This is Shabbat Hagadol. The Great Sabbath. The Big Sabbath. This is the week in days of yore that the rabbi would give one of two sermons a year. This one to help you prepare for Passover. So, to be clear: Passover begins Weds night at sundown. In this community it lasts for eight days. (In Israel and the Reform Movement it lasts for 7 days which is the Biblical mandate.) Our community seder is back to pre-pandemic levels and we are excited about welcoming you home. It is a pilgrimage festival, when all the Israelites would have a family reunion of sorts in Jerusalem to offer the paschal sacrifice. It was centralized worship. So welcome home.  

Let’s think more about this. In even days of older yore, Passover was about three things. Matzah. Lamb, and bitter herbs. That’s it. No chocolate covered matzah. No charlotte with wine cream. No Passover blintzes. No carefully purchased cakes from the kosher Jewel. It was all about the matzah. 

The poor bread. The bread of affliction. Just wheat flour and water. Carefully watched. The bread that didn’t rise because the Israelites hurried to flee Egypt. No rye. No spelt. No gluten free. And certainly no egg matzah (my favorite) or that with grape juice or apple juice.  

It was all about getting the children to ask a question. “Why are we doing this?” 

And the response is to be: “It is because of what the Lord did for me, when I went forth from Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Ex. 13:8).  

Mitzrayim in Hebrew means Egypt, the narrow places. Each of us, even today, has been freed from some narrow place. This makes the telling of the story of Passover, the maggid section of the Haggadah rich with layers of meaning and discussion. Praised are those who linger over the telling, as the Haggadah itself says. The rabbis of Bnei Brak had to stop their seder to go say the morning Sh’ma! Also a story in the Haggadah. And if you know Simon, his ideal seder goes to midnight with lots of discussion. (Don’t worry, it rarely goes that long!) 

Today’s Torah reading is a little obtuse to our modern sensibilities. We no longer have centralized worship in Jerusalem. We may not care at all about animal sacrifice or the priestly class. Some of that seems to be the focus of today’s Torah portion. Unleavened cakes, yes, that’s matzah, make an appearance in today’s portion.  

Yet there are still implications for us today. Priests were born into the priestly class. After the destruction of the Temple, we don’t have a priestly class per se. Rather, the rabbis taught that each home was a mikdash me’at, a small sanctuary, and that we re-enacted the ritual that priests did. Each of us, then is a priest (pr a priestess) in our own home. That is clear during the Friday night table service, with candles, kiddush and motzi. Perhaps it is even clearer during the Passover seder. 

We are also told that Shalom Bayit, peace of the house is an important Jewish value.  

Today’s haftarah has an important verse that relates to how we tell the story to our children.  

“Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the LORD. He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents, so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with utter destruction.” 

This is a verse that hints at the messianic age, where everything and everyone will be at peace. We hint at this at the seder when we open the door for Elijah and welcome him to every seder. We hint at it when we welcome Elijah to havdalah and most especially to brises and baby namings with a special Elijah’s chair. We pray at those moments that Elijah will turn the hearts of parents to children and children to parents. 

On Wednesday morning, we will explore another aspect of the Haggadah, the Four Sons, or as I prefer, the Four Children. (Spoiler alert, We’re back to the same verse, Tell you child on that day…and I have a new interesting interpretation.)  It is again about how we tell the story. What did G-d do for me, for you, for each of us as we went forth from Egypt, out of the narrow places.  

In our Saturday morning service we have a reading between Ein Keloheinu and the Aleinu. “Rabbi Elazar taught in the name of Rabbi Hanina: Peace is increased by disciples of sages: as it was said: When all of your children are taught of Adonai, great will be the peace of your children. (Isaiah 54:13)” It goes on to explain why there are two mentions of the word children. They explain that the peace of our children will be great if we teach peace and if we have “true understanding.” It adds, “May there be peace within your walls, security within your gates.” (Berachot 64a) 

Often times I hear things like “the younger generation just doesn’t understand.” Or “we don’t have to listen to them. What do they know, anyway? “ Or “They don’t care.” 

But these texts make clear that we have an obligation to tell our children. To teach our children.  

And then to listen and respond to our children. They are our legacy. Like Honi, before us, it is our obligation to plant for our children—and our children’s obligation to grow those gifts. That’s what stewardship is. That’s what Passover is all about. Leaving a legacy for our children—the story of what G-d did for our ancestors, and for each of us as we went forth from Egypt, out of each of our narrow places. 

I think I may have used this quote recently. Some say it is apocryphal, but it is sourced at leat of Goodreads.com as follows: 

“When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” 
― Golda Meir, A Land of Our Own: An Oral Autobiography 

Earlier this week, there was yet again another school shooting. Three staff people killed. Three children, nine year olds murdered. I don’t have all the answers. It seems clear to me we need to limit access to guns, enact red flag laws and do background checks. It seems clear to me that we need more access to mental health services. There is no one solution. I will continue to advocate for less violence in general and less gun violence in particular. 

In the predictable responses, one stood out because it parallels what Gold Meir said. “I want to live in a country that loves its children more than it loves guns.” 

I want to live in a country where children are not afraid to go to school. I want to live in a country where we listen to our children. Where a dear friend doesn’t tell me there is no place that is safe and she is afraid to go anywhere. She still does.  

My friend Rabbi Menachem Creditor teaches Torah on youtube and Facebook every morning for UJA-New York. Citing his teacher Rabbi Bradly Shavit Artson from the University of Judaism talks about another part of our extended Torah reading this week. In Chapter 8 of Leviticus, we learn about the ordination of priests. It is a messy, bloody mess. It is not how rabbis today are ordained. Part of what was done was to put blood on the right ear, the thumb of the right hand and the big toe of the right foot. Judaism teaches that faith is what our body does. He didn’t say this, but I am reminded of the verse “We shall do and we shall hear.” The doing comes before we even know what we are supposed to do.  

They cite Philo who explained that the fully consecrated, the priests must be pure in words and action and life because words are judged by hearing. (Reminds me of the Girl Scout law!) For Philo, deeds, actions and our lifes’ journey must be how I devote myself. That’s how we show our service. our faith. Ibn Ezra centuries later said that we must attend to what one has been commanded and that the thumb is the origin of activity. I have to listen well. My feet must walk this earth with purpose, until we take responsibility. Pesach is a journey of freedom. And Tzav tells us we must listen well, we must use our bodies for good and we must keep going.  

Our obligation then, from this Torah portion is to listen, to do and to journey.  

Tell the story. Make peace where there is strife. Listen to our children. To do. And to march. To leave this world a better place.  

Last week, our ritual chair, Gene Lindow, taught some Torah that he noticed because of the calligraphy of the Torah scroll itself. Each paragraph began with “and if.” I am grateful for his noticing and his teaching. And if. What if we live in a world of “And if” or as Judy Chicago put it in a poem I know I have used before.: 

And then all that has divided us will merge

And then compassion will be wedded to power

And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind

And then both men and women will be gentle

And then both women and men will be strong

And then no person will be subject to another’s will

And then all will be rich and free and varied

And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many

And then all will share equally in the Earth’s abundance

And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old

And then all will nourish the young

And then will cherish life’s creatures

And then all will live in harmony with one another and the Earth

And then everywhere will be called Eden once again.

Go tell the stories, of our ancestors’ liberation and your own. Go listen to your children. Go make peace.

This is no joke. Heed the weather warnings for your area. There are isolated thunderstorms, hail and yes, even some tornados. No, I don’t believe these are plagues. Even though we are a week out from Passover and this Shabbat is called Shabbat Hagadol, the Great Passover. 

Tonight, we are going to look at how our tradition treats weather phenomena. Precisely because we have had lessons in it right here, right now, this week. 

Some of you are in my adult Hebrew class. We’ve been looking at the prayer Ma’ariv Aravim. The rabbis of the Talmud who codified this prayer and its parallel one in the morning service Yotzer Or. The language is beautiful. Poetic. The rabbis knew that for many people the way into G-d is being wowed by creation. That could be a mountain top (hard in Illinois), an ocean or an inland sea, a sunrise, a sunset, So many possibilities. This week, at the continuation of the changing of the seasons and the beautiful display of planets, I just want to call to your attention one line: You open the wisdom the ages of dawn…set out the succession of the seasons and arrange the stars in the sky.” Tonight, before sunset I took a picture of buds. Spring really is coming! How many of you were able to see the five planets aligned. A rare astrological occurrence. It was awesome! That’s the kind of thing this prayer is talking about.  

If we were to rewrite this prayer for our modern times, it might be full of awe and gratitude. 

Blessed are You, Ruler of the Universe, of time and space, who creates human beings who appreciate nature and are inspired by the changing seasons and the stars in the sky. How ineffable. How mysterious. We cannot fully express our gratitude for the beauty of Your creation. We have the capacity to be loved and give love and give back to the universe and strive for peace. Blessed are You, creator of darkness and light, night and day.  

(During the service there were numerous interruptions as weather alerts kept happening. People said that their sirens were going off. I calmly told people if they needed to go to their basement or find another safe space, they should. We wondered if we should even log off entirely. It was the scariest service I have ever led and I would not want to do it again!) 

Now let’s go back. The kabbalat shabbat service is arranged with 7 psalms, one for each day of the week. Many have something to say about G-d’s creation. Let’s look at snippets of them,  

Psalm 95: “In God’s hand rest the world, God fashioned. Seand and land, abyss and mountain peak. All are God’s. This seems to parallel the beginning of Yotzer Or which praises God for all things. Blessed are You…who forms light and creates darkness, who makes peace and creates all things.” Really? Tornados? Murderers? We’ll have to keep thinking about this! 

Psalm 96: “Let the heavens rejoice. Let the earth be glad. Le the sea and all it contains exalt. Let field and forest sing for joy.” How do we know when the heavens are rejoicing? On a beautiful sunny day? During a beautiful sunrise or sunset? Many of you have told me know during a snow storm but they can be quite beautiful and awe inspiring!  

Psalm 97: God’s lightning illumines the earth. (Trust me, God, I could use a little less lighting and a little less thunder right now. My dog would appreciate that, too ((that may be a prayer!))…Light is stored for the righteous, the tzadikim and joy for the upright in heart.”  

Psalm 98: Let the sea roar, and all its creature; the world and its many inhabitants. Let the rivers applaud in exaltation, let the mountains all echo earth’s joyous song. 

Psalm 29 which we also use during the Torah service talks about the voice of God seven times. This is the powerful, booming voice of God, reminiscent of the 10 Commandments. This is a voice that thunders, roars and echoes. It can shatter cedars and split rocks and strips a forest bare. This is a God to be feared. And yet, it ends on a re-assuring note. God will bless God’s people with strength and with peace. 

Then we get to Psalm 92—the Psalm for Shabbat itself. It praises God, saying “Your works, Adonai make me glad; I sing with joy of Your creation. How vast works, Adonai. Your designs are beyond our grasp! And that may be the point. The Psalmists and the rabbis of the Talmud were right. Being outside in nature is to have a WOW! Moment. To be inspired. To be awed. By the power, the might, the beauty.  

It is especially true after hurricanes. Often some Evangelical Christian pastor will blame a group of people—gays, Jews, blacks, for not living up to God’s word as he (it’s always a he, right?) interprets it and so God is punishing an entire community. Sadly, it is not just Christians. We’ve seen it with some segments of the Orthodox rabbinate too. This logic has been applied to COVID-19 as well. I don’t want to give them any additional air time, so I am not footnoting these references, but you can search for them if you must.  

However, it is not hard to see how they draw conclusions based on our common scripture. In the second paragraph of the V’ahavta which we recite every day from Deuteronomy 11, we are told that if we heed the commandments then G-d will favor our land with rain at the proper season. In autumn and spring we will have an abundance of grain, wine, and oil (All the things we need to make Shabbat!). We will eat to contentment. (I’ve always liked that line!) BUT, if we stray and worship false gods, then God’s wrath will be directed against us.  

Some have argued that this is only for the land of Israel. Others have argued that it is a very early warning about climate change. I have a hard time, as I said at the beginning blaming people for causing the wrath of God. Thinking that God is punishing us for some sin or other.  

Back then, the writers of our sacred liturgy that we use today didn’t have the scientific knowledge that we have today. Do I think that God is sending tonight’s weather as a punishment for something we have done, or not done? No. Absolutely not. 

But I am still wowed by the view from a mountain top or a sunset over Lake Michigan and I add my voice to rabbis of long ago. “Could song fill our mouth as water fills the sea and could joy flood our tongue like countless waves. Could our lips utter praise as limitless as the sky and could our eyes match the splendor of the sun. Could we soar with arms like an eagle’s wings and run with the gentle grace as the swiftest deer, never could we fully state our gratitude.” That’s awe.  

(More wind. Lights flickering. Remember to breathe. Ruach, is breath is Hebrew. It is also spirit. Ruach. Remember to breath.) 

Hannah Shenesh penned a poem much more recently than the rabbis of the Talmud or the Psalmists:
O Lord, My G-d, I pray that these things never end.
The sand and the sea.
The rush of the water.
The crash of the heaven.
The prayer of the heart. 

This is my prayer tonight! 

(If the only Torah I taught tonight was pekuach nefesh, preserving a life, I think I succeeded. I hope I was a non-anxious presence, through the wind, rain and hail. We were lucky. We had no damage. We never lost power. I have some friends in a neighboring town with significant tree damage and a fence. We mourn the loss of live in Belvedere when a roof collapsed, killing one and injuring 40. Two remain in critical as of this writing.) 

Vayikra. And God called. (He actually because Hebrew is a gendered language and this is a masculine, singular past tense verb. Yes, today you may learn some Hebrew grammar) Usually, as Myrna will tell you the Torah uses a different verb here. “Vayomer Adonai el Moshe la’mor. And the Lord said to Moses saying.” or “ Vaydaber Adoani el Moses. And the Lord spoke to Moses.”  

Why then is this Vayikra? We use this verb to also mean Proclaim or Read. This morning we are going to read Torah, we are going to publicly proclaim Torah, to call it out. We use the same word for saying the Sh’ma outloud, when we recite the Sh’ma it is called It is called Kriat Sh’ma, in Hebrew. 

This verb ends in an aleph—the first letter of the Hebrew alef bet, and as we know a silent letter. In every Torah as part of the scribal art the letter is written as a little letter. I call it the little alef that could. 

This silent letter is so important. There are a number of midrashic interpretations about why it is small. Perhaps because it points to Moses’ humility. Perhaps it shows a compromise between Moses and God. Moses apparently wanted to write Vayikar, and he happened which is what occurred in the description of Balaam. But this was no chance occurrence. It denotes a meaure of affection and intimacy. Therefore God wanted an aleph, so they compromised; and it was written small. (Bereishit Rabbah 52 and Leviticus Rabbah 1) 

Rabbi Avi Weiss echos that thought when he says, The small aleph of vayikra: Infinite love between God and the Jewish people” 

But what is God calling Moses to do? God calls out of the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the mishkan to tell Moses to tell the people to draw close to God by offering sacrifices. Leviticus is often complicated for us today. We are not so into animal sacrifices in the mishkan or in the Temples that were destroyed thousands of years ago. And yet, we may long to draw close to God. We may feel called to do so.  

We began this discussion last night. Moses is called. He has a unique job, to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and to lead them wandering in the wilderness. It appears that he did not get to complete his task, we will learn much, much later in Deuteronomy. Pirke Avot teaches, “Ours is not to finish the task; neither are we fee to ignore it.” 

Moses is not the only person in the Torah who is called.  

וַיִּקְרָ֛א יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ אַיֶּֽכָּה׃  

God יהוה called out to the Human, Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?” 

And their answer, they did not draw close to God, instead, Adam and Eve run away from G-d and hide.  

Hearing the silent sound of aleph can be hard. There is another important alef. Rabbi Larry Kushner tells this story in his book, The Book of Miracles, “No one really knows for certain what happened at Mount Sinai. Some people believe that G-d dictated the entire Torah word for word. Others believe that it included the Oral Law as well. Some believe that G-d inspired Moses. In Makot 23a and b, the rabbis of the Talmud were having just such an argument—what happened at Sinai. It teaches us that G-d didn’t give the ten commandments, but only the first two sayings. One who remembers that there is a G-d who frees people and who has no other gods will be religious. Another rabbi argued that it was just the first saying. Still another said that it was just the first word of the first saying, Anochi. But Rabbi Mendl Torum of Rymanov said, “Not even the first word. All G-d said was the first letter of the first word of the first saying, the first letter of the Alef-bet, alef” Now this is somewhat problematic, since Alef is silent. Almost but not perfectly. You see alef makes a tiny, little sound that is the beginning of every sound. Open your mouth (go ahead, do it). Stop! That is alef. G-d made the voice of Alef so quiet that if you made any other noise you wouldn’t be able to hear it. At Sinai, all the people of Israel needed to hear was the sound of Alef. It meant that G-d and the Jewish people could have a conversation.” 

When I first thought I wanted to become a rabbi, I tried to talk about it in the language of call. After all, I grew up in Grand Rapids and I had friends who felt “called”. At that stage, people closest to me thought perhaps it was a mental health issue. That I was hearing voices (I was not) and the Jewish community at that stage was not comfortable with this language, having ceded it to Christianity. Often times in theology that there is a pendulum that swings and now it is more acceptable to talk about the rabbinate this way. But calling is not limited to professional clergy.

Each of us is called to do something. Each of us can hear the silent sound of aleph. Something unique just for us, some role we play. Last night I talked about how for Ken that might be his shofar playing. (He’s still thinking about that) For Gale it might be telling the stories of her parents and Ken’s who were Holocaust survivors. She agreed. 

Teachers often describe their work as a calling. Doctors, nurses, first responders. But not just those. Rabbi Jeffry Salkin in his book Being God’s Partner that I describe as What Color is Your Parachute for Jews tells this story: 

“The boss of the moving crew was a delightful, crusty gentleman, a dead ringer for Willie Nelson. I had never met anyone so enthusiastic about his or her work, and I asked him the source of that enthusiasm. 

“‘Well, you see, I’m a religious man,’ he answered, ‘and my work is part of my religious mission.’ 

“‘What do you mean?’ I asked. 

“‘Well, it’s like this. Moving is hard for most people. It’s a very vulnerable time for them. People are nervous about going to a new community, and about having strangers pack their most precious possessions. So, I think God wants me to treat my customers with love and to make them feel that I care about their things and their life. God wants me to help make their changes go smoothly. If I can be happy about it, maybe they can be, too’” (Jeffrey Salkin, Being God’s Partner). 

A Hasidic disciple once asked his master: “Rebbe, where is God to be found?” And the rebbe answered, “God is found wherever he is allowed in.” The possibility to live a meaningful and spiritual life is right there for the asking. We only have to decide to take the step and open that door in our lives. 

Frederick Buechner, of blessed memory has said that “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” 

Our calling may be our work. It may be something as Buechner suggests we are passionate about whether that is paid work, our vocation or our avocation, those things that we do as our volunteer work. Many of us in this group are retired. We might not want to be defined by our “work.” 

Work in Hebrew is a word that fascinates me. Avodah. It also means service and sacrifice. The Israelites were avadim—slaves and Moses was an eved Adonai, a servant of the Lord. Service and sacrifice helps us to draw close to God.  

Our calling could be being a Girl Scout leader, coaching a soccer team, serving on the board of a non-profit—or even a synagogue, maybe even this synagogue. It maybe donating blood. Or working to eradicate hunger or homelessness or to address environmental issues. It could be bringing the gift of music to life. Or working as an election judge. (Did you know that suburban Cook County still needs 1000 election judges for next month’s election, according to the Chicago Tribune?) For much of Simon’s family it revolves around refugee work coming out of their understanding of how the US treated Holocaust refugees here and the mission from Torah of welcoming the widow, the orphan and the stranger because we were strangers in Egypt. A perfect pre-Passover message. 

Our vision statement includes a plank about meaningful observance. That is a complicated phrase. What is meaningful to you may not be meaningful to me or to the person sitting next to you, in the room or on Zoom. Striking a balance so that most people at CKI can find meaning is part of my calling.  

Finding your unique calling helps you find meaning. 

Victor Frankl, himself a Holocaust survivor having been in four concentration camps himself, wrote Man’s Search for Meaning and discovered that those who had a sense of purpose did better in concentration camps. He concluded that “We can discover this meaning of life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.” And while he is most known for his work on logotherapy and his work on meaning. The Viktor Frankl website points out that he had a thriving career before the war. “In 1930, at the age of 25, he organized free youth counseling centers in Vienna that successfully combated the epidemic of teen suicides occurring around the time of report cards. Within a year, suicides dropped to zero.” https://viktorfranklamerica.com/viktor-frankl-bio/ That is quite some calling. A purpose. A mission.  

Our recent book group book, Defending Btitta Stein, hints at this search for meaning. Emma, Britta’s granddaughter in debating with co-counsel whether to ask for a continuance of a trial to prove that Britta’s allegations and graffiti are true and thus not defamatory about a “Nazi collaborator” says, “I know, but she doesn’t want us to continue the trial date [She’s 92 and in the hospital]. In some ways I think the trial is giving her energy. It has focus. It’s become her mission.” (page 293) 

Each of us has a niche, like the moving man. A mission like Britta. A calling, a vision, a purpose. It is what gives us meaning and helps draw us closer to God.  

Figuring out what our calling is can be hard.  It can be hard to hear that silent letter Alef. However, if we can be quiet enough, we can hear it.  

Today’s portion continues the description about building the miskhkan. The sanctuary. The tabernacle that went wandering with the Israelites. It nd was a home for G-d. 

Recently our congregation learned an old  Shaker hymn,  

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary,
Pur an holy, tried and true.
In thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.  

It can be a msh up with
Ve’asu li mikdash veshachanti betocham
Ve anachnu nevarech yah Me Atah ve Ad olam 

Note the change in person here. Prepare ME, first person singular with V’anachnu, First person plural. We will bless You. It takes each Indvidual pulling together for the good of the whole to make a community, to build a sanctuary. Then, and only then we can praise G-d.  

Our story unfolds in exacting repetitive detail—but don’t try to build it yourself at home. Any number of years of building fourth grade models tells me that it isn’t possible. And my brother the architect would agree.  

Nor does it answer the question of why we are building this in the first place —or why G-d needs a home.  

In this mishkan, in the Holy of Holies we are to place the 10 commandments. The whole set, and the broken pieces of the first set. Estelle Franke in her book Sacred Therapy quotes a midrash: 

She notes that the original tablets may reflect many of the dreams and hopes, and even spiritual structure of our youth. Then we live our life. Reality sets in and we learn. This story “teaches us that it is important to hold on to the beauty and essence of dreams that we once held dear, for our initial visions contain the seed of our purest essence. Gathering up the broken pieces suggests that we must salvage the essential elements of our youthful dreams and ideals and carry them forward on our journeys so that we can find a way to realize them in a more grounded fashion.  For ultimately the whole and the broken live side by side in us all, as our broken dreams and shattered visions exist alongside our actual lives” ( “Sacred Therapy” p. 43) 

We are building sacred space as a home for G-d, as a home for the Israelite community, for a home for the 10 commandments and for our hopes and dreams—those that we realize and those that we could not realize—yet. 

Today, we call this very space our sanctuary. It is a refuge. A holy space. And we similarly say that our homes should be a mikdash me’at, a little sanctuary. After the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, our homes became the holy of holies, a source of Shalom Bayit, peace of the house. That our Friday night table service to start Shabbat with its hlessing of candles, wine and bread, makes Shabbat time holy time. Holy time and holy space. 

Today we read again about keeping Shabbat. It adds that we are not to kindle fire on Shabbat. Abraham Joshua Heschel called Shabbat a palace in time and space, a foretaste of the world to come. It is both holy time and space. 

Holy in Hebrew is k-d-sh. To be set apart. We call Shabbat Kadosh. We call G-d Kadosh. We call the prayer over the wine, kiddush. We call a prayer Kedusha…Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, Holy, Holy, Holy. .We call another prayer Kaddish. We call marriage kiddushin.  

In the opening line of our very long parsha today, the opening word is Vayakhel. And we were convoked, we were called together. We are more used to that word in its noun form, convocation. call together or summon (as in an assembly or meeting). 

We may know the Hebrew word vaykahal from the word kahal. Or kehila kadosha. We are a kahal, a group of people that are called together, or a kehila kedosha, the holy community. 

Ultimately, that is what we are building. A kehila kadoshal Yes, the old joke is true—Goldstein comes to the Beit Tefilah, one Hebrew word for synagogue to talk to G-d—and for some of us, it is easier to do so in this beit. But Goldberg comes to Beit Kneset to talk to Goldstein. 

This building, our sacred space, is a beit tefilah, a house of prayer, a beit kneset, a house of assembly and a beit midrash, a house of study. Our vision statement of being a Jewish community for lifelong learning, building community, meaningful observance and embracing diversity lives out those terms. For each of you there maybe different reasons you come to shul, to this very house, your home. It maybe for services, just like this morning. It maybe for social programs, for community, to talk to Goldberg or Goldstein or even Goldman whose here this morning. It maybe you come to learn more about Judaism and you enjoy things like book group, Torah study, Hebrew or even these weekly discussions. 

Building sacred space,, in sacred time, building a kahila kedosha a sacred community, includes.a little bit more. It includes  

• creating a safe, non-judgmental space, where no one feels threatened, or bullied, or picked on. Where the words of our mouths and the mediations of our heart are kind. Where we open our mouths with wisdom and the law of kindness is on our tongues. I’m still working on that one.  

• Building a sacred space that is accessible to all.  
• Treating peoples, all people with the knowledge that they are created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d 
• Celebraing and mourning with people, all people, in times of simcha, joy, and when times are tougher, by showing up for celebrations or for funerals and shiva minyanim. 
• Helping with other life cycle events, births, Bnei Mitzvah, weddings.  
• Contributing at least a half-shekel as we learned last week or the offering of your heart to keep the place going.  

We know that the nature of community continues to change. But community is still about connection between people, and between people and G-d. That’s what a kehila kadosha is sacred connection between people. That’s what they were really building in the desert. That’s what we are building here. 

Each of you has a skill, a craft as we learn in this portion. Each of you counts. Each of you can help to build this mishkan and make it a sacred place, a holy place in time and space.  

Then as Isaish explained “This will be My house, a house of prayer for all peoples.” Isaiah’s prophecy continues, “I will gather still more to those already gathered.” Come help us gather the people, all people, together, as we build this house.  

Today is the last reading from the Book of Exodus. Next week we move onto Leviticus. As we do when we conclude any book of Torah, we say, “Chazak chazak v’netchazek. Be strong, be strong and be strengthened.”

“And in the circle of our little village, we have always had our special types. 

Nahum, the beggar

[NAHUM, spoken]
Alms for the poor, alms for the poor

[LAZAR, spoken]
Here, Reb Nahum, is one kopek

[NAHUM, spoken]
One kopek? Last week you gave me two kopeks

[LAZAR, spoken]
I had a bad week

[NAHUM, spoken]
So, if you had a bad week, why should I suffer?” Fiddler on the Roof Lyrics, from the song, “Tradition.” 

This week we lost one of the favorites of Broadway, Chaim Topol, most famous for his portrayal of Tevye in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof. In the Forward, the obituary began with these words: “Fiddler on the Roof is a landmark piece of Jewish culture. It has shaped the way Jews are perceived by others, and how we understand ourselves.”  

However, the last time I saw it on Broadway, my cousin, who definitely is in family who can be described as one that has made it in America, was uncomfortable with how the movie portrays Judaism and Jews. “We’re not really like that any more. It’s not relevant. It will only increase anti-semitism.” And while I was uncomfortable with the conversation, she had or maybe better has some valid points. Maybe she was even prophetic.  

In this age of rising anti-semitism, we don’t necessarily want to see the bumbling, joking dairyman . But maybe, just maybe he is like struggling with how the world around him is changing. Maybe we are all a little bit a fiddler on a roof, just trying to eek out our existence, even here in America. 

Tevye, through Shalom Aleichem’s prose and the stage and screen adaptation, has much to teach us. He is still relevant, and he will live on in our ability to quote Topol and hear that resonant voice. I know I hear that voice, that cadence, even as I deliver this d’var Torah. 

The beggar, in our opening scene today, has much to teach Tevye, Topol and us about today’s Torah portion, which opens with a census. All men of 20 years and up must pay a half-shekel as a way of counting. Not more for the rich or less for the poor. A half-shekel. It is what keeps the mishkan, the sanctuary going.  

This is not tzedakah, not charity. This is everyone’s obligation. A half-shekel. Yet, Nahum the beggar, is teaching us about tzedakah. It is everyone’s obligation, whether you have had a bad week or not. No one should suffer. 

Maimonides, the Rambam in his work identified 8 levels of tzedakah. 8 levels of righteous giving. It is a kind of ladder. 

[1] The highest rung, is to support another, with a gift or a loan or giving him (or HER) a job. It is that old maxim. Give a man a fish and he’ll fish for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll fish for a lifetime.  

[2] A lower rung of tzedakah is to give to the poor without knowing to whom one gives, and without the recipient knowing from who he received. This is a mitzvah solely for the sake of Heaven. This is like the “anonymous fund” that was in the Holy Temple [in Jerusalem]. There the righteous gave in secret, and the good poor profited in secret. It is also like the rabbi’s discretionary fund. Where people give to the fund, then I distribute it based on needs.  

[3] Still lower is when one knows to whom one gives, but the recipient does not know his benefactor. The greatest sages used to walk about in secret and put coins in the doors of the poor. It is worthy and truly good to do this, if those who are responsible for distributing charity are not trustworthy.  

[4] Still lower is when one does not know to whom one gives, but the poor person does know his benefactor. The greatest sages used to tie coins into their robes and throw them behind their backs, and the poor would come up and pick the coins out of their robes, so that they would not be ashamed. 

[5] Still lower is when one gives to the poor person directly into his hand, but gives before being asked. 

[6] A lesser level is when one gives to the poor person after being asked. 

[7] A lesser level is when one gives less than one should, but gives gladly and with a smile. 

[8] The lowest rung on Rambam’s ladder is when one gives unwillingly. 

The story of Nahum the beggar reminds me of a story that Rabbi Larry Kushner tells. It could be set in Anatevka, or any small village where miracles might happen. Could it happen right here in Elgin? The richest man in town fell asleep during the rabbi’s rather boring sermon. Any of you ever fallen asleep during services? I have. All our rich man wanted to do was figure out how to make even more money. The rich man woke up, and thought that he heard G-d commanding him to bring 12 loaves of challah and put them in the ark. He was amazed. Is that all G-d wants? He would be sure to do it. And he did. 

Later the shul shamash arrived to clean the building. He was poor and hungry. He stood before the ark pleading with G-d for food to feed his family. “O G-d,” he prayed, “we are out of food and we will soon starve if You don’t help us.” And then he thought he smelled challah. He opened the ark to dust, and wow, right there were the 12 loaves of challah. He thanked G-d, and went right home incredious. The family ate six, sold four and gave two to tzedakah.  

The rich man was feeling a little foolish, went back to the shul to retrieve the bread. But when he opened the ark, miracle of miracles, it was gone. G-d had eaten the challah! He promised he would make twelve more and with raisins, too.  

This exchange went on for years. One day, the rabbi was so tired he fell asleep in the back pew. But he woke up just in time to see this routine. He (it’s always a he in these stories, right?) brought the two men together. The rich man said sadly, “I should have known that G-d doesn’t eat challah.” And the shamash said, “I should have known that G-d doesn’t bake challah,” even sadder. For them there was suddenly no miracle.  

The rabbi explained that they were correct. “G-d doesn’t eat challah or bake challah. Yet there is still a miracle. Look at your hands. Yours are the hands of G-d. Continue baking and continue taking. Yours are the hands of G-d.” 

There is another miracle. We may not have the half-shekel census any more. And Topol may never sing here on earth again, explaining “what the good book says,” but the Jewish people are still here. CKI has survived. For 130 years. Recently, CKI announced a match grant. It would be a miracle if we managed to turn $15,000 into $30,000. The message of today’s portion is that everyone counts. Everyone, even the beggar, even the shul shamash, can give tzedakah, is obligated to give tzedakah. You count. You make a difference.  Look at your hands. Yours are the hands of G-d.  

Many of you have asked how you can support the work that we do at CKI. Here’s your chance: https://www.ckielgin.org/  

 Remember…not to forget…remember…this is the message of Shabbat Zachor, just before Purim. We are to remember not to forget what Amalek did to us. He, or rather I imagine, his men on his command attacked our stragglers after the parting of the Red Sea. The women with kids, the old people, struggling to walk yet another step, the most vulnerable amongst us.  

Later when Saul was told to wipe out all of the Amalekites, when he was commanded to essentially commit genocide, he left the King of the Amalekites alive. For that, Saul lost his own kingship and David became King. 

There are those who see a direct line from Amalek to Haman. And those who see a direct line from Amalek and Haman to Hitler, even some of our modern despots. In the recent book group book, Thread of Grace, the scribe who has been sequestered away, hidden from the Nazis in a small town in Italy, remembers and enacts what his mentor had taught: 

““Before beginning our task, we blot out the name of Amalek, the biblical enemy of Israel. Thus, we remember the prophesy: our enemies shall pass, and we live.” Humming absently, Giacomo selects a tiny piece of parchment from among the remnants. Inscribes on it, in the vowelless Hebrew, the consonants of Amalek’s name. Crosses them out with two lines, crushes the parchment in his palm. This much is tradition, but he takes up a second snippet of parchment. Smiling grimly at his innovation, Giacomo Tura writes four more letters: HTLR. These he crosses out three times, and then he burns the scrap.” 

A rabbi I know in Boston with dual Israeli citizenship had this to say about Shabbat Zachor: 

“Shabbat zachor (this Shabbat) is always challenging for me because it highlights and glorifies the desire for revenge. I am finding that challenging on the best of days. These are not the best of days. There are people out there who consider Amalek, not as a non existing Biblical enemy of times long gone, but as everyone who disagrees with them, everyone who is not part of their religion. Everyone they hate. And they use this Biblical call to blot out the memory of Amalek to justify their acts of hate and violence today. These people use a prayer book similar to the one I use, and we generally are thought of as part of one religion. But I have come to understand that we are not. So I don’t wish to remember Amalek this Shabbat. Let it be a Shabbat of forgetting Amalek instead. Of leaving old grudges and past injustices behind and returning to a tzelem, image, of the divine, that is loving, not hateful, embracing, not avenging.” 

Memory is tricky. Complected. Important. Last night we talked about happiness and joy. I explained very briefly, that part of the reason we break a glass at a wedding is because even at our most joyous moments, there is some sadness. We miss those who we would have liked to be there. We are still mourning the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Four times a year we recite Yizkor prayers, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot. The Bible tells us to remember.  

It tells us to hear the shofar which Is called zihron t’rua.. In fact we add a section of liturgy for Rosh Hashanah called Zichronot precisely to remember. And the haftarah that day tells us that G-d remembered Hannah. (I Samuel 1:19) 

Perhaps Passover is the holiday where we are told over and over again that we should remember and tell our children on that day what G-d did for us as we went forth from Egypt. We quote Rabban Gamliel in the Haggadah: “In each and every generation, a person is obligated to see himself (or herself, I add) as if he left Egypt, as it is stated (Ex. 13:8): ‘And you shall explain to your child on that day: For the sake of this, did the Lord do [this] for me in my going out of Egypt.’ Not only our ancestors did the Holy One, blessed be God, redeem, but also us [together] with them did God redeem, as it is stated (Deut. 6:23): ‘And God took us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which God swore unto our ancestors.’” 

We don’t stop by remembering that G-d took us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. (We need both:  the power of the mighty hand and the compassion of that outstretched arm.) We remember that we were slaves in Egypt so we are commanded to remember that we were slaves and to take care of the widow, the orphan and the stranger. It is not just the happy memories of past triumphs and previous journeys. It is not just the old joke, “they tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat”. As My Jewish Learning reminds us, “Our memories shape us and guide our mission to build a better world. Our memories of bondage should remind us to wipe out slavery and to treat all people with dignity. Our memories of leaving the corners of our fields untouched should remind us to take care of “the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow” both within and outside our community. Our memories of Amalek should remind us of our role to blot out evil in the world. Ours is an active existence: We do not live in a state of forgetfulness or “forgottenness” but in a state of memory and consciousness that induces us to seek to make the world a better place. By doing so, we help realize the Baal Shem Tov‘s words that “in remembrance lies the secret of redemption.”  https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/remember-dont-forget/ 

In remembrance lies the secret of redemption. Let’s underscore that.  

And yet, memory is tricky, I said. In his book, The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel Van der Koek, one of the leading thinkers on PTSD makes the point that the body holds on to past trauma. For healing to take place, for real change to take place, the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present. As I have said, trauma can become generational, unless people learn that they are safe. 

When I was in Heidelberg, working on my thesis about this very topic, what we now call generational trauma, and watching CNN (It was the only channel I could understand!) Israel had just accidentally hit an apartment building in Lebanon. While there were no injuries, miraculously, it was striking to hear a resident clutching his two month old daughter saying he didn’t blame the Israelis but that it would take 20 years for people to heal emotionally. A full generation. He wondered what message his two month old was receiving. People need to feel safe.  

In 1994, an American Israeli physician Baruch Goldstein, used our text today to justify a massacre he perpetrated on the Muslim worshippers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. He was beaten to death by some of the survivors on the scene.  

This week we saw at least two terrorist attacks in Israel, causing the deaths or Hallel and Yagel Yaniv and then Elan Ganeles, a 27 year old from West Hartford, back in Israel to attend the wedding of a friend. These attacks led to riots and protests in the town of Huwara where one Palestinian was killed, and much property was destroyed. The IDF then prevented a solidarity visit to Huwara on Friday afternoon that had been organized by an organization Standing Together and other peacenik organizations Friday afternoon. What messages did this next generation of Palestinians and Israelia receive? Do they feel safe? From a quick glance at Israeli media the answer is emphatically no. On any side.  

Recently we read the section of the Torah that includes the suggestion that punishment should be eye for eye, tooth for tooth. We talked about whether that commandment had actually ever been carried out. While the Talmud teaches that if capital punishment once in 70 years it was a bloodthirsty court, it is not clear that it never happened. And we are reminded again that we should not hold a grudge or carry out vindictive punishment. “Vengeance is Mine,” says God. 

This model isn’t working. It’s like the fights in the sandbox. If you hit me, I’ll hit you back. Then you’ll go get your mother and I get my father. Soon the whole neighborhood is involved.  

What if there is another way? When I was a college student, I was madly in love with an Israeli. We were engaged. We were going to get married and spend half the year in Israel and half in the United States, working with the Reform Movement youth movement helping other students learn a love of Judaism and Israel. Sadly, those dreams ended when he was killed by a terrorist bomb serving as an IDF officer. The year, 1983. 40 years ago. Two generations. Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, and his subsequent works, helped me heal from that trauma. But the memory was reawakened this week. When will the victims’ families heal? Will they ever? There has to be another way.   

An organization that also helped me in my own journey is Parents Circle Family Forum. https://www.theparentscircle.org/en/pcff-home-page-en/ They bring Israelis and Palestinians together who have lost loved ones to the ongoing conflict. No one should have to endure the pain I endured as a 22 year old. Their work, however, is under attack. Yet again. Dialogue is not in vogue at the moment. I gave to them again this week. In memory of Yuval, the three Israelis killed and the Palestinian.  

Yossi Klein Halevi wrote an important article several years ago detailing the fact that there are two kinds of Jews. Purim Jews and Passover Jews. I have talked about this before. I thought he had found the description of my own home. You see, Simon hates Purim. I always thought it was the chaos that ensues, but he posted an important article about the underside of the Purim story published by the Reform Movement. https://reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/purim/adult-look-less-savory-truths-purim?fbclid=IwAR1dqGhgOTRqbGSCBhLbw1YH69CcpX22lUlU0B77rRJkAhUW5_oi6I-Nc0k 

Simon loves Passover. The food, the language, the expanded time to sit at dinner and discuss the issues of the day. 

Yossi , however, is teaching something different. Some Jews get the message of Purim—the world is a scary place. They are always out to get us. There are always Amalekites. Be afraid. Be very afraid. And then there are Passover Jews, those who believe that we have to welcome the widow the orphan the strangers because we were strangers in the land of Egypt. We know what it is to be a slave. 

I think there is a third way. I have said we need to have both philosophies at the same time. It is a both/and. A balancing act. 

Perhaps we also need to remember Esther this weekend. Mordechai told her emphatically that perhaps she was in that time and place precisely to find her voice in order to help the Jewish people survive. Maybe we all need to find our voices today. The protests that have happened in Israel almost every Saturday night since the election are heartwarming. They are finding their voices. The air force generals who are speaking out have found their voices. 

“The Jewish past is always present – we invoke it and remember it as a guide for our actions today; this is our transgenerational obligation. Thus, at the beginning of the Amida prayer, we invoke our biblical ancestors. 

Golda Meir reminds us of this challenge when it comes to remembering the past: “One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present” (My Life, p. 231). 

https://www.jpost.com/judaism/torah-portion/article-733182  

My friend from Boston ended her post with an Israeli poem. I will leave you with his words: 

“Order of the Day” by Yitzhak Laor 

Remember
That which
Amalek did,
to you
of course, 

Over.
Do unto Amalek
what Amalek
did, to you
of course, 

Over. 

If you can’t
find yourself
an Amalek, call
Amalek whomever
you want to do
to him what
Amalek did,
to you of course, 

Over. 

Don’t compare
anything
to what Amalek
did, to you
of course, 

 Over. 

Not when
you want to do
that which
Amalek did,
to you of course, 

Over and out, 

Remember. 

Be Happy It’s Adar: 

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands…then your face will surely show it.” 

When the calendar turns to Adar, the month of Purim, the greeting, the commandment, Is to “Be Happy; It’s Adar.” And while the survival of the Jewish people is a good thing, it is hard to command an emotion—or live up to it. Since my middle name is Joy and family members call me that, this is a topic I have wrestled with extensively.  

Is there a difference between joy and happiness? And if so, what? What if you can’t muster those feelings of joy and happiness? Does that make you a bad Jew? A bad person? 

In Hebrew there are multiple words for joy. Simcha. Hedva. Gila. Rina. Sasson, Ditzah, Oneg, Many of them turn up in the seven marriage blessings, the Sheva Brachot.   

If you think about it, we have different words for happiness in English as well. Happy. Joy. Gaity. Contentment. Pleasure. Delight. So what is the difference, and does it matter? It is nuanced. In preparing, I asked on Facebook how others see these terms. Lori Lippitz, who is with the Klezmer Foundation and who I have reconnected with since being back in Chicagoland, (her sister used to babysit me!) said this: “Purim is a happy holiday. There’s something less momentous about happiness than joy. Joy is profound and elevates one from everyday life. The chatan and kallah feel joy. The L’chayim we give on Purim, conversely, is light-hearted and happy. It’s very much of this world. Adar asks the question, “What if we always triumphed over Haman? What if happiness were our normal condition?” Adar gives us a chance to imagine what that would be like.” 

Our Friday night liturgy gives us lots of opportunity to talk about joy. The word, simcha, is sprinkled throughout the service, especially in the Psalms we use on Friday. 

Psalm 95: “Let us rejoice in our Creator.”
Psalm 96: “Let the heavens rejoice…Let field and forest sing with joy.”
Psalm 97: “Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart.”
Psalm 98: “Let all on earth shout for joy.”
Lecha Dodi, “Greeted in joy, in song and accord.”
Psalm 92: “I sing with joy of Your creation.”  

Another friend, from Spain said, “To be happy and joyous means having freedom to be me. It is genuine goodness and comes from a place of honesty and integrity. You can’t fake joy. You can fake happiness. Both are felt in your heart and communicated through your eyes. Both talk to the absence of negativity for the moment they are felt. They are transient and temporary. We can construct happiness and through happiness comes joy. The most important thing in both of these emotions is that the more you give them away, the more you have yourself.” 

This reminds me of another song from camp. “Love is something if you give it away…you’ll end up having more.” It is true for happiness too. As is the concept of another song, “Happiness runs in a circular motion. Thought is a little boat upon the sea. Every body is a part of everything anyway. You can be happy if you let yourself be.” Except I learned that as Love is a little boat upon the sea. So there seems to be a connection between happiness and love. 

Closer perhaps to my thinking, I found this quote: “Joy is an inner feeling. Happiness is an outward expression. Joy endures hardship and trials and connects with meaning and purpose. A person pursues happiness but chooses joy.” Compassion.com  

Our Declaration of Independence suggests that we are guaranteed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Happiness, is then something we run after, we actively chase, but we are never quite there. Can you choose joy? I have a coaster that I set my morning coffee on, hoping to set that as my intention for the day.  

David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times in addressing a graduating class of Arizona State University said: 

“Happiness usually involves a victory for the self. Joy tends to involve the transcendence of self. Happiness comes from accomplishments. Joy comes when your heart is in another. Joy comes after years of changing diapers, driving to practice, worrying at night, dancing in the kitchen, playing in the yard and just sitting quietly together watching TV. Joy is the present that life gives you as you give away your gifts.” 

Or maybe it is the reverse as Elaine Steinberg suggested: “Joy is unbridled and external, such as the birth of a baby. Happiness is a sustained and nourished state of mind ( 

She agrees with Rabbi Jo David, “The difference I think has to do with what is sustainable. Happiness is sustainable. Even small things can bring happiness into our lives many times a day – walking die. The block on a mild winter day, for example. Joy is the result of experiencing something that is out of the ordinary. As an example, completing a very difficult task that may have seemed impossible at some point.” 

I am not sure ultimately that it matters. What matters is how we attain joy or happiness. Many people mentioned being with friends and family. Others mentioned pets. Books. Wine. Coffee (It wasn’t me, really!) For some it is being in community—like CKI or even watching Michigan football. (That wasn’t Simon either!). Sports. Accomplishing a task. Pursuing beauty. Cooking good food.  

However you find happiness, or create it for others, may this celebration of Purim allow you to Be Happy.  

Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry Be Happy (Lyrics) 

This Shabbat we read more commandments, laws and rules that are in any other parsha. It is one that has some very famous commandments. 

Friday night, as part of our series on Love in February, we talked about the reason for rules. In both Ahavat Olam and Ahavah Rabbah we praise for giving us the Toah, filled with mitzvah, hukki and as the title of this week’s portion calls the mishpatim. They are a sign that G-d loves us. Yes, G-d loves us. And as we discussed, while we may rile against rules, loving parents provide rules as a structure, as a limit, to keep us safe. 

The Sh’ma, the watchword of our faith, the proclamation that G-d is one, is blanketed by love. The prayer Ahavah Rabbah is called the great love. Deep is G-d’s love for us. We know this because G-d gave us Torah. After the Sh’ma, we chant the V’ahavta, commanding us to love G-d with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might or being. I often say with all our everything. But the mental health professionals tell us that we can’t legislate an emotion. So how can the Torah tell us that we have to love love G-d, that we are obligated to, that it is a commandment? What if the text that follows is a recipe for love? How we demonstrate love. We teach our children diligently. We talk about these very words at home and away. Yes, that means even when you are driving carpool and swinging through a fast food drive through. We inscribe them on the doorposts of our house—those mezuzot—and they are wrapped on our arms and a sign before our eyes.  

The Torah text when the 10 Commandments are given is interesting. We are told that the Israelites said that “na’aseh v’nishma, we will do and we will hear.” How is that possible? How can they do the commandments before they hear them. Maybe it is like this? Maybe we do before we love. 

In any case, my class on meditating on these very words, when I rise up and when I lie down, has been very informative. I would say that I am still not a good mediator. I do much better with walking meditations. However, this class on Receiving and Extending Love has enriched my life and my understanding of these three prayers in profound and unexpected ways. 

Today’s portion has one particular law that I want to expound upon: 

When [two or more] parties fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact, the payment to be based on reckoning But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. 

As Tevy would say, “Very good. That way the whole world will be blind and toothless.” (Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof) 

We are all familiar with the concept of an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth. In some cultures, this is still how justice is enacted.  

But maybe not in classical Jewish thought. Rabbi Jonathan Kligler reminds us that as early as the Talmud, which codified both written and oral Toah, that Judaism saw this mandate as specifying not capital punishment but financial restitution. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/eye-for-an-eye/  

There is a difference between Torah law and rabbinic law, but the reality is that we are all rabbinic Jews. We talk about Written Law (the Torah) and Oral Law, those things handed down from G-d to Moses at Sinai, then passed to Joshua, the prophets, the (men) of the Great Assembly, Sandhedrin and the rabbis.  That for thousands of years, rabbis have interpreted and changed Torah precepts and made Judaism what it is today. Judaism did not get stuck with just the pronouncements on the mountain—or Moses’s words Deuteronomy. No, rather, Judaism evolved and continued to evolve.  

Kligler says that he thinks it is “necessary to continue to remind us of this fact because of the durable stereotype that much Christian thought foists upon the Jews: Judaism is the religion of law, while Christianity is the religion of love. In that telling, when Christianity emerged, Judaism somehow became frozen in time, rejecting the New Testament, forever stranded in the obsolete ancient paradigm of harsh justice that Christianity was here to transcend. 

That means that Judaism IS a religion of love. It is not just Christianity. And we see it clearly in how Judaism mitigated the harsh rule of an eye for an eye.  

In cases of capital law, the dispute concerning such a prohibition is with regard to the issue that is the subject of the dispute between Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and the Rabbis, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says with regard to that which is written: “If men struggle and they hurt a pregnant woman…and if there shall be a tragedy you shall give a life for a life” (Exodus 21:22–23), the reference is to a monetary payment for the life that he took. The tragedy referenced is the unintentional killing of the mother. (Sandhedrin 87b-10) 

Similarly, we learn in the passage in Mishnah Makkot 1:10: “A Sanhedrin that puts a man to death once in seven years is called a murderous one. R. Eleazar ben Azariah says ‘Or even once in 70 years.’ R. Tarfon and R. Akiva said, ‘If we had been in the Sanhedrin no death sentence would ever have been passed’; Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel said: ‘If so, they would have multiplied murderers in Israel.'” 

Maimonides, the Rambam, continued this line of thinking:  

“How do we know that the intent of the Torah‘s statement with regard to the loss of a limb, “an eye for an eye,” is financial restitution? That same verse continues “a blow for a blow.” And with regard to the penalty for giving a colleague a blow, it is explicitly stated: “When a man strikes his colleague with a stone or a fist . . . he should pay for his being idled and for his medical expenses.”5 Thus, we learn that the word tachat (תחת) mentioned with regard to a blow indicates the necessity for financial restitution, and so one can conclude that the meaning of the same word with regard to an eye or another limb is also financial restitution. Although these interpretations are obvious from the study of the Written Law, and they are explicitly mentioned in the Oral Tradition transmitted by Moses from Mount Sinai, they are all regarded as halachot from Moses (i.e. oral tradition going back to Sinai). This is what our ancestors saw in the court of Joshua and in the court of Samuel of Ramah, and in every single Jewish court that has functioned from the days of Moses our teacher until the present age 

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/capital-punishment  

This weekend is known nationally in the Jewish community as “Repro Shabbat,” sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women. Congregations all over the United States are studying these very texts, precisely because of the verses we just looked at. 

There are a number of directions we could go. The first would be the rules and interpretations around the topic of miscarriage and abortion.  

Let me be clear, I have studied these carefully for years. This topic, however, may not be the most relevent to those of us gathered here today. It may be of supreme importance to your children or grandchildren.  However, if you or your daughters or granddaughter, need an abortion and are having a hard time finding access to one under the current laws emerging across the Untied States, I will sit with you, I will hold your hand and I will help you find access to one that is safe. Period. And if you are struggling with infertility or have had miscarriages, I will sit with you. I will hold your hand. I will cry with you. And I will help you find access to quality medical care. 

What I really want to talk about is access. It is not just abortion or contraception—which the way we are restricting it is a violation of one of the Unted States founding principles of separation of church and state and freedom of religion.  

As Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg has said, As Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg has said so eloquently: 

“Our access to reproductive health care is guaranteed not only by the Fourteenth Amendment ━ the right to equality and privacy ━ but also by the First Amendment’s guarantee that no one religion or religious interpretation will be enshrined in law or regulation. The fact that the Supreme Court does not currently recognize this does not change the fact that we are entitled to these rights under law.” She provides all the classical texts here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/234926.19?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en 

In addition, as our nation restricts access to abortion, we are restricting access to medical care and reducing maternal health. This is particulaly true for people of color!  

The statistics are overwhelming. And I have them!  

In 2020, the latest available data, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women was 55.3 per 100,000 live births. The national average is 23. 23 and 55 may not sound high until you realize that the next highest country is New Zealand with only 12 and the Netherlands had 0. Our rates in this country are higher than any other industrialized nation. There is no reason that women need to tie in order to give birth. This is about access.  

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2020/maternal-mortality-rates-2020.htm  

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/us-maternal-mortality-crisis-continues-worsen-international-comparison 

Yet it is not just maternal health we need to worry about. It is all women’s heath care. 

How many of you have been to a doctor and been told,” it is just stress” or “you should just lose weight? How many of you have thought your concerns were not taken seriously, that you were not listened to? 

One big area is around heart disease. Appropriate for sure this weekend where we wrap up our series on love and heart. There is a reason we are hosting CPR this weekend. First it is the yahrzeit of a member’s father who died at a synagogue from a heart attack because there was not an AED and no one was trained. We have an AED because of a grant from the City of Elgin and now all of our teachers will be trained. Don’t stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds. 

When I run on the elliptical, I sing a Hebrew song from the Amidah. “V’tahar libeinu l’avdecha b’emet, Cleanse our hearts that we might serve You in truth.” Itsrhythm is just right for me and keeps my legs and my arms pounding. Exercise and activity are good for our hearts, right?  

Yet heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. And according to the CDC, cardiovascular disease in women remains under diagnosed and undertreated in part because of a belief that it just affects men. However, one in five American women deaths are caused by heart disease.  

We need to learn the symptoms of heart disease in women. These include: 

Although some women have no symptoms, others may have5 

• Some women have no symptoms or they may experience: 
• Angina (dull and heavy or sharp chest pain or discomfort) 
• Pain in the neck, jaw, or throat 
• Pain in the upper abdomen or back 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6206467/ 

Access to quality health care is not just a problem for women and gifls in the US. It is a worldwide problem.  

The World Economic Forum makes these recommendations of what we can learn about health care for women coming out of the pandemic so that women and girls are not left behind: 

• Give a voice to women and girls: policymakers and stakeholders must include women and girls at the centre of recovery processes and listen to their needs, challenges and solutions. Empowering women and girls has proven to increase the health and well-being of the entire family and community. 

• The right to sexual and reproductive health: recognize and normalize women’s health services as essential health services during outbreaks and crises, and support the World Health Organization’s operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak.
   
• Shift mindsets and embrace positive changes: women and girls from developed and developing countries are facing inequalities and neglect and it’s everyone’s task to wake up, recognize the hard reality and become an active actor in the solution process.
   
• Bring girls and young women back to school: seize the opportunity to transform the education system by promoting distance learning programmes for everyone including the most marginalized, and integrate new teaching methods addressing girls and young women’s unique needs for safety, health and well-being 

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/lessons-must-be-learned-from-covid-19-s-impact-on-women-s-health-and-rights 

Many of us in this room are privileged, lucky even. We have access to health care when we need it. We will continue to have access, even as costs go higher and higher. That is not true for everyone, especially women and especially women of color. I am proud to serve with Michael Isaacson on the Kane County Health Board and the Saint Joseph Leadership board to make sure that women, all women have access to quality health care.  

As we enter Adar, the month of Purim, I am reminded of what Mordecai said to Esther.  

if you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come from another quarter. And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.” 

This week we read Mishpatim as the portion from the Torah. After the high of receiving the 10 Commandments, we now receive a bunch of laws, rules and commandments that help us set up a just and righteous society. It is time to get down to brass tacks.  

This weekend is also Presidents’ Day Weekend. This got me thinking about how these two portions and our own democratic institutions intersect, if in fact, they do.  

In Pirke Avot warns us: “Be careful about the government, as they approach a man only when they need him. They seem like good friends in good times, but they don’t stay for him in time of his trouble.” (Pirke Avot 2 ; 3) And yet since Jeremiah’s day we have prayed for our government wherever we have been. 

J. Liebling’s has said that the “Freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one” . . .

Our portion opens with a description of the rules for holding Hebrew slaves. Yes, despite having been slaves in the land of Egypt, Israelites were still permitted to have slaves. And despite being told over and over again that we should have one law for citizen and sojourner alike, there seems to be a different rule here for Hebrew slaves and non-Hebrew slaves. (Exodus 21:2-6)  

Many are surprised that Israelites owned slaves. Or that someone might want to be a slave for life. Yet it is these very verses that leaders in the southern United States used to justify continuing slavery before and during the Civil War. That kind of proof texting can be dangerous. It still is.  

This week is also Shabbat Shekalim, one of four special Sabbaths leading up to Passover which this year is in April. And, public confession. I had part of it correct on the weekly Torah sheets that guide those on the bimah as to what to read and that we announce page numbers from so that people can follow along. The correct haftarah for Shabbat Shekalim is  

However, on Shabbat I announced the wrong one. While others were reading about a census and how we count because each person gives a half-shekel, I read the haftarah that goes with Mishpatim, about the liberation of slaves, chapter 34 of Jeremiah. It is very clear. “that everyone should proclaim a release among them—that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female and that on one should keep his fellow Judean enslaved.” Then G-d gets angry, because the Israelites don’t fulfill their end of the bargain, their end of the covenant by freeing their slaves. And yet, the haftarah portion then does something remarkable. It goes backwards and we read Chapter 33 of Jeremiah which promises that G-d will restore Israelite fortunes and take them back in love. Full stop. 

How then does this relate to Presidents’ Day? We had American presidents who had slaves. Washington, Jefferson, Madison. The first seven presidents. Some knew that the institution of slavery was wrong. Some argued against it. When we get to President John Quincy Adams the history gets more complicated.  

In Massachusetts he apparently did not own slaves. In Washington, as president he did. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-enslaved-household-of-john-quincy-adams  

We know a lot about President Washington. We know what he ate. We know he had dentures. We know he owned slaves. We know that he wrote a powerful letter to the Jewish community of Newport, RI promising that the government of the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance” https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-06-02-0135 The guarantee of freedom of religion and no establishment of a state religion was ratified in the Bill of Rights in 1791.  

We know the story of his chopping down the cherry tree and Washington’s declaration that “I cannot tell a lie.” It is part of our American mythology. It is not unlike our midrash about Abraham. Abraham who invented monotheism, the believe in one God, is said to have told his father that the largest idol in Terah’s idol shop smashed the other idols. Our patriarchs (and our matriarchs), were not perfect people. Our presidents and leaders were and are not perfect people. Far from it. And we can continue to learn from them and from history.  

We need to teach that history. All of that history. We need to teach that Thomas Jefferson had slaves. That he even raped slaves. That he founded a great university but that he had had great debt. That he gave much of his library to settle some debts and others didn’t want to accept it because some of those books should not be read at all and maybe should be burned. https://www.americanheritage.com/jefferson-and-book-burners .  

There has been lots written about cancel culture, rewriting history, teaching it differently, taking down statues, putting others up. There has been lots written about banning books. About rewriting Roald Dahl, how to present a book like Are You There, God, It’s Me Margaret. 

It is important to understand history. It is important to continue to learn about history. Even if the stories as they were presented in elementary school seem to have changed as our knowledge increases. 

I am really clear on these points. I am against book banning and book burning. I am against re-editing books to shield students from uncomfortable truths. Books like To Kill a Mockingbird and Huck Finn are perpetually on banned book lists. Why? Often because it uses the N-word. I am for more knowledge and more understanding of history—and the context that goes with it. Owning slaves, while permissible in Exodus, was not OK in Jeremiah’s day. Owning slaves in Colonial America was wrong. Using the Bible to justify it was wrong. Instituting Jim Crow laws was wrong. But all of that happened. Racism still exists. Books like the 1619 Project and Caste and White Fragility make it abundantly clear. Conversations with friends make it even more poignant and real. Erasing it doesn’t make it not true. 

On this President’s Day we need to be really careful, really, really careful how we treat history. How we teach history. Biblical ‘history” which evolved over time. And American history. And yes, let’s eat a piece of cherry pie. Not because Washington did. Just because it is fun and it gives us an opportunity to have this very discussion. Over pie and maybe hot chocolate.  

Part Two of our Series on Love for February. Delivered Feb 11, 2023

Today is the day we read the 10 Commandments. In Hebrew they are called the Aseret Dibrrot, the 10 Sayings.  

In truth, there are 613 commandments in the Torah, and that can seem overwhelming.  

Are some of them more important than others? Are there any that are missing?  

If you are feeling overwhelmed, it helps to know that some of 613 commandments we no longer have to do. Since the destruction of the Temple, we are not obligated to the commandments that have to do with offerings in the Temple.  

The Talmud describes the commandments this way: 

“R. Simlai said that Moses was instructed to give 613 injunctions to the people. 365 precepts of omission, corresponding to the days of the solar year, and 248 precepts of commission, corresponding to the bones of the human body. David reduced them all to eleven in the fifteenth Psalm: ‘Lord, who shall abide in Your tabernacle, and who shall dwell on Your holy hill? He that walks uprightly,’ etc. The prophet Isaiah reduced them to six (Isa 33:15): ‘He that walks righteously,’ etc. The prophet Micah reduced them to three (Mic 6:8): What does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?’ Isaiah, once more, reduced them to two (Isa 56:1): ‘Keep your judgment and do justice.’ Amos reduced them all to one (Am 5:4): ‘Seek you me, and you shall live.’ But lest it might be supposed from this that God could be found in the fulfilment of God’s whole law only, Habakkuk said (Hab 2:4): ‘The just shall live by his faith. (Makkot 23b) 

Of course, we are familiar with the story of Rabbi Shamai and Rabbi Hillel. 

Once there was a gentile who came before Shammai and said to Shammai: Convert me on condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot. Shammai pushed him away with the builder’s cubit in his hand. The same gentile came before Hillel. He converted him and said to him: That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study. (Shabbat 31a) 

Rabbi Akiva said it slightly differently: 

Rabbi Tanchuma said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Menachem in the name of Rav said… Ben Azzai said: “These are the generations of Adam” is a great principle in the Torah. Rabbi Akiva said: This is a great principle of the Torah: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). Thus, one should not say, “Since I am scorned, I should scorn my fellow as well; since I have been cursed, I will curse my fellow as well.” Rabbi Tanchumah said, if you act thus, realize who it is that you are willing to have humiliated – “the one who was made in the likeness of God.” (Bereshit Rabbah 24:7) 

This quote from Leviticus maybe the missing 10 Commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself. This February we have been looking extensively at three commandments about love. Love the stranger. Love your neighbor. Love G-d. It seems simple, no? 

This week’s focus is on “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We say it every week at the beginning of Shabbat morning services. As Rabbi David Paskin says, it is a kavanah before prayer.  

“I hereby accept upon myself the commandment of The Creator, “To love my neighbor as myself, v’ahavta l’rayecha kamocha.!” 

First, we need to understand the word “raya”. It is most frequently translated as neighbor but can also mean fellow or kin. Some think it only refers to our Israelite neighbor. However, Nehama Leibowitz refutes this. When the Israelites are about to flee Egypt, the Torah teaches, “Let every man ask of רעהו his neighbor and every woman of רעותה her neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold…” (Exodus 11:2) where it clearly refers to the Egyptians. Therefore, the Hebrew word re’a is a neutral and comprehensive term – fellow.  (New Studies in VaYikra (Leviticus), WZO, 1995, pp. 366-367.) 

Does this discussion change our understanding of this pivotal verse found at the very center of the Torah? If we love our neighbor, our fellow our kin, is that how we become holy, because the Lord our G-d is holy? 

It reminds me of the teaching of Hillel in Pirke Avot, “If I am not for myself who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” (Pirke Avot 1:14) 

The second thing and maybe the more important one is we need to love our fellow AS we love ourselves. LIKE we love ourselves. Yes, we are all created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d, with the spark of the divine in us, but we need to love ourselves.  

How do we do this? How do we love our fellow? How do we love ourselves? I believe that the commandments, the 10 we read today and the 613 of the full Torah are a way to demonstrate our love our fellow. It is a recipe of love. Especially the Holiness Code.  

In Hebrew there are two words for love. Ahava, as in V’ahavta and Ahavat Olam and Ahava Rabbah. And Chesed, a word that is difficult to translate, perhaps best as lovingkindness. We are told that the world stand on three things, On Torah, on service and on deeds of lovingkindness. Gemilut chasadim. We know that G-d is full of lovingkindness in the 13 Attributes of the Divine.  

G-d is full of love. Let that sink in. G-d is full of love so we should be full of love.  

“As God clothed the naked, as it is written, ‘And the Adonai G-d made for Adam and his wife cloaks of leather, and he clothed them (Genesis 3:21);’ so you, too clothe the naked. The Blessed Holy One visited the sick, as it is written, ‘And God appeared in Ailonei Mamrei [while Abraam was in pain] (Genesis 18:1);’ so you, too, visit the sick. The Blessed Holy One comforted mourners, as it is written, ‘And it was, after the death of Abraham, and G-d blessed his son Isaac (Genesis 25:11);’ so you, too, comfort mourners. The Blessed Holy One buried the dead, as it is written, ‘And [God] buried [Moses] in the valley (Deuteronomy 34:6);’ so you, too, bury the dead.” (Sotah 14a) 

“These are the obligations without measure, whose reward, too, is without measure: To honor father and mother; to perform acts of love and kindness; to attend the house of study daily; to welcome the stranger; to visit the sick; to rejoice with bride and groom; to console the bereaved; to pray with sincerity; to make peace where there is strife…and the study of Torah is equal to them all, because it leads to them all.” (Talmud, translation from Mishkan Tefilah) 

Both of these are part of Shacharit, the morning service. And they are both a good list as we build our recipe of love. And as Rabbi Harold Kushner has said, “When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel.” 

A more modern list that our Torah School kids came up with might include shoveling your neighbor’s driveway or taking them a basket of goodies you know they would enjoy or walking a dog. Or as one said, just getting to know them and showing them respect.  

But how do we love ourselves? According to Rabbi Harold Kushner, “One of the basic needs of every human being is the need to be loved, to have our wishes and feelings taken seriously, to be validated as people who matter.” 

It seems we cannot begin to love others until we love ourselves. For some that is really hard to do. Loving ourselves and prioritizing our own needs can be challenging. Some of us may not have received the love we deserved as children, and this sets up the stage for difficulty loving ourselves. We may have grown up feeling unlovable, damaged, inadequate or unworthy. We may feel a constant need to prove ourselves. We may suffer and overcompensate with perfectionism, people-pleasing or over-working (Sound like anyone you know?) 

These techniques are rarely effective because love and acceptance have to come from within. It is hard to accept love from others if we don’t feel it ourselves. Unconditional love from others, or G-d, can feel phony and uncomfortable because if we don’t feel loveable, it is hard to believe that others genuinely love us.  

This could be the point where I argue that in this country, we most certainly need better access to mental health services. We do. The news of this week and the very long waiting lists for providers, especially for adolescents would attest to that.  

In the meantime, our commandment urges us to find ways to love ourselves.  

Some steps that might be helpful: 

1. Know yourself. 

1. Say no when you need to. Boundaries are an important part of self care.  

1. Don’t compare yourself to others. You are unique. Others aren’t better or worse. You have value just as you are.  

1. Be truly present and practice mindfulness. There is a reason I begin the Saturday morning service with allowing space for quiet reflection and a reminder that you are a beloved child of G-d. G-d created you and breathed your soul into you. You count. You matter. Just the way you ware.  

1. Practice good self-talk. Did your mom every say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”? Talking nicely about yourself to yourself is important.  

1. Practice gratitude. Modah Ani. I am thankful that I am here. I am thankful that YOU are here. Find three things a day that you are grateful for. 

1. Learn to forgive yourself. For the little day to day things and perhaps the big ones. Kusher says, “But at the end, if we are brave enough to love, if we are strong enough to forgive, if we are generous enough to rejoice in another’s happiness, and if we are wise enough to know that there is enough love to go around for all all, then we can achieve a fullfilment that no other living creature will ever know, we can reenter paradise.” 

V’ahavta l’rayacha kamocha. Love your neighbor as yourself.