Devarim 5774

This week, we bring you reflections on the current situation in Israel from our dear friend Rabbi Chaya Rowen Baker of Jerusalem’s Ramot Zion congregation. At the end, we have included some practical things each of us can do to support Israel and Israelis in these challenging times.

To all our dear friends and supporters overseas,

At the beginning of the fighting there were several sirens in Jerusalem. Thankfully our preschool classroom is itself a bomb shelter and therefore the kids could stay protected and relatively unalarmed. Last night Hamas shot another rocket at Jerusalem, which luckily was intercepted by the Iron Dome system. Our families and friends elsewhere in the country - all the way from the Gaza border to Tel Aviv and beyond - are less fortunate: they must run to find shelter several times a day and hear the rockets exploding overhead either intercepted by Iron Dome or sometimes - regrettably - on the ground, on homes, schools, businesses and vehicles. People leave home as little as possible because you never know when you will be under attack. Even during a ceasefire... You can imagine what that does to the economy and to the general morale. Not to mention the elderly, the sick and the disabled, who cannot easily run to shelter and who are often alone and helpless... It’s scary and sad and we are praying for it all to be over.

We at Ramot Zion have been supporting our members and our brothers and sisters in the south, checking in on the community elderly, offering home hospitality to families from the south, sending foodstuff and supplies to families who spend more time in bomb shelters than out of them, and home-cooked meals to our soldiers. We are in the midst of organizing – in collaboration with the municipality – a farmers’ market for merchants from the south to sell their merchandise in Jerusalem (of course in a facility with a bomb shelter) since they have had virtually no business for over three weeks.

Some thirty soldiers from Ramot Zion were drafted on the emergency draft to active reserve duty: Sons, daughters and siblings of congregants (including my own sister...), husbands and fathers. We are all very tense and worried for our loved ones. However we realize that this is necessary for the survival of Israel; that if it weren’t for our soldiers there would be scores of terrorists roaming Israel, having sneaked in through the many tunnels they have dug right into our border towns and kibbutzim, murdering or kidnapping the residents of those places and others, and there would probably be hundreds more rockets shot at our cities. So we pray for the safety of our soldiers and keep busy offering help and support to their families: periodical phone calls, cards, home-cooked meals, and help with the kids.

It is all so terrible, since on top of all this difficulty the human tragedy in Gaza is overwhelming. Our hearts ache for the Gazan civilians who are suffering such terrible casualties. We wish the international community would exert pressure not only on Israel but also on Hamas for using them as human shields, forcing them to stay in their homes that house terrorist activity when they would rather evacuate, and executing those who dare to protest.

It is so distressing to see the way this war is portrayed in the world, the anti-Jewish (not anti-Israeli) demonstrations across the world, the lies and false footage dispensed by Hamas, and the double standard and one-sidedness of the media.

On the social front we are dealing with groups within us lashing out at one another. This war, coupled with the intensity of new social media, is bringing to light a great deal of animosity among Israelis of different political convictions and we at Ramot Zion see the amelioration of that animosity as one of our main missions at this time. Our Tisha B’av commemoration will be a joint study session with Orthodox synagogues in French Hill – the first ever and the result of delicate, intensive efforts – in the spirit of finding common ground and nurturing fraternity.

I would like to end with a prayer for peace – among Jews, peace in our entire region, and peace among the nations. I hope you will dedicate time in your services for prayer for the safety of our soldiers and civilians and for an end to this violence and peace for all.

With warm regards,
Rabbi Chaya Rowen Baker

Many of us ask what we can do, here in Chicago, to support our brothers and sisters in Israel. At this week’s Israeli Solidarity Rally, JUF’s president Steven B. Nasatir made several practical suggestions, including:

1. Educate yourself and others about the facts of what is happening in Israel. Good resources include Ha’aretz (www.haaretz.com), The Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com), and the Times of Israel (www.timesofisrael.com).
2. Reach out via email or phone to anyone we know in Israel to demonstrate our support. 
3. Purchase products made in Israel to support Israel’s economy and counteract the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
4. Contribute to the JUF Israel Emergency Fund, which directly funds emergency medical services, bomb shelters and other public safety measures, and support for families affected by the rockets and the mobilization of army reserves: https://donate.juf.org/IsraelEmergency.

May we soon see a secure peace for Israel and all its neighboring people.

Masei 5774

Following the rather bloody ending of last week’s portion, Matot, wherein God demands the destruction of the Midianite people, their kings and all (even the foreign prophet, Balak is not spared) for having led the Hebrews into idol worship, we come to a seemingly dry recitation of the many stops our people had to make in their 40 year trek through the wilderness toward the Promised Land: Parshat Mas’ei (Journeys). A trip that might have taken only a few days or weeks at most, is dragged out until the generation of slaves slowly dies out and a generation of free and strong people enter Eretz Yisrael. One can imagine that this was no vacation. It was an arduous and long, meandering trip through an unforgiving wilderness. And yet, we chant this long list of way stations in an almost sing song set of “ta’amey hamikrah” or tropes. Why not reflect the travails of that generation in a reflective plaintive tune?

It possibly is because after this long list, God speaks to Moses and commands him to “Speak unto the children of Israel… when you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan…you shall drive out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein; for unto you have I given the land to possess it…”
This ordeal by fire has a glorious result: a land in which the Jewish people can be a free nation, not slaves or hangers on…not the wanderers.

It would seem that after more than 2,000 years, after the trials and tragedies of our history, after the Sho’a and the settling of the land that has become an example onto the nations in so many ways, we have yet to fully realize the comforts of a free nation in a world at peace. The Davidic glory days of Israel were not all that long lived. The Romans sent us into exile in the 1st century and it took us a very long time to come back in force to our land.

Living in a miraculous time, 66 years after the establishment of the modern Eretz Yisrael, we cannot make the same mistakes we did so very long ago. A strong and courageous Israel is the only guarantee (if there is such a thing) that our grandchildren will yet swim in Eilat, Tel Aviv, and the Galil in a hundred and two-hundred years.

“Hope in Adonai, be strong and let your heart take courage, and hope in Adonai!”

Shabbat Shalom,
Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi

Matot 5774

This past Tuesday, we commemorated the 17^th of Tammuz. The 17^th of Tammuz falls in the category of a “minor fast day” – when Jews traditionally do not eat or drink beginning very early in the morning until nightfall. The day commemorates many tragedies in Jewish history, and also marks the beginning of a 3-week mourning period that leads to the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, Tish’a B’Av or the 9^th of Av.

What is interesting is how Jews have approached these minor fast days through history. Rabbi Ethan Tucker has written a brilliant evaluation of this topic. In his essay, he summarizes the key rabbinic text that informs whether or not we should be fasting on these days (Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashanah 18a-b): In a time of shalom (peace), fast days are days of rejoicing, on which it would be forbidden to fast. In a time of shemad (persecution/suffering), these days are mandatory fast days. In a time that is not completely shalom or shemad, the minor fasts are optional, while Tish’a B’Av remains mandatory.

Rabbi Tucker writes that the founding of the State of Israel and living as equals in American democracy are too significant to claim that we live in a time of shemad – a time of full of persecution and suffering; yet especially at a time like the past two weeks, we certainly cannot claim that shalom (peace) has arrived in our world.

Rabbi Tucker suggests therefore that we are best described as living in category three, where the fast days other than Tish’a B’Av are optional. But he continues by emphasizing that people should observe these fast days because of the injustice and imperfection in the world, and we could say now the scary reality in Israel right now. Fast days provide a thoughtful forum to trigger us to think about the dangers in our world, and give us a space to pray for their redemption.

And finally, the prophet Zekhariah tells us that these days will one day be ones of rejoicing. That means that they must be maintained on the calendar so that the Jewish people will remember them when history takes the turn that will enable us to see the world as one infused with shalom.

This week and in the weeks ahead, I hope that we all can take opportunity to for peace in Israel. And may we soon see the day that these fast days can be celebrated as days of joy in a world of peace.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi David Russo

Pinchas 5774

What’s the Answer?

This week’s Torah Portion, Pinhas, is famous in part because it contains a major reform of the Torah’s laws concerning women: The five daughters of Zelophehad, having no brothers, are worried that their late father’s estate will not receive his portion of the Land of Israel; they seek to inherit in place of the sons he did not have. Moses takes their plea to God, who assents, establishing a structure for some daughters to inherit property from their fathers.

While much has been written about this innovation in family law, less attention is paid to the structure of the story. When the daughters first approach Moses, he doesn’t know how to answer them; his taking their question to God is atypical for Moses, the Israelites’ primary lawgiver. Indeed, while questions arise with some regularity, in the entire Torah we find only four occasions when Moses cannot answer the question himself and must ask God.

What does the Torah expect us to learn from Moses’ asking God to resolve these four questions? If we cared only for the answer, the Torah might well skip the repetition of the questions and cut to Moses giving back God’s answer. The fact that he needs to ask for guidance must be significant in itself.

When Moses asks God to solve the problem that has stumped him, he necessarily admits to the Israelites that he doesn’t have the answer. Even Moses – the greatest prophet, the wisest teacher of all time – does not have all the answers. And yet we see from the Torah’s narrative that his uncertainty does not diminish his stature as a leader; on the contrary, it underscores his suitability for command.

Each time Moses admits that he is unsure of how to proceed, he reminds the people that no matter how great he becomes, he is still human. He opens the door for successors – beginning with Joshua, whose appointment as leader-in-waiting also appears in this week’s parshah – by showing that a leader does not need to be perfect. The leader can ask for help or guidance without diminishing his or her authority. By recording Moses’ uncertainty these four times, the Torah offers us a lesson for our own leadership, wherever we might have reason to apply it.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Abe Friedman

Balak 5774

Life, Love, and Compassion

This week’s Torah portion, Balak, tells the story of how the Moabite king Balak sought to hire Balaam, a pagan prophet, to curse the Israelites so he could have the advantage over them in battle. God, however, subverts his plan; and each time Balaam opens his mouth to curse the Jewish people, words of praise and blessing come out instead. It is a story of faith, deliverance, and divine protection, a promise that no matter how hard our enemies try to harm us, God will undermine their plans.

This week, however, the parshah sounds like cold comfort as Jews around the world mourn Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Sha’ar, and Eyal Yifrach, of blessed memory, who were cruelly murdered after being abducted in Israel earlier this month. How are we meant to understand a Torah portion about God’s protection in a week where that protection was not extended to three young students?

A possible answer comes from the opening passage of Midrash Rabbah on our parshah:

The Holy Blessed One did not afford the idolaters an opportunity of saying in the time to come: “You are the one who has cast us aside!” What did the Holy Blessed One do? In the same way as He raised up kings, sages, and prophets for Israel, so He raised them up for the idolaters... He raised up Moses for Israel and Balaam for the idolaters. See what a difference there is between the prophets of Israel and those of the idolaters: … All the [Jewish] prophets retained a compassionate attitude towards both Israel and the idolaters. Thus Jeremiah says: My heart moans for Moab like pipes (Jeremiah 48:36); and it was the same with Ezekiel: Son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre (Ezekiel 27:2). But this cruel man rose to uproot a whole nation for no reason! Therefore the Torah portion dealing with Balaam was recorded to make it known why the Holy One, blessed be He, removed the Holy Spirit from the idolaters, for this man rose from their midst, and see what he did! (Num. Rab. 20.1)

Balaam, the Midrash tells us, is a foil for Moses and all the great Jewish prophets; his actions are meant to help us understand our own attitudes. It is significant, then, that the characteristic the Midrash chooses to highlight is compassion. Our prophets, from Moses to Jeremiah and Ezekiel, had compassion for all humanity. They saw in each human being a reflection of the Divine Image, and sought God’s blessing and mercy for all people. Balaam, by contrast, was willing to curse Israel purely for profit.

This week, parashat Balak calls us to reaffirm the values our prophets taught, to defend the value of human life against those who would devalue it. While our sisters and brothers in Israel face enemies who celebrate those who murder teenagers, bomb buses, and fire rockets at schools and hospitals, the Jewish people stand by the values of our tradition, which teaches us that to save even a single human life is to save the entire world (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4.5).

In her moving eulogy, Naftali Fraenkel’s mother Rachel reflected on the prayers and support Jews around the world offered in the weeks after her son’s abduction, the hopes that were so abruptly dashed on Monday: “There is no drop of love and compassion that is in vain.” Rachel Fraenkel reminds us that, even in times of tragedy, we are called to live by love and compassion, to act as God’s agents in the world – to follow after Moses, and never after Balaam.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Abe Friedman