May 29, 2009

Shavuot and the Book of Ruth

Dear Friends:

Six weeks ago I had never heard of Eboo Patel.  My hope is that within a very short period of time, everyone will know his name and his work.  I heard him speak at last month’s Consultation on Conscience and I was deeply inspired by his vision of bringing together a group of young people moved by their varied faith traditions to help make the world a better place.  This Muslim was as comfortable quoting Abraham Joshua Heschel as he was quoting the Koran.  Google him.  I know you’ll be impressed.

During his remarks, Patel quoted T. S. Elliot:  “We don’t inherit traditions.  We work to achieve them.”  In days gone by in the Jewish world, there were inherited traditions.  Both the monarchy and the priesthood were inherited leadership roles.  Too often, with inherited status, we eventually arrive at a generation that is either not capable or not worthy.  Too often, we arrive at a generation consumed with greed or excessive pride, which too often lead to corruption.

We can claim to have inherited our status as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”  We can speak of having inherited the tradition of the prophets.  We can call ourselves the chosen people.  When we merely proclaim our aristocracy but our deeds reflect a different reality, we have committed a chulul ha-shem, an act that desecrates God’s name.

So we must achieve our traditions.  We must prove ourselves worthy.  We don’t merely claim our place in the line of Abraham and Sarah through our actions.

See how many of these you answer in the affirmative:

1.    Have I shown the kind of hospitality shown by Abraham and Sarah?

2.    Have I faced down taskmasters the way Moses did?

3.    Have I led people in celebrating God’s wonders as Miriam did?

4.    Have I done my best to obtain wisdom as Solomon did?

5.    Have I shown the loyalty that Ruth did?

6.    Have I shown the courage that my immigrant grandparents did?

7.    Have I demonstrated the unwavering moral courage that Heschel did?

8.    Do I have the limitless love of family that my Bubby did?

The questions can go on and on, as does the list of role models that leave us this heritage.  Our job is to make sure we are worthy heirs.

One of the ways we hope to help our children reach this objective is through our Shaarai Shomayim Day camp.  Register your children and grandchildren now.  (see attachment)   

Shabbat Shalom u’m'vorach. Have a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Paskoff,

Rabbi

May 22, 2009

Bamidbar Num. 1:1-4:20

Dear Friends:

Sadly, especially the way it is observed in the Reform movement, Shavuot is a humble holiday. It lacks the majesty of Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur. It is deprived of the beautiful home rituals of Pesach, Sukkot, and Chanukah. In the Torah, it doesn’t even have a real name. We are told that when Pesach (Passover) begins, start counting days. When you get to the 50th, stop and have a holiday. Biblically, we know that it was a harvest holiday, and we know that it counted among the 3 pilgrimage holidays. But what might it mean for us today?

Let’s just look at 2 aspects of the holidays. It was up to the Rabbis of old to determine that this was the day that the Torah was given, when the people responded in a single chorus, “Na’aseh v’nishmah! We will do it and we will understand it,” knowingly or not, obligating us, their offspring, to a life lived in a covenantal relationship with God. The debate remains among the Rabbis. What was actually transmitted that day? Was it the entirety of Torah? Was it just the 10 Commandments? Was it an awareness of God’s presence, leaving us to fill in the blanks? Based on that moment, and somewhat of a shared vision of its meaning, we live our Jewish lives.

We also read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot. We say that Ruth may have been the first Jew-by-Choice. She was a Moabite widow of an Israelite man. While we certainly assume a sense of loyalty and love in that relationship, her “act of conversion” was more a statement about her love for and loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi. “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”

We have many Ruths in our congregation, many people born of another religion who came to join our people and our faith. In some cases, these were statements about the importance of family unity, in others, a profound respect and love for Jewish history, theology, and customs.

We also have many Gerei Toshav in our congregation. These are people who live among us, participate in our faith traditions with family members and friends, but have not found it in themselves to fully convert to Judaism. We celebrate these people as well, as many have raised Jewish children, enabling them to embrace the covenant of our people.

Our celebration of Shavuot will be held Thursday evening with a study session and service beginning at 7:00, and next Friday, with a service (including Yizkor—the Memorial service) at 10:00. Whether we have always been aware of it, or came to know it later in our lives, let’s explore the meaning of that moment when we all stood together at Sinai. Let’s explore the choices we make in affirming our ancient tradition. Let’s celebrate the fullness of Jewish life on this less well known of the holidays.

I hope to see you for Confirmation tonight, and for Shavuot next week.     

Shabbat Shalom u’m'vorach. Have a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Paskoff,

Rabbi

May 15, 2009

B’har-B’chukotei Lev. 25:1-27:34

Dear Friends:

How would you answer these two questions?

1)      What have been the significant Jewish milestones in your life up to this point in your life?

2)      What can you confirm about your Jewish future?

Now that I think about it, I would love to do a forum one day on just that subject, asking adults of all ages those questions. For now, though, we will need to learn from our young people. At our Confirmation service next Friday night, you will hear our 11 high school seniors answering just those questions.

Who are these 11?

4 have a non Jewish parent.

3 have a parent who converted to Judaism.

6 have visited Israel.

6 have spent at least one summer at Camp Harlam.

4 (I think) have participated in a program at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

8 have attended at least one NFTY event.

1 has served as the president of our NFTY region.

6 have been on the staff of our Shaarai Shomayim Day Camp.

All are heading off to college in the fall.

Some have fully embraced their Jewish identities.

All have struggled with the meaning of their Jewish lives from time to time.

All (but 2) have received their full formal Jewish educations to date in our congregation.

(Sorry. I love hearing these kinds of statistics at graduations.)

I can sing the praises of these confirmands, as I do of every class, but here’s the message that I believe comes through loud and clear. The Torah says V’shinantam l’vanecha, you shall teach your children, in order to transmit our heritage mi-dor l’dor, from generation to generation. We do this best when we enter into a multi-faceted partnership, including parents, students, Temple, informal education at camp and through our youth movement (with all the counselors and advisors they meet along the way), and all those who make a trip to Israel happen. No, this is not the exclusive path, but it is the one with the greatest track record, demonstrated through studies both formal and anecdotal.       

If you do not have children in our educational program, come see these kids and share in the reflected joy of their parents. If you have younger children, come to learn about the experiences and opportunities a full Shaarai Shomayim education can offer. This way you’ll be able to tell your children what they have in store as they move through our program. Above all, join us next Friday to celebrate the continuity and resiliency of our people in this relatively new ceremony of Confirmation, created by our Reform movement just over 100 years ago. 

The prophet reminds us that the young shall lead us. Let’s let these young people know that we trust in them, and we are grateful to them as they set out on the next stage of their lives.

        Shabbat Shalom u’m'vorach. Have a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Paskoff,

Rabbi

May 08, 2009

Emor Lev. 21:1-24:3

Dear Friends:

Whitehouse seems like a very odd and potentially awkward name for a US Senator. Nonetheless, I had the pleasure of hearing Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) speak at April’s Consultation on Conscience, sponsored by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Among other remarks, he quoted a line from a speech that Bill Clinton had given at the Democratic National Convention last summer. Clinton said: “The world has always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the examples of our power. I thought about that quote at length. Is it true? During World War II, wasn’t it military might that defeated the Germans and the Japanese? I think we would all agree that it was, but winning the hearts and minds of the Germans and Japanese after the war, turning them into democratic countries and allies for the long haul after the war, was accomplished by the power of our example.

So where are we today? The United States is still bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ll leave it to the generals to determine what we have accomplished with military power. From all these miles away, it’s hard to say what we have accomplished in terms of transforming these countries. We may have removed a particular tyrant, but are these countries better off today than they were before we invaded? Perhaps it is not for us to judge.

This coming week marks the 42nd anniversary of the 6 Day War in the Middle East. I do not question that military might was necessary and appropriately used by Israel during the war. But where is Israel all these decades later? People still live in fear.  Four more wars have been fought, with three of them against terrorist organizations made up of people whose land was lost in ’67. How does Israel move forward?

Whether we are speaking about Israel’s problems or those of the United States, it has often been said that the Muslim extremist only understands and respects military power. If they strike you, you strike back harder. The problem with that statement is that is hasn’t worked. There is still sectarian violence in Iraq, and there are still rockets being fired into S’derot. When will it be time for a different approach?

There was a slim volume published about Israel’s birth a number of years ago. It was called The Emergence from Powerlessness. The title was interesting. After millennia of powerlessness, based mostly on homelessness, Israel was once again self governing. Israel once again had an army. Israel was a force to be reckoned with. 61 years after Israel’s birth and 42 years after the miraculous victory of the 6 Day War, may Israel again aim to be a light unto the nations, not diminishing the power of the military, but understanding that the best hope for genuine peace in the region may well be with the power of example and not the examples of power. May Israel and the United States stand side by side in this noble endeavor.

        Shabbat Shalom u’m'vorach. Have a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Paskoff,

Rabbi

May 01, 2009

Achare Mot-Kedoshim Lev. 16:1-20:27

Dear Friends:

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday this week.  While I hope the number is small, I’m sure many of you are scratching your heads trying to figure out which holiday.  The $64,000 prize goes to anyone who correctly identified Yom Ha-Atzmaut.  The 61st anniversary of Israel’s birth.

Over the past nearly 16 years, I have had the pleasure and honor of leading about 100 of you through Israel.  I have celebrated in the idea that about 30 of our students while in high school, spent five weeks over a summer in Israel.  I hope that for the dozen who have visited Israel on Birthright trips in college or shortly after, our congregation provided at least part of the inspiration.  Three more of our students will be in Israel this summer, and I look forward to leading another bus load of our members and friends through Israel in late December.  Not “next year in Jerusalem,“ but this year in Jerusalem, at least this secular year.  Join us!

Commercial announcements aside, it is with some sadness that I report my sense that Israel is not high on the priority list of many of our congregants.  Our emotions connecting us to Israel are not aroused in times good or bad.  As tourists, Israel may or may not be on our list of destinations.  As with the fourth child of the Passover seder just over two weeks ago, it is my job to awaken the need.

For many of us in the American Jewish community for most of the past 61 years, Israel had to be strong to provide a place to keep Jews form dying under oppressive, anti-Semitic regimes.  At this time, I want you to look at Israel differently.  I want to challenge you to come see Israel as the place that injects new life into the global Jewish community.

I am a supporter, but not a blind supporter, of Medinat Yisrael, the political entity known as Israel.  I am a great lover of Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel.  The natural beauty—-from the headwaters of the Jordan in the north to the hills and spring wild flowers of the Galilee region to the desert of the south—-inspires me.  I am a believer in Am Yisrael, the people of Israel and I believe that as a people, whether we live there or not, our future is integrally tied to the land and the nation.

So Chag Sameach.  I hope you enjoyed the holiday, Yom Huledet Sameach.  Happy Birthday Israel.  With you, we remember those who died to secure our place of refuge.  With you, we celebrate the vibrancy of Jewish life.  With you, we celebrate the hi-tech innovations you have brought about.  With you, we honor our past and celebrate a hope for the future.  With you, we pray that that future is one of peace.

I hope you’ll travel with us in December.  Invite your friends to join us.  We’ve attached a flyer and form for your convenience.

        Shabbat Shalom u’m'vorach. Have a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Paskoff,

Rabbi