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https://www.jta.org/2022/01/17/united-states/i-threw-a-chair-at-the-door-rabbi-describes-escape-from-gunman-at-texas-synagogue?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-39189-464284 ‘We were terrified’: Texas rabbi credits security — and rabbinic — training with helping him navigate hostage crisis BY RON KAMPEASJANUARY 17, 20222:02 PM (JTA) — Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker has publicly described for the first time the moment he and two other hostages escaped a gunman in his synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday “The last hour or so of the standoff, he wasn’t getting what he wanted,” Cytron-Walker told CBS in an interview posted on Monday morning. “It didn’t look good. It didn’t sound good. We were very, we were terrified. “And when I saw an opportunity where he wasn’t in a good position, I made sure that the two gentlemen who were still with me that they were ready to go. The exit wasn’t too far away. I told them to go, I threw a chair at the gunman and I headed for the door. And all three of us were able to get out without even a shot being fired.” The 11-hour standoff at Congregation Beth Israel in the Fort Worth suburb Saturday ended when an FBI SWAT team raided the synagogue after the rabbi and two other hostages fled. The gunman, Malik Faisal Akram, a British citizen, died in the raid. In the interview, Cytron-Walker detailed what happened when Akram arrived at the synagogue. The rabbi said he allowed Akram entrance and made him tea, speaking with him extensively. Some elements of Akram’s story didn’t add up, Cytron-Walker said, but he didn’t realize the danger until he was standing on the bimah facing away from his congregants when he heard the click of a gun. Cytron-Walker credited the security training he has received, including from Jewish community security consultants, for helping him to manage the crisis from that point until late that night, when he and two other men who were still being held ran from the building. “For the past few years, we’ve had training — it’s not training it’s I guess, courses, instruction — with the FBI, with the Colleyville Police Department, with the Anti-Defamation League, with Secure Community Network, and they really teach you in those moments that if you’re when your life is threatened, you need to do whatever you can,” he said. “To get to safety you need to do whatever you can to get out.” Cytron-Walker also thanked the same agencies in a separate statement released through a spokeswoman. “Without the instruction we received, we would not have been prepared to act and flee when the situation presented itself,” he said. Cytron-Walker did not elaborate on what training kicked in, but accounts showed that he engaged Akram and kept him calm. Cytron-Walker made clear to Akram that he trusted him, according to audio that was streamed from the synagogue in the first hours of the crisis. During an exchange with a hostage negotiator, Akram said, “Rabbi, I need you to tell him that you trust me that I will let you out. You’ve got to take my word for it.” Cytron-Walker weighed in. “We do trust that. Again, I want to acknowledge, my word doesn’t mean much in this situation, but I do believe that he would let us out.” In the interview with CBS, Cytron-Walker said his rabbinical training kept him cool. “As a part of rabbinic training, as a part of training as clergy we talk a lot about the idea of being a calm, non-anxious presence, we do that in hospital rooms, we do that during the most difficult individual moments,” Cytron-Walker said. “I did the best that I could to do that throughout the standoff.” Jewish security officials said Cytron-Walker modeled how to behave in a hostage crisis, gaining the trust of the gunman, said Michael Masters, the Secure Community Network CEO. “The rabbi and other individuals conducted themselves with a degree of calm and courageousness that was truly remarkable under the circumstances,” Masters said in an interview. “The offender indicated multiple times that he didn’t want to hurt the Rabbi, he referenced him by name, referenced at least one of the other hostages by name.” The synagogue underwent three trainings last year with SCN, most recently on Aug. 22, 2021. Masters said the trainings involved establishing relations with local law enforcement, identifying exits and identifying suspicious behavior. Above all, Masters said, the critical step is to recognize the risk Jewish institutions now face and to “commit to action,” to train for security. Evan Bernstein, the CEO of the Community Security Service, which trains Jewish security volunteers, said it was critical that Jewish institutional security not fall off the radar after the headlines fade. Akram chose Beth Israel, reportedly, because it was close to the prison complex where a terrorist he wanted freed is being held. “We talk to our volunteers and I get asked when’s the higher alert or lower alert, it’s always an alert because you don’t know when a random activity is going to take place,” he said in an interview. “If you look at the acts of hate that have taken place, many of them are lone wolves that law enforcement would never be able to track. We can’t say,’ ‘Well, this is only going to be a major metropolitan problem or it’s going to be a smaller-city problem or a rural synagogue problem. It’s a problem for the community.'” The Jewish Federations of North America in October announced plans for a program to bring security infrastructure to every community in the country, as opposed just those that can afford it. In the wake of the Colleyville attack, JFNA said it was accelerating the program, which it calls LiveSecure. The program launch was moved to next month from later this year, a release said. Akram was seeking the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani Muslim woman serving 86 years for attempting to kill U.S. security officials in 2008. He also made clear during the hostage crisis that he was singling out a Jewish target because he bought into antisemitic theories, according to a congregant who was listening to a livestream before the situation broke into public view. Siddiqui during and after her trial also peddled antisemitic invective. His family said in a statement that Akram was mentally ill and was determined to die. Akram was from Blackburn, in England’s northwest. On Sunday, police in Manchester, south of Blackburn, said they had detained two teenagers in South Manchester for questioning in relation to the Texas synagogue case. The tweet from Greater Manchester Police did not add further information.

https://youtu.be/QcHUj2czTqc Parashat Beshalach 5782 / פָּרָשַׁת בְּשַׁלַּח Read on 15 January 2022 / 13 Sh'vat 5782. Parashat Beshalach is the 16th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Exodus 13:17-17:16 https://tikkun.io/#/r/2-13-17 In this parashah, Pharaoh changes his mind and chases after the Israelite people with his army, trapping them at the Sea of Reeds. God commands Moses to split the sea, allowing them to pass, then closes the sea back upon the Egyptian army. There are the miracles of manna and clean water. The nation of Amalek attacks and the Israelite people are victorious. [1] Triennial year 3 1: 14:26-15:21 · 27 p’sukim · 2: 15:22-26 · 5 p’sukim · 3: 15:27-16:10 · 11 p’sukim · 4: 16:11-27 · 17 p’sukim · 5: 16:28-36 · 9 p’sukim · 6: 17:1-7 · 7 p’sukim · 7: 17:8-16 · 9 p’sukim · maf: 17:14-16 · 3 p’sukim · Haftarah for Ashkenazim: Judges 4:4-5:31 · 52 p’sukim Haftarah for Sephardim: Judges 5:1-31 · 31 p’sukim Shabbat Shirah 2022 / שַׁבָּת שִׁירָה 5782 Shabbat of Song 🕍 Shabbat Shirah for Hebrew Year 5782 begins at sundown on Friday, 14 January 2022 and ends at nightfall on Saturday, 15 January 2022. This corresponds to Parashat Beshalach. Shabbat Shirah ("Sabbath [of] song" שבת שירה) is the name given to the Shabbat that includes Parsha Beshalach. The Torah reading of the week contains the Song of the sea (Exodus 15:1–18). This was the song by the Children of Israel after the Passage of the Red Sea. We have a very interesting dichotomy here. Hashem has completed his rescue and redemption of the Israelite people. Hashem is fulfilling his promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to bring their descendants to the Promised Land and make them a great nation. G-d revealed himself to Moses as YHVH. He had Moses return to Egypt and meet up with his brother Aaron to confront Pharaoh to release our Israelite ancestors from the house of bondage. When Pharaoh refused, G-d wrought signs and wonders as the ten plagues that forced the Egyptians to give them their freedom. After they left Egypt, Pharaoh pursued them, regretting letting valuable slaves leave. Hashem them split the Sea of Reeds and hardened the ground allowing the Israelites to pass through in safety while drowning the pursuing Egyptians. Moses then sings the Song at the Sea and Miriam, here first called a prophetess, dances in celebration with the other women. The excitement and appreciation of freedom was short lived. A few days later, traveling in the Wilderness towards their new home, the Israelites start complaining. First they complained that there was no water, and G-d showed them an oasis. Next they complained about not having food, and G-d sent manna, cakes of bread to sustain them. Then the Israelites complained about not having meat, and G-d sent them quail. The Israelites, having been treated as slaves for over a hundred years, couldn’t accept being free to survive on their own. This was their slave mentality. Did Hashem set them up to fail or was this the best anyway? Were the Israelites doomed because they didn’t have the character to face the challenges of surviving in the Wilderness and being able to conquer the land? Did Hashem know that they were not up to the task and that there was a need for a generation born in the Wilderness who would have that important spirit to take Canaan? This is an interesting concept in Judaism, free will vs. nature. It continues the discussion of Hashem hardening Pharaoh’s heart that would necessitate the plagues. While Pharaoh was given ten chances to relent and free our people, he stubbornly clung to his power and ego. Likewise, our ancestors were given the chance to embrace freedom and make their own destiny and yet didn’t seem like they were taking that initiative.

These words are commonly understood as reassurance that God accompanies us in our darkest moments, but some ancient rabbis understood them differently. BY RABBI MENACHEM CREDITOR Among the best-known of any biblical chapter, the six verses of Psalm 23 are commonly recited at funerals and chanted as a meditation. Its mystical words echo in our ears: Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. But what do they mean? The classic King James translation of 1611, quoted above, capitalizes the “Y” in You, meaning that the one doing the walking is human and God is the companion. Robert Alter’s magisterial 2007 translation agrees. Human beings do not walk alone through life’s travails — through the “vale of death’s shadow” as Alter renders it — because God is always present. Yet other interpreters suggest that the verse might not be pointing to the Divine Presence at all. Consider this teaching from the Talmud: Rav Yitzḥak said: What is the meaning of “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me”? This is a person who sleeps in the shadow of a single palm tree, and in the shadow of the moon. But with regard to one who sleeps in the shadow of a single palm tree, we said he is in danger only if the shadow of another palm tree does not fall upon him. However, if the shadow of another palm tree falls upon him, we have no problem with it. (Pesachim 111a) For Rav Yitzhak, sitting in the shade of a solitary tree can be dangerous, but sitting in the shared shadows of two trees is not. How might we understand this imaginative reinterpretation? Perhaps companionship itself reduces the fear of the dark. In this radical approach, it is not a miraculous appearance of heavenly light that the psalmist imagines, but rather the empathetic connection of kindred darknesses. Two ancient rabbinic voices go even further in their understanding of who journeys together in the dark: Rabbi Eleazar of Moda said, “In the future, in the world to come, the angels of the nations of the world bring charges against Israel before the Holy Blessed One, saying: ‘Master of the universe! These have served idolatry and these have served idolatry; these have committed sexual sins and these have committed sexual sins; these have spilled blood and these have spilled blood! Why then are You bringing these down to Gehinnom and these are not being brought down?’ The Holy Blessed One will turn to them and reply, ‘If this is so, then all the peoples with their gods will go down to Gehinnom,’ as it is written: ‘all the peoples walk each in the names of its gods (Micah 4:5).’” In Rabbi Eleazar of Moda’s telling, God is challenged by the angels who want to know why different peoples of the world are punished differently for committing the same sins. And God replies that the angels are right, essentially telling them: “All of the peoples should go to Gehinnom — and their gods as well, including me.” The passage continues: Rabbi Reuben said, “If it weren’t written in the Tanach (Hebrew Bible), how could this ever be spoken: ‘For with fire will God be judged (Isaiah 66:16).’ ‘God judges’ is not written but rather ‘will be judged!’ It is he whom David said through the Holy Spirit: ‘Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. (Psalm 23:4).’” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah on SoS 2:1) According to Rabbi Reuben, this idea of God being judged and punished along with the people would be unbelievable were it not written in the Bible. But there it is, in Isaiah and Psalm 23. In this rendering, it is God who walks through the valley and is not afraid because we are with God. No people walks without God, and no God worth loving walks without the people. Even God trembles when we suffer. This revolutionary rereading of the verse brings God into the shadowy journey all human beings endure in this world. Even God experiences the hellish dark by virtue of being connected to those who suffer its pain — which is to say, everyone. In those places where people face darkness, God goes as well, linked in sacred relationship to the vulnerability and fear human life often includes. The 19th-century Hasidic master Rabbi Mordecai Yosef Leiner, also known as the Ishbitzer, expresses this plainly: “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me” means that one who falls truly falls into their portion of the Holy One.” (Pri Tzedek, Naso 15) What the Ishbitzer is saying is that even if you can’t remember to let your darkness touch someone else’s darkness, know that when you fall you’re falling into God. And maybe God falls into you too. Maybe when we fall into each other, we won’t fall apart. We’ll fall together. We can be comforted by others when we feel scared. We can be comforted by remembering that God has chosen to walk with us in the valleys of life. And we can be comforted by the knowledge that when we fall, we fall into God’s waiting Presence. These comforts do not promise a painless tomorrow. Deep faith does not ignore reality. The gift of Psalm 23 is that rather than deny this reality, it reminds us that the best way to prepare for the inevitability of life’s challenges is ready and waiting: strengthening our relationships with others, and walking hand-in-hand with the Divine. מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִ֑ד יְהֹוָ֥ה רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר׃ בִּנְא֣וֹת דֶּ֭שֶׁא יַרְבִּיצֵ֑נִי עַל־מֵ֖י מְנֻח֣וֹת יְנַהֲלֵֽנִי׃ נַפְשִׁ֥י יְשׁוֹבֵ֑ב יַֽנְחֵ֥נִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי־צֶ֝֗דֶק לְמַ֣עַן שְׁמֽוֹ׃ גַּ֤ם כִּֽי־אֵלֵ֨ךְ בְּגֵ֪יא צַלְמָ֡וֶת לֹא־אִ֘ירָ֤א רָ֗ע כִּי־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּדִ֑י שִׁבְטְךָ֥ וּ֝מִשְׁעַנְתֶּ֗ךָ הֵ֣מָּה יְנַֽחֲמֻֽנִי׃ תַּעֲרֹ֬ךְ לְפָנַ֨י ׀ שֻׁלְחָ֗ן נֶ֥גֶד צֹרְרָ֑י דִּשַּׁ֥נְתָּ בַשֶּׁ֥מֶן רֹ֝אשִׁ֗י כּוֹסִ֥י רְוָיָֽה׃ אַ֤ךְ ׀ ט֤וֹב וָחֶ֣סֶד יִ֭רְדְּפוּנִי כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיָּ֑י וְשַׁבְתִּ֥י בְּבֵית־יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה לְאֹ֣רֶךְ יָמִֽים׃ {פ} A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me to aOthers “still waters.”water in places of repose;-a He renews my life; He guides me in right paths as befits His name. Though I walk through bOthers “the valley of the shadow of death.”a valley of deepest darkness,-b I fear no harm, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me. You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my drink is abundant. Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for many long years.

https://youtu.be/cG8addJb8lw Parashat Bo 5782 / פָּרָשַׁת בֹּא Read on 8 January 2022 / 6 Sh'vat 5782. Parashat Bo is the 15th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Exodus 10:1-13:16 https://tikkun.io/#/r/2-10-1 Parashat Bo tells of the last three plagues on Egypt and the first Passover. Triennial year 3 1: 12:29-32 · 4 p’sukim · 2: 12:33-36 · 4 p’sukim · 3: 12:37-42 · 6 p’sukim · 4: 12:43-51 · 9 p’sukim · 5: 13:1-4 · 4 p’sukim · 6: 13:5-10 · 6 p’sukim · 7: 13:11-16 · 6 p’sukim · maf: 13:14-16 · 3 p’sukim · Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28 · 16 p’sukim As Pharaoh has been stubborn throughout the first nine plagues, this last plague, the killing of the first-born is what finally convinced Pharaoh to release the Israelites. The remarkable part of this portion is the institution of the Pesach offering. This is the beginning of Judaism. The final part of this portion contains commandments that also constitute two of portions written on parchment that are inside the two tefillin (Along with the “Shema” and first two paragraphs). Specifically, this is chapter 13 of Shemot, verses 1 – 8 and verses 9 – 16. The first section establishes the festival of Pesah. We are commanded to remember that day when we were released from bondage in Egypt by Hashem. We commemorate the day by eating the flat bread or matzah for seven days. We are also commanded to teach our children. We then have the first commandment to make this also a sign on our arm (the weaker) and also between our eyes. The next paragraph (verses 9 – 16) tells us that when we come into the land promised to our Patriarchs, we will consecrate our first born, as well as first born of our herds to Hashem. This is in honor of Hashem sparing our own first born as the Destroyer killed the first born of Egyptian people and livestock. The commandment to wear the tefillin is repeated. This also discusses fulfilling the promise made to Abraham that his descendants would leave Egypt with great wealth, establish a calendar based on the monthly rebirth of the moon and having the Pesach sacrifice's blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of every Israelite home, so that G‑d should pass over these homes when He comes to kill the Egyptian firstborn. The roasted meat of the offering is to be eaten that night together with matzah and bitter herbs. Kabbalah: The Torah does not tell us the exact times when many important events occurred. Nevertheless, we are told that Pharoah commanded the Jews to leave Egypt exactly at midnight on the 15th of Nissan. Further, the Torah narrates the exact moment they actually left: The next day, precisely at noon – not delaying even for the “blink of an eye”. As we have other signs to remind us to honor G-d’s commandments (mezuzot and tzitzit) this is the first commandment to have a sign of G-d’s mercy.

Megillah 17b:8 - 18a:9 https://www.sefaria.org/Megillah.17b.8?lang=en 17b § The baraita cited previously taught that the halakha against reciting a text out of order applies to the Amida prayer as well. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this? As it is taught in a baraita: Shimon HaPakuli arranged the eighteen blessings of the Amida prayer before Rabban Gamliel in their fixed order in Yavne, which indicates that there is a specific order to these blessings that must not be changed. Rabbi Yoḥanan said, and some say that it was taught in a baraita: A hundred and twenty Elders, i.e., the Men of the Great Assembly, and among them several prophets, established the eighteen blessings of the Amida in their fixed order, which also shows that the order of these blessings may not be changed. The Gemara proceeds to explain this order: The Sages taught in a baraita: From where is it derived that one says the blessing of the Patriarchs, the first blessing of the Amida? As it is stated: “Ascribe to the Lord, mighty ones” (Psalms 29:1), which means that one should mention before the Lord the mighty ones of the world, i.e., the Patriarchs. And from where is it derived that one then says the blessing of mighty deeds? As it is stated in the continuation of that verse: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength” (Psalms 29:1). And from where is it derived that one then says the blessing of holiness? As it is stated in the next verse: “Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalms 29:2). The Gemara continues: And why did they see fit to institute to say the blessing of understanding after the blessing of holiness? As it is stated: “They shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall revere the God of Israel” (Isaiah 29:23), and adjacent to that verse it is written: “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding” (Isaiah 29:24). This shows that it is proper for the theme of understanding to follow the theme of God’s holiness. And why did they see fit to institute to say the blessing of repentance after the blessing of understanding? As it is written: “And they will understand with their heart, repent, and be healed” (Isaiah 6:10), showing that the theme of repentance properly follows the theme of understanding. The Gemara asks: If so, that the sequence of blessings is based on this verse, let us say that the blessing of healing should be said after the blessing of repentance. Why, then, is the next blessing in the Amida the blessing of forgiveness and not the blessing of healing? The Gemara explains: This cannot enter your mind, as it is written: “And let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7), which shows that the theme of repentance should be followed by that of forgiveness. The Gemara poses a question: But what did you see to rely on this verse? Rely on the other verse, which juxtaposes repentance to healing. The Gemara answers: Another verse, in which it is written: “Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit” (Psalms 103:3–4), proves that the theme of healing should follow that of forgiveness. The Gemara asks: Is that verse coming to say that the blessings of redemption and healing should be placed following the blessing of forgiveness? But isn’t it written: “Repent, and be healed” (Isaiah 6:10), which suggests that repentance should be followed by healing? The Gemara answers: That verse is referring not to the literal healing from illness, but rather to the figurative healing of forgiveness, and therefore this verse too supports the sequence of forgiveness following repentance. The Gemara continues: And why did they see fit to institute to say the blessing of redemption as the seventh blessing? Rava said: Since there is a tradition that the Jewish people are destined to be redeemed in the seventh year of the Sabbatical cycle, consequently, they fixed redemption as the seventh blessing. But didn’t the Master say in a baraita: In the sixth year of the Sabbatical cycle in the days of the arrival of the Messiah, heavenly sounds will be heard; in the seventh year there will be wars; and upon the conclusion of the seventh year, in the eighth year, the son of David, the Messiah, will come? The redemption will take place not during the seventh year but after it. The Gemara answers: Nevertheless, the war that takes place during the seventh year is also the beginning of the redemption process, and it is therefore correct to say that Israel will be redeemed in the seventh year. The Gemara continues: And why did they see fit to institute that one says the blessing of healing as the eighth blessing? Rabbi Aḥa said: Since circumcision was assigned to the eighth day of life, and circumcision requires healing, consequently, they established healing as the eighth blessing. And why did they see fit to institute that one says the blessing of bountiful years as the ninth blessing? Rabbi Alexandri said: This blessing was instituted in reference to those who raise the prices of food. We pray for rain so that the price of produce will not rise as a result of shortages, as it is written: “Break the arm of the wicked” (Psalms 10:15), referring to the wicked, who practice deception and extort the poor. And when David expressed this request, he expressed it in the ninth psalm. Although today it is considered the tenth psalm, the first and second psalms are actually counted as one, and therefore this is the ninth psalm. Therefore, the blessing of the years was fixed as the ninth blessing. The Gemara asks: And why did they see fit to institute that one says the blessing of the ingathering of the exiles after the blessing of the years? As it is written: “And you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to My people Israel; for they will soon be coming” (Ezekiel 36:8), which indicates that the ingathering of the exiles will follow after Eretz Yisrael is blessed with bountiful produce. And once the exiles have been gathered, judgment will be meted out to the wicked, as it is stated: “And I will turn my hand against you and purge away your dross as with lye” (Isaiah 1:25), and immediately after it is written: “And I will restore your judges as at first” (Isaiah 1:26). For this reason the blessing of the restoration of judges comes after the blessing of the ingathering of the exiles. And once judgment is meted out to the wicked, the transgressors, i.e., the heretics and sectarians, will cease to be. Consequently, the next blessing is that of the heretics, and one includes evildoers with them, as it is stated: “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall cease to be” (Isaiah 1:28). The “transgressors and sinners” are the evildoers, and “they that forsake the Lord” are the heretics. And once the heretics cease to be, the horn, i.e., the glory, of the righteous will be exalted, as it is written: “All the horns of the wicked will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted” (Psalms 75:11). Therefore, after the blessing of the heretics, one says the blessing about the righteous. And he includes the righteous converts along with the righteous, as it is stated: “You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the elder” (Leviticus 19:32), and adjacent to this it is stated: “And if a stranger sojourns with you” (Leviticus 19:33). An “elder” is one with Torah wisdom and a “stranger” is one who has converted to Judaism. And where will the horns of the righteous be exalted? In Jerusalem, as it is stated: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they who love you shall prosper” (Psalms 122:6). “They who love you” are the righteous. Therefore, the blessing of the rebuilding of Jerusalem is placed after the blessing of the righteous. And once Jerusalem is rebuilt, the Messiah, scion of the house of David, will come, as it is stated: 18a “Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek the Lord their God and David their king” (Hosea 3:5), and consequently, the blessing of the kingdom of David follows the blessing of the building of Jerusalem. And once the scion of David comes, the time for prayer will come, as it is stated: “I will bring them to My sacred mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:7). Therefore, the blessing of hearing prayer is recited after the blessing of the kingdom of David. And after prayer comes, the Temple service will arrive, as it is stated in the continuation of that verse: “Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on My altar” (Isaiah 56:7). The blessing of restoration of the Temple service follows the blessing of hearing prayer. And when the Temple service comes, with it will also come thanksgiving, as it is stated: “Whoever sacrifices a thanks-offering honors Me” (Psalms 50:23), which teaches that thanksgiving follows sacrifice. Therefore, the blessing of thanksgiving follows the blessing of restoration of the Temple service. And why did they see fit to institute that one says the Priestly Benediction after the blessing of thanksgiving? As it is written: “And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from sacrificing the sin-offering, and the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings” (Leviticus 9:22), teaching that the Priestly Benediction follows the sacrificial service, which includes the thanks-offering. The Gemara asks: But the cited verse indicates that Aaron blessed the people and then sacrificed the offerings. Should we not then say the Priestly Benediction before the blessing of the Temple service? The Gemara answers: It should not enter your mind to say this, as it is written: “And he came down from sacrificing the sin-offering.” Is it written that he came down to sacrifice the offerings, implying that after blessing the people Aaron came down and sacrificed the offerings? No, it is written, “from sacrificing,” indicating that the offerings had already been sacrificed. The Gemara asks: If, as derived from this verse, the Priestly Benediction follows the sacrificial service, the Priestly Benediction should be said immediately after the blessing of restoration of the Temple service, without the interruption of the blessing of thanksgiving. The Gemara rejects this argument: It should not enter your mind to say this, as it is written: “Whoever sacrifices a thanks-offering honors Me,” from which we learn that thanksgiving follows sacrifice, as already explained. The Gemara asks: What did you see to rely on this verse and juxtapose thanksgiving with sacrifice? Rely rather on the other verse, which indicates that it is the Priestly Benediction that should be juxtaposed with the sacrificial service. The Gemara answers: It stands to reason to have the blessing of thanksgiving immediately following the blessing of the sacrificial service, since the sacrificial service and thanksgiving, which are closely related conceptually, are one matter. And why did they see fit to institute that one says the blessing beginning with the words: Grant peace, after the Priestly Benediction? As it is written immediately following the Priestly Benediction: “And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27). The Priestly Benediction is followed by God’s blessing, and the blessing of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is peace, as it is stated: “The Lord blesses His people with peace” (Psalms 29:11). The Gemara returns to the baraita cited at the beginning of the discussion: Now, since the baraita teaches that a hundred and twenty Elders, including many prophets, established the Amida prayer in its fixed order, what is it that Shimon HaPakuli arranged in a much later period of time, as related by Rabbi Yoḥanan? The Gemara answers: Indeed, the blessings of the Amida prayer were originally arranged by the hundred and twenty members of the Great Assembly, but over the course of time the people forgot them, and Shimon HaPakuli then arranged them again. The Gemara comments: These nineteen blessings are a fixed number, and beyond this it is prohibited for one to declare the praises of the Holy One, Blessed be He, by adding additional blessings to the Amida. As Rabbi Elazar said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can declare all His praise?” (Psalms 106:2)? It means: For whom is it fitting to utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Only for one who can declare all His praise. And since no one is capable of declaring all of God’s praises, we must suffice with the set formula established by the Sages.

https://youtu.be/47-dnARPs5g Parashat Vaera 5782 / פָּרָשַׁת וָאֵרָא Read on 1 January 2022 / 28 Tevet 5782. Parashat Vaera is the 14th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Exodus 6:2-9:35 https://tikkun.io/#/r/2-6-2 Parashat Vaera tells of the first seven Plagues of Egypt. Triennial year 3 1: 8:16-23 · 8 p’sukim · 2: 8:24-28 · 5 p’sukim · 3: 9:1-7 · 7 p’sukim · 4: 9:8-16 · 9 p’sukim · 5: 9:17-21 · 5 p’sukim · 6: 9:22-26 · 5 p’sukim · 7: 9:27-35 · 9 p’sukim · maf: 9:33-35 · 3 p’sukim · Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25-29:21 · 23 p’sukim Parashat Vaera 5782 / פָּרָשַׁת וָאֵרָא Read on 1 January 2022 / 28 Tevet 5782. Parashat Vaera is the 14th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Exodus 6:2-9:35 https://tikkun.io/#/r/2-6-2 Parashat Vaera tells of the first seven Plagues of Egypt. Triennial year 3 1: 8:16-23 · 8 p’sukim · 2: 8:24-28 · 5 p’sukim · 3: 9:1-7 · 7 p’sukim · 4: 9:8-16 · 9 p’sukim · 5: 9:17-21 · 5 p’sukim · 6: 9:22-26 · 5 p’sukim · 7: 9:27-35 · 9 p’sukim · maf: 9:33-35 · 3 p’sukim · Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25-29:21 · 23 p’sukim As Vaera starts, Hashem reveals Himself to Moses saying he is YHVH. Moshe Rabbeinu’s predecessors, our patriarchs, only knew G-d as El Shaddai. Hashem has many names, each referring to a different attribute, which is how we mortals relate to Him. This latter Name is sometimes translated as Hashem’s attribute of providing enough. In fact, according to commentary in the Etz Chaim Humash, “Shaddai” comes from the word meaning “breasts” and thus it is G-d’s attribute of nurturing. While Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew G-d as YHVH, they didn’t clearly understand the relevance of that name, which is Mercy. Consider that G-d is now going to reveal the nature of that name, indicating Mercy, by remembering and acknowledging his covenant with the Patriarchs to provide for us the Promised Land. G-d has now heard the groaning of our ancestors under the bondage of the Egyptian taskmasters by freeing our people so they can fulfill that promise to our forefathers. Thus in His Mercy, He will redeem our people. Consider also the other main name by which Hashem is known and occurs often in the preceding verses, Elohim. This is considered to be G-d’s attribute of Justice. So as Hashem is expressing His Mercy to the Israelites, He is also going to visit Justice to the Egyptians. They will now see consequences of their enslaving our ancestors in the form of the various plagues they are about to experience. Pharaoh has been warned and given multiple opportunities to relent and repent his cruelty. As he continues to “dig his heels in” and not release the Israelites, he invites further justice upon himself and his people. {We now see the full expression of G-d’s might and power.G-d reveals Himself to Moses as YHVH, which will be the main name going forward. Hashem has heard the groaning of the Israelites and will now free them from bondage to be His people. The four phrases, “I will free you…and deliver you…I will redeem you…I will take you (to the land promised to the Patriarchs)…” is seen as a basis for the four cups of wine during the Pesah seder. Hashem tells them to confront Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Moses complains that his own people didn’t listen to him, Pharaoh won’t either. G-d tells him to go with Aaron and He will tell them what to say. The heads of clans of Reuben and Simeon are listed, then the clans of Levi that discusses the genealogy of Moses and Aaron. Hashem tells Moses that he will go with Aaron who will be the spokesperson, since Moses had a speech impediment. Hashem tells him that he will further harden Pharaoh’s heart (stubbornness) and create signs and plagues to convince Pharaoh to free the Israelites. Moses is now 80 years old and Aaron is 83. G-d tells Moses to take his staff, throw it down and it will become a serpent as a sign that G-d is all powerful and that Pharaoh should follow through. Pharaoh had his magicians also turn their staffs into serpents, but then Aaron’s “serpent” swallowed them up. Pharaoh did not relent. Moses then meets Pharaoh the next morning and delivers the first plague by putting that same staff in the Nile which turns to blood and kills all the fish. Pharaoh’s magicians do the same and he does not relent. The next plagues are an infestation of frogs. Pharaoh’s magicians can also bring forth frogs, but they can’t make them go away. Now Pharaoh asks Moses to have Hashem get rid of them which he does. Pharaoh’s heart was then still hardened and did not relent. The next plagues were lice, swarms of insects (which didn’t appear in Goshen where the Israelites lived). Pharoah tells Moses that if he makes the insects go away, he’ll let them go off in the Wilderness for the three-day festival for Hashem. Once Moses does that, Pharaoh again goes back on his word. The next plague is pestilence of the Egyptians livestock. The sixth plague was boils. The seventh was hail, and the Egyptians were warned. Pharaoh now is repentant. Once again, Pharaoh goes back on his word to let the Israelites go worship Hashem.}

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/all-that-lives-shall-bless-your-name/?utm_campaign=MJL_Prayer&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mjl_maropost This Nishmat Kol Chai benediction is said at the transition between our preparatory prayers and core elements of the morning service. BY RABBI RACHEL ISAACS The linguistic connection between breath, spirit, and life plays a central role in Jewish theology and prayer. In Hebrew, the word neshama means both breath and soul. Ruach connotes both spirit and wind. These double meanings underline a deeper belief that breath is our life force, animating not only our bodies but our souls. This idea is reflected in a special benediction recited on Shabbat and major Jewish holidays. Nishmat Kol Chai (literally “the breath of all life”) affirms a shared life force among all of God’s creations, a common breath that not only sustains physical life, but also serves to praise our single Creator. This prayer is the closing benediction of Pesukei d’Zimra, the verses of song that are meant to spiritually prepare us for the heart of our morning prayers. The structure of the prayer is threefold: 1) affirming God’s universal sovereignty and power of salvation; 2) admitting the human inability to offer sufficient praise to God; and 3) reiterating God’s unparalleled power and our responsibility to offer prayer in response. The prayer begins with this line: “The soul/breath of every living being will praise you, and the spirit of every mortal being will always glorify and extol You, our King.” Nishmat Kol Chai does not begin from a place of Jewish, or even human particularity, but with a profoundly universal assertion: all living creatures are united by breath. And it continues in this expansive tone: “We have no King but You, God of the first and the last, God of all creatures, master of all generations, glorified through great praise, who treats the world with love and all creatures with compassion.” The second section uses the metaphor of the human body to express the human inability to adequately praise God. “Even if our mouths were filled with song like the sea, and our tongues with joy like the sea’s many roaring waves, and our lips with praise like the wide expanse of the sky, and even if our eyes shone like the sun and the moon and even if our hands were spread wide like the eagles in the sky, even if our feet were light like gazelles, we would be unable to adequately acknowledge you with thanks.” This section takes pains to emphasize how limited we are in understanding or articulating the full glory of God’s existence and power. According to Bible scholar Marc Zvi Brettler, assertions of this kind are rare in the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Psalms, for example, is full of attempts to adequately praise the Divine. Only the Book of Job, he notes, focuses strongly on the human limits of understanding and expression. This section also narrows the narrative scope, talking about the specific miracles God has performed for the Jewish people, including the exodus from Egypt and the kindnesses shown to our ancestors in evading plagues and surviving famines. Nishmat Kol Chai concludes by imploring us to use every limb of our body to praise God to the best of our limited ability — even as it reminds us of God’s peerless power and majesty: “Who is like You? Who is equal to You? Who can be compared to You? O great, mighty and awesome God, God most high, maker of heaven and earth. We will laud, praise and glorify You and bless Your holy name.” This threefold structure of this prayer serves as a gateway between the warm-up prayers of Pesukei d’Zimra, and the heavy lifting of the morning service — the recitation of the Shema and Amidah, which is mandated by Jewish law. Nishmat Kol Chai focuses our attention on the unifying life force of breath, which is also our primary vehicle to praise God. It reminds us of the great miracles of creation and redemption, and of God’s everlasting presence in our lives. But it also sets realistic expectations about our ability to praise a Divine force that is incomparable and beyond our comprehension. Rabbi Elliot Dorff makes an important point about Nishmat Kol Chai’s humbling words. Acknowledging the limits of our praise does not mean that we are eternally lost, lacking, or worthless. Our need for God’s love and fidelity, and God’s constant supply of both, is what creates the Divine bond that gives our lives meaning. He writes: “God’s relationship to us lends our lives value. This notion contrasts sharply with some Christian (Augustininan and Calvinist) conceptions of human beings as being hopelessly depraved from the moment of birth (tainted with original sin), unable to earn salvation through deeds, and unworthy to be saved by God. Only faith in Jesus can save, and (in Calvinism) even that will save just the elect few. For Jews, by contrast, our lack of merit is balanced by our ongoing relationship with God, who values us.” Nishmat Kol Chai reminds us of our limited capacity to understand God’s wisdom in its totality or to articulate the mysteries of the world, but it does not doom us to darkness. Rather, our need for God, and God’s appreciation of our heartfelt and full-bodied praise, provide the basis for a relationship that provides meaning, structure, and value to our lives as divine creations, human beings, and Jews.

https://youtu.be/4owMAopbkKM Parashat Shemot 5782 / פָּרָשַׁת שְׁמוֹת Read on 25 December 2021 / 21 Tevet 5782. Parashat Shemot is the 13th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Exodus 1:1-6:1 https://tikkun.io/#/r/2-1-1 Parashat Shemot tells of the Israelites' affliction in Egypt, the hiding and rescuing of the infant Moses, Moses in Midian, the calling of Moses, circumcision on the way, meeting the elders, and Moses before Pharaoh Triennial year 3 1: 4:18-20 · 3 p’sukim · 2: 4:21-26 · 6 p’sukim · 3: 4:27-31 · 5 p’sukim · 4: 5:1-5 · 5 p’sukim · 5: 5:6-9 · 4 p’sukim · 6: 5:10-14 · 5 p’sukim · 7: 5:15-6:1 · 10 p’sukim · maf: 5:22-6:1 · 3 p’sukim · Haftarah for Ashkenazim: Isaiah 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23 · 23 p’sukim Haftarah for Sephardim: Jeremiah 1:1-2:3 · 22 p’sukim Seventy souls went down to Egypt, offspring of Israel. The sons/family of Israel/Jacob had now become the nation of Israel. Now, a new Pharoah arises who knew not Joseph. Sages say that a new dynasty of Pharaohs overthrew the previous dynasty of Bedouin conquerors who were native Egyptians. Xenophobic, they enslaved the Israelites who had grown in numbers, saying they would join any would be conquerors to defeat them. Our ancestors were forced to work unpaid to for public works projects. Much of the work was pointless, no purpose, so the Israelites couldn’t feel any pride in their accomplishment. The Israelites continue to grow in numbers so Pharaoh tells the midwives to kill every boy (which Pharaoh considered a threat) born. The midwives “feared G-d” and let them live, telling Pharaoh that the Hebrew women were so strong that they gave birth before they got there. Pharaoh then tells them to throw the baby boys into the Nile to drown. A boy is born to a Levite couple after the decree to drown baby boys just born. His mother puts him in a wicker basket and floats him down the Nile to where the daughter of Pharaoh is bathing. The boy’s sister watches and when the daughter takes the boy and wants to adopt this Hebrew as her own son, the girl offers find her a Hebrew midwife to wean the baby (who is actually the boy’s real mother). Pharaoh’s daughter names him “Moses” because she drew him from the water. Moses is raised as Egyptian royalty. Moses grows up and goes out to see the plight of “his kinsfolk”. He sees an Egyptian taskmaster beating an Israelite and he kills him and hides the body. The next day he sees two Israelites fighting (thought to have been Dathan and Abiram) and he tries to break it up. They confront him on having killed the Egyptian and Moses flees Egypt fearing for his life. He ends up in Midian at a well where he intervenes when he sees the daughters of a Midianite chieftain, Jethro, being harassed by shepherd men. They bring him home to their father, telling him that an Egyptian saved them. Jethro welcomes him into his household and gives his eldest daughter, Tzipporah, to him as his wife. Together they have a son, Gershom. Meanwhile, a new Pharaoh takes the throne in Egypt who continues enslaving the Israelites and G-d took notice. Moses is out shepherding the flock when he sees on the mountain a bush that is burning but not consumed by fire. He goes up to investigate and is met by an angel. The angel tells him that this is hallowed ground, and he should take off his shoes. A voice from the bush tells him that this is G-d, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and he has heard the groaning of the Israelites. Moses asks G-d who He is, because the elders will ask from where is he getting this mandate, G-d tells him “I am what I am”. G-d tells Moses he will send him back to Egypt to ask Pharaoh to release them from bondage. The Israelites will take from their neighbors spoils to pay for the 120 years of forced labor. Hashem tells Moses to tell the elders that He will take them out of the bondage of Egypt to the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey. They should tell Pharoah that they want to go out in the wilderness for three days to worship Hashem. If Pharaoh refuses, Hashem will smite Egypt with various wonders. Moses complains he is not worthy. G-d shows him miracles of his staff turning into a snake and back into a staff, his hand becoming leprous then healing, and he will take water from the Nile that will turn into blood. Finally, Moses complains that he is “slow of speech”. Hashem reassures him that it is G-d who empowers humans. Moses is to go meet up with his brother Aaron, who will say what Moses tells him to say. Moses tells Jethro his plans to return to Egypt with his family and Jethro tells him to go in peace. On the way, they stop at an inn and Tzippora circumcises their son. Moses gets to Egypt, meets up with Aaron and they tell the elders Hashem’s plans. Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh to release the Israelites. Pharaoh retorts that he does not know Hashem and refuses to let them go for their three-day journey to the wilderness to honor Hashem, that he needs them to do the work. Pharaoh then demands that they make the same number of bricks, but they have to get their own straw. The Israelites were angry at Moses and Aaron for making their jobs worse. Hashem told them, “You will soon see what I will do to Pharaoh”.

https://youtu.be/GXev-CgmR80 Parashat Vayechi 5782 / פָּרָשַׁת וַיְחִי Read on 18 December 2021 / 14 Tevet 5782. Parashat Vayechi is the 12th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Genesis 47:28-50:26 https://tikkun.io/#/r/1-47-28 Parashat Vayechi tells of Jacob's request for burial in Canaan, Jacob's blessing of Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob's blessing of his sons, Jacob's death and burial, and Joseph's death. Triennial year 3 1: 49:27-30 · 4 p’sukim · 2: 49:31-33 · 3 p’sukim · 3: 50:1-6 · 6 p’sukim · 4: 50:7-9 · 3 p’sukim · 5: 50:10-14 · 5 p’sukim · 6: 50:15-20 · 6 p’sukim · 7: 50:21-26 · 6 p’sukim · maf: 50:23-26 · 4 p’sukim · Haftarah: I Kings 2:1 - 2:12 · 12 p’sukim And Jacob lived for 147 years and in Egypt for 17 years. He asked Joseph to commit to burying him in with his father in Canaan. Jacob is on his death bed and Joseph is the first of the sons to visit him. He takes Manasseh and Ephraim with him, and Jacob tells him that he will adopt them as his own “sons” (heirs), like Reuben and Simeon. Jacob lays his hands on them to bless them. Ephraim, the younger, was given the preferred blessing. To this day, we bless children by saying, “May Hashem make you like Ephraim and Manasseh”. Jacob now calls his other sons to give them blessings. After that, he charges them to bury him in the field of Machpelah with the other Patriarchs and Matriarchs. He then dies. Joseph then has Jacob embalmed and he is mourned by both his family and Egyptians. Joseph then gets permission from Pharaoh to bury Jacob at Machpelah, which he does accompanied by his brothers, elders of Egypt and their servants in a great procession to Canaan. But the rest of their families stayed behind. When they all returned to Egypt, the brother were concerned that now that Jacob is dead, Joseph will seek vengeance for their plot. Joseph reassures his brothers he won’t. Joseph lives to be 110 years old. Joseph lives long enough to see Ephraim and Manasseh’s grandchildren. He tells them that G-d will remember them and bring them out of that land to the land that Hashem promised to the Patriarchs. Joseph was then embalmed and laid to rest in Egypt, knowing that he would eventually be buried in the Promised Land.

https://youtu.be/jSZF_xn1t9Q Parashat Vayigash 5782 / פָּרָשַׁת וַיִּגַּשׁ Read on 11 December 2021 / 7 Tevet 5782. Parashat Vayigash is the 11th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Genesis 44:18-47:27 https://tikkun.io/#/r/1-44-18 In Parashat Vayigash, Judah pleads on behalf of his brother Benjamin, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, Jacob comes down to Egypt, and Joseph's administration of Egypt saves lives but transforms all the Egyptians into bondmen. Torah Portion: Triennial year 3 1: 46:28-30 · 3 p’sukim · 2: 46:31-34 · 4 p’sukim · 3: 47:1-6 · 6 p’sukim · 4: 47:7-10 · 4 p’sukim · 5: 47:11-19 · 9 p’sukim · 6: 47:20-22 · 3 p’sukim · 7: 47:23-27 · 5 p’sukim · maf: 47:25-27 · 3 p’sukim · Haftarah: Ezekiel 37:15 - 37:28 · 14 p’sukim Judah approaches Joseph (not knowing who he really is) and tells him that if Benjamin is kept in Egypt as a slave, it would kill their father. Judah requests that he take his place. Joseph is so moved by Judah’s plea that he now realizes that the brothers have remorse and have repented for how they had treated Joseph, and he reveals himself. He tells the brothers that he bears no enmity towards them, and it was G-d’s plan all along for Joseph to come to Egypt and save the world from the famine, and he feels no vengeance against them. Pharaoh hears about this and asks Joseph to bring his father and his family to Egypt where they will be treated with high esteem. They are to not worry about taking any belongings because they will have more than enough when they resettle. The brothers go home and tell Jacob that Joseph is still alive and that they will be migrating. Jacob feels that the prospect of seeing Joseph once more makes his life complete. The family is introduced to Pharaoh and Jacob blesses Pharaoh. Pharaoh puts some of the brothers in charge of the royal herd. Meanwhile, the Egyptians run out of grain and money to buy grain. Joseph then arranges a system whereby the citizens of Egypt will be vassals to Pharaoh. They will now be always giving part of their grain harvest to Pharaoh in exchange for receiving grain during the remainder of the famine.

https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/jew-vs-jew On the real lessons of the Hanukkah story. Gabriel Katz Ask most American Jews what Hanukkah is about and they’ll probably mention the miracle of the oil lasting for eight nights. Or playing with dreidels. Or snacking on jelly doughnuts. But the true story of Hanukkah, which begins tonight, is far darker. The old joke is that most Jewish holidays can be summed up by the following: They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s eat. Hanukkah, though, is not only about Jews being oppressed by outside forces. It is also about intramural Jewish conflict—in this case a bloody civil war. On the one side were the Hellenist Jews, who wanted desperately to accommodate the ruling Seleucid regime, and were willing to do whatever it took to gain acceptance: changing their names; undoing their circumcisions so they could play naked in the gymnasia; worshiping Zeus instead of God. On the other were the Maccabees, the fundamentalist rebels who insisted on Jewish particularism and resisted assimilation to the death. Including the deaths of their fellow Jews. The war began in 167 B.C. in Judea, in a town called Modi’in just outside of Jerusalem, when Mattathias, a Jewish priest, was ordered to prepare a sacrifice to Greek gods in the Jewish temple. He refused. Then he slaughtered the governor who issued the order and a fellow Jew—an idolator who had complied. What followed was an all-out uprising, with a small band of Maccabees defeating a far more powerful Seleucid force, recapturing the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and reasserting Jewish sovereignty in Judea. Contained in this story are the themes that have run through Jewish history. The tension between universalism and particularism. The battle between assimilation and self-assertion. The pull between fundamentalism and secularism. And the complicated question of how far the bonds of peoplehood can strain before they break. We are so very far from Judea in the 2nd century B.C. But these questions burn more brightly than usual these days, as the same ancient tensions still crackle, forever threatening to ignite yet another conflagration. All of that came to mind as I read the essay below, by Gabriel Katz, for reasons that he explains far better than I can. Happy Hanukkah to all. — BW On Friday July 16, I moved across the country and into a Moishe House, one of a network of communal Jewish houses in cities including Boston, New York, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. On Thursday, July 22, my two roommates asked me to move out. What could possibly have gone that wrong in less than a week? Before answering that question, let me explain why I wanted to live in a Moishe House. Judaism was the foundation of my childhood. As a child, I attended Jewish day school and Jewish summer camp and regularly celebrated Shabbat and the Jewish holidays. Some of my most enduring childhood memories are at the Shabbat dinner table, where my parents and their friends would discuss world affairs and important societal issues. There were always multiple viewpoints expressed. My mother is a rabbi, and my parents always taught us that such disagreements were the essence of living Jewishly—to argue, as the rabbis taught, for the sake of heaven. I lost touch with the Jewish community during high school and college, and after graduation I yearned for a Jewish community made up of my peers. I hoped that living in a Moishe House would allow me to reconnect with the Jewish community in a meaningful way. Initially, my roommates and I got along well. In just my first few days, we had brunch at a local restaurant, went out for drinks at a local club, watched NBA games and started the show “New Girl.” On my sixth day, I attended my first Moishe House event. Toward the end of the evening, a couple of people, including my roommate Michelle (because of the unpleasant story I am about to tell, I am changing the names of all who are involved) and her boyfriend, invited me to a bar. Michelle’s boyfriend drove me to the bar, while Michelle and her friend drove separately. As we were driving, he asked what I did for work. I replied that I work in digital technology for a defense contractor. He replied that my employer “killed lots of people”, and that I only thought highly of the company “because they paid your bills.” Shocked, I replied that my view of the company was motivated by reasons other than my paycheck, namely my belief in the need for American leadership on the global stage. As a Jew and a political conservative who grew in Massachusetts, I am very used to being in the minority. But my family’s Shabbat dinner table taught me the value of voicing my opinions respectfully and engaging others in good faith. No one ever made me feel that I didn’t belong because I had a different view. What I encountered in the Moishe House was not the Jewish vibe I grew up with. At the bar that night, the group spent hours interrogating me. There was no conversation. No discussion. No back and forth. When I explained that I am politically conservative, someone responded, “On purpose?” The next evening, my roommates sat me down in our living room and demanded that I move out. They explained that when they agreed to accept me as a roommate, they did not know I was politically conservative. Michelle said that she felt “unsafe” around me, and that she would not be able to take her birth control or bring her queer friends around me. My other roommate, Sarah, said that she did not think to ask about my political views because I was the first young conservative she had ever met. They both repeatedly said that my political views made them “uncomfortable.” In an email later that week, Sarah wrote me: “If you cannot unequivocally say that you are anti-racist and support gay rights and women's reproductive health and prison reform and defunding the police, among other important platforms, then we have an irreconcilable differences that would not lead to a harmonious living environment.” She continued: “I implore you to look inside yourself [and] consider why your viewpoints make us so uncomfortable.” While I would have been happy to engage with my roommates on these important issues, I was not willing to subject myself to litmus tests and interrogations. In that spirit, I replied: “Personally, my politics begin and end with being kind to others, never being exclusionary, and welcoming all people and views.” I explained: “I just moved across the country to this house, willing to live with whomever thanks to our shared Jewish faith and the belief that disagreements can be overcome through dialogue and respect for each other.” This is my apparently scandalous worldview: I strongly believe that free markets, limited government, a strong national defense, the rule of law, and individual freedoms are the best means to ensure that everyone in a society can thrive--including disadvantaged minorities. This is what made me “unsafe.” Throughout the entire ordeal, I dealt with both regional and national Moishe House staff. They behaved throughout as though I had done something wrong, not as if I was the one being bullied. They never acknowledged that my roommates were asking me to leave because they did not agree with my political views. Instead, they portrayed my roommates’ behavior as taking issue with the supposed animus I had towards gay people, Native Americans, and other minorities. (I have none.) This allowed them to label the whole ordeal as a “roommate dispute.” After two long weeks, I left the Moishe House on August 6 and was fully reimbursed for my moving expenses. Moishe House’s website states, “We embrace and encourage a variety of voices, backgrounds and perspectives. We recognize that clear and open communication are key to cultivating community.” Moishe House’s Resident Handbook explicitly states that “Moishe Houses are intended to be spaces of community and comfort regardless of political affiliation” and that this is “really important to building a strong Moishe House network.” How could any Moishe House staff read the email I received and fail to acknowledge a clear violation of Moishe House’s values? How can an organization that claims to be about welcoming the whole Jewish community consider a person with my politics to be beyond the pale? The Jewish community is not immune from the growing censoriousness of American political culture. While Jewish tradition treasures discussion and debate, my ordeal suggests that the Moishe House does not tolerate any deviation from left-wing orthodoxy, or at the very least is not willing to support someone who does. The Jewish community these days purports to prize “inclusion” above all else. But if my experience is any indication, inclusion does not include people who are judged to have the wrong political views. This is a tragic departure from the most powerful and enduring lessons of Jewish history. As we celebrate Hanukkah this week, I am reminded of the famous disagreement between Hillel and Shammai and their respective academies, Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, for how to properly light the Hanukkah lights. Although the method of Beit Hillel is now the worldwide practice, we remember and honor both of their approaches 2,000 years later because both rabbis were prepared to debate and discuss with one another—and to allow their students to marry one another. In an era in which so many want to insist that politics supersedes family, relationship and community, Judaism offers another vision. For further Hanukkah reading: The Menorah, by Theodore Herzl, is among the most moving essays about Hanukkah—and Judaism—that I’ve ever read. I get chills when I read this 2017 oped by Daniella Greenbaum about lighting the Hanukkah candles under the swastika’s shadow. Liel Leibovitz wrote a typically provocative and powerful piece about the holiday in First Things. The Cool Jews by Dara Horn, published a few years ago in Tablet, is about the ancient (and tragic) Jewish desire to fit in. And listen to Leslie Odom Jr. sing a gorgeous Ma’oz Tzur: https://youtu.be/Beb8FsHBh-g

https://youtu.be/3w58197A2_s Parashat Miketz 5782 / פָּרָשַׁת מִקֵּץ Read on 4 December 2021 / 30 Kislev 5782. Parashat Miketz is the 10th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Genesis 41:1-44:17 https://tikkun.io/#/r/1-41-1 Parashat Miketz tells of Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams, Joseph's rise to power in Egypt, and Joseph's testing of his brothers. Triennial year 3 1: 43:16-18 · 3 p’sukim · 2: 43:19-25 · 7 p’sukim · 3: 43:26-29 · 4 p’sukim · 4: 43:30-34 · 5 p’sukim · 5: 44:1-6 · 6 p’sukim · 6: 44:7-17 · 11 p’sukim · 7: Numbers 28:9-15 · 7 p’sukim · // Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah maf: Numbers 7:42-47 · 6 p’sukim · // Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14-4:7 · 21 p’sukim // Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah Joseph spends another two years in prison, after which time Pharoah has two dreams which disturb him. In the first dream, he is standing over the Nile and seven healthy cows come out followed by seven ugly gaunt cows that devour them. In his next dream, seven healthy ears of corn grow on a stalk followed by seven scorched ears that swallow up the healthy ears. He is disturbed by these dreams and neither his magicians nor his wise men can satisfactorily interpret the dreams. It is then that the chief cupbearer tells him about Joseph having interpreted accurately his own dream the two years prior. Pharoah sends for Joseph who is cleaned up. Pharoah recounts the dreams to Joseph, but this time adding that the gaunt cows appeared the same after devouring the healthy cows and that he had never seen such cows in Egypt before. Joseph tells Pharoah that G-d will help him interpret the dream and confirms the dreams are the same, and that G-d will also tell Pharaoh what to do. There will be seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Since the gaunt cows looked the same after eating the healthy cows, Josephs advised Pharoah to find a wise man to store excess grain for the coming years of famine. Pharoah puts Joseph in charge of that and makes him viceroy. He gives him a new Egyptian name, “Zapenath-paneah” and Asenath, Potiphar’s daughter, to marry. Joseph is thirty years old. Joseph carries out the plan and has two sons, Manasseh and Ephriam. The famine sets in after the seven years of plenty and people from other countries come to Egypt for grain. Jacob sends ten sons (Benjamin stayed behind) down to Egypt to procure grain in the midst of the famine. The brothers come face-to-face with Joseph, the grand vizier to ask for grain, bowing to him thus validating Joseph’s dreams from years earlier. They do not recognize him since it’s been over twenty years and Joseph is now a man. Joseph recognizes them and tests them for their character. He accuses them of being spies and responds to them saying how they have another brother at home. Joseph imprisons them but after three days, brings them back and tells them to bring their youngest brother to him to verify their denial of being spies. He has Simeon shackled and imprisoned as a hostage. The brothers seem to be burdened by guilt for how they treated Joseph years before and bemoan that this is their punishment. On the journey home, the brothers reach into their sacks for food and find their own money bags. They get home and tell Jacob what happened. Jacob is not willing to endanger his only son from Rachel, Benjamin. The famine is still severe and the Jacob wants to send them back to Egypt for more grain. They remind him that they had their money in their sacks and the grand vizier (Joseph) demanded they bring Benjamin to him. Judah convinces Israel that he will be responsible for Benjamin, and now Jacob lets him go. This time, they bring double the money and gifts. Upon arriving, Joseph greets them and invites them to dine with him. Joseph sees Benjamin and is overcome with emotions, so he excuses himself to gain composure. Simeon is brought out and they all clean up in preparation for the meal. They are seated according to age and Benjamin is given double portions. Joseph makes one final test for their integrity and repentance for how they have treated him in the past. He has their bags filled with food and their money. He also plants his silver goblet in Benjamin’s bag. After they barely leave, Joseph sends his steward out to catch up to them outside the city and accuses them of stealing his special goblet. The brothers deny the charge and invite the steward to search their bags, insisting that if found they will be his slaves. The steward finds the goblet in Benjamin’s bag and the brothers are distraught. Jacob set this situation up wanting to know if the brothers will defend Benjamin, or being Jacob’s favorite, abandon him as they did to Joseph. Judah now steps forward to address he grand vizier.