Judaism’s Three-Fold Path

November 27-28, 2015 - 16 Kislev 5776

Shabbat Vayishlach

Torah Reading: Genesis 32:4 - 36:43 / Haftarah Reading: Obadiah 1:1-21

“Judaism’s Three-Fold Path”

Dear Friends,

Judaism insists that people can change and improve.  Throughout our lives, we can mature, learn, experience, and ultimately become the kind of person each of us wishes to be.  Yet, in order to change for the better, Judaism requires a commitment to the long term. Nowhere is this better expressed than in this week’s Torah portion. We find our ancestor, Jacob, returning to make amends with his brother Esau after 21 years. His thoughts must certainly have focused on his own character flaws, that of pursuing his own selfishness to the detriment of Esau.

As he approached the fateful meeting, he must have pondered what it would take to change himself and transform his arrogance. Left alone, Jacob suddenly finds himself wrestling with someone in the dark of night. Is it a person or an angel?  Is it the embodiment of his fears, doubts and failings? While we never learn who the person was, we do learn what it takes to remake one's own character - the ability to hold on. Jacob struggles throughout the entire night.

In the morning, Jacob agrees to release his opponent only when told that he will receive a new name and identity - “Yisrael.” Jacob is no longer the cunning and deceitful child. Rather, Jacob is able to transform himself into a better, more caring person. Though limping from his struggle, Jacob finds the inner strength to apologize to his brother and change the way he relates to other people.

Our struggles in life with others and with ourselves leave scars on us, too. But they also produce wisdom, growth and change.  Judaism offers a path to self-understanding through study, mitzvot and prayer.  Through study - both Jewish and general learning - we deepen our understanding of the world and of human beings. Through mitzvot (commandments) we learn how to become partners with God to help others, behave kindly, and repair the world. And through tefillot (prayer and contemplation) we cultivate our ideal values for how we want to live our lives. All it takes is effort, time, insight and commitment.

This is Judaism’s three-fold path for improving ourselves and our world.  It provides a vision of how we can become our best selves.

Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving

November 20-21, 2015 / 9 Kislev 5776

Shabbat Vayetze

Torah - Genesis 28:10-32:3 / Haftarah - Hosea 12:13-14:10

“Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving”

Dear Friends,

                                                                                                                    

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. No other nation around the world gives thanks the way we Americans do. We Jews strongly identify with the holiday because its origin is found in our fall harvest festival of Sukkot.  We recognize the core value of Thanksgiving, the notion of giving thanks. In fact, the Jewish people have the value of Thanksgiving built into our very identity thanks to one of our ancestors, Leah.

Following the birth of her fourth child, Leah declares that, “‘This time will I praise the Eternal One,’ therefore she called his name Judah.” (29:35) ‘Juda’ism and the Jewish people take the name from ‘Judah.’ The word “Jew” (yehudi in Hebrew) is derived from the region of Judah (Judea) where the remnants of Israel survived following the exile of the Ten Tribes. Our appellation (Yehudim) is directly linked to the Hebrew word for “giving thanks” (L’hodot, as in todah rabbah—“thank you very much”). Thus, the very name of our people and religion, means essentially, “those who give thanks.”

Rabbi Jessica Locketz notes that Judaism views every day as a day of thanksgiving: “From the words we say upon arising—‘Modeh ani l'fanecha,’—‘I give thanks to You (for compassionately restoring my soul)’—to the daily multitude of blessings and prayers in our worship services, our tradition teaches us that showing gratitude is part of our way of life. Every day brings ample opportunities for acts of mindfulness and thanksgiving that can transform our lives and repair the world.”

Yet, we must also expand the idea of Thanksgiving beyond our dining room tables this coming Thursday. We must also express hakarat hatov—“recognition of good works” to those that have come to the rescue and safety of those suffering terror attacks in many lands and cities. Israel now finds itself in the throes of a wave of terror which has maimed and killed dozens of Israeli citizens, including women, children and the elderly.  Recent bombings in Beirut as well as shootings and bombings in Paris have caused terrible suffering.  Yet, remember that when civilians run away from the attacks, police, army, and rescue services run towards the danger.

While this Thursday we will give thanks in the comfort and safety of our homes, we must make the effort to say thank you to those who bring safety and security to Israelis under attack and all those who suffer the horrors of terrorism.  It is in our name to express thanksgiving, for we are Jews, “the people who give thanks.”

Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Sibling Rivalry

November 13-14, 2015 / 2 Kislev 5776

Torah: Genesis 25:19 - 28:9 / Haftarah: Malachi 1:1 - 2:7

“Sibling Rivalry”

Dear Friends,

What is the source of sibling rivalry?  This is the question that Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks explored when he spoke at the 92nd Street Y in New York on Sunday evening.  As a sponsoring synagogue of the program, we at Shir Hadash had the great honor of watching a live simulcast of the event.

In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob and Esau are born and set out on a lifetime of sibling rivalry - from selling the birthright to stealing the blessing of the first-born and beyond.  Rabbi Sacks asks, what is the source of sibling rivalry in this and so many other stories throughout the Hebrew Bible and sacred texts of other religions?

For Rabbi Sacks, the rivalry derives from our jealousy and envy of the other.  When we need what the other brother has, in order to get it, we must strive with and overcome him.  According to Sacks, the jealousy and envy makes sense only when what we want and need is in limited supply.  Instead of sharing, the brothers fight in order to have it all.  The rivalry grows beyond the Biblical stories and quickly becomes the engine of competition and often violence between the sibling religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. What the religions are fighting about is God’s love and attention.  Each religion needs to declare that it is the true religion and that God has chosen it and rejected the other. Yet, Sacks challenges us to ask whether God’s love is finite?  Is God’s love limited?  Of course, not. Thus, it makes no sense to fight each other in order to gain God’s attention and love.  God’s compassion and support is there for everyone.

So let’s start reading the texts differently.  Instead of vying for God’s love, let us share and support each other.  Let us see everyone as created in the image of God and bearing God’s blessing.  Let us be a light of tolerance, understanding and wisdom.  Let us grow from the sibling rivalry of the Bible and modern religions and emerge into a new age of sharing, cooperation, and love amongst all who live on earth.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Yitzchak Rabin: A Lasting Legacy

November 6-7, 2015 / 25 Heshvan 5776

Shabbat Chayei Sarah

Torah Portion: Genesis 23:1-25:18 / Haftarah Portion: I Kings 1:1-31

“Yitzchak Rabin: A Lasting Legacy”

Dear Friends,

On November 5, 1995, following a peace rally in the square of Tel Aviv that would later bear his name, then Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated by 25-year old law student Yigal Amir. His murder, followed by a series of devastating suicide bombings several years later, seemingly halted the progress toward a permanent peace agreement that Rabin began. While today the vision of peace in Israel seems farther away than ever, Rabin’s actions before his death left a critical legacy.

Many commentaries note that while the name of this week’s portion, “Chayei Sarah—the Life of Sarah,” seems to indicate that the portion would contain details of the matriarch’s life, Sarah in fact makes only the briefest of appearances, as she dies in the second verse. The rest of the portion details her burial, the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah and the subsequent search for a wife for Isaac. Why then is the portion named after Sarah when she is barely mentioned? We find a possible answer in the quality of the home that Rebecca builds together with Isaac. When Rebecca returns to Canaan we read that, “Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebecca, and she became his wife; and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted for his mother.” (24:67) Rashi explains that, “she [Rebecca] became like Sarah, his mother. For as long as Sarah lived, there was a light burning from one Sabbath eve to the next, and there was a blessing on the dough, and there was a cloud hanging over the tent, and when she died, these ceased. But when Rebecca entered [the tent] they returned.” Rebecca continued the spiritual values and legacy that Sarah initiated and inculcated in her son Isaac.

Describing the legacy of Yitzchak Rabin, Shimon Peres wrote, “Rabin bequeathed to us a model of politics at its best. Politics whose essence is serving the public, serving the state, service that will influence coming generations. Rabin’s legacy to the state in those years was courage, respect, and equality…Rabin the man will not return, but his legacy will stay with us as long as there are citizens in the state of Israel who fight for it. The murder took us back but it cannot stop the wheels of history.” Yitzchak Rabin dedicated his life to the fight for a secure and safe state of Israel. But, he also demonstrated willingness to take great risks and make difficult, painful sacrifices to forge peace with Israel’s neighbors.

His legacy lives on today. While the goal peace might seem far in the distance, Rabin’s leadership and legacy will live on long into the future.

Shabbat shalom.

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow