Parashat Shemini 5780

Sermon Happy Passover, everyone. And of course, Shabbat Shalom. Today is both Shabbat and the first intermediate day of Passover/Pesach, in Hebrew “Chol HaMoed”, the time during the week. We all know that Passover is eight days out here in the Diaspora and seven days in Israel. The former had an extra second day added to put a fence around the Torah. As Jews spread out into the world there was concern that they would miss out because information from our land by the court maybe didn’t have time to reach them in time for the proper observance. This extra first day created a buffer. The sages will say that Passover is maybe the most important holiday or festival because it celebrates the central theme around which Judaism was created. So much so that the phrase “I am Hashem who brought you out of Egypt to be your G-d” is pervasive in our daily liturgy. Here, according to the introduction to the Artscroll Talmud Tractate of Pesach, G-d is referred to as not the Creator, but the Redeemer. Hashem rescued us from Egyptian bondage to give us Torah and make us caretakers of His principals and laws and become a nation of priests. It is we who are to bring the light of G-d’s Word to All His peoples on Earth. While we acknowledge this daily in our prayers, it is during this time of the first month of Spring that we really focus in on it. Judaism is a very hands-on, in-your-face system. Our most important holidays involve longer prayer services and some change in diet and a focus on food. While during minor festivals of Hanukkah and Purim we eat a lot of dairy and special cookies, respectively, it is really Passover and Yom Kippur when the changes are more extreme. Yom Kippur has us abstaining from ALL food and liquid for about 26 hours. Passover requires that we abstain from any “leavened” food to commemorate how the Israelites prepared to leave Egyptian bondage immediately. The Tractate of Pesach in the Talmud focuses on the laws of observance. As the Artscroll edition states, it follows the order of the holiday. Commentary starts with the search for chametz and then talks about the Pascal sacrifice and finally the second Passover for those who were ritually impure from the mitzvah of final care for someone who just died. Such are the laws. Let’s talk about the spirituality. In Judaism there are typically two or three reasons, sometimes more, for doing something. One of the reasons that we eat a special diet of unleavened food is to remember what Hashem did for us back in Egypt. Consider that besides that, the specific diet during these seven or eight days is a constant reminder of that, and thus the Redemption is on our minds throughout this period. So there is the idea of gratitude. During the silent standing prayer, the Amidah, we recite the second to last blessing of Thanksgiving. We thank G-d for the daily miracles he provides us evening, morning and afternoon. The idea is that G-d has our backs. Now, there are times, like during this period of 120 years of slavery, when G-d doesn’t act right away. In our lives, there are challenges and times when we wonder where G-d is. When G-d reached out to Moshe Rabbeinu to be the agent of change for the Israelites, He said that He has heard their cries for help. The takeaway is that it had to be the right time. So it is in our own personal lives. We may get frustrated that we face a challenge, do what we feel is the best way to resolve—maybe adjust our actions as we see fit to meet those challenges—and things still don’t seem to improve. We then start questioning where is Hashem? As the story of Passover illustrates, G-d is always there behind us. He knows when the right time to resolve will be. We just need to patient and continue observing and doing the mitzvot of the commandments. There may a lesson to be learned that may take some time. We tend to appreciate that for which we work very hard. In this extraordinary time in which our lives are so disrupted by this pandemic, we need to be patient and keep the faith. There are experts who are telling how to act. And to our credit, we’ve complied with those dictums. Yes, there have been some tragedies and we do our best to deal with them. However, the experts are now telling us that because we all obeyed those instructions, this crisis may resolve sooner. It’s definitely hard to see past the human tragedies that have resulted from this. Because we have taken those precautions and adapted the best we can to the circumstances, pollution has abated in many places and the environment is becoming more sustaining. We’ve also, as the human race, dug down into our psyches and found the good in ourselves as we’ve reached out to those in need. Things may not always work out immediately; remember that our ancestors were slaves for over 120 years. But when we persist, we will be successful.

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Parashat Pesach 5780

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Parashat Tzav 5780

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Sacrifices in the Modern Era This week’s portion starts the new book of Vayikra/Leviticus. This book contains about half of the 613 Commandments. We start this book of the Levites and Kohanim discussing four sacrifices. The first two sacrifices are voluntary offerings that address both feeling that we could do better and thanksgiving for the wonderful things in our lives thanks to Hashem. The first is the “Olah” or burnt offering that is burnt completely and goes up in smoke. The next one is the “Shelamin” or peace offering in which only certain parts of the animal are burnt while the rest is eaten. The next two are sin offerings. They are meant to repent committing any transgressions out of ignorance. Many may feel that this pertains to a part of our culture and heritage that is long gone, perhaps never to return. Since G-d proclaimed that there be no private altars among we Israelites (Jews) and sacrifices are only to be done in the Temple, and the Temple does not at the present time stand, these laws and commandments are archaic. They are best just viewed as part of our history and left there. Consider that the idea of sacrifices, however, still has relevance for today’s Jews. We are commanded to do tzedakah or justice. This is the word we use for charity and doing mitzvot. Sacrifice is to give something up, and in this context, for a greater good. Ultimately, it is about service. In these trying times of a pandemic, tzedakah is more relevant and timely, and necessary than ever. We hear about people going out of their way to help their neighbors, either sharing necessities or doing shopping for those who are compromised. People are also doing what they need to do to keep themselves and others safe by practicing controls. One of the concepts discussed in this portion is the idea of the head priest also making atonement when necessary. Our leaders are not above the law but rather expected to set an example. Before the Cohen Gadol officiates for the Congregation of Israel during Yom Kippur, he has to make his own personal expiation. This is still relevant today in the form of the “Heneini” prayer. Right before the start of the Mussaf or Additional service, the hazzan acknowledges their own shortcomings and inadequacies and asks G-d not to let this prohibit them from beseeching on behalf of the congregation. We are all familiar with the strife and toxic bipartisanship infecting our government on all levels. For the last 25 years or so, it’s been anything but politics as usual. Things in Washington, DC just haven’t been getting done. We see now during this pandemic crisis that these same leaders in bitter rivalry are coming together to solve this crisis and save lives. While it’s not perfect, we are seeing that our leaders are stepping up to the plate and being the leaders we all want and expect. These people are putting aside their contempt for each and put their constituents first. It is unfortunate that it has taken a crisis of these proportions to bring our leaders back to reality, but at least they are rising to the challenge. In fact, isn’t it interesting that when there’s a crisis is when we all realize our highest and most sincere potential and become altruistic? Many people, in times of crisis, see a strength inside themselves they didn’t know they had. Why do we need a crisis? During the Middle Ages when Jews were prohibited from practicing, they did so in secret under penalty of death. During Purim, they would gather together in darkened rooms to read the Magilla. Instead of sounding loud groggers that would alert the King’s men, they would write the name “Haman” on the soles of theirs shoes and erase it. Now that there’s no danger, no one shows up for services. The idea of the sacrifice is meant to keep that in our minds all of the time. Sacrifices taught us that our good fortune, and yes, bad fortune too, comes from one place, Hashem. It is G-d that allows us how much bounty we have, and we are obligated by Torah to give back. Unfortunately, this crisis has brought out some very unfortunate responses as well. We have had business and political leaders say in the media that they want to curtail the safety measures adopted by both health care professionals and most local government leaders in favor of improving the economy. Their callous recommendations put lives at stake for the sake of returning to economic expansion. Nothing can be more contrary to Torah than favoring commerce over human lives. The Torah specifically states, “You shall live by the Torah”. This led our sages to conclude that human life is so important and takes precedence over complying with our commandments. Remember that one of the main messages when an angel stayed Abraham’s hand in killing Isaac on the alter is that human sacrifice is absolutely forbidden. That goes both for pagan gods and business gods. Certainly, managing this crisis is going to necessitate taking austere measures to ensure safety and it’s possible that it will take longer to recover economically. But G-d created humans with frontal lobes so we can engage in creative thinking. Surely, we can use that “seichal” to find solutions that resolve both our human and economic health in optimal ways. Perhaps when this crisis is over—and it will be over—we need to see the lesson. We must not give up lofty ideals and actions and return to our baser emotions. Let us live each as if there were a crisis and practice being the evolved humans that G-d expects us to be.

Parashat Vayikra 5780

Joy is the Best Medicine As a current rabbi and former environmental biologist I am fascinated by the interconnection of science and spirituality. New findings in double blind studies published in peer reviewed scientific journals, the “gold standard” in science, are increasingly providing proof of what we already know or intuit, deep inside. It’s what a psychologist professor I once had used to call Grandma Research: proving what your grandmother could have told you, and probably often did. In this time of uncertainty and challenge, the news media supply us with many things to worry about. It’s their job, I don’t blame them. And it is the opposite of what we need right now. The Chassidic masters of the 18th and 19th centuries in Eastern Europe, whose movement was founded by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, called Baal Shem Tov, taught that joy is the best medicine. Science is now proving this. The Eastern European Jews of their time were often living in poverty. They were a persecuted minority from whom high taxes were exacted. If they failed to pay, they were often imprisoned. The rabbis of their time taught that one should live in joy, and this is the important part: independent of the circumstances. Many people know that the editor Norman Cousins cured himself of a terminal auto-immune disease through laughter, by watching funny movies. There is a growing body of research showing that that we can affect the state of our health through joy. In fact, the field of psychoneuroimmunology or mind-body medicine, is burgeoning at universities and medical schools. A 2003 study of susceptibility to the common cold virus showed that positive emotions were associated with a lower risk of developing a cold. (PsychomMed; Cohen, Doyle, Turner, Alper, Skoner). Another study from 2006 showed that the people in the study who were happy boosted their immune systems, creating more antibodies, when they were injected with a Hepatitis vaccine (Brain, Behavior, Immunity; Marsland, Cohen, Rabin, Manuckin). The converse has also been proven: that stress, worry, fear, and depression suppress our immune and endocrine systems. This is the quintessential Grandma research. My teacher, Rabbi Joseph Gelberman taught that joy is a decision, and that joy is different from happiness. As an inheritor of the Chassidic tradition, he had made a decision to always be joyous, although he wasn’t always happy, having lost many family members in the Holocaust, including his first wife and only child. We can become addicted to our familiar emotions, and yet they are simply habits that can be changed. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” Martin Seligman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has done research on changing our thinking. He wrote, “Habits of thinking need not be forever. One of the most significant findings in psychology in the last twenty years is that individuals can choose the way they think. (Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life).” Changing our way of thinking and consciously choosing joy takes commitment and practice. It doesn’t happen overnight, and yet we know we can change our habits. We can change the place where we put our keys and we can change our habits of thinking. It means intentionally ignoring the present reality to live joyously. It also means being conscious enough to catch yourself when you begin to think anything negative about a person or thing, by choosing a happy thought, and staying with that thought. Simply taking a walk in nature, remembering someone you love, or thinking about a wonderful moment in your life will raise your spirits. Optimism and open, uplifted hearts are good for us. And they may not only keep us healthy, but also heal us more quickly when we do become sick. Joy is the medicine we need right now. What we permit ourselves to think is up to us. Yes, it takes practice, yes, it takes commitment, intention, and insistence. And it is worth it. At the very least, we will all have happier days and live healthier lives. Rabbi/Cantor Jill Hausman The Actors’ Temple

Parashat Vaykhal-Pekudai 5780

Live Streaming Friday Night Shabbat Ma'ariv (3/13/2020) In response to containment efforts for the coronavirus, we live streamed the service so people could participate in our virtual service and be safe.