Archive for the ‘education’ Category

Evolution ‘Weekend’ – Devar Torah on Religion & Science

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

  • Devar Torah (Word of Torah)

    Parashat Mishpatim

    27 Shevat 5769 / 20-21 February 2009

    Rabbi Joe Blair

    Temple House of Israel, Staunton VA

    Shabbat Service Commemorating Evolution ‘Weekend’ 2009

     

    Shalom.

     

    The Torah (five books of Moses) portion we have just read for this week is a combined reading, taken from the reading known as Mishpatim (Ex. 21:1-24:18), along with the reading of an excerpt taken from Ki Tisa (Ex. 30:11-16). The first section is the continuation of the reading of the Torah in the standard cycle beginning at Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Law), while the second section is a special additional reading to acknowledge that this is Shabbat Shekalim (the Sabbath on which we recall the per capita tax for maintenance of the Temple).

    The weekly portion, Mishpatim, is a continuation of the narrative that began last week in weekly portion Yitro (Ex. 18:1-20:23), in which the people have all witnessed the revelation of G-d, and they have received and accepted the Aseret Hadibrot (the ten sayings, sometimes called the ten commandments). They have been overawed by encountering G-d, and have asked Moses to speak to G-d on their behalf. 

    We begin our reading this week with the people still gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai ten weeks after they have fled from Egypt. Moses is still conversing with G-d for the people, and is being given a summation of the laws that G-d commands the Hebrews to follow. Moses hears and writes it down for the people, then, as G-d instructs, Moses goes up on the mountain into the cloud of fire to be given the Tablets and to learn the full contents of the commandments.

                Reading these two sections together as a whole, we find that G-d is giving Moses the information on how the people are to live in a shorter form, having Moses deliver that information, then having Moses ascend to learn the full scope of the instruction (Torah) and how to interpret and apply the laws contained in it. This section is sometimes referred to as the Sefer Habrit – the book of the covenant – setting out the rules and regulations for how to live (in an abbreviated form). This is enough for some purposes; but the full version is coming along shortly. If I just want to know what to do this minute in the normal course of events, the short form is adequate. If, however, I want to know what about in the case of a person in a space ship passing a plutoid who encounters a previously unknown type of animal…. Then, I would need to look to the full version and use the techniques given for how to apply these rules in new and unusual situations. In short, I would need to use the correct method or tool to find the answer. We always need to find and use the right tools to approach questions of import. 

                Not very long ago, after I had concluded telling the class the outline of the exciting story of the parting of the reed sea (not ‘Red,’ as it is so often mis-stated) to one of the younger classes in the religious school, one of the young boys in the class came up to me afterwards, and in a very earnest way, asked me, “Did that really happen?”

                That young boy voiced a question that so many ask. They aren’t as direct, or as clear, and they add in all sorts of presuppositions and assumptions, but at the bottom of it all, they are asking the same thing, and for much the same reasons.

                That is the question that led to the creation of the science of archeology. That is also the question that led to the development of many religious beliefs in the world. The question is common, but the tools selected to try to answer make a difference.

                It seems to me, in fact, that this is the question that is at the heart of the divide in approach between those who seek a literal reading of the Scriptural text , and those who interpret it. These positions in many instances have come to be framed in the light of science versus religion.  

                I think that this framing is a mistaken idea. It is not one or the other; rather these are two different approaches, two sets of tools to try to examine the world around us. Human nature being what it is, when someone has a hammer, everything they see is a nail!  That way lie a lot of smashed fingers, and not many answers!

    The issues, when approached from each of these perspectives, present different aspects. For the religiously focused, there is a nut and bolt, and the tool needed to make it work is a wrench. In that way of thinking, the bolt is how things are, the nut is how they came to be that way, and the wrench is G-d. The goal is find and accept an explanation for what it is, and why it is as it is.

    For the scientifically minded, there is a wood screw, and the tool needed is an appropriate Phillips head screwdriver. The screw is the observed world, and the screwdriver is the series of theories and experiments used to try to take the screw out of the wood. The goal is to take it all apart and see what makes it tick by eliminating all the possible explanations one by one until there is nothing else that can explain what is.

    Insisting on using the tools that the other approach needs leads only to frustration and failure, and criticizing the other for using different tools is nothing but foolish.

    To argue with science as a valid methodology for not being a religious approach is no more sensible than arguing with the screwdriver for not being a wrench, and vice versa. To my mind, the two approaches are compatible and congruent. As a Jew, I see no difficulty in believing in G-d, the Creator, and also in applying the scientific method to tease out more information about the world around us, the very world that G-d created! There is no need to select one or the other. Such a formulation is pointlessly divisive. If you prefer one approach or the other, that is fine; but that does not negate the other as a valid approach, when it is used for the appropriate inquiries. 

    More: to dogmatically and stubbornly cling to one or the other – either one – is to minimize the wonder of G-d. For example, when science seeks to dismiss the marvelous, miraculous events of this world as ‘just’ normal, it does damage to all of us as human beings who are privileged to see G-d’s handiwork in the everyday miracles of the growth of a seed into a plant that then buds and flowers, or the birth of a child with a unique, individual personality. At the same time, for the religious to scoff and jeer at the scientific approach as godless and faithless is equally an affront and belittling of G-d, because it was G-d that created mankind with the intellect and the tool making ability, coupled with the urge to explore and understand that led to the scientific method and approach.

    Admittedly, I am primarily one who approaches things from a religious perspective, so the examples I am using presuppose that approach. That said, I have absolutely no problem with science, or approaching an examination of things in that fashion.  As a Jew and a religious person, I am comfortable with the understanding that all knowledge is ultimately from G-d. Science is one of the ways to approach knowledge, and in that way learn more about G-d and the world that G-d has created.

    Coming back to that young boy, the right answer for him was not to answer, but rather to turn the question around, and to ask him, “What do you think?” He paused, thought, and then told me, “I think people think so, but maybe it was all pretend.” He then ran off towards some of his friends. He used the tool that fit for him, and the answer he found worked for him. By giving him the freedom to answer for himself now, he has the power to revisit that question through his life, and to come to different conclusions.

    As he, and we, grow and mature and change in our lives, we move back and forth between different approaches, and reach different answers at different moments. For me, this too, is part of the everyday miracle of life. We are not trapped in one view or one approach. We have the ability to find the tool that works for us and continually to find fresh insights into the nature of the world, ourselves, and G-d. To limit ourselves to one view is to put blinders on and to miss part of the marvel that is the world that G-d has made.

     

    Shabbat shalom.

     

     

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Affirming the Dignity of All: An Interfaith Litany based on the Declaration of Human Rights

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Friends,

Today (December 10th, 2008) is the 60th anniversary of the signing of the U.N.’s Declaration on Human Rights. 

A colleague and classmate from rabbinical school has produced the following litany which can be read in commemoration of that event.  I thought it worth sharing with you. My appreciation to Rabbi Joshua Lesser for permitting me to share this. 

 Rabbi Joe

  

Affirming the Dignity of All: An Interfaith Litany based on the Declaration of Human Rights

inspired by the DHR in its many forms by Rabbi Joshua Lesser

 

When we are born, we are free.  Each of us is worthy to be treated in the same manner. We must have conscience and act towards one another with mutual concern.

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

Though we are from different countries, we share the same rights without distinction of any kind, such as race, skin color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, social origin, property, birth or other status.

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

All people have the right to live, to enjoy freedom, to rely upon safety.  Slavery in all forms is an affront to these rights as is the practice of torture.

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, to be legally protected in the same way everywhere, and like everyone else. No one has the right to be imprisoned, accused falsely or to be sent from their country unjustly. Everyone is entitled to a fair trial while being considered innocent until proven guilty.

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

All people are deserving of protection in the face of harm.  No one should be subjected to arbitrary interference to privacy, family, or correspondence, nor to attacks upon honor and reputation.  If these things occur, all people have the right to protection from the law.

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

Everyone has the right to come and go as we wish. The right to asylum,

 a nationality, and the freedom to change nationality is everyone’s right.

 

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

 

People of legal age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to establish a family. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, regardless of how they were born, deserve the same social protection.

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

 

The right to own property  to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, opinion and expression is everyone’s right.  All people have the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and are entitled to participate in government and in free elections.

 

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

 

Each of us has the right to work, to be free to choose our work, and to get a salary which allows us to support our family. If a man and a woman do the same work, they should get the same pay. All people who work have the right to join together to defend their interests.

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

Everyone has the right to go to school and receive an education and parents have the prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

As People of Faith, we recognize the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

 

Everyone has the right to participate in the cultural life of their society, to enjoy the arts and to appreciate the scientific advancement and its benefits. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from scientific, literary or artistic creation of which he or she is the originator.

 

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

 

We have obligations towards the community within which each of us can only fully develop. The law should guarantee human rights. It should allow everyone to respect others and to be respected.

As People of Faith, we affirm the dignity, the equality and the rights of all members of the human family. Our Oneness is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world

 

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What does your rabbi do? Part 9

Monday, December 24th, 2007

New Initiatives:I am hoping that we can establish more adult education activities in a broader variety of topics. As an example of these, think of the programs on Security in Israel and the Jewish View on the Body & Energy programs that we held last fall. Think also of the Holocaust Education Programs as another example.  These are separate from and in addition to any rabbinic educational offerings I have or may offer. I want to encourage more participation in services by congregants, and am encouraging Sarah Grove-Humphries to conduct some song sessions to teach words and music to things old and new that we can sing during services. The goal is to add to the repertoire of the congregation, leading to the institution of a Shabbat Shirah (Sabbath of Song). In the longer term, this could be the nucleus of a singing group within the congregation that might assist with services periodically or perform in other venues. To support the goal of more participation by congregants in our services, I will continue to offer Torah and Haftarah reading support, adult B’nai Mitzvah training, and Gabbai training sessions. I am also considering offering a Shaliach Tzibur training on how to be a service leader, and a session on writing Divrei Torah (a sermon, homily, or Devar Torah). I am thinking of holding a few ‘healing services’ in the course of the year if there is interest.  I also want to float to the congregation at this point the idea of trying to create a Shabbat Chavurah, where perhaps as often as once a month, we would hold a Shabbat morning program for all interested members, including families and singles, people of all ages, all getting together for a brief Shabbat morning service, and after the service, offering some child friendly Jewish themed activity at the same time as a program aimed at adults; for both programs the themes of each would be coordinated so everyone would be focusing on the same thing, at whatever level they could. We would then have a pot luck lunch to follow, at which all could get together and talk about the theme as a community of learners including all ages, while eating. Perhaps this could also be a program that includes members from both congregations, and alternates location. I am delighted that Lyrissa will offer a concert at THOI in February. I would love to see an expansion of the idea of presenting performances at the congregation, including both Jewish events, and other things of general interest. Our facility has excellent acoustics and is a beautiful setting for many kinds of presentations.  All of these ideas are broadly connected to the concept of making the synagogue truly a communal center, as well as a Jewish house of gathering, learning, and worship. The old saying is true: Ein chadash tachat hashemesh (there is nothing new under the sun). J  ConclusionThis is a rough idea of what I have been working on in the last year, and what I plan to work towards in the coming year. I will be glad to respond to questions.   Respectfully submitted, Rabbi Joe BlairDecember 2nd, 2007    

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What does your rabbi do? Part 8

Monday, December 24th, 2007

Outreach/Inreach:Chaplain:I have been called by RMH and AMC to serve as ‘chaplain’ to unaffiliated Jews on a few occasions, and when possible I have done so. I have tried to convey to the hospital’s staffs that I will try to come when possible, but there is no assurance that I, as a member of the clergy and representing the Jewish community in our area, will always be able or willing to come when called.  Contacts from Jewish non-members: I have continued to be welcoming and invited them to observe and attend. It is my sense, and I remain hopeful, that if they feel comfortable with our community they will join. We have had some success this year in membership growth (more on that from our VP of Membership, I hope). Whenever I had contact with a potential new member I have passed that information on for follow up. Shenandoah Valley Holocaust Education Project: Recently, as one of the founders of the group establishing the Shenandoah Valley Holocaust Education Project, I worked to bring another performance/presentation to our community. This was the play presenting Corrie Ten Boom Live, by Evelyn Hinds. This is the first program of the year. Our major focus will be a series of events spread around the area in early March. We are looking at additional and different types of programs. I am very excited to tell you that Norman Weinberg has agreed to come and speak at THOI on March 9th, 2008. He is an exciting, dynamic and fascinating speaker, and he will tell us about the Cemetery Recovery Project he is involved with leading.  In the days around that event, there will likely be a performance of a play (based on the book Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, dramatized by Kelly Brock), a dramatic reading of monologues from actual survivors (written by Kelly Brock), a visit by a survivor (or more than one), and possibly other programs, all at different venues in Waynesboro, Staunton, and Harrisonburg. There are also other very exciting possibilities that may come to fruition. I have great hope that this will be an ongoing event over many years, bringing in different people, speakers, programs, and events.  The THOI Staunton Jewish Film Festival (SJFF):I have been in contact with a few people, seeking sponsors, and have been working with Laurie and the committee to make this a success. We are planning it for April 11-17th, 2008. At this point, it looks excellent. We have arranged for the use of the Visulite theater, and our festival can consist of up to seven films during the weekend (Friday to Sunday), with repeated showings over the course of a week. This is very exciting. Now we have to jump in and make it happen. My vision for this project is that it can become an annual event, and grow to be a major draw for THOI, Staunton, and the Valley. We need to start ‘small’ and grow it organically, but the potential is definitely there.   Social & Communal Events:We have had a successful start to the THOI Welcome Committee, holding a lovely New Member Welcome Brunch, which I happily attended, and I am looking forward to more such events.Next week, we have scheduled a Mitzvah Day and Pot Luck on December 9th at 2 to 5. Bring your favorite food, and join us in maintaining our building through tasks ranging from cleaning and straightening inside to clearing leaves from the roof. On the books next after that is a new initiative which I suggested we try; a Game Day Social on the 25th of December, when everything else is pretty much closed. This is intended as a social event, with everyone bringing ‘pot luck’ hors d’oeuvres and whatever games they like to play to the synagogue to get together and have a relaxed afternoon (from 2-6) when not much else is going on.  Israel Trip:One of the highlights this year for the ten congregants (three from Beth El and seven from THOI) who participated (along with me), was the trip to Israel. Even now, in fact this weekend at Shabbat services at Beth El, six of those who participated sat at the Oneg and looked at pictures, reliving the trip, telling stories  and laughing, for almost an hour and a half after the service. More than once in that conversation the question was asked about ‘when can we go back?’ Leading the trip was, for me, a very significant effort, quite exhausting, but given the responses, extremely rewarding, and definitely worthwhile both on a personal level, and for the long-term benefits that have flowed to both congregations from it. I don’t believe that we have the numbers to try to do an annual trip to Israel, but perhaps we should be looking ahead and planning another trip so people can plan and prepare themselves with plenty of time in advance. Similarly, perhaps we should also begin to plan some lesser congregational trips in years we don’t have an Israel trip: a long weekend in ‘Jewish New York’ for example. The costs for such a venture would not be prohibitive for most of our congregants, and with a shorter time away more congregants might be encouraged to participate. I would love to see this possibility explored for feasibility in both congregations.   Cont’d.  

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What does your rabbi do? Part 7

Monday, December 24th, 2007

The Religious School:This year the religious school has twenty-one students. I am teaching the Daled class (6th and 7th grades) consisting of three students, all in the 6th grade.  I am also the sole tutor for the B’nai Mitzvah students, meeting quite intensively with them over the course of the year prior to their celebration. This is a very time-consuming, and labor intensive effort, consuming at least one hour for each student with whom I meet in a given week. With a small class, such as this year’s Daled group, it is not too overwhelming, but looking ahead to a year with eight or nine students preparing for B’nai Mitzvah (as is a possibility for the current Alef class), this would be a very significant commitment of time and effort. It may be worthwhile for the congregations to consider the use of individual and/or private tutors for the bulk of the preparation in such a situation.  The religious school had a Family Education day recently (November 18th). The topic was Ellis Island and the immigration experience. It was very well received, and I was happy with the results. I believe these family education events are valuable additions to the curriculum.  In the last several years, to better meet the stated goals for the religious school, I have urged the implementation of the Chai and Mitkadem curricula in our religious school. These curricula have proven to be very successful so far when used and followed. These curricula have helped to focus the classes, organize and integrate the levels, and give the teachers a strong and well-designed resource in their planning and preparation. These materials do not assist, however, if the students don’t or won’t do the work assigned – no materials, and no instructor, would. The final responsibility rests on the student, and to some degree, on the family of the student (who is, after all, a minor). Given that religious school is only three hours once a week (less than an hour for Hebrew and approximately another hour for Judaica), it is not reasonable to expect that a student can be taught enough there to be a competent, educated, literate Jewish person, prepared to be a Jewish adult, even after the maximum of seven years of thirty class sessions each year. That goal is more properly met by training and practice in the home, supplemented by regular attendance at services and in religious school. The question has been raised (again – this is probably a perennial issue) as to the purpose and value of religious school. Though I am clearly in favor of and support a maximal approach to religious school, and see it as training and preparation for life as a Jewish adult, I know not everyone shares my viewpoint. I am not intending to impose my vision on the community in this matter: I would much prefer an open, civil, and reasoned discussion of the philosophy and ideology for the religious school to occur periodically, leading to implementing a program that more accurately reflects the values and ideals of the community, than to have unspoken concerns and dissatisfactions harbored within our community, leading to resentments, disaffection, and choices and actions that undercut whatever program has been put in place. This discussion must necessarily also focus on the policies and procedures for the religious school, and how religious school is connected to the celebration of a B’nai Mitzvah in the congregations. If the congregation does not believe that the approach taken as of today fits the goals it wishes to set as a community for its’ religious school, the entire religious school enterprise should be re-examined and re-evaluated in light of whatever the actual goals may be, the policies and procedures should be modified to reflect those goals, and the allocation of resources to the religious school (including the appropriate use of my time and that of the other teachers), should be discussed and given serious consideration, with an eye towards supporting the goals established. Cont’d. 

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What does your rabbi do? Part 6

Monday, December 24th, 2007

Youth Activities:Working with Sherri Alt, I have been continued to be involved in Shorty, the Youth Group, specifically focusing on the Confirmation program (for those who are post-B’nai Mitzvah). Shorty is intended to serve those from age 13 (post-seventh grade) to 18. The program was well accepted in past. We now have more than a ten active members. Given the demographics of our community, this is an excellent representation.  Funding seems to me a significant issue – these NFTY events, camp, and Israel trips are extremely expensive, and most families’ budgets will not support sending their children to many of these events. Camp and Israel are wonderful and meaningful experiences for most youth, but the costs are as high or higher than tuition at many private schools. My sense is, and all statistics show, that they are worth the cost, but many of our members cannot afford to send their children often, or, to the most expensive of these, at all. We will need to find a way to make sure that we can assist or cover costs for our members’ children to attend. This is an investment in the future. The THOI SHORTY Fundraising dinner and Youth Group Service at THOI is scheduled for January 11th. It is one of the less painful ways we help to fund the operation of Shorty. I hope all of our congregants will come, or at least consider sending a donation to Shorty.  One change for this year that I am happy to have proposed at the joint calendar meeting last June (to which that group agreed, and later the board of each congregation subsequently adopted as part of the calendar), was that I should attend at least one of the NFTY Kallot (Reform Youth organization gatherings) our members attend with them, and also try to arrange to travel with our group to participate in at least one of their activities on the road. Consequently, I plan to join them for the Spring kallah this year in April of 2008, and I also plan to go with them to Williamsburg overnight at the beginning of June for their year-end activity. Of course, I plan to attend their meetings and local activities (IY”H, bli neder*).  [*roughly translated, with G-d’s help, but I offer no promises or vows]. J  Adult Education:In Adult Education, I offered two levels of Hebrew literacy (introduction for those needing to learn the Alefbet, and intermediate to practice reading and to gain vocabulary), a weekly Parashat Hashavuah (Torah Portion) study session, and a Jewish Lecture and Discussion series, which included such topics as the role of the Chevrah Kadishah, various Holidays, topics in basic Judaism, basic Jewish History, and some dabbling with the Talmud. I brought in as lecturers two congregants on the topics of security in Israel, and a Jewish view on energy and healing. I have moved from the Parashat Hashavuah model to a monthly Torah Lishmah structure. This is still a work in progress, and there may be more changes as time goes on. The goal is to find the interest level of our congregants, and the best approach to meet that interest.   I continue to actively work with several conversion candidates (at last count, I was meeting with six fairly regularly), and have a few more persons who have approached me with this intent, but whom I have not yet accepted as conversion candidates. I am working with our cadre of Torah and Haftarah readers, and meet regularly with some of them to practice and improve their skill set in that arena. I have two adult B’nai Mitzvah students with whom I am working regularly at this time. I am in the midst of teaching the 20 session Introduction to Judaism course. We started with 13, and after five sessions there are 11 students in that class, a record number in my experience here. Of those eleven, I anticipate that probably five are likely to become members of one or the other of the congregations after their process is completed (over the next two years). Several others will likely leave the area, either before completing the training, or shortly afterwards.  I have guest lectured or given presentations at MBC, EMU, JMU, Bridgewater College, and Stuart Hall, for a variety of courses, and for several Rotary Clubs and Church groups. I met with the JMU Hillel students on several occasions. I am teaching a class in Hebrew Scriptures at Mary Baldwin College as an adjunct instructor since the regular instructor resigned at the beginning of this academic year. I am serving as a mentor for a student in the Quest program at MBC. I have met with and advised JMU students on a number of occasions, and supported the JMU chapter of AEPi and Hillel as I am able.   Cont’d. 

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A Thought on Light at Chanukah Time

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

A Thought on Light at Chanukah Time

Rabbi Joe Blair

 

Chanukah is often thought of as the holiday of light, or lights. After the difficult times of oppression and persecution, a moment arrived when we (through the Hasmoneans) were victorius, with G-d’s help carving out a respite in the ongoing war, lightening and enlightening the world for a time. We recall the re-kindling of faith and hope as the Temple was re-dedicated, at that time when the menorah was re-lit to shine out and dispel the darkness that had come in those days. That light has served as a beacon of hope and faith and comfort to many, then, and in all the years and centuries since.

 

That light, the light of the presence of G-d among us, shines on still. That light cannot be extinguished, but it can be made dim and difficult, even impossible to see. In our day, there are reasons that the light is not apparent to us.

 

Today, we must acknowledge that the holy light of the presence of G-d among us is not visible to us. It is clouded by the darkness of war in many places. It is obscured by the existence of hate, bigotry, and prejudice among us, and within us. It is masked by the use of violence and bloodshed as tools to quash others. It is concealed by the cries of those who feel the sting of poverty and degradation. It is hidden by the intolerance and lack of acceptance of others not exactly like us. It is covered by the actions and choices of our elected and appointed officials, in our name, in perpetrating actions we do not and cannot condone or accept. It is veiled by the actions and words of our leaders, religious and secular, who use their position to further their own ends and not G-d’s.  It is buried by the vicious, genocidal actions of so many in too many places. 

 

If we are to truly kindle the light of Chanukah, we must re-dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of justice and righteousness. We must partner with G-d in making the world more perfect, more fit for the presence of G-d among us, so that the light of G-d’s presence will shine forth brightly, illuminating all in every corner of this world.

 

There are so very many needs, and so many worthy ways to work towards this end. I pray that we each choose at least one among them, and dedicate and re-dedicate ourself to the holy tasks of Tikkun Olam (repair of the world) and Rodef Tzedek (pursuit of righteousness) to help bring light to the world at this season of the year when light is on our mind. .

  

Rabbi Joe

  

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Rabbi Sue’s Rosh Hashanah Sermon 5768

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

Standing on One FootRosh HaShana SermonRabbi Sue Levi Elwell 

Staunton/Harrisonberg,

Virginia12/13 September 20071 Tishrei 5768 

Three months ago, I broke my foot. It is still in the process of healing. Two people suggested that I speak to you today on “The Torah that I have learned while standing on one foot.” Knowlegable Jews both, they hoped, perhaps,  that I would be able to use Hillel’s famous response to the sceptic as a jumping off point, so to speak, for my Rosh HaShana derash. As you may remember, the 1st century sage Shammai was approached by an individual who asked him to teach the entire Torah as he stood on one foot. As the Talmud relates the story, after Shammai chased away the questioner, chiding him for the foolishness of his question, the sceptic approached Shammai’s colleague and rabbinic rival, Hillel. Hillel responded: “that which you hate, don’t do to others. That is the entire Torah, the rest is commentary. Go and learn! ” (BT: Shabbat 31a). 

I have been blessed over the last year to have completed a three year study program at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem where I was one of thirty rabbis from across the US and Canada who traveled to

Israel to study for a month in the summer and for a week in the winter. While in

Israel, and every week when we were not together in person, we studied with leading Israeli scholars, exploring traditional texts and asking new questions and acquiring fresh insights. This cross-denominational program brought together an extraordinary group of teachers who are privileged to serve large and small congregations, and communities of elders and lay learners. By sharing our expertise and experience, we were all able to deepen our rabbinates and to strengthen our ability to read and interpret the rich textual legacy of our tradition. 

In July, I began another study program. Together with 36 rabbis from across the world, I am now a student at the Jewish Spirituality Institute. In many ways, this is the perfect complement to my years of immersion in text study through Hartman. The IJS program welcomes rabbis to explore meditation, yoga, Hasidic teachings and silence as means of deepening our own spirituality and, ultimately, our rabbinates.  

Both of these intense study programs send the rabbis who choose to study in them back to the sources, back to the text. In both programs, we ask again and again: what is the essential message of the text? What is the “ikar,” the root, the essence, the basis, foundation, importance, the principle of the teaching? So, armed with my teachers’ direction to take a second and third and a fourth look at texts that I thought I understood, or texts that seem to be so basic that they teach themselves, I ask you to join me in a consideration of this Talmudic story of Hillel and Shammai.            This is one of the first stories we, as Jews, as Jewish parents and as Jewish educators, learn and teach. The questioner first approached Shammai. The question Shammai heard was: “Teach me the entire Torah in the few seconds that I wobble before you attempting to stand on one foot.” Shammai, who is often portrayed in our ancient texts as impatient or unreasonably stringent, dismisses the questioner. 

What are some other understandings of standing on one foot?The practice of yoga includes a number of positions that focus on balancing the body on one foot, and then on the other. The practioner learns to focus attention so completely that it is possible to stand without falling, gracefully posed and balanced on one foot. For years, I have been working on this pose. Sometimes, I am able to sufficiently focus my attention and intention, compose myself, and, for a few magic seconds, I am balanced. But I must work at paying attention, to being fully present, to focusing, to listening to my body and quieting my mind. Standing on one foot demands work.  

Perhaps Hillel sensed this when the questioner, who is referred to as an outsider or foreigner, a ger, approached him and asked the same question. The Talmud does not record the exact formulation of the question, nor any helpful details about the questioner. So we must use our own life experience, and our imaginations, to reconstruct this simple tale. Is a scoffer approaching our sages to make fun of them—and of Judaism? Or do we have here a person who senses that she stands near the entrance to a beautiful castle filled with rooms set with magnificent banquets. She has heard from travelers of the beauty of this place, the generosity of its inhabitants, the peace of those who make this their home. She is simply seeking a way in. When Hillel was approached, perhaps with the same question as was posed by Shammai, Hillel listens for the question behind the question. Perhaps he looks into the eyes of the one who questions and sees hunger and desire and loneliness. As recorded in the Talmud, Hillel responds, “”that which you hate, don’t do to others. That is the entire Torah. All the rest is commentary. Go and learn!”  

That which you hate, don’t do to others. In other places in our tradition, this double negative becomes a positive commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18). This direction, to behave towards others as we would like others to behave towards us,  to treat others as we would like to be treated, is often called The Golden Rule, for it is a value held by many of the religions, ethical traditions and spiritual pathways that guide the world’s people.  This ethics of reciprocity is considered here by the Dalai Lama:“Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people’s suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal.”          How would our lives change if we began taking this teaching, Hillel’s teaching to heart? Take a moment to think of ideal circumstances of waking up each day. Where would you like to awake? What words or music would you like to welcome you from sleep into wakefulness? What would you like to see when you open your eyes? Once you’ve gotten out of bed and stand on your feet, what feelings or thoughts or movements would help you prepare for the day ahead?  How would you nourish your body and then step out of your home to greet the world?  

Now think about how that vision of perfection directs us to treat others. Whether we live alone or with others, whether we wake up alone or beside another, whether we begin our day by waking others in our care or by responding to eager, waiting pets, what might it mean to be keep Hillel’s direction in our minds? How could we, from the moment we awake until we lie down again to sleep, how could we treat others as we would like to be treated? How do we love another throughout the day as we wished we were loved? When we learn to treat ourselves with compassion, intention and care, we have a much better chance of treating others with sensitivity. Once we begin listening to our own hungers and needs, to how we need to be in the world throughout every day, we will discover that we have also learned to listen to others’ hungers, to others’ joys, to others’ suffering.  Like Hillel, we can become experts at listening to the words beyond and behind the words that are articulated. We, too, may learn to hear the words that are never uttered.  

Tomorrow Jews across the globe will stand to listen to the blasts of the shofar, calling us to wake up and listen. For what should we listen? My goal for tomorrow is to be present, to be intentional, to use the same powers of concentration that I muster when I attempt to balance on one foot. I hope to open my heart to the raucous, ancient sounds of the shofar.  If I listen with full intention, perhaps I may be privileged to hear my own voice, echoing the voice of the ancient petitioner, seeking a way in to wisdom, to community, to a sense of the possibility of this new year.  I hope also that I will be able to hear Hillel’s kind and clear direction: begin with the most immediate action. Start treating others the way you want to be treated. This is indeed the ikar, the essence, the foundation of the whole Torah. Let us now go and listen and learn. 

L’shana tova.  

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Blogging and The Congregational Trip to Israel in August

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

I am going to point out to you here that I have created a secondary blog in another location to report on the Congregational trip to Israel. I did this because I cannot update this blog readily from Israel, so wanted to be able to put entries up. I hope to move that blog wholesale to this one after the trip is completed. Meantime, please feel free to visit that blog at

                              SORRY. Link removed. No longer available on line.   [12/276/2007]

Rabbi Joe

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In the Wake of Violence

Wednesday, April 25th, 2007

The following is an attempt to reproduce the Devar Torah I gave on Friday, April 20th, 2007.

I am posting it here to share some of the thoughts.

In offering it to be read, rather than spoken, I fear that it loses all of the emotional content, and will seem cold and unaffected. Please know that it was very much from the heart as I gave it.

In the Wake of Violence
Rabbi Joe Blair
April 20, 2007

The Torah parashiot we read from a few moments ago are found in Vaykra (Leviticus) in the double portion of Tazria-Metzora. Some translations call Tzara at leprosya, but this is not quite right. It is not truly Hansenitis, but would seem to me to be more something that afflicts you because of your own behavior, as happened to Miriam when she spoke ill of her sister-in-law. In some way, the term carries the sense of an affliction as retribution, which struck a chord for me this week.

I am offering this devar Torah on April 20th, 2007 sadly, the 8th anniversary of the Columbine school killings, and less than a week after the horrific massacre at Virginia Tech. The airwaves, print media, and cyberspace are all filled with discussions of this most recent tragedy: could it have been prevented, what do we do now, what mental health services are needed at universities, should we try to institute gun control in light of this tragedy, what is needed for school and campus security, who is to blame, will this affect the upcoming elections: a myriad of questions about the world around us, practically all without answers. Issues, in the words of Tevye the dairy man, that would cross a rabbi’s eyes and they do, between my tears.

But right now what is weighing on my mind and spirit has more to do with the unasked religious questions, and less to do with the secular culture with which we are surrounded in America and in the world. It is more about those large, looming and unanswerable questions of meaning and values, called to our attention by tragedy and sorrow.

In some ways, the horror in Blacksburg Virginia was an aberration and a first. In other ways it was simply one more eruption of violence, a plague with which we are assaulted and struck daily, at least by reports from the streets of Washington DC, to the marketplaces of Baghdad, to the countryside of Israel.

In the midst of all the suffering and pain, I was intrigued to read these moving words, spoken in response to the Virginia Tech killings:

It is impossible to make sense of such violence and suffering. Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they’re gone – and they leave behind grieving families, and grieving classmates, and a grieving nation. In times like this, we can find comfort in the grace and guidance of a loving G-d. As the Scriptures tell us, Dont be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Those words were spoken by President Bush. I am not usually noted for quoting politicians, but in this instance I resonated deeply with the Scriptural message he offered in his speech a quote from the book of Romans in the Greek Scriptures (often called the New Testament), itself quoting the Tanakh (the Hebrew Scriptures, our Bible), from the book of Proverbs. A very Jewish sentiment, and one that seemed appropriate and timely.

No doubt you, as I, have been inundated with reports of what happened in Blacksburg. No doubt we are all sickened, saddened, and shocked. Though I, as many of you probably do, have some personal connection with the victims or with their families, what has jumped out to my attention and cause me to take special note is one story in particular.

Perhaps you, too, heard of engineering Professor Liviu Librescu. A Romanian Jew by birth, he suffered terribly under the Nazi sympathizers in his nation during the Holocaust. He survived. After that horror ended, he returned to live a normal life, only to suffer again under the repressive rule of Ceaucescu and the Communists when he would not join the party, and even more so when he declared that he wished to make Aliyah to Israel. He survived that, as well, and made his way to Eretz Yisrael, and the Technion. From there he was recruited to Virginia Tech, and he had been teaching at VT for the past twenty years.

When the gunman came near his room, Professor Librescu recognized the sound of gunfire. He told his students to flee out the windows, and without hesitation, he ran the opposite way, towards the door, to block it against the gunman. The gunman was prevented from entering, and in frustration, shot through the door, striking Professor Librescu fatally, but leaving without entering and without injuring any student in that classroom. Professor Librescu saved all of the students in his class, at the cost of his life.

We see that Professor Librescu puts the lie to the words of President Bush. He was not simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. By his actions and choices, Professor Librescu proved that *even if* we are in the wrong place at the wrong time, we are not simply pawns in the hands of fate: we have a choice in how we react. We can take to heart the instruction, the Mitzvah drawn from the Tanakh, with which President Bush concluded “don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Professor Librescu did just that.

It does not change the fact of his death. It does not alleviate the loss and suffering of his family and friends. It does, however, change the character of his death, demonstrating nobility, humanity, and compassion, and elevating him beyond the status of a victim to one who overcame evil with good. The outpouring of love and affection for Professor Librescu is no accident. By his actions he teaches us a deep and abiding lesson in love, faith, ethics, and morality. He shows us a way to elevate our lives.

Despite all the evils that befell him throughout his life, Professor Librescu was not bitter or hate-filled. By his actions he teaches us the inherent goodness that we can choose to live out, and he gives us renewed hope for humanity and for the future. As sad and as tragic as his death is, he is elevated, and his choice and his actions give meaning to his life, and to our world. This is his lesson and his legacy to us.

Yehi zichrono tzadik livrachah may his righteous memory be for a blessing. May we remember him, along with all the other victims of this terrible event, and all other innocent victims, for good and with love.

Let us all say, Amen.

——-

With appreciation and acknowledgment of my colleague and friend, Rabbi Toba Spitzer, for some of the language and ideas contained herein.


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Torah Cycling….

Sunday, October 29th, 2006

A question was posed to me recently about where we are in the reading of the Torah (five books of Moses), and how we know what to read each week. Here is a short answer.

On Simchat Torah once again we began the cycle of reading the Torah, as I mentioned in an earlier posting. We read the final few verses from Devarim (Deuteronomy) and the first few from Bereshit (Genesis) as we do each year on that holiday, thus both concluding the cycle for last year, and beginning it anew for this year. By doing both at the same time on that holiday we indicate by our actions that we are always (forever) engaging with Torah, and that we are never done, there is always more to be learned and gained by interaction with the text.

But how do we know what to read after that?

The way this works is that the Torah is traditionally divided into 54 parashiot (portions or sections for reading), which are read one after another week by week in a leap year (a year in which a leap month is inserted, and consequently, when there are 54 non-holiday weeks in which to read Torah). In non-leap years, we have fewer weeks to assign a parashah (one of the parashiot), so two or more parashiot are combined and read in a single week in order to make it through the entire cycle by next Simchat Torah. In this way, it is possible to make the full cycle of the Torah in the course of one year, and read it all. That is how a Jewish calendar can identify which week in the year it is by the name of the Parashah to be read that week, and everyone can understand it and agree which one it is. [There is a minor variation on this with holidays that are observed for a day longer outside of Israel, so that there can be a slight difference occasionally in a few weeks on what is being read in Israel as opposed to outside Israel, but this is known and taken into account, and the two sync up shortly after.]

Of course, this means that the readings each week are fairly lengthy – usually about six chapters. This can be more than a given community wishes to do each week, so a variation on this to spread the reading out and to read on a triennial cycle, which means that the entirety of the Torah is read over three years (instead of one), and only one third is read in each year. Instead of reading less and falling behind week to week, and therefore being on a different cycle than other communities that read the whole parashah, however, those communities that choose this approach read one third of each Parashah in a given week, the next week skipping ahead to the next Parashah, thereby keeping up with other communities as to which Parashah is being read. The way this is done is that in the first year, the community will read the first one-third of each Parashah, in the second year they will read the middle third, and in the third year they will read the final third. This means that the community has to keep track of which year of the triennial cycle they are in. Our community is one of those that follows the triennial cycle. This year (5767, 2006-2007) we are in the third year of the triennial cycle.

We select the break for the thirds of the Parashah to be read in each year based on the internal division of the Parashah into Aliyot (the calling up to the Torah of congregantsto be honored by reciting the blessings over the reading of the Torah). Â Since there are traditionally seven Aliyot on a Shabbat (Sabbath) morning service, we generally (as a guideline) take the first two or three Aliyot as the reading for triennial cycle year 1, the third and fourth or fourth and fifth for year 2, and the fith and sixth or sixth and seventh for year 3. This also helps to keep us lined up with other communities – which is a nice thing, especially if congregants are travelling and attending services elsewhere. This helps assure that they will be on the same reading cycle and will be able to follow along wherever they may happen to be.

Rabbi Joe Blair

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A respite….

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006

The spate of fall holidays has ended. We have come to the time of calm after the storm. We have a period of about eight weeks this year with the only holiday being Shabbat, the weekly sabbath, and Rosh Chodesh, the new month.

It strikes me that this period of regularity and ‘normalcy’ is a welcome time, a chance to regain balance and perspective after the exciting but disruptive period of so many holidays and so much emotional energy. There is an almost frantic pace that the holiday period raises. We need the break, a respite from all the emotional energy that the holidays generate and absorb.

Perhaps there is method to the madness: the alternation of the time of excitement and observances and the more placid time following may be a healthy approach, allowing us to scale the heights and traverse the lows, on the one hand, and to stroll placidly on the straight, smooth paths on the other.

May we all enjoy and benefit from this quieter time, and use it to refresh ourselves, and to reflect and to pray for peace.

Shalom,

Rabbi Joe Blair

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The day of tarrying

Monday, October 16th, 2006

If you have ever had a big family rite of passage – a Bar Mitzvah, or a wedding, for example – with lots of out of town guests, you know that often not only do you have the ceremony and reception, but you also host a morning after breakfast. This is because all those who are from the local area can go home, but those who make a major effort and travel a distance to be there will not be able to go home that day, and you want to acknowledge their presence and the effort they have made to share in your joyous occasion. In effect, you have some of the family and closest friends hanging around afterwards and visiting.

In a way, that is what Shemini Atzeret is. We have just had the holiday of Sukkot, where all nations/peoples are able to come and worship G-d, and offer their sacrifices in the Temple. A big party, rejoicing in the harvest and in creation, for a large guest list – like a wedding! Most of the guests go home, but the close family hangs around to visit. The most dear relative, of course, is G-d, and we want to have a small private time to spend with G-d, so we have an extra day, a day of tarrying with G-d. 

I really love this image of a quiet moment spent with those closest to us, so I have a soft spot for Shemini Atzeret.

Shalom,

Rabbi Joe Blair  

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May you be sealed….

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006

The greeting from Rosh Hashanah on is Leshanah tovah tichateimu, may you be sealed for a good year. This is in reference to the image of the ‘book of life’. According to this analogy or image, G-d sits in judgement on us at Rosh Hashanah, and writes our name and fate in the book of life. Then, we have some time, the period of the yamim nora’im (days of awe) to affect the ’sentence’ by our behavior – through sincere repentance, acts to repair injuries we have caused and to seek forgiveness of those we have hurt, and finally to reslove not to repeat our misdeeds. On Yom Kippur, at the end of the Neilah (concluding) services, as full darkness approaches, we imagine that the gates of Heaven are ‘closing’ to our pleas, and when they close, the book of life will be sealed with the judgement as it is written at that moment. It is an awesome, perhaps even terrifying image.

Because we believe that G-d is merciful, it is not the death of sinners that G-d seeks, but their repentance and return to the proper way. In that sense, we know that it is within the power of every person to ‘change’ the judgement – to at the least mitigate the severity of that imagined fate written in that metaphorical book of life. And because we believ that all people seek to live and to have a good life, we think that everyone will do all that is within their power to make the judgement as positive as possible. For that reason, we speak and think as if the judgement will be for a good fate, and we wish each other that this good judgement will be ’sealed’ in the book of life, left intact and positive, and followed in the year ahead of us.

So may you be sealed for a good year in 5767.

Rabbi Joe Blair

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Happy New Year! Afflict yourself!

Tuesday, September 26th, 2006

Today is Monday, September 25th.

A random thoguht for today.

We have just celebrated Rosh Hashanah (from Friday night to Sunday night in the Diaspora). Rosh Hashanah celebrates the anniversary of Creation, the birthday of the world, so to speak. It also celebrates and acknowledges G-d as the sovereign power, the creator, and the source of all being.

Today is Ta’anit Gedaliah, the fast day commemorating the assasination of Gedaliah, the last autonomous Jewish governor before the imposition of outside gevernance, prior to the destruction of the second Temple. This fast is not widely observed at this point, and many Jews are not even aware of it.  However, it appears on the Jewish calendar each year on the day following Rosh Hashanah.

Thinking about this juxtapostion, the question that comes to my mind is, “what does it mean to begin the new year with a day of fasting and sadness?”

Rosh Hashanah is itself a holiday with mixed emotions attached. On the one hand, we are celebrating and rejoicing in creation. On the other we are steeping back and dealing with the idea that this is the time each year that G-d is sitting in judgement, determining what fate we deserve in the year to come. That latter view is why we call the period from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur the Yamim Nora’im (days of awe or fear). To think seriously that what will happen to me in the coming year depends on how I did last year gives new meaning to the term ‘test anxiety’.

And here the caledar adds to the stress level by causing us to think back and remember and mourn a political assasination that happened over 2000 years ago!

WHY?

I have no answer that was given me from the wisdom of the ages. All I can think is that it is not just a quirk of timing, an accidental placement of the two events on the calendar. So I have to find my own idea of a reason. Each year it changes: here is what I have come up with as my thought for this year.

Like a Jewish wedding, at which we smash a glass – some say as a reminder of those who cannot share our joy in the moment – perhaps beginning the year with a moment of sober rememberance may temper our joy for the instant, but help us to appreciate it all the more. When things are good, when we are rejoicing, we tend not to remember those who are not included in our circle, not to recall the sadness and tragedies of life that others may be encountering at that very same moment. Closer to home, we do not think about what might go wrong, or what we have already dealt with when we arrive at a moment of joy. We focus on the good feelings engendered and feel happy. Perhaps, we would be even more joyous if we could balance that joyous moment with how far it is from the moments of fear, depression, sadness, loneliness, anger, and other negative emotions that we have all experienced, and will all experience. Joy is all that much sweeter when it is possible to see it in stark contrast to the negative.

Perhaps.

I wish you joy and happiness, peace, health, prosperity, love, and all good things in the year to come.

Shanah tovah umetukah,

Rabbi Joe Blair

 

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Why blog? Why not! It is VERY Jewish!

Tuesday, November 8th, 2005

I have been writing these blog entries over the past few weeks to a month. I decided to try to add at least one new entry a week, and I think I have done a bit better than that so far. I hope that you will read them and post your comments, telling me what you think. I would appreciate and hope to learn from the thoughtful and considered responses I expect you to submit.

The benefit of a blog, it seems to me, is that it shares some aspects of a page of Talmud. We have the Mishnah – the central statement, the essential assertion. The Gemara is the additional expalantory material offered as the body of the blog entry. The cataloging and storage and the categories with which the entry is tagged are the apparatus, similar to the cross-references and the translation of Onqelos in the Talmud. Your comments are the commentary of Rashi, Ralbag, Rambam, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, and all the rest. The ‘conversation’ between the original post and the comments and later comments feels like the back and forth between the text and the commentators in the Talmud, adding richness and depth, expanding the meaning, and furthering our understanding.

So here is another entry. I look forward to hearing from you about it.

Rabbi Joe Blair

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Learning vs Education

Tuesday, November 8th, 2005

It seems to me that Education has become a term for what is done to someone. We ‘educate’ children in the Religious School. We offer classes in ‘adult education’ to train people how to live or how to act. We use the word as a verb – I am going to educate you! The thrust is that education is something done to a passive recipient or to an unwilling subject. Isn’t that what we all hated about middel school or High School? If so, why are we perpetuating this state of affairs?

A Learner, and Learning, on the other hand, seem to be terms for describing a positive process and an active participant, or even one who takes charge of their own process of exploration, gaining knowledge, developing, and growing. This feels much more like a positive approach to me, something which we might seek out and in which we want to be involved.

So which is the model we have in our Religious Schools? Sadly, it feels to me at this point that it is much more likely the former.

I understand that our Religious Schools need to assure that the students acquire at least a minimum base of knowledge, so that they will be competent and functional (if not literate and educated) Jews, able to participate (at least minimally) in services, and with sufficient background to be equipped for life. The most efficient way to assure this for a group is to have a system with milestones and performance markers – hence the system of measurable test points and graded classes.

What troubles me is that this is precisely the method we see in the general school system, and although it may instill basic knowledge and skills, it also inculcates a deep sense of frustration, distaste, and a desire to flee at the earliest possible moment from both the system and the subjects taught.

Since, in America, at least, taking an active part in Judaism is a matter of choice, this strikes me as a troubling result at best, and disastrous for use in the long run.

I don’t have any answers. When I have looked around to see what is happening, some really smart people are working to find them, but have not yet gotten there. It can’t come too soon!

I am sure I will come back to this theme at some point…. It is just too important not to keep thinking about it.

Keep on learning!

Rabbi Joe Blair

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Too Many Holidays?

Sunday, October 30th, 2005

We have just concluded the celebration of almost a month of Jewish holidays.

Watching the children in the religious school this week, I noticed that they are overwhlemed with holidays.

To them it seems that we have a holiday every time we meet – talk about saturation and overdoing it!

I tested this feeling today, by asking the younger students to tell me what holiday we are celebrating now or what is coming next. There was a pregnant pause, then one of them ventured the guess, “Halloween?”. I said no, that is a holiday everyone can celebrate, but it is not a Jewish holiday.

Another long pause, then one of them said “Your birthday?” I smiled, and said no, that was a good guess, but it is not my birthday at this time of year.

After a short time, I told them they should understand that I had asked a trick question, and that the answer is ‘nothing’. They all looked stunned.

I continued, “we have had a lot of holidays, but they are over now for this year. But we do have a holiday that comes every week”. They are smart youngsters, and caught on – they all called out that it was Shabbat (the sabbath).

I then said there is a holiday for the beginning of each Hebrew calendar month, and asked if they knew the name of it. No one did, so I explained that it is called Rosh Chodesh (head of the month) and it is the day when the new month starts, the day when we can see the tiniest sliver of the new moon in the sky. They all knew about the moon getting bigger, until it was full, then getting smaller, so they could understand this idea, and i seemed to make sense to them.

Then I told them that other than Shabbat each week, and Rosh Chodesh at the start of the month, we have no Jewish holidays for a while. I asked if they could think of what the next holiday might be. They didn’t seem to know, until I offered the hint that on this holiday we have chocolate coins…. I never got to mention Dreidles (tops) or latkes (potato pancakes), because they knew right away what I was talking about. One of them exclaimed, “Chanukah! I know that! I LIKE that holiday!”.

I tell this not only because they were so cute, but to point out that we have a calender problem in Judaism. The reactions of the children exemplify it.

With the intensity of introspection in the month of Elul immediately followed by the concentration of holidays in the month of Tishrei, we are ALL subject to Holiday Fatigue Syndrome: a sense of exhaustion, irritation with celebration, and a wish to get it over with, already! Who can stand two months of this?

Not me, and not most of us, I suspect. At least, not if we see it as one long holiday and drive ourselves to the brink of sanity over it.

Instead, I suggest, we need to separate the components out, look at each one on its own, and give each its due.

Elul with its introspection in anticipation of the High Holy Days is not an active time, but it is somewhat draining emotionally, if we take it seriously. Perhaps we need to look at it not as a month of self-examiniation, but as thirty days on which we can take advantage of the season, for short periods, when we are able. I cannot sustain the same level of introspection over days and days, but I can take a day here, an hour there, and during the period of Elul, with breaks and downtime, make use of the time to conduct my cheshbon nefesh (accounting of the soul). I even suspect that I am more ready to undertake such an accounting, if I know that I can stop when it becomes too hard and return to it later.

Similarly, rather than seeing it as ten days at a peak for the yamim Nora’im (days of awe), I can set aside times during the period from Rosh Hashanah (new years day) to Yom Kippur (day of atonement) for my Teshuvah (repentance and penitential prayers). Again, concentrated moments spread out over the period are more likely than a continuous push for the whole time.

And when we begin Sukkot, the Feast of Booths, I can celebrate when I am in the Sukkah, so that it is a more time and space limited holiday, and in that way I can ameliorate the impact of a seven day celebration.

Finally, for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, I suggest that we have taken these with a bit of the wrong sense. I think we should view these days as more like the time after a family Simchah (joy): that time when the majority of the guests have left, we are almost done with the clean up, we have taken off our fancy dress, and the closest family and friends have stayed around to spend time together, and to relax in each other’s company. I think perhaps we should be looking at Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah in this light – our chance to wear more comfortable clothes and relax in company with G-d and each other – our closest friends and family.

Perhaps if we saw it in this light, and acted accordingly, the concentration of holidays wouldn’t feel so burdensome, but would be a joy and a means to relax and truly celebrate what matters.

So, do we have too many holidays? I would answer, No: we have just been trying to make each one a formal affair. If we can stop trying so hard, we might find we are having a good time and truly celebrating! And that would truly make it the season of our joy.

Rabbi Joe Blair

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