Acting with Integrity and Honesty

February 28-March 1, 2014 / 29 Adar I 5774

Shabbat Pikudei

Torah: Exodus 38:21 - 40:38

Maftir: Exodus 30:11 - 30:16 | Shabbat Shekalim

Haftarah: II Kings 12:1 - 12:17 | Shabbat Shekalim

“Acting with Integrity and Honesty”

Dear Friends,

‘Tax season’ is upon us.  It is time to collect our records from 2013 and either submit them to qualified accountants or sit down and fill out the paperwork at home.  Hopefully everyone is working on this important project now and not waiting until the last stressful minute. I do all my record keeping on the computer, updating from week to week throughout the whole year.  That way, I can generate reports each month and keep files with receipts clipped and arranged chronologically from January to December.  So, when it comes to tax preparation, everything is ready to go with a few mouse clicks.

This week’s Torah portion, Pikudei, describes how Moses kept track of all the donations that came from the Children of Israel towards the construction of the mishkan - the portable desert tent of worship.  Moses was meticulous - exact in his recordkeeping.  In fact, Moses was so concerned that the accounting be correct that the Torah records five different instances of publishing building plans and donation lists.

The early rabbinic commentators believed that all the attention given to the recording of donations, all the checking and rechecking, was a matter of accountability.  For Moses, truthfulness regarding public matters was all about moral responsibility.  Each person, especially public officials, should act with complete honesty.  All records were to be open and transparent so that there would be no possible suspicion of wrongdoing.

The same should go for each one of us.  Our Jewish tradition demands of us full disclosure and complete honesty.  When it comes to reporting financial matters, filing our tax returns, or any matter of public or private trust, each must act with fairness and righteousness.  That’s how we build upright and trustworthy communities.  That’s how we create a just and honorable society governed by law.  Pikudei teaches us that when we act with integrity and honesty, we bolster the public trust and we bring peace and confidence to the world.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Making a Temple of our Lives

February 21-22, 2014 / 22 Adar I 5774

Shabbat Vayak’hel

Torah: Exodus 35:1 - 38:20 / Haftarah: I Kings 7:40 - 7:50

“Making a Temple of our Lives”

Dear Friends,

What if every Jew could take part in creating the portable Temple of our ancestors’ desert wandering? That is the theme of this week’s Torah portion.  Moses called upon every member of the Children of Israel to make donations towards the construction of the Mishkan, the portable tent where God’s presence would be worshipped.  The donations came in and the construction began.

When our people settled in the Promised Land, the portable Mishkan tent was exchanged for local worship sites amongst the tribes and then, eventually, a central Temple in Jerusalem.  Now that the Temple is destroyed and our Jewish people are scattered to every corner of the earth, what is to substitute for our central place of worship?  Ceertainly our synagogue building could be just the place.  Yet, our ancestors had another, even more powerful idea in mind. Our sages taught that our dining room tables would become mini-altars, replacing the Jerusalem Temple as the place where our Jewish tradition would centralize and grow.  Our dining room tables would be the place where we would celebrate Shabbat and the festivals and where the love of our Jewish faith, heritage, and tradition would be passed on from parents to children. But, rebuilding the Temple at our tables has to be about more than food and songs.  It must be about learning and growing Jewishly.

So my solution to ‘rebuilding’ the figurative portable Temple in our day involves both celebrating Jewishly and learning Jewishly, worshipping Jewishly, and growing Jewishly.  In essence our lives and our souls are our Temple.  And each time we learn something Jewish and incorporate it into our lives, our people is strengthened and the world is renewed.

Our synagogue has a profound role to play in promoting Jewish learning and celebration.  That’s why I am proud to begin the five-part “Crash Course in Basic Judaism” lecture series next week, on Monday, February 24th.  I encourage you all to join in the study, for it will inspire you with new knowledge and wisdom about our magnificent Jewish heritage and tradition. The course will guide you on the road to bringing Jewish learning to your dining room table to share with your families.  Through learning, you will join in the millennia old process of building the portable Temple of our hearts one lesson at a time.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Keep On Keeping On

February 14-15, 2014 / 15 Adar I 5774

Shabbat Ki Tissa

Torah: Exodus 30:11 - 34:35 / Haftarah: I Kings 18:1 - 18:39

“Keep On Keeping On”

Dear Friends,

So we are a few weeks after marking our civil New Year’s Day and already we are having trouble keeping our resolutions.  No surprise. Changing our habits from bad to better ones is very hard to do.  It is very possible, but, nevertheless, very difficult to see through.  We grow very comfortable in our old habits, even if they were not the healthiest or best for us.  At the slightest chance of reverting back, many of us find the temptation just too compelling.  This is human nature back to Biblical times and even before that.

Consider this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa.  Moses has been up on Mt. Sinai alone for forty days and nights receiving the Ten Commandments.  There is no communication from the mountaintop down to camp – no tweets, Facebook updates, or even a casual phone call.  Nothing.  For all the Children of Israel know, Moses has died up there in the cold, thunder, and lightening and is never returning.  This is very frightening for a group of ex-slaves spending their first few weeks of freedom under the guidance of a new God.  It would make perfect sense to ask whether God has abandoned them or not.  So, in a time of fear and trial, why not revert back to their old ways by fashioning a golden calf and worshiping it, just the way they did back in Egypt.

The great Torah commentator Don Isaac Abravanel suggested that when God became angry at the golden calf incident Moses spoke these words to God, “You know that You brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, a land filled with idolatry… Why do You become angry when they fall back on their old practices?  For habit has become second nature to them, and that was what led them to build and worship the golden calf.” Moses, however, did not stop with this rationalization for bad behavior.  For the next 40 years, he continued to encourage, support, and guide the Israelites on their journey to a new identity as the free people of Israel worshiping the One God of heaven and earth.

So even if we fall back on bad habits, remember that our ancestors had some difficult turns of their journey, too.  Just don’t give up.  Like Israel in the desert, stay at it and great results will eventually come. Old bad habits will give way to newer and better ways of living a wholesome, full, and happy life.  Keep on keeping on.

Shabbat shalom.

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

This Little Light of Mine

February 7-8, 2014 / 8 Adar I 5774

Shabbat Tetzaveh

Torah: Exodus 27:20 - 30:10 / Haftarah: Ezekiel 43:10 - 43:27

“This Little Light of Mine”

Dear Friends,

I have just returned from an amazing journey of study and discovery to Rome and Israel with a delegation of Chicago area rabbis.  We had the opportunity to tour Jewish historical and spiritual sites in Italy and Israel, meet with leaders and government officials, and visit the Vatican.  It was especially meaningful to visit with my daughter Elana, now serving as a soldier in Israel’s army.  I look forward to telling you all about what I learned on my journey at services on Friday, February 21st.

One of the things that touched me greatly when visiting the Great Synagogue of Rome was the beautiful Ner Tamid – the Eternal Light that hangs near the ark and is always lit.  Seeing it made me think of all the synagogues around the world and throughout time that have a similar light shining at all times.  It made me think of the Ner Tamid Eternal Light shining back home in our Shir Hadash sanctuary.  Knowing that wherever I might be in the world, the light at our special and holy synagogue is on.  The thoughts warmed my heart and brought a smile.

In this week’s Torah portion, we are told to light the Ner Tamid regularly and keep it burning on and on.  No reason is given for this practice.  So, it has drawn comment for hundreds of years.  After traveling and studying for nearly two full weeks, the explanation that caught my eye this year is this.

The Midrash teaches that the Ner Tamid lamp symbolizes the teachings of the Torah, saying, “The words of the Torah emit light to those who study them.” That is why we place the lamp near the ark in modern times.  In ancient times, the lamp was placed near the tablets of the Ten Commandments.  Thus, the study of Torah was elevated to its central place of honor and meaning in our tradition.  The lighting of the Ner Tamid teaches that each and every time that Jews gather to study our sacred texts, the light of learning shines amongst us.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow