Shemot

By Chaim Kline, January 6, 2024

When I was recently on an academic study tour to Florence, Italy I had the privilege of spending a number of hours in the Uffizi gallery and library.

Later that night when thinking back on the 100’s of Madonna and child I had seen I imagined the life of a Jew living in Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries surrounded by the images of the dominate cultures beliefs and besought by some of its adherents to follow their practice and adopt their belief.

Since the 10th century Jews in Christian Europe predominately lived in mercantile towns and dwelt in small clusters usually near the town center or near the main cathedral….  They variously materially and intellectually flourished and suffered death and expulsion.

Reflecting on this historical backdrop I began to think about community, memory, practice, and belief.

What was it like to be a Jew in a hostile environment… how does one retain their identity …

And how much more so when the Judaism of the Mishna, Talmud and codes were non-existent.

(I read a number of articles after which I saw that I was no match for the question and so turned to a different tack.)

Most of us will find the phrase that the generation of the Exodus had fallen to the 49^th level of Tumah, familiar.  The specific source is quite late found – in the Zohar Yitro 31:1

Tumah is usually translated as impurity or contamination – it may here also be understood to be degradation and assimilation.
The people lived in exile for some 210 years in Egypt under the reigns of various Pharaonic dynasties, with a tradition of a singular patriarchal family history Abraham – Isaac and Jacob – passed down orally through the structure and memory of the clans.

Orality is a powerful and effective mechanism to transmit knowledge over the generations as long as there is a structure in place – a locus-or a generative group of teachers, priests and elders, male and female who exist in an unbroken chain transmitting the inherited heritage, knowledge and understanding from one generation to the next.

Once disrupted through war, famine, disease and assimilation, the oral knowledge is lost or at the very least diluted.

In the Mekhilta – the rabbinic midrash to Exodus along with the Exodus Rabbah, there are a numerous passages referring to the unworthiness of the people for redemption … complaining that they were idolators, or that they simple lacked “merit”.

16^th century commentator says Eliyahu Levita, concludes that the people retained their Names, dress, and language.

But the earlier rabbinic texts most often reference the book of Ezekial, 20:8

“They rebelled against Me and did not want to obey Me.  None of them threw away the detestable things they saw, and they did not abandon the idols of Egypt.

And other commentators note that the people were no longer living separately in Goshen but amidst the Egyptians

(I recommend reading the whole chapter of Ezekial 20 for a different picture of the people than we get from the Exodus story.)

We have no information as to what the children of Israel

(sic Jacob) believed and practiced throughout the period of the exile.

When the angel calls out to Moses at the burning bush he says…

 I am the God (elohai) of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 3:6,

and then when Moshe asks …. What is your name? what shall I say unto them?”   3:

I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.  3:14

The LORD (yhvh) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: 3:15

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them. (6:2-3)

I am the LORD (yhvh) and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 6: 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.

Hearing this one might ask to whom the people might have directed their prayers during these two hundred and ten years of exile….

Did they offer sacrifices in Egypt and to whom?

What did it mean to be told you were from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

We know the ultimate purpose of the ten plagues and witnessing the death of the Egyptian army at the red sea was to convince the people that there is a God of Israel who would protect them and wanted them to be his people.

With the public empirical revelation on mount Sinai – the people perceived God’s presence – and received an oral teaching –

(This event distinguishes us from the other two major Western religions in that the text recounts that “we, all the people” experienced a public empirical revelation, whereas Jesus revealed himself to his disciples, and Mohammed had his revelation alone in the desert.)

At the beginning of Pirke Avot and then expanded on by the Rambam, in his introduction to the Mishna Torah …after the revelation … Moses came down the mountain and dictated the text to Joshua who transmitted it to the elders and that they went into the camp and every individual was instructed in the laws and even wrote their own text … that being the text of the ten statements …

We remember from the yearly cycle of Haftaroth – that after Joshua leads the people across the Jordan – they eventually settle in the land –

(I recommend that you read Joshua chapter 24 for a recapitulation of the Exodus and the nature of the people as they cross the Jordan river.)

The tent of meeting, (the mishkan) was set up first in Gilgal and then moved to Shiloh where it remained for centuries – the story that will most bring this to mind is when Hannah comes to the tent and prayed for a child and Eli the priest thought she was drunk .. only to then bless her and she gives birth to Samuel.

Even though the tent and the priestly line of Aaron were in Shiloh the land was filled with local alters on high places (mountain tops) … and the people did not necessarily pray to “the one god” nor do we have any record of their daily practice.

At Solomon’s dedication of the Temple the cloud descended so that no one could stay inside – demonstrating God’s existence and approval of the sanctuary, it is also noted in the book of Kings that, “There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. 1 Kings 8-9

How did the people express their relationship to God through actions?

We might like to assume that they participated in thrice yearly pilgrimages, but this would be a misnomer…

Within one generation after the lands conquered by David -greater Israel- and presided over by Solomon, the kingdom was divided, the north comprised of (10 tribes) built cultic centers at Beth El and Dan, and worshiped the golden calf in the sanctuaries, and in the South (2 tribes, Judah and Benjamin) the people were not necessarily dedicated to the worship of the Yahweh – the most high.

The Northern life is illustrated in the Elijah story we read each year of his pouring water on his wooden pyre and after the priests of Baal fail to start their fire, God ignites Elijah’s and impassioned, he kills all of the other “false” priests of Baal.

Within100 years the Assyrian’s conquered the northern kingdom and resettle the tribes into the eastern portions of their empire, where they were lost to history, (a pseudonym for assimilation.)

In Judea after the destruction of Northern kingdom the Solomonic temple in Jerusalem had Asherah, holy trees growing inside its courts, along with other foreign cultic objects – temple prostitutes (whatever this may mean) and under Manasseh even Moloch worship.

Some 300 years after Solomon, during a renovation of the Temple the high priest brings a scroll to the king, Josiah. This is the first mention we have of an extended text of the law.

(It is worth reading the account in Kings 22-23 of just how comprehensive the Josiane reforms were.)

But for my narrative the following is the most important part

The King issued a command to all the people: “Observe the Passover of the Lord, your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant…No Passover such as this had been observed during the period when the judges, judged Israel, or during the entire period of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah.”

It is also not without some profound reflection that we recognize that Josiah’s sons immediately reverted to the practices of their forefathers and did not maintain the reforms institutionalized by their father …

(Shortly after this Jeremiah tells us of the complete fall from grace and we learn of the destruction of the temple and the beginning of the Babylonian exile— he went to Egypt and not with the others to Babylon)

(60 years after the destruction of the first temple and exile, Cyrus granted a portion of the community the right to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple re- establish their hegemony and worship.)

Ezra returned from Babylon 100 years after the destruction with a scroll – a written text that present day scholars argue — contained no less than the book of Deuteronomy with the historical accounts found in Judges, Kings, and Chronicles ….

We read in Ezra & Nehemiah that upon their arrival they moved to dissolved mixed marriages, effectively separating the priestly and royal families who first returned from Babylon, 40 years before them, from the people who had remained in the land including the Samaritans, among others and from their cultic practices.

Ezra did a revolutionary thing — he read aloud from the scroll the law … from dawn until midday.

Nehemiah tells us that when the people heard about Sukkot they had no memory of it … and that when celebrated it was the first time since the time of Joshua.

So from the beginning of the settlement of the land with Joshua, until the 5^th century some 800+/- years, no Passover or Succoth celebrations …. let alone mention of Shavout or the High holidays. The prophets do speak about Shabbat and its lack of observance.

From this brief if not overly long recitation, we can conclude that the people of Israel – the Hebrews, the Jewish people – existed for more than 1000 years on the basis of clan structures, oral traditions, sacrificial acts, personal prayer and later with a priestly class and a monarchy that received tithes i.e. collected taxes from the people.

Our religion would face two more catastrophic events during the second temple period. The first being Persian control where the temple is desecrated, the Torah burned, the religion outlawed -kashrut, shabbat- leading to the Maccabean revolt, and then 200 years later the Roman destruction of the 2^nd temple which revolutionized Judaism.

In retrospect it is clear that both of these larger events would have led to the end of our story had not there developed “practice” – communal actions that sustained the people on a daily, weekly and yearly basis, affectively building a community that could survive in the face of loss, destruction and exile.

The legalistic Judaism that we know today, or what we might have been taught as a historical constant, is of course all post- destruction, post Mishnaic and primarily evolved in the world of the diaspora where Jews strove to co-exist within their host countries and religious groups.

The evolution of the oral law – Mishna, Talmud, Halacha, anchored in the Torah, transmitted orally, written in manuscript and then with the advent of printing disseminated Rabbinic teachings and authority has allowed us to live for some 2000 years in the diaspora without disappearing.

We who are living as Jews today in America with all the pressures of modernity, with devolving practice, assimilation, and intermarriage –and now with even the existence of the State of Israel questioned– on large feel threatened, and often at wits end on how to help perpetuate our faith, our people and our ideals.

That our forebearers did not disappear in antiquity like so many other nations is something miraculous. That our religion has continued to evolve, and even with the internal struggles over the meaning of Torah M’Sinai, who is a Jew, egalitarianism, and inclusiveness, I believe that the prophetic beliefs that we should strive to be an Or l’goyim  “a light unto the nations”, and Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof, together with the combination of the Mitzvah Bein Adam l’Chavero, and Bein Adam l’Makom, has continued to animate and distinguish us from the other Western faiths. (You may feel free to argue this with me.)

May we be blessed that the future generations will find solace, community and strength in the continued practice of our faith and teachings.

In closing I would like to recite the Shema.

Shema Yisroel Adonai Eloheynu Adonai Echad

 

Vayechi

By Jackie Honig, December 30, 2023

This week I’ve been catching up on Doctor Who, which included the return of a familiar face – David Tennant. For those of you who don’t watch, the premise of the show is that there’s a time traveling alien who periodically regenerates into a new form – known as “The Doctor.” The show just celebrated its 60^th anniversary and it can do so because every iteration of the character is played by a different actor. Each regeneration marks the departure of a beloved actor and plays out in an emotional scene on the show – they have a beautiful speech, a quippy last line, and then they sort of explode with a beautiful blast of energy to be immediately replaced by the next incarnation. The minute The Doctor is back on the scene, the fun and adventures ensue. There is truly never a dull moment with The Doctor.

One of the most famous last lines is delivered by David Tennant – five simple words that carry a lifetime’s worth of emotions – “I don’t want to go.” His character knows he’ll be back for new adventures with new friends, off to the furthest reaches of time and space and yet he’s just not ready. We see this sort of emotion in our parsha today, and I feel it deeply in my life right now.

While this parsha is named Vayechi and it opens with telling us the years of Yaakov’s life, we actually find ourselves mostly reading about Yaakov’s death. On his deathbed, Yaakov addresses each of his children. You might have expected that he would bless each of his children, especially as he does so with Yosef’s children. Instead, we find ourselves witnessing an unexpected, but incredibly human scene – a father holding onto things that are clearly unresolved. Here, in his final moments, he insists on telling his children what he thinks. This isn’t a beautiful, peaceful scene where everyone moves on and its all hunky dory. This is a moment of ending, but more of a moment of conflict than closure.

Yaakov’s death also marks the end of the patriarchs. The story is no longer about 3 men and 4 women and the people surrounding them, it is now about B’nai Yisrael, in the literal and figurative sense. Another ending, another transition, another opportunity for something new. But what do we do with that?

This moment in our story and in our lives feel strange – certain milestones generally have a particular feeling attached to them. Not all endings are the same, they often come with mixed emotions. But generally endings that are immediately followed by something new, like a new sefer of Torah or a new year, are filled with excitement, with hope and expectations of something new that could be.

Today that feels dishonest for me. To say that I feel hope or excitement for 2024 would be to lie to you all. I know that January 2024 is coming soon. I had to write the date in an e-mail this week. It was the first time I had to specify that I meant 2024 – and I felt absolutely nothing about it. I literally almost left it out because I am very unprepared to face everything that comes with a new year.

I don’t feel ready for Sefer Shemot yet either. I’m not usually one with strong feelings about books of the torah, but somehow today’s chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek just didn’t sit with me the way it usually does. The reading of Sefer Bereshit this year has been deeply connected to the war in Israel for me. We began the reading just as war was breaking out in Israel – these two things have become intertwined for me.

These last 84 days have passed as one chunk of time. Israel has been at war, hostages are not in their homes where they belong, rockets are raining down, soldiers are being sent to war. People are dying. So many things that I just wish and pray and hope would end. And yet, here we are. Expected to take not one but TWO containers that have held this war, the sefer and the secular year, and we are supposed to close the door on them at once. That means, as I am coming to realize, that we have to carry these things into what comes next. And it isn’t fair, and it is hard, and we have no choice. Time moves forward and pulls us with her.

We look to Torah to teach us lessons for our lives. Thankfully we have begun to see the flaws in our ancestors and understand the space that gives us to live our perfectly human and never-actually-perfect lives. There could have been a story in which every death of our ancestors was tied up with a nice bow – where every ending was perfect and everyone was ready to bless their children and exit the scene peacefully. But instead, we see Yaakov facing an ending and doing the unexpected. He takes his final moments not to bring closure and comfort, not to say good-bye, but to offer a final rebuke, to keep living his life all the way until the end – maybe in denial, maybe because he’s simply not ready – he doesn’t want to go.

Our new sefer and our new year should be full of hope, but maybe this year, this time, they’re not – and that’s okay. When we finish reading a book of torah, we don’t ask for peace, we ask for strength – and today that feels more fitting than ever. As we carry the hard things with us into the new sefer and the new year may we have strength to live our imperfect human lives, find strength in Torah and its lessons for our modern lives, and be strengthened in community as we face what lies in front of us together. Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek.

Shabbat shalom.

Vayeshev

By Joel Stern, December 9, 2023

I’d like to dedicate this D’var Torah to the memory of David Ellenson, zichrono livracha, who passed away this week. David and his family were longtime members of this Minyan, and he was not only a wonderful friend to my family and to many others here, but a brilliant scholar of Judaism. He accomplished many things in his career, and he had a heart of gold. He will be deeply missed.

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This week we began the story of Joseph. Joseph is one of the most fully developed characters in the Bible, and has always fascinated me. I practice origami, the art of paperfolding.

Looking at a mask model I created years ago, I recognized certain characteristics of Joseph. I saw his stoic nature reflected in the straight, grid-like folds. And though he looks down with a certain haughtiness, his eyes also exhibit a kind of world-weariness. He is mostly silent, and only speaks when necessary.

One of the interesting aspects of origami is the fact that once you fold a model, the creases remain forever. And when you unfold the model, you can see the crease pattern.

In fact, some people who study origami crease patterns can figure out the model it folds into.

When I thought about origami crease patterns and their resulting shape, I saw a connection to the Joseph story. When Joseph says to his brothers, “It was to save life that God sent me ahead of you,” he is identifying a pattern, or blueprint, for his life, albeit one defined by God.

But life patterns aren’t just shaped by events, they’re also shaped by the traits given to us at birth. The crease pattern I showed you represented all of the traits Joseph was born with — his sizable ego, his deep intelligence, his insight into dreams. Throughout his life, Joseph suffered greatly, losing — and gaining — over and over again. And each event contributed to the man he was by the time he revealed himself to his brothers — a man whose face reflected not only his innate qualities, but each and every harrowing and triumphant event of his life.

Question – Do patterns imply predetermination? Is there a connection between them? If we find ourselves following a pattern, isn’t that admitting that we’re not in control? And if we’re not in control, then we go where our patterns of behavior force us to go. And if so, isn’t that predetermination?

In 1965, Paul Simon declared in his song “Patterns”:

From the moment of my birth
To the instant of my death
There are patterns I must follow
Just as I must breathe each breath

Like the color of my skin
Or the day that I grow old
My life is made of patterns
That can scarcely be controlled

Despite his fatalistic point of view in this song, Paul Simon’s later career certainly doesn’t exemplify someone who is stuck in repeating patterns.

Patterns… and predetermination…

Over the centuries, some rabbis interpreted events in the Bible as a blueprint for the Jewish people. The Ramban states in his commentary to Genesis 12:6:

I will tell you a principle by which you will understand all the coming portions of Scripture concerning our forefathers. Ma’ase la’avot siman l’banim… “Whatever has happened to the patriarchs is a sign to the children.”

In other words, Jewish history is cyclical. What happened to our ancestors is repeated over and over again, in different ways, with succeeding generations of the Jewish people. I’m sure that we can all think of examples of this dynamic, especially, and tragically, from the past few months. So… one part of our tradition certainly does see a connection between patterns and predetermination.

Yet, another part of our tradition disagrees, at least in part, with this notion. As Rabbi Akiba says in Pirke Avot 3:15: Hakol tsafui, v’har’shut n’tunah. “All is foreseen, yet freedom is granted.”

This debate continues today. A book that has received considerable publicity, just in the last few months, is Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will, written by Robert Sapolsky, a neuroendocrinology researcher. Sapolsky argues that there is no free will, or at least that there is much less free will than generally assumed. He claims that human actions are determined by neurobiology, hormones, childhood, and life circumstances. He therefore excuses “criminal” acts by positing that an individual could not have done anything differently at any given moment in time, due to genetics and life events.

This is an extremely dangerous point of view. If we look at events through the lens of “this is the only possible outcome,” then individuals are absolved of any responsibility, or accountability, for their actions.

Yet, sometimes it does seem that our lives are on an immutable path, and that we are stuck in unproductive or destructive patterns from which we can’t break free. Nevertheless, we must realize that nothing is inevitable. We must reject the view that our lives are predetermined. We can change our patterns of behavior.

Sometimes it takes a crisis to disrupt a behavior pattern. Remember Joseph? Throughout the story he displays a stony presence, until finally, no longer able to maintain his façade, he breaks down in tears, and embraces his estranged brothers.

Today, we pray that the terrible crisis for our people in Israel and around the world, and for all those suffering, will result in changing patterns of behavior — at a profound, seismic level — when hatred and prejudice will transform into acceptance and tolerance. This is the Chanukah miracle that we so desperately need today.

Bayamim hahem baz’man hazeh.

May the miracles that occurred in days of old occur again in our day.

Shabbat Shalom!

Toldot

By Paul Verger, November 17, 2023

Long ago, when the forest animals saw the hunters encroaching on their habitat, they knew that they had to find a new home. The question was where, how to get there, and above all who would lead them.

They first turned to the fox. The fox was a very suave and handsome animal, very friendly to all and always cool and amusing. He had great self confidence but he actually didn’t know much about the forest beyond his immediate vicinity. He soon led them to impassible rivers, stinging nettles, and several dangerous quicksands.

In desperation they turned to the beaver. The beaver was not charismatic. He had a flat ugly tail and buckteeth. But in long years of building dams, the beaver knew his way around the forest far and wide and how to traverse its dangers. And although he was quiet, the beaver also understood how the other animals would react, and he soon led them to a green and hospitable part of the forest that the hunters could not reach.

Today’s parsha also presents us with two potential leaders, twin brothers Jacob and Esau, the sons of Isaac. Jacob is considered the ancestor of our people; he received the name of Israel. Esau also became a great nation, but not ours.

Over the centuries, in considering which brother became our progenitor and leader, many people have asked, “Why Jacob?”.

As a boy and a young man, Jacob would not have been your favorite cousin. He was so hyper-competitive that he grasped his brother’s heel in an attempt to be born first. He spent his days studying and was not an adventurer. He casually bargained his brother, the firstborn, out of his birthright. Later he stole his brother’s blessing through trickery, then left town in a hurry in fear of his brother’s righteous wrath.

On the other hand, Esau has a lot to appeal to our sensibilities. He was a man of the fields and the outdoors. He lived in the moment. He was affectionate toward his parents. He always brought his father the best game from his hunt, cooked to Isaac’s taste. When his mother expressed her disgust at his Canaanite wives, he married a nice Aramaean girl to please her. When his brother stole his blessing, he was justifiably angered and expressed an intention to kill him after their parents were gone. But 34 years later when he finally got his chance, he unconditionally forgave him, kissed him, and said they should walk together as brothers.

So the question remains, “Why Jacob?”

The rabbis have noted that the Torah frequently favors the last-born son, but that does not seem to me to be sufficient reason for Jacob’s ascendance.

I believe that what sets Jacob apart is his vision of the future, his determination to do what was necessary to attain it, and his understanding of the actions needed at every step. He knows that he must work hard, take risks, and above all obey the will of Hashem.

Jacob is able to plan for the future and to see beyond the moment. According to Rashi, after he turned 13, Jacob spent his time in the study tents of Shem and Eber. He had a curious mind and knew that the knowledge would be necessary in the future. In the Hirsch translation of the parsha, the initial word applied to Jacob is “single-minded”.

On his journey Jacob has a dream of angels going up and down a stairway, and realizes that he is in a sacred place, which he did not know. He accepts the sign and immediately vows to create a house of God, because he is able to adapt to changing circumstances in pursuit of God’s will.

When Jacob reaches Haran, he sees Rachel and knows he wants her for his wife. Even though he is tired from his journey, he uses his great physical strength, given by Hashem, to move the stone from the top of the well so that Rachel and her compatriots can water their sheep. Isaiah notes that those who trust in Hashem will have their strength renewed.

When Jacob asks Rachel’s father Laban for her hand in marriage, Laban requires him to work 7 years. At the end of the 7 years, Laban deceives him by sending Leah instead, and requiring him to work another 7 years for Rachel. Jacob shows great determination to work the 14 years for the woman he loves, and refuses to give up even when he is deceived.

When Jacob finally returns to his native land, his top priority is the safety of his family. He knows that his first priority is to avoid the wrath of Esau. He sends generous gifts and obsequious words ahead to placate his brother. He also prepares for battle in case the gifts and overtures fail to appease Esau. He is ready to sacrifice his own life to protect his wives and children.

When Jacob manages to reconcile with his brother, Esau suggests that their peoples walk together in unity. But Jacob fears that quarrels will break out and makes excuses to remain separate. His priority is always the safety of his family and his future nation.

Later when his daughter is assaulted by the son of the chief of Shechem, Jacob does not raise the issue with the chief until his sons return, to avoid instigating a quarrel while his forces are divided. When his sons Simeon and Levi massacre the village without consulting him, he upbraids them not so much for their savagery but for their shortsightedness. He tells them that they have discredited the family by breaking their promise of peace, and that in doing so they have endangered the family by raising the possibility of the neighboring tribes uniting against them. Once again Jacob is giving top priority to the security and prosperity of his family and future nation. As the head of a small tribe with ambitions to conquer land and the need to deal with powerful nations, Jacob is completely focused on the situation his tribe faces.

There is a lesson here for modern times. In the Torah, the leaders of the Israelites are chosen by Hashem. Today in the advanced countries we choose our own leaders. In some ways Esau is like the fox in our story. He has many endearing qualities, but does not plan for the future or seek to understand alternatives. Jacob, on the other hand, resembles the beaver. He plans ahead, considers all factors, and knows how to lead his people. In choosing our leaders, it is important to choose men and women with wisdom, compassion and understanding of the available strategies and pitfalls of the current situation, rather than those who appeal only to our emotions.

Shabbat Shalom

The Holiness of the Jewish People

By Rabbi Joel Rembaum, Sukklot First Day 5784

(THIS READING TEXT OF MY SERMON IS LONGER THAN THE TEXT FOR SPEAKING THAT WAS PRESENTED ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2023. IT CONTAINS MATERIAL NOT INCLUDED IN THE SERMON. THE SPEAKING TEXT WAS WRITTEN IN “ALL CAPS” FORMAT BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO READ. GIVEN THAT THE SPEAKING TEXT COMPRISES THE BULK OF THE READING TEXT, THE “ALL CAPS” FORMAT IS CARRIED OVER.)

SUKKOT IS CALLED ZMAN SIMHATEINU — THE TIME OF OUR REJOICING. AFTER A SERIOUS EFFORT AT TESHUVAH LASTING A MONTH AND TEN DAYS (ELUL THROUGH YOM KIPPUR), A BURDEN OF GUILT HAS BEEN LIFTED, AND WE CELEBRATE WITH JOY AS WE APPRECIATE GOD’S GIFTS TO US.

THE AUTHORITIES OF THE 2ND TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM MADE SUKKOT INTO HAG HA-URIM, THE ORIGINAL “FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS.” TORCHES WERE LIT IN TEMPLE’S COURTYARDS, AND THE PEOPLE REJOICED IN ALL NIGHT CELEBRATIONS.

THE PHARISEES INTRODUCED THE SIMHAT BEIT HA-SHO’EVAH, A WATER LIBATION CEREMONY IN THE TEMPLE ACCOMPANYING A PRAYER FOR RAIN IN THE COMING FALL AND WINTER. THIS HOPEFULLY LOOKED FORWARD TO ABUNDANT RAIN AND CROPS IN THE SPRING, SUMMER, AND FALL. THIS WAS THE PRECURSOR OF OUR GESHEM AND TAL BLESSINGS.

THE KIDDUSH OVER WINE THAT WE RECITE, THE SUKKAH IN WHICH WE EAT AND SLEEP, AND THE ARBA’AH MINIM WE WAVE, ALL ARE SYMBOLS OF GOD’S BLESSINGS FOR WHICH WE ARE SO GRATEFUL.

AND WE CANNOT FORGET THE SPIN-OFF CELEBRATION FROM SUKKOT, HANUKKAH, CALLED IN THE BOOK OF SECOND MACCABEES “THE FESTIVAL OF SUKKOT OF THE MONTH OF KISLEV,” WHICH WE ALSO CALL HAG HA-URIM.

AT THE SAME TIME, SUKKOT HAS A SERIOUS SIDE:

WE ARE TOLD THAT WE HAVE UNTIL HOSHANAH RABBAH, THE LAST DAY OF THE FESTIVAL, TO CONFRONT THE WRONGS WE WERE AFRAID OR UNABLE TO ADDRESS BEFORE THE HAGGIM AND DURING ASERET Y’MEI TESHUVAH. ONGOING DEEP INTROSPECTION, STEELING OURSELVES FOR THE TASK OF SEEKING FORGIVENESS, AND THEN CHANGING OUR BEHAVIOR DURNG THE WEEK OF SUKKOT ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. THIS TO BE DONE INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY.

WE JEWS TAKE PRIDE IN THE FACT THAT OUR TRADITION HAS GIVEN TO THE WORLD A MYRIAD OF POSITIVE VALUES THAT SHAPE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH BOTH GOD AND GOD’S CREATURES. AT THE SAME TIME, IT WOULD BE DISHONEST TO SUGGEST THAT IN OUR 3000 YEAR OLD RELIGION THERE ARE NO PRINCIPLES THAT WE WHO LIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY FIND TO BE HIGHLY PROBLEMATIC. INDEED, ALL IS NOT PERFECT IN OUR ANCIENT SYSTEM. I WILL NOTE A FEW SUCH IMPERFECTIONS:

1. PATRIARCHY, THE PRINCIPLE OF THE RULE OF THE ALPHA MALE, AND ALL LAWS IN OUR JEWISH LEGAL SYSTEM BASED ON THAT PRINCIPLE, SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AN ANATHEMA AND SHOULD BE CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM HAS MADE GREAT STRIDES IN ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE, BUT WITH THE RISE OF A MILITANT ULTRA-ORTHODOXY, THIS PROBLEM REMAINS ON THE TABLE AND THE EFFORT TO EXCISE PATRIARCHY MUST NOT STOP.
2. SLAVERY — THERE ARE UPWARDS OF 35 MILLION SLAVES IN THE WORLD. WHILE I AM AWARE THAT, IN HIS ARUKH HASHULHAN, RABBI YEHIEL EPSTEIN (1829-1908) WROTE, “THE LAWS OF SLAVERY WERE FOLLOWED IN ANCIENT TIMES, BUT NOW THE LAWS OF SLAVERY ARE NOT IN FORCE AT ALL, FOR THERE ARE NO SLAVES IN OUR COMMUNITIES” (YOREH DEAH, AVADIM, 267). HOWEVER, WERE THERE SLAVES, WHAT WOULD EPSTEIN HAVE RULED? ALSO, THE

DEFINITION OF SLAVERY HAS BEEN BROADENED OVER THE PAST HALF-CENTURY. I AM UNAWARE OF THE EXISTENCE OF A SERIOUS, SCHOLARLY, IN-DEPTH TESHUVAH FROM AN AUTHORIZED RABBINIC LEGAL BODY THAT CATEGORICALLY STATES THAT SLAVERY, IN ALL ITS EXPRESSIONS — THEORY, LAW, AND ACTIONS — MUST BE REMOVED FROM JUDAISM AND, INDEED, FROM THE THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

AND, TO THAT END, ITEMS PRODUCED BY SLAVE LABOR — UN-PAID OR HORRIBLY UNDERPAID — ARE NOT TO BE BOUGHT OR SOLD.

3. WE DO, INDEED, TAKE PRIDE IN OUR JEWISH UNIVERSALISTIC PRINCIPLES. A PRINCIPLE OF THE SUPERIORITY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, HOWEVER, HAS BEEN EMBEDDED IN OUR TRADITIONAL SOURCES FROM BIBLICAL TIMES UNTIL OUR OWN AS AN OPERATING PRINCIPLE THIS MUST BE EXPUNGED, AND ANY TEACHING OR ACTIONS TAKEN BASED ON THIS PRINCIPLE MUST BE CONSIDERED AN AVEIRAH — TRANSGRESSION — OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

THIS LAST COLLECTIVE SIN HAS CAUSED ME GRIEF OVER PAST FEW MONTHS, AS I HAVE READ A NUMBER OF REPORTS THAT MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THS BELIEF AMONG JEWS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE 21ST CENTURY. FIRST, BACKGROUND:

THE ROOTS OF JEWISH SUPERIORITY ARE BIBLICAL. IN THE TORAH WE FIND TWO EXPRESSIONS OF THE NOTION OF THE HOLINESS OF AM YISRAEL: ONE IS ASPIRATIONAL, AND ONE IS EXISTENTIAL. THE ISRAELITE ASPIRATIONAL HOLINESS TAKES THE FORM OF A GOAL TOWARD WHICH THE PEOPLE MUST STRIVE, AND IT IS CONTINGENT UPON THEIR BEING DILIGENT IN FOLLOWING GOD’S LAWS:

EXODUS 19:5-6

NOW THEN, IF YOU WILL OBEY ME FAITHFULLY AND KEEP MY COVENANT, YOU SHALL BE MY TREASURED POSSESSION AMONG ALL THE PEOPLES. INDEED, ALL THE EARTH IS MINE, BUT YOU SHALL BE TO ME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS AND A HOLY NATION. THESE ARE THE WORDS THAT YOU SHALL SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

LEVITICUS 19:2, 37

SPEAK TO THE WHOLE ISRAELITE COMMUNITY AND SAY TO THEM: YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I, YOUR GOD YHVH, AM HOLY.

YOU SHALL FAITHFULLY OBSERVE ALL MY LAWS AND ALL MY RULES: I AM YHVH.

LEVITICUS 20:26

YOU SHALL BE HOLY TO ME, FOR I YHVH AM HOLY, AND I HAVE SET YOU APART FROM OTHER PEOPLES TO BE MINE.

IT IS INTERESTING THAT IN THE FIRST FOUR BOOKS OF THE TORAH THE ONLY MENTION OF ISRAEL AS ALREADY BEING A HOLY NATION IS FROM THE MOUTH OF THE DEMAGOGIC REBEL, KORAKH:

NUMBERS 16:3

THEY COMBINED AGAINST MOSES AND AARON AND SAID TO THEM, “YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR! FOR ALL THE COMMUNITY ARE HOLY, ALL OF THEM, AND YHVH IS IN THEIR MIDST. WHY THEN DO YOU RAISE YOURSELVES ABOVE YHVH’S CONGREGATION?”

FOUR TIMES IN DEUTERONOMY, HOWEVER, MOSES SAYS THAT ISRAEL IS, EXISTENTIALLY, A HOLY PEOPLE. AS OPPOSED TO THE PASSAGES CITED ABOVE, MOSES IS, IN EFFECT, SAYING: BECAUSE YOU ARE A HOLY PEOPLE, YOU MAY NOT VIOLATE THE LAW OF YHVH, AND IF YOU DO, GOD WILL HOLD YOU LIABLE FOR PUNISHMENT. THIS IS CLEAR IN DEUTERONOMY 11 AND IN THE CURSES FOUND TOWARD THE END OF BOOK. THIS SAME IDEA IS EXPRESSED IN DIFFERENT WORDS BY THE PROPHET AMOS (3:2): WITH YOU ALONE HAVE I BEEN INTIMATE OUT OF ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH—THAT IS WHY I WILL CALL YOU TO ACCOUNT FOR ALL YOUR INIQUITIES.

AND SO, MOSES SAYS:

DEUTERONOMY 7:6 [FOLLOWING A STRONG PROHIBITION OF ISRAELITE MARRIAGE WITH THE PAGAN WOMEN OF CANAAN…]

FOR YOU ARE A PEOPLE HOLY TO YOUR GOD YHVH: OF ALL THE PEOPLES ON EARTH YOUR GOD YHVH CHOSE YOU TO BE GOD’S TREASURED PEOPLE.

DEUTERONOMY 14:1-2

YOU ARE CHILDREN OF YOUR GOD YHVH. YOU SHALL NOT GASH YOURSELVES OR SHAVE THE FRONT OF YOUR HEADS BECAUSE OF THE DEAD.

FOR YOU ARE A PEOPLE HOLY TO YOUR GOD YHVH: YOUR GOD YHVH CHOSE YOU FROM AMONG ALL OTHER PEOPLES ON EARTH TO BE A TREASURED PEOPLE.

DEUTERONOMY14:21

YOU SHALL NOT EAT ANYTHING THAT HAS DIED A NATURAL DEATH; GIVE IT TO THE STRANGER IN YOUR COMMUNITY TO EAT, OR YOU MAY SELL IT TO A FOREIGNER. FOR YOU ARE A PEOPLE HOLY TO YOUR GOD YHVH. YOU SHALL NOT BOIL A KID IN ITS MOTHER’S MILK.

DEUTERONOMY 26:19

[THE COVENANT IS BEING AFFIRMED BY THE PEOPLE AND GOD AS A MUTUAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES, BASED ON LAWS GIVEN BY GOD AND RECEIVED BY THE PEOPLE. THEREFORE, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD…]

…[GOD] WILL SET YOU, IN FAME AND RENOWN AND GLORY, HIGH ABOVE ALL THE NATIONS THAT [GOD] HAS MADE; AND THAT YOU SHALL BE, AS PROMISED, A HOLY PEOPLE TO YOUR GOD YHVH.

ECHOING DEUTERONOMY, THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.E. SPIRITUAL LEADER AND TEACHER OF THE PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM, EZRA THE SCRIBE, TELLS US:

EZRA 9:1-3

WHEN THIS WAS OVER, THE OFFICERS APPROACHED ME, SAYING, “THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES HAVE NOT SEPARATED THEMSELVES FROM THE PEOPLES OF THE LAND WHOSE ABHORRENT PRACTICES ARE LIKE THOSE OF THE CANAANITES, THE HITTITES, THE PERIZZITES, THE JEBUSITES, THE AMMONITES, THE MOABITES, THE EGYPTIANS, AND THE AMORITES. THEY HAVE TAKEN THEIR DAUGHTERS AS WIVES FOR THEMSELVES AND FOR THEIR SONS, SO THAT THE HOLY SEED HAS BECOME INTERMINGLED WITH THE PEOPLES OF THE LAND; AND IT IS THE OFFICERS AND PREFECTS WHO HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD IN THIS TRESPASS.” WHEN I HEARD THIS, I RENT MY GARMENT AND ROBE, I TORE HAIR OUT OF MY HEAD AND BEARD, AND I SAT DESOLATE.

EZRA THEN INSTRUCTS THE LEADERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO SEND AWAY THE WOMEN, AND THEY DO AS ORDERED. OTHERWISE, THE “HOLY SEED,” INNATE WITHIN THE JEWISH MEN, WOULD BE DEFILED.

THERE WAS NO PROCESS FOR CONVERSION AT THAT TIME

THE RABBINIC SOURCES FROM THE FIRST THROUGH THE EIGHTH CENTURIES C.E. ARE RICH WITH UNIVERSAL AND TOLERANT STATEMENTS REGARDING NON-JEWS. ONE CAN ALSO FIND VERY BLUNT ANTI-GENTILE EXPRESSIONS. RABBI REUVEN HAMMER, z”l, CITES NUMEROUS EXAMPLES OF EACH OF THESE PERSPECTIVES IN HIS PAPER, NOTED TOWARD THE END OF THIS DRASH.

YEHUDAH HA-LEVI (SPAIN, 12TH CENTURY), IN HIS BOOK, THE KOZARI, WRITTEN IN ARABIC BUT TRANSLATED AFTER HIS DEATH INTO HEBREW, USES A WIDELY ACCEPTED PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPT TO DEFINE WHERE JEWS STAND VIS-A-VIS NON-JEWS. THE BOOK BEGINS WITH THE CONVERSION OF THE KING OF THE KHAZARS TO JUDAISM. HE INVITES A RABBI FOR A (PLATONIC STYLE) DIALOG REGARDING HIS NEW RELIGION. HE ASKS ABOUT THE SEEMING LOWLY STATUS OF THE JEWS IN THE WORLD. THE RABBI RESPONDS THAT THIS IS A RESULT OF THE JEWS MISMANAGEMENT OF THEIR OWN AFFAIRS. HE PROCEEDS TO EXPLAIN

THE ACTUAL REALITY OF THE STATUS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. HE LAYS OUT THE VARIOUS LEVELS OF THE CREATURES IN THE WORLD: THE LOWEST ARE THE ROCKS. ABOVE THEM ARE THE PLANTS. ABOVE THEM ARE THE ANIMALS. AND, ACCORDING TO THIS PHILOSOPHICAL NOTION, THE FOURTH LEVEL ARE HUMANS. HE THEN TAKES IT ONE STEP FURTHER AND EXPLAINS HOW THE JEWS ARE ACTUALLY THE FIFTH, AND HIGHEST, LEVEL OF CREATION. HE SHOWS THE KING HOW, ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, THIS CAME ABOUT. THE JEWS ARE AT A SPIRITUAL AND INTELLECTUAL LEVEL EVEN HIGHER THAN THAT OF THE PHILOSOPHERS: JEWS ARE THE PEOPLE OF PROPHECY WHO HAVE SOULS THAT ALLOW GOD TO SPEAK TO THEM DIRECTLY. HE TELLS THE KING THAT, AS A CONVERT, HE IS ACCEPTED AS A MEMBER OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, WITH ALL ITS RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES; HE CANNOT, HOWEVER, RECEIVE PROPHECY BECAUSE HE DOES NOT HAVE A JEWISH SOUL. HA-LEVI WAS A PHYSICIAN, AND HE KNEW MEDIEVAL SCIENCE. HE USES A QUASI-GENETIC THEORY OF HOW DISTINCTLY JEWISH ATTRIBUTES SKIPPED GENERATIONS PRIOR TO THE ENSLAVEMENT IN EGYPT. IT WAS THERE THAT JEWISH IN-BREEDING ALLOWED THE ATTRIBUTES TO BE SPREAD WIDELY TO ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. (PART 1, PARAGRAPHS 92-103.)

IN SUBSEQUENT GENERATIONS OF JEWS THIS NOTION BECAME WELL KNOWN. IT APPEARS TO HAVE INFLUENCED MYSTICS WHO SHAPED WHAT CAME TO BE KNOWN IN THE 13TH AND 14TH CENTURIES AS KABBALAH.

THE FOUNDATIONAL TEXT FOR THE KABBALISTIC TRADITION IS THE ZOHAR, WRITTEN IN SPAIN, ca. 1290. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THE ZOHAR UNDERSTANDS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JEWISH SOUL AND GENTILE SOUL, BASED ON GENESIS 1:20, 24:

RABBI ABBA SAID: “‘NEFESH HAYYAH (GENESIS 1:20), SOUL OF THE LIVING BEING,’ NAMELY ISRAEL, FOR THEY ARE SCIONS OF THE BLESSED HOLY ONE, AND THEIR SOULS DERIVE FROM HIM. THE SOUL OF OTHER NATIONS

— WHENCE DOES IT COME?” RABBI ELEAZAR SAID, “FROM THOSE IMPURE

ASPECTS OF THE LEFT (DEMONIC POWERS FROM THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SEFIROT), DEFILING THEM AND ANYONE APPROACHING THEM.” GOD SAID, “LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH NEFESH HAYYAH [LIVING BEINGS], ACCORDING TO THEIR KIND (GENESIS 1:24).” RABBI ELEAZAR ADDED, “THIS SUPPORTS WHAT WE HAVE SAID, ‘NEFESH HAYYAH, SOULS OF THE LIVING BEING (GENESIS 1:20)’ — ISRAEL, WHO ARE THE ‘SOULS OF THE’ SUPERNAL, HOLY ‘LIVING BEING.’ ‘CATTLE, CRAWLING THINGS, AND LIVING CREATURES OF THE EARTH (1:24)’ — OTHER NATIONS, WHO ARE NOT ‘SOULS OF THE LIVING BEING,’ BUT RATHER ‘FORESKIN,’ AS WE HAVE SAID.” (FROM DANIEL MATT, ZOHAR (STANFORD, 2004), 1:252.)

NO COMMENT IS NECESSARY. THE ZOHAR FIRST CAME OFF THE PRINTING PRESSES IN ITALY IN THE 1550’S, AND THIS ALLOWED ITS INFLUENCE TO SPREAD. GIVEN THE IMPACT OF ZOHARIC IDEOLOGY ON SUBSEQUENT GENERATIONS OF JEWISH THINKERS, IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT THIS NOTION OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEWS AND NON-JEWS SHAPED HOW JEWS IN MANY COMMUNITIES VIEWED THEIR GENTILE NEIGHBORS.

THE ARI, R. YITZHAK BEN SHLOMO LURIA ASHKENAZI (16TH CENTURY, TZEFAT), AS CITED BY R. HAYYIM VITAL, HIS DISCIPLE, PROVIDES THIS INTERPRETATION OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JEWISH AND A GENTILE SOUL:

SO WE FIND THAT ISRAEL POSSESSES THE THREE LEVELS OF SOUL (NEFESH, RUACH, NESHAMAH) FROM HOLINESS¹….THE GENTILES, HOWEVER, POSSESS ONLY THE LEVEL OF NEFESH FROM THE FEMININE SIDE OF THE KLIPOT²…FOR THE SOULS OF THE NATIONS, WHICH COME FROM THE KLIPOT, ARE CALLED ‘EVIL’ AND NOT ‘GOOD,’ ARE CREATED WITHOUT THE DA’AT (KNOWLEDGE), AND THEREFORE THEY ALSO LACK

1 Ha-Kadosh Barukh Hu. This term, along with YHVH, Tiferet, and others, are some of the names of the central sefira of the Kabbalah’s sefirotic lower extension of God.

2 Kelipah, (pl. kelipot): (Lit. “shell” or “shard’) the outer covering which conceals the Godly light within all creation; hence, the unholy side of the universe. Lurianic Kabbalah teaches that when the universe was created, vessels containing this light shattered.

 

THE RUACH AND NESHAMAH.” (R. HAYYIM VITAL, EITZ ḤAYYIM, PORTAL 5, CH. 2.)

THE MAHARAL OF PRAGUE, MOREINU HA-RAV YEHUDAH LEVA BEN BETZALEL (16TH-EARLY 17TH CENTURIES), WAS A TRUE POLYMATH WHO PEPPERED HIS STUDIES OF JEWISH SOURCES AND TRADITION WITH SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND KABBALAH. HE KNEW THE ZOHAR.

WHAT FOLLOWS, HOWEVER, WITH ITS FORM/MATTER PERSPECTIVE, REFLECTS MORE OF A PHILOSOPHICAL INFLUENCE:

…FOR EVEN IF ALL HUMAN BEINGS HAVE A COMMON SHAPE, THERE STILL IS A DISTINCTION…THERE ARE NATIONS WHO HAVE MORE OF A TENDENCY TOWARDS THE PHYSICAL AND THEIR ACTIONS TESTIFY TO THIS, FOR THEY ARE INCLINED TOWARDS LUST AND ABOMINABLE THINGS. THIS IS EVIDENCE OF THEIR MATERIALISTIC NATURE…AND AS WE FIND ANIMALS, WHICH ARE LIKE AN INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN MAN AND THE REST OF THE ANIMAL WORLD, SUCH AS THE MONKEY…LIKEWISE THERE EXIST MEN–WHO ARE NOT COMPLETELY MEN. THEREFORE HE [RABBI SHIMON BAR YOHAI] SPOKE OF THE COMPLETE MAN WHO DOESN’T GRAVITATE TOWARDS MATERIALISM TOO MUCH — THESE ARE THE JEWS, FOR THEY POSSESS THE COMPLETE FORM WITHOUT A TENDENCY TOWARDS MATERIALISM. HOWEVER, AS FOR THE OTHER NATIONS, THEIR FORM IS NULLIFIED BY THEIR MATERIAL ASPECT, UNTIL THEY, SO TO SPEAK, CEASE TO BE ‘MEN,’ BECAUSE THEIR MATERIAL ASPECT IS PRIMARY AND THEIR FORM IS SECONDARY — AND IN EVERYTHING WHICH HAS BOTH A PRIMARY AND A SECONDARY ASPECT, THE SECONDARY ASPECT IS ALWAYS NULLIFIED BY THE PRIMARY ASPECT. WITH THE JEWS, HOWEVER, THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE, FOR THEIR FORM IS PRIMARY AND THEIR MATERIAL ASPECT IS SECONDARY, AND IS THEREFORE NULLIFIED.” (GEVUROT HASHEM, CHAPTER 44.)

THE TANYA, WRITTEN BY RABBI SHNEUR ZALMAN OF LIADI, THE FOUNDER OF CHABAD HASIDISM, WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1796. IT IS A COMPENDIUM OF R. SHNEUR ZALMAN’S KABBALISTIC IDEOLOGY. IT CONTINUES TO BE WIDELY STUDIED IN OUR DAY. THIS IS FROM TANYA, LIKKUTEI AMARIM, END OF CH. 1. IN IT, R. SHNEUR ZALMAN CITES R. HAYYIM VITAL BY NAME:

RABBI CHAIM VITAL WROTE IN SHAAR HAKEDUSHAH THAT EVERY JEW, WHETHER RIGHTEOUS OR WICKED, POSSESSES TWO SOULS, AS IT IS WRITTEN, “AND NESHAMOT (SOULS) WHICH I HAVE MADE.” THESE ARE TWO NEFASHOT—TWO SOULS AND LIFE-FORCES. ONE SOUL ORIGINATES IN THE KELIPAH AND SITRA ACHARA³. IT IS THIS NEFESH [WHICH ORIGINATES IN THE KELIPAH AND SITRA ACHARA] THAT IS CLOTHED IN THE BLOOD OF A HUMAN BEING, GIVING LIFE TO THE BODY, AS IT IS WRITTEN, “FOR THE NEFESH OF THE FLESH (I.E., THE NEFESH THAT SUSTAINS PHYSICAL AND CORPOREAL LIFE) IS IN THE BLOOD.” FROM [THIS NEFESH] STEMS ALL THE EVIL CHARACTERISTICS, DERIVING FROM THE FOUR EVIL ELEMENTS WITHIN IT.… FROM THE SECOND SOUL STEMS THE GOOD TRAITS INHERENT IN EVERY JEW’S CHARACTER, SUCH AS COMPASSION AND BENEVOLENCE. FOR IN THE [CASE OF THE] JEW, THIS SOUL OF KELIPAH IS DERIVED FROM THE KELIPAH CALLED “NOGAH,” WHICH ALSO CONTAINS GOOD; AND THE GOOD WITHIN THIS NEFESH GIVES RISE TO THESE POSITIVE NATURAL TRAITS. [THIS KELIPAH] IS FROM THE ESOTERIC “TREE OF KNOWLEDGE [WHICH IS COMPRISED] OF GOOD AND EVIL. THE SOULS OF THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD, HOWEVER, EMANATING FROM THE OTHER, UNCLEAN KELIPOT, WHICH CONTAIN NO GOOD WHATSOEVER, AS IS WRITTEN IN ETZ CHAIM, PORTAL 49, CH. 3, THAT ALL THE GOOD THAT THE NATIONS DO IS DONE OUT OF SELFISH MOTIVES. SO THE GEMARA COMMENTS ON THE VERSE, “THE KINDNESS OF THE NATIONS IS SIN”—THAT ALL THE CHARITY AND KINDNESS DONE BY THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD IS ONLY FOR THEIR SELF-GLORIFICATION. (TRANSLATION FROM CHABAD.)

ONE OF THE GIANTS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF THE ERETZ YISRAEL YISHUV IN THE PRE-STATE PERIOD, R. AVRAHAM YITZḤAK HA-KOHEN

3 Sitra Akhara: “The Other Side,” the dark side of the universe from which evil forces emanate.

 

KOOK (1865–1935), WAS THE FIRST CHIEF RABBI OF PALESTINE. THIS IS WHAT RAV KOOK WROTE:

THE JEWISH PEOPLE ARE SUPERIOR TO ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH. THIS IS NOT ONLY SO WITH REGARD TO THE [GENTILE] FOOLS WHO ARE ABOMINABLE IN THEIR WAYS THROUGH MURDER AND OTHER GREAT ABOMINATIONS. RATHER, THE JEWS’ SUPERIORITY IS DUE TO THEIR SANCTITY… WHICH IS SUPERIOR EVEN WITH REGARD TO THOSE WHO ARE THE WISEST AND MOST SAINTLY AMONG THE NATIONS. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE JEWISH SOUL, ITS SELF, ITS INNER DESIRES, ITS OVERFLOW, ITS CHARACTER, ITS STANDING, AND THAT OF ALL THE NATIONS, AT ALL THEIR LEVELS, [THAT DIFFERENCE] IS GREATER AND DEEPER THAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE [GENTILE] HUMAN SOUL AND THE SOUL OF AN ANIMAL. BETWEEN THE LATTER, THERE IS MERELY A QUANTITATIVE DISTINCTION; BETWEEN THE FORMER, AN ESSENTIAL QUALITATIVE DISTINCTION PERTAINS. (MIDBAR SHUR (JERUSALEM, 1997), 300; OROT (JERUSALEM, 2005), 156.)

YET, RAV KOOK ALSO TEACHES THAT JEWS MUST LEARN TO —LOVE ALL CREATURES, ESPECIALLY HUMANS OF OTHER NATIONS: FOR ONLY UPON A SOUL RICH IN LOVE FOR CREATURES AND LOVE OF MAN [I.E. A JEWISH SOUL] CAN THE LOVE OF THE NATION RAISE ITSELF UP IN ITS FULL NOBILITY AND SPIRITUAL AND NATURAL GREATNESS. THE NARROWNESS THAT CAUSES ONE TO SEE WHATEVER IS OUTSIDE THE BORDER OF THE SPECIAL NATION, EVEN OUTSIDE THE BORDER OF ISRAEL, AS UGLY AND DEFILED, IS A TERRIBLE DARKNESS THAT BRINGS GENERAL DESTRUCTION UPON ALL BUILDING OF SPIRITUAL GOOD WITHIN JEWISH SOUL, FOR THE LIGHT OF WHICH EVERY REFINED SOUL HOPES. (MUSSAR AVIKHA (JERUSALEM, 1985), P. 58.)

THIS DOES NOT CONTRADICT THE PASSAGE I FIRST READ. IT IS A GENEROUS NOBLESSE OBLIGE STATEMENT. PLEASE NOTE, HOWEVER, THAT R. KOOK EMPHASIZES HOW LOVE OF ALL CREATURES BRINGS GREAT BENEFIT TO THE JEWISH SOUL.

DURING THE DECADES FOLLOWING RAV KOOK, THE CONCEPT OF JEWISH SUPERIORITY CONTINUED TO PERCOLATE. A NEW, NUANCED APPROACH EMERGED IN THE THOUGHT OF RAV KOOK’S SON, R. ZVI YEHUDA KOOK, WHO HAS HAD A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON THE THE SETTLER MOVEMENT. AND, THE RACIST TEACHINGS OF R. MEIR KAHANE ENTERED INTO ULTRA-NATIONALIST RELIGIOUS CIRCLES AND CONTINUE TO BE OPERATIVE. AN EXCELLENT STUDY OF THESE AND OTHER TRENDS IN THE RELIGIO-POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL IS AMI PEDAHZUR’S THE TRIUMPH OF ISRAEL’S RADICAL RIGHT (OXFORD, 2012).

THIS BRINGS US TO THE 2IST CENTURY. WHAT FOLLOWS WAS REPORTED IN THE TIMES OF ISRAEL, APRIL 2019 (BASED ON A SCREEN SHOT OF A VIDEO CAPTURED BY ISRAEL TV CHANNEL 13). RABBI ELIEZER KASHTIEL IS THE HEAD OF A MILITARY-PREP YESHIVAH IN THE WEST BANK SETTLEMENT OF ELI. THIS IS WHAT HE TOLD HIS STUDENTS:

“THE GENTILES WILL WANT TO BE OUR SLAVES. BEING A SLAVE TO A JEW IS THE BEST. THEY’RE GLAD TO BE SLAVES, THEY WANT TO BE SLAVES… INSTEAD OF JUST WALKING THE STREETS AND BEING STUPID AND VIOLENT AND HARMING EACH OTHER. ONCE THEY’RE SLAVES, THEIR LIVES CAN BEGIN TO TAKE SHAPE….ALL AROUND US, WE ARE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLES WITH GENETIC PROBLEMS. ASK A SIMPLE ARAB ‘WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE?’ HE WANTS TO BE UNDER THE OCCUPATION. WHY? BECAUSE THEY HAVE GENETIC PROBLEMS, THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO RUN A COUNTRY, THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO ANYTHING. LOOK AT THEM….YES, WE’RE RACISTS. WE BELIEVE IN RACISM…THERE ARE RACES IN THE WORLD, AND PEOPLES HAVE GENETIC TRAITS, AND THAT REQUIRES US TO TRY TO HELP THEM⁴.

THE LAST WORDS SOUND LIKE A MIDRASH ON R. KOOK.

SO, HOW ARE WE TO DEAL WITH THIS? IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM. IT IS ALSO OBVIOUS THAT IT’S SOLUTION REQUIRES THOUGHTFUL STRATEGIZING.

4 Presumably by enslaving them, as R. Kashtiel explained above.

 

AS A FIRST STEP, A MUST READ IS “THE STATUS OF NON-JEWS IN JEWISH LAW AND LORE TODAY,” BY R. REUVEN HAMMER — A RESPONSUM APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE RABBINICAL ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JEWISH LAW AND STANDARDS ON APRIL 21, 2016. HERE IS THE LINK:

https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/ 2011-2020/HammerTeshuvah Final.pdf .

ALSO HELPFUL IS: “THE SOUL OF A JEW AND THE SOUL OF A NON-JEW; AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH AND THE SEARCH FOR AN ALTERNATIVE,” BY R. HANAN BALK. ḤAKIRAH, THE FLATBUSH JOURNAL OF JEWISH LAW AND THOUGHT. LINK: https://hakirah.org/Vol16 Balk.pdf .

I WILL CALL THE RABBINICAL ASSEMBLY AND ASK THAT THIS ISSUE BE ADDRESSED BEFORE IT GETS OUT OF HAND, AND I WILL SUGGEST WE USE R. HAMMER’S RESPONSUM AS OUR ROADMAP. A MEANINGFUL STRATEGY MUST BE FOUND.

SO WE STILL HAVE TIME TO DO TESHUVAH. THERE IS GREAT KEDUSHAH — HOLINESS — IN TESHUVAH. IT IS A PROCESS THAT IS BUILT ON CONTROL OF ONE’S EGO — WHETHER THAT EGO IS INDIVIDUAL OR NATIONAL. IT RECOGNIZES THAT ONE CANNOT BE WHOLE IF ONE DISREGARDS THE OTHER “ONES” THAT ARE PART OF OUR LIFE: GOD — THE MOST SACRED ONE, AND THE SACRED ONES WHOSE LIVES ARE ENTWINED WITH OUR OWN, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY — FROM THE MEMBERS OF OUR HOUSEHOLDS TO ALL OF HUMANKIND, AND, INDEED, TO ALL CREATION. IT REQUIRES HUMILITY, A HALLMARK OF A TRUE SEEKER OF HOLINESS.

IN JEWISH TRADITION, WHO IS THE GREATEST HUMAN BEING WHO EVER LIVED? MOSES. IN THE COURSE OF CASTIGATING MIRIAM AND AARON FOR “BAD-MOUTHING” THEIR BROTHER, HERE IS WHAT GOD SAID ABOUT HIM. WE READ IN NUMBERS 12:

NOW MOSES HIMSELF WAS VERY HUMBLE, MORE SO THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING ON EARTH….AND [GOD] SAID, “HEAR THESE MY WORDS: WHEN PROPHETS OF YHVH ARISE AMONG YOU, I MAKE MYSELF KNOWN TO THEM IN A VISION, I SPEAK WITH THEM IN A DREAM. NOT SO WITH MY SERVANT MOSES; HE IS TRUSTED THROUGHOUT MY HOUSEHOLD. WITH HIM I SPEAK MOUTH TO MOUTH, PLAINLY AND NOT IN RIDDLES, AND HE BEHOLDS THE LIKENESS OF YHVH. HOW THEN DID YOU NOT FEAR SPEAKING AGAINST MY SERVANT MOSES?!”

HUMILITY, NOT HUBRIS, IS A FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENT OF TRUE HUMAN GREATNESS.

AND WE READ IN MICAH 6:6-8:

WITH WHAT SHALL I APPROACH GOD, DO HOMAGE TO GOD ON HIGH? SHALL I APPROACH WITH BURNT OFFERINGS, WITH CALVES A YEAR OLD? WOULD GOD BE PLEASED WITH THOUSANDS OF RAMS, WITH MYRIADS OF STREAMS OF OIL? SHALL I GIVE MY FIRST-BORN FOR MY TRANSGRESSION, THE FRUIT OF MY BODY FOR MY SINS?

YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD, O MORTAL, WHAT IS GOOD, AND WHAT GOD REQUIRES OF YOU: ONLY TO DO JUSTICE AND TO LOVE KINDNESS, AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD.

HUMILITY, NOT HUBRIS, PAVES THE WALK-WAY TO GOD.

I CONCLUDE WITH MISHNAH SANHEDRIN 4:5:

THEREFORE, ADAM WAS CREATED ALONE, TO TEACH YOU THAT WITH REGARD TO ANYONE WHO DESTROYS ONE SOUL IT IS AS IF HE DESTROYED AN ENTIRE WORLD; AND ANYONE WHO SUSTAINS ONE SOUL THE WRITTEN WORD [TORAH] ASCRIBES HIM CREDIT AS IF HE SUSTAINED AN ENTIRE WORLD. AND, THIS [ADAM HAVING BEEN CREATED ALONE] WAS DONE TO MAINTAIN PEACE AMONG PEOPLE, SO THAT ONE PERSON WILL NOT SAY TO ANOTHER: MY FATHER IS GREATER THAN YOUR FATHER.

ALL OF HUMANKIND IS ONE GREAT FAMILY, AND ALL OF US ARE OBLIGATED TO HUMBLY CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER.

SHABBAT SHALOM AND HAG SAMEACH.

Succot 2023: Living With Joy

By Rabbi Susan Laemmle

I still remember, years ago, suddenly noticing the odd Hebrew construction that gets turned into a song: V’samachta b’chagecha, v’hayitah ach sameach. What is that odd ach doing, I asked myself? The answer to that question is both complicated and about complexity. As I’ve gotten more comfortable with life’s complexity, this turn of phrase has meant more and more to me.

Since my family built its first Succah back in the 1970s, following guidelines in the Jewish Catalogue, the Fall Harvest Festival has been my favorite among Jewish holidays. I’m grateful to have been able to have a home Succah nearly every place I lived so that it’s been possible to experience solitary breakfasts as well as festive lunches and intimate dinners right out the back door. It took me years to grasp how fast Succot comes after Yom Kippur so that it’s best to have the whole Fall Holiday sequence well in mind before it begins, and then I suggested that to Jewish newcomers.

In the midst of all our planning and shopping and cooking, all the davening and dressing up, inviting people and being invited, it’s easy to lose sight of the richly complicated joy that’s at the heart of the holiday. Like the other pilgrimage festivals, Succot has multiple layers: agricultural, historical/national, and spiritual/religious. Torah readings from Leviticus and Numbers, a Haftarah reading from Zecharia, and the megillah addition of Kohelet – this year on Shemini Atzaret rather than Succot’s opening day on Shabbat —all these help us tap into Succot’s layers of meaningful sweetness like maple syrup.

And yet, ours is certainly not the only family here that’s tasted sorrow in recent years as well as much joy. How can we tap into Succot and life’s positive bounty when our lives and families and feelings are so multitudinous, so tumultuous? This year for the first time I’ve asked myself that question and looked to see what answers the tradition could help me come up with.

The Hebrew adverb ach has biblical occurrences that confirm and others than restrict; it can mean something like “surely” and also something like “in contrast to.” The biblical dictionary by Brown, Driver and Briggs notes that “in some passages the affirmative and the restrictive senses agree equally with the context, and authorities read the Hebrew differently.” So it is that Ibn Ezra covers both bases, writing: “It is in fact a commandment to have joy on the Feast of Booths. But some suggest that the verb is simply a future tense, marking another result of the Lord’s blessing – that you will always have nothing but joy.” For Rashi too “in a straightforward reading of the text, this is not a commandment but a promise.” Whereas Sforno enjoins: “Let no grief be mixed in with your joy,” which sounds more like a commandment to me.

In a way, the ambivalent, Janus-faced quality of Succot joy is built into its place in the holiday sequence. Coming so fast after Yom Kippur — the most serious day on our calendar — Succot marks a new beginning, starting things off with a clean slate. And yet, no sooner do we breath in and out and move around, even if we’ve managed to improve ourselves, we are likely to fall into new, if not the old, errors. And so it is that Succot joy must surmount obstacles and root itself deeply if it’s to be full-hearted and real. As Yitz Greenberg puts this, “The joy of Succot reflects maturity. It is the happiness of the free person who chooses to live this way, who prefers this mission to all other alternatives. There is an inner joy even in the struggle against obstacles, the joy of choice and of anticipation of the goal” on what he calls “the Exodus Journey.”

Let’s consider Maimonides’ list of the 613 mitzvot and look specifically at what Sefer Ha-Hinnuch (a 13^th century Spanish work) labels as “being happy on the pilgrimage festivals,” which comes as number 488. It’s anonymous author elaborates in a way I find most helpful: “At the root of the precept lies this reason: man was constructed in such a manner that his nature needs to rejoice at times, just as he needs food under all circumstances, and rest, and sleep. . . . God set certain times of the year as holy seasons for us to remember the miracles and kindnesses that God did for us. Then at those times God commanded us to provide the physical self with the materials for rejoicing that it needs, and the result would be a great healing medicine for us.”

Succot encourages — indeed requires — us to “play house” like children, to rhythmically move our bodies in all directions, to take up various plants as extensions of ourselves, to hang paper chains and other bits of decoration in our temporary quarters, and to create human circles that everyone gets drawn into. It urges us to eat and drink with the plenty and variety than our means allow; to sing and celebrate not alone or even just in our family, but while welcoming guests both symbolic and human, both alive and remembered.

From the rich Jewish tradition that is our inheritance, comes a promise: Succot will reciprocate all we do to make it ours. It will give us a joy that’s more than transient. In a beautiful gloss in his Trumat Tzvi Pentateuch, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch presents a vision of such enduring joy: “The behest v’hayitah sameach” turns your rejoicing into a permanent trait of your personality, and the words ach sameach mean that this joyfulness in your character will persist even under circumstances that would otherwise tend to cast a cloud over it. You will remain joyful nevertheless; that is, still joyful. Rejoicing is the most sublime flower and fruit to ripen on the tree of life planted by the Law of God. . . . It will extend beyond the festive season, accompany us back into everyday life. . . and remain with us through all its vicissitudes.”

Before concluding, I pause finally to ask myself – as you may have wondered — why we keep talking about joy rather than happiness since simcha also, maybe mostly, gets translated as with a variant of happy. If I asked you now if you are happy — if I asked myself — what reply would come? Many of us have our struggles, aspects of ourselves and our lives that make things difficult, sometimes near impossible for us to go forward physically, financially, emotionally or spiritually. We try to meet our obligations and do the right thing, we take satisfaction where we can and endeavor to make things better for ourselves and those we care about. But it’s rather like Tevya’s wife Golde being asked if she loves her husband. Do I love you? Am I happy?

It seems to me that Hirsch and much of Jewish tradition doesn’t care nearly as much about happiness as it does about joy. Happiness will, if we are fortunate, come at some point in our lives as an indirect benefit of our having been both lucky and worthy. Joy is something we can pursue directly by following Torah teaching as well as prudential wisdom. We need to make provision for it, plan toward it, reach out for it, and dig deeply into it. And then — hold onto it with all our might through the counter-indications, the suffering, the losses, and even the horror.

And we need to help one another, in our families and in our community, to enable everyone to experience the joy that is a “healing medicine” for our fragmented selves and world. Let’s try to do that, all together, in 5784.

Chag Sameach!

Shanah Tovah ooh’metukah.

 

 

Haazinu

By Talia Rotter

This week’s parsha, Ha’azinu, starts off by recounting the good things that G-d has done for B’nai Yisrael. G-d chose us as his people, cared for us in the wilderness, protected us, and defeated mighty nations on our behalf. It criticizes B’nai Yisrael for following other gods. G-d says that if they continue to practice idolatry, he will deliver famine and plague to the people, and promises them death. The same day G-d speaks to Moses and instructs him to climb Mount Nebo in the land of moab facing Jericho, and look out at the land of israel. G-d tells Moses that he will die on mount nebo because he didn’t follow G-d’s instructions in the Wilderness of Zin. There, Moshe hit the rock instead of raising his staff to make water appear, and G-d says not listening to his instructions broke the holiness of bnei yisrael. Then Moshe dies on Mount Nebo, looking at the land he worked so hard to get to, not allowed to enter.

Moshe wanted so badly to see Eretz Yisrael, but his sin of hitting the rock was somehow unforgivable. Even after all Moshe had done, being a leader for bnei yisrael, helping them out of egypt, and being merciful to them, even when they practiced idolatry, still, G-d didn’t let him go into the promised land, and he had to die looking at it from afar. Why was simply hitting a rock such a bad, consequential thing to do?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks suggests that this is about leadership. Each era has its new leaders, and they were all different from one another, not just by personality, but by their type of leadership. Each generation needs a type of leadership that is appropriate to the current times. Although there are some things that a leader needs throughout time and in every generation, such as integrity, open mindedness, and courage, there are other things that change about a leader from generation to generation, because a leader should be able to relate to every individual of their time.

Moshe comes from the generation of those who were slaves in Egypt, and when G-d commanded Moshe to hit a rock to make water the first time, almost forty years prior, it was because in the generation of slaves, the way leaders got things done was by physical force and harsh words. Because Moshe was from a different era of leadership, he didn’t understand that the leadership of the next generation. The next generation, born in the wilderness, was different. The type of leadership they needed was persuasion, not force and power. Talking to the rock, and teaching Bnei Israel how to get water, would have been a better fit, for them.

It is possible that Moshe not being allowed to enter Israel wasn’t meant to be a punishment, he just wasn’t the right leader for the new generation, and the rock incident is an example of why.

Another related concept is that the song in Haazinu never mentions the escape from Egypt: It starts off by talking about how G-d found the people in the wilderness. An explanation for this follows the same theme that rabbi sacks introduced, of different needs in every generation. In my bat mitzvah parsha, Beshalach, Shirat Hayam dramatically narrates the escape from Egypt. Shirat Hayam was the song of the generation who were slaves, because it is resonates for those who left Mitzrayim, and it relates to that generation. In this parsha, Haazinu, the song doesn’t mention the escape from Egypt, because the current generation was born in the wilderness, so the escape from Egypt doesn’t resonate with them as directly.. Because this is a song from G-d talking to the people, it starts off narrating what they know, which is that G-d helped them in the wilderness. This concept of every generation needing to be addressed in a way that they can relate to still applies today. Just like I might enjoy different types of music than my parents, and use different slang from them, the generation born in the wilderness and the generation born in Mitzrayim need to be spoken to and ruled differently.

The story of Moshe and the rock, along with the different themes in Shirat Hayam and the song in Haazinu, are trying to teach us that every generation is unique, so leadership and understanding has to be appropriate and applicable to the current time.

G’mar chatima tova, and shabbat shalom

Yom Kippur Day 2023/5784 — Stayin’ Aligned

By Rabbi Jim Rogozen

If you go north on La Cienega you’ll find chiropractors who can re-align your spine and joints. If you go south you can find places that will re-align your cars’ tires. All of these places provide an important, but often, temporary fix to your body or car.

As humans, it’s inevitable that, we too, will get off track in ways small and large. Getting off track often causes us to drift away from God, and our true selves. When we find ourselves saying, “This is not who I really am!” we know that we are out of alignment.

Our Tradition acknowledges this in the weekday Amida – slach lanu aveenu kee hatanu – forgive us, God, for we have sinned. But it also reminds us that God is rotzeh b’tshuva – God welcomes our repentance, our T’shuva.

This idea of drift has a history – both good and bad. Scholars have said that we, the Jews, were first called עברים “ivrim” (Hebrews) based on the Akkadian word Hapiru, which meant those who crossed borders. The ivrim, our ancestors, עברוּ avru, – they crossed over rivers and borders to leave Egypt and eventually go to Eretz Yisrael. When they entered the Land their mission was to be an Am Kadosh, to turn away from a history of slavery and become a faith-aligned community. It was a brave move forward, crossing physical and psychological borders, into something new.

But then reality stepped in. The Israelites faced challenges to their faith, and they often fell out of alignment with God and with one another. These challenges continue in our time as well. So, in a way, it’s not surprising that each year, as we rise for Kol Nidrei, the liturgy declares that we are all עבריינים “Avaryanim” – sinners, or more literally, people who have crossed a line. We come to shul on Yom Kippur as people who have drifted, fallen out of alignment with our own beliefs and actions. This description has been in the Mahzor for centuries; it wasn’t just recently penciled in. So every year, it seems, we need to get re-aligned.

This, I believe, is what Yom Kippur is all about. And that’s what this place on La Cienega is for – spiritual and personal realignment.

So how do we keep from getting so out of alignment each year?

On the one hand, Rabbi Israel Salanter, the founder of the Musar Movement, used to teach, “You shouldn’t say ‘I can’t help myself.’ Of course you can!” In other words, you did this, take ownership!

On the other hand, Rabbi Abraham Twersky, a Chassidic Rabbi and Psychiatrist said, “People have three basic needs: food, shelter, and someone else to blame.”

Maybe they’re both right.

As much as we should take ownership for our individual actions, to be fair, there are times when some of our aveirot – our sins, our drift – are influenced by context.

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations, or with people, who don’t have the same priorities or values that we do. Sometimes, especially in the last few years, we’ve just been overwhelmed.

I think we’ve all come to realize that the storyline or plot of our lives, is neither linear nor clear. It’s interesting that the word for “plot” in Spanish is desenlace, which means to come unraveled. It’s all too easy for us to unravel, and “drift” away from our true selves.

I believe that living in alignment – with ourselves, each other, and God – is not a solo event; it demands more than our own effort. It also requires a scaffolding, an infrastructure – not just inside of us – but a mission-aligned community around us as well.

So how do we make this happen?

First, we start with ourselves. Every one of us – as individuals (young and old), as a couple, or a family – should create a Mission Statement that clearly expresses who we are, what we’re trying to achieve, and how we’re going to get there.

סוֹף מעשה במחשבה תחילה Sof ma’aseh b’mach’shava t’chila– start with the end in mind.

Next, we need to connect -at least some of the time – with people who are like us, who share our goals and values. If we want to be more Shabbat observant or do more Tikkun Olam, or study Jewish texts – we need to find others to make this happen. לא טוֹב היוֹת האדם לבדוֹ lo tov heiyot ha’adam l’vado – we need other people to make us more human.

Rabbi Nehorai raised the bar on this notion in Pirkei Avot: הֱוֵי גוֹלֶה לִמְקוֹם תּוֹרָה

Hevay goleh lim’kom Torah – “Exile yourself to a place of Torah.” In this MIshna, exiling oneself meant actually moving to another city where there were yeshivot. For us, I think “exile” means that we have to make changes in our daily lives in order to more fully become ourselves. It takes courage. Leadership guru Ron Heifetz at Harvard wrote that “people don’t resist change…they resist loss.” But changing some of our behaviors, how and with whom we spend our time, allows us to better pursue our mission, and our way of being in the world.

The third element is something people don’t always think about. Community and organizations.

Arthur Brooks and others have recently addressed people’s sense of drift by explaining “how to build a life.” To do that, says Brooks, you need faith, family, friends, and work. Sounds like good advice.

But while Brooks suggests building a life, he makes no mention of actual buildings, organizations, or intentional communities.

Jewish practice has always stressed the need for structures and organizations: a cemetery, a mikvah, a synagogue, a bet din, a hevra kadisha, a school, and more.

These buildings and organizations have existed for centuries in order to strengthen us and help us live our values. They help us successfully build our lives. To paraphrase the old Club Med commercial: they are an antidote to civilization.

But sometimes organizations, and even communal rituals, aren’t as strong as they should be. Their effectiveness, and sense of purpose, weaken.

We can find an example of how a communal ritual, originally intended to strengthen marriage, needed to be changed because of moral drift. This is the case of the סוֹטה Sotah, the suspected adulteress (adultery being one of the prohibitions listed in today’s Minha Torah reading). Bemidbar chapter five describes two situations: an actual case of adultery, and then a case in which a husband, without proof, suspects that his wife has strayed.

In both cases the woman would drink a special liquid, administered by the Kohen, which would prove her guilt or innocence.

In the first case of actual adultery, it is believed that the harsh ritual (which could cause infertility or even death) was adopted to prevent the woman from being severely punished by her husband, or even publically lynched.

In the second situation, the husband has what Seforno called רוח שטות – ruach shetut – a foolish fit of jealousy. In this case, the woman was the only one who actually knew the truth. She could choose to remain silent and refuse the ritual, but then the man could divorce her.

But, she could, instead, choose to go through with it. Why would she do that? Some scholars believe that this version of an ancient ritual was actually intended to be a bit of theater. The wife would go through with the ritual because she knew it would “divinely” prove to her husband that she was innocent, so he could calm down. Nice for the husband, right?

Whatever its intention, though, in both cases a ritual that was meant to re-align a husband and wife, transformed a private matter into a public event, and traumatized everyone involved. Even worse, it was aimed only at women, and because of this, the Mishna states that adultery among men actually increased. The word סוֹטה Sotah comes from the verb סטה sata which means to go astray. If anything went astray here, it was the moral drift involved in this communal ritual.

Which is why it was one of several rituals mentioned by the Mishna that were discontinued by the Rabbis. It’s interesting to note, by the way, that the office of the priesthood – the Kohanim– (the first Jewish nonprofit that relied on donations) experienced their own set of scandals in the time of Ezekiel and then in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. So it’s not unreasonable to worry about how our current organizations are functioning.

So let’s get back to the institutions we need now to nurture our personal missions. Before I go on I want to make it absolutely clear that I am not commenting on any specific institution, in L.A., or elsewhere.

So why do many Jewish institutions, especially member-based ones, suffer from drift? Why do Jewish organizations sometimes need to ask themselves, “Is this who we really are?”

It’s because they are caught between three very real tensions:

1. They want to deliver on their mission.
2. They want to be welcoming to a large portion of the Jewish community (in other words, they want to have an open tent)….and
3. אין קמח אין תוֹרה Ein Kemach, Ein Torah – they need members and money to keep their doors open, and maintain large buildings.

The result? תפסת מרוּבה, לא תפסת Tafasta merubah, lo tafasta – if you try to grab too much, you end up grabbing nothing. Many organizations find themselves trying to do too many things for too many people, which can leave people feeling less connected or aligned. Which then leads to attrition. Which then leads to changing policies, and spending more money to add staff, and creating more programs in order to retain current members and attract new ones. It’s a vicious cycle.

Ironically, the fear of losing people, leads to actually losing people.

Many Jewish organizations are facing some tough challenges these days, including losing members. Author Tom Robbins, and then singer Dan Fogelberg, asked a great question: “How do we make love stay?” In other words, how can we help our beloved organizations keep us and others connected?

First, we need to encourage their leadership to define their mission in ways that are measurable. Measuring the number of members is illusive – it doesn’t tell the whole story and it drags people into the vicious cycle. What should be measured is what these places do for people and how they impact their lives.

Here are some paraphrased excerpts from a few mission statements that are pretty clear:

We give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible. Nordstrom

We help people own their financial futures. Charles Schwab

We focus on strength and performance; helping you become the strongest version of yourself. Gold’s Gym.

The first provides an experience, the second a service, the third a product.

When you go to these places you know what you’re going to get because they live their mission.

Second, insist that there is transparency about how the organization accomplishes its mission. Are staff qualified to do excellent work? Are they living the mission? Are there clear lines of authority between board members and the lead professional? Do board members make decisions based on domain knowledge and organizational values, or personal preferences? Is the lead professional evaluated regularly, based on agreed upon, mission-related, measurable goals?

Third, encourage organizations to say “yes” to mission aligned things, and “no” to everything else. In Hebrew, the word להגדיר (lahagdir) means to define. It’s root is גדר (geder) or fence. Some things are in and some are out. It takes courage – and knowing who you are – to say no.

I encourage you to pick one place to look into. You may find that everything is great! You may find that your questions are already being addressed there. Or you may find that your questions give them a little zetz and wake them up a bit. That’s good too!

Here’s a real-life history lesson about how all of this can make a real difference, about how mission and vision profoundly impacted two Jewish organizations and, eventually, two synagogue movements.

Back in 1926 there were behind-the-scenes merger discussions between the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Yeshiva University. At the time, these two New York schools were quite similar religiously.

The one hurdle that couldn’t be overcome was one of mission. YU noted that JTS was enrolling students for the purpose of making them scholars or Jewish professionals. YU did some of that, too, but it was equally committed to creating generations of Jews in the pews, people who would have deep Torah knowledge and a commitment to halakha. YU’s program and, later on, K-12 day schools, helped them accomplish that goal.

One result is that, almost 100 years later, the percentage of observant, textually literate Jews in the Orthodox world is much, much larger than in the Conservative world.

This observation isn’t about who is right or better, but the importance of an organization having a clear mission and sticking to it.

But this comparison does raise a question. (Again, I am not referring to any specific organization here): What is the Mission or Vision of the Conservative Movement?

You may have seen a recent Facebook Rosh HaShana ad sponsored by 20 Conservative Movement organizations. They each have goals for their own organization and target audience. What they don’t have is a common mission or vision.

In fact, while they may have some common experiences and services, there is no common identified product, no specific, aspirational goals, no mention of any commitment in their mission statements. How do we perpetuate Conservative Judaism, when we don’t define it and we don’t program for its fullest expression? How do we even know if we’ve succeeded? This is worse than mission drift; it’s mission avoidance.

How did we get here? Rather than starting out with a bedrock mission and pushing it out, many Conservative institutions, beginning with synagogues, chose to invite people in, people who had a wide range of beliefs and practices. It was a very welcoming, American, klal yisrael, approach.

So while JTS and many pulpit Rabbis had a more traditional orientation, it was clear that congregants and board members had their own ideas and priorities. Furthermore, Rabbis and lay leaders (in Conservative shuls, camps, schools, and youth groups) worried that too narrow a focus would drive people away.

That’s why we’re left with this classic definition of Conservative: “We don’t know what we are but we’re definitely not Reform or Orthodox.” I’d like to suggest two new tag lines: “Conservative Judaism: Confusion and Complaining For Over a Century.” And, “We’re just a movement that can’t say no.”

Unfortunately, the murky middle position doesn’t always lead to passion, growth, or commitment. Instead, it often leads to some people feeling less connected, or choosing to drop out, which then encourages the vicious cycle of “we can’t lose people, we need more members, let’s do more programs, let’s change our policies, and on and on and on…”

At a time when affiliation is going down, when people are finding ways to “do Jewish” outside of legacy institutions, this is the perfect time to think about how to align programs and resources based on a clear Mission and Vision.

So my questions for the larger Conservative Movement this year are: Who and what are we? Do we have a product? An aspirational goal? A focus? A request or demand for commitment?

And, to each of the Conservative organizations throughout the country, I would ask: Do you have staff who are living the mission? Do you have the resources to adequately support and respect all of the individual journeys taking place within your institutions? And if not, what are your priorities?

In the Avodah Service later today we will recall how the Kohen Gadol asked God for forgiveness for three groups of people: first, for himself and his family, then for the Kohanim (the Jewish organization of its time), and finally for the people of Israel.

On Yom Kippur, it has been our practice to seek alignment in two of our relationships: our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationship with one another.

I think that on Yom Kippur we should also give some thought to our third relationship: our communal and organizational ecosystem.

This diagonal direction, much like the steps and ramps in the Bet HaMikdash, has the potential to elevate us, as well as keep us aligned. Which is why we need to do a yearly חשבוֹן הנפש (Heshbon HaNefesh) on the communities and organizations with whom we interact. We need to check our own Tzitzit, as well as the Tallit surrounding us.

’B’chochma yibaneh bayit – בחכמה ייבנה בית

Our homes, our personal lives, and our institutions, must be built with wisdom and skill.

Which is why our goal and our theme for this time of the year – my apologies to the Bee Gees – should be Stayin’ Aligned.

May this be a year of עוֹשר Osher (with an Ayin), אוֹשר Osher (with an Aleph), and יישוּר Yishur – financial security, happiness, and personal and communal alignment.

Gmar Hatima Tova