With Your Heart, Soul and Body

August 3-4, 2012 / 16 Av 5772

Shabbat Va’etchanan/Shabbat Nachamu

Torah Portion: Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11 / Haftarah Portion: Isaiah 40:1-26

“With Your Heart, Soul and Body”

Dear Friends,

This week’s Torah portion contains the well-known Shema Yisrael and V’ahavta portions of the Torah.  Through the opening lines of V’ahavta, Moses is telling us to love God with all our hearts, with all our souls and with our might – b’chol levavecha, u’v’chol nafshecha, u’v’chol m’odecha.  The last word, m’odecha, implies that beyond prayer and study, we can show our love for God, community and our Jewish tradition in very physical ways.

M’odecha means loving God with our physical strength and with our very bodies.  As Jews and as Reconstructionists a physical expression of love for God means doing mitzvot, righteous acts of loving kindness, to bring repair and healing to the world and all humanity.  This is called Tikun Olam.  Performing mitzvot often goes beyond charity, which is doing something out of compassion and empathy.  We perform mitzvot because it is the right thing to do.  Even if we are reluctant, we know that we are commanded by our tradition and a sense of responsibility and common decency to step up, get involved and make a difference in the world. 

Since M’odecha can mean with our bodies, one of the ways to show our love and readiness to make a difference is to register as bone marrow donors to help someone who needs bone marrow replacement therapy.  It also means registering as an organ donor, too. There is no greater mitzvah than saving a life. I have been registered with both programs for many years.

This week’s Shabbat service will feature a presentation by David Howard about “Be The Match – The National Bone Marrow Donor Registry.” David will tell his story of how finding a bone marrow donor saved his son’s life.  Howard has become a devoted and outspoken advocate of the bone marrow registry program. Jennifer Baird, Director of the Chicago District of the National Bone Marrow Donor Program will join us as well.

Understand that Judaism is more than a cerebral experience.  It is more than prayer, study and discussion.  It is more than books, scrolls and philosophy.  Judaism is a way of life.  This week’s Torah portion teaches us that that living as Jews involves our whole existence.  It means reaching out and helping others and healing the world in small and large ways - through our hearts, souls and even our bodies.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Click here for a special presentation of this week's portion.

G-dcast on Va'etchanan

Walking in the Sewers of Ancient Jerusalem

July 27-28, 2012 / 8 Av 5772

Shabbat Devarim

Torah Portion: Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22 / Haftarah Portion: Isaiah 1:1-27

Erev Tisha B’Av

“Walking in the Sewers of Ancient Jerusalem”

Dear Friends,

On Saturday evening, the Jewish world will begin the observance of ‘Tisha B’Av,’ a date in the Jewish calendar which commemorates the two destructions of ancient Jerusalem, first by the Babylonians and later by the Romans.  For many Jews, these events seem so far off that they bear little meaning to our contemporary lives.  For my wife Dawn and me, this year’s observance has added significance.

Earlier this month, while visiting Israel, we had the opportunity to visit the newest excavations in Jerusalem’s City of David.  This is where Jerusalem earliest habitations are found.  The City of David is where it all began.  Archaeological research is ongoing and marvelous discoveries are made virtually each and every day.  While on tour, we visited the remnants of the earliest walls of the ancient city, going back more than four thousand years!  We were given exclusive behind-the-scenes VIP access to areas of current excavation containing recent finds that are electrifying the archaeological magazines.  We visited the ancient water systems and saw some tunnels and pools that were still being excavated.  Then our guide took us to see something very special, the recently discovered sewer system of Roman-era Jerusalem.  They have just been opened to the public.

What made this experience deeply meaningful is a citation from Flavius Josephus’ book about the Jewish revolt against Rome, The Jewish War, which was written as the fighting raged on.  Josephus remarks that at the time that the Romans had broken into Jerusalem and began their campaign of destruction and slaughter of the Jewish residents of the city, many Jews went below to hide in the sewers.  There they stayed until the Romans found them, ripped open the sewer covers and slaughtered thousands.  Recently, excavators found cooking pots and household implements from this era set up in makeshift camps in these very sewers.  As we walked, I could sense that we were in the very place where our ancestors hid.  I could sense the fear of those hiding while Jerusalem burned over their heads.  I thought of the Jews of Warsaw, Vilna and other ghettoes in Nazi Europe who also hid in sewers.  I thought how all to often throughout history, we Jews have run for the sewers as our only protection.

As we hiked in the ancient sewers from the Kidron Valley all the way up to Robinson’s Arch near the Temple Mount, I marveled at this discovery and thought about how this site witnessed the terrible destruction.  If stones could only talk...  And then we emerged into sunlight and I was amazed at what I saw.  I beheld the bustling Old City of Jerusalem with people of all faiths flocking to worship at holy sites such as the Western Wall as well as numerous mosques and churches.  I saw Israeli flags flying proudly on rooftops.  I saw Hebrew signs and heard Hebrew spoken all around me.  I saw a new, proud, healthy and lively Jewish city, the capital of the reborn and modern Jewish State of Israel.

What would our ancestors have thought?  If they could only have known that two thousand years after their calamity, the Jewish people would still be here and that the State of Israel would be free and independent.  If only they could have known that the Jewish people would be proudly living all over the world in communities such as Shir Hadash.  They would have been very pleased.  This year, as Tisha B’Av approaches, I will dwell not only on the destructions our people has endured, but also on our survival, revival and flourishing in our day.  Am Yisrael Chai – The Jewish People Lives!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Paying it Forward

July 20, 2012 / 2 Av 5772

Shabbat Matot-Massei

Torah: Numbers 30:2 - 36:13 / Haftarah: Jeremiah 2:4 - 28; 3:4

“Paying it Forward”

Dear Friends,

With the reading of this week’s Torah portion, we come to the end of the fourth book of the Torah, the book of Numbers.  Even through there is one more Torah book to go, Deuteronomy, at this point the Children of Israel have arrived on the threshold of the Promised Land.  They are camped on the Jordan River across from Jericho ready to make plans to cross over.  The generation of the Exodus has died during the forty years of desert wandering. Moses will die as well.  Soon, a new generation, born in freedom will reestablish the Israelite presence in the Holy Land.

What about all those who courageously left Egypt behind, but died in the wilderness?  What about their hopes and visions for a new life of freedom?  What does Judaism say about their not reaching the Promised Land?

Tha Talmud tells a story about a certain man named Honi.  Once Honi saw an old man planting a carob tree.  He asked the man how long it would take for the tree to bear fruit.  He replied that it would take about seventy years!  Honi than asked if the man thought that he would live long enough to eat fruit from the tree.  The man pointed to a number of mature fruit-bearing trees nearby and replied, “Just as my fathers planted for me before I was born, so do I plant for those who will come after me.”

We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors who ‘planted’ for us – those who kept Judaism alive in the Middle Ages, those who courageously left family, friends and ancient lands behind for America, and those who worked tirelessly so that we could have a better life.  We are indebted to teachers and mentors who prepared us to succeed.  Even though they did not live to experience the lives of freedom, abundance and privilege that we lead, their legacy and presence is still with us.  They live on through us.  Their hopes and dreams have been realized in us.

Judaism teaches that along with receiving so much from previous generations comes paying it forward to the future.  Like Moses, the generation of the Exodus and the man in Honi’s story, it is our sacred obligation to support and enable future generations to realize our dreams and aspirations in them.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

What Moses Saw

July 13-14, 2012 / 17 Tammuz 5772

Shabbat Pinchas

Torah Portion:  Numbers 25:10-30:1 / Haftarah Portion: I Kings 19:1-20

“What Moses Saw”

Dear Friends,

Last week, the prophet Bil’am was on a mountaintop blessing the Children of Israel as they passed through the land of Moav.  This week, Moses stands on a different mountaintop, Mount Nevo, looking at the Promised Land.  Even though he led the Israelites out Egypt and through 40 years of wandering, he would not enter the Land.  Though Moses would die in the desert, God gave him the opportunity to see the Land into which a new and younger generation of Israelites, born in freedom, would enter.

What did Moses see in those moments before his death?  Certainly he saw across the Jordan River to the mountains of Judea.  Tradition says that he saw all the way from Eilat in the south to Metullah in the north.  He saw the deserts of the south, the fertile farm lands of the coastal plain and valleys, and the rivers, streams, marshes and mountains of the north.

Another tradition says that Moses saw the continuum of Jewish history from the Biblical period through the Greek, Roman and Medieval eras, right up to the Modern and Contemporary times.

Moses saw the two thousand years when our people was banished from our homeland.  He saw antisemitism, the ugliness of the Holocaust and renewal of Jewish life afterwards. He saw the rebirth of the State of Israel and the rise of the Jew that fights in self-defense and stands up for justice and freedom for all.  He saw Israel’s tradition of democracy and its zeal for study and learning.  He saw the tech-boom and Israel’s “Startup Nation” phenomenon.  He saw Israel’s tremendous prosperity and he saw its many challenges, from poverty, civil rights, the influx of Jewish refugees and its tremendous defense readiness.  Moses saw Israel's rise to a position of great respect amongst the family of nations. Some say that Moses also saw the Jewish people in all its dispersion throughout the world,too.  He saw the creative revitalization of Jewish communities throughout the world and he saw how Jews worldwide kept in touch over the generations through the principle of ‘Kol yisrael areivim zeh b’zeh - All Jews take care of each other.”  According to this tradition, Moses saw the future.  He saw us today.

During the last two weeks, Dawn and I have had the wonderful honor of visiting and touring throughout the Land of Israel, visiting with friends and families.  We have seen what Moses saw... a good land, with a good people striving to do right and succeeding beyond everyone’s wildest imaginings.

Check out this youtube video.  Perhaps you will get a glimpse of what Moses saw in this week’s Torah portion when he stood on the mountaintop - a land flowing with milk, honey and dynamic Jewish people filled with hope, energy and lots of promise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=AoizSL-TEJQ&NR=1

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

How Beautiful

July 6-7, 2012 / 17 Tammuz 5772

Shabbat Balak

Torah Portion:  Numbers 22:2-25:9 / Haftarah Portion: Micah 5:6-6:8

“How Beautiful”

Dear Friends,

When we begin our morning worship services, we sing “Ma Tovu Ohalecha Ya’akov - How beautiful are your tents O’ Jacob, your homes O’ Israel.”  These words are part of this week’s Torah portion and were recited by Bil’am, a Moabite prophet.  He intended to curse the Children of Israel as they moved through Moab towards the Promised Land.  Instead, from his lips came words of praise and blessing.

I have been thinking about this Torah story as Dawn and I walked and hiked all over Jerusalem during the past week.  During today’s hike, we saw all the way east across the Jordan valley to the mountain area where Bil’am might have recited his famous blessing.  Now, we are three thousand years past that fateful day.  Could Bil’am have possibly imagined that his blessing would still be remembered?  Could he have imagined that his words would be as relevant and meaningful today as they were then?

The Jewish people, once living only in the Land of Israel, now resides in all the countries of the world.  With so many returning to live in the holy land, Jews are bringing these cultures with them.  We see that striking diversity throughout Israel and especially in Jerusalem.  There are Jews of all colors, Jews of all languages, and Jews of all cultures.  There are Jews of all clothing styles, Jews of all cuisines and Jews of all prayer customs.  All are Jews. Truly, the ‘tents’ and ‘homes’ of the people of Israel are beautiful indeed.

The same is true for the American Jewish community and for us at Shir Hadash.  Within our own community we come from Ashkenazi and Sepharadi traditions.  We come from Oriental Mizrachi traditions and African traditions, too.  While, we have different countries of origin, colorful backgrounds and family histories, we are all Jews participating in the very exciting resurgence and revival of the People of Israel throughout the world - now and in our time.

That’s why when Bil’am wanted to curse, he could only bless - because he saw then what we see now.  The People of Israel is a people of unity within our diversity.  We are a people of hope within our many challenges, a people of the future rooted in our past.

Sometime this week, pull out old family photo albums and consider the countries and traditions that make up your family’s Jewish history.  Consider your roots and the journey that brought your family to America.  Then look around your home to see how you can make your ‘Jewish home’ even more beautiful and meaningful.  Make your home one for which Bil’am would surely say, “How beautiful are your tents O’ Jacob, your homes O’ Israel.”

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow