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.

Shabbat-O-Gram for March 16, 2001

Evidently the problem was widespread enough, especially on AOL, that I am sending this week's O'gram out once more, this time in plain format -- no colors, no italics, no frills.  It looks like I may have to go this route from here on, but I'll give it another week or two to be sure.  I apologize for the inconvenience.



Shabbat Shalom!

Welcome to our "Adar Madness" edition of the Shabbat-O-Gram.  No NCAA basketball predictions yet, but I do have a sports-related quickie quiz:  Why would this be Phil Rizzuto's favorite Shabbat? (See answer at bottom)


A Byte of Torah: Unto The Fourth Generation

This week we read one of the most mysterious and theologically potent passages of the entire Torah, the oft-repeated "Attributes of Divine Mercy."  Following the Golden Calf debacle, the stage was set for this historic reconciliation between God and Israel, with Moses as the conduit.  To the extent that we can begin to "know" God, we are told that such knowledge can never come visually, as with an idol; but ethically, through acts of kindness.  We'll take a closer look at the concept of kindness (Hesed) in our Web journey below.  Another key question beckons here.  With all the talk of God imparting kindness "to thousands," why does this otherwise uplifting passage conclude with a stern warning that a parent's crimes will be reckoned upon the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, all the way to the fourth generation (really the fifth, including the parents)?  What stands behind this form of generational collective punishment?

It's noteworthy that mercy knows no bounds here, but that punishment clearly has a statute of limitations placed on it (albeit one stretched to great great grandchildren).  In his new Torah commentary, Richard Elliott Friedman adds that five generations constitutes the maximum time of living acquaintance.  Also, he notes that Israelite rock-cut tombs prior to the 7th century BCE were multi chambered, with room for at least four generations of offspring. Finally, he comments that psychological traits appear persevere through that many generations.  It's not that my great great grandchildren will be punished for my sins, per se, but that my deeds will have consequences that will trickle down to them: embarrassment, pride, stigma, and both conscious and unconscious imitation. 

A perfect example for today would be that of Germany.  There is no longer any talk of punishment or collective guilt for Germans born since 1945.  But there is a collective burden that they bear and will continue to, quite likely unto the fourth generation.  Fifty years from now, the shadow of the Holocaust will undoubtedly continue to haunt them.  The Torah, then, is speaking not of divine vengeance but of the way things are in real life.  It is not God alone who "Nosay avon v'fesha v'hata'ah," who "bears (our) crime, offense and sin."  It is our grandchildren, and their grandchildren too, who will have to pay the price -- or reap the rewards.

TODAY'S WEB JOURNEY CAN BE FOUND AT THE END OF THIS SHABBAT-O-GRAM 

--------

JUST THE FACTS

Shabbat Candlelighting on Friday at 5:46 PM

Kabbalat Shabbat service: 8:00 (No Shabbat Shalom family service this week -- it will be held next Friday, March 23, at 6:15, prior to our Congregational Shabbat Dinner.  To reserve for the dinner, contact Bonnie at 322-6901 X306)

Shabbat Morning: Pesukey d'zimra (preliminary service) 9:15 AM. Shacharit at 9:30. Mazal Tov to Bradley Wunderlich, who becomes Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat morning.

Children's Services: 10:30 (in the Chapel and Kindergarten room)

Torah Portion (Ki Tissa -- Shabbat Parah). The Learn Torah With commentary can be found at http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/here__/LTW_5761/LTW_5761_Ki_Tissa/ltw_5761_ki_tissa.html
and Chancellor Schorsch's commentary at http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5761/kitissa.shtml

Shabbat Ends: 6:46 PM Saturday

Daily Minyan: Sunday at 9, weekdays at 7:30 AM. While we normally do have at least ten at each service, please e-mail me to let me know if you wish to be here for a yahrzeit and want to make sure we have a minyan that day.
----------------

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MINI PARLOR CONCERT: Sunday, March 18, 11-Noon, featuring the family Pasternak in a delightful mini-concert of instrumental and vocal arrangements of Klezmer, Hebrew, Israeli and Yiddish music. Pre-concert reception at 10:30

ATID PROGRAM (K-2): Sunday afternoon, a field trip to the Mother Earth Mining Company.

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 ther 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.

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.

Christian Jewish Perspectives Series, this Tuesday, Mar. 20, 7:30 p.m. at the JCC. "Spirituality vs. Organized Religion" featuring Yours Truly and Rev. Dr. James Kowalski, St. Luke's Episcopal Church.  Sponsored by the Council of Churches and Synagogues.

Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society) Workshop, March 18, 12-2:30 PM, at Agudath Sholom. It is very important that more Beth El members participate in this vital organization that does such important and work in preparing Jews for burial in a dignified and loving way. For more information, contact Stephen and Penny Block at 316-0519.

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

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism first-ever Tri-Regional Shabbaton/Convention: Mar. 23-25, hosted by Congregation Knesset Israel - Pittsfield, MA. For information call (800) 594-7098.

We're doing it again! "BOOKS & VIDEOS 4-KIDS" A program designed to share children's books and children's videos (new or used, but in good condition) with kids who need them. Please donate your books/videos and place them in the box near the Temple office, and we'll make sure they get to agencies which help kids here and in Israel. Funds are also needed to pay for shipping them to Israel. Collection will take place Mar. 1 - 30. Sue and Alison Greenwald, 329-1662.

BETH EL CARES, the social action arm of Temple Beth El, has begun a letter writing campaign to the soldiers in Israel to let them know we care and are thinking of them. You may write whatever is in your heart.Special Beth El Cares cards are available in the synagogue office for FREE. You may use your own stationery or cards if you wish. Everyone can participate…adults and children. School age children may write a card and younger children may draw a picture.Because the Israeli government cannot give out names, you can address your card to "Dear Friend" or whatever salutation you choose. Please bring your cards back to the
synagogue office where they will be sent collectively to Israel. Beth El Cares will pay for the postage.

FANTASTIC PURIM PHOTOS ARE UP on our Web site, www.tbe.org, as well as photos from our recent Senior's Lunch and Dinner Dance.

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SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS ON THE WEB: "THE ATTRIBUTES OF HESED"

While the Golden Calf account makes it clear that God's essence can not be ascertained visually, God's presence is revealed to Moses through what has become known as the "Attributes of Mercy,"  found in Exodus 34:7.  Of all the terms found in this famous passage, the key one is Hesed.  To understand what Hesed is, at least in some sense, to understand divinity.  While we could never hope to come as close to God as Moses did, (and I'm not too keen on having to wear a veil for the rest of my life, as subsequently happened to Moses, anyway), who knows what insights we might find as we peel away at the layers of this key Jewish concept?  And so we dive....

1) Defining the Term:

Let's begin with the Britannica, at http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/2/0,5716,37042+1,00.html, which informs us that the term is "an attribute of God said to be imitated by those who in any of countless ways show personal kindness toward others. A Jew who does not manifest sensitive concern for others is considered no better than an atheist, regardless of his knowledge of the Torah."

Hey, some of my best friends are atheists!  But at least the Brits have gotten beyond that Shylock syndrome -- the site's definition even goes on to show how Jews are expected to be kind and ethical money lenders.  A Google search turns up this definition:

Hesed is a peculiarly and distinctive Hebrew word which has no adequate translation into English. The best definition of the word is "the steadfast love" which exists in a relationship between two partners in a covenant. Yet it is not merely an attitude or emotion. Hesed is a beneficent action performed in a deep and enduring commitment, where the receiver of the action could not have helped himself or herself. This is more characteristic of God than of humans because of God's divine nature. God loves because God is love. Hesed is the enduring quality of God to continue to love sinners in hope that they will repent and renew the covenant. Thus it defined the relationship between Yahweh and the Israelites

These contrasting definitions present us with this question: Are human beings capable of true Hesed, or does this quality belong solely to the realm of the divine? 

A good Christian definition comes from http://www.hesed.com/, a site that provides filters and screen savers for churches. They define Hesed as "the consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly-pursuing, lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, furious love of our Father God!"

And how do we show that relentless love for God?  From a Jewish perspective, at least, such passionate love for God can best be demonstrated through equally passionate acts of Hesed toward other human beings.  And while your visiting this Hesed site, stop off at http://www.hesed.com/phocards.htm to see the spectacular display of photographic greeting cards.  To look out at the peaks of Yosemite helps us to imagine how Moses must have felt in that crag atop Sinai.

A more bookish explanation of Hesed can be found at http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jan1986/v42-4-bookreview10.htm, and you can see what Hadassah Magazine had to say, at http://www.hadassah.org/news/dec98/hebrew.htm. There we learn that the term is "so full of vigor that it has the power to mean both goodness and its opposite, abomination.

Overwhelmingly, in Hebrew Scripture the word retains its positive connotation. One of the 13 attributes of God is rav Hesed, abundant goodness. The proverbial woman of valor is praised for the torat Hesed, righteous learning, that is always on her tongue. When Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, eulogized his wife, Paula, he quoted Jeremiah's zakharti lakh hesed ne'uraikh, "I remember the kindnesses of your youth."

There is an expression, Hesed Shel Emet, that is applied specifically to the one good deed that cannot be repaid — accompanying a dead body to burial. Other specific terms using our root are somewhat tricky: Gemilut Hesed, an interest-free loan, and Gemilut Hasadim, charity, philanthropy.

Everybody knows that, according to the Rabbis, the way to celebrate before a bride is to sing Kallah Na'ah Va-hasudah, a beautiful and gracious bride. The Talmud asks why a stork is called a Hasidah. Because, the Rabbis answer, she does Hasidut, acts of kindness, to her friends. And why, therefore, is the stork counted among the unclean animals? Because she is kind only to her own kind.

And where, you ask, does Hesed mean abomination? My Brown, Driver and Briggs Biblical Lexicon informs us that in Leviticus 20:17 and Proverbs 14:34 it means "shameful" and "reviled."  Maybe the stork's name is a lesson to us all, that kindness to one's own kind alone is not true Hesed -- rather, it is perversity of Hesed.  To contain truly an element of the Divine, kindness cannot stop at the front door.


2) Crossing Boundaries

And so, we leave the neighborhood.  Hesed is found all over the Web, transcending boundaries of culture and language, even of reality and fiction.  Click on http://www.trekweb.de/klingon/ and you'll come to a Trekkie site revealing the Klingon "House of Hesed."  And go to http://www.citynet.co.kr/food/hesed/, and you'll find yourself in a restaurant somewhere in Korea.  A number of Hesed links that I tried appear in Japanese.  And of the many dozens of Jewish links for Hesed organizations, including synagogue and communal social action committees like Denver's Hebrew Educational Alliance (http://www.headenver.org/Groups/groups_hesed_society.htm), an extraordinary percentage appeared in Russian, including a Hesed society helping Jews in Odessa http://www.users.odessa.net/~gmilus/. 

3) Back to the Bible

A fairly complete and annotated list of where Hesed appears in the Bible (from a Christian source) can be found at http://www.theology.edu/theology/appen02.htm. 

Some examples of acts of Hesed between human beings, including some that support the idea that, for humans, it has a ring of quid-pro-quo, thereby making less pure than the divine model:

a) In Genesis 40 the Pharaoh's Cupbearer and Baker find themselves in prison with Joseph. They dream puzzling dreams, but Joseph interprets them. After interpreting the dream of the Cupbearer he tells him, "...When all goes well with you, remember me and show me Hesed; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison." (Gen 40:14).

b) In Joshua 2:12, after Rahab has given aid to the spies, she makes a request of them: "Now then, please swear to me by Yahweh that you will show Hesed to my family, because I have shown hesed to you. Give me a sure sign..."

c) A fascinating variation occurs in Psalm 141:5: "Let a righteous man strike me - it is Hesed; let him rebuke me - it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it."  Punishment from the righteous is recognized as an act of Hesed.

We find many places where Hesed goes hand in hand with Emet (truth).  They are a "hendiadys," a poetic technique where two words together express a single idea, something like "faithful love."  Hesed often joins forces with Emunah (faithfulness) and Rahamim (womb-like, maternal compassion). These double expressions typically connote Hesed from God, as they do in our portion.  When the Hesed comes from God, it acquires a degree of permanence that no human relationship can sustain. 

It's refreshing and noteworthy that this Christian Web site portrays the "Old Testament" as a chronicle of kindness, God-like kindness, rather than the stereotypical "Old Testament" litany of bloodshed and punishment.  It's nice to see this "OT is violent" theory dispelled elsewhere too, such as at
http://www1.appstate.edu/~davisct/temenos/love/hesed.htm: In expressing the "spontaneous, unforced energy in oneself, that is called Hesed, ...one apprehends the God-like in oneself....In the world of Hesed ...man is truly in his element; he acts spontaneously and naturally, and "walks in the ways of God" by acting of his own accord, of his own free will and unforced consciousness.  

All this talk about Hesed in the Bible, and I haven't even mentioned Ruth!  I don't have to  -- check out this Presbyterian sermon at http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.trinpreslr.org/harvest_of_hesed.htm+hesed&hl=en, entitled "The Harvest of Hesed."

Now before I tell you word's meaning
I have to let you in on a secret
No English word or words
Can even come close to what it means...

Think about it
Think about all the instances of
Mercy, tender mercy, kindness,loyalty
Loving-kindness, and steadfast love
In the Bible
Now you know the secret
All those occurrences were one word
Hesed ...

Hesed is that quality of relationship
Between people in commitment
Between people who have a covenant
With each other
It is used especially in respect
To how a person in a superior position
Relates to a person in an inferior position.

In other words, Hesed is kindness
When you don't have to be kind
Mercy when it is not demanded
Love which is not only unrequited
But which remains unbroken

A less lyrical sermon on Hesed can be found at http://sermons.11net.com/sermons/hesed.txt, but it does contain this nice bit of wisdom: "Hesed serves as a window that allows us to look into the very heart of God to see the kind of God we serve."


4)  Rabbinic Wisdom, Kabbalah, and Hesed

More insight, from Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, (The Beginning of Desire) "The paradox is Hesed is that it is gratuitous, free of necessity. It is given at God's will, so that ...[one] cannot demand it as a right. But without it, everything fails."

At http://yschulman.org/avodah/torahteach/bereshit55.html, you'll find some Talmudic wisdom, including the insight that the Torah both begins (God clothes Adam and Eve) and ends (God buries Moses) with acts of divine Hesed.

Hesed is also a key Kabbalistic concept, as it is one of the divine emanations (Sefirot).  Go to http://members.nbci.com/Mim.1/kabbalah/Hesed/ and you'll see how it can be proven mathematically (through the Kabbalistic tool known as Gematria), that "There is no Torah without Hesed."  Also enjoy the relaxing music there, before venturing next to http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Sefirot/Hesed.html.

5) Applied Hesed

It remains for us to put these lessons into practice.  One chiropractor literally did just that, echoing the thoughts of Abraham Joshua Heschel in this beautiful discourse on incorporating the Hesed model into the doctor-patient relationship:
http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/16/10/06.html It's required reading for all health and human service professionals.

The secular usage of Hesed describes the relationship of a superior with responsibility to someone else (the recipient). This act of Hesed fulfills a need for the recipient, which is something they cannot do for themselves. It appears the technical actions in the delivery of health care can fall into this type of relationship. The superior person is the physician with the knowledge and skill to help the needy recipient.

Another usage of Hesed, which is similar to the secular usage, is also found in the biblical tradition. Hesed is never a special favor, but always a provision for an essential need, and an action performed by a stronger party for a weaker party. This description is what we should consider. As practitioners we are not doing patients favors when we perform an essential act for their good and for society in general. In some cases chiropractic care is not an option for the patient; it is the only service that will bring relief. By this fact, chiropractic health care providers can develop a deeper appreciation of our necessary role to serve the common good.

Another biblical meaning of Hesed is divine conduct. We can look to this meaning to see how we should perform our actions. God's Hesed is offered by enduring love, kindness and mercy to His people. Since we are more than just technical professionals, we need to develop a covenant relationship with the patient that has a true spiritual and human approach as its foundation. No longer can we say that we have a physician-patient relationship, if we are only relating in the contract model. We need to be whole ourselves. We are, as humans, more than our skills. We are multidimensional: physical, spiritual and mental. We need to develop a physician-Hesed-patient relationship.

In one of the messages released by Pope John Paul II this March, he called for a concept of health to include attention to the patient's spiritual state. He stated, "Health includes the well-being of the whole person -- his physical, psychic and spiritual state. It also includes the circumstances of his life. The concept of health cannot be restricted to the absence of disease. Any act of assistance to a sick man should be recognized as a form of health-care work, and also as an act of charity -- ultimately, a religious act. And health-care personnel should recognize that their goal is not only to offer [treatment], but to help restore and strengthen the entire person, including his interior life, his taste for life, his joy and love and communion."

With this statement as a guide, we can see that our acts are transformed from a technical action to one of Hesed. One that is offered in love and charity, with faith as a response having as our center a moral foundation rooted in holism.

That, in the end, is the true meaning of Hesed:  We can never achieve true Godly love, but we can come closest to it when we cease to treat other human beings as objects.  The more we see the Other as Thou, rather than It, the more we realize the promise of Hesed.  Martin Buber would be proud. 

I conclude with an anecdote appropriate to the season and this week's special maftir of Parah, which reminds us to purify ourselves for the upcoming Passover holiday.  Here is how spiritual purification is attained, according to Jewish Heritage Magazine, in two stories found at http://www.jhom.com/calendar/nisan/hesed.html

Supervising the Matzah Baking

Rabbi Israel Lipkin Salanter was most meticulous in the baking of matzot (unleavened bread) for Passover. To make certain that everything was done according to the strictest interpretation of Jewish Law, he personally undertook to supervise the baking.
One year he was bedridden and unable to go to the bakery. He instructed two pupils to go in his stead. As the pupils were about to depart for their assigned task, they asked their teacher: "Is there anything special that we should watch?"
"Yes," the rabbi replied, "See that the old woman who does the mixing is paid sufficiently. She is a poor widow."

Milk at the Seder

A local Jew came to Rabbi Akiva Eger of Posen on the eve of Passover. "Rabbi, I've a ritual question to ask you," he said: "Is it permissible to use four cups of milk at the seder instead of four cups of wine?"
"Why would you want to substitute milk for wine? Are you, God forbid, ill?"
"No, rabbi I am well but I can't afford to buy wine."
The discerning rabbi then said: "I'm sorry. It is forbidden to use a substitute for wine." Reaching into his pocket, he continued, "Take these twenty rubles and purchase wine."
After the Jew had left, the rabbi's wife angrily chided her husband:
"Why did you give him twenty rubles for wine? Two or three would have been sufficient."
"Don't be angry," the rabbi answered. "The fact that this poor man was prepared to drink milk at the seder is evidence that he also did not have money to buy meat and perhaps not even fish and matzot. With twenty rubles he will be able to observe the seder properly."

Shabbat Shalom
JH

Answer to the Quickie Quiz: Because the special maftir on Shabbat Parah is all about a "Holy Cow."

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