguished individual of Jewish-Hungarian ancestry usually is), it all goes back to  one from column A (Blood Libel), column B (Protocols of Zion) or column C (everything else).   No wonder the The FBI says hate crime rose again in 2019, led by anti-Semitism. But the reality is even worse than their report. For more on the conspiracies, see: Newt Gingrich Shares Conspiracy Theory With Antisemitic Roots, Draws Warning From ADL (Ha'aretz) It's 2020 and anti-Semitism is an electoral tactic again (MIT Technology Review) Florida Latinos flooded with anti-Semitic conspiracy messaging  (TOI) Why Jews especially should be terrified by Trump's refusal to concede (Forward) Alex Jones: Five Things to Know (ADL) These are challenging times, but I'm confident that, in the words of Proverbs 12:19, "The language of truth will endure forever."  One way to ensure that is to sharpen our own truth-muscles.  We can do that through prayer, and specifically the one after the Sh'ma, which we will chant at services, mantra-style, tomorrow morning. A Happy Remote Thanksgiving This is what the US really looks like when actual presidential vote percentages are taken into account.  Lots of shades of purple.  As you sit down with your family members next Thursday, maybe this map is a good thing to keep in mind.  There is so much more that unites us than divides us. Given the coronavirus upsurge, many families will be conducting their Thanksgiving dinners online this year.  Here are some suggested items you can share that will help to bring people together: 1) A Discussion Packet for your Thanksgiving table: "Developing and Attitude of Gratitude" (poems, prayers and discussion questions) 2) Counting our Blessings on Thanksgiving: Tradition instructs us to recite 100 blessings every day, whether spontaneous or not. Some can be found in the grace after meals (see Birkat Ha-mazon explained in Wikipedia and in the Jewish Virtual Library) If you would like to add some or all of that beautiful prayer to your Thanksgiving meal, it can be downloaded at Birkat Hamazon [pdf] 3) Other discussion topics: The real 'Queen's Gambit': Meet the first woman to qualify for the World Chess Championship - If you loved the Netflix series (which I did), you'll be interested in the true story that preceded it. Talkin' Turkey About Ethical Eating Is Turkey Kosher? Prayer as Spiritual Practice The Evolving Tradition of MALACHIM Jewish Angel Cards:   The tradition of MALACHIM began in a circle of friends in Jerusalem in the late 1980s. They sang the beloved song Shalom Aleichem to honor the beginning of Shabbat (the Sabbath), noting that the words of the song welcome the "messengers/angels of peace," which are said to frequent the homes of those who celebrate Shabbat (Talmud, Tractate Shabbat, page 119a).  Then each participant would pick up a card with a Jewish concept on it and reflect on how that concept, that message - that "angel" - has touched their life. At services on Friday evening, we'll employ the MALACHIM cards when we sing Shalom Aleichem.  The "angels" are below.  Even without the randomness of the cards, you can have participants at your virtual table pick one of these (or maybe one that isn't there) and reflect on it.  The most obvious one for this holiday would be gratitude, so maybe we can let that be the assumed angel and pick one more.  After all, on Shabbat it is said that we gain an extra guardian angel to escort us, representing the "extra soul" (or measure of soulfulness) that we gain. Finally, on Dec. 1, a reminder that the community will be holding its annual World AIDS Day Interfaith Service - this year on Zoom.   Warm wishes for a happy and safe Thanksgiving, for you and yours. Rabbi Joshua Hammerman