Bo 5773

Bo
Shemot (Exodus) 13:9, 16

 

“And this shall serve you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead—in order that the Teaching of the LORD may be in your mouth—that with a mighty hand the LORD freed you from Egypt…..And so it shall be as a sign upon your hand and as a symbol on your forehead that with a mighty hand the LORD freed us from Egypt.”

When the great medieval sage, Rashbam (grandson of Rashi) described tefillin as an ornament to be worn like jewelry I doubt if he anticipated a time when the mitzvah of tefillin would be as neglected as it is today.  Yet this mitzvah has always seemed to me to be one which is imbued with meaning on so many different levels.

First, putting on tefillin is a very concrete and tangible act that not only ties our hearts and minds to God, but invokes a verse of betrothal when wrapping the strap around the fingers such that it is as if each day we can re-consecrate our relationship with God in a fashion that mimics the most successful marriages.

Second, the tefillin have great historic and national significance for not only is Jewish literature replete with tales of brave Jews who donned tefillin in the most challenging of circumstances, but we have ancient tefillin in our possession discovered in the caves at Qumran that prove that this mitzvah has been observed continually for at least the last 2000 years.

Some note that two of the sources for the mitzvah are familiar to us from our daily recitations of the Shema where we may infer that the tefillin are pedagogic tools meant to remind us of the Oneness of God and of our special relationship with God.

Similarly, we can note that the other two sources are contained in this week’s parasha, Bo, where the mitzvah is commanded in the context of Pesah observances meant to perpetually remind us of the great miracles performed by God when we were freed from slavery in Egypt.  This means that the tefillin not only serve to remind us of the special relationship we enjoy with the one and only God, but that at the foundation level of that relationship is our gratitude for the gift of freedom.  Freedom is a foundation value of the Jewish people and of the Jewish religion.
How fortuitous then that we study this passage during the Shabbat when we commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of blessed memory.  Dr. King devoted his life to guaranteeing that all human beings would know and enjoy this gift from God.  And Dr. King died on the altar of freedom refusing to compromise his belief that every single human being had a right to claim this gift.

At Anshe Emet Synagogue we are once again commemorating Dr. King’s legacy in a variety of ways.  Last Friday evening we hosted renown author, Richard Michelson, who spoke to our families about his award winning book for children, As Good As Anybody, which depicts the special friendship between Dr. King and the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, of blessed memory.

This Friday night Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi will host our friend Pastor Chris Harris of Bright Star Church so that their two magnificent voices can raise our spirits to new heights in celebration of Dr. King’s legacy.

And on Monday, inauguration day, Rabbi David Russo, will lead a contingent of Anshe Emet adults and youths to spend the day engaged in communal activity with our friends at Bright Star Church.

This week when we put on our tefillin we will remember that every day we can commemorate the exodus from Egypt, the gift of freedom, and our arrival at an age when we are no longer judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Matt Futterman
Senior Educator

Vaera 5773

Torah Study: A Struggle and an Adventure

I often struggle with sections of Torah, of our sacred tradition. And every year when I approach this week’s parsha, I have one specific struggle: why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart?

If God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he repeatedly refused to let the Israelites go, why were he and all of Egypt punished so terribly? How could Pharaoh be held responsible if his free will had been removed?

I find comfort in the fact that I am not alone, that rabbis for thousands of years have struggled with these same questions. One response of our rabbis picks up on the nuance of the language used in the Torah. The first five plagues are accompanied by the passive formulation: “Then Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.” After each plague, when Pharaoh refused to let the people go, he hardened his own heart. It was only after Pharaoh hardened his own heart during the first five plagues, that God finally begins hardening Pharaoh’s heart for the final plagues. (Tanhuma Vaera 3). This follows the rabbinic concept that when a person has committed a sin once and a second time, it appears to that person as if it is permitted.(Yoma 86b)

I like this interpretation in that it explains that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart only because Pharaoh becomes so set in his punishment of the Israelites. The fact that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart is, in some ways, only a further reflection of Pharaoh’s own stubbornness.

But I would still like to believe that people can change, and that God and society could help us change, without hardening our hearts. One rabbi responds to this challenges, and mentions that if Pharaoh would have truly wished to submit to God and return to God in full repentance, there would have been no Divine deterrent at all (Sforno).

I still struggle with this Torah reading. And I want to invite you to join me in this struggle, and similar struggles with Torah study. Torah learning is not only about discovering answers, but adventuring through great questions.

We at Anshe Emet are kicking off our exciting and action-packed series of adult education classes this coming week. We offer a wide array of classes: studying about the environment, prayer, teachings of our sages, and much more, at many times and in different locations. We want to study Torah together, to struggle with deep questions together, and to learn from each other. So come and join us, as we explore Torah study together. Click here for a listing of courses that will be offered in the Winter/Spring 2013 semester!

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Russo



Shemot 5773

Joseph in Egypt

The Book of Exodus opens with the names of the children of Israel who went down to Egypt at the end of the book of Genesis.  After listing eleven of Jacob’s sons and giving the total number of seventy souls, the passage concludes, ve-Yosef hayah b’Mitzrayim, “And Joseph was in Egypt” (Ex. 1:5).

The plain meaning of this verse, as is made clear by the translation that appears in the Etz Hayim Humash is that Joseph was already in Egypt – as we know from the concluding chapters of Genesis.  But Reb Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev (Ukraine, 1740-1810), an early Hasidic master, points out that the language of the verse is excessive: since the opening verse already establishes that the children of Israel are going to Egypt, the verse about Joseph could simply have stated, “And Joseph was (already) there.”  Why does the verse need to specify that Joseph was in Egypt, when that is already obvious both from context and from the preceding stories in Genesis?

Reb Levi Yitzhak reads the verse differently: rather than telling us where Joseph was located, he reads the verse as saying, “And he was Joseph, (even) in Egypt.”  Joseph had climbed to the very pinnacle of Egyptian power and society – he had even taken an Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah (Gen. 41:45) – but, in Reb Levi Yitzhak’s interpretation, he never forgot who he truly was inside: an Israelite.

Joseph’s story resonates powerfully for Jews in America today: like Joseph, we have moved from the immigrant fringes to the center of American life; we have taken on American names, American cultural references, and American lifestyles.  Nevertheless, the strength of our community comes from our always remembering that in our essence, beyond all the surface trappings of mainstream America, we are Jews – heirs to an ancient moral tradition who bear the responsibility of living by our ancestral values and passing them on to future generations.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Abe Friedman

Vayechi 5773

Jacob's Blessings, Jacob's Challenges:
A Lesson for America in the Wake of Sandy Hook

On a Friday night a Jewish parent has the opportunity to bless their children.  For our daughters, we bless them in the name of our Matriarchs.  However, for our boys, we invoke the names of Ephraim and Menashe, the children of Joseph.  This tradition is based upon a scene in this week's Torah reading of Veyechi when Jacob blesses Ephraim and Menashe.  However, you will be disappointed if you will expect to read a  touching story of a tottering grandfather blessing his grandchildren.  No, Jacob uses this opportunity to bless the younger in place of the older much to the consternation of their father Joseph.  Yet, in this way Jacob offers us a powerful lesson on the power of blessings.  Rather than see them as the positive wishes that one generation offers to the next, Jacob uses his words of blessing to challenge his descendants to better themselves and fulfill visions that go beyond them.  For Jacob a blessing is not beautiful sentiment to be shared at a poignant moment but a life lesson to be taken from that day forward and learned over and over again.

Throughout this parasha we observe Jacob preparing for his own death by challenging his children through his words of blessing.  Consider Jacob's blessing to Shimon and Levi:

5 Simeon and Levi are a pair;
Their weapons are tools of lawlessness.

6 Let not my person be included in their council,
Let not my being be counted in their assembly.
For when angry they slay men,
And when pleased they maim oxen.

7 Cursed be their anger so fierce,
And their wrath so relentless.
I will divide them in Jacob,
Scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7)

While Jacob's words must have made his son's wince they are also well founded.  Shimon and Levi are violent in nature.  Whether in response to the rape of Dina or the plight of Joseph they are people who resort to the most base forms of violent behavior.  Rather than gloss over this fact, Jacob addresses it directly.  He forces his sons to look at themselves through his eyes and to predict a remedy.  These two sons can not be together when Jacob's descendants eventually inherit the land of Israel.  They will have to be divided within the body politic of Israel.  In this way Jacob offers his sons a blessing of awareness which can ultimately become a positive life lesson for them: "live with an awareness of your penchant for violence and continue to address it in meaningful ways".  If his children hearken to their father's words Jacob will have truly blessed Shimon and Levi.

I believe that Jacob's blessing to Shimon and Levi have something to offer us as Americans still mourning the terrible massacre in New Town, Connecticut.  We are a nation which has long had a love affair with guns.  Throughout our history as a nation we have chosen to read the 2nd Amendment as a forceful statement of every American to bear arms when it could have been interpreted otherwise.  There are as many guns in the hands of Americans as there are people in this country.  While calls for stricter gun legislation makes perfect sense the sad fact is that bans on assault weapons, stricter registration laws, or even armed guards in every school will likely not prevent other tragedies like Sandy Hook Elementary School.  They have not in the past.  If there is any blessing to be gleaned from the massacre of 20 beautiful children and their heroic teachers and administrators then it will come when Americans look in the mirror.  Like Shimon and Levi, we have a penchant for violence in this country which is only heightened through the media and the entertainment industry.  In the same way that Shimon and Levi needed to acknowledge their violent nature and be separated, we too must do the same and take comprehensive action to lesson the likelihood of such tragedies in the future.  This must include a long hard look at how those with mental illness are being cared for in this country. 

When Jacob came to the end of his life he understood that his children needed more than flowery words.  What they needed was tough and honest love if they were to be the blessing that they could be in the future.  To my mind this is the exact type of blessing we in America deserve today.  It will begin when we choose to speak less of our individual rights and more about our national responsibilities to one another.  This country has the potential to be a remarkable blessing to its inhabitants and the world.  Like Jacob with his sons, let us challenge ourselves to be the blessing we have yet to become.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Michael Siegel

Vayigash 5773

“And Yehudah/Judah approached him/Yosef/Joseph”

Judah!  The brother who helped to save Joseph’s life when he suggested to the rest of the brothers that they sell Joseph to the Ishmaelite merchants rather than kill him.

Judah! The brother who convinced the aged Jacob to allow Benjamin to join the rest of the brothers on their trek back to Egypt where the Egyptian viceroy (the disguised brother Joseph) had expressed an interest in meeting the youngest brother.

Judah!  Who like his father Jacob and brother Joseph had been involved in matters of deception in his family – only he had deceived and then was deceived by his daughter in law Tamar whose come uppance he accepted as justified.  Having neglected to pair off his widowed daughter in law with his surviving son, Shelah, when he discovers that she has tricked him into sleeping with her he admits: “She is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” [Genesis 38:26]

Professor Nahum Sarna in Understanding Genesis points out the parallels between these stories of deception.  And we note how appropriate it is that it is Judah’s entreaty to Joseph that leads to Joseph revealing his true identity at last.  After the goblet is found in Benjamin’s sack – the goblet which Joseph arranged to have placed there in the first place – Judah asks the viceroy to be merciful for this is the youngest of their father’s children and because his older brother was already dead the death of this brother would be too much for their father to bear.

Ironically, Judah offers himself as a slave in place of Benjamin to the very man whose enslavement he himself had once brought about. His words lead to the brothers’ reconciliation and the family’s reunification.

Why does Judah, of all the brothers, play this all important role in the story of Joseph and his brothers?  First of all Judah and Joseph are the ancestors of the two kingdoms of later history: Judah was the southern kingdom and Joseph’s son Ephraim fathers the northern kingdom.

But more important, Judah emerges as something of a hero in a manner consistent with other lessons in the book of Bereisheet.  As Rabbi Neil Gillman, professor of Jewish thought and philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary wrote: “Judah is the fourth oldest of the brothers. That he emerges as the hero of the story is in part one more example of the Torah’s characteristic tendency to ignore the natural order of birth in tracing the line of covenantal history by passing over the first-born son. Just as Isaac displaces Ishmael, and Jacob displaces Esau, so now Judah displaces Reuben, Simeon and Levi, and so eventually will Ephraim displace Menasha…….But the real message is that it is God who shapes the course of history, not nature.”

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Matt Futterman
Senior Educator



Miketz 5773

Hanukkah / Miketz 5773

As a rule we read the Parsha of Miketz on Shabbat Hanukkah. The story is well known. Joseph wrongly accused and thrown in jail. His prophecies to Pharaoh, his appointment as Viceroy and his wisdom in saving Egypt from a long drought by saving the crops of the good years, speak to a miraculous series of events that eventually rejoin Jacob’s family after a twenty-two year absence of the prodigal son that had disappeared and was assumed dead. It is oft quoted that at the darkest part of the year, we increase the light of Torah by lighting an additional candle each of eight evenings of the holiday. The ascendency of Yoseph from an Egyptian prison to becoming the Viceroy of the Pharoah  is paralleled by the Hashmonaim rising up from disturbing conflict within the Jewish community and terrible persecution from the Greeks, to defeating their overwhelming tormentors and rededicating the Holy Temple of Jerusalem during one of the darkest hours of Jewish history. Yes, we speak about the miraculous vial of oil that should have lasted one day but kept the Menorah burning for eight days. But it is more a triumph of faith and sacrifice for one’s belief that brought on the miracle.

In the spirit of light and joy, I ask you to join me and the fabulous jazz group, TRIO GLOBO, in a concert of Hanukkah and Seder songs in the jazz milieu, MATZAH TO MENORAH! As the kickoff for our new CD of the same name, there is nothing like hearing this music live. Jazz is an improvisational art, and ensuing interpretations are rarely the same. We will present the music of our CD plus a short tribute to my dear friend, Dave Brubeck, who died on December 5, one day before his 92nd birthday. Many musical surprises and a Hanukkah sing-along will climax this fun program for the entire family. Adults $36, Students over 17 $18, kids 17 and younger are FREE!

Come celebrate the Bears win over Green Bay, earlier that day, (or come get out of your funk if they lose): Sunday afternoon, December 16, at 4:00 PM.  Let us all exit Hanukkah on high note!

Shabbat Shalom,
Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi

The Relevance of the Mishkan

As we begin the reading of the portion Terumah we continue to find ourselves in the Torah's uncharted territory! Throughout the book of Genesis and much of Exodus our Torah readings have featured powerful narrative sections.  We have studied the creation of the world, the flood and the curious journey of the descendents of Abraham and Sarah.  With the experience of Sinai the Torah largely puts the narrative behind in favor of different issues.  Last week we read the portion of Mishpatim and focused on our most ancient law code.  This week, we begin a series of portions whose focus is building of the Tabernacle.  While the narrative sections are almost immediately accessible, the relevance of the seemingly endless lists of different pieces of the portable tabernacle would appear to be mind numbing.  Our Rabbis sought meaning in every aspect of Torah, including the parts of the Tabernacle. Permit me to offer two lessons from the tradition derived from the parts of the Mishkan. Our tradition teaches us that the Ark of the Covenant held the laws that Moses received on Mount Sinai. What is also taught is that the people gathered up the broken pieces of the Golden Calf.  The lesson that the Rabbis learn from this is that the broken tablets in the world today should not be cast away; namely, those people who are aged, or infirm, or those who have lost their way financially.  They too have a place in the ark that contains the admonition to remember the stranger.  In this way, we are reminded they have a place in our lives as well. The Torah commands that on the top of the ark, there were Cherubs of Gold. Why, we might well ask, were we commanded to place upon the Ark two cherubs (small winged angels, portrayed as children with chubby, rosy faces)?  Again, our Rabbis thought of a lesson that is surprising relevant. The ark symbolized Torah study. The cherubs remind us to consider ourselves as young children when it comes to studying Torah - to study with amazement, freshness, openness, appreciation. No matter how much you know, compared to what there is still to learn, you have just begun. For this reason a Torah scholar is always called a Talmid Chochom - a student of a wise man. The greater wisdom one has, the more one realizes that he is lacking wisdom. The greatness of Jewish life is that while the Mishkan gave way to the Temple in the year 1,000. The Temple itself has been destroyed for nearly 2,000 years; yet we continue to struggle for meaning in these ancient pages. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Michael S. Siegel