November 26, 2009
I recently officiated at the funeral of a congregant who had been one of the leaders in Dover (New Hampshire) Cooperative Ministries, a group of lay leaders from local congregations who support interreligious programs that promote understanding and helping agencies (a food pantry, an assistance fund and a kitchen the offers a hot meal daily to people in need). I am currently the convener of the local clergy group, the Dover Area Religious Leaders Association. I have always thought that this work is central to what I do, because it brings people of different faiths and backgrounds together to share beliefs and ideas in a way that creates familiarity where their otherwise could be misunderstanding and suspicion.
Our organizations sponsor a Community Thanksgiving Service each year on the Sunday preceding Thanksgiving. I have participated in this type of service since 1984, my first year as rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka, Kansas. I am honored to continue this type of communal participation as rabbi of Temple Israel in Dover, New Hampshire. The service in Dover this year was dedicated to the memory of the congregant (Lorraine Goren) who died in late October.
As I was getting ready to lead my Temple singers in a rehearsal of the song we planned to sing at the service, I was thinking about the service in relation to Psalm 133, which begins with a very familiar biblical text: "How good and how pleasant it is when people dwell together in unity." It continues with imagery that expresses a longing for the divided kingdom - Israel in the north and Judah in the south - to one day reunite. That did not happen, but the desire echoes throughout the generations with the many musical settings of the first line of this Psalm.
Yet, I was thinking about the Psalm and about what my congregant Lorraine and many other volunteers and clergy have tried to do in interfaith work - to build bridges to understanding to preclude the possibity of division. Less that an hour before the service began, I scribble down these lyrics:
How good and how pleasant it is when we sit together
How good and how pleasant it is - Hinei Mah Tov U-mah na-eem
Are we destined to live in a house divided?
How can we see clearly what makes us united?
When we feel the ties that bind us,
Love and understanding will find us.
I quickly worked out the melody, and sang the song at the service, less that two hours after the song had been completed. It was one of those moments when I felt like more of a "conduit" than the originating songwriter. One of my congregants said later that it was "a God thing." Whatever it was, it is an expression of a hope that we can overcome divisions in our communities and in the world and see what we hold in common in a way that we will be able to cooperate in our attempts to make this a better world.
I will post the song in the near future!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Gratitude - Looking backward and forward November 26, 2009
I asked our Religious School students in Grades 4 through 7 last Wednesday, “What are you thankful for?” They listed many of the aspects of life that we might expect them to mention, with a few additions:
Family - Everything – Siblings – Food – Life – Pets – Home - Teachers
Friends - Ability to Learn – Trees – Sun - the Beauty of the Earth
Good Grades - Chanukah - Freedom
Their comments offered a contrast to the vow/prayer uttered by Jacob at the end of the first section of this week’s Torah reading. Jacob awoke from his dream of a ladder reaching to the sky, in which he received comforting words from the divine, with an expression of surprise: “God was in this place and I, I did not know!” He set the stone on which he rested his head as a marker to recall this special moment. Then he proceeded to offer this vow, “If God is with me and watches over me on this path that I am taking and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return safely to my father's house, then will the Eternal be my God; and this stone that I have set up as a monument shall be a house of God. And [of] all that You give me, I will dedicate a tenth to You.”
Some commentators have wondered whether it was appropriate for Jacob, to say, “God, if You do for me A,B and C, then You will be my God.” Having just left home, Jacob was in an uncertain position, not having total confidence that all would turn our right for him. His sense of a divine presence in his life seemed to be more through looking back to where he had been rather than looking forward to where he would be going. He saw God in the place where he spent the night only after he slept there, but he also seemed to have a sense that he would be able to fulfill his vow, that he would look back on his life in years to come and say, “God was with me!”
Saying “what we are thankful for” in life is like Jacob’s vow and prayer, but it voices a greater certainty that we can be grateful now for the blessings we enjoy. May we put our lives in perspective, not only on Thanksgiving, but every day, and recognize the good that we have, the good that we have done, and the good that we will do.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Larry
Family - Everything – Siblings – Food – Life – Pets – Home - Teachers
Friends - Ability to Learn – Trees – Sun - the Beauty of the Earth
Good Grades - Chanukah - Freedom
Their comments offered a contrast to the vow/prayer uttered by Jacob at the end of the first section of this week’s Torah reading. Jacob awoke from his dream of a ladder reaching to the sky, in which he received comforting words from the divine, with an expression of surprise: “God was in this place and I, I did not know!” He set the stone on which he rested his head as a marker to recall this special moment. Then he proceeded to offer this vow, “If God is with me and watches over me on this path that I am taking and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return safely to my father's house, then will the Eternal be my God; and this stone that I have set up as a monument shall be a house of God. And [of] all that You give me, I will dedicate a tenth to You.”
Some commentators have wondered whether it was appropriate for Jacob, to say, “God, if You do for me A,B and C, then You will be my God.” Having just left home, Jacob was in an uncertain position, not having total confidence that all would turn our right for him. His sense of a divine presence in his life seemed to be more through looking back to where he had been rather than looking forward to where he would be going. He saw God in the place where he spent the night only after he slept there, but he also seemed to have a sense that he would be able to fulfill his vow, that he would look back on his life in years to come and say, “God was with me!”
Saying “what we are thankful for” in life is like Jacob’s vow and prayer, but it voices a greater certainty that we can be grateful now for the blessings we enjoy. May we put our lives in perspective, not only on Thanksgiving, but every day, and recognize the good that we have, the good that we have done, and the good that we will do.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Larry
Finding our “inner self” - November 19, 2009
At a meeting in the community this week, we were discussing how, sometimes, a situation makes it necessary for us to, in some way, temporarily change “who we are” so that we can better deal with our surroundings. I told the group about the times when Rhonda, Adam and I would travel to Boston from Topeka, Kansas to visit my brother and his family. We would land at Logan Airport and get our rental car, and then, I would be coached, with a running background commentary and flow of advice, on how to drive in Boston. Where I might have been totally relaxed as a driver otherwise, I realized that there was no room for being tentative at the wheel. I HAD to change my driving style to be, at the very least, staunchly assertive. One of the other members of the group talked about driving south on I-93 and, once she crossed the border from New Hampshire into Massachusetts, she seemed like a different person, losing all of the calm that had characterized her behind-the-wheel persona in the Granite State.
This discussion made me look at the Torah reading for this week in the portion TOL’DOT with a new perspective. Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, believed that her son Jacob (known for his passive character and for being at the family home) deserved to have his father’s main blessing rather than her first-born son, Esau, the rugged outdoorsman/hunter. Rebekah prepared food for Jacob to take to his father and put animal skins on Jacob’s arms to make them feel like the skin of his brother. When Isaac asked Jacob who he was, he said, “It is I, Esau, your first born.” Isaac responded, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” While most reactions to this passage focus on the aspect of Jacob deceiving his father, it may be that, in this episode, Jacob found something in himself he had not shown before. In order to confirm that HE was worthy of his father’s first-born blessing, he had to act like a first-born by being a leader, by taking a risk, by demonstrating that carrying on the family legacy passed down from Abraham was all important to him. Some commentators suggest that Isaac wasn’t deceived at all, but that he knew all along that it was really Jacob in front of him. His comment, “the hands are the hands of Esau” could be seen as an acknowledgement that Jacob had found his assertive inner self in order to stand proudly before his father as a personal declaration that he deserved the blessing that was about to be bestowed upon him. It is true that this still leaves Jacob in a precarious moral position, but it also demonstrates how a person can take on identity on the outside that may have been dormant on the inside, a persona that could bring benefit and growth.
We should, of course, always try to be who we are, but that can include discovering new possibilities for who we can be. May we always explore our own potential and find paths that will lead us to honesty and blessing.
-- L’shalom, Rabbi Larry
This discussion made me look at the Torah reading for this week in the portion TOL’DOT with a new perspective. Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, believed that her son Jacob (known for his passive character and for being at the family home) deserved to have his father’s main blessing rather than her first-born son, Esau, the rugged outdoorsman/hunter. Rebekah prepared food for Jacob to take to his father and put animal skins on Jacob’s arms to make them feel like the skin of his brother. When Isaac asked Jacob who he was, he said, “It is I, Esau, your first born.” Isaac responded, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” While most reactions to this passage focus on the aspect of Jacob deceiving his father, it may be that, in this episode, Jacob found something in himself he had not shown before. In order to confirm that HE was worthy of his father’s first-born blessing, he had to act like a first-born by being a leader, by taking a risk, by demonstrating that carrying on the family legacy passed down from Abraham was all important to him. Some commentators suggest that Isaac wasn’t deceived at all, but that he knew all along that it was really Jacob in front of him. His comment, “the hands are the hands of Esau” could be seen as an acknowledgement that Jacob had found his assertive inner self in order to stand proudly before his father as a personal declaration that he deserved the blessing that was about to be bestowed upon him. It is true that this still leaves Jacob in a precarious moral position, but it also demonstrates how a person can take on identity on the outside that may have been dormant on the inside, a persona that could bring benefit and growth.
We should, of course, always try to be who we are, but that can include discovering new possibilities for who we can be. May we always explore our own potential and find paths that will lead us to honesty and blessing.
-- L’shalom, Rabbi Larry
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Let this turn out all right!
November 13, 2009
In any crucial moment in our lives, we may have, at least, a fleeting thought of hoping for the best outcome under the circumstances, whatever they may be. This isn’t necessarily an attempt to control specific events in our lives. It can be, more appropriately, a way of creating within ourselves a positive attitude that can help us through even the most difficult of situations. For some, that “fleeting thought” may be a prayer. No matter how we choose to express ourselves, it is part of our nature to say, in one way or another, “please, let this turn out all right on some level when it’s all over."
I wonder, then, why some rabbinic commentators scolded Abraham’s servant (named Eliezer by later tradition, but not in the Torah) who went to find a wife for Abraham’s son, Isaac, among the extended family. Once he arrived at his destination, Eliezer said to himself, “God, grant me good fortune this day.” He then began to imagine that one of the young women who came to draw water would offer him a drink AND, without him having to suggest it, draw water also for his camels. He was looking for someone kind and generous. It so happened that the young women who did what he had hoped, Rebekah, was beautiful, but she would not have been “the answer to his prayer” if she had not given water to Eliezer’s camels. Some rabbis thought, in looking at the biblical tale, that Eliezer was asking for divine intervention. Others said that he was simply looking for a sign of kindness from, at least, one person. It is possible that he may not have ended up finding it, but he did, and, consequently, he extended to Rebekah and her family the same kindness and generosity that emanated from her.
Kindness and generosity are signs of menschlichkeit, being a decent human being. They are characteristics that are expressed through actions that offer us support and warmth. We can find these signs all around us, in any situation. Even when times seem dark and foreboding, kindness and generosity can offer us light and hope that will enable us to keep ourselves going and offer such gifts to others in return. May we find and create such signs among us in the days to come.
In any crucial moment in our lives, we may have, at least, a fleeting thought of hoping for the best outcome under the circumstances, whatever they may be. This isn’t necessarily an attempt to control specific events in our lives. It can be, more appropriately, a way of creating within ourselves a positive attitude that can help us through even the most difficult of situations. For some, that “fleeting thought” may be a prayer. No matter how we choose to express ourselves, it is part of our nature to say, in one way or another, “please, let this turn out all right on some level when it’s all over."
I wonder, then, why some rabbinic commentators scolded Abraham’s servant (named Eliezer by later tradition, but not in the Torah) who went to find a wife for Abraham’s son, Isaac, among the extended family. Once he arrived at his destination, Eliezer said to himself, “God, grant me good fortune this day.” He then began to imagine that one of the young women who came to draw water would offer him a drink AND, without him having to suggest it, draw water also for his camels. He was looking for someone kind and generous. It so happened that the young women who did what he had hoped, Rebekah, was beautiful, but she would not have been “the answer to his prayer” if she had not given water to Eliezer’s camels. Some rabbis thought, in looking at the biblical tale, that Eliezer was asking for divine intervention. Others said that he was simply looking for a sign of kindness from, at least, one person. It is possible that he may not have ended up finding it, but he did, and, consequently, he extended to Rebekah and her family the same kindness and generosity that emanated from her.
Kindness and generosity are signs of menschlichkeit, being a decent human being. They are characteristics that are expressed through actions that offer us support and warmth. We can find these signs all around us, in any situation. Even when times seem dark and foreboding, kindness and generosity can offer us light and hope that will enable us to keep ourselves going and offer such gifts to others in return. May we find and create such signs among us in the days to come.
A spirited welcome!
November 6, 2009
Shabbat Shalom from Toronto!
Just a quick note from your traveling rabbi who will soon be back home. I have learned a lot at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial so far about interfaith activities, building community, fostering leadership at all levels of Temple membership and, of course, new music. As I think about the Torah readings from last week and this week, I am struck by what they teach us about being a part of a community. In last week's parashah, Lech L'cha, Abram and Sarai leave their home to go to a new land, where, as "strangers," they began to settle in with sense of excitement and optimism. In this week's portion (my Bar Mitzvah portion), Abraham and Sarah welcomed guests who came to their tent with surprising news (Sarah laughed when she found out she was going to have son!). The elements are there of being both the newcomer who looks at new surroundings with hope,and the seasoned resident who opens up a home with generosity and gusto (the Torah says that Abraham, at an advanced age, "ran" to be a good host!). Let us remember to keep the perspective of the hopeful new arrival AND the veteran who remembers being a new arrival and, consequently, offers the best hospitality possible - both views can only help us create a warm home and a vibrant community!
Shabbat Shalom from Toronto!
Just a quick note from your traveling rabbi who will soon be back home. I have learned a lot at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial so far about interfaith activities, building community, fostering leadership at all levels of Temple membership and, of course, new music. As I think about the Torah readings from last week and this week, I am struck by what they teach us about being a part of a community. In last week's parashah, Lech L'cha, Abram and Sarai leave their home to go to a new land, where, as "strangers," they began to settle in with sense of excitement and optimism. In this week's portion (my Bar Mitzvah portion), Abraham and Sarah welcomed guests who came to their tent with surprising news (Sarah laughed when she found out she was going to have son!). The elements are there of being both the newcomer who looks at new surroundings with hope,and the seasoned resident who opens up a home with generosity and gusto (the Torah says that Abraham, at an advanced age, "ran" to be a good host!). Let us remember to keep the perspective of the hopeful new arrival AND the veteran who remembers being a new arrival and, consequently, offers the best hospitality possible - both views can only help us create a warm home and a vibrant community!
Waiting for More Safe Places
October 23, 2009
Of all years, this one seemed to me to bear an even greater urgency for getting a seasonal flu vaccination. When I found out that my primary care physician’s office had no vaccine left for now, I took it upon myself to find somewhere nearby (even within 100 miles!) that had flu vaccinations available. After some exploration and checking, I was told that I could make my way to Care Pharmacy in Rochester this week for a Rochester Visiting Nurses Association morning clinic. I arrived 10 minutes before the clinic began to find a long line that, I thought, might take 2 hours. It didn’t take that long (20 minutes), but it was fascinating to see how many people had come out, creating our own microcosm of community in line as we waited for our turn. Once I got near the front, I asked the nurse how she was doing that day (I wanted to be sure to acknowledge her as a member of this short-lived community!). It was actually a peaceful experience that offered a brief connection to people I might not have otherwise met.
As I thought about the Torah portion for the week, featuring Noah answering God’s call to build an ark for the coming flood, I thought about the clinic, and perhaps, each of us in line, as being like Noah in some way. Noah’s ark offered a small group of people and many animals protection from the coming flood and storms. The flu vaccination offers protection from some of invisible and subtle health challenges that surround us. I also thought about our health care/health insurance system offering us assurance and hope. Unfortunately, if our health care system is like Noah’s ark, not everyone is on the ark, and even some people on the ark aren’t well protected from “floods and storms” that might come their way. Getting a flu vaccination helps each person and promotes health among members of a community. Providing health insurance to all, in whatever way we can, also offers benefit not only each individual or family, but all people in a community or nation. The ark was a place where a remnant of humanity, Noah’s family, was saved because Noah was “righteous in his time.” Hopefully, we believe that everyone deserves to have the support, protection and peace of mind that comes from the availability and affordability of good health care.
Health care providers, the insurance industry, concerned citizens and legislators are working out the details of what our health insurance “ark” might look like. There are many possible solutions, most of them very costly, but all of them worthy of consideration due to the sense that change is necessary. Let us hope that, when the process is complete, everyone will have a some semblance of a “safe place” on the “ark” that will offer them health and well-being.
Of all years, this one seemed to me to bear an even greater urgency for getting a seasonal flu vaccination. When I found out that my primary care physician’s office had no vaccine left for now, I took it upon myself to find somewhere nearby (even within 100 miles!) that had flu vaccinations available. After some exploration and checking, I was told that I could make my way to Care Pharmacy in Rochester this week for a Rochester Visiting Nurses Association morning clinic. I arrived 10 minutes before the clinic began to find a long line that, I thought, might take 2 hours. It didn’t take that long (20 minutes), but it was fascinating to see how many people had come out, creating our own microcosm of community in line as we waited for our turn. Once I got near the front, I asked the nurse how she was doing that day (I wanted to be sure to acknowledge her as a member of this short-lived community!). It was actually a peaceful experience that offered a brief connection to people I might not have otherwise met.
As I thought about the Torah portion for the week, featuring Noah answering God’s call to build an ark for the coming flood, I thought about the clinic, and perhaps, each of us in line, as being like Noah in some way. Noah’s ark offered a small group of people and many animals protection from the coming flood and storms. The flu vaccination offers protection from some of invisible and subtle health challenges that surround us. I also thought about our health care/health insurance system offering us assurance and hope. Unfortunately, if our health care system is like Noah’s ark, not everyone is on the ark, and even some people on the ark aren’t well protected from “floods and storms” that might come their way. Getting a flu vaccination helps each person and promotes health among members of a community. Providing health insurance to all, in whatever way we can, also offers benefit not only each individual or family, but all people in a community or nation. The ark was a place where a remnant of humanity, Noah’s family, was saved because Noah was “righteous in his time.” Hopefully, we believe that everyone deserves to have the support, protection and peace of mind that comes from the availability and affordability of good health care.
Health care providers, the insurance industry, concerned citizens and legislators are working out the details of what our health insurance “ark” might look like. There are many possible solutions, most of them very costly, but all of them worthy of consideration due to the sense that change is necessary. Let us hope that, when the process is complete, everyone will have a some semblance of a “safe place” on the “ark” that will offer them health and well-being.
Branches of the same tree
October 16, 2009
“This is the written record of the human line from the day God created human beings, making them in the likeness of God, creating them male and female, blessing them, and naming them “Humans” on the day they were created.”
Discussions about this passage, verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 5 of Genesis, and about the creation story in Genesis Chapter 1, often focus on whether or not the biblical account of the creation of humanity is true. Some say that, because it comes from the Bible, it must be true. Others say that because it cannot be scientifically proven, it is not factual and therefore, it is not true. I recently read an excerpt of the new book by Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth, which expressed his views on the creationism/evolution debate. In Dawkins’ observations about this ongoing controversy, he stressed over and over that it is more correct to say that many species of animals share a common ancestry than it is to say that one form of life evolved into another.
Dawkins’ comment (unwittingly) echoed the statements of the rabbis about why it is important to think of all humanity as having a common ancestry. In the 2nd Century, Rabbi Akiba asserted that “love your neighbor as yourself” is a fundamental principle of the Torah. His contemporary, Ben Azzai, quoted the verses, above, Genesis Chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, as an even greater principle, because those verses remind us of what holds us all together: that every human being comes from the same lineage. That is essentially true in Judaism, but it is also essentially true in evolution, if we define “lineage” as broadly as possible. We are part of a family tree not only with respect to our relatives, and all of humanity, but all of creation as well. The rabbis’ concluded, based on this realization, that we should treat each other with respect precisely because that we are part of one family, despite any differences we may see. Realizing that the “likeness of God” is in every person (and throughout creation) means that we should see not only God’s reflection in the face of another person, but our own as well. In our attitudes and our actions, may we try to reach out to one another – and to all creation - with kindness and support because of the common ties that truly link us together.
“This is the written record of the human line from the day God created human beings, making them in the likeness of God, creating them male and female, blessing them, and naming them “Humans” on the day they were created.”
Discussions about this passage, verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 5 of Genesis, and about the creation story in Genesis Chapter 1, often focus on whether or not the biblical account of the creation of humanity is true. Some say that, because it comes from the Bible, it must be true. Others say that because it cannot be scientifically proven, it is not factual and therefore, it is not true. I recently read an excerpt of the new book by Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth, which expressed his views on the creationism/evolution debate. In Dawkins’ observations about this ongoing controversy, he stressed over and over that it is more correct to say that many species of animals share a common ancestry than it is to say that one form of life evolved into another.
Dawkins’ comment (unwittingly) echoed the statements of the rabbis about why it is important to think of all humanity as having a common ancestry. In the 2nd Century, Rabbi Akiba asserted that “love your neighbor as yourself” is a fundamental principle of the Torah. His contemporary, Ben Azzai, quoted the verses, above, Genesis Chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, as an even greater principle, because those verses remind us of what holds us all together: that every human being comes from the same lineage. That is essentially true in Judaism, but it is also essentially true in evolution, if we define “lineage” as broadly as possible. We are part of a family tree not only with respect to our relatives, and all of humanity, but all of creation as well. The rabbis’ concluded, based on this realization, that we should treat each other with respect precisely because that we are part of one family, despite any differences we may see. Realizing that the “likeness of God” is in every person (and throughout creation) means that we should see not only God’s reflection in the face of another person, but our own as well. In our attitudes and our actions, may we try to reach out to one another – and to all creation - with kindness and support because of the common ties that truly link us together.
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