Friday evening services begin at 4:04 pm, 5 minutes following a 3:59 pm candle lighting (the latest appropriate time to light Shabbat candles - beginning 5 minutes following such a time, theoretically allows people 5 minutes to walk from home to shul for services) in our Rabb Chapel.
Saturday morning services will begin at 8:45 am.
We're exciting to be continuing a tradition we began last year of inviting members of our community to compose and share Torah Gems (insights from that week's Torah portion). This week, Rabbinic Resident Chaim Koritzinsky shares with us a few words of wisdom on Thanksgiving.
Following a noontime Kiddush, Landers Playspace will be open. Talmud will convene at 4:00 pm. Mincha will be in our Rabb Chapel at 3:44 pm. My Mincha and Metaphysics topic will be "'Rashi's Comment on the Psalm of Thanksgiving". Havdallah takes place no earlier than 4:58 pm.
-------------------------------------------------------
Every Thanksgiving my family goes around the table and each person says something they are grateful for. Depending on people's moods, some will share something light or even humorous while others something deeply personal and poignant. Regardless, it's a moment of coming together of family and close friends around the blessings in our lives that we don't want to take for granted.
But there is always a part of me that wonders why my family only does this on Thanksgiving? Shouldn't we be giving thanks whenever we get together? Shouldn't we be giving thanks every day for the blessings in our lives?
I think about this a lot around this time of year, especially as we approach Hannukah. As strange as it may sound, every year I think about the connection between Thanksgiving and Hannukah and I wonder how we can use Thanksgiving as a spiritual kick-off (for all you Turkey Day football fans) to Hannukah.
Let me explain:
Preparation is essential for Jewish Holidays. We're familiar with the importance of spiritual preparation for other holidays. For Rosh Hashana, we devote the entire month of Elul as a time for reflection and soul searching. For Yom Kippur, we have the 10 days of Repentance (Eseret Yamei Teshuva) to help focus our teshuva. For Pesach, we spend days- if not weeks- cleaning our homes, preparing our kitchens, changing dishes, reviewing the hagaddah, shopping and cooking. Even for Shevuot, we count the fifty days as a meditation march toward Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah.
The preparation we do prior to the holiday enhances our experience of the holiday's essence- self-transformation, national liberation, Toraitic revelation.
But what about Hannukah? How do we spiritually prepare for Hannukah? What is the essence of this holiday toward which we would prepare our hearts and souls?
Miracles.
Hannukah is the time of the year when we bring our spiritual attention to the miracles in our history and in our own lives.
We recall the miracles that happened to our ancestors as they won the battle of the few over the many. We recall the miracle of the cruse of oil that burned for eight days. And we recall the miracle of Jewish survival in the face of Hellenistic acculturation.
The miracle of the battles and the cruse of oil are well told in the books of our Tradition. We can find the miracle of the battles in the Book of Maccabees and the miracle of the oil in a Rabbinic retelling of the story in the Talmud (Bavli, Shabbat 21b). And even the miracle of Jewish survival is told and retold by historians, contemporary scholars, and demographic experts.
But where do we find the source for the miracles in our own lives? I want to suggest that we discover these miracles through daily gratitude.
Historically speaking, when the Temple stood, there was an animal offering known as the korban todah, the thanksgiving offering (see Leviticus 7: 11-15 where the ritual of the Todah offering is described) This was a type of peace offering brought to the Temple during times when you had experienced the miraculous and beneficent hand of God. In fact, you were required to bring a korban todah if you:
1. Completed a journey at sea
2. Crossed a desert
3. Were freed from prison
4. Recovered from an illness
These situations are based on poignant descriptions in Psalm 107. The psalmist writes, "Let them praise the Lord for God's steadfast love, for God's wondrous deeds for humanity. Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices and tell of God's deeds in joyful song."
Today, the todah offering is fulfilled by the birkat ha'gomel blessing that we say in synagogue after surviving a dangerous or life-threatening situation.
But this blessing of gratitude is not just something that we reserve exclusively for those rare occasions when we feel we have been saved from a life-threatening situation. Every day, we acknowledge God's beneficence in our daily liturgy when we recite Psalm 100, known as Mizmor L'Todah. (Interestingly, this psalm comes in the section of Psukei D'zimra that begins "hodu l'adonai"- thanks to God- immediately following after Baruch Sh'amar on weekdays) In Psalm 100, we sing ivdu et ha'shem b'simcha, let us serve God in joy..ki tov Adonai, le'olam hasdo, for the Lord is good, God's kindness endures forever." In other words, give thanks to God for the kindness that God bestows upon me daily.
The amidah takes it a step even further. If you look closely at the Modim blessing of the Amidah, it says "We thank You and praise You morning, noon, and night for the miracles which daily attend us and for Your wondrous kindness.." In other words, three times a day, we should give thanks for the miracles in our lives.
It's not a coincidence it was in this section of the amidah where the Rabbis chose to insert the additional paragraph for Hannukah which begins "al ha'nissim- for the miracles". The Rabbis understood this intrinsic link between expressing gratitude and discovering the miracles of our lives.
So this week, when you are sitting around the Thanksgiving table, I invite you to consider the connection between gratitude and miracles. How does acknowledging and expressing one lead to the other. And with Hannukah coming so "early" this year, what would it be like if we considered the 10 days between Thanksgiving and Hannukah to be a time of intense preparation?
Could we call this period the "eserat yamei ho'daya," the "10 Days of Gratitude"? Think about it and perhaps even share it around your Thanksgiving table.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Parashat Vayetze 5768/2007
Vayetze ויצא
Thoughts on going up and down...
When Yaakov leaves his father’s home fleeing from his brother Esav who was determined to kill him, the Torah tells us he slept and he had a dream. In his dream he saw a SULAM, a ladder, the foot of which was on the ground but the top was reaching into the heavens. One of the famous commentators on the Torah, the Baal Haturim points out that the Gematria or numerical value of the word SULAM is the same as the Hebrew and Aramaic word MAMON which means money. The numerical value of both words is 136 (both written with a Vav). The Baal Haturim explains that money can elevate a person or bring him down. The Baal Shem Tov elaborates on the same theme and says that money is similar to a ladder. People can go up with it or can come down with it. Money is a very essential aspect in life but what we do with it is what matters. If we spend it wisely, if we use it for necessities, if it helps us do charity, then it elevates our existence and meaning in life. If, however, we use it for pleasures only, if we squander it, if we fail to share it with the less fortunate, then it only helps to demean us and lower the meaning of our life. [http://torahportion.wordpress.com]
Walk into any department store this time of year and you will be overwhelmed by the latest technological gizmo that is meant as a teaching tool for your children: toddlers to teens. Despite the fact that there are yearly lists of the hottest toys and games, there is nothing new under the sun. We didn't know it at the time, but the games we played as children were also meant to be instructional. Many of us spent hours playing Chutes and Ladders. It was meant to help us learn to count from one to one hundred. What we didn't realize at the time was that it was also meant to teach us how to be decent human beings. If you landed on a square with a ladder, there was a picture of a child doing something good, and so you were rewarded by climbing up a few rows. Land on a square with a chute, illustrated with a child behaving inappropriately, and you slid down several rows. Some of you might be more familiar with this game by a slightly different name: Snakes and Ladders. This is what the game was called when it was first introduced in Victorian England. The British brought it home from India. There it was a game to educate young Hindus. If you behaved well, you ascended to a higher level of life; inappropriate behavior resulted in reincarnation on a lower level. The ladder leading you to a higher state is found in many cultures, in which the ladder oftentimes symbolizes the path between our world and God's world. At first glance, this seems to be the case in Parashat VaYetze. After tricking his father into giving him the birthright, Jacob has run off, to escape his elder brother Esau's wrath. Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran. He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. (Genesis 28:10-12). Ever since Jacob had this dream, his first vision, we have been trying to understand what it means. The sulam that leads to heaven is most often translated as ladder. Sulam could also mean a ramp or a series of steps. Of greater interest is the movement of the angels, who were going up and down on it. Why up and down, ask the commentators, why not down and up? Midrash Genesis Rabbah explains that the angels who were to accompany Jacob on his journey were descending while those who were remaining in the Promised Land were ascending. Another midrash (Leviticus Rabbah 8:1) views God as being involved in construction. A Roman woman asks what God been up to since the six days of creation, Rabbi Jose ben Halafta answers that God has been building ladders for some people to ascend and others to descend. A Hassidic. interpretation takes a different view entirely, focusing on the end of the verse ascending and descending on it (bo). Bo can also be taken to mean within it or within him. In this interpretation, the ascending and descending is dependent on humanity's prayers and actions. If a person behaves in a certain way, then the entire world is elevated, if not, the world is degraded. [http://www.kolel.org/blog/parasha.html]
Who's Who...
Baal Haturim: Jacob ben Asher, in Hebrew Ya'akov ben Asher, (1270-ca 1340) was an influential Medieval rabbinic authority. He is often referred to as the Baal ha-Turim ("Master of the Turim (Pillars)"), after his main work in halakha (Jewish law), the Arba'ah Turim. He was the third son of the Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel (known as the "Rosh"), a German-born Rabbi who moved to Spain.
Thoughts on going up and down...
When Yaakov leaves his father’s home fleeing from his brother Esav who was determined to kill him, the Torah tells us he slept and he had a dream. In his dream he saw a SULAM, a ladder, the foot of which was on the ground but the top was reaching into the heavens. One of the famous commentators on the Torah, the Baal Haturim points out that the Gematria or numerical value of the word SULAM is the same as the Hebrew and Aramaic word MAMON which means money. The numerical value of both words is 136 (both written with a Vav). The Baal Haturim explains that money can elevate a person or bring him down. The Baal Shem Tov elaborates on the same theme and says that money is similar to a ladder. People can go up with it or can come down with it. Money is a very essential aspect in life but what we do with it is what matters. If we spend it wisely, if we use it for necessities, if it helps us do charity, then it elevates our existence and meaning in life. If, however, we use it for pleasures only, if we squander it, if we fail to share it with the less fortunate, then it only helps to demean us and lower the meaning of our life. [http://torahportion.wordpress.com]
Walk into any department store this time of year and you will be overwhelmed by the latest technological gizmo that is meant as a teaching tool for your children: toddlers to teens. Despite the fact that there are yearly lists of the hottest toys and games, there is nothing new under the sun. We didn't know it at the time, but the games we played as children were also meant to be instructional. Many of us spent hours playing Chutes and Ladders. It was meant to help us learn to count from one to one hundred. What we didn't realize at the time was that it was also meant to teach us how to be decent human beings. If you landed on a square with a ladder, there was a picture of a child doing something good, and so you were rewarded by climbing up a few rows. Land on a square with a chute, illustrated with a child behaving inappropriately, and you slid down several rows. Some of you might be more familiar with this game by a slightly different name: Snakes and Ladders. This is what the game was called when it was first introduced in Victorian England. The British brought it home from India. There it was a game to educate young Hindus. If you behaved well, you ascended to a higher level of life; inappropriate behavior resulted in reincarnation on a lower level. The ladder leading you to a higher state is found in many cultures, in which the ladder oftentimes symbolizes the path between our world and God's world. At first glance, this seems to be the case in Parashat VaYetze. After tricking his father into giving him the birthright, Jacob has run off, to escape his elder brother Esau's wrath. Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran. He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. (Genesis 28:10-12). Ever since Jacob had this dream, his first vision, we have been trying to understand what it means. The sulam that leads to heaven is most often translated as ladder. Sulam could also mean a ramp or a series of steps. Of greater interest is the movement of the angels, who were going up and down on it. Why up and down, ask the commentators, why not down and up? Midrash Genesis Rabbah explains that the angels who were to accompany Jacob on his journey were descending while those who were remaining in the Promised Land were ascending. Another midrash (Leviticus Rabbah 8:1) views God as being involved in construction. A Roman woman asks what God been up to since the six days of creation, Rabbi Jose ben Halafta answers that God has been building ladders for some people to ascend and others to descend. A Hassidic. interpretation takes a different view entirely, focusing on the end of the verse ascending and descending on it (bo). Bo can also be taken to mean within it or within him. In this interpretation, the ascending and descending is dependent on humanity's prayers and actions. If a person behaves in a certain way, then the entire world is elevated, if not, the world is degraded. [http://www.kolel.org/blog/parasha.html]
Who's Who...
Baal Haturim: Jacob ben Asher, in Hebrew Ya'akov ben Asher, (1270-ca 1340) was an influential Medieval rabbinic authority. He is often referred to as the Baal ha-Turim ("Master of the Turim (Pillars)"), after his main work in halakha (Jewish law), the Arba'ah Turim. He was the third son of the Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel (known as the "Rosh"), a German-born Rabbi who moved to Spain.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Parashat Toldot 5768/2007
Early Shabbatot have arrived. Services this evening begin at 4:15pm (with candle lighting taking place no later than 4:10pm) in our Rabb Chapel. There will also be a Cuddle Up Shabbat service in the Main Sanctuary at 6:00 pm with Jennifer Rudin and Jon Nelson, all are welcome.
Services tomorrow morning begin at 8:45am in our Main Sanctuary. We look forward to learning Parshat Toldot together. Following Kiddush, Landers Playspace will be open and Talmud will convene at 4:00pm.
Mincha services tomorrow afternoon begin at 3:45pm in our Rabb Chapel. At that time we look forward to celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of Jacob Heineman. Mazel tov to Jacob and his whole family. Shabbat ends not before 5:09 pm.
Rosh Hodesh Kislev services begin on Sunday morning at 8:00am in our Rabb Chapel.
Thanks to an anonymous member of our KI family for sharing many insights that make up this week's Torah Gems. First I wish to consider a few thoughts and questions.
Parshat Toldot contrasts the relatively sedentary life of Isaac with the emotional turmoil surrounding the transmission of a blessing to Jacob.
Isaac is the only patriarch to never set foot outside of the land of Canaan. He seems to follow, quite literally, in the footsteps of his father Abraham, simulating a wife/sister switch with Avimelech, re digging his father's wells, and dedicating an altar at Beer Sheva. It appears as if nothing is new here. We've seen it all before in the life of his father Abraham.
Yet these three incidents in Isaac's life, I have argued in the past, offer three compelling models for how we inherit as Jews. In the first instance, when Isaac claims to Avimelech that Rebecca is his sister (not the truth that she is his wife), Isaac is engaging in simple imitation. Often this is our aim in honoring the particular customs of our ancestors, simply imitate and enact them. In the second case, when Isaac redigs the wells that had been dug by his father, he is engaging in conscious reclamation. This form of inheriting is more purposeful (as opposed to the default mode of simply imitating), requiring more effort deliberating, considering, appropriating. Finally, a comment on Isaac's dedication at Beer Sheva (ir beer sheva) suggests that he is speaking of the whole region of Beer Sheva (as opposed to Abraham that is only attentive to the well in a more circumscribed space). This third mode of inheriting I will call creative expansion. It invites a form of inheriting that expands creatively on the gifts we are given by our ancestors that we might adapt and change traditions as purposefully and as reverently as they may have.
On the emotional anguish surrounding the deception which enables Isaac's blessing to be bestowed upon Jacob, Rebecca has a curious role. When we first met her last week, she is singled out for her Hesed (lovingkindness). More considerate, caring, and kind than most, Isaac is blessed to make her his wife. Yet, I have always been troubled by Rebecca's conduct in the deception of Isaac and the supplanting of Essau's blessings her role is to get God's blessing to the intended son Jacob. Yet the manner she chooses to achieve this fills Essau with agony and Isaac with trembling and travail. What has happened to her Hesed? I am eager to here of your thoughts on this matter over Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom and enjoy the additional comments and insights that follow.
Rabbi William Hamilton
Of all the people in the Torah, Isaac is the one I would have wanted for a friend. He is kind, caring, compassionate, and passive or gentle, depending on your mindset. He might have been the prototype for the game show "Who(m) Do You Trust"? He never argues (except once, which we'll get to later), he accepts; he is guileless, but everyone tries to betray him.
His life never really gathers momentum because he is the embodiment of momentum. He is the live link between Abraham and Jacob. Unlike Abraham, he is not a leader; unlike Jacob, he never tries to kill his brother, or anyone else; he never goes to war. He is the only patriarch who is monogamous, who never leaves home, who grows up as an only child, and who doesn't choose his own wife. Everything is done for him, or is given to him, Yet, he is far from spoiled. His faith has the consistency of a rock, and though he is attributed with blindness in his old age, I suspect that if the maxim "Love is blind" is true, he would have been born blind. Could that be why he lived the longest of any of the patriarachs?
The facts of his life are simple:
Sarah and Abraham bore him when she was ninety and they named him "Isaac" meaning "to laugh" since they had laughed when the angels had told her she was to have a baby.
Isaac's sole playmate was Ishmael, son of Hagar, Sarah's handmaiden, whom she had asked to bear a son for her husband fearing that she could not. Ishmael was in his teens when Isaac was born and though they got along, Ishmael was perceived by Sarah as being too rough, and so she entreated Isaac to send him and Hagar away, to banish them. This did not sit well with Abraham, but God told him to listen to Sarah, and thus her wish was granted and they were exiled into the desert. This is the first time I have to wonder what Isaac thought, or, indeed, what he was told, when his half brother suddenly disappeared. They do reunite to bury Abraham at Cave Machpelah.
Then there is the famous enigma of Isaac's near sacrifice on Mount Moriah. His silent temerity, his disquieting solitude, plague us to this day. Why did he comply so willingly? What did he think? Did he think? Or did he just
the rest of his years I suspect the latter. He never saw what he could not fathom.
Sarah died when he was thirty six and he grieved sorely for her. She had been his fiercest protector and had taught him to love the Lord with her Shechinah.
When he was forty, Abraham sent a slave, Eliezer, to find a wife for him, with strict considerations as to what would be acceptable. Rebekkah fit the description and she willingly went to meet her betrothed; they supposedly fell in love at first sight. He took her into his mother's tent and the Shechinah became her.
Twenty years later God answered their prayers for children by blessing Rebekkah with twins, Jacob and Esau, who began fighting in her womb and apparently never stopped. Esau, the eldest, disdains Torah for love of the wilds, and so it is Jacob the scholar, the second, to whom Isaac wants to entrust the leadership of the Jewish people, but alas, he cannot.
Isaac does well as a farmer, but is almost forced to leave his land when there was a famine. God appeared to him and told him not to leave, but to settle elsewhere, and so he did. In his travels he copies his father's plan of passing his wife off as his sister.
He prospers so greatly in his new home that his neighbors try to annoy him by plugging up his wells. Rather than fighting back, he digs new wells and they are so impressed by his kindness that they approach him to be friends. His love of peace is thus manifest. Could this be the first instance of "Love thy neighbor as thyself?"
And now comes the one time when Isaac challenges the Almighty. A dispute over what else? The children. A midrash states, "When Abraham and Jacob, says the Talmud, were told that their children had sinned, they answered, "Let them be blotted out for the sanctification of Thy name"; but when God said to Isaac, "Thy children have sinned." Isaac answered, "Why are they my children more than Thine? When they answered, 'We will do [all that God shall command] and we will listen,' Thou calledst them 'My first Fborn'; yet now they are mine and not Thine! Moreover, how long can they have sinned? The duration of man's life is seventy years. In the first twenty years he is not punished [being irresponsible]; half of the remaining fifty is passed in sleeping. Half of the remainder is spent in praying, eating, etc. There remain only twelve and a half years. If thou art willing to bear the whole, it is for the better; if not, let half be borne by me and the other half by Thee. But if Thou insist upon my bearing the whole, I have already sacrificed myself for Thee" (Shab. 89b)."
And so the buck was first passed. Isaac won that one hands down!
And finally, the last humiliation by Rebekkah when she encourages Jacob to dress as Esau to secure the blessing of the eldest although his entitlement springs not from law but from nature. Jacob never lies. When Isaac queries, "Is it you, Esau? You have the arms of Esau but the voice of Jacob." Jacob's reply, "It is I, Father," cleverly begs the question, and seemingly satisfies Isaac. The blessing is given and Isaac loses both his sons when Esau's rage forces Jacob to flee. What did Isaac know of the ruse? Did he care to know? Was he deceived or did he embrace trust?
They, too, reunite to bury their parents at Machpelah.
What can we make of life so mildly lived, of a nature ostensibly so innocent, of a temperament so harmless? Is he a simpleton to be scorned, or a gentle giant of gallantry? My vote is for the latter and I wish I had been his friend.
Services tomorrow morning begin at 8:45am in our Main Sanctuary. We look forward to learning Parshat Toldot together. Following Kiddush, Landers Playspace will be open and Talmud will convene at 4:00pm.
Mincha services tomorrow afternoon begin at 3:45pm in our Rabb Chapel. At that time we look forward to celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of Jacob Heineman. Mazel tov to Jacob and his whole family. Shabbat ends not before 5:09 pm.
Rosh Hodesh Kislev services begin on Sunday morning at 8:00am in our Rabb Chapel.
Thanks to an anonymous member of our KI family for sharing many insights that make up this week's Torah Gems. First I wish to consider a few thoughts and questions.
Parshat Toldot contrasts the relatively sedentary life of Isaac with the emotional turmoil surrounding the transmission of a blessing to Jacob.
Isaac is the only patriarch to never set foot outside of the land of Canaan. He seems to follow, quite literally, in the footsteps of his father Abraham, simulating a wife/sister switch with Avimelech, re digging his father's wells, and dedicating an altar at Beer Sheva. It appears as if nothing is new here. We've seen it all before in the life of his father Abraham.
Yet these three incidents in Isaac's life, I have argued in the past, offer three compelling models for how we inherit as Jews. In the first instance, when Isaac claims to Avimelech that Rebecca is his sister (not the truth that she is his wife), Isaac is engaging in simple imitation. Often this is our aim in honoring the particular customs of our ancestors, simply imitate and enact them. In the second case, when Isaac redigs the wells that had been dug by his father, he is engaging in conscious reclamation. This form of inheriting is more purposeful (as opposed to the default mode of simply imitating), requiring more effort deliberating, considering, appropriating. Finally, a comment on Isaac's dedication at Beer Sheva (ir beer sheva) suggests that he is speaking of the whole region of Beer Sheva (as opposed to Abraham that is only attentive to the well in a more circumscribed space). This third mode of inheriting I will call creative expansion. It invites a form of inheriting that expands creatively on the gifts we are given by our ancestors that we might adapt and change traditions as purposefully and as reverently as they may have.
On the emotional anguish surrounding the deception which enables Isaac's blessing to be bestowed upon Jacob, Rebecca has a curious role. When we first met her last week, she is singled out for her Hesed (lovingkindness). More considerate, caring, and kind than most, Isaac is blessed to make her his wife. Yet, I have always been troubled by Rebecca's conduct in the deception of Isaac and the supplanting of Essau's blessings her role is to get God's blessing to the intended son Jacob. Yet the manner she chooses to achieve this fills Essau with agony and Isaac with trembling and travail. What has happened to her Hesed? I am eager to here of your thoughts on this matter over Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom and enjoy the additional comments and insights that follow.
Rabbi William Hamilton
Of all the people in the Torah, Isaac is the one I would have wanted for a friend. He is kind, caring, compassionate, and passive or gentle, depending on your mindset. He might have been the prototype for the game show "Who(m) Do You Trust"? He never argues (except once, which we'll get to later), he accepts; he is guileless, but everyone tries to betray him.
His life never really gathers momentum because he is the embodiment of momentum. He is the live link between Abraham and Jacob. Unlike Abraham, he is not a leader; unlike Jacob, he never tries to kill his brother, or anyone else; he never goes to war. He is the only patriarch who is monogamous, who never leaves home, who grows up as an only child, and who doesn't choose his own wife. Everything is done for him, or is given to him, Yet, he is far from spoiled. His faith has the consistency of a rock, and though he is attributed with blindness in his old age, I suspect that if the maxim "Love is blind" is true, he would have been born blind. Could that be why he lived the longest of any of the patriarachs?
The facts of his life are simple:
Sarah and Abraham bore him when she was ninety and they named him "Isaac" meaning "to laugh" since they had laughed when the angels had told her she was to have a baby.
Isaac's sole playmate was Ishmael, son of Hagar, Sarah's handmaiden, whom she had asked to bear a son for her husband fearing that she could not. Ishmael was in his teens when Isaac was born and though they got along, Ishmael was perceived by Sarah as being too rough, and so she entreated Isaac to send him and Hagar away, to banish them. This did not sit well with Abraham, but God told him to listen to Sarah, and thus her wish was granted and they were exiled into the desert. This is the first time I have to wonder what Isaac thought, or, indeed, what he was told, when his half brother suddenly disappeared. They do reunite to bury Abraham at Cave Machpelah.
Then there is the famous enigma of Isaac's near sacrifice on Mount Moriah. His silent temerity, his disquieting solitude, plague us to this day. Why did he comply so willingly? What did he think? Did he think? Or did he just
the rest of his years I suspect the latter. He never saw what he could not fathom.
Sarah died when he was thirty six and he grieved sorely for her. She had been his fiercest protector and had taught him to love the Lord with her Shechinah.
When he was forty, Abraham sent a slave, Eliezer, to find a wife for him, with strict considerations as to what would be acceptable. Rebekkah fit the description and she willingly went to meet her betrothed; they supposedly fell in love at first sight. He took her into his mother's tent and the Shechinah became her.
Twenty years later God answered their prayers for children by blessing Rebekkah with twins, Jacob and Esau, who began fighting in her womb and apparently never stopped. Esau, the eldest, disdains Torah for love of the wilds, and so it is Jacob the scholar, the second, to whom Isaac wants to entrust the leadership of the Jewish people, but alas, he cannot.
Isaac does well as a farmer, but is almost forced to leave his land when there was a famine. God appeared to him and told him not to leave, but to settle elsewhere, and so he did. In his travels he copies his father's plan of passing his wife off as his sister.
He prospers so greatly in his new home that his neighbors try to annoy him by plugging up his wells. Rather than fighting back, he digs new wells and they are so impressed by his kindness that they approach him to be friends. His love of peace is thus manifest. Could this be the first instance of "Love thy neighbor as thyself?"
And now comes the one time when Isaac challenges the Almighty. A dispute over what else? The children. A midrash states, "When Abraham and Jacob, says the Talmud, were told that their children had sinned, they answered, "Let them be blotted out for the sanctification of Thy name"; but when God said to Isaac, "Thy children have sinned." Isaac answered, "Why are they my children more than Thine? When they answered, 'We will do [all that God shall command] and we will listen,' Thou calledst them 'My first Fborn'; yet now they are mine and not Thine! Moreover, how long can they have sinned? The duration of man's life is seventy years. In the first twenty years he is not punished [being irresponsible]; half of the remaining fifty is passed in sleeping. Half of the remainder is spent in praying, eating, etc. There remain only twelve and a half years. If thou art willing to bear the whole, it is for the better; if not, let half be borne by me and the other half by Thee. But if Thou insist upon my bearing the whole, I have already sacrificed myself for Thee" (Shab. 89b)."
And so the buck was first passed. Isaac won that one hands down!
And finally, the last humiliation by Rebekkah when she encourages Jacob to dress as Esau to secure the blessing of the eldest although his entitlement springs not from law but from nature. Jacob never lies. When Isaac queries, "Is it you, Esau? You have the arms of Esau but the voice of Jacob." Jacob's reply, "It is I, Father," cleverly begs the question, and seemingly satisfies Isaac. The blessing is given and Isaac loses both his sons when Esau's rage forces Jacob to flee. What did Isaac know of the ruse? Did he care to know? Was he deceived or did he embrace trust?
They, too, reunite to bury their parents at Machpelah.
What can we make of life so mildly lived, of a nature ostensibly so innocent, of a temperament so harmless? Is he a simpleton to be scorned, or a gentle giant of gallantry? My vote is for the latter and I wish I had been his friend.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Parashat Chayei Sarah 5768/2007
Torah Gems - November 2
This week's Torah portion is Chayei Sarah. Mincha begins tonight at 5:24 pm, and candles may be lit no later than 5:19 pm. Mincha will begin tomorrow at 5:04 (Talmud study will still be held at 5 pm). Shabbat ends not before 6:19 pm.
KI takes great pride in having produced nearly 50 rabbis, scholars, and professional educators over our 90 year history. Today, we pause to honor, as well, more than a dozen current KI members who are rabbis. Some of them have agreed to share a brief comment on a passage in this week's Torah portion. When Abraham's servant Eliezer prays for success in his mission to find a bride for Isaac, his prayer (the first of its kind in the Bible) offers an opportunity to ponder how we imagine God's rapport with the words we utter in prayer each week in our Main Sanctuary and daily in our Chapel, enjoy.
"And he said, "O Lord, God of my master Abraham, grant me good fortune this day, and deal graciously with my master Abraham" (Genesis 24:12)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Samson Raphael Hirsch says of our the choice of words Hakrei na, "Nothing is farther from the Jewish concept of mikreh than the idea of "chance" (Rather it) refers to moments in life that he himself did not direct but which directed him(As a result, it is not chance but) could be the most intentional messages sent by the One Who directs and brings about all things."
In other words, to quote Albert Einstein, "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."
Rabbi Nechama Goldberg
How does Hope work? Eliezer has an overwhelming commission: a long journey, the responsibility to find a spouse for Isaac, and the obligation to negotiate with strangers while carrying treasures from Abraham's house. We too face tough missions including: work challenges, health issues, family pressures, community demands. How do we plug away without being paralyzed by worry or stress? Eliezer is a model: first he takes a time-out-- notice verse 12 begins vayyomar (it means both "he thought" and "he said") which is accented with a shalshelet requiring a deep breath and a pause because Eliezer relaxes in order to brainstorm about his situation. He visualizes achieving his goal rather than bemoaning his fate. Then focusing on values he learned from Abraham (especially hospitality), he verbalizes how he will take an ordinary situation (shepherdesses watering their flock) and will creatively turn it into an opportunity to find the right girl. Finally, by asking for God's help, he reminds himself that he is not alone in his struggles. In his ability to take risks, seek help, trust that things will work out, and succeed, Eliezer is one of the heroes of the text. As Rabbi Maurice Lamm writes in The Power of Hope: "Fear paralyzes us. It provides no energy, gives us no courage, offers no practical solutions." Rabbi Lamm suggests always reminding ourselves: "I am the hero of my own life story-- I will behave like one."
Rabbi Judy Weiss
One of the most pervasive qualities of Biblical Man was a belief in G-d's providence in human affairs. We are impressed by the fact that this prayer for divine guidance comes from Abraham's humble servant. Its relevance to today's world is that no matter what our station in life is, we all need G-d's guidance and we are equal in G-d's sight. this is an example of Judaism's democratic outlook.
Rabbi William E. Kaufman
Avraham's servant could have dismounted from his camel and headed straight to the well. Instead, he pauses to pray for hesed, for Divine love for Avraham, and defines what he is seeking - a woman whose love for others would embody that hesed. Later, Isaac prays in the field just before Rebecca arrives, and I cannot help but imagine that he is praying to find his life partner. Prayer helps us name our deepest yearnings, and when our heart and mind open to what we most need and hope for, only then do we have the possibility of finding that which we seek.
Rabbi Tracy Nathan
Abraham's servant, Eliezer, makes a powerful request of God that he "make happen" the discovery of a proper young maiden for a shiddukh with his master's son, Isaac. The verb is strange: it is the hifil or causative mode implying very strong action. The point is: you have to take strong action and not be passive if you are going to do something important and earth-shattering. And what is more important than making a good match between a man and a woman? The sages charmingly suggest that God is constantly busy making matches for marriage. And so should we if we are ever to stem the tide of mixed marriages or no marriages. This explains why, in my next life, I expect to come back as Yenta the Matchmaker.
Rabbi Gilbert S. Rosenthal
In the polytheistic world of Abraham, the non Hebrew Eliezer, on a
mission for his master Abraham, prayed to the GOD OF ABRAHAM for
success on his mission to find a proper bride for Isaac. He was
looking for a kind-hearted and good natured woman. Eliezer was
successful in his mission and found Rebecca. This reminds me of our
teacher Rabbi Robert Gordis' definition of a natural miracle: when the right thing happens at the right time to the right person. Thus, God
answered Eliezer's prayer.
Rabbi Marc Samuels
Eliezer refers to a powerful force active in the world and in human life. Carl Jung called it synchronicity. For example, you meet the right person just at the right time as Eliezer did. Or, for example, you are agonizing over a decision and you see a billboard with a sign that says JUST DO IT! For people of faith and for believing Jews it is called Hashgachah.
Rabbi Joseph Schultz
It's all about the ask. We don't know the outcome, all we know is we need to ask. We can't go through life alone; the Jew returns to the Divine, creator and giver of blessing.
Rabbi David Starr
This week's Torah portion is Chayei Sarah. Mincha begins tonight at 5:24 pm, and candles may be lit no later than 5:19 pm. Mincha will begin tomorrow at 5:04 (Talmud study will still be held at 5 pm). Shabbat ends not before 6:19 pm.
KI takes great pride in having produced nearly 50 rabbis, scholars, and professional educators over our 90 year history. Today, we pause to honor, as well, more than a dozen current KI members who are rabbis. Some of them have agreed to share a brief comment on a passage in this week's Torah portion. When Abraham's servant Eliezer prays for success in his mission to find a bride for Isaac, his prayer (the first of its kind in the Bible) offers an opportunity to ponder how we imagine God's rapport with the words we utter in prayer each week in our Main Sanctuary and daily in our Chapel, enjoy.
"And he said, "O Lord, God of my master Abraham, grant me good fortune this day, and deal graciously with my master Abraham" (Genesis 24:12)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Samson Raphael Hirsch says of our the choice of words Hakrei na, "Nothing is farther from the Jewish concept of mikreh than the idea of "chance" (Rather it) refers to moments in life that he himself did not direct but which directed him(As a result, it is not chance but) could be the most intentional messages sent by the One Who directs and brings about all things."
In other words, to quote Albert Einstein, "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."
Rabbi Nechama Goldberg
How does Hope work? Eliezer has an overwhelming commission: a long journey, the responsibility to find a spouse for Isaac, and the obligation to negotiate with strangers while carrying treasures from Abraham's house. We too face tough missions including: work challenges, health issues, family pressures, community demands. How do we plug away without being paralyzed by worry or stress? Eliezer is a model: first he takes a time-out-- notice verse 12 begins vayyomar (it means both "he thought" and "he said") which is accented with a shalshelet requiring a deep breath and a pause because Eliezer relaxes in order to brainstorm about his situation. He visualizes achieving his goal rather than bemoaning his fate. Then focusing on values he learned from Abraham (especially hospitality), he verbalizes how he will take an ordinary situation (shepherdesses watering their flock) and will creatively turn it into an opportunity to find the right girl. Finally, by asking for God's help, he reminds himself that he is not alone in his struggles. In his ability to take risks, seek help, trust that things will work out, and succeed, Eliezer is one of the heroes of the text. As Rabbi Maurice Lamm writes in The Power of Hope: "Fear paralyzes us. It provides no energy, gives us no courage, offers no practical solutions." Rabbi Lamm suggests always reminding ourselves: "I am the hero of my own life story-- I will behave like one."
Rabbi Judy Weiss
One of the most pervasive qualities of Biblical Man was a belief in G-d's providence in human affairs. We are impressed by the fact that this prayer for divine guidance comes from Abraham's humble servant. Its relevance to today's world is that no matter what our station in life is, we all need G-d's guidance and we are equal in G-d's sight. this is an example of Judaism's democratic outlook.
Rabbi William E. Kaufman
Avraham's servant could have dismounted from his camel and headed straight to the well. Instead, he pauses to pray for hesed, for Divine love for Avraham, and defines what he is seeking - a woman whose love for others would embody that hesed. Later, Isaac prays in the field just before Rebecca arrives, and I cannot help but imagine that he is praying to find his life partner. Prayer helps us name our deepest yearnings, and when our heart and mind open to what we most need and hope for, only then do we have the possibility of finding that which we seek.
Rabbi Tracy Nathan
Abraham's servant, Eliezer, makes a powerful request of God that he "make happen" the discovery of a proper young maiden for a shiddukh with his master's son, Isaac. The verb is strange: it is the hifil or causative mode implying very strong action. The point is: you have to take strong action and not be passive if you are going to do something important and earth-shattering. And what is more important than making a good match between a man and a woman? The sages charmingly suggest that God is constantly busy making matches for marriage. And so should we if we are ever to stem the tide of mixed marriages or no marriages. This explains why, in my next life, I expect to come back as Yenta the Matchmaker.
Rabbi Gilbert S. Rosenthal
In the polytheistic world of Abraham, the non Hebrew Eliezer, on a
mission for his master Abraham, prayed to the GOD OF ABRAHAM for
success on his mission to find a proper bride for Isaac. He was
looking for a kind-hearted and good natured woman. Eliezer was
successful in his mission and found Rebecca. This reminds me of our
teacher Rabbi Robert Gordis' definition of a natural miracle: when the right thing happens at the right time to the right person. Thus, God
answered Eliezer's prayer.
Rabbi Marc Samuels
Eliezer refers to a powerful force active in the world and in human life. Carl Jung called it synchronicity. For example, you meet the right person just at the right time as Eliezer did. Or, for example, you are agonizing over a decision and you see a billboard with a sign that says JUST DO IT! For people of faith and for believing Jews it is called Hashgachah.
Rabbi Joseph Schultz
It's all about the ask. We don't know the outcome, all we know is we need to ask. We can't go through life alone; the Jew returns to the Divine, creator and giver of blessing.
Rabbi David Starr
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Parashat Vayerah 5768/2007
This week's Parashah, Vayerah, presents the most formative experiences of our people's founding figure - Abraham. Much has been said and written about Abraham's advocacy on behalf of justice in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and on many other passages that make up our Sedra. I wish to reflect briefly on verses from the Binding of Isaac narrative (the Akedah) - a story that continues to challenge me greatly even as I find within it enduring lessons and timeless insights.
A few curious observations follow. When God calls Abraham by name (Chapter 22:1), it is the first and only time in the Torah that God uses Abraham's full (recently amended from Abram) name. If one considers the context of Akedah, it is worth noting that God has not informed Abraham that Lot and his daughters have indeed been spared (Abraham's family members saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah). Does this lack of information matter in shaping Abraham's frame of mind as God puts him through the test which is the Akedah?
When Abraham and Isaac speak to each other on their three-day journey, it is the first time that the Bible records a conversation between a parent and a child. Within their very brief dialogue, I believe, we find enduring lessons at the core of the whole purpose of the Akedah. Although they are unchanged, walking together (yachdav) before and after their brief dialogue, a few points in their sharing resonate for me. First, when Isaac asks "Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the offering? (22:7), he does not mention the knife. Why not?
Second, Abraham's response is both enigmatic and prophetic - "God will see to the lamb for the offering, my son." (22:8). It seems to hide more than it reveals. Yet the very name Abraham bestows on the mountaintop is derived from the word for "God will see to". Abraham's capacity to respond prophetically, while not duplicitously, is quite telling. Is there a connection between seeing and the unknowable being asserted here?
Finally, the actual sacrifice is of a ram, not a lamb - of the father, not the child. Perhaps a portion of Abraham, whom God never again speaks directly to following the Akedah, is sacrificed. What might this suggest about the inscrutability of the Almighty's ways?
I look forward to probing with you these and numerous other deep and challenging questions on our Parasha this Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom. Rabbi William Hamilton
A few curious observations follow. When God calls Abraham by name (Chapter 22:1), it is the first and only time in the Torah that God uses Abraham's full (recently amended from Abram) name. If one considers the context of Akedah, it is worth noting that God has not informed Abraham that Lot and his daughters have indeed been spared (Abraham's family members saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah). Does this lack of information matter in shaping Abraham's frame of mind as God puts him through the test which is the Akedah?
When Abraham and Isaac speak to each other on their three-day journey, it is the first time that the Bible records a conversation between a parent and a child. Within their very brief dialogue, I believe, we find enduring lessons at the core of the whole purpose of the Akedah. Although they are unchanged, walking together (yachdav) before and after their brief dialogue, a few points in their sharing resonate for me. First, when Isaac asks "Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the offering? (22:7), he does not mention the knife. Why not?
Second, Abraham's response is both enigmatic and prophetic - "God will see to the lamb for the offering, my son." (22:8). It seems to hide more than it reveals. Yet the very name Abraham bestows on the mountaintop is derived from the word for "God will see to". Abraham's capacity to respond prophetically, while not duplicitously, is quite telling. Is there a connection between seeing and the unknowable being asserted here?
Finally, the actual sacrifice is of a ram, not a lamb - of the father, not the child. Perhaps a portion of Abraham, whom God never again speaks directly to following the Akedah, is sacrificed. What might this suggest about the inscrutability of the Almighty's ways?
I look forward to probing with you these and numerous other deep and challenging questions on our Parasha this Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom. Rabbi William Hamilton
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