Category: Insights & Inspirations

Do Not Try to Do Too Much! Quick comment: Parashat B’ha-ah-lo-techa (Numbers 8-12)

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By now it is no surprise that the children of Israel are complaining. This time the desert cuisine of manna is not to their liking, and they demand that Moses give them meat.

Moses loses it! He is overwhelmed, and in his anguish he cries out to God, “Shall I carry these people in my bosom as a nursing father (how I love that image!) carries a suckling child?“ (Numbers 11:12

But even though the Eternal One is also very angry with the people, God tells Moses to relax because he is taking too much on himself.

Then God instructs Moses to appoint seventy elders to assist him so that he will not suffer burnout in the desert. (Numbers 11:16)

Interestingly, before this incident we read a conversation in which Moses asks his father-in-law (Jethro in Exodus now called Reuel, so we are obviously dealing with two different literary traditions) to remain with the people to act as their eyes in the desert. Reuel says no. He must go back to his own people in his own land (Numbers 10:29-32). In Exodus it was Jethro who gave Moses the same counsel that God gives him in this week’s portion. (Exodus 18:14-26)

Whatever the source, the advice is crucial.

 The Talmud puts it succinctly: “If you try to do too much, you end up doing nothing.” (B. Sukkah 5b)

Often, as we grow in stature we allow our sense of self-importance to grow beyond legitimate bounds.

 And yet God had to remind Moses, of whom the Torah teaches we shall never see his like for greatness again (Deuteronomy 34:10), that he should not take too much on himself! If so, should we not heed the message ourselves?

Ein alterText wirft eine aktuelle Frage auf

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Kurzkommentar zu Parascha Naso (Numeri 4-7)

Der Toraabschnitt dieser Woche spricht die an, die sich freiwillig das Nasiräer-Gelübde auferlegt haben, üblicherweise für eine begrenzte Zeit.

Der Text scheint weit entfernt von unserer gegenwärtigen Lebenssituation, aber er wirft eine auch heute wichtige Frage auf.

Die, die das Nasiräer-Gelübde auf sich nahmen, durften sich auf keinem Fall einem Toten nähern, nicht mal einen nahen Angehörigen betrauern. Sie durften ihr Haar nicht schneiden oder den Bart rasieren, Wein oder starke Getränke durften sie nicht mittrinken.

 Die Tora sagt ganz klar, dass der Sinn des Nasiräer-Gelübdes ist, die Person “Heilig für den -EwigEinen” zu machen (Numeri 6,8).

Wir wundern uns zurecht. Wie kann das Auferlegen dieser strengen Verbote eine Person heiliger für Gott machen, als sie vorher war?

Ich finde keine Antwort, aber das macht nichts.

Die wichtigere Frage ist: Was können wir heute tun, selbst mehr “heilig für den EwigEinen” zu werden? Was können wir tun um uns selbst zu inspirieren unsere Bündnis-Verpflichtungen als Nachkommen Abrahams und Sarahs zu erfüllen: “Sei ein Segen !” (Genesis 12,2), “mach dir Gottes Weisungen zueigne und sei ihrer würdig” (Genesis 17,1) und unser Bestes zu tun und unsere Kinder und Enkel lehren ihr Bestes zu tun, um die Welt mit “Tzedakah (Gerechtigkeit) und Mishpat (Rechtschaffenheit) zu füllen (Genesis 18,19)!”

Sicherlich haben sich die Mittel der Selbstinspiration durch die Jahrtausende geändert, aber das Ziel bleibt das gleiche.

Wie versuchen dem Bild Gottes, nach dem wir geschaffen sind, näher zu kommen und unsere Begabungen, mit denen Gott uns gesegnet hat, einzusetzen für eine gerechtere, fürsorgendere und mitfühlendere Gemeinschaft aller Kinder Gottes.

Translation: Pastor Ursula Sieg

An Ancient Text Raises a Vital Question for Today

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Quick Commentary: Parashat Naso (Numbers 4-7)

This week’s Torah portion speaks of those who voluntarily take on the vow of the Nazirite, usually for a limited amount of time. This text seems far-removed from our contemporary concerns, but it raises a vital question for us today.

Those who took the Nazirite vow could not go near a dead body for any reason, even to mourn a close relative. They could not cut their hair or trim their beards, nor could they partake of wine or strong drink.

The Torah makes clear that the purpose of the Nazirite vow was to make one “Holy to the Eternal One. (Numbers 6:8).”

We rightly wonder. How could imposing these strange restrictions upon oneself make a person more holy to God than he or she was before?

The answer eludes me, but it does not matter.

The more important question is: What can we do today to make ourselves more “Holy to the Eternal One?” What can we do to inspire ourselves to more fully embrace our covenantal obligations as descendants of Abraham and Sarah to: “Be a blessing (Genesis 12:2),” to embrace God’s teachings and be worthy of them (Genesis 17:1)” and to do our best and teach our children and grandchildren to do their best to fill the world with “Tzedakah (righteousness) and Mishpat (justice) (Genesis 18:19)?”

Certainly, the acts we perform to inspire ourselves have changed over the millennia, but the goal remains the same.

We seek to more closely live up to the Divine Image in which we were created and to use the talents with which God has blessed us to make a more just, caring and compassionate society for all of God’s children!

Shavuot: A Wonderful Example of Reform Jewish Thinking!

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One of the great examples of Reform Jewish thinking, some 2000 years before there was anything called Reform Judaism, regards the Festival of Shavuot.

In the Torah, Shavuot is strictly an agricultural holiday, a celebration of both the first summer fruits and the barley harvest (Leviticus 23:15-22). Our ingenious Rabbinic Sages reformed (and I use that word purposely) the festival into the anniversary of our biblical ancestors receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. We cannot be sure of exactly how it happened but I imagine a scenario much like this:

A group of concerned rabbis were discussing the state of Jewish life. One Sage mused, “You know, Shavuot just doesn’t attract the great crowds to celebrate in Jerusalem that it once did.”

A second Rabbi answered: “That’s true, but it’s understandable. Times have changed!”

A third participant: “You are absolutely right! When we were primarily an agrarian society, first fruits and the barley harvest were compelling reasons to celebrate. Now, that we have become more urban, those occasions don’t mean as much to many people.”

First Sage: “What can we do?”

A fourth participant spoke up: “I’ve got it! If you look at the Torah, Shavuot comes 50 days after the first day of Pesach. That’s just about the same amount of time that it took our ancestors to travel to Mount Sinai after they left Egypt! Even though the Torah does not make the connection explicitly we can make the connection. From now on we can celebrate Shavuot—in addition to its biblical significance–as a joyous celebration of when we received Torah at Mount Sinai”.

A fifth Sage asks: “Can we do that?”

The fourth responds: “Not only can we, we must!! If we want our precious Jewish heritage to endure, we must be skilled interpreters of biblical texts so that they speak meaningfully to the present and future realities of our people.”

In this way, I can easily imagine, the rabbis of the Talmudic period took a fading agricultural festival and gave it a historical underpinning and new life for future generations. In similar fashion, our early Reform leaders made Shavuot the time when ninth, tenth, or—in some communities–twelfth grade students celebrate Confirmation.

The example of what our ancient Sages did with Shavuot must continue to inspire our thinking as Reform Jews today. If we want our precious heritage to remain vibrant and relevant, we must always be eager to embrace opportunities to make our traditions and celebrations speak more meaningfully to our children and grandchildren!

When we do, let us rejoice that the process of continually “reforming” Judaism is wholly consistent–and not at odds–with the process by which our Rabbinic Sages enabled Judaism to speak to the realities of their time and place.

My First Hebrew Teacher

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Quick Comment: Bemidbar (Numbers 1-3)

 In parashat Bemidbar (Numbers 3:1-7) God instructed the Levites to care scrupulously for the sacred vessels of our ancient tabernacle in our people’s journey to the Promised Land. Today, our sacred vessels are the children we teach, and how we do it can change their lives.

On the first day of class Shulamit Steinlight, my first Hebrew teacher, who died in 2010 at the age of 95, asked us our Hebrew names. I had no clue.

“Ask your parents,” Mrs. Steinlight responded. “And if they don’t know, ask your grandparents, and tell me next class.”

When I asked, my parents informed me that my Hebrew Name was “Siskin Labe.”

Mrs. Steinlight, who had lived for some time in Israel, exclaimed with a slight wrinkling of her nose, “That’s Yiddish!” You need a Hebrew name. It will be אריה . And אריה (Aryeh) it has been from that day to this.

Mrs. Steinlight gave me much more than my Hebrew name.

We were a rowdy bunch, but Mrs. Steinlight never lost her temper and never raised her voice. She made it clear, though, that she was there to teach, and we were there to learn. But I was not interested.

Mrs. Steinlight made me feel loved anyway.

Eventually, Hebrew and Jewish learning became vital to me, and I realize that Mrs. Steinlight was one of the reasons.

A couple of years before she died I located her and called her on the phone to tell her what she meant to me. Although she was thrilled almost to tears by my call, I sensed that she did not remember me. But no matter! I will always remember that she treated me like a sacred vessel entrusted to her care. And I am so glad I could tell her.

For My German Readers: Freiheit – ein schwer zu erreichendes Ziel

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Attachment-1

Kurzkommentar zum Tora-Abschnitt Behar (Levitikus 25, 1 . 26.2)

Wie verrückt suchte ich im Internet die Worte von Yitzhak Rabin, eingemeißelt in meine Erinnerung, aber offensichtlich vergessen von Google ob seinen bedeutenderen Reden.

Es war im Juli 1974. Rabin sprach vor dem Kongress und beschrieb wortreich, wie er als Kind die Worte auf der Liberty Bell in ihrem Hebräischen Wortlaut lernte: “U `kratem dror ba-aretz L`chol yoshveha – Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all of its inhabitants (Levitikus 25,10)   – Verkündet Freiheit allen Bewohnern des Landes!”

Rabin zeigte auf, dass diese zentrale Grundlage der Demokratien

von Amerika und Israel aus der Tora-Lesung dieser Woche stammt.

Leicht gesagt, aber schwer umzusetzen

Wie jüngste Ereignisse von Ferguson bis Baltimore in den USA und Demonstrationen in Tel Aviv und Jerusalem in Israel belegen, bleiben sowohl die 238 Jahre alte USA wie das 67 Jahre alte Israel hinter diesem Ziel zurück. Obwohl keines der beiden Länder seine hehren Ziele erreicht hat, versäumt keines, seine Ideale hoch zu halten. Es ist leicht von einer gerechten, fürsorglichen und mitfühlenden Gesellschaft zu reden, aber schwer sie zu erreichen. Wie leicht kann man Verzweiflung und Trauer nachgeben, wenn wir uns in der Welt umsehen. Viele tun es. Aber ist es nicht in jedem Fall besser, etwas zu tun, wie wenig auch immer, um die Welt auf den Tag zu zubewegen, an dem es heißen wird: “Sie sollen nicht verletzten noch zerstören auf meinem Heiligen Berg” (Jesaija 11,9).

Wir alle müssen tun, was wir können

Wir mögen nicht Krebskranke heilen, aber wir können Hungernden zu essen geben. Wir werden nicht den Weltfrieden herstellen, aber wir können einem Kind das Lesen beibringen. Möglichkeiten gibt es zuhauf. Wenn wir die Kerzen anzünden um den Schabbat des Friedens und der Freude in unser Leben einzuladen, lasst uns darüber nachdenken, wie wir eine Kerze anzünden können, die Frieden und Freude in das Leben anderer bringt.

Translation: Pastor Ursula Sieg

Liberty for all: An Elusive Goal  Quick Comment: Parashat Behar (Leviticus 25:1-26:2)

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Attachment-1

In vain I searched the  Internet for the words from Yitzhak Rabin seared into my memory but apparently forgotten by Google among his more famous speeches.

It was in July of 1974 when during his first term as Prime Minister Rabin addressed a joint session of congress and eloquently described learning the words on the Liberty Bell in their original Hebrew as a small child: “U’kratem dror ba-aretz l’chol yoshveha – Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all of its inhabitants (Leviticus 25: 10).”

Rabin pointed out that this cardinal foundation of both American and Israeli democracy comes form this week’s Torah portion.

 As recent events from Ferguson to Baltimore in the USA and the demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in Israel attest, the United States at age 238 and Israel at age 67 both fall far short of that biblical goal.

Though neither country has yet achieved its lofty ideals, neither fails to hold its ideals aloft.

A just, caring and compassionate society is easy to articulate but difficult to achieve.

It is easy to give in to despair and anguish when we look at the world around us. Many do.

But isn’t it a better choice for each of us to do something—however small–to move the world closer to the day when, “They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain (Isaiah 11:9).”

We must do what we can

We may not cure cancer but we can give food to the hungry. We may not make peace in the world but we help a child learn to read. Possibilities abound.

As we light the candles to welcome a Shabbat of peace and joy into our lives, let us think of how we might light a candle to bring peace and joy into the lives of others.

 

 

For my German Readers: Warum Wurde Rösch Hashanah So Bedeutend?

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Kurz-Kommentar zum Tora-Abschnitt Emor (Levitikus 21-24)

Wo in der Tora Heilige Tage und Feste aufgeführt sind (Levitikus 23), gibt es nur zwei Sätze zu Rosch Hashanah. Warum bekommt ein solch wichtiger Anlass im jüdischen Leben so wenig Raum?

Es ist anzunehmen, dass zu Zeiten, als man jeden Buchstaben in Stein meißelte oder auf Pergament schrieb, der Platz, den ein Thema bekam, ein Hinweis auf seine Bedeutung war. Offensichtlich wurde also Rosch Hashanah wenig beachtet.

Aber heute? Wow! Architekten müssen die Synagogen so bauen, dass sie für die Menschenmassen an Rosch Hashanah (und Jom Kippur) vergrößert werden können.

Über das Jahr tun wir Rabbiner alles, die Leute in die Synagoge zu locken. Aber an Rosch Hashanah drucken viele Gemeinden Eintrittskarten, um Nicht-Mitglieder raus zu halten.

Zwei Historische Ereignisse

Unsere Liturgie gibt Hinweise, warum Rosch Hashanah so wichtig wurde. Unser tägliches Gebet und der Schabbat Gottesdienst erwähnen nur zwei historische Ereignisse: Die Erschaffung der Welt und der Auszug aus Ägypten Der Kiddusch (der Schabbat-Segen über dem Wein) erwähnt auch nur die Schöpfung und den Exodus.

Nun feiert das Pessach-Fest, an dem mehr Juden teilnehmen als an jedem andern Fest durch das Jahr, ausführlich den Exodus. Wir brauchten aber auch eine Gelegenheit, die Ideale der großartigen Geschichte der Schöpfung zu feiern. Die Geschichte erzählt uns nichts über das “Wie” der Schöpfung, aber viel über das “Warum”.

Gott schuf die Welt mit Absicht und Sinn und bestimmt uns Menschen dazu für die Welt verantwortlich zu sein. Gott gab uns beeindruckende Macht. Wir sind die einzigen Geschöpfe, die Gehirnoperationen durchführen können, aber auch die einzigen, die Bomben bauen können und Kugeln herstellen, um zu verletzten und zu töten.

Unsere Weisen verstanden sehr genau, dass wir ein Fest brauchen, das uns daran erinnert unsere

Macht vorsichtig zu gebrauchten. Darum wurde Rosch Hashanah so bedeutend, wie es jetzt ist.

Translation: Pastor Ursula Sieg

An Older White Man’s Message to Angry Young Blacks in Baltimore

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This message may mean nothing to you. But long ago my little league coach said it is better to swing and miss than take a called third strike.

As I studied to become a rabbi, I was also taught: One who saves a single life is regarded as though he or she had saved the whole world.

So if just one of you resonates to these words, I will be happy. If not then at least I took my cut.

The circumstances under which many of you have grown up are beyond awful! The instances of police use of excessive force against black males in 2015 alone are ample evidence that the system is in urgent need of fixing. It is awful! I share your frustration and your anger.

But I know that we have made some progress.

 Freddie Gray’s assailants have been indicted! When I was growing up there were no black mayors or black police commissioners in any large cities, let alone a Black President of the United States.

Yes, there has been progress, but we still have such a long way to go!

As we move forward, each of you has a choice. You can be part of the ongoing problem. Or you can be part of the solution. Your call!

Your lives matter!

Each of you has talents, abilities and energy! You must choose how to use them.

You have a choice!

You can learn as much as you can, develop the talent that God has given you—and find ways to use that talent to make a better world. Or you can succumb to the despair, poverty, hopelessness, crime and anger that surround you.

Think about it!

What if all the energy and time that went into looting and destroying in recent days had gone into clearing a vacant lot, planting trees and flowers and creating a park?

Yes, we make choices and must live with them, but here’s the thing: The choices you made in the past don’t have to determine the choices you make in the future. If you have done good, you can choose to continue to do so. If you’ve done bad you can do better.

God does not make that choice for you, but I believe God is intensely interested in the choices you make!

 I believe that the Bible in the Book of Deuteronomy (Chapter 30, verse 15-19) is speaking to each and every one of us: “See I have set before you this day life and goodness, death and evil … Therefore choose LIFE, that you and those who come after you may live.”

Yes, there is so much negative stuff in your lives that you did not create and that you cannot control. My heart weeps at the thought. But you have to decide whether you will use those horrible realities as an excuse to make them worse or as a spur to make them better.

I believe with all my heart that God cares what you do with the gifts you have been given. Life and death, good and evil are before you! The choice is yours!

Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs is the author of, What’s in It for Me? Finding Ourselves in Biblical Narratives. He is the former President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford, CT

What Gives Meaning to a Bat or Bar Mitzvah?

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Torah commentary: Shabbat Ahare Mot-Kedoshim 5775

What gives meaning to a Bar or Bat Mitzvah? Is it a flawless presentation of the Torah and Haftarah readings? Is it a great party afterwards?

These questions were on my mind as I sat with Julia Madonick last week to discuss the timeless teachings from Leviticus 19 known as “The Holiness Code,” that she will read from the Torah as she becomes a Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat.

You do not have to be a farmer to have “a field.”

She will read of our obligation to “leave the corners of our field for the poor and the stranger.” She will read of the imperative to pay our workers promptly and fairly. She will also read that God forbids us to “curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind”, which she rightly understands to mean that we are not to knowingly take advantage of the vulnerabilities of others. She will conclude her reading with the classic teaching, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

My hope for the long-term impact of Julia’s Bat Mitzvah is the same as my hope for every student that I have had the privilege to teach over the last 42 years. I hope that her understanding of her Torah portion will continue to grow with her as her intellectual and spiritual capabilities continue to expand and mature.

I am proud that Julia is “leaving the corners of her field” by teaching her passion for dance with children less privileged than she.

A Commitment to Redress Society’s Ills

I pray that the commandment to pay workers promptly and fairly will always resonate with her in a practical way and that she will appreciate the disgraceful reality that in our country there are CEO’s who earn more in an hour than some of their workers earn in a year. Such a discrepancy is the antithesis of the commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

When the Torah teaches of God’s concern for the “widow, the poor and the stranger,” the text cries out to us that decent health care, wages, educational opportunities, housing and nutrition should be available to all of God’s children, not just those born to privilege or blessed with the ability and good fortune to pay huge sums for these things.

The Awesome Power—for Good or Ill—in Our Ability to Communicate

Julia will also teach, “You shall not go about as a gossip.” There is awesome potential in our ability to communicate. Our words can uplift and exalt or denigrate and cause pain. How we use this power is up to us, but the Torah is clear in its instruction.

What gives meaning to a Bat Mitzvah? It is not so much the chanting of Torah but the meaning of Torah for today! I pray that the vital religious lessons Julia teaches at her Bat Mitzvah will not be just a pleasant memory. Rather I hope that they are–and will continue to be–urgent imperatives, which she and all of us continue to aspire to uphold throughout our lives.

Rabbi Stephen Fuchs is the author of What’s in It for Me? Finding Ourselves in Biblical Narratives. He is Rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford and the former President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.