Thanksgiving Sermon

Chanukah begins at sundown tonight.  One of the liturgical changes associated with Chanukah is that we add the prayer "Al Hanisim" ("for the miracles") to the Birkat Hoda'ah (Thanksgiving blessing) of the Amidah.  (We also add "Al Hanisim" to the "Birkat Hamazon" [Grace after meals]).  Last week, when I delivered the following dvar torah at the Central Duluth Interfaith Thanksgiving service, I emphasized how in the Jewish religion it's "Thanksgiving Day" every day.  If we think about how the liturgy inserts the Chanukah miracles into the daily Thanksgiving blessing, we come to the conclusion that, in our lives as Jews, every day is Thanksgiving, and Chanukah even more so...

Chag Urim Sameach/ Happy Chanukah!

Entering into God’s Presence with Thanksgiving

(Dvar Torah for  Central Duluth Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, November 2010)

Good evening.

I feel honored and delighted to have been invited to share some thoughts with you tonight on the meaning of Thanksgiving.  However, before I plunge ahead with that endeavor, I just want to say how thankful I am to live in a community where such wonderful relationships exist across the lines of religious and cultural differences.   Our service tonight is a prime illustration of this:  We gather tonight in the beautiful sanctuary of Pilgirm Congregational Church with a noble agenda: To share with one another, freely and respectfully, some of our deepest values – recognizing that we need not be uniform in order to be united;  recognizing that in religious diversity there is spiritual strength.  

The American holiday of Thanksgiving certainly lends itself to this kind of shared celebration.  For the basic principle of the importance of giving thanks for our blessings is a principle shared by all of our communities of faith.

In my own Jewish tradition, Thanksgiving is traditionally evoked three times a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year  in the prayer known as the “Birkat Hoda’ah” or “Thanksgiving Blessing”.  This “Thanksgiving Blessing” constitutes an integral part of the central Jewish prayer known as the Amidah or standing prayer.  Here’s an English translation of it:

"We gratefully acknowledge You, that You are our Eternal God and God of our ancestors.  You are the Rock of our life, the Power that shields us in every age.  We thank You and sing Your praises:  for our lives which are in Your hand, for our souls which are in Your keeping, for the signs of Your Presence we encounter every day, and for Your wondrous gifts at all times, morning, noon and night.  You are Goodness:  Your mercies never end. You are Compassion: Your love will never fail.  You have always been our hope.  For all these things, O Sovereign God, let your Name be forever praised and blessed.  O God, our Redeemer and Helper, let all who live affirm You and praise Your Name in truth.  Barukh atah Adonai, Hatov shimkha ulekha na’eh l’hodot/ Blessed are You, Eternal One, Your Name is goodness, and to you it is fitting to give thanks.

We also traditionally give thanks in Judaism by saying a blessing before we eat and saying the Birkat Hamazon or grace after meals after we eat.  As a proof text for the practice of saying a blessing before we eat, our ancient sages cite the verse from Psalm 24 – “L’adonai ha’aretz u’mloah.” /“The earth and all its fullness belongs to God.” And as a proof text for the practice of saying grace after the meal, they cite the verse from Deuteronomy 8 – “V’achalta, v’savata uveyrachta et adonai elohekha al ha’aretz hatovah asher natan lakh”/ “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall praise the Eternal your God for the good land that God has given you.”

And every Friday evening, the traditional Kabbalat Shabbat service which welcomes the Jewish Sabbath opens with the words of Psalm 95 --- -- Lechu Neranena Ladonai, Naria L’tzur yisheynu,  Nekadma fanav b’todah bizmirot nariah lo/  “Come, let us sing joyfully to the Eternal One, let us shout for joy to our Rock of deliverance, Let us enter God’s presence with Thanksgiving”

And so, every day of the year we do well to keep God’s blessing in the forefront of our conscience --- and especially so on this American Holiday that we can all share with one another.

******************************************************

On the other hand… there is a danger in focusing totally on expressions of thanksgiving and praise.  Gratitude can easily evolve into complacence.   We should not lull ourselves into any smug assurance that, as in the sarcastic view expressed in Leonard Bernstein’s opera “Candide”  ---  “All’s for the best in this best of all possible worlds.”

That is clearly not the case.  Millions around the world go hungry every day.  Millions around the world live in poverty.  And those of us who DO have food to eat and a roof over our heads – must not be satisfied with simply thanking God for our blessings.

Psalm 37:25, a verse which is part of the traditional Jewish grace after meals does seem to make the Panglossian claim – “All’s for the Best in this Best of All Possible Worlds.”  The psalmist asserts:   Na’ar hayiti v’gam zakanti velo ra’iti tzadik ne’ezav, vzar’o mevakesh lachem/ “I have been young, and now I am old;  Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread.”  

Yes – you will find this verse in the Bible --  but that doesn’t mean it’s true.

Rather, our task is to make it true.

And so we should understand the words of Psalm 37 not as a pious platitude but rather as a moral challenge: 

“I have been young, and now I am old;  Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread.”

The challenge confronts us: 

In our imperfect world there are  righteous people who have been forsaken and there are  children begging for bread.

And our faith in God must be an impetus to action and not an excuse for inertia.

The 18^th century chasidic Rebbe Moshe Leib of Sassov put this idea in even more audacious terms.  He used to tell his followers:  There are times when we must actually believe that there is no God!  For example, when someone who is needy comes to ask you for bread, you must not send him away with such comforting words as, ‘God will provide,' nor may you use God as an excuse by saying, ‘If God wanted you to have my money, then you would have it.'  At that moment, you must act as if there is no God, and you are the only one who can help!"

In the Hebrew language, the infinitive “lehitpalel” --- meaning “to pray” is actually a reflexive verb that can be translated as “to judge oneself.”  Thus, from this perspective, every prayer contains within it an element of challenge.  Yes, God’s blessings surround us each moment.  But no, we have not yet completed the task of “Tikkun Olam” of repairing the world.  We have not yet prepared the way for Messianic days.  We have not yet fashioned a world in which every man, woman and child is truly treated as being created “btzelem elohim”/”in the image of God.”

Each of us looks (or at least ought to be looking) for that delicate balance between faithful gratitude and holy dissatisfaction.   We seek to combine our sense of Thanksgiving for our blessings with our sense of indignation at the hunger and poverty that remain as a blight upon the world.

In the classical rabbinic text “Pirke Avot” there is a famous aphorism – “Lo alekha hamlakha ligmor v’lo atah ben chorin lehibatel mimenah.” – which, roughly translated, means “You are not required to finish the work but neither are you free to absent yourself from it.” 

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, may each of us be fully present, and not absent.  May we be present to God and to our neighbor.   Thanking the Eternal for our Blessings.  Determined to partner with God to repair the world through acts of generosity, caring and loving kindness.   

I’d like to conclude with the words of the poet Judy Chicago.  May these words be a vision for us of what, with God’s help, we can together bring to pass.  Her poem is entitled “Merger: A Vision of the Future”:

And then all that has divided us will merge

And then compassion will be wedded with power

And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind

And then both men and women will be gentle

And then both women and men will be strong

And then no person will be subject to another’s will

And then all will be rich and free and varied

And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many

And then all will share equally in the earth’s abundance

And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old

And then all will nourish the young

And then all will cherish life’s creatures

And then all will live in harmony with each other and the earth

And then everywhere will be called Eden once again.

          Thank you very much.  And  Happy Thanksgiving.

© Rabbi David Steinberg, 5771/2010

Everything

(Here's my dvar torah from last Friday evening, 10/29/10)

Thoughts on Chayei Sarah (2010/5711)

(Gen. 23:1 – 25:18)

This week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah (“the life of Sarah”) ironically, opens with an account of Sarah’s death, and of Abraham’s purchase of a burial site for her at the cave of Machpela in the city of Hebron.  Once that real estate transaction has been accomplished, and Abraham has buried Sarah we reach the following verse (Gen. 24:1):

וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן, בָּא בַּיָּמִים; וַיהוָה בֵּרַךְ אֶת-אַבְרָהָם, בַּכֹּל.

Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Eternal had blessed Abraham with everything.

Rabbi Harold Kushner, in the Etz Hayim torah commentary notes that this is the first time that anyone in the Torah is described as being “old” (“zaken”).  He cites a couple of wonderful classical midrashim on the subject.  His first example comes from the midrash collection Bereshit Rabbah, where it is taught that the word “zaken” is an shorthand for “zeh kanah chochmah”/ “this one has acquired wisdom”.  

But another classic commentary, Midrash Tanchumah, takes a different view.  According to that midrash, the placement of this verse right after the account of Sarah’s burial teaches that Abraham only began to feel “old” when Sarah died.   

I guess that’s true of so much in life --- that our experiences are filled with both satisfying and troubling aspects.   Abraham gains wisdom, but loses his life partner.  The same verse concludes with the statement that God blessed Abraham “bakol”/ “with everything” (or as the JPS translation in the Plaut Torah commentary translates it – “the Eternal had blessed Abraham in every way”. 

The idea that God blessed Abraham “bakol”/ “with everything”/”in every way” is immortalized in the Birkat Hamazon/Grace after Meals

(in the complete version anyway), when we ask “Harachaman”/”The All Merciful One” to bless: 

אוֹתָנוּ וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָנוּ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּרְכוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב "בַּכֹּל"-"מִכֹּל"-"כֹּל" – כֵּן יְבָרֵךְ אוֹתָנוּ כֻּלָּנוּ יַחַד בִּבְרָכָה שְׁלֵמָה. וְנֹאמַר: "אָמֵן".

“us and all that is ours, just as our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were blessed “bakol”, “mikol”, “kol” (with everything, from everything, all). 

May God likewise bless all of us together with a full blessing and let us say amen.”

According to traditional commentaries, in that line from the Birkat Hamazon, “Bakol” refers to Abraham in the verse we’ve been citing  “Ve-Avraham zaken, ba bayim, vadonai beyrakh et Avraham bakol” (Gen. 24:1).

“Mikol” refers to a later quote about Isaac and “kol” a subsequent quote about Jacob.  And contemporary egalitarian versions of the Birkat Hamazon add references to Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel v’Leah – each with appropriate shorthand references to Torah verses about the four matriarchs.

However, for now, let’s stick with the reference from Parshat Chayei Sarah about Abraham being blessed “bakol” (in everything).

How can we say this, how can we believe this, about a man who has just buried his wife?  And how can we say this about a man who has torn his own family apart --- following God’s command yet – by sending Hagar and Ishmael off into the wilderness and by tying up his son Isaac to be slaughtered as a sacrifice to God.  True, God has Abraham substitute a ram, but the clear implication is that the family is torn up all the same.  In Genesis 22, Abraham and Isaac had twice been described as “vayelchu sheneyhem yachdav”  (“the two of them walking together”) .  But afterwards, even though Isaac doesn’t die atop Mt. Moriah, the text speaks only of Abraham returning to his servants, with no further mention of Isaac.  And there is no indication of Isaac ever again communicating with his father. 

But still, Torah insists, Abraham is blessed by God “bakol” (“in everything”).

There’s a lesson here for us:  Jewish tradition invites us to see our own lives as filled with blessing – even in life’s pain, hurt, sadness, and fear that share time and space with the pleasure, happiness and exultation of life’s happier moments.

But how can that possibly be?   I guess one possible answer is that the difficult times give us an opportunity to experience God’s faithfulness or God’s “emunah” all the more – that God is with us, as it were, to stand with us in our trials and tribulations.  Just as midrash speaks of God’s shechinah (indwelling presence) keeping faith with the Israelites during the years of slavery in Egypt and wandering in the wilderness. 

Just as in the psalm for the Sabbath Day, where the psalmist declares  “tov lehodot Ladonai…baboker chasdekha, ve’emunatekha baleylot”/ “It’s good to give thanks to the Eternal …for your kindness at daybreak and for your faithfulness each night” (Ps. 92: 2-3) --- which Rashi interprets as referring to the daybreak when redemption comes as well as the nighttime of exile – in other words – in both good times and bad.

And the idea is implicit in the prayer that follows the barchu (call to prayer) during the morning service – We describe God there as “Yotzer Or u’voreh chosekh, oseh shalom u’vorey et hakol”/ “the One who forms light and creates darkness, who makes peace and creates “Hakol”/ Everything.”  --- But hameyvin meyvin – those who are in the know recognize that this is a paraphrase of Isaiah who says  “Yotzer or ovorey chosekh, oseh shalom uvorey ra – ani Adonai oseh chawl eyleh” / “the One who forms light and creates darkness, who makes peace and creates evil  - I the Eternal do all these things….” (Isaiah 45:7)

What is faith? It’s not about doctrine, or the details of divinity or the specifics of the inner workings of the universe.  Rather, faith is about trust.  In Hebrew these two English concepts are expressed with the same single Hebrew word “EMUNAH”.  

Because Abraham had “emunah” he could see himself as blessed “bakol” in everything.  Maybe for us, it’s more difficult. 

What “maybe?” – Certainly, it’s more difficult for us…

But what is the alternative? – As it says in Psalm 27 --- “Luley he’emanti lirot b’tuv Adonai be’eretz chayim”/ “had I not had faith that I would see the goodness of the Eternal in the land of the living”.  Rather – Chazak v’Ya’ametz Libekha, vkavey el Adonai” – Hope in the Eternal, be strong and of good courage, hope in the Eternal.  (Ps. 27:14).

And in all of our journeys through life may we find God’s blessings “bakol” / “in everything”

Shabbat shalom.

Fire and Brimstone

Thoughts on Vayera (2010/5711)  (Gen. 18:1 – 22:4)

(Dvar Torah delivered at Temple Israel on 10/22/10)

I’m not generally a “fire and brimstone” sort of preacher  --  but this week’s Torah portion is, in fact, our quintessential “fire and brimstone” parasha.   In Parshat Vayera, we read of God’s plan to destroy the evil cities of the plain and of Abraham’s efforts to stop the destruction – with Abraham audaciously challenging God:  הֲשֹׁפֵט כָּל-הָאָרֶץ, לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט /“Hashofet kawl ha’aretz lo ya’aseh mishpat?!”/ “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly?”  (Gen. 18: 25). 

We all know the story --- Abraham gets God to agree that if 50 good people can be found there that the cities would be spared – then bargains God down to a minyan of 10.  But even 10 can’t be found and the fire and brimstone --- or as the Torah has it גָּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ /“gafrit va’esh”/ “brimstone and fire” (Gen. 19:24) is unleashed upon Sodom and Gomorrah.  Angelic messengers rescue Lot and his household from the destruction, but Lot’s wife looks back and is transformed into a pillar of salt. 

How do we get to that horrific impasse?  The homophobes and gay-bashers of the world would blame it on the alleged homosexuality of the townspeople who demand that the messengers visiting Lot be brought out to them.  However, the Torah text itself seems pretty clear that it’s attempted rape which is the real problem. 

Rape is fundamentally about violence and intimidation, not about sexuality.  Traditional Jewish commentaries about the sin of Sodom understand this. 

Rape has been and continues to be used as an ugly weapon of war in certain conflicts around the globe today – and that’s the sort of scenario present in the Torah’s account of the actions of the people of Sodom.  They sought to rape the two visitors who had come to Lot’s home as a tactic of intimidation so that no one would dare offer hospitality to strangers.  Lot himself was a foreigner in the city of Sodom and his efforts at hospitality flew in the face of that society’s brutish selfishness.  Sodom was the place where showing hospitality to strangers was taboo, as evidenced by the people of Sodom’s retort to Lot – “This fellow Lot comes here to stay a while and now he wants to act the judge!  Well, we will make it worse for you than for them!”  (Gen. 19:9).

What was the sin of Sodom?  In Ezekiel chapter 16 we read:

“[49] Only this was the sin of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquility; yet she did not support the poor and the needy. [50] In their haughtiness, they committed abomination before Me; and so I removed them, as you saw.”

The midrashic imagination goes to town here – let me share a few midrashim about the sinful nature of Sodom that we find in the collection The Book of Legends (Sefer Ha-Aggadah).  (This is a book of classic rabbinic lore from Talmud and midrash that was collected and thematically organized by Bialik and Ravnitsky and published in modern Hebrew in 1908 through 1911.  The quotes below are from the English translation of William Braude, published by Schocken Books in 1992): 

“…So the [inhabitants of] Sodom said, ‘We live in peace and plenty – food can be got from our land, gold and silver can be mined from our land, precious stones and pearls can be obtained from our land.  What need have weto look after wayfarers, who come to us only to deprive us?  Come, let us see to it that the duty of entertaining foot travelers be forgotten in our land, as is said, “They who keep aloof from [wayfaring] men, turning away [in disdain] from them, had come to forget utterly [their duty toward] foot travelers.” (Job 28:4”)… (Book of Legends 36:30)”

“In Sodom they had a bed on which wayfarers were made to lie.  If a wayfarer was too long for the bed, they cut him down to fit it.  If he was too short, they stretched his limbs until he filled it….”

"When a poor man came to the land of Sodom, each Sodomite would give him a denar with the Sodomite’s name inscribed on it, but not one of them would sell him a morsel of bread to eat.  Eventhually, when the poor man died of hunger, each Sodomite would come to claim his denar.  There was a maiden in Sodom who once brought a morsel of bread concealed in her pitcher to a poor man.  When three days passed and the poor man did not die, the reason for his staying alive became clear.  The Sodomites smeared the maiden with honey and placed her on a rooftop, so that bees cam eand stung her to death…

“It was proclaimed in Sodom, ‘He who sustains a stranger or a poor or needy person with a morsel of bread is to be burned alive.”

(Book of Legends 36:30 and 36:31, citing various Talmudic and midrashic sources)

There’s plenty more, but you get the idea…

Well, we don’t have to get all “fire and brimstone” with each other when we revisit these ancient stories, do we?  We’re not like that, are we?

And yet, our tradition challenges us to make sure that we ourselves don’t become greedy and inhospitable to those in need.  In Pirke Avot, the mishnaic era compendium of ethical teachings, the challenge is expressed like this:

ארבע מידות באדם:  האומר שלי שלי, ושלך שלך--זו מידה בינונית; ויש אומרין, זו מידת סדום.  שלי שלך, ושלך שלי--עם הארץ.  שלי שלך, ושלך שלך--חסיד.  שלך שלי, ושלי שלי--רשע.

[5:10] “There are four kinds of human beings. One says, ‘What is mine is mine and what is your is yours.’  That is the usual kind, although some say that is the Sodom kind.  [The one who says] ‘What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine’ is an ignoramus. [The one who says] ‘What is mine is yours and what is yours is yours’ is a saint. [And the one who says,] ‘What is mine is mine and what is yours is mine’ is a sinner.”

(Hebrew text from www.mechon-mamre.org, English translation from Pirke Avot: A Modern Commentary on Jewish Texts, Kravitz and Olitzky, editors and translators, UAHC Press, 1993)

Think about that:  The usual kind of person says what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours – but some say that that is a “Sodom” type of person – i.e., one who is unwilling to help another.

I think what strikes me about this story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Torah, and of the way it has been transmitted in Jewish tradition, is the communal aspect of all of it.  The sin of Sodom is not the sin of an individual person.  Rather it’s the sin of a society. A society that doesn’t go beyond “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours.”   A society that thereby shows itself to be a place of moral decay.         

Election Day is only a couple of weeks away --- and these sorts of questions ought to accompany us to the voting booth.

How can we best assure that our society – on the local, statewide and national levels – is a place where those in need find support, hospitality and kindness?

In other words, how can we make sure that our society does not become like Sodom?

Some say that the best solution is to maintain and develop governmental safety nets and economies of scale that can protect those in need.   

Others say that the best solution is to leave it to private individuals to help one another through our families, congregations and charities  --- that this works much better than leaving it to so-called “big government.”

I would like to think that the various competing political parties – and the various factions within them – share a common goal of fostering a society in which we care for one another as a matter of common decency, of common justice.  And that the differences between us are over how best to do it. 

That  all of us want to belong to a society that does not merit fire and brimstone for its sins.

I would like to think that all of us can be among those of whom the prophet Malachi says: 

אָז נִדְבְּרוּ יִרְאֵי יְהוָה, אִישׁ אֶל-רֵעֵהוּ; וַיַּקְשֵׁב יְהוָה, וַיִּשְׁמָע, וַיִּכָּתֵב סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן לְפָנָיו לְיִרְאֵי יְהוָה, וּלְחֹשְׁבֵי שְׁמוֹ

Then those who revered the Eternal talked to one another. And the Eternal listened and took note of it, and a scroll of remembrance was written before God concerning those who revered and valued God’s name. (Malachi 3:16)

Indeed, let’s debate --- and analyze --- and consider  what we need to do, then get out there and vote for the sort of society of which we can be proud.

Shabbat shalom.

From Captivity to Freedom

(My dvar torah from last Friday evening 10/15/10)

Thoughts on Lekh Lekha

(Gen. 12:1 – 17:27)

           This week’s Torah portion, Lekh Lekha,  opens with God speaking to Avraham (then called Avram) – out of the blue and without warning – and commanding him:  “Lekh lekha mey’artzekha, umimoladtekha umibeyt avikha el ha’aretz asher areka” / “Go forth from your land, your birthplace and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”  (Gen. 12:1). 

          Which Avram immediately does --- taking along with him his wife Sarah (then called Sarai), his orphaned-nephew Lot who had been living with them, as well as all their household servants, animals and possessions.

          No doubt about it, this is a brave thing to do.  To set out at the age of 75 to a completely new life in a strange new place.  But maybe Avram and Sarai could do it because they had each other, and because they had faith and hope.  How many of us have been in a similar state --- embarking on a new adventure in a new land?  Maybe without such clear instructions from on high?  And maybe even having to temporarily leave your spouse behind because you can’t sell your condo?   But enough about me… except to say that I really appreciate Abraham and Sarah’s courage – and I bet that any of you who have made major geographic relocations can say the same.

          Later in the Torah portion, Avram and Lot part from one another when their shepherds start fighting with one another and it seems that they need more space and more distance between them.  Avram stays in the land of Canaan, while Lot leaves for the cities of the plain.

          But Uncle Avram doesn’t forget his family ties to Lot.  When war breaks out among 9 different armies in the region, and Lot and his household are caught up in the fighting and taken captive by invading armies – Avram springs into action.  Even though he was outnumbered and the odds were against him, Avram knew that he could not forsake his nephew in his hour of need.  As it says in Gen. 14: 14-16:  –[14] Hearing that his kinsman had been taken captive, Abram mustered his retainers, born into his household, 318 of them, going in pursuit as far as Dan. [15] At night he deployed himself and his forces against them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. [16] He then brought back all the possessions, his nephew Lot, too, and his possessions; the women, too, and the [other] people.

          In Jewish tradition, this passage from Parshat Lekh Lekha became a proof text for the traditional Jewish value of “Pidyon Shevuyim” (“Redemption of Captives”).  As Rabbi Harold Kushner notes in the Etz Hayim Torah Commentary:  “The redemption of captives (pidyon sh’vuyim) in later centuries became a prime responsibility taken on by the Jewish community, which ransomed Jews who been captured by pirates, imprisoned, or enslaved. Some authorities were reluctant, fearful that this would encourage the kidnapping of Jews for ransom.  Still, the basic practice has continued from earliest times to the efforts of behalf of Russian Jews and Ethiopian Jews in more recent times.” (Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 80).

         We can also recognize this Jewish value of “pidyon shevuyim” in the way that Israeli society remains concerned about the fate of Gilad Shalit, the young Israeli soldier who was captured in 1996 by Hamas terrorists who made a cross-border raid from Gaza into Israel.  They forced Shalit back into Gaza in a kidnapping that became one of the proximate causes of the recent Gaza war.  To this day, Hamas has refused to permit Shalit to be visited by the Red Cross and he remains in captivity but efforts to negotiate his release continue.

          I was also reminded of the Jewish value of “pidyon shevuyim” in recent days when following the news about the rescue of the miners in Chile.  The Chilean government had to do battle with geological formations rather than foreign armies, but the way the entire Chilean people rallied around the miners and committed themselves to their rescue has been an inspiration to the whole world.  There were many media reports warning of the difficult odds of success for the rescuers or of survival for the miners.  But the pidyon shevuyim effort went forward nonetheless.  And the miners themselves inspired us with the way they kept hope alive, shared their limited resources, cared for one another in their underground prison, and worked day and night to aid in their own rescue.

         The Chilean Rabbi Roberto Feldmann shared his thoughts on these momentous events in a dvar torah published this week by the World Union for Progressive Judaism.  Here’s an excerpt  --  Rabbi Feldmann writes:

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The government didn't lose a minute, the whole country drilled and drilled through every second, minute, hour, day, week. Three weeks into it, Camp Hope was silent, but was willing to spit any expert in the face were he or she talk about percentages, probabilities and human endurance. Stop calculating, keep drilling precisely, unrelentingly. Even children helped. Australia sent equipment, Germany , the USA , other countries too. 

One day one of the five or six catheters reached just the outside of the refuge almost a kilometer down the earth. The 33 miners were exultant, the whole country exploded in confirmation: hope is more realistic that experts' percentages. The first papers with loving messages, water, food, and medicine were sent. We are alive, we love you, we haven't abandoned you. The response from underneath was immediate: we love you too, we are OK: We knew lately you were drilling towards us, we heard (Elijah's kol dmama daká), a soft, subtle sound of the drilling machines, we knew we were not forgotten. After two weeks, we knew you were coming. We rationed the scarce food, we made routines not to get mad in the darkness, and we sang, we prayed, we even exercised. We had water from the springs, and it was pure to drink, and with hunger we held strong.  

Once communications, a lifeline, a Sulam Yaakov, a Jacob's ladder was created, then life could breathe and bring nourishment for body and soul back and forth through the "paloma", the "dove". Strange echo of Noah's one. As if the miners were in an ark, and had to wait till the flood subsided. The experts disappeared or went mum. The machinery to save them came, and something never tried before in such a scale and depth was put in place. At first the experts talked about half a year to get to them, and get them out. Neither Camp Hope nor the Miners' sense of humor down in the deep despaired. When Independence Day came, exactly falling on this year's Yom Kippur, September 18, (10th of Tishri) there were videos of the miners dancing cueca and singing the national anthem. 

The drilling went so fast, so relentless, as if a whole country spent 70 biblical days drilling and drilling and drilling. The name of the uni-personal, rudimentary lift down was called Fénix. 

When I watched each and every miner entering the Fenix cabin, and start his ascent, I pronounced "Lech Lechah"... ¡Off you go to your new life, reborn from the depths of depths of the kiln! initiated with a knowledge we can only slowly begin to understand and drop by drop, begin to learn. 

This is not about a silly patriotism. This is about something so much deeper and universal, whose scope really sends us a living message: what the human being has in emotional, cognitive and technological tools, can be used to resurrect the ones who have been called dead by the so-called "experts", those who think science has nothing to do with the human heart, and technology has nothing to do with human hope. Thos who think that synergy is collective hysteria and solidarity something for people in state of denial. Actually, they were in a state of denial of something much greater. 

Something divine that ejected Sarai and Avram to their journey of transformation, and whose children we Jews are.   

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           All of us up here in Duluth, thousands of miles from that Chilean mine are united in thanksgiving and appreciation for the successful pidyon shevuyim – the rescue from captivity of those brave miners.  May these stories of rescue and redemption – from the Torah to today – inspire us never to abandon those near and dear to us who ever fall captive --- be those captivities physical, financial, emotional or spiritual.  Let’s look out for one another – just as Avram did for Lot and as all of Chile has done for the miners.

          And in all of this we can experience God working through us so that any who are in distress may sing along with the psalmist  -- “Min Hametzar Karati Yah, anani vamerchav yah”  -- “From the narrowest confines I called out to God, and was answered with God’s boundless space” (Ps. 118:5, translation by Rabbi Ron Aigen in Siddur Hadesh Yameinu, p. 205)

         Shabbat shalom.

The Promise of the Rainbow

(This is a slightly revised version of the dvar torah I delivered last Friday evening 10/8/10 on Shabbat Noach.)

Thoughts on Noach (2010/5711)

(Gen. 6:9 – 11:12)

          In Psalm 29, which we sang as part of Kabbalat Shabbat, the psalmist caps off his ode to God’s power and might with the image of “Adonai lamabul yashav”/ “The Eternal sitting enthroned at the time of the great Flood.”   This week, in accordance with the Torah reading cycle, Jews around the world are revisiting the story of the flood, as we’ll do in Torah study tomorrow morning at 9:15 and during our Torah reading that comes in the midst of our 10:00 Shabbat morning service.      

          What prompts God to get so incensed with humanity that God decides to unleash the destructive force of ha-mabul/ the Flood?  The Torah tells us that it’s because  “Vatimaley ha’aretz chamas” / “The earth was filled with violence.” (Gen. 6:11) .

          At the end of the flood story, with the establishment of the Noachide Covenant and with the appearance of the rainbow as its symbol, God promises never again to bring about such a flood.   Sadly, however, that’s not because violence has ceased to plague the earth.  Rather, it’s because, given humanity’s violent nature, God decides to set the bar lower for all of us who follow after Noah.

          We have surely been reminded in recent weeks about the violence that fouls our society --- in particular, the physical and emotional violence of bullying.   And, in particular, the bullying of teens who are or who are perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.   This bullying, whether it involve physical assault, name-calling or cyber-bullying, is thought to have been a prime cause in a series of recent suicides including the recent suicide of Rutgers university freshman Tyler Clementi.

          Like many of you, I have been very troubled in recent weeks by the story of Tyler Clementi.   The exact factual circumstances behind his suicide are still the subject of criminal investigation.  His roommate who broadcast Tyler’s intimate encounter with another man might not have been motivated by anti-gay hatred – he could have just been a jerk with a video camera playing a prank that turned deadly.  I know that, for me at least, it FEELS different than the deadly physical assault that played out against Matthew Sheppard at this time of year 12 years ago.  And it FEELS different to me than back in the 1970’s when I was in middle school and high school and I was called faggot all the time just for loving classical music and not being good at or interested in sports like football, baseball and basketball.

          The world of today also FEELS different to me than that of my own high school years in terms of overall acceptance and welcoming of gay people in society.  Back in the 1970’s I could never have imagined that I would be admitted to rabbinical school as an openly gay candidate and be ordained in a class in which 50% of us were gay or lesbian.   Back in the 1970’s I could never have imagined that I would someday get to have a Jewish wedding to another Jewish man, under a chuppah and officiated by a rabbi   -- and that my Jewish marriage would be legally recognized by my then-home state of Vermont.  And back in the 1970’s I could never have imagined that I’d be hired to be a rabbi of a congregation so committed to GLBT inclusion that all three finalists for the position I was being hired for were gay or lesbian  --  and that the congregation would encourage ME to participate in the local pride festival and parade.

          But – I – along with all of the other queer folks in the United States  -- am still treated as a second class citizen under the law of the land. And while I believe our own Temple is a true welcoming congregation – voices of intolerance nevertheless still ring out in many school playgrounds, houses of worship and legislative chambers.  This can lead to feelings of despair and psychic vulnerability on the part of GLBT youth.  And this can lead to feelings of entitlement and permission on the part of their bullies and tormentors.

          The Torah says that Noah was a righteous man and above reproach IN HIS GENERATION and that he walked WITH God.  “Ish tzadik, tamim hayah bedorotav, et ha’elohim hithalech noach” (Gen. 6:9).  But in the midrashic tradition there is an argument about whether this is just faint praise – that maybe Noah could be seen as righteous IN HIS GENERATION because it was such a violent and corrupt generation, whereas in any other time he would not have been seen as being so great. By contrast Torah teaches that Abraham was righteous (without any caveat about being righteous just in his generation)  -- and speaks of Abraham walking not WITH God (like Noah) but BEFORE GOD ---  as we learn in Gen 17:1 where Torah teaches –  God said to Abraham Hithalekh lefanay veheyey tamim. (Walk before me and be above reproach)  

          Noah is the guy who doesn’t commit violence himself – but still doesn’t step OUT FRONT to argue with God not to destroy the world with a flood.

          Abraham is the guy who doesn’t assault and degrade defenseless strangers as do the people of Sodom and Gomorrah but he DOES STEP OUT FRONT to argue with God – to argue against the status quo and plead for compassion on the world and for the God of justice to do justly.

          Perhaps in our own time Noah is the decent enough person who yet doesn’t do anything to stand up to bullies -- whereas Abraham is the guy who will. 

          We can and ought to step up as well -- That’s the subject of an important campaign being waged by a Boston-based organization called Keshet (You can find it on the internet at www.keshetonline.org) .  “Keshet” is the Hebrew word for rainbow – like the rainbow at the sort-of-happy ending of the Noah story.  Keshet's mission is to ensure that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Jews are fully included in all parts of the Jewish community.  In the Greater Boston area, Keshet offers social and cultural events for GLBT Jews.  Nationally, Keshet offers support, training, and resources to create a Jewish community that welcomes and affirms GLBT Jews.

          I have joined with many Jewish congregations, clergy and congregants across the country in signing onto to the following initiative:

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Do Not Stand Idly By: A Jewish Community Pledge to Save Lives

As members of a tradition that sees each person as created in the divine image, we respond with anguish and outrage at the spate of suicides brought on by homophobic bullying and intolerance. We hereby commit to ending homophobic bullying or harassment of any kind in our synagogues, schools, organizations, and communities. As a signatory, I pledge to speak out when I witness anyone being demeaned for their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. I commit myself to do whatever I can to ensure that each and every person in my community is treated with dignity and respect.

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I encourage you to sign up as well by visiting www.keshetonline.org.

          The bow in the cloud was a sign from God that God would never destroy the world again. Rather, it’s humanity which has the power to wreak violence, havoc and destruction.  But it’s also humanity that has the power to eliminate violence from the earth.  In the Jewish community in particular – we seek to work for Tikkun Olam (“repair of the world”) – when the world will be one and God’s name will be one and the promise of the rainbow will be fulfilled.

          Shabbat shalom

Two Fall Holidays Down -- Two More to Go!

It was wonderful seeing everyone at Temple for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (not to mention a good crowd for Shabbat Shuvah in between).  Wishing everyone a joyous Sukkot, the weeklong Jewish fall harvest festival, which starts this Wednesday evening 9/22 on the full moon of Tishri.  Here's a link to nice little cartoon about Sukkot from the website http://www.g-dcast.com/  

Students in our Hebrew/Religious School will be decorating the Sukkah on Wednesday afternoon -- but all ages are invited.  Then the congregational  Sukkot service and potluck dinner will take place on Friday evening.  

Sukkot is the most universal of Jewish holidays while at the same time celebrating the diversity within the Jewish community.  I plan to speak about these themes on Friday evening.  I hope to see you there!

(and of course we have Shabbat morning services on Saturday morning as well -- check them out if you're not already a Saturday morning "regular"!)

And on Friday October 1st we'll close the fall holiday season with a festive celebration of Simchat Torah as we finish the Torah and wind it back to the beginning of Genesis.  We'll be dancing with the scrolls and we'll also welcome a large group of young people from the Duluth Playhouse children's theatre who are preparing a production of Fiddler on the Roof and will be sharing some of their music with us during the service.

Let the merrymaking commence!

Chag Sameach/Gut Yontif

Rabbi David

RRA Statement on Park51

[The following is a statement from my professional association, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.   I fully support this position.    Rabbi David Steinberg 8/31/10]

August 25, 2010 / 16 Elul 5770

“RRA STATEMENT on PARK 51”

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA) has watched the conversation unfold around Park51, the proposed community center in lower Manhattan, with deep concern. We fully recognize the strong sentiments that have been aroused, and the passionate expressions of grief that are still raw for many families. As Jews and as rabbis, however, we want to state unambiguously our commitment to the principle of the free exercise of religion, a principle that has allowed Jewish Americans to flourish in this country.

Park51 is a project that seeks to emulate communal institutional expressions of other religious traditions like the YMCA and the JCC which not only provide for their respective faith communities to come together for social and educational offerings, but more importantly, are open to the larger neighborhood regardless of religious affiliation.  As Reconstructionist Jews, we understand that peoplehood is at the core of these institutions - reflecting that Americans of all faiths live in two civilizations simultaneously and Park51 is an opportunity for American Muslims to celebrate their history, traditions and heritage in the embrace of one of the highest American ideals, that of freedom of religion.

We commend Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama for their support of this project and urge them both to be strong and of good courage in the face of rising hate speech and condemnation of the voices of tolerance.   We call on Jews of all denominations to oppose the dangerous rise in these debates and protests.  At this time on the Jewish calendar of moral introspection and teshuvah (returning and repenting), we call on our rabbis to work with their communities to turn toward the kind of America we want to live in going forward, one whose deep commitment to religious pluralism will be strengthened, for Muslim Americans and for all of us.