Once again, this nation faces the questions of justice and equality stemming from the killing of a young African American man by a law enforcement official. The tragic killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri by Officer Darren Wilson was sadly a story so similar to those we have seen before.

I have to make my standard comment that “I wasn’t there” and I haven’t read or heard all of the evidence that the grand jury heard so I can’t make a judgment as to Officer Wilson’s guilt or innocence. But, I can say that there were many aspects of the grand jury procedure in this case which raise questions as to the objectivity of the entire endeavor and those should raise concerns for all of us.

There is no justification for violence, looting and damage to property. But, the anger that is felt after the grand jury decision needs to be recognized and confronted.

Regardless of what one feels about this legal proceeding and regardless of the great strides towards equality that have been made in this country, it remains true that African Americans, particularly young African American males are, in many situations, subject to profiling which leaves them vulnerable. That any citizen of this country should feel unsafe on the streets because of their race is unacceptable and must be addressed.

While we may not know what happened in Ferguson that night, we do know that this country must confront the reality of racism as it affects all of us. The question is bigger than just Ferguson. As President Obama said on Monday night: “We need to recognize that the situation in Ferguson speaks to broader challenges that we still face as a nation. The fact is in too many parts of this country a deep distrust exists between law enforcement and communities of color. Some of this is the result of the legacy of racial discrimination in this country. And this is tragic because nobody needs good policing more than poor communities with higher crime rates.”

We must continue to address the issue of racism in a pro-active way rather than just respond when a tragic event occurs. We must make progress in our goal to be a nation of equality and justice for all.

May the family of Michael Brown be comforted by real change in this country.

 

I have started to write this blog posting three times over the past week and each time, I found myself at a loss for what to say.

The horrific, brutal murder of 5 men in the Jerusalem synagogue terrorist attack of Monday is first and foremost a terrible human tragedy. My thoughts and prayers for comfort go to the families of those who were so ruthlessly killed and our hopes for a refuah shlayma, a complete recovery for those who were wounded. There are no sufficient words to describe the horror of this attack.

The context of this act of terror and random violence is also so very troubling. As I have written in this blog and said from the bima, the framing of the ongoing conflict in religious terms is so deeply, deeply worrisome. The focus of attention on the Temple Mount and the perception that Israel wishes to change the carefully crafted status quo has fostered additional anger among Palestinians. This status quo which is based on compromise and hopes for mutual respect must continue and Israeli officials must do all that they can to prevent even the smallest of provocative acts concerning the Temple Mount area and Palestinian leaders must try to restore calm and reject and prevent violence. The leaders must, at least in this one area, publicly work together to make it clear that this status quo will continue.

But, that alone will not stop the cycle of violence.

I have never been as pessimistic about the possibility of a peaceful solution to the conflict as I am at this moment in time. Israel’s legitimate deep concern for its own survival and security and the Palestinians’ legitimate goal of self-determination and an end to the occupation seem now to be so at odds with each other that it is difficult to imagine any solution. The fear, the anger, the suspicion have never seemed so deeply entrenched.

But, Shabbat is a time for hope.We can not give up hope even if that hope is fading so dramatically.

May this Shabbat bring some small measure of quiet and calm in Jerusalem. May we see some small progress in cooperation and compassion. May people throughout Jerusalem and throughout the region recognize the humanity of the other and may the new week bring new hope.

May all who love Jerusalem pray for her peace on this Shabbat.

Blessed be are You O Lord Our God who spreads the Sukkah of peace over Jerusalem, the city of peace, the city of dreams, the city of reaching out to God. May all people find peace, wisdom and humanity coming from the holy city.

The horrendous terrorist attacks which have taken place in Jerusalem in recent days have caused such concern and sadness for all of us. My prayers and thoughts go out to the families of those who have been killed and to those who have been wounded. These horrendous acts deserve condemnation and it is once again shocking to read of those organizations and individuals, including Hamas officials, who praise and give honor to these acts of violence.

While these acts of violence and general tension would be sad in any situation, it is particularly sad that, at least to an extent, their source comes from religious disputes.

The compromises  regarding the Temple Mount and the Western Wall areas which have been worked out over the decades may be unsatisfying in many ways but they have helped to establish and retain a relatively quiet atmosphere. There have of course been flare-ups of violence and unrest but for the most part the area remained calm. But, now we are seeing a revival of the type of religious controversy which exacerbates an already tense situation.

Arab claims that there was never a Jewish Temple on the mount are horrendous and an insult to Jews and any student of history. But I also firmly believe that those Jews who dream of a third temple need to be stopped and prevented from doing anything  in small or big ways to lay the groundwork for such an idea to become reality or even give the appearance of a move in that direction.  The status quo, while it may not be ultimately satisfying for all needs to be embraced and endorsed and respect given to the holy places of all faiths. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement that he will continue to uphold the status quo is a hopeful sign that he recognizes the importance of this carefully crafted compromise regarding the holy sites and it is critical that Israel allow free access to the Temple Mount to Moslems for prayer.

The entire issue of the status of Jerusalem in any potential peace agreement is of course so difficult. I strongly believe that an agreement must honor the integrity of Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem and that is why  the eviction of Arab famlies from areas which are clearly Arab neighborhoods and the settling of Jews in those homes for the purpose of establishing a Jewish presence is a provocative and oppressive act and is wrong. Jews and Arabs should, of course, be able to live wherever they want to live and I understand the desire of Jews to see the city reflect the long tradition and love our people have shown for Jerusalem over the centuries. But, a love for Jerusalem should be reflected in bringing peace to the holy city and peace will not come unless residents are respected equally and both sides work, God willing, towards a fair and equitable long term solution.

In one sense,  building of new homes in Jewish neighborhoods over the “green line” should not be controversial  if it is evident that those neighborhoods would remain in Israel if a two state solution were ever reached. But, the timing of such building and the statements by Israeli government officials that such building is intended as retaliation for Palestinian political or terrorist actions is , I believe, very bad strategy and is offensive. This is not to deny or understate the evil of acts of  terrorism or threats of violence. These are intolerable and certainly are a tremendous obstacle towards peace. But, it does not help the situation in any short term or long term way for Israel to build right there and right now when every act becomes a further detriment to peace.

As I have written in this blog many times, I fell in love with the city of Jerusalem during my first days in Israel in 1979. As Jews, we should not apologize for the love affair we have had with Jerusalem for millennia. But, I believe our love should be expressed by helping Jerusalem to be the city it can be and by rejecting and condemning violence and any actions which stand in the way of a settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

May we see the peace of Jerusalem and all who love her.

There are a lot of important issues to write about this morning: the mid-term elections, the situation in Jerusalem and other critical issues which should be on all of our minds. But, in the eclectic spirit of this blog, I want to write about someone who performed a very important function for many of us. He made us laugh and maybe taught us something about our cars in the process.

Tom Magliozzi died yesterday at the age of 77. He was one of the “Tapett” brothers, who brought the show Car Talk to people across the country and around the world each week on NPR. I have to admit that I had never listened to the show until about a year ago. I’m not that interested in cars and even knowing they were from Boston, didn’t make me want to listen to two guys named Click and Clack talk about automobiles. But, a year or so ago, I turned to one of the NPR stations on Satellite Radio which was airing an old episode of Car Talk and I realized what I had been missing all of these years.

Yes, they were talking about cars and I actually learned a little from their conversations. But, what I particularly found endearing was their way of talking with callers. I love to observe how different people in various areas of broadcasting interact with the public and they had a knack for laughing with people, pushing their jokes just far enough to stop short of insulting the caller, chit-chatting with them while they were trying to figure out a good answer to their problem and generally made them feel good about calling the show. That is one of the two things about their show that I particular liked as both Tom and Ray (and don’t ask me which was which, I’m still not sure) made their callers and their listeners laugh.

But, for me, the highlight of the show came at the end of each hour and with Satellite radio playing three hour long episodes each afternoon, we got to hear this three times each day. They would always end by reading the “credits’, the names of fictitious individuals who contributed to their show and they were the most marvelous puns I have ever heard and that is not an exaggeration. I don’t know who wrote them but they were fantastic.

Among the best: the Russian chauffeur Picov Andropov, the airplane seat tester: Wilma Buttfit, the head of the working mother’s division: Erasmus B Dragon and my particular favorite, the videographer from the Tel Aviv office: Shlomo Replay. If any of these escape you, stick with it, you’ll figure it out and then just type in Car Talk Credits on an internet search engine and you’ll get the entire list.

Thanks Tom for all the laughs. Some things live on after our death and good humor and good memories certainly do.

This weekend, Beth Israel will host two events as part of a community wide Yiddish festival. The festival’s activities will include lectures, films, music and a general celebration of Yiddish language and culture.

I don’t speak Yiddish. I understand some words and phrases but like many my age, my association with Yiddish is largely nostalgic and is focused mainly around what I remember from my childhood.

My maternal grandmother spoke Yiddish quite often and usually spoke it in conversation with my father. My grandmother was born in Russia and Yiddish was her first language and the language spoken at home when she was a child. My father was born here but his father spoke Yiddish at home. He was a non-religious Jew who was completely absorbed in Jewish culture and Yiddish was naturally the focus of much of my grandfather’s identity as a Jew.

My mother understood some of her mother’s Yiddish but never spoke the language so my experience with the language was listening to my grandmother and my father try to speak with each other. I say “try to” because while they both spoke Yiddish, there was obviously a great difference in the language they had each learned based on the fact that their families had come from different places in Europe. I remember finding it very funny to hear them try to understand each other, most often succeeding, but only after critical English words had been thrown in to the conversation.

After all these years, the clearest memories I have of Yiddish in our home was of my Grandmother’s and father’s frequently used phrases. I’m going to try to recreate some of them here but keep in mind that transliteration is always a problem and their brands of Yiddish came from particular places and times so the phrases which might sound a bit off to anyone exposed to a different form of the language.

Some of my favorites were her response to a simple Gut Shabbas. She would say: Gut Shabbas, Gut Yor, a Gezunt Yor, a Leibidike Yor “You should have a good year, a healthy year, a year of life”… I think there were more good wishes but I don’t remember them.

Then, if we were to pass a car on the side of the road which had been in an accident or some other kind of trouble, she would always say: nidugadacht. which I take to mean: “it shouldn’t happen”.

Finally, she would often say when something bad happened: “Oy a klox a mir” which I think meant: “Oy, there is a curse on me” but I’d love to hear a better translation.

My father’s favorites included this line which we often heard while watching football games; “vikeyn gihaged dorten”, “you could get killed there”.

He would always talk about “a taite bunker” at the end of a long phrase meaning: “It would help as much as a dead leech”.

But, there were other much more common phrases as well and other longer, more explicit and more emotional expressions which I won’t go into.

I know there is so much more to Yiddish language and culture than the few odd phrases I still remember from my childhood. I regret not learning the language and being able to read Yiddish stories or poetry in the original. But, I am truly appreciative of those who aim to keep the language and the culture alive. It is a critical part of our tradition as Jews and the revival in different places of Yiddish helps us continue the chain of Jewish culture and tradition to generations to come. It also helps many of us hold onto some distant childhood memories.

I hope those of you in Ann Arbor will take advantage of the opportunity offered by this very special week of programming to celebrate Yiddish. Even if your familiarity with the language is weak as mine is, we can all rejoice in this important part of our tradition and our culture.

This morning, I did it again. I stood out in the chilly pre-dawn air. This time I had to stand in the middle of the street but I was able to do that rather comfortably. I know some people in neighboring homes were looking at me trying to figure out what I was doing. But, it’s no secret and it shouldn’t have been a surprise. I was looking at the total lunar eclipse. It was a beautifully clear morning and once I was able to get to a point where the trees weren’t in the way, it was a beautiful sight.

I have written in this blog and in other places about my fascination with astronomy and with various celestial phenomena. In many ways, the lunar eclipse is among the less spectacular of these to the layperson. There is, really, not much to see except a progressively smaller and then progressively bigger moon. But, still, I am fascinated and wouldn’t miss it when it is visible, especially since Michigan weather rarely seems to cooperate.

I think that for me the most fascinating aspect of the lunar eclipse is the most easily explained by those more skilled in science than myself. But, I still can not quite understand how these events can be predicted so accurately. I know it is simply a matter of mathematics, physics, astronomy etc. which scientists find easy to calculate using their knowledge and computer technology. But, I see in this predictability the hand of the Creator whose universe follows such strict, predictable rules that such calculations can be made in the first place. This eclipse, like all of the others, was right on time.

But, this lunar eclipse was special in another way. A lunar eclipse, by definition, can only take place at the time of a full moon. But, this full moon is special in that it is the full moon heralding the beginning of the holiday of Sukkot this evening. Biblical holidays were calculated according to the lunar month and the time for Sukkot, the harvest holiday, was established at the full moon. Whether there was a philosophical reason for this date or whether it was simply the brightest night of the month which would make a celebration more meaningful or more convenient, it seems so appropriate that the holiday be tied to the full moon.

What particular moves me about this though is that, 6 months ago, on the other side of the calendar, we looked at the same full moon as we sat down at the Pesach seder. Passover was also timed to come at the time of the full moon allowing us to imagine the Exodus from Egypt taking place on that brightest night of the month with the light reflecting from the full moon symbolizing the light of freedom.

Not every full moon produces a lunar eclipse of course. But, I am grateful for the opportunity this year, as we approach the holiday of Sukkot to have had a good reason to go out and stare at the moon. Doing so reminds us not only of the grandeur of the universe but of the passage of time as we move from celebration to celebration, from festival to festival, from freedom to Thanksgiving.

Hag Sameach!

Our Rabbis teach us that there are 613 commandments, mitzvot, in the Torah. There are many ways to divide these commandments: positive (You must…) vs negative (You must not…), ritual vs ethical, etc. But by studying this past week’s Torah portion of Ki Tetze, we can see another way to divide the commandments.

While there are some commandments we must perform, some we only perform if the opportunity arises: such as returning a lost object or sending away the mother bird before taking from the nest. We can’t plan to observe these mitzvot, we can only observe them if given the opportunity.

But, there is in addition to these, one mitzvah which falls into neither category.

There is a mitzvah which we can only observe unintentionally.

This is the mitzvah of the forgotten sheaf. According to the Torah, if after harvesting one’s field, one realizes that one has forgotten to take in a sheaf of wheat from the field, one is forbidden to return to claim the sheaf. We must leave it for the needy.

This mitzvah can only be observed unintentionally. One can certainly pro-actively leave a sheaf in the field for the poor- in fact the mitzvah of peah, leaving the corners of the field unharvested for the poor to take is a reflection of this. But, one can not claim to have forgotten a sheaf if that was done on purpose. The mitzvah can only be fulfilled if, in fact, the sheaf was actually forgotten. Thus, only by the unplanned act of forgetting the sheaf can this mitzvah be fulfilled.

So, what does this have to say to those of us who are not farmers?

Perhaps the message here is that sometimes we do good things for people without intending it or even without realizing that we have, in fact, done so. Sometimes, we perform acts which have unintended and unidentified positive effects.

As we approach the High Holy Days, we consider our lives and consider the good and the bad that we have done. It is human nature that we might have performed acts which were harmful to others without realizing it and so we have to atone for sins we know of and those we might not be aware of.

But, we should also take comfort in the possibility that something we did benefitted someone else without our knowing it. We should take some measure of solace in believing that, in fact, we might have metaphorically speaking forgotten a sheaf in the field which ended up benefitting a fellow human being.

This year is the 47th anniversary of a baseball season I will never forget and I know I share that with every New Englander above the age of 55. It was the year of the Impossible Dream, the year the Boston Red Sox shocked the baseball world by winning the American League Pennant after so many years of frustration and embarrassing play. What a season it was.

There were many fantastic moments in that season: Billy Rohr almost pitching a no-hitter in his first major league start, going 8 and 2/3 innings before giving up a base hit with the first out of the 9th coming on a tremendous catch by Carl Yastrzemski; the Sox coming back from an 8-0 deficit to beat the Angels 9-8; Jose Tartabull throwing Ken Berry of the White Sox out at home plate to end a 2-1 victory and two wins against the Twins in the last two games to secure the pennant.

But, there was one night at Fenway Park that was excruciatingly sad- and I was there, 47 years ago last night.

The Red Sox were playing the Angels and in the lead when Tony Conigliaro came up to bat in the 5th inning. Tony C was one of the most popular Sox players, especially among the younger fans. Handsome, muscular, young and quite the “man about town”, he was the epitome of the young sports idol. He even had recorded a 45 rpm rock and roll record as a singer (one side was called “Playing the Field”). He was a power hitter who had reached 100 home runs at an earlier age than any other player in American League history. He had it all.

We were sitting in the bleachers that night and I distinctly remember looking down at my scorecard as Jack Hamilton of the Angels threw the ball to the plate. I remember hearing an odd noise and looking up saw Tony Conigliaro lying on the ground motionless. The ballpark was silent. All of the excitement of the pennant race and all of the fun of the game was gone in that one horrible moment. I remember people who saw Tony get hit in the face saying that they thought he had been killed. Apparently, many of his teammates feared so as well.

He was lifted carefully onto a stretcher and carried off. He survived with damage to his vision and the Sox went on to win the pennant but the memory of that night stayed with the team and its fans.

Tony Conigliaro actually made a comeback two years later and played rather well for the Sox but his eyesight worsened again. He even came back once again briefly in 1975, ironically the next Red Sox pennant year but he only played a few games.

He died in 1990 after suffering a heart attack and a stroke 8 years before.

Some say he would have been one of the greatest hitters of all time. But, we’ll never know.

So, what is the point of this posting? Just another Red Sox memory?

Maybe.

But, maybe there is something more. Maybe it’s just another reminder to cherish each day, to make the most of our skills and talents while we can and to realize that no one is invincible.

I will never forget that night. I remember sitting in the back seat on the way home trying to make sense of it all.

I couldn’t figure it out that night and still haven’t and never will.

May he rest in peace and may we all cherish every day.

Over the years, I have done my share, some would say “more than my share”, of criticizing specific policies of the government of Israel. I should note very quickly that these comments need to be taken in the context of the many times I have celebrated what Israel means to us as Jews and to the world as well and the joy I have experienced in taking many groups on tours to Israel over the years. But, I stand by my criticism about the policies that I feel are not in line with the values and a secure future for the State.

I want Israel to be the best nation that it can be, taking into account its legitimate security needs. I want the vision of an Israel based on justice, equality and fairness to be fulfilled and I am disappointed when it is not.

But, let me be clear, as I have been so many times before. Focusing on human rights and other issues within Israel is not in any way meant to imply in any way that Israel’s failings are worse than other nations. That is obviously not the case.

In addition to focusing on issues in Israel, we as Jews, need to speak out against heinous violations of human rights and ethics that take place in the world. What we are seeing from the news stories about ISIS and other extremist groups against Christians and other minority groups is horrendous, heartbreaking and demands a response. This is uncivilized behavior for which there is no excuse and for which there should be no tolerance. I am proud that our nation is seeking to stop the advance and growth of this group and I only hope that we accomplish that mission and save the individuals who are being persecuted and slaughtered in such inhumane ways.

It is natural that we focus on the issues facing the countries that are nearest to our hearts. Recognizing that our failings are less objectionable than others in the world doesn’t remove from us the responsibility of putting our own house in order. But, it is also incumbent on us to fulfill the responsibilities of speaking out against human rights abuses throughout the world and to speak frankly and bluntly when others engage in actions which go against our values as human beings. I pray for our nation’s and the world’s strength in standing against such atrocities and stopping them.