Most of the posts that I have written for this blog fall into one of two categories. I am either writing about current events or some aspect of nostalgia for the 60s and 70s, the era I grew up in. I’ll continue with those posts in the months ahead but I also want, occasionally, to use this blog as an opportunity to share some of my favorite traditional Jewish texts. I’ll begin by sharing a text I plan to teach my 5th grade class in Mishna this coming week.

The Mishna in Baba Kamma chapter 3, mishna 8 discusses the question of where the responsibility lies when there is a collision between two people on the street resulting in damages to an item being carried by one of the individuals. The Mishna begins by saying: If one is walking with a jug and another with a wooden plank and the two objects collide, there is no obligation for either party to pay damages since everyone has the right to walk on the street.

However, the Mishna then presents another situation. Let’s imagine that the person with the plank is in the front and the person with the jug is behind him, if the jug is broken by the plank, the person carrying the plank is exempt from any blame since he was walking in the front. This applies unless that person suddenly stops without giving warning to the person behind him carrying the jug. If that happens, the person carrying the plank is responsible for paying damages. However, if the person carrying the plank said: “stop”, and the person carrying the jug still bumped into him, the person carrying the plank is not responsible because he tried to prevent the accident with a warning.

Then the Mishna gives the opposite example. Say the person carrying the jug is walking in the front. If the person carrying the plank  bumps the plank into the jug and breaks it,  the person carrying the plank is responsible since he could have prevented the accident. If however, the person carrying the jug were to suddenly stop, the person carrying the plank behind him would not be responsible unless the person carrying the jug said: “Stop” in which case there is liability since he tried to prevent the accident with a warning.

When I teach this class, I always begin the class by showing the kids the youtube video of the old 1980’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials in which two people bump into each other, one carrying chocolate the other peanut butter. (See, I got some nostalgia in anyway). But, this is a very serious discussion.

Think about the responsibility for a car accident in which one car rear ends the one in front. In general, it would be considered the fault of the person in the rear car. But, what if the driver of the front car made a sudden unjustified stop, who then becomes responsible? And, how do brake lights figure into the discussion. Is this the equivalent of saying; “stop!” which places the responsibility back upon the rear car?

The important message for the kids and for all of us is that when we walk (or drive) down the street, we have to recognize the equal rights of the person on the street with us. We also have to realize that when we walk down the street with a fragile object, we have the responsibility to make sure that we are taking the proper precautions to insure that we get home safely. We also have the responsibility when we are walking with a dangerous object that we are taking the proper precautions to insure we don’t cause any damage. The Mishna understood the complexity of the situation and tried to set up a structure by which we can determine responsibility. But, at the same time, the Mishna would have urged us to go “lifnim mishurat hadin”, beyond the letter of the law by taking extra precautions to protect ourselves and others as well.

Back to nostalgia next week. For now, think about how these scenarios might in fact apply to situations in our own lives.

I am looking forward to tomorrow morning. I teach the  5th grade class at the Hebrew Day School in Ann Arbor for one hour each Friday morning and tomorrow I plan to teach one of my favorite stories from Jewish tradition.

The class is in Mishna and we’ve been talking about the Jewish calendar over the past few weeks and studying the sections of the Mishna in Masechet Rosh Hodesh which deal with the sighting of the New Moon marking the beginning of the new month. The Mishna discusses in detail the process by which witnesses would come to Jerusalem to testify that they had seen the new moon. If the testimony was accepted, the new month was declared.

The Mishna goes on to tell this wonderful story:

Rabban Gamliel, the head of the Rabbinic court, was approached by two witnesses who claimed they saw the new moon at one point but then subsequently did not see it. Rabban Gamliel, who was apparently somewhat lenient in his acceptance of testimony accepted their statement as proof that the New Moon had arrived. Rabbi Dosa ben Herkanas scoffed at this and rejected their testimony and Rabbi Yehoshua, a prominent Rabbi, agreed with his hesitation.

There now was a serious problem among the Jewish people. There could be only one calendar if the people were to be united. So, Rabban Gamliel needed to put a stop to this disagreement. So,  he ordered Rabbi Yehoshua to come to him on the day that Rabbi Yehoshua thought was Yom Kippur carrying his walking stick and money with him (I always add in teaching this story to kids that he probably told him to eat an apple as well), all things which are forbidden on Yom Kippur in order to prove that Rabban Gamliel’s calendar was correct.

Rabbi Yehoshua is stuck in a bad situation. He seeks the advice of other Rabbis and Rabbi Akiva says to him that he must accept Rabban Gamliel’s decision or else we would always question the decisions made by any Rabbinic Court.

So, Rabbi Yehoshua, reluctantly perhaps, gives in and goes to Rabban Gamliel with his walking stick and money in his hand on the day that Yom Kippur would have fallen if his calendar was accepted.

And, here is the beautiful part of the story.

As he comes to him, Rabban Gamliel stands up,  kisses Rabbi Yehoshua and says to him: Bo bishalom, come in peace, my teacher and my student. My teacher in wisdom and my student in that you accepted my words.

Once he had made his decision it was impossible for Rabban Gamliel to admit he was wrong. Perhaps he learned to make better decisions in the future. But, at this moment, he had to go along with what he had begun. Rabbi Yehoshua got very good advice from Rabbi Akiva: avoid the confrontation, accept the decision.

This is a story about the way Jewish law works and how important both authority and sensitivity are to the process of making halachic decisions. Rabban Gamliel had to do what he did but he did it in the gentlest way possible, publicly thanking his student for accepting his word and avoiding the temptation to humiliate him, acknowledging that he had learned something very important from him. What did he learn from him? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Come in peace my teacher and my student. I love that last line because I, like any teacher, have learned so much from my students and that really comes first.

I wonder what I’ll learn from my students tomorrow morning.

May God bless all school children and all students everywhere.

 

In this era of instant and constant communication, we rush to fill the silence with words.

But, this time, I can’t find sufficient words.

Instead, I will just offer a prayer that the families of the children and teachers who were killed will find some comfort and some peace in the months and years to come.
May those children who survived the massacre be granted the ability to trust in the world again.

And, May we, in this nation, find the courage to confront the horror of this terrible moment in our history and make wise decisions to address the issue of guns and violence, the needs of those who suffer from mental illness and the right that we and our children have to live our lives in safety.

May  we never forget.

I know that one of the purposes of a blog is to get something out in cyberspace as quickly as possible. And, sometimes I write blog posts in a few minutes, press “publish” and get on with my life.

But, I’ve been working on this particular posting for two or three weeks now and still am not sure that I have come up with just the right words to say.

In the weeks since the conflict in Gaza, there have been many debates in many different media between knowledgeable, respectable members of the Jewish community in which people who proudly call themselves Zionists and who have demonstrated concern for the State of Israel have been called naive at best, traitors at worst, for continuing to believe in the possibility of the two state solution.

It is unclear to me precisely what has changed over the past few months that would have caused this development. After all, the government of Israel still professes a belief in the two state solution, even as it claims that there is no partner for negotiations. Yes, the past few days have seen a recurrence of rhetoric from Hamas leaders claiming to seek the destruction of Israel. But, that has always been their claim and despite that claim, Israel continued to claim that it would seek negotiations with the Palestinian Authority regarding the future of the West Bank.

I find these accusations of disloyalty or naivete to be unfair and feel that they present, for all of us, a very serious challenge.

First, let me say without question that I take Hamas at their word. I believe that there are many within the Palestinian people who do desire the destruction of Israel. I do not believe that a peace settlement would immediately silence those voices. I would like to believe that a peace settlement would strengthen those with a more moderate view towards Israel and clearly many in Israel feel the same way.

But, the decision by Israel to proceed with settlement expansion in the “E1 area” between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim and within East Jerusalem itself, is so terribly troubling. These two plans, especially at this moment, would appear to signify a major roadblock towards the possibility of a viable Palestinian state and to any compromise concerning the Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Certainly the “1967 borders- or cease fire lines- with land swaps” would presume that Maaleh Adumim would remain in Israel and that would require some kind of creative solution which would not cut off a future Palestinian state from Jerusalem or have a state which is essentially bisected by Israeli territory. But, it would appear that such building plans sends the wrong message at the wrong time (as Rabbi Donniel Hartman of the Hartman Institute discussed in his latest posting which you can find through the website at hartman.org.il, it is entitled “Red Light Green Light”).

If it is true that Israel has given up on the 2 state solution, I would ask the following question: what then is the vision that Israel would like leaders of the American Jewish community to put before American Jews? What will the future of the State of Israel be? Will Israel annex the West Bank and either expel all non-Jews (God forbid) or deny citizenship (God forbid)? Or, will Israel say, the vision is maintaining the status quo. Well, for thirty years as a Rabbi, I have been struggling with the fact that the status quo is unacceptable. While I don’t question for a moment that the Palestinians have undermined the peace process many times, I believe Israel’s latest decisions have done the same at a time when it seems the possibilities of a negotiated settlement are dimming. I would not expect Israel to sign a peace agreement if it believed it would seriously weaken its security. But, I do expect Israel to continue to hope for peace and, in the context of the past few weeks, I believe those of us who tell our congregants that as Jews, we continue to believe that the future can be better than the present should be honored, rather than disparaged and mocked.

I do not believe that those of us who dare to talk about hopes for peace and who expressed heartbreaking sadness at deepening conflicts are being traitors or are necessarily being naive. I believe that it is part of our life as Jews to hope, to continue to believe in a better time. No, it will not be easy and yes, we need to listen to voices within Israel who face the threats more directly than we do. But, I believe we can’t give up on these dreams and these hopes.

As I write this on Thanksgiving morning, there are many things to be thankful for: health, peace, family, community. I am, as one might expect, also a bit nostalgic, thinking about the Thanksgivings I remember from my childhood (there is nothing like Thanksgiving in New England) and a yearning for simpler days.

These last few days have been anything but simple as we have watched the conflict in Gaza unfold and now we have another thing to be thankful for this morning: a cease fire that has restored, at least temporarily, some calm to people on both sides of the border. No one knows how long this cease fire will last but we can hope that it is long enough for more lasting steps to be taken to make, if not peace, at least some form of tense calm take hold.

But, as I look back on this week, I still have some nagging questions. There are so many that can be asked but these are the ones that come to mind.

 

Why have we, as lovers and supporters of Israel, found it necessary to flood social media like Facebook and Twitter with constant statements of support for Israel? It is truly heartening to see so much support but what need is it fulfilling and what role is it playing as war moves from the battlefield to the Internet?

Why is it, as some have argued, inappropriate for those who love Israel to mourn the deaths of children in Gaza? Why do we not include the numbers of  children killed by Israeli bombs as fatalities when we talk about the war? Especially if Israel, and I believe this is the case, took great effort to avoid such tragedies, why do some people react so negatively when those who support Israel show sympathy for these innocent victims?

Why, almost 20 years after the peace treaty signing on the White House Lawn are we still, it seems, no closer to a two state solution which would end the occupation and give Palestinians a state of their own? Why are settlements still being built and why has Israel shown reluctance to do more to foster relationships with more moderate Palestinians?

And,of course, if there are questions for Israel and its supporters to answer, there are also questions for others:

Why is there still the need to argue “Israel’s right and responsibility to defend itself”? Why isn’t this just a given and why would anyone contest this point?

Why, seven years after Israel “disengaged” from Gaza, has  Hamas and other factions constantly fired life threatening rockets into Israel instead of building their own society and working peacefully with Israel to allow for more access and less restrictions?

Why do parents and leaders still raise their children to believe that the most important mission in life is to destroy their neighbor?

And, for both sides and their supporters, why do we keep going back and back in history to find the roots of this conflict? 2008?, 2005? 2000? 1967? 1948? 1918? We can go all the way back to this week’s Torah portion and the conflict between Jacob and Esau if we want to but, while context is important in addressing conflict, why can’t people start with today and look ahead?

Let us all take this Thanksgiving to cherish what we have and hope that others around the world will have those same blessings of peace and comfort. Happy Thanksgiving!

At this moment, the thoughts of so many in the Jewish community are focused on Israel and the conflict with Palestinians in Gaza. At this moment, I will simply offer a hope that a cease fire can be reached before there is more fear and more death. I certainly believe that Israel is justified in responding to the incessant rocket attacks on communities in the South. But, I also believe that this response is by no means a long range solution to the issues facing Israel and I hope that a cease fire will come sooner rather than later and somehow can lead to a Middle East free from pain and suffering. My thoughts and prayers go with those who are suffering and those in fear. May the new week bring new commitment to peace.

But, I have another topic in mind as I write this on the Saturday evening before Thanksgiving. I’m thinking about the other connection we as synagogues should be concerned with. In addition to feeling part of a Jewish community, we should feel part of the community of faith in the city in which we live.

As Jews, we have many issues which concern us and many reasons why we identify with a Jewish community. For some, religious faith, ritual and spirituality do not enter into the equation. But, for many of us, this is the primary reason for our connection with our Jewish community and if that is the case, it is critical that we feel part of a larger community of faith as we have so much in common with others, so much to learn from them, so much of our tradition to share.

Tomorrow evening, our Congregation is hosting the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration sponsored by the Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County. I love this event. It is truly a remarkable evening which has been carefully crafted over the years to produce an educational and inspirational experience which does not require anyone to compromise their own religious principles. The communal hymns and readings are chosen carefully to be comfortable for all. But, the highlight of the evening is the sharing of chants, song and readings from religious traditions, each chosen by the individual participants to reflect his or her religious faith’s tradition of giving thanks.

When Beth Israel hosted this celebration some 15 years ago, it began with a native American sharing a spiritual chant from our bima. Tomorrow evening, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Jewish representatives will share of their faith. And, in doing so, we will all be elevated.

I love our Jewish tradition. That goes without saying. But, I am fascinated by other faiths and love to experience that which is offered by others. If you’re in Ann Arbor, I invite you to come to the celebration at 7 pm. If you are not in Ann Arbor, perhaps there is a similar program in your community. I urge you to attend.

I am not naive about the conflicts that religions have with each other and I certainly know that one communal evening won’t end those conflicts. But, for one night, instead of concentrating on the conflicts, we will think of how blessed we are to live in a diverse country with so many different approaches to religious faith. And, we will realize  how blessed we are to live in a community in which we, as Jews, are respected and embraced as will be clear tomorrow evening when the entire community will come to our home to share a celebration and the reception which will follow.

I pray for  peace in Israel and Gaza. I pray for the children, the innocent on both sides who live in fear and  I pray for safety and security for our brothers and sisters in Israel. And, I pray that throughout our community and throughout the world, the different faiths will be able to share moments of mutual respect as we seek to transform this world.

This is my 50th posting on this blog and it could not come at a more exciting time. I will admit to being a newshound or whatever one might call it and will admit that I find elections, particularly presidential elections, enormously exciting. While I do not believe that clergy, those that serve congregations in particular, should “endorse” a candidate and I steadfastly refuse to do so, I also know that it is not difficult to make assumptions about the voting preferences of a person who, through their profession, has to take stands on particular issues or reveal a particular philosophical perspective on the world. Still, because I believe that a person’s vote is a private matter and because of how I and we at our congregation interpret the tax laws, I will not reveal my choice. However, it is true, that I like all of us, I’m sure have hopes for how the election plays out.

This is such an important moment for our country. There are many critical issues that have been placed on the table and many others which have been given less attention than they should (climate change being the most apparent). Whether the issue is the economy, health care, a woman’s right to make decisions in the issue of birth control or abortion, future supreme court appointments,  foreign policy in general and for many of us, relationship with Israel being critical, or so many others, we have a choice to make and we, as a nation, will do so tomorrow.

But, today, my excitement for tomorrow is tempered by real concerns about the electoral process here in the United States. Even if we set aside the fear that one party or another will attempt to in some way tamper with results or succeed in attempts to intimidate or exclude voters, our process is so unwieldy, with so many different types of ballots- and I should say here quickly that I miss pulling the lever that closes the curtain and flipping the switches on the machine but that’s another matter entirely- with so many legal questions swirling about early voting, absentee ballots and so many different methods to count votes, it is reasonable to be concerned that the election results will not be clear for many days or weeks. That is cause for great concern. Our nation needs to explore ways that our elections can be fair and open to all citizens who are registered or desire to be. I hope the fears are unfounded and that the election produces a clear winner so that we can get on with the business of addressing the issues of importance in our country.

I plan to get to my polling place well before it opens tomorrow morning. We have a very long ballot here in Michigan and I’m sure the lines will be long and slow moving- even then. But, it is not only for convenience that I want to get there early. There is a beautiful thought in Jewish tradition that we should be  zerizim lamitzvah- we should be eager to perform a mitzvah. Is voting in a presidential election a mitzvah? Absolutely- and not only in the sense of a mitzvah being a “good deed”. The word means commandment or obligation and I believe without question that even if we are not commanded to vote, it is an obligation to do so. So, I plan to show my eagerness by being there  right at the beginning and, as I do every four years (and should do every time but I leave it for the presidential elections), I will say shehecheyanu after depositing my ballot. It is an honor, a privilege, a sacred duty to vote and I hope that all who can will be at the polls tomorrow.

May our nation be blessed with peace, harmony and opportunity for all.

 

I want to follow up on my last blog post regarding Anat Hoffman with a thought that I shared with the Congregation yesterday.

Adin Steinsaltz, in his beautiful book Biblical Images, makes an interesting claim concerning Abraham. He says that instead of looking at Abraham as an innovator, one who brought a new idea- monotheism- to the world, we should see him as a “renovator”, one who brought people back to an idea which existed before. He says that the stories in the Torah which precede the story of Abraham’s “mission” presume a belief in one God. He also says that a belief in one God is in fact more primal, more basic to the human being than a belief in many Gods.

Whether we agree or not, he brings up an interesting point. Occasionally what we perceive to be something new is in fact something old and one who is viewed as an “innovator” is really trying to bring us back to something that existed previously.

I think that it is important to keep this in mind regarding the situation at the kotel for two reasons. First, the fact is that while the situation for those who wish to practice a Judaism which is egalitarian was not ideal in Jerusalem, it wasn’t too long ago that there was less conflict and more of an somewhat “laissez faire” attitude towards such action than there seems to be now.

In 1984, I led a group to Israel for the first time and we had an egalitarian minyan within the kotel plaza (outside of the segregated sections delineated by the mechitza, the separation between men and women). Honestly, no one seemed to care. People walked by our group and glanced and some looked disapprovingly but no one started any kind of trouble or raised an issue.

Similarly, on our visit to Rachel’s Tomb, on the border of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, we stood, men and women together, remarking on the deep meaning of this place and wondrously staring at the verse on the covering of the tomb, the quote from Jeremiah addressed to Rachel: “refrain your eyes from crying for your children will come back to you and there is hope for your future”. Now the tomb has been classified as a synagogue, men and women must enter and stand separately and the entire mood is different.
The way things were in 1984 would not be satisfactory to those of us who believe that Israel should encourage and embrace different approaches to Judaism. But, what is important to understand is that in some ways, and certainly in Jerusalem’s holy places, Israel is moving in the wrong direction, becoming more restrictive and less welcoming for those who believe deeply in progressive Judaism. Perhaps Anat Hoffman and all of us who support her are not to be viewed as seeking innovation but a return to greater respect.

And, the issue of innovation and renovation is important for a second reason. Our teachers at the Jewish Theological Seminary used to tell us that if Rabbi Akiva were alive today, he would be a conservative Jew. Whether or not that is an exaggeration, the basic point is true. Rabbinic Judaism, from the beginning, was based on the principle of innovation, on reacting to new situations with new expressions of ritual and law. The tradition of Rabbinic Judaism was based on the principle that Judaism was not static, but constantly being discussed, changed, pro-actively facing the present and the future.

The fear that Anat Hoffman’s actions  inspire among those who see only one approach to Judaism being acceptable and that being one which is the most restrictive and least open to more contemporary interpretations is dangerous. It flies in the face of the foundations of our faith which called for innovation and honestly and openly facing changing times. This approach to Judaism moves us away from what Judaism was intended to be. I believe that we should view Anat Hoffman and all of us dedicated to progressive Judaism as being “renovators” not innovators.

I don’t mean to imply of course that the Rabbis of the Talmud would have necessarily approved of some of the aspects of Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism today. But, they would have, I believe, recognized efforts to help Judaism keep pace with the times with more respect than is seen today.

Unfortunately, and this is perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of a very sad story, I didn’t suspect even for a moment that the story was exaggerated. I read it and realized that it was absolutely true. And now the story has been told and retold and no exaggeration is needed to make the point. It is that horrible.

Anat Hoffman, director of Women of the Wall, an organization dedicated to bringing equality to the experience of praying at the Western Wall as arrested for saying the Shema at the Wall in a tallit with a group of women. She was, dragged away, strip searched, and thrown into a jail cell.

What can be said? What can possibly be said to make sense out of this horrendous, tragic episode? Nothing. It is further evidence of how far religious authorities in Israel are willing to go to ostracize, humiliate, and condemn anything other than one particular brand of Orthodox Judaism in the Jewish State. And, that is a tragedy, a travesty and a sin.

How do they expect Jews outside of Israel to overlook this? How do they expect us to continue to care about Israel if people who serve as role models for our children are beaten and humiliated for saying the Shema in what is supposed to be our holiest place? The excuse that women’s prayer is a provocation to others and therefore must be stopped is ludicrous. There are times where people must be told that their reaction is the problem. Anat Hoffman’s action is far from being an act of provocation. It is an act of commitment, of faith, of principle.

I only hope that some of the women who were there with her when this occurred, who are members of Hadassah, the organization which has done so much to build up Israel and support for her and commitment to her will ask themselves: What has Israel become? and will not let the matter rest.

None of us should.

In 1982, I traveled to the former Soviet Union and met Jews who were denied the right to worship, to identify as Jews. Many of the Jews I met eventually came to Israel where they knew they could express themselves as Jews in the way they saw fit.

What has happened to that dream?

An article appeared in the New York Times last week which I found fascinating and deeply troubling. The article concerned young Jews who are having numbers tattooed on their arm as a reminder of the Holocaust. Many of these young people are grandchildren of Holocaust victims or survivors and while I realize that it really isn’t my place to comment on how an  individual should react to this most tragic story in our history, I have some strong opinions concerning the story.

I find the entire idea troubling for two different reasons.

First, let me make a comparison. Often, people come into my office and ask me about cremation. Sometimes they have very good reasons for wanting to be cremated and ask me why we won’t bury cremated remains in our synagogue cemetery and why I find it so disturbing when Jews want to be cremated. I have several answers but I save my most emotional one for last. Imagine, I tell people, the Jews who were killed and bodies burned in the crematoria. It was the ultimate indignity that after all the suffering they endured, they did not have a proper Jewish burial. In the face of this, how can we, willingly, deny ourselves that proper burial that Jewish tradition dictates.

I feel the same way about the number tattoos. Tattooing is against Jewish law and while some people may not really care about this fact, I would ask them to imagine how those who held that law dear felt upon being tattooed by the Nazis. While obviously no one could even for a moment blame anyone for submitting to the tattooing when ordered so and while no one would accuse these individuals of transgressing Jewish law willingly, at the same time, for many this was not only a matter of persecution and a sign of great danger but also was the indignity of being forced to go against the  law they respected. In memory of those individuals, for that reason alone, I would counsel people against taking this step.

Then, there is the more general issue. What does it mean to remember the Holocaust? Are we, today, two or three generations later, serving history or the victims by this serious but only symbolic gesture? Those who feel it is critical to honor the victims or remember the agony would, it seems to me, be doing so in a more effective way by standing up for our people or by working for peace and justice and human rights for all  rather than to engage in this symbolic gesture.

I don’t question people’s seriousness in making this choice. And, we each need to remember in our own way. But,for those  who live in freedom to voluntarily choose to mark their bodies in this way seems inappropriate. We can remember without imitating, we can mourn without defacing our own bodies and we can work for better times for our people and for the entire world.