Shabbat-O-gram may 7, 2001

 Shabbat Shalom!

JUST THE FACTS

Friday Night:
Candle lighting: 7:51 PM
Kabbalat Shabbat: 7:00; outdoors weather permitting, otherwise on the sanctuary bima
Shabbat Shalom service: 7:15; in the lobby, with Nurit Avigdor, for grades 1-4 and their families

Kabbalat Shabbat (outdoors): 7:00 PM

Shabbat Morning:
Services: 9:15 - Pesukey d’Zimra -- introductory psalms; 9:30 - Shacharit
Children’s Services: 10:30
Family Service 11:00, with student cantor Laura Berman.  We encourage families with religious school-age children to try out this informal, enjoyable parent-child experience.

What’s Special This Shabbat: We celebrate as Matthew Beck becomes Bar Mitzvah.  Mazal Tov to Matthew and his family.   On Shabbat morning I’ll also discuss the age-old burning question that suddenly has heated up again, “Did the Exodus Really Happen?”

Torah Portion: Be-Har  Be-Hukkotai
This week’s Learn Torah With commentary is found at:

Be-Har
http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/here__/LTW_5761/LTW_5761_Be-Har/ltw_5761_be-har.html

Be-Hukkotai
http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/here__/LTW_5761/LTW_5761_Be-Hukkotai/ltw_5761_be-hukkotai.html

JTS Commentary: http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/

Sunday Morning
Annual Meeting: 9:30 AM
We thank all our volunteers, welcome new board members and envision the future.

Kindergarten Open House
Let all your friends know that, if they have a child entering Kindergarten in the fall, they are cordially invited to see our remarkable school in action this Sunday morning, at either the early (8:45) or late (11:00) sessions. RSVP to Bonnie in the education office, at 322-6901 X306. We look forward to greeting them!

Last day of Religious School: Have a great summer!  And hey, don’t be a stranger! We look forward to seeing our Religious School students here often between now and September.

Atid and Kesher Youth Groups go to the Bluefish game in the afternoon.  A few seats are still available on the bus.


ISRAEL UPDATE AND JERUSALEM DAY

1) Israel Day Parade in NYC this Sunday.  Our 7^th grade will be attending en masse.  In addition, a solidarity rally in support of Israel has been scheduled for Sunday, June 3 at 11:00 AM, in front of the Israeli UN Mission, on 2^nd Ave, between 42^nd and 43^rd St. The world needs to know that Israel has our full support.  A small turnout would be worse than having no rally at all.  For the world (and the US government), it would signal that American Jews are apathetic.  For Israel, that would be a disaster.   I have signed on as a rabbinic sponsor of the June 3 rally and I encourage you to consider going, either to the parade, the rally, or both.

2) Media: Amidst all the bad news on the media front some good news from an unlikely source: NBC.  See the transcript of a terrific report by Martin Fletcher at http://www.msnbc.com/news/570581.asp. 

3) Settlements and Violence: If you need to explain to people just why there can be no linkage between Israel’s settlement policy and an end to Palestinian-instigated violence, see  http://www.jcpa.org/ for Dore Gold’s expert analysis of the matter.  To find out why have the settlements have suddenly come front and center (because the Palestinians have lost the battle to pin the blame on Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount), see “Changing the Script,” a column in last Friday’s Jerusalem Post, at http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/05/11/News/News.25977.html.   It is amazing how gullible ostensibly smart journalists can be (e.g. Anthony Lewis), to have swallowed this linkage.

4) Monday is Yom Yerushalyim, Jerusalem Day, an excellent time to brush up on modern Israeli history and especially that of the 6-Day War.  The Jerusalem Post has some nice supplements at http://info.jpost.com/C001/Supplements/, including one featuring Jerusalem in snow, and you’ll find a Jerusalem history timeline at http://www.wzo.org.il/encountr/timeln.htm.  Plus, you can go to our very own Web site at www.tbe.org, to see photos of our Religious School’s spectacular Jerusalem experience held on May 6.

5) I’ve gotten some positive feedback on the idea of starting an Israel Defense Committee here as a means of coordinating our collective response to events as they unfold.  We’ll be meeting informally on Thursday, June 14. That evening, at 8:30 PM in our chapel, we’ll be hearing from Steve Zacharow, rabbi of Kehilat Shevet Achim, a new Masorti synagogue in the embattled Gilo section of Jerusalem. His lecture is entitled "Gilo Story: Life on the Frontline." That presentation might be the perfect springboard to further action on our part, something we can discuss both during and after the presentation. (BTW, the Bi-Cultural graduation that night, also taking place in our building, will be over before the lecture begins). Do plan to join us.

6) US Embassy in Jerusalem: Finally, a notice from AMCHA, the Coalition for Jewish Concerns about an age-old issue.
May 31st is the deadline for President Bush's decision to fulfill his campaign promise and relocate the American Embassy to Jerusalem.  

This decision comes up every 6 months. The President can either give the order or defer it by 6 more months.  Please call the White House at (202) 456-1111 or 456-1414 and voice your opinion about this issue. It is important that as many calls as possible reach the White House BEFORE May 31st.  

Please send this e-mail to every person on your list who cares if every one of us sends it to 10 to 20 of his/her correspondents, urging them to do likewise, this vital lobbying exercise will reach massive proportions within a matter of days.

The phone call should not take more than a few moments but if you can't call, please send an e-mail to: President@whitehouse.gov.

7) If you didn't hear,  Maccabi Tel Aviv did indeed win the European champonship, and 250,000 Israelis celebrated in Rabin Square (even the locale of the celebration has to be bitter-sweet).  It was their first such triumph in 20 years, after being the perrennial bridesmaid.  Bodes well for the Red Sox.


A BYTE OF TORAH:
This week, with Jerusalem Day in mind, we feature Rabbi Brad Artson’s commentary.  For more on our relationship with the Land, see the spiritual journey at the conclusion of this Shabbat-O-Gram.
Shabbat Parashat Behar/Behukotai
May 19, 2001 - 26 Iyar 5761
"Love for the Land of Israel"

Torah Reading: Leviticus 25:1 - 27:34
Haftorah Reading: Jeremiah 16:19 - 17:14

One of the central paradoxes of Jewish history is that the Jewish People were land-less through most of our history. Yet, we were always profoundly aware of our link to the Land of Israel, perhaps because we did not live in a place we could call our own. The intense love between the Jews and their homeland permeated our prayers, our Torah and our hearts. Today's Torah portion speaks directly to the centrality of the Land of Israel in Jewish thought and deed. God instructs the Jewish People, "You must provide for the ge'ulah (redemption) of the land."

What does it mean, to bring redemption to a land? It might make sense to use tangible terms --"irrigate" the land, "fertilize" the land, even "cultivate" the land. Those are terms upon which a farmer would act and recognize. But how does one "redeem" a land? According to most biblical commentators, this verse is understood as mandating a loving Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. Thus, Hizkuni (France, 13th Century) interprets our verse to mean "there can be no [permanent] selling, only [temporary] dwelling."

Jews do not have the right to sever their connection to the Land of Israel. That claim  our inextricable link to the Land of Israel -- is at the very core of biblical and rabbinic religion. The Land is referred to as an 'ahuzzah,' a holding -- given to the Jewish People as God's part of our 'brit,' covenantal relationship. Our ancestors agreed to serve only God, and God agreed to maintain a unique relationship with the Jewish People. That relationship was given form in the detailed legislation of the Torah and the Talmud as a way of shaping and cultivating the reciprocal obligations between God and the Jews. And the one place in the world where the Jewish People could act on every part of our 'brit' was within the Land of Israel. Only there could all the laws and practices of Judaism receive their full articulation, because, in the words of Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (Italy, 16th Century), "Outside of the Land [of Israel], there is no Sabbatical Year, nor a Jubilee Year."

The many agricultural 'mitzvot' -- of leaving gleanings for the poor, of offering first fruits and others -- were operative only within the Land of Israel. There, in the Land, the Jew could most directly encounter God and sanctity. What was true in the past is true today as well. There is a special quality to the Land of Israel that exists nowhere else in the world. In the words of the Talmud, "the air of the Land of Israel makes one wise."

Our generation is uniquely blessed. While Jews have prayed facing Jerusalem for thousands of years, while our ancestors longed for the messianic future as a time when Jews could freely live as Jews in our homeland, we have seen the establishment of a Jewish state -- a thriving democracy and a world center for Jews and Jewish expression -- in our own time. Unlike our great-grandparents, we can travel to Israel's holy sites any time we choose. Unlike the Jews of the past, we can learn our holy language, Hebrew, from people who speak it on a daily basis. We can contribute to the liberation of Jewish people who have left lands of oppression and suffering -- places like Ethiopia, Syria and the former Soviet Union -- to be reunited with their people and its history. We can redeem the Land.

Rambam (Spain, 13th Century) translated God's instruction to mean, "that I wish to redeem My land from the hand of those who hold it, as I have not given it to them as part of their possession." We make the Land of Israel ours by translating our possession into deeds. For example, by planting trees through the Jewish National Fund, we are able to literally make the deserts bloom, while also assuring a Jewish presence throughout the Land.

By contributing generously to federations and UJC, we make it possible for hundreds of thousands of former Soviet Jews to rejoin our people and to strengthen our land in freedom. By visiting Israel ourselves, often, we demonstrate our love of the land and our solidarity with the first free Jewish state in over two thousand years. "You must provide for the redemption of the land." What have you done for Israel lately?
Shabbat Shalom.

***********************************************************
Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic
Studies at the University of Judaism, a rabbinical school for the heart,
mind and soul.



SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE: Is Judaism Open to Everyone? 

Our Scholar in Residence this year, on the weekend of June 1-3, will be Prof. Egon Mayer. The theme for the weekend will be "LOVE & TRADITION: Marriage, Family Patterns and the Jewish Future." Mayer’s specialty is outreach to those at the fringe of Jewish communal life, including and especially interfaith families. Our program for that weekend will be most appealing to those families, as well as to the rest of us, so it is incumbent upon us to reach out and find them.

The Schedule:

Friday evening, June 1: Services will be held at 7:00 PM (outdoors, weather permitting), followed by a dinner at 8 (contact our education office to reserve). During dinner, Dr. Mayer will speak on the topic: “Tevyeh’s Lament: What’s Love Got to Do With It -How Modernity Broke Tradition in the Lives of the Jewish People.” We will have concurrent programming for children with Nurit Avigdor but keep in mind that there is no Tot Shabbat that night (Tot Shabbat will be held on the 8^th). 

Shabbat morning, June 2: During our family services -- “A Sermon on the Future of Welcoming and Reconciliation -- Ready or Not: Thinking Beyond Minority Status.” Lunch and questions follow the service.  We’ll also be celebrating the completion of a year’s membership here with our no-longer-new members.

Saturday evening at 7:30PM: Dessert-Havdalah. An evening of discussion at the home of congregants Milton and Norma Mann, with limited space available (RSVP to our education office soon to guarantee a spot). Topic: “The Demographic Revolutions of America’s Jews: Major trends that are transforming the prospects of the Jewish future in Modern American society.” 

Sunday morning, June 3 at 9:30 AM: brunch for the leadership of the congregation (board, ritual committee, board of education, sisterhood, men’s club leadership, and anyone else who is interested), following morning minyan (minyan at 9:00, brunch at 9:30). "Developing Strategies for Outreach.”

Background materials: take a look at the latest statistics on children of interfaith families:
“Do Kids Of Interfaith Families Choose Judaism?”
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=4436. And a response to that article, written by  the publisher of www.Interfaithfamily.com, is found at http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=1255.


OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Class
With 22 participants, this is the largest such class ever at Beth El. There is still room for you. Classes are being held on Thursdays from 7-9 PM. The course will last exactly one year. All skill levels and backgrounds welcome. Contact the education office for more information (322-6901 X306).

Lost and Found: If you lost a pair of sunglasses at the Beth El Cares AmeriCares project two weeks ago, we’ve got ‘em here.  Contact me at rabbi@tbe.org.

Project Ezra: We are looking for volunteers to help deliver pre-shiva meals to mourners in our congregation.  Please contact our office to let us know if you are interested in this vital task.


SHAVUOT IS COMING:

Get our full Shavuot Schedule by clicking on the service schedule at our Web site www.tbe.org.  Note especially the dinner, service and late night discussion (Tikkun Layl Shavuot) at Temple Shalom in Greenwich on Sunday the 27th, and our Elders Day commemoration on the second day (when we also have Yizkor services), Tues. May 29.  This year’s honoree, Harry Bennett, has always been so important to our community.  Please join us that morning in giving Harry the thanks and recognition he so richly deserves.  On the first day (Memorial Day), we’ll continue our custom of unrolling a Torah scroll at the conclusion of services, so that we and our children can once again “receive the Torah,” as did our ancestors at Sinai, and we’ll read from the book of Ruth.  Children’s services will be held on both days of Shavuot.



SPIRITUAL JOURNEY ON THE WEB: The Torah’s Energy Policy

This week, the Bush administration has revealed it’s long-awaited energy program.  It comes to no surprise that it is heavily weighted toward production as opposed to conservation,” with the goal of producing lots more fuel so that Americans can continue to buy gas-guzzlers and so coal and oil company stocks can continue to rise.  The Washington Post has a number of articles helping us to understand that we are in the midst of a power crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen since the ‘70s.  (Back then, King Faisal was vilified as “the Mohel of Oil  the Man Who Cut it Off”)  Find the Post series at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/specials/energy/index.html.

Our portion chimes in with a reminder that we are custodians of land and that the Earth belongs, ultimately, to God.  Judaism has always been pro-environment, with the caveat that we can derive benefit from the land, as long as we don’t abuse the privilege.  The first two chapters of Genesis, along with this week’s selection from Leviticus, lay out a path of environmental restraint and responsibility, and other sections of Deuteronomy prohibit us from wasting precious resources.  A superb site on Jewish environmental matters is Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, at http://www.coejl.org/home.shtml.  Within that site, an article by Rabbi Lawrence Troster discusses Jewish perspectives on “Sustainable Development.”  The key, he reminds us, is humility.  We need to look at the needs of today, the horizontal axis, as well as the needs of the future, the vertical axis, and understand that we are only a small part of the big picture.  God did not create the Earth just so that I might buy an SUV and crank up the A/C.

A Revolutionary Idea:

Along comes parshat Behar with a revolutionary idea: the Sabbatical and Jubilee years.  In cycles of seven, seven days, seven years, and seven times seven (49) years, we build in a rest-period for the land  and for us, reminding us of our task of custodianship.   The 7-year Shmita cycle, as it’s is called, like our annual seasonal festivals, helps us to live out our lives within the rhythm of Jewish time, sacred time.

A very nice explanation of the various elements of Shmita, written by Micha Odenheimer, can be found at http://jewishminds.healthekids.net/course.phtml?course_id=560.  Art Waskow has long championed the cause of renewing the concept of Sabbatical and Jubilee.  Find out why at  http://www.theotherside.org/archive/sep-oct98/waskow.html.  He writes:

If we reexamine the production end of the material process, where environmental destruction begins, will we not lessen the need for typical environmental programs that focus on cleanup and recycling? If we create more spiritual sustenance to ensure our own survival, will we not restrain our material consumption and ensure the planet's survival?

What would it mean, in our society, to draw on this biblical teaching as a way of addressing the three intertwined sicknesses--economic, environmental, and compassional--of our generation? What would it mean to build a movement and constituency around a "Jubilee program" that would bring more energy and political power to bear than most secular progressive coalitions can generate?

Shmita in Israel

This year is the seventh in the cycle, a Shmita year.  The Halacha of Shmita is very involved and tricky.  Read about it from a traditional perspective at http://aishdas.org/webshas/eretz/shemitah.htm

Last fall it became front-page news in Israel, before the current violence threw everything else off the front pages.  What was the big deal?  Well, for centuries the restrictions of the Sabbatical Year were irrelevant to most Jews, sicne they apply only to the land f Israel.  With the advent of modern Zionism, that all changed.  For historical background, go to http://israeliculture.about.com/culture/israeliculture/library/weekly/aa091100a.htm?terms=shmita, where you’ll read that in 1889, Rabbi Elhanan Spector of Kovno issued a ruling instituting a heter mechira. This sales permit would allow Jewish farmers to nominally "sell" their lands to Moslems, similar in fashion to the sale of hametz (leaven) before Pesach. The first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Palestine, Avraham Yitzhak Kook, regarded the heter as a matter of national necessity. Israel's Chief Rabbinate has reluctantly endorsed this arrangement, but this biblical loophole is viewed by ultra-Orthodox Jews as insufficient.

Haredi circles have always opposed the heter mechira. They note that the sale is a true "legal fiction," since in reality neither the landowners nor the government would ever agree to transfer land to an Arab. Haredi families rely on their own kashrut authorities, especially the Ultra-Orthodox. During previous Shmita years, Haredi Jews would only purchase fruits and vegetables from Arab and Palestinian farmers, or from Jewish farmers with lands outside the borders of biblical Israel. The Shmita commandment does not apply to farmlands in the Golan Heights, Gush Katif or the Arava.

Read about last fall’s to-do as covered in the Jerusalem Post, at http://israeliculture.about.com/culture/israeliculture/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/09/07/Opinion/Editorial.11843.html.

For the Land  or for us?

It is unfortunate that Israel has yet to find creative ways to celebrate the Sabbatical year as an expression of Jewish environmental values rather than turning it into another religious-secular tussle.  An opportunity has been lost.  For in the end, Shmita is not as much about the land as it is about us.  It may not change the environment much to leave farms fallow for one year in seven, but it has a huge impact on our awareness of the environment.

The Talmudic sages discussed the very same matter, of whether it is for the Land’s benefit or ours.  Find out what they said at
http://israeliculture.about.com/culture/israeliculture/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.ujcvp.org/adath%5Fjeshurun/vortify/bhar.html.  The solution given here is that Shmita, like Shabbat, was instituted to give us more time to study Torah.  Sounds like a Sabbatical idea I could go for. 

Which reminds me, if I just celebrated by 13^th year here, that means I’m going on to year 14.  That’s a multiple of  let’s see  seven. I just might be ready for http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/~alltson/sabbat.html, “Sensational Sabbatical Suggestions.”

But for now, a peaceful Shabbat will do just fine.

Shabbat Shalom.
jh


This Shabbat-O-Gram goes out weekly to hundreds of Beth El congregants and others. Feel free to forward it to your friends, and if you know of anyone who might wish to be included, please have them e-mail me at rabbi@tbe.org. To be taken off this e-mail list, simply click on "reply" and write "please unsubscribe" in the message box.

For more information on the synagogue, check out Beth El's Web site at www.tbe.org. And to check out some previous spiritual cyber-journeys I have taken, see my book's site at www.thelordismyshepherd.com.

Shababt-O-Gram, April 19, 2001

 Shabbat Shalom

JUST THE FACTS

Friday night: Candles: 7:23 PM
Shabbat Shalom Service for young families with Nurit: 7:15 PM
Services: 8:00 PM  Mazal tov to Joel and Lisa Zaritsky on the naming of their daughter, Kayla Medeline Zaritsky

Shabbat Morning:
Pesukey d’Zimra: 9:15 AM, followed by Morning services at 9:30 AM. Bar Mitzvah of David Benjamin.  Mazal tov to the family!
Children’s Services: 10:30

Torah Portion: Shemini: Learn Torah With commentary:  http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/here__/LTW_5761/LTW_5761_Shemini/ltw_5761_shemini.html


A BYTE OF TORAH
This week’s portion focuses on the dietary laws, delineating in great detail those species of animals, birds and fish that are to be considered “fit” or “Kosher.”  For my own congregants, it is no secret that I am vegetarian in addition to being Kosher.  Although I do not proselytize vegetarianism (as opposed to Kashrut, which I happily proselytize), this is the perfect week to introduce you to the foremost expert on Jewish vegetarianism: Richard Schwartz. 

Richard recently sent me a brand new printing of his important book, “Judaism and Vegetarianism,” in which he makes a convincing argument that vegetarianism is in fact the ideal Jewish dietary choice.  In light of the current crisis involving Mad Cow disease and that hoof-in-mouth thing going on in Europe, his message to appears even more urgent:  “There is an epidemic of diseases in the Jewish community, animal-based agriculture is contributing to global warming, destruction of tropical rain forests, and many other ecological threats, and the realities of animal-based diets and agriculture are in sharp contrast to basic Jewish values.” So, with all this in mind, I invite you to look at the 100 articles on Judaism and Vegetarianism on his Web site, at http://schwartz.enviroweb.org/.  And his infomercial interview can be found at http://www.tjwalker.com/schwartz.htm. When you look at some of his arguments, whether or not you adjust your eating habits, I think many will agree with his basic premise, that “it is essential that the Jewish community start to address the many moral issues related to our diets. This is an issue of importance for Torah and for the future of our endangered planet.”   


ANNOUNCEMENTS

Help Us Reach Out!!!

Our Scholar in Residence this year, on the weekend of June 1-3, will be Prof. Egon Mayer.  The theme for the weekend will be "LOVE & TRADITION: Marriage, Family Patterns and the Jewish Future."  Mayer’s specialty is outreach to those at the fringe of Jewish communal life, including and especially interfaith families.  Our program for that weekend will be most appealing to those families, as well as to the rest of us, so it is incumbent upon us to reach out and find them.  If you would like to join our Scholar in Residence Weekend Committee to help us plan this very special program, please inform whether myself or Barb Moskow.  Without your help, we won’t find them!

Send in Your Surveys!

Should the direction of Temple Beth El be dictated by the opinions of 30 percent of the membership? That is the number of member surveys returned. While 200-plus surveys will certainly allow the strategic planners to draw conclusions about what the membership wants, will they be the best conclusions for the 700 members of Temple Beth El? Will they show a fair comparison to the 387 surveys returned five years ago? If you have not completed your membership survey, please do so within the next few weeks. It is important that all of our members’ voices be heard in this critical process of charting our course for the next ten years.

Beth El Baseball is Back

We have a nice group already signed up for our fabulous Jewish baseball league, representing all ages from pre-school to grade 7. We still are looking for more kids for all our Beth El teams. It’s a great way to express “shul spirit” and Jewish pride, and to deepen synagogue friendships, while developing athletic skills in a supportive, positive setting. It also helps to minimize conflicts that inevitably arise regarding Shabbat service attendance and sports. Both are important to your child’s emotional maturity. Now you can have your hallah and eat it too! Also WE NEED COACHES for each group. Ken Temple has once again volunteered to help out in this effort, but we need other parents to join in. Call Bonnie in our education office (322-6901 X307) to volunteer and for registration info.

Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Class:

By popular demand, we are organizing an adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah class, with the goal of completing the course in about a year and preparing for a service in May of 2002. The course of study will be taught by the Hazzan, Barb Moskow and myself, and include some synagogue skills and a basic overview of Jewish history, prayer, customs and ceremonies and sacred texts. We will gladly accommodate all levels of Hebrew proficiency. If you are at all interested, please contact the education office (322-6901 X306). There are 20 already signed up! An organizational meeting will be held on Tues., April 24, at 8:00 PM. Subsequent classes will likely be held on Thursday evenings.

Jewish Heritage Tour of Eastern Europe, July 1-15, with Hazzan Rabinowitz.

Includes Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. For information, contact Hazzan Rabinowitz at 322-6901 X309.

Friday Night Live

Here, on April 27, at 7:30 (not 8:00 as is printed in some places). We're assembling an incredible musical ensemble. Learn the music ahead of time: join the Hazzan for rehearsal on Wednesday evening at 8. And join us on the 27th -- it's for all ages.

Service for Young Families: April 28

11 AM -noon, with Student Cantor Laura Berman.  A relaxing, informal Shabbat service for parents and school-age children.

Women of the Wall

Find out about this courageous group of women who, despite great pressure from the Ultra-Orthodox authorities, hold a monthly service at the Western Wall. Video and brunch, with commentary and discussion led by Barb Moskow. And it’s FREE this is Sisterhood's gift to the women of TBE. April 29, 9:30AM. RSVP by 4/25 to Denise Greenman 329-8594 or Denise147@aol.com.


SPIRITUAL JOURNEY ON THE WEB: Days of Remembrance

Each year at this time, we step back to reflect and to remember those events of over half a century ago that still cast a shadow over the world.  With fewer actual witnesses with us as each year passes, the evidence attained through technology is becoming more and more important.  First there were written testimonies and photographic evidence presented in books and at trials, then the televised documentaries and audio and videotaped oral histories.  And now the Internet is beginning to play a prime role in preserving and disseminating the historical facts.  No doubt, the Internet is also a fertile field for Holocaust deniers, but those sites are overwhelmed in number by the weight of fact.  Whether or not be design, search engines almost always point us in the right direction when we inquire about the Holocaust.  We no longer need to wait for those annual PBS specials or the occasional Oscar-winning documentary, when we can visit the Spielberg fondattion’s “Survivors of the Shoah” project and discover that over 50,000 survivors have been interviewed thus far, with over 200,000 hours of videotaped testimony becoming available through the foundation’s repositories.  Go to http://www.vhf.org/ to see the status of the project and to order the foundation’s excellent video and CD-ROM materials.

History and Remembrance

But one doesn’t have to order anything to have access to the facts.  Click on http://www.holocaust-history.org/ , the Holocaust History Project, a free archive of documents, photographs, recordings, and essays regarding the Holocaust, including direct refutation of Holocaust-denial.  There you will find a series of short, scholarly essays and documentary evidence.  Continue to http://www.holocaust-history.org/short-essays/finding-people.shtml for help in locating information about family or friends who are missing or who perished in the Holocaust.  There you will also find a link to Yad Vashem: http://www.yad-vashem.org.il/ , where you will see how Yom ha-Shoah was observed in Israel today, at http://www.yad-vashem.org.il/remembrance/temp_index_remembrance_day.html.

Worth a Thousand Denials

I was exceedingly moved by a special exhibit of photographs entitled “The Auschwitz Album,” accessible from the Yad Vashem home page.  This is the only surviving visual evidence of the process of mass murder at Auschwitz-Birkenau.  According to the introduction, the photos were taken at the end of May or beginning of June 1944, either by Ernst Hofmann or by Bernhard Walter, two SS men whose task was to take ID photos and fingerprints of the inmates (not of the Jews who were sent directly to the gas chambers). The photos show the arrival of Hungarian Jews from Carpatho-Ruthenia. Many of them came from the Berehov Ghetto, which itself was a collecting point for Jews from several other small towns.

The description continues:

“Early summer 1944 was the apex of the deportation of Hungarian Jewry. For this purpose a special rail line was extended from the railway station outside the camp to a ramp inside Auschwitz. Many of the photos in the album were taken on the ramp. The Jews then went through a selection process, carried out by SS doctors and wardens. Those considered fit for work were sent into the camp, where they were registered, deloused and distributed to the barracks. The rest were sent to the gas chambers. They were gassed under the guise of a harmless shower, their bodies were cremated and the ashes were strewn in a nearby swamp. The Nazis not only ruthlessly exploited the labor of those they did not kill immediately, they also looted the belongings the Jews brought with them. Even gold fillings were extracted from the mouths of the dead by a special detachment of inmates. The personal effects the Jews brought with them were sorted by inmates and stored in an area referred to by the inmates as "Canada": the ultimate land of plenty.”

The photos in the album show the entire process except for the killing itself.

What purpose it could have served the Nazis to photograph these scenes is beyond me.  But if a picture is worth a thousand words, each of these photos refutes a thousand Holocaust denials.

Where Anne Frank Walked

Other valuable Shoah links can be found at the Web site of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, at http://library.ushmm.org/frame1.htm.  Among them you’ll find:

Anne Frank House
http://www.annefrank.nl/
Web site of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. The building, now a museum, includes the hiding place where Anne Frank wrote her famous diary. Features numerous photographs of Anne, her family, and the others in hiding, as well as excerpts from her writings.
Nizkor Project
http://www.nizkor.org/
Produced and directed by Ken McVay, the Nizkor Project is an online collection of electronic resources on the Holocaust and Holocaust denial and revisionism. Includes the reproduction of numerous primary source materials, detailed information on Nazi documents, and evidence presented at the Nuremberg Trials as a means of refuting Holocaust deniers and revisionists.
shoah.de
http://www.shoah.de/index1.html
Comprehensive collection of links to German Web sites related to the Holocaust that is annotated and organized by category.

And if the Auschwitz Album didn’t provide enough powerful photography, go to the Holocaust Pictures Exhibition at http://www.fmv.ulg.ac.be/schmitz/holocaust.html

A Survivor’s Prayer

Finally, we venture to http://remember.org/, which bills itself as a “Cybrary,” organized into 2 sections: Research, areas where you can explore the issues of the Holocaust, and Forums, where discussion and ongoing feedback is held.  The site shares art, discussion, photos, poems and facts.  Included is this powerful  “Survivor’s Prayer” shared by a certain MalkaB (whom you can contact via hyperlink).  And with this, our journey into the darkest moments of human history concludes.

I have lived
dear G-d
in a world gone mad
and I have seen
evil
unleashed beyond reason or
understanding.

I was with them.
We drank from the same
bitter cup.

I hid with them
Feared with them,
Struggled with them
And when the killing was finally done
I had survived
while millions had died.
I do not know why

I have asked many questions
for which there are no answers
And I have even cursed
my life
thinking I could not
endure the pain.

But a flame
inside
refused to die.
I could not throw away
What had been ripped away
from so many.

In the end
I had to choose life.
I had to struggle to cross
the bridge between
the dead and the living.
I had to rebuild
what had been destroyed.
I had to deny death
Another victory.


Shabbat Shalom
jh


This Shabbat-O-Gram goes out weekly to hundreds of Beth El congregants and others.  Feel free to forward it to your friends, and if you know of anyone who might wish to be included, please have them e-mail me at rabbi@tbe.org.  To be taken off this e-mail list, simply click on "reply" and write "please unsubscribe" in the message box.

For more information on the synagogue, check out Beth El's Web site at www.tbe.org.  And to check out some previous spiritual cyber-journeys I have taken, see my book's site at www.thelordismyshepherd.com.

Shabbat-O-Gram, April 12, 2001

SHABBAT SHALOM AND HAPPY PASSOVER (Mo-adim L'Simcha)


A Meditation for Yizkor, Pesach and Israel, by Yehuda Amichai:

An Arab Shepherd is Searching for His Goat on Mount Zion

An Arab shepherd is searching for his goat on Mount Zion,
And on the opposite hill I am searching
for my little boy.
An Arab shepherd and a Jewish father
Both in their temporary failure.
Our two voices meet above
The Sultan’s Pool in the valley between us.
Neither of us wants the boy or the goat
To get caught in the wheels
of the “Chad Gadya” machine.

Afterward we found them in the bushes,
And our voices came back inside us
Laughing and crying.

Searching for a goat or for a child has
Always been
The beginning of a new religion in
these mountains.

TODAY’S WEB JOURNEY CAN BE FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS E-MAIL


CONTROVERSY OF THE WEEK: THE B.C. CARTOON

This Sunday, the popular comic strip BC is scheduled to run a cartoon that has already stoked much controversy over the Internet.  To see it first-hand, click on http://jdl.org/action/armchair/bc_comic.html, which, I promise, is the only time I will ever direct you to the Jewish Defense League web site.  While the cartoon could easily be seen as anti-Semitic, and it certainly makes me uncomfortable on a number of levels, I believe that there was no anti-Semitic intent here.  While most Jews see the 7-branch menorah as a purely Jewish symbol, most of the rest of the world does not.  The issue is ignorance and insensitivity more than anti-Semitism.  And that alone might be reason enough to protest.  I’d be interested in your impressions of this, both via e-mail and live, as at services on Sunday morning I plan to discuss it.  It might be worth bringing older children in on that discussion, especially if they happen to be bothered by the cartoon when they see it, live and in color, this weekend.

For the other side of the coin, check out this article at
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cnasa08apr09.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dsfla.  I wonder how the creator of BC will feel when he finds out that there will be Kosher meals served in space.  Maybe he’ll change the name of the strip to BCE!



JUST THE FACTS

Shabbat/ Seventh night of Passover:
Candles:  7:15 PM
Services: 8:00 PM

Shabbat Morning/ Seventh Day:
Family Service: 9:30 AM, followed by lunch. Naming of Kate Hollenberg, daughter of Julie and Jonathan Hollenberg.  Mazal tov to the family!  For a change of pace, we’ll be holding services in the lobby.
Children’s Services: 10:30
In addition to the Torah and haftarah for the day, we read the Song of Songs, “Shir Ha-shirim.”  Read this beautiful love poem and elegy to spring online at http://ebible.org/bible/hnv/Song.htm.  Commentary can be found at http://www.milknhoney.co.il/torah/shir_hashirim.html., http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~jtreat/song/, and http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/love-in-the-arts/songofsongs.html, with real audio of the Sephardic chant at http://philae.sas.upenn.edu/~jtreat/song/sephardi/.


Eighth Day:
Candles: 8:15 PM Saturday night
Services: 9:30 AM (9:15 Pesukey d’Zimra) Sunday morning
Yizkor prayers included.
Children’s Services: 10:30 AM
Torah Commentary:  See Chancellor Schorsch’s commentary, as well as the texts of the Torah and haftorah readings, at http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5761/.  It’s a fascinating look into the history and meaning of Yizkor.



ANNOUNCEMENTS

Send in Your Surveys!

Should the direction of Temple Beth El be dictated by the opinions of 30 percent of the membership? That is the number of member surveys returned. While 200-plus surveys will certainly allow the strategic planners to draw conclusions about what the membership wants, will they be the best conclusions for the 700 members of Temple Beth El? Will they show a fair comparison to the 387 surveys returned five years ago? If you have not completed your membership survey, please do so within the next few weeks. It is important that all of our members’ voices be heard in this critical process of charting our course for the next ten years.

Beth El Baseball is Back

We have a nice group already signed up for our fabulous Jewish baseball league, representing all ages from pre-school to grade 7.  We still are looking for more kids for all our Beth El teams.  It’s a great way to express “shul spirit” and Jewish pride, and to deepen synagogue friendships, while developing athletic skills in a supportive, positive setting.  It also helps to minimize conflicts that inevitably arise regarding Shabbat service attendance and sports.  Both are important to your child’s emotional maturity.  Now you can have your hallah and eat it too!  Also WE NEED COACHES for each group.  Ken Temple has once again volunteered to help out in this effort, but we need other parents to join in.  Call Bonnie in our education office (322-6901 X307) to volunteer and for registration info.

Temple Beth El Seniors Trip to Ellis Island

Date: May 16, 2001- Wednesday 10:00-6:00
Cost: $30 per person (includes all transportation-bus and ferry ride, snacks, drinks, audio
tape, movie, Ranger talk, Tour of the facility, Ferry ride. There are wheelchairs available on the island and everything is handicapped accessible.
Open to Temple Beth El members who are AARP-qualified (age 50 and
over). We are taking reservations for the first 48 people who sign up. Checks must
be in by May 2, 2001. At bottom of check, indicate "for Ellis Island trip."

Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Class: The Chai’s the Limit!

By popular demand, we are organizing an adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah class, with the goal of completing the course in about a year and preparing for a service in May of 2002. The course of study will be taught by the Hazzan, Barb Moskow and myself, and include some synagogue skills and a basic overview of Jewish history, prayer, customs and ceremonies and sacred texts. We will gladly accommodate all levels of Hebrew proficiency. If you are at all interested, please contact the education office (322-6901 X306). There are 18 (chai) already signed up! An organizational meeting will be held on Tues., April 24, at 8:00 PM. Subsequent classes will likely be held on Thursday evenings.

Yom Ha-Shoah: The Legacy of the Generations  Next Thursday

This year's community-wide Holocaust Remembrance Day program, will be held here at 7:30 on April 19.  It will focus on the second and third generations of survivors. If you are a child or grandchild of a survivor and would be interested in sharing your story, please let me know. How have the stories you grew up with changed your life? What do you feel is your special legacy or obligation as the descendant of a survivor? The program will feature brief testimonies given by people of all ages, including children, and we will be collecting additional written testimonies to be distributed that night.

Jewish Heritage Tour of Eastern Europe, July 1-15, with Hazzan Rabinowitz.

Includes Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. For information, contact Hazzan Rabinowitz at 322-6901 X309.

Friday Night Live

Here, on April 27, will be at 7:30 (not 8:00 as is printed in some places). We're assembling an incredible musical ensemble. Learn the music ahead of time: join the Hazzan for rehearsals each Wednesday evening at 8. And join us on the 27th -- it's for all ages.

Women of the Wall

Find out about this courageous group of women who, despite great pressure from the Ultra-Orthodox authorities, hold a monthly service at the Western Wall.  Video and brunch, with commentary and discussion led by Barb Moskow.  And it’s FREE  this is Sisterhood's gift to the women of TBE.  April 29, 9:30AM. RSVP by
4/25 to Denise Greenman 329-8594 or Denise147@aol.com

On TV  TONIGHT: Thursday April 12, at 10 p.m.

"They Came for Good: A History of the Jews in the United States" Part Two:  Years 1820-1880 -  WNET Channel 13

MAZAL TOV
To Marc and Susan Leferman and family on the birth of Joshua Sol Leferman, this week in Stamford hospital.



SPIRITUAL JOURNEY ON THE WEB: Mimouna: A Movable Feast

Food and Fellowship

Passover both begins and ends with a powerful combination of food and fellowship.  We begin the Seder with the public invitation to “all who are hungry” to join with us at our table.  The Afikoman recalls an ancient Roman practice of transporting hospitality from the table to the road. In Greek, the word “afi” means “after” and “koman” means, “procession.”  In Roman times, people would leave their homes after the meal and go around from house to house to share the dessert.  While we don’t do that at our Seders anymore, many in Israel and elsewhere conclude the holiday with an old Moroccan Jewish tradition known as Mimouna.  At the close of the festival of liberation, here is a celebration of true springtime liberation  liberation from the festival itself  as the entire nation takes to the streets, the parks and beaches, and Jews return to the wonders of hametz by breaking bread with their neighbors.

The best cyber-explanation of this fascinating tradition can be found at the Sephardi Connection Web Site: http://sephardiconnect.com/pesah/mimouna.htm. Those who have had the pleasure of spending Pesach in Israel know just how wildly popular Mimouna has become, and while politicians have indeed exploited it, as the Web site suggests, that attention has only increased its stature.  Mimouna has become a rallying point for Sephardi pride, and given the historic injustices perpetrated on that community by successive Israeli governments, that can be compared to the inordinate focus on Martin Luther King Day in America.  But unlike America’s minorities, who have found their political voice primarily on the left, the Sephardim have found their voice within the right wing of Israeli politics.  That has often turned Mimouna into one big Likud/Shas campaign rally in Israel, lending it a divisiveness that goes against spirit of the custom’s origins.  That will likely change this year.  Embattled and subdued by the current situation, Israelis are adjusting to the peculiar partnership of right and left, embodied by the team of Sharon and Peres.

The Sephardi Connection  And the Moslem Connection

For some background as to the socio-economic gap in Israel, see http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/juice/2000/israeli_society/is6.html.  There, author Jonathan Kaplan notes that Mimouna has had a positive impact:

“The overriding principle of the unity of the Jewish people is accepted by all groups. An example of this can be seen in the celebration of the Mimouna on the day after the Passover week. Originally a family-centered holiday among the Jews of Morocco, the occasion has developed in Israel into a national holiday centering on the breaking down of cultural barriers and the promotion of national friendship and unity. It has also become a something of a political staple, a whistle stop for politicians seeking the Sephardi vote.”

For another related backgrounder, this one focusing on varieties of Judaism in Israel, click on http://atheism.about.com/religion/atheism/library/world/AJ/bl_IsraelJudaism.html.  No politician has benefited more from Mimouna than the Moroccan-born David Levi.  Proof can be found in this photo at http://itonut09.po.biu.ac.il/davidsite/NewFiles/hachpics/mimuna.html.  And there are some nice Mimouna recipes to be found at http://www.food.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=15507&printer=true, and at
http://reed.kfar-olami.org.il/resources/landmark/aliyah/MIMOUNA.htm

To understand the allure of Mimouna, we must trace its roots back to the Jewish communities of North Africa.  Next week, on Yom Ha-Shoah, we’ll mourning the loss of European shtetls; this week we should take a few moments to recall the rich and varied civilization that existed on the other side of the Mediterranean before 1948.  Some interesting though frustratingly incomplete background on Moroccan Jewish culture can be found at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1717/Culture.html and http://www.jct.ac.il/judaica/marocco/.

At http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/JewsofLibya/LibyanJews/testimonies/testimonyshlomo.html, you can read fascinating oral history interviews conducted by Vivienne Roumani-Denn.  In this one, Shlomo Gean describes daily life for Jews in Libya; Italian and Jewish schools; Shabbat celebration, Holy Day customs and prayers; life cycle customs; and synagogues. There are also descriptions of Arab customs, and Jewish-Arab relationships regarding life and work.  This is especially apparent when he describes Mimouna:

“(On) Motzae Pesah the Arabs took to the synagogue, outside the synagogue, they brought rolls uncooked, dough, to use them as leavening because the Jews of Libya, at Motzae Pesah they made a special bread called Mimuna, made with cumin and they put an egg on top, so to have leavening since during Pesah there was no leavening, the Arabs brought these uncooked rolls, dough, and the Jews used them as leavening for this kind of bread.”

Who would have thought that Mimouna originated as a celebration of Moslem - Jewish neighborliness!   But it makes lots of sense.  Since Hametz cannot be owned by Jews on the festival, without non-Jews to supply it, from whence would it come when darkness descends and the holiday has, at last, passed-over? 

This notion is reinforced at a review of the new show organized by the Jewish Museum in New York, entitled ”Morocco: Jews and Art in a Muslim Land" and reviewed at  http://www.ivri-nasawi.org/boumlik.html.  Here is how Mimouna is described:

“Mimouna, a uniquely Moroccan Jewish custom, is a day of largely outdoor celebration that
follows Passover, symbolizing the reintegration of Jews into society. It follows eight days of restricted eating and has, in fact, become a national holiday in Israel. Because Muslims considered this return beneficent for nature, they participated in this celebration by offering food to their Jewish friends.”

Imagine having the Grand Mufti offer Rabbi Ovadia Yosef a fresh-baked onion roll at Sacher Park in Jerusalem.  In essence, that’s what used to happen in Fez.  We’re not likely to see it again in the near future; perhaps the day after the Messiah comes, or the week after Ariel Sharon sells Yasser Arafat his Hametz, whichever comes first.

The Lion and the Lamb

Our exploration of Mimouna leads us to one final item, something I found at two sites, the bulletin boards of Tikkun and P’nai Or.  Since you’ll have a tough time finding Rick Gold’s dispatch from Bamako Mali, West Africa, at either site (http://www.shamash.org/listarchives/tikkun-on-line/log9504 and http://www.shamash.org/listarchives/pnai-or-rabbi/log9504), I’ll take the liberty of reprinting a significant chunk of it here.  Despite his clear anti-Zionist bias, the premise is fascinating.  Mimouna, as it existed in Morocco, at least, was not only a celebration of Jewish unity, but also of interfaith solidarity, much like Thanksgiving has become for Americans of different faiths.

“Here are some additional insights into the holiday of Mimuna, based on the four years I spent in Morocco. Those interested in learning more might want to read Harvey Goldberg's article, "The Mimuna and the Minority status of the Moroccan Jews," in the journal Ethnology, XVII, 1978, pp. 77-82. Mimuna is a holiday as full of symbolism as the Seder rituals. Named after Lalla Mimuna, a Jewish woman saint representing good fortune, the holiday is a demonstration of the symbiotic existence of Jews and Muslims. In addition to contributing to community cohesion, the festival celebrates the rebirth associated with spring. During Mimuna, Jews experience a feeling of liberation, at the end of a period of dietary restrictions. Their joy is expressed in attending parties at several people's homes and ignoring social constraints. During the evening of the last day of Passover, each family prepares for an open house, in which anyone, Jewish or Muslim, friend or stranger, can visit and sample from a table filled with desserts, sweets and symbolic foods. Jewish families go from house to house throughout the night, making sure to leave at least one person at their own home to welcome visitors. Muslim friends bring bread and cakes as gifts, the first leavened goods to be consumed by the Jews since the beginning of Passover. On the tables are found sweet products light in color, such as cakes, honey, milk and butter, representing a sweet life. Symbols of fertility such as fish, wheat, barley, fava beans, and fruit, also decorate the tables. Finally, there are symbols of prosperity, such as bowls of flour, and vases in which pieces of gold jewelry are covered with olive or argan oil. Upon arrival at a home, visitors say "TARBHU U-TSA'DU," meaning "Succeed in your ventures and rejoice." In this manner, they call upon Lalla Mimuna to intercede in their lives and provide fertility, success, happiness and abundance. Some Moroccan Muslims honor Lalla Mimuna to the same extent as Moroccan Jews. In addition, Muslims call upon her husband, Sidi Mimun, to intercede with Allah in their favor. In mellahs up through the 1950's, when Zionists convinced tens of thousands of Jews that there was no future for them in an independent Morocco and organized a secret operation to bring them to Israel, the streets were festive during Mimuna. Young people would wear costumes, with some boys dressing up as girls or as Muslims. Women might wear wedding dresses. Some families used the occasion to arrange marriages.”

On the Jewish political spectrum, Tikkun and P’nai Or are about as distant from Shas and Likud as one can get.  And yet it seems strangely appropriate that Mimouna has been embraced by both.  Mimouna, that George W. Bush of Jewish festivities, is at its heart a “uniter, not a divider.”  It beings out the lion and the lamb in us (although with fava beans on the menu, the lambs may well be silent), and coaxes them to coexist.  It also turns the world upside down.  After all, while ultra-pious Haredim will be pigging out on Hametz this Sunday at Mimouna celebrations (the day after Passover in Israel), we heretics here in America will be diligently dining on Matzah for one more day.  Mimouna does indeed make things topsy turvy.  So if Ariel Sharon and Simon Peres can barbecue together this weekend at Gan Sachar, perhaps there will also be room on the picnic blanket for Michael Lerner to break bread with Aryeh Deri, and for Hanan Ashwari to pass the hummos to David Levi?

Maybe next year.


This Shabbat-O-Gram goes out weekly to hundreds of Beth El congregants and others.  Feel free to forward it to your friends, and if you know of anyone who might wish to be included, please have them e-mail me at rabbi@tbe.org.  To be taken off this e-mail list, simply click on "reply" and write "please unsubscribe" in the message box.

For more information on the synagogue, check out Beth El's Web site at www.tbe.org.  And to check out some previous spiritual cyber-journeys I have taken, see my book's site at www.thelordismyshepherd.com.

Shabbat-O-Gram March 29, 2001

Kosher Pigs: Why This Pesach is Different

The Jewish Week

The late and beloved Rabbi Richard Israel once wrote a book entitled, “The Kosher Pig.” The intriguing title stems from a story he tells about a pious Jew who was told by his doctor that he had a rare disease that could be cured only by eating pork. Now Jewish law states that in order to save a life, virtually any of its requirements can -- in fact must -- be broken. But that wasn't enough for this man. He determined that the pig had to be slaughtered in the Kosher way, painlessly, before he ate it. So he brought the pig to the local ritual slaughterer, who acquired a special knife that would never be used on a Kosher animal. After slaughtering it in the “proper” ritual manner, the Shochet examined the pig's lungs to look for blemishes. He had no idea what he was looking at, but he finally concluded that the lungs had no serious abrasions (and was therefore “smooth” or “glatt”).

"So, nu?" the man asked, "Rabbi, is this pig kosher?" "The rabbi examined the lungs for some time and the declared, "It may be Kosher, but it's still a pig."

Modern Jewish life is filled with Kosher pigs, utter inconsistencies that we sometimes hardly notice; but they are there, and they are enlightening.

This year, Passover begins on a Saturday night, something we haven’t experienced since 1994. I can recall receiving numerous inquiries that year as to when one should stop eating bread: on Friday morning or Saturday morning? I tend to go by the book on matters of tradition (when I sneeze, I even say “Ah-choo!”), so without hesitation, I offered the traditional response, which is that was that the house should be virtually hametz-free on Friday, before Shabbat.

Now why is that?

Because one is not supposed to clean a house on Shabbat, or do the kinds of things we do to get rid of hametz: burn it, sell it, etc. -- the kinds of activities, incidentally, that most Jews would not hesitate to undertake on any given Shabbat.

To be "consistent" with his normal practice, the non-Shabbat observer should simply have ignored my advice and eaten bread until Saturday morning. Why should this Shabbat be different from all other Shabbats? That week in 1994, however, many people had their houses ready for Passover by Friday afternoon because they wanted to do Passover "right," when in fact they were rushing their preparations in order to keep Shabbat rules they don't normally keep.

The same thing happens every year regarding dietary restrictions. On Passover, otherwise non-Kashrut-observant Jews become fanatic about ridding their homes of leaven and bringing matzah sandwiches to the classroom or office. A ham-on-matzah sandwich is hardly an unthinkable scenario in this perplexing world of Kosher Pigs. It's kind of like the guy who drives to synagogue on Yom Kippur but tells the policeman writing him a ticket that he can't put money in the meter on a Jewish holiday.

Some more gems from Richard Israel’s book: "Rabbi, I am marrying an Episcopalian woman. Can I get married during the week after Passover?"

And another: "An observant Jew has just made a serious pass at me. Do you think he will want me to go to Mikva before I have an affair with him?"

Oy.

One commercial fisherman in California called his rabbi to see if it was kosher to use pieces of squid as bait when he goes fishing. An interesting question, because squid has no fins and scales and is therefore unkosher; but does it affect the Kashrut of the fish caught? A fascinating question, except that he called the rabbi on Saturday morning to ask it.

Harold Kushner tells of another beaut. He was at a clergy meeting, and everyone brown bagged their lunches. The local Reform rabbi brought a ham and cheese sandwich, and before he began to eat it, he paused and recited ha-motzi. His Orthodox colleague said to him, "Aren't you being a hypocrite, saying that prayer over blatantly non-Kosher food?" He replied, "Not at all. The Jewish dietary laws don't impress me as religiously valuable; but the habit of thanking God for having food to eat impresses me very much."

Kushner's reaction is interesting. He disagrees with that rabbi's evaluation of the dietary laws, as do I, but he appreciates the seriousness of the response. A good Jew, he concludes, cannot be measured by checking someone's dietary habits or counting how often someone prays. A good Jew is someone who is constantly striving to become a better Jew.

All of these people are, to some degree, serious Jews, and for that alone we must commend them. We might laugh at the inconsistency, we might even call it hypocrisy, but if they are hypocrites, we should all be so hypocritical. We all must learn the difference between pretending and striving, between going half way in earnest and throwing it all away without giving it half a chance.

To be a hypocrite means that at least we've set high, virtuous goals for ourselves, even if we don't always live up to them. I'd rather do that, and fall short, then set no high standards at all. Most of us are so afraid of being called hypocrites that we take the easy road. If we expect little of ourselves, we usually deliver.

So as we approach this unusual alignment of Passover and Shabbat, let’s allow for a little Kosher Pig-headedness. If you’ve rarely kept Shabbat in this manner before, don’t feel funny about keeping it a little more meticulously this time. You might even enjoy it. It’s OK to be inconsistent, especially when the alternative is to cop an all or nothing plea and then cop out.

Shabbat-O-Gram March 23, 2001

 SHABBAT SHALOM!

(As ever, I’m trying a few different things in preparation of the O-Gram this week, in the hopes of minimizing the glitches that seem to have occurred in its transmission lately.  Let me know if it works for you)


A BYTE OF TORAH: “THE FIRST OF MONTHS”

As we close in on Passover, this week we celebrate Shabbat Ha-Hodesh, literally “The Sabbath of the Month.”  We’ll announce the upcoming new month of Nisan during the service as we do for any new month, but we’ll also announce it with a special reading from a second Torah.  The reading, from Exodus 12, proclaims that this new month is to be “the first of months.”  In the Torah, the spring month (not yet called Nisan) was the New Year; it was most often called the month of “Aviv,” which literally means, “when the ears of barley ripen.”

In Exodus 12 this month is identified solely by a number, as “the first of the months.”  According to Nahum Sarna’s commentary (JPS), the absence of a name is “probably due to a desire to avoid any confusion with the polytheistic calendars that associate days and months with astral bodies or pagan deities and rituals.”  Ironically, the names and symbolism now used for months, borrowed from the Babylonian calendar during the first exile (6^th century, BCE), DO incorporate astrological imagery.  Ancient synagogue art shows many examples of the zodiac being employed to depict the Hebrew months.  Among the most famous is the one at Bet Alpha, in northern Israel.  Read about it at  http://www.hefzi.org.il/turism/betsynagogue.html., as well as how the zodiac became a Jewish thing, at http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/noar/sites/balpha1.htm.  And check out some photos at http://www.holywordcafe.com/tours/j2000-betalpha.html

Either New Year’s date, whether spring or fall, makes more sense as than the arbitrary mid-winter date of January 1 (It’s also much, much warmer in Times Square in April and September). What’s most wonderful about the Hebrew calendar is how it is based on the cycles of the earth and the needs of agricultural life.  Jewish time is always in synch with seasonal changes -- and therefore so are we.

(TODAY’S SPIRITUAL WEB JOURNEY IS FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS “EPISTLE”)


JUST THE FACTS:

FRIDAY NIGHT:
Candlelighting time: 5:53 PM
Shabbat Shalom Service (for young families): 6:15 PM
Congregational Shabbat Dinner: 7:00 PM (140+ are signed up, another smash-hit)
Kabbalat Shabbat Service: 8:00 PM

SHABBAT MORNING (Shabbat Ha-Hodesh)

Double Portion: Va-Yakhel, Pekuday  we conclude the book of Exodus.  Learn Torah With commentary can be found at http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/here__/LTW_5761/LTW_5761_Va-Yak-hel/ltw_5761_va-yak-hel.html, and http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/here__/LTW_5761/LTW_5761_Pekudei/ltw_5761_pekudei.html. The JTS commentary by Dr. Schorsch, along with the text of the Torah and Haftarah readings, can be found at: http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5761/vayakhelpekudey.shtml.  For a slight change of pace, check out the O-U’s Torah Tidbits on this portion, at http://www.ou.org/torah/tt/5759/vayakelpekudei59/aliya.htm

SERVICES BEGIN:
Pesukey d’zimra:      9:15 AM
Shacharit:                 9:30 AM
Children’s Services:10:30 AM

MAZAL TOV  to Dayna Sheinberg, who becomes Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat morning.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
ADULT BAR/BAT MITZVAH CLASS
By popular demand, we are organizing an adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah class, with the goal of completing the course in about a year and preparing for a service in May of 2002. The course of study will be taught by the Hazzan, Barb Moskow and myself, and include some synagogue skills and a basic overview of Jewish history, prayer, customs and ceremonies and sacred texts. We will gladly accommodate all levels of Hebrew proficiency. If you are at all interested (and at least seven have already signed on), please contact the education office (322-6901 X306). An organizational meeting will be held on Tues., April 24, at 8:00 PM. Subsequent classes will likely be held on Thursday evenings.

HAVDALAH DISCUSSION GROUP:
You might recall that after our congregational Shabbaton in January, several people requested the chance to sit down with a small group to further discuss some of the issues raised.  It was my pleasure to pursue the matter, and we will be having that little gathering of about a dozen families at the home of a congregant this Shabbat afternoon, from 5-7, concluding with Havdalah.  The kids will have a great time with Nurit while the adults talk about, well, whatever they wish to talk about.  Which reminds me to remind those who will be coming to bring in articles, texts, quotes or questions that they wish to raise.  While this program is now fully-subscribed, let me know if you would like to be involved in a future one, or, better yet, if you would like to plan one.

YOM HA-SHOAH: The Legacy of the Generations
This year's community-wide Holocaust Remembrance Day program, to be held here on the evening of April 19, will focus on the second and third generations of survivors. If you are a child or grandchild of a survivor and would be interested in sharing your story, please let me know. How have the stories you grew up with changed your life? What do you feel is your special legacy or obligation as the descendant of a survivor? The program will feature brief testimonies given by people of all ages, including children, and we will be collecting additional written testimonies to be distributed that night.

SALE OF HAMETZ FORMS: They were sent out this week with our mid month mailing.  If you would like me to be your agent in this little Pre-Passover legality, please sign the form send it back at your earliest convenience.

JEWISH HERITAGE TOUR OF EASTERN EUROPE: JULY 1-15, with Hazzan Rabinowitz.  Includes Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, Prague, and Vienna.  For information, contact Hazzan Rabinowitz at 322-6901 X309.


SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS ON THE WEB: Constructing Sanctuaries

1)      Avodah

“Work” has always meant something other than “daily drudgery” in Jewish tradition.  From the earliest days of the Bible to the advent of modern secular Zionism, there has always been something sacred about the work we do.  In fact, the Hebrew words for work are directly connected to the sacred.  The most common term, “avoda,” not only means “work,” it also is the term used for the sacrificial rites followed in the days of the ancient Temple.  Later, when the Temple was destroyed, “avoda” came to be associated with that which replaced sacrifices: prayer.  “On three things the world stands,” says Pirke Avot, “on Torah, Avoda and G’milut Hasadim (acts of kindness).  Work and worship stand united, for one leads to the other  prayer leads to world-mending activity, and such work engenders an attitude of awe and gratitude, i.e. prayer.

So it is appropriate to make our first stop on this journey the prayer book itself.  Click on http://siddur.webjew.org/ to find a very helpful transliteration of many prayers.

2) Melacha

So, you may be asking, if work is worship, why are we expected to worship on Shabbat, a day in which we are not supposed to work?  The kinds of work specifically not allowed on Shabbat are not categorized in the Torah as “avoda,” but rather as “melacha.”  To my knowledge, the term is used only in regard to Shabbat and, in a modified form, festivals, and it is found in this week’s portion, Va-yakhel.  We read in Exodus 35:2, “On six days work (melacha) may be done, but on the seventh you shall have a complete rest, holy to the Lord.”  Melacha isn’t seen as bad, simply inappropriate for one day (but very important on the other six).  As if to underscore the holiness of melacha, it is closely aligned with the term for “angel,” “malach,” indicating that such work is hardly daily drudgery, but rather the vocation of heavenly beings.  And, specifically, what kind of work is melacha? 

I found a good definition in a chat recorded at http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask283.htm+melacha&hl=en

“Melacha means "creative act." By refraining from creative acts, we recognize G-d as the Ultimate Creator.   Melacha is any act that represents the uniquely human ability to put our intellect to work and shape the environment. Thus, switching on a light is a melacha. Among other things, it can be considered "building" a circuit. Specifically, a melacha is anything that fits into one of 39 categories of activities listed in Tractate Shabbat page 73a. This list includes activities such as seeding, uprooting, building, writing and burning.”

The rabbis derived those 39 categories based on the verses that follow Ex. 35:2, which describe in detail the building of that tabernacle.  All you will ever need to know about these 39 categories can be found on the Web.  Check out http://www.bus.ualberta.ca/yreshef/shabbat/melachaCD.html, for a quick delineation, and http://www.ou.org/chagim/shabbat/concept.htm  for more detailed information.

So what we are talking about here is not “work” per se, but a sacred, creative act, the construction of sacred space during the week, leading to what we do on this seventh day, in the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, the building of a “cathedral in time.”  Rabbi David Wolpe elaborates on this beautifully at http://www.olam.org/magazine/issue3/treasure.cfm?treasure_id=20

3)      Building the Sanctuary

Heschel’s concept transcends all boundaries, as is evidenced by a sermon found at http://www.christ-community.net/html/sept_3__2000.html. The pastor writes: “The great Jewish Rabbi Heschel speaks of the Sabbath as the cathedral of time. The great European cathedrals are sacred space, but the Sabbath is sacred time. It was an oasis; it was a resting-place; it was a very, very great gift. It was a gift that was marked by the cessation of work, of labor.”
Also check out another sermon at
http://www.calvincrc.org/sermons/topics/tenCommandments/exod20.html. In fact, there are about 175 references that I could find on the Web citing this expression of Heschel’s.  One site that doesn’t, but which is all about work, worship, and sacred space, is at http://www.india-today.com/itoday/20000807/offtrack.html.  This article is about the construction of a Hindu holy place, and the site is also a wonderful portal to Indian culture and music.  And then there is http://www.bcca.org/bahaivision/BWF/0842workisworship.html, which gives us a fascinating Baha’i perspective.

4)      The Mishkan

All of this discussion of sacred places gives us pause to wonder what that original tabernacle, the Mishkan, described in such detail in our portion, must have looked like.  A word of caution here: If you plug the word “Mishkan” into search engines, you are bound to land on one of many sites run by  “Messianic Hebrew” organizations.  The mishkan is a key symbol for them, since the sacrificial cult is a natural link from ancient Judaism to Christianity (just trade the sacrificial lamb for you-know-who and you see what I mean).  If you venture onto these sites, you’ll get a clear signal as to the wool they are trying to pull over our eyes (to stick with the lamb image), by dressing up Christianity as a natural extension of Jewishness (the, ahem, “wolf in sheep’s clothing”).  The only thing is, I’m not going to help get you there.

Safer sites to visit include http://www.carol-miller.com/mishkan0.htm.  I don’t know who Carol Miller is (I ran a quick search but still couldn’t locate her credentials), but her analysis of the Mishkan’s symbolism is excellent, including references to a great scholar of religions, Mircea Eliade:

“This then was a point of connection between Heaven and Earth, between Man and God; "the paradoxical point of passage from one mode of being and another."  Eliade speaks in depth about "…the reason for the elaboration of techniques of orientation which, properly speaking, are techniques for the construction of sacred space. But we must not suppose that human work is in question here,  that it is through his own efforts that man can consecrate a space. In reality the ritual by which he constructs a sacred space is efficacious in the measure in which it reproduces the work of the gods."

Miller’s also got pics.  Not only do we find a solid depiction of the Mishkan here, at http://www.carol-miller.com/cm00-1.htm, but she then traces the evolution of Jewish sacred space from that point to the rise of the modern synagogue, at http://www.carol-miller.com/cm02a.htm.  Included in this is the floor plan of none other than the synagogue at Bet Alpha, mentioned in my Byte of Torah above.  Finally, a nostalgic trip back to the Maimonides Day School in Brookline, Mass., which so many of my closest friends attended in my youth, leads us to a fascinating student project, a 3-D view of the Mishkan.  Find the Virtual Mishkan at
http://www.maimonides.org/highschool/seniorprojects/97projects/ihefter/.

5)      A Sanctuary in Cyberspace

Where does this journey lead us? We’ve explored the construction of sacred spaces, as well as sanctuaries in time.  Taken to its logical conclusion, the next step is to explore sanctuaries in cyberspace.  I do lots of that in my book, but for here, it’s enough to look at one more link:
http://www.angelfire.com/sk/orchadash8/, billed as a “Synagogue Without Walls.”  You would be surprised at how many synagogues classify themselves in this way (I turned up 14,000 hits on a recent search), including many, many synagogues that actually do have walls.  It tells us about the impact of the Havurah (Jewish fellowship) movement, for sure, and even more about the impact of new technologies and other innovation on synagogue life.  To that end I highly recommend two studies that have just been released.  From the Pew Research Center, http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=28 the report, “Wired Churches, Wired Temples: Taking congregations and missions into cyberspace.”  And from the Hartford Seminary, a landmark study released just last week, “Faith Communities Today,” the largest survey of congregations ever conducted in the United States, found at http://fact.hartsem.edu/.

Heschel concludes his masterpiece, “The Sabbath,” with the assertion, “We must conquer space in order to sanctify time.”  He could hardly have imagined the conquest of cyberspace when he wrote that, but it is clear to me that he might have sensed some of the same boundlessness in cyberspace that he saw regarding Shabbat.  For cyberspace resides in that murky area between sacred space and sacred time, in that moment of twilight between the holy Shabbat and the six days of angel work (melacha) preceding it.

Shabbat Shalom
JH

This Shabbat-O-Gram goes out weekly to hundreds of Beth El congregants and others.  Feel free to forward it to your friends, and if you know of anyone who might wish to be included, please have them e-mail me at rabbi@tbe.org.  To be taken off this e-mail list, simply click on "reply" and write "please unsubscribe" in the message box.

For more information on the synagogue, check out Beth El's Web site at www.tbe.org.  To check out some previous spiritual cyber-journeys I have taken, see my book's site at www.thelordismyshepherd.com.