Embodied Torah

Divre Harav – April, 2023

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Growing up, celebrating Israel’s birthday was always a community event. I remember walks for Israel, in which we would solicit pledges for every kilometer we walked to celebrate Israel’s birthday. I remember concerts of Israeli music, Israeli food, a celebration of Hebrew words and a glimpse into life in various cities in Israel.

We will be celebrating Israel’s 75th birthday on Wednesday, April 26, 6:00 p.m., at Garfield Park with a free barbecue (donations welcomed!). I hope you’ll join us. You can find more information elsewhere in the Voice and on the events page of the website.

My memories are post-1967. The victory of the Six Day War was as much a miracle as the proclamation of the State followed by the Israeli victory in the War of Independence. The Yom Kippur war in 1973 was a scary moment, but the 1978 Camp David Accords in which Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt joined hands gave us hope that peace was possible. And indeed, despite massive inflation in the 1980’s, Israel’s economy took off and Israel became a Start-Up Nation and a center of cutting edge research and innovation. Israel’s absorption of one million Soviet Jews and their families following glasnost along with the more than 160,000 Ethiopian Jews in the decade or so of the 1980’s cemented its role as the place where persecuted Jews around the world could find refuge. In 1994 a JCC in Buenos Aires was destroyed by a suicidal attack, and as antisemitic hatred continue to increase, and as the economy of Argentina was in crisis in the early 2000’s, 10,000 Jews made aliyah.

Israel today is one of the first nations in the world to send disaster recovery support around the world after an earthquake, a tsunami, or a hurricane. It shares its expertise on security and fighting terrorism and water management and renewable energy. It is a thriving and vibrant center of Jewish culture. It’s 75th birthday is worth celebrating.

You may have read lately a serious controversy about legislation which could endanger the balance of power between the judiciary and the legislative branches of government. The proposed legislation would allow the Knesset to override a supreme court nullification of a law which they determine to violate a fundamental protection of a “Basic Law,” the Israeli equivalent of a fundamental right. There is wide agreement among experts in the legal world that this would cause serious harm to the separation of powers of the legislative and judicial branches of government, a core principle of a democratic government.

My colleague Rabbi Miriam Spitzer wrote in the Scranton Times Tribune:

“ … hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating on the streets against proposed changes to Israel’s laws of judicial review. Americans should be in awe of the numbers and the percentages of the citizenry who are coming out and saying that they object to what is happening.

“Israel’s past and present attorney generals have issued warnings against these proposed changes. Israel’s Supreme Court justices have spoken out. Some former Prime Ministers have spoken out. Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel, has issued pleas for compromise. Academics have spoken out. The Jewish Federations of North American has expressed concern and its own plea that the coalition listen to Isaac Herzog as well as recognize that a majority of 61 is insufficient to override a decision of the Supreme Court. The Rabbinical Assembly, together with the Conservative/Masorti Movement issued a strong “Leadership Statement on legislation that threatens Israel’s democratic character;” other Jewish movements have issued similar statements.” 

Israel is in crisis now and more than ever, needs the friendship and attention of the United States government and the worldwide Jewish community. It needs to hear from us that preserving democracy, diversity, protecting minorities, religious freedom, need to remain at the center of what the State of Israel is.

Hebrew Words of the Month:

  • Yom Ha’atzma’ut – Day of Independence, 5 Iyar 5708, May 14, 1948.
  • Yom Hazikaron – Day of Remembrance, Israel’s Memorial Day, commemorated on 4 Iyar.

Divre Harav – March, 2023

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Back in December, I set a goal for myself to meet with the superintendents of the eight largest school districts in the Grand Rapids area, plus East Grand Rapids and Holland, to talk about the issue of antisemitism. We’ve been hearing reports in the religious school of antisemitic incidents or micro-aggressions from our middle school and high school students. Because of the rise of antisemitism locally and nationally, I thought it would be important to introduce myself to the superintendents, open up a channel of communication if and when incidents occur, and find out what they are doing to track incidents, to react to incidents, and to prevent incidents proactively. I also believe that a district which has a plan for handling antisemitic incidents will also be well equipped to handle other forms of racism or attacks against LGBTQ students or staff.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive. So far, I have met with the superintendents of Kentwood, Forest Hills, Rockford, Hudsonville, West Ottawa, Grandville, Jenison, and EGR Public Schools. Most districts realize that there is a problem and have a clear system in place to track incidents. Of the three districts with the least diversity, one has been actively working with their board to put diversity training programs in place. This involved convincing the board that incidents of aggression towards religious, ethnic, and racial minorities do exist and need to be addressed. Another has programs to increase diversity and works with the Urban League, the ADL, Grand Valley, and the Jewish Federation to develop curricula. The third relies on state-mandated curriculum to teach history, holocaust, and world culture.

All districts track major incidents, although several said that unless the incident gets referred to a school administrator or counselor, it would not be entered into the system. Many incidents go unreported because the students don’t want to put themselves in the spotlight, so they are handled quietly, if they are reported at all. We have suggested to our students that it is very important that they take a public stand and report incidents. It is in the only way that they will be taken seriously, district-wide.

Two superintendents reach out proactively to groups of students selected or self-selected to represent the diversity from each of the schools in district. They meet regularly with these groups of students to hear about what is happening and what they need to address. I found this to be the most positive, proactive, statement of support for their students.

One superintendent talked about how they address all incidents whether or not they occur inside a school or during school hours. This district believes that any act of racism or aggression involving its students affects its school, no matter where or when it occurs. I found this to be a strong statement of support for a welcoming and safe school environment. Another district addresses only major incidents that happened outside of school, but this, too, represents a strong statement against aggression.

The districts with more diversity seem to have fewer problems, but one district of about 50% Latinx, 50% middle – upper class white, is aware that such a sharp divide creates problems. The superintendent previously worked in the Detroit area and has drawn on the Holocaust Museum Center of Farmington Hills and the ADL for help in addressing incidents.

This is a quick summary of my impressions. All of the districts that I have met with know that I am available to meet with students, faculty, or staff for proactive education or to help them unpack and respond after an incident occurs. Please contact me if you are interested in the specific details of my conversation with your school district.

Hebrew Words of the Month:

  • Shem, Ham, and Yafet – Noah’s sons. Shem is considered to be the ancestor of middle eastern peoples. In 1770, Scholars of the German Göttingen School of History, who history as an academic discipline, coined the term ‘Semite’ along with other terms to categorize people by race. About 100 years later, an Austrian Jewish scholar, Moritz Steinschneider, coined the term antisemitism specifically to refer to anti-Jewish prejudice.

A response to the tragedy at MSU

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The best short term response to the tragic shooting at MSU this week is to go to your house of worship this Saturday or Sunday. To find out why, read on:

Ford produces cars. Microsoft produces software for presenting ideas. Apple produces hardware on which we produce or consume content. AT&T and Comcast and Verizon and T-Mobile create networks for connecting and sharing content. Walmart and Amazon sell virtually everything. Chase manages and produces money. Exxon Mobil produces petroleum products. Consumer’s Energy produces electricity. Hilton creates places for travelers to gather.

Every business and non-profit produces or creates something. Every organization has a purpose. The role of synagogues, churches, houses of worship is unique – our mission and our product is goodness in the best and broadest sense. We teach people how to be good, we encourage people to be good. We are the only institution with this mission. There are many other organizations and businesses which do good things, like providing food, shelter, clothing, protection from harm, medical care, education, and more. But the core mission of an institution of religion is to transform and shape the human animal into a better human being.

Most, but not all, houses of worship advance their mission by invoking God. Teaching and scripture invoking a transcendent Divine are a powerful way to encourage people to live up to a high set of ideals and behavior. But strictly speaking, I’m not arguing here that belief in God makes people better. I’m arguing that gathering together regularly in a religious community makes people better.

If you don’t gather regularly in a house of worship, where do you learn what goodness is? Where is your impulse to be a good person reinforced and encouraged? Not on social media, not by consuming media content, not in the workplace, or in the sports arena or the gym or at the theater or in the classroom or in any other place, real or virtual, where people regularly gather.

On Tuesday, the morning after the tragic shooting at MSU resulting in the death of three people and the injury of five others, I shared the following at our morning service:

Near the end of our weekday morning service we read Psalm 20, including the verse, “They call on chariots, they call on horses, but we call on the name of Adonai our God.” Chariots and horses were the technology and the heavy weapons of their day. Ultimately, reliance on the technology of weapons brings death. The antidote to reliance on instruments of war and destruction is to gather in places focused on transcendent behavior, on goodness.

It is possible, but unlikely, that the MSU shooter or any of the previous 66 mass shooters so far this year went to church or to any other house of worship regularly. Attending worship regularly does not guarantee that there will be no tragic shootings. But if houses of worship do their job of producing goodness well and if more people committed to attending, it’s hard to imagine that it would not have a positive effect. And stronger background checks, gun safety laws such trigger lock or gun safe requirements, and extreme risk protection laws could also help.

If you are part of the Ahavas Israel community, please join me this Shabbat. If you are a part of another religious community, here or elsewhere, please join your community this weekend. And if you are not part of a religious community, please consider finding one in your area and making a commitment to grow goodness.

Divre Harav – February, 2023

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Gathering for prayer and study is the core activity of a synagogue. Making this happen requires the participation of the community, to form a minyan of ten adult Jews, to welcome people as they come in the door, and to help lead the service. We need people to read the Torah portion and the Haftarah selection from prophets, to facilitate the Torah service by assisting the Torah reader and others coming up to the bima, to lead parts of the service itself, and to prepare a little kiddush, to give us some time to eat and socialize before we go home. We also honor people with smaller parts, to be called up to the Torah to say a blessing for one of the aliyot of the Torah reading and to lift and dress the Torah.

Without the participation of our synagogue community, we could not sustain a service. Some parts require more familiarity with Hebrew than other parts. We want each person to be able to participate in the service in a way which is comfortable and meaningful to you. If you do not want to participate in a leadership role, we still invite you to be present, to lift up your soul in prayer and to learn a little Torah. But if you would like to take a larger role in helping with our service, we would like to help to do so.

No qualifications are necessary to take a Torah honor such as an aliyah or gelilah, dressing the Torah. The gabbai’im will help you know where to stand and when to start saying the blessing, which is printed in Hebrew and English transliteration next to the Torah; or assist you in rolling the Torah shut and putting on the mantle, breastplate, and finials in the right order.

Lifting the Torah takes a bit of practice to learn the technique, but does not require you to be an olympic-level weight lifter. If you’d like to practice in advance of a service, I can make that happen. You might also want to watch a video explaining how to lift the Torah properly, such as this one, from Adath Jeshurun in Minnesota: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6B4x9zxqv8

Qualifications to be a gabbai, helping to coordinate the Torah service and assisting the Torah reader: knowledge of the order of the service and some ability to follow along and help the Torah reader read the words correctly. If you’d like to be a gabbai, I’ll meet with you for about an hour to do some training.

Qualifications to read Torah: basic knowledge of Hebrew reading, the more vocabulary and grammar you know, the better, but many people begin with nothing more than the ability to pronounce the words.

Qualifications to lead a service: fluency in pronouncing the Hebrew words, basic knowledge of the melodies, the ability to sing them with kavanah and energy, and the willingness to be the representative of the congregation.

Currently, Cantor Fair is teaching a Torah reading class. He and I have spoken about scheduling a class either in Haftarah trope or in leading a service in the late spring/summer. Please let him or me know if you are interested, and which class most interests you.

Hebrew Words of the Month:

  • Gabbai – one of two people who assists with the Torah reading. The word itself comes from a term for one who collects and distributes tzedakah funds.
  • Shaliah Tzibur – One who leads a service, literally, a representative of the congregation
  • Ba’al Kriah – Torah reader (sometimes called the ba’al koreh, but ba’al kriah is the grammatically correct term)
  • Hagbah – Lifting the Torah
  • Gelilah – Dressing (literally, rolling shut) the Torah
  • T’amim or ta’amei ha-mikra (also called trope in Yiddish) – The system of punctuation and musical notation of the Hebrew Bible.

Divre Harav – January, 2023

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Deuteronomy 31:30 describes the land of Israel as “a land flowing with milk and honey.” This phrase evokes the image of richness and sweetness of milk, cheese, yoghurt, and ice cream, sweetened with honey made from figs, dates, or sometimes made by bees. Exploring the nature of the land of Israel will be a part of the Tu Bishvat Seder that we’ll celebrate together with Temple Emanuel early next month (February 5, 5:30 p.m., at Temple Emanuel), which will also will explore the mystical/environmental side of Jewish thought and practice.

The Seder is based on the notion that we live in four different kinds of worlds. At the basic level, we live in the world of asiyah, action. This is a physical world ruled by the expected laws of nature, physics, chemistry, and biology. In the fruits of the Seder, this world is represented by nuts with a hard shell, representing a world in which the spark of God’s presence is hidden. It is also represented by winter, a time of year in which a great deal of life is hidden and dormant.

We also live in the world of Yetzirah, formation. In the spring, life begins to sprout. Transcending the physical world, this world encompasses emotion and creativity. This is represented in the fruits of the Seder by fruits with an inedible pit. The seed is the blueprint for the fruit. Contained in the seed is the excitement of new life. We can imagine what the seed will become, the life that will be born. This level is also represented by spring, a time when God’s presence blossoms like a sprouting seed.

Above Yetzirah, we find the world of Beriah, the world of creation. This is the realm of thought. We hold the concept of something in our head, we envision it, but we have not yet taken steps to put together the elements. This stage is represented by fruit which is completely edible. This is also represented by the warmth of summer, when living beings sense God’s energy. This is the feeling of the nullification of the self, when we feel ourselves to be completely aligned with God.

Finally, the highest world is Atzilut, the world of emanation. This space is dominated by the infinite God alone, which radiates its energy down through the lower levels. Rather than the taste of fruit, this stage is represented by the sweet or energizing smell of spices like cinnamon, rosemary or cedar, indicating that we don’t exist on this plane, but we can be aware of its presence. This stage is represented by fall, a time when we celebrate the fullness of the harvest.

These four world intersect with the the seven species of grain and fruit of the land of Israel mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:8: wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranates, olive oil, and dates or date honey, foods typically eaten at a Tu Bishvat Seder. I hope you’ll join me, Rabbi Schadick, and Cantor Fair to celebrate Tu Bishvat with a seder and a light dinner on February 5, 5:30 p.m., at Temple Emanuel.

Hebrew Words of the Month:

  • hita – wheat
  • s’orah – barley
  • gefen – a vine (as in grapes)
  • t’einah – fig
  • rimon – pomegranate
  • zayit (shemen) – olive (oil)
  • d’vash – honey