Parshat Vayerah: Knowing Our Moral Compass and Speaking our Truth

            There are many lessons to be learned from Vayera, this week’s Torah Portion (Genesis 18:1 - 22:24). There is an unspeakable war raging in Israel and Gaza. One thing that jumped out at me as a Jew living in the Diaspora during this soul wrenching time is that we all must live and speak our truth and be ready to defend this truth when it is challenged. We must know ourselves and we must speak up. At the same time, we see daily that there are consequences in every country in the world right now to speaking our truth and living our values but that does not allow us to stop doing so. 

            Brief recap from a section of this week’s Torah portion: God hears a crying out from Sodom, one of 5 cities God ultimately destroys due to their embrace of evil. In Genesis 18:17-21 God wonders whether or not to share the intention of destroying Sodom with Abraham, a testament to the particular relationship between God and Abraham. We assume that God does share God’s plan because a couple of verses later we encounter the following exchange (Gen 18:22b-32): 

 

22b … Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 

23 Abraham came forward and said, "Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? 24 What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?" 26 And the Lord answered, "If I find within the city of Sodom fifty innocent ones, I will forgive the whole place for their sake."

27 Abraham spoke up, saying, "Here I venture to speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes: 28 What if the fifty innocent should lack five? Will You destroy the whole city for want of the five?" And He answered, "I will not destroy if I find forty-five there." 

29 But he spoke to Him again, and said, "What if forty should be found there?" And He answered, "I will not do it, for the sake of the forty."

30 And he said, "Let not my Lord be angry if I go on: What if thirty should be found there?" And He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." 

31 And he said, "I venture again to speak to my Lord: What if twenty should be found there?" And He answered, "I will not destroy, for the sake of the twenty." 

32 And he said, "Let not my Lord be angry if I speak but this last time: What if ten should be found there?" And He answered, "I will not destroy, for the sake of the ten."

 

            What an amazing exchange! Abraham, a mere human, has the audacity, the chutzpah to challenge the Supernatural All-Powerful God of the Torah.  Not just to challenge to but to scold and bargain to boot – all in the name of saving innocent lives. The rabbis teach that the reason we are descended from Abraham and not from Noah is this very moment. Abraham actuated his morals and values and went to bat with God for innocent people that he did not even know while Noah did not even pray to save those that he did know.  

                        In the end, God could not locate 10 innocents in Sodom. God rains fire upon Sodom, Gomorrah and 3 neighboring cities known for having a skewed moral compass, for being evil, for endangering the poor and the stranger and anyone who tried to help them. 

            What was Abraham feeling right before and during that exchange? Fear? Moral indignation? Resignation that his personality was such that he must do what he must do, consequences be damned? I can’t even begin to discuss where his faith comes into all of this. In the end, though, we will never know what he was thinking and feeling. The best we can do is figure out how we would feel and act in a similar circumstance – or perhaps recall how we have felt and acted when we stood up for what’s right. When we spoke our truth. When we have lived our values. 

            Is this what our fellow Jews are feeling worldwide as they stand up for life, tolerance, safety, the gift of being Jewish and the right of our homeland to exist? Is this how those who are working to free those innocent hostages – the adults, the elderly, the children, the babies! – are feeling right now? 

            My blessing for each of us this Shabbat is that we are able to recognize our values and to speak our truth. We can speak aloud; we can speak softly. I used to thing that there is no right or wrong way to speak, to declare our truth but I was wrong. The wrong way is to be silent. I am in no way saying every one of us must shout and protest. But we must be honest enough with ourselves to identify and own exactly what is our truth and how do we bring it out into the world. Therefore, the key is to know our moral compass, and, for those who are able, to speak our truth and accept the outcomes of that action. All the while knowing, from Pirke Avot 2:16, ֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּהל - that even if we personally cannot impact the outcomes of events, that does not mean we are allowed to desist from trying. 

             

עם ישראל חי!

 

Note: This Dvar was originally written in 2020 but has been updated to reflect things I’ve been feeling/thinking about as the war in Israel and Gaza and the rise in hatred for Jews and the right of Israel to exist rages world wide as well as here in America, particularly on our college campuses. I can't help wondering if I am doing enough. 

Prayer for Peace by Landow House Residents

I want to share with you a Prayer for Peace in the words of the residents of Landow House Assisted Living, part of the Charles E Smith Life Communities of Rockville, MD
We had a prayer service on Tuesday 10/10/23 and then spent time talking and sharing. I took their words and turned them into a prayer.

Feel free to use this if it moves you.

Prayer for Peace

Words of the residents of Landow House Assisted Living, Charles E Smith Life Communities,

Dear God,
Creator of the Universe and all who are in it,
Wake up!
I am so angry. We are so angry.
How did this happen?
Open your eyes to see how your children need your help.
Bring the hostages home!
Stop the killing of babies and children and teenagers and elderly
Protect all our children and grandchildren
All your children and grandchildren

Please help me to continue to recognize the good
Teach me to turn the bad into the good

We’ve been beaten down before and likely will be again,
but we will always prevail
And make the most of life – again and again and again

Let security replace hopelessness and helplessness
Let love replace hate
Let peace replace war
Let understanding replace fear
For Israel and for the entire world

And let us say, Amen

Rosh Chodesh Elul 5783

Today is Rosh Chodesh Elul, the Hebrew month set aside by the sages for us to contemplate the state of our our relationships and the state of our soul. How do we relate to others, to God, to ourselves (you know, that little voice in our heads)?  

May we all participate in the hard work of self reflection and relationship building in the weeks ahead. 

Wishing us all success!

God's Blessing Flows Through Us

God's Blessing Flows Through Us 

Parshat Naso: Numbers 4:21-7:89

 

Parshat Naso contains some of the most powerful words of our people:

 

“Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them:

Yivarechecha Adonai viyishmirecha /May the Eternal bless you and protect you!

Ya'er Adonai panav elecha veechuneka /May the Eternal deal kindly and graciously with you!

Yeesa Adonai panav elecha viyasem lecha shalom /May the Eternal bestow favor upon you and grant you peace!

Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:23-27)

 

These words, are read every year the Shabbat after the holiday of Shavuot and Matan Torah, the Giving/Receiving of the Torah. They are given to the Kohanim as an eternal charge. The Kohanim, the Priests, are told that one of their responsibilities will be to bless the people; these words are the exact words with which to do so. This section of instruction ends with the phrase, “and I will bless them.” This indicates that the blessing comes not from the Kohanim but rather flows through the Kohanim. The words with which the Kohanim are instructed to bless us, also tell us something important: that the Kohanim are the vessels through which God’s words come to us.

 

When the Israelites lived in the land of Israel and the Temple existed, the Kohanim were able to fulfill their charge and bless the People during a ceremonial Temple service. Once the Second Temple was destroyed, the Kohanim were unable to perform many of their formal roles, including the ritual blessing.  Over time, Judaism evolved/adapted and sometime in the early 17th century the custom of parents blessing their children on Shabbat with these words began to be mentioned in books. (See "Brautspiegel," a popular treatise on morals, written by Moses Henochs; a book which appeared in Basel in 1602.) It is not surprising we took one of our most sacred moments of blessing and innovated using it as a blessing in the home, of our children. The Talmudic Sages began this process of innovation in exile in order to make sure that our heritage, the Torah and its teachings, would survive despite the fact that we no longer had a Temple in which to worship.

  

From Kohanim blessing the Children of Israel at the Temple to parents blessing their children around the dinner table, we have drawn a direct line from the biblical injunction for the Kohanim to bless to recreating that moment of sanctity in our homes, around our tables. We are taught that every Jewish home is a Mikdash Me’at, a miniature Sanctuary, a small holy place. It is as if the table at which our families gather, eat, and celebrate holidays takes the place of the altar. 

  

I have blessed my children nearly every Shabbat of their lives.  It is always the holiest moment of my week – whether the blessing occurs around the dinner table, on the run as the grandchildren are being put to bed, by letter, email, text, phone call or even video chat. The realization that I am transmitting these holiest of words, even in the most chaotic of moments of blessing, brings me peace. It is a profound feeling to know that I am a link in the chain of our long history and our tradition. The words of the blessing, God’s words, flow through us because, as is stated in 6:27b, “and I will bless them.” My greatest desire is that these words will continue to flow through my grandchildren and the generations to come.

 

 Shabbat Shalom!

First posted at https://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/88447-2/

Parshat Vayeshev: One person can make all the difference

Vayeshev, Genesis 37:1-40:23

The pivotal moment in this week’s Torah portion is the meeting between Joseph and the man known as “ha-ish/the man,” who is otherwise not named. His time in our story is brief, yet by meeting him, Joseph’s destiny, and with it the destiny of the Jewish people, is changed forever.

Genesis 37:13 provides the setup for what is to come: “Israel said to Joseph, ‘Your brothers are pasturing at Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.’ He answered, ‘Hineni/I am ready.’”We follow Joseph as he leaves his father’s home and sets off to find his brothers.

Once he arrives in Shechem, he gets lost and meets a man in a field. The story continues: “…When he reached Shechem, a man [ish] came upon him wandering in the fields. The man asked him, ‘What are you looking for?’ He answered, ‘I am looking for my brothers. Could you tell me where they are pasturing?’ The man said, ‘They have gone from here, for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.’ So Joseph followed his brothers and found them at Dothan” (Genesis 37:14 – 17).

Who was this Ish, this random man? Rashi (12th century France) suggests that he may have been the angel Gabriel. Ibn Ezra (12th century Spain) suggests he was just a passerby. 

The simplest way to read the story is that the Ish was placed in Joseph’s path by God to ensure that Joseph would get to where he needed to go in order that God’s promise to Abraham will be fulfilled. “Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13).

This serendipitous meeting with a stranger in the field sets Joseph upon a path that changed the entire Jewish future.  Thanksgiving was just a few weeks ago and we are heading into Chanukah. Both of these holidays, one secular, one religious, call to us to be better people.

We are to acknowledge gratitude, the richness of being in community, and the recognition that we can create change.

The importance of the serendipitous stranger calls to me. One chance meeting can make a difference. One ordinary person can become extraordinary by taking a moment to help someone in distress. One person can truly make a difference.

 

Parshat Ekev: How do we serve God?

Parshat Ekev

Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25

How do we serve God? 

“And now, O Israel, what does your God/ Adonai Elochecha demand of you? (Deuteronomy 10:12a).  This is the question raised by this week’s Torah portion, Ekev.

In his article, “Adonai-Elohim: The Two Faces of God,” Rabbi Harold Schulweis discusses the two names of God that appear to guide our lives in almost all of our prayers. He writes that, “Elohim is the ground of the universe that is given, and Adonai is the energy that transforms. … Adonai Elohim marks the cooperation, the transaction, between the human and the divine.”

This explanation helps us conceive of how to actualize the cooperation or transaction between ourselves and God.  The Torah continues, “Only this: to revere your God (Adonai Elochecha), to walk only in divine paths, to love and to serve your God (Adonai Elochecha), with all your heart and soul, keeping Adonai’s commandments and laws, which I enjoin upon you today, for your good (l’tov lecha).” (Deuteronomy 12b-13)

As a chaplain, when I visit someone who is feeling challenged practically and theologically, I often use these verses as a basis for a way to go forward. I talk about this beautiful teaching of Rabbi Schulweis’, that when we say the expression Adonai Elohim we are articulating the “the cooperation, the transaction, between the human and the divine.” 

The verse helps us to recall that we live in ongoing partnership and that we are given parameters for this partnership – to follow the commandments which provide us with a gameplan to live a life of meaning and purpose. When we serve our God with our entire being and experience the reverence and the awe that is to be found by existing in this world that contains both divinity and everyday humanity, we cleave to the divine, and acknowledge that we are never going it alone. 

Ultimately, we do this for our good/ l’tov lecha. When we see the word tov/good used in this way we are taken back to creation and the Garden of Eden. God created humans to become caretakers of all that was “good” under creation and to recognize and experience the awesomeness of our partnership. 

The Da’at Zekanim, a Torah commentary from 12th-13th century, posits that these verses present a list that comprises all aspects of life. He writes that according to one view, “G–d asks us to do only what is clearly of benefit for us and is good for us and the observance of which will result in our earning a great reward.” 

What is that great reward? Some might say that the reward is to be found in the afterlife. I prefer the understanding that the reward is to be found in “the cooperation, the transaction, between the human and the divine.” 

We humans are born into a world that is imperfect; our task is to leave the world a better place than the one we were born into. We are to make a difference through our interactions with others - both known and not yet met. We face the injustices in our world – both to people and to the planet – in the best ways that we can and strive to make a difference for ourselves and for others. We do recognize that we will fail at times but that we will learn from our failures and continue onto our next challenge. This is what our parsha asks when it says, “And now, O Israel, what does your God Adonai Elochecha demand of you?”

When our parsha asks “And now, O Israel, what does your God/ Adonai Elochecha demand of you? Rabbi Schulweis offers an answer, “We can use the memory and energies in [ourselves] and [our] community to lift up those who are bowed down, to mend the torn fabric of the universe, to comfort the bereaved and to lift up those who are fallen.” Elohim and Adonai. Accept and transform.”

Rabbah Arlene Berger is a rabbi of Hevrat Shalom Congregation in Rockville, MD and a community chaplain. 

*This dvar was originally published on 8/18/22 in the Washington Jewish Week

  

Parashat Matot-Masei: The Power of Words

Parashat Matot-Masei, Numbers 30:2 - 36:13

“When a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; all that crosses his lips he must do” (K’chol ha’yotzei mepeev ya’aseh). (Numbers 30:3)

A man is bound by his words. Words exist in our minds as well as on our lips but they must cross our lips in order to become real. There are very few cases in the rabbinic tradition or the Tanach where thoughts are punishable or even taken very seriously. However, as soon as words have “crossed lips” and become real things they must be taken seriously. Indeed, the hebrew “davar” can mean either “word” or “thing”. We atone for actions and words; not for mere thoughts.

The Torah present us with a discussion of the power of words and vows here at the very end of the book of Numbers, right before the Israelites are about to enter the land. Perhaps its location here serves to remind us of where we came from and where we are going. As slaves leaving Egypt we had no responsibility; our words meant nothing. We were as children. We then wandered through the desert for a generation undergoing physical and spiritual challenges and learning what it means to become a people as opposed to an oppressed group. In essence, we went through adolescence and were now ready to become adults. 

Moshe and Aaron taught us God’s expectations - to keep the mitzvot, to conquer the land, to engage in community through imparted values. Our words now had significance. We were no longer a people alone but a people standing with God. Therefore what we say, whenever and wherever we say it, matters. 

From this point onwards vows and oaths taken in God’s name would be taken very seriously. A free man was expected to carry out whatever “crossed their lips” and, for a free man, there was no option of nullification. However, people who lived under the authority of others, such as a girl in her father's home or a wife in her husband’s could have their vows nullified by their father or husband. To have your vows fully and irredeemably binding is a sign of full unmediated citizenship and relationship with God. In the world of the Bible women were yet to stand in that unmediated relationship.

It is extremely difficult to live in a world where you are accountable for every utterance. The Biblical story of Jephthah/Yiftach in the book of Judges (Chapter 11) is a cautionary tale about what happens when all your utterances before God must be honoured. The rabbis came to recognize that people often speak without thought and need some leeway when it comes to vows. They demanded a highly refined and specific formula for making vows that would limit unintentional vowing and they also created a radically new structure for the annulment of vows. The rabbis themselves stood in the breach to save people from their own foolish words. 

In today’s modern world speech is not legally regulated in the way that it was in biblical or rabbinic times. In the US we pride ourselves on the First Amendment, a law that protects our right to free speech. The legal protection of speech liberates us to be personally responsible for the way we use language. No people has ever been free like the Americans; free to stand in a fully unmediated way before God.  Here we must be fully cognizant of the words, and promises, that issue from our mouths. No one will save us from our oaths here except ourselves.

Co-written with Rabbi Joel Levy,  Rosh Yeshiva of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, for the Washington Jewish Week, Summer 2016.