Yitro 5775

Amongst the many dating websites that are around today, there is one called “Saw You at Sinai.” It serves Jewish singles of various ages, backgrounds, cultures and interests find their match (their bashert). And the origin of this website’s name appears in this week’s Torah portion.

It is in parshat Yitro that we read of God revealing the Torah to the people of Israel at Sinai. What is interesting is how the rabbis interpret this revelation. They claim that (Babylonian Talmud Shevu’ot 39a), that all Jews were present at the Sinai encounter, including those who had not yet been born or who were not yet Jews. Our rabbis assert that this was the greatest gathering of Jewish souls in history. Hence the website name, SawYouatSinai – we all were there.

Every year, I bring the book, “Present at Sinai” or in Hebrew “Atem Re’item” with me to shul on this Shabbat, when we read the Torah portion Yitro. Because in this book, Shai Agnon (Nobel Laureate in Literature) collected thousands of rabbinic interpretations on the Revelation at Sinai. And what is interesting is the title that he chose – atem re’item, which literally means “you yourselves (plural) saw.” Quoting a rabbinic commentary in the book, he emphasized this point that all future generations witnessed the Sinai revelation. This midrash was so important to him that it became the title of his book.

I think about this teaching often around this time of year, as we approach the 2nd largest gathering at Anshe Emet – Purim, and the Purim Carnival. It’s not as big as the rabbis’ vision of Sinai, nor is it the High Holy Days – but it is a time when over a thousand people gather together to celebrate the fun of Purim together. We hope to celebrate with you by reading and listening to the Megillah together (Wednesday night, March 4th and Thursday morning, March 5th), and by being a part of our Purim Carnival. The Carnival this year is on Sunday, March 1st. We would deeply appreciate any volunteers – so please contact Aviva Schnoll at 773-868-5152 or aschnoll@ansheemet.org to help us make this carnival the most exciting one in the Chicago area.

I so look forward standing with all of you, as the future generation that the rabbi envisioned, as we celebrate Jewish life together.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Russo

Yitro 5774

One of the centerpiece mitzvot in parshat Yitro is the mitzvah of lo tirtzach - that it is forbidden to murder. This mitzvah is often glossed over, I assume because it is so completely obvious. But over the past few months and years, we have certainly seen this all over the news, whether in Chicago or across the country. This mitzvah of lo tirtzach is violated in our cities, our country, and our world constantly. It is certainly as important now as in the time of the Children of Israel and Moshe, when this mitzvah was placed in the center of the aseret hadibrot, the 10 commandments.

There are two ways that we can interpret lo tirtzach. The first is a very limited understanding: when the Torah says lo tirtzach, that we cannot murder, the Torah is telling us that we cannot perform that final act of killing. This view is represented by Ibn Ezra, who comments:

בידך- we are prohibited from killing the person with our own hand.

For Ibn Ezra, one is liable for transgressing the commandment of “you shall not murder” only if you have done something fairly direct to kill that person: with your hands themselves, or with your words, your testimony.

But there is another, more expansive view of lo tirtzach. Maimonides, in his immaculately organized code of Jewish law called the Mishneh Torah, could have created a section titled “הלכות רוצח- Laws of Murder.” But instead, he used the title “הלכות רוצח ושמירת הנפש - Laws of Murder and the Protection of Life.” For the Rambam, the law that we are not allowed to murder is completely intertwined with laws about the preservation of life. In the very same place where the Rambam mentions that a murderer is to be executed, he also talks about how there is a mitzvah to not stand idly by when someone’s life is in danger; to build guardrails on our rooftops to prevent people from falling; to help a person whose animal collapses on the road. The Rambam, in the same place where he talks about how one must not murder, also writes that we cannot leave people abandoned and helpless. For the Rambam, if we perform what seem like small acts of chesed, kindness, we are simultaneously preventing murder and protecting life.

This coming Monday, Anshe Emet will host over a hundred people of multiple faiths from the Lakeview area at Anshe Emet, as we come together for a day of learning and service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. We will explore how the values of preserving life, freedom, and equality are manifested in our faith traditions, in the work of Dr. King, and how we can make those values into a reality today by taking action on issues including juvenile justice, mental health justice, money and politics, and supporting those in our community who were formerly incarcerated. Please join us, as we come together to learn, to act, and to live up to the Rambam’s imperative of preserving life.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi David Russo

Yitro 5773

Yitro

In this week’s portion, Yitro, the children of Israel receive the Aseret HaDibrot—the Ten Commandments.  But how did they HEAR the 10 Utterances?  Can you imagine the scene at Mt. Sinai?  There were upwards of 600,000 people.  There were countless animals braying and bleating and baa-ing.  Babies were crying, Mothers were trying to shush their infants, children were probably doing what children always have done---running around shouting and laughing.  And then, let’s not forget the heaven-made sounds---the crashing of the thunder, the blaring of the horns.  How on earth could anyone have heard ANYTHING?

And, the second question…If, as our Rabbis tell us, we were ALL standing at Sinai and if the Torah is continually being given to all of us at any given time, why is the experience at Sinai so important?

Eliyahu KiTov, an Orthodox Israeli commentator, says that the everyday noise of our lives (think the sound of traffic, people talking and laughing, dogs barking, machines whirring, etc.etc.etc) keeps us from being able to hear God’s voice.  At Sinai, God was able to quiet all the noise so every single person could hear the Words. 

If God could do that for the Children of Israel in the wilderness, then surely God can do that for us today. But we have to work in partnership with God by learning to quiet all the inner and outer noise that keeps us from hearing God.  Some people retreat to the mountains or to the ocean trying to hear God’s voice.  But we can do it in our daily lives (even in Chicago) by consciously focusing on what was said at Sinai.  Because every time we study Torah we are standing at Sinai.  And by living the values that were set before us, we can hear God’s voice every day.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…can you hear it?

Shabbat Shalom,

Debby Lewis

Ritual Director