February 19, 2010
Terumah Ex. 25:1-27:19
Dear Friends:
Do you remember the movie, Yentl? Great music, and a great cast, featuring Barbra Streisand and Mandy Patinkin, based on the story by Isaac Bashevis Singer? Among the scenes that I enjoyed were the ones that took place in the yeshiva. Streisand, dressed as a boy since girls would never be admitted to the yeshiva, appears for her admissions interview. Before long, she is the one asking the questions instead of the Rosh Yeshiva (head of the yeshiva). He is overwhelmed, but admits her to the school, saying something to the effect of: “We learn more about our students by the questions they ask than by the answers they provide.” We are a questioning people. Some would suggest that we are argumentative. It is with this in mind that I invite you all to services tonight. Come prepared to ask questions. We will move fairly quickly through the service to allow plenty of time for questions. Ask about the service, ask about the Torah, ask about our history, ask about our customs. Let’s learn more about each other and about our faith by the questions that we explore together.
In a way, the theme will continue at services on the 26th. I’m very proud that for the second year, my son Gadi is the Religious and Cultural Vice President of SSTY. Knowing that our SSTY led service was coming, we were speaking a few weeks ago about a meaningful theme for the service. Since Gadi took up wrestling in school this year, we discussed the theme of wrestling for our service. We talked about wrestling with God (even though we are a number of weeks past that parasha), and we talked about the things that our young people wrestle with in general. I hope many of you will share with us to learn more about our young people and their struggles, and to join in a service of their creation that I am confident will be expertly run for us. These kids are our future. I hope that you will invest some time to be with us next Friday night to show your support and your interest.
And now, I ask you. What are the things you wrestle with? In November, when I was at our movement’s North American biennial convention, I went to a workshop that began by our being asked to discuss with someone near us the issues that keep us awake at night. Specifically, what do you lose sleep over? I am interested in hearing your individual answers to that question. Is it your health? Is it the economy? The state of your relationships? The state of our world? Homelessness? Poverty? Many of you have heard me make reference to an old story. Two Russian peasants are getting drunk together. They talk about their friendship of many years. One declares to the other how much he loves him. The other turns serious, asking the first, “Do you know what makes me hurt?” The first is confused. The second says that he can’t speak of love for him if he doesn’t know what causes him pain. To borrow a phrase from that convention workshop, I want to start a “Sh’ma” campaign. I want to create opportunities for me to hear about who you are, what you struggle with, and what keeps you awake at night. Now, you just need to invite me in. Please be in touch so we can find a time to meet.
My greatest hope for all of us is that we can find peace this Shabbat, genuine respite from our struggles, even if it is only for 24 hours. Let’s celebrate that peace together, with the hope that our struggles will be just a bit more bearable when we pick them up again at the end of this Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom u’m’vorach. Have a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Sincerely,
Jack P. Paskoff,
Rabbi