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https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17860421761386848/ Eva Based on a true story In memory of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust FEB 13 HIGHLIGHT = START OF STORY In case the above link doesn't work: https://www.instagram.com/eva.stories/ #EvasStory

https://youtu.be/AvMLW9ljxrA #ParashatKedoshim #DvarTorah #TorahCommentary

https://youtu.be/bqk0e262TPQ Unfortunately, here we are again, six months to the day, another tragedy. Another shooting in a synagogue. Some may be tempted to say that at least this tragedy had less causalities than the previous one, but any casualty is a tragedy. What’s worse is that this follows similar horrific events at first a mosque, then a bunch of churches in different parts of the world. And now we have yet another incident at a college back in North Carolina. Anti-Semitism has been rising over the last ten years according to the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith. Hatred of Jews has come from out of the fringes into the mainstream. Many are excusing it by couching it with rationalizations that their disdain is merely for the politics of our homeland. There are even Jews who support the ideologies of some of these so-called progressives in their criticisms. With this overt antagonism against us Jews, is it any wonder that this politically correct form of bigotry has been gaining momentum? Some of our modern sages have said that anti-Semitism is not the end, it’s just the beginning of bigotry against other groups. As we’ve seen rise in anti-Semitic incidents, we’ve seen more and more attacks against other groups. We’ve seen groups go after Muslims, and then Muslim extremists attack Christians on their holiest day of the year. Violence is on the rise. Solutions are being proposed. The first of the two main ones involve curtailing or even eliminating certain types of guns. Some go so far as to want to ban all private gun ownership, that less guns would mean less violence. Those favoring gun ownership are quick to proclaim that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. They also say that the answer is not less guns, but more; citizens should be armed to confront armed attackers and that is the only way to protect ourselves, to meet force with greater force. The second main argument is that we need better mental health. We need to identify and help those who are troubled. The problem with that, however, is that many of these people do not have a history of mental health issues, so how do we isolate them? In fact, the shooter in Poway used to go to church with his family on Sundays and no one had a clue. Some propose closer monitoring of social media for clues, especially certain websites that encourage bigotry. This closer control, however, may lead to more government oversight which means more restrictive access to media which some will proclaim leads us on a slippery slope to tyranny and dictatorship. Still others feel that some freedom in exchange for safety is worth the cost. This is all very pessimistic and discouraging. Is there a solution? If so, what and how? How about if we go back to that manual for living, our great book, the Torah? Let us learn from our sages. Our sages were great people who had respect for G-d, yes, but also had respect for other people. They knew how to treat people, but they also knew how to deal with adversity. Abraham Aveinu and Sarah Emanu usually had their tents open on all sides so that they could welcome travelers. This, by the way, is the prototype and one of the reasons why we get married under a Hupah. They would welcome strangers even in a world of rampant xenophobia. And when he was informed that Sodom and Gemorrah would be destroyed, he pleaded with Hashem on their behalf for mercy. Moshe Rabbeinu had to endure the complaints of the Israelites who were the benefactors of G-d’s hospitality in the wilderness, and yet pleaded on their behalf after G-d said He was going to destroy them after the Golden Calf incident. Aaron the High Priest, when he wasn’t officiating at the Tabernacle would seek out bickering Israelites and make peace between them, telling each that the other was upset that they were no longer friends. And what did Hillel tell a potential proselyte was the essence of Torah? Simply that what is hateful to yourself, don’t do to others. Yet with all their kindness and respect, these people acted to defend themselves when the need arose. Abraham raised an army to rescue Lot and his family who were caught in a tribal war. Moses sent out men to make quick work of the Amelekites after they attacked the women and children. The key is to respect people, to let them know that they matter. And our Torah has no shortage of commandments in that effort. We are commanded—commanded!—to love our neighbors as ourselves, love the stranger and make them welcome. We are commanded to help our brother who’s stuck even if we don’t like them, and in fact, we help someone we don’t like first before helping our friends. On Yom Kippur before G-d forgives us, we have to go out and make peace with those whom we, ourselves, have wronged. It would seem logical that we need to apply these principals in our daily lives. Maybe if some of these attackers had felt some compassion from others, they wouldn’t have felt the need to seek solace and friendship through these extreme groups. It has been said that as Jews we are a nation of priests. We have to set an example. We need to embrace these commandments and live their precepts. You see a new person at school or work, introduce yourself and to your friends and make them welcome. Smile at people more. Do what the bumper sticker says and practice random acts of kindness. One of the speakers at the community Holocaust Memorial made a profound point. She said that Hitler was one person and started World War II. Her goals was to be one person who created peace. What if we all set that as our goal? King Solomon, in his book of Proverbs stated: “Who is strong? One who controls their passions”. We need to control our passions. Take a deep breath, count to three, and remember that, as the Torah states very often, words matter and can hurt. If we all practice Judaism, we can make a difference. It can make the difference between an attack or no attack. Who knows? Be that change agent today. #FridayNightSermon #StandwithPoway #StandUpagainstAntiSemitism #StandUpforShabbat

https://vimeo.com/309023408/d19f27b56f #YomHashoa #RemembertheHolocaust

https://youtu.be/9PV538VXLjg #ParashatAchereiMot #ParashasAcherei #TorahPortion #DvarTorah

https://youtu.be/oXuGX6HYtF4 This week’s Torah portion for Shabbat is the second Passover/Shabbat portion. Since Pesach is eight days, when it starts on Shabbat, there are two special parashats. One would naturally expect that each portion has some application to the festival. Interestingly enough, on the surface, it does not. This week’s special Torah portion comes from the book of Deuteronomy. It starts off discussing the various tithes that will be required of all the Israelites once they settle in the Promised Land, and then reviews the various pilgrimage festivals. Since Passover is one of the times when the Israelites would travel to the Temple (along with Shevuot and Succot), this would seem to be the connection. What about the idea of tithing, that is, taxing each year to support those in society that are of much lesser means? How does that relate to Passover? What prompted the sages to connect the two? First of all, consider that Judaism is a philosophy of philanthropy and humanism. Our Torah is replete with commandments and examples to be generous and magnanimous. Our greatest prophets were not high and mighty people but humble servants. Abraham was the greatest of our sages and had a very intimate relationship with Hashem. He would sit by the entrance of his tent and wait for travelers for whom he could host. The situation in which he entertained the three angels of G-d was while he was recovering from circumcision. He then pleaded for mercy for the residents of Sodom and Gemorrah who were notorious Xenophobes. Moshe Rabbeinu as well looked to serve others. Perhaps his finest hour was when he pleaded for mercy after the Israelites broke their covenant with G-d and fashioned a Golden Calf. There is also a passage in the Torah which mentions Aaron and the Elders of Israel. Moses is left out. Why? Because he was busy playing host and serving everybody. Consider our commandments that implore us to be kind to the stranger, help our brother/neighbor, and never to take revenge. These are almost natural tendencies that we, as humans, have. But Hashem knows this and devised the Torah to have us focus on the positive in order to grow and have the positive come out. So here are the Israelites, having just come from a life of bondage into the promised land where they will be free. They will be able to worship Hashem and live a life of sanctification. They will be influenced to live those commandments and focus on the positive. The promised land is holy, and we are to be holy to inhabit Hashem’s land. In order to do that, we have to grow and be the best people we can be. But we also have to use the last 210 years of bondage as our reference for what not to do. This portion of the Torah was chosen because in order to inhabit the holy land, we ourselves must be holy. The rest of this portion for Shabbat goes over the various holidays and festivals that occur over the course of a year. Rabbi Dr. Hertz, who edited our Chumash, has stated that the Jewish year is one big program. We don’t just live our lives, but we live them with a purpose. Our lives are dedicated to serving Hashem. Why? So that we live a righteous life. And what does that do for us? It keeps our focus on what’s important. Much of that is giving thanks. We have holidays and festivals, as you’ve probably noticed, that seem to have two components. The first is celebrating the bounty of that time of year. In the spring we are grateful for the first fruits, like the barley harvest (ie, the Omer) and in the fall we are thankful for the rest of the harvest (ie Sukkot). Respectively, we also thankful for the giving and receiving of Torah, and G-d’s protection. In the Spring, we also celebrate our freedom, and in the Fall we acknowledge our weaknesses and make a commitment to do better the next year. #FridayNightSermon #FridaysSermon #TheHumanityofJudaism

https://youtu.be/TWqQz7WkpnE

https://youtu.be/mSZBIhNM3FE

https://youtu.be/DziC7diq8h0 #ParashatPassoverI #ParashasPesachI

https://youtu.be/r2zu0KQPcXI A few days ago from this writing, Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana and Democratic Presidential hopeful, confronted Vice President Mike Pence for the latter’s apparent lack of morals. Mayor Buttigieg referred to Vice President Pence as a hypocrite that espouses Christian values and yet engages in dishonest conduct not becoming the label. Mayor Buttigieg referred to Vice President Pence as a “Pharisee”. Most Christians are familiar with the term “Pharisee” from the Gospels of the New Testament. In reality, this was a sect of Judaism that would give way to the modern Judaism that we practice today and these were the first rabbis that oversaw the morphing of the Temple practices to how we worship today in synagogues all over the world after the Temple was destroyed. In the context of the New Testament, the Pharisees were seen as “hypocrites, fools…full of extortion and greed”, according to Amy-Jill Levine, a professor at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School who was quoted for an article in the Jerusalem Post on April 16, 2019. This term is an anti-Semitic trope that describes a stereotype. It is another “trope” to demean Jews. Some Jewish leaders have called on Mayor Buttigieg to stop using the term. In response, the Mayor’s national press secretary stated that the term “Pharisee” is a common expression for “hypocrite”. Years ago, my wife and I went to a local hotel conference center where they were selling paintings. We had moved into our first house and were in the process of decorating. I went to the counter to pay for the paintings and as the clerk and I were talking , she mentioned that some people came in, thought the prices were too high and tried to “Jew her down”. I politely and calmly told her I was Jewish and that this was really a slur. At first, she started to apologize but then, in the parlance of today, doubled down and insisted that this was a valid slang term that could be found in the dictionary to describe someone who’s cheap. Her lack of remorse prompted me to contact the directors of the operation who did apologize profusely. It is interesting that Mayor Buttigieg clings to such a trite term and uses it as a derogatory description. What he doesn’t really understand is that regardless of what he may have read or heard from whatever sources, we Jews invented charity. Jewish charities have been in place for years and given not just to Jews but non-Jews as well. It is commanded in our Torah to give to those less fortunate, specifically the widow and the orphan. Our system of tithes is set up to help needy people. We are also commanded to “love the stranger”; the modern-day application would be to befriend the new person at school or work. These Jewish values are what the Mayor embraces and yet is completely ignorant that they were Jewish values almost 2000 years before Christianity came into existence. Regardless of how the Mayor meant the term, it is nevertheless an anti-Semitic trope. Unfortunately, this is becoming more and more prominent in political circles to the extreme sides of mainstream political values. It also seems to be more prominent among liberal social Democrats. It is true that there have been fringe groups—White Nationalists—on the right that have proclaimed themselves anti-Semitic. This phenomenon of ultra-liberals using similar slurs seems to be growing in an environment which sees more and more attacks on Jews. We are familiar with Ilhan Omar, a sitting US Congresswoman, one the first Muslims to be elected, using anti-Semitic language. She has used similar tropes about how Jews run the world, control Congress and how “it’s all about the Benjamins, baby”. A resolution proposed in Congress recently to address the rising number of attacks of Jews had to be changed to include all groups due to the insistence of this ultra-liberal group. One would think that these two people ought to know better. Ms. Omar is a Somali refugee and knows what it’s like to be oppressed. Mr. Buttigieg is gay and also understands being on the fringes of society. Unfortunately, they are not alone. Both politicians and media have demeaned Israel for its persecution of Palestinians and use of excessive force in responding to protests. They all ignore that Hamas, the government of Gaza has instigated violent action by firing thousands (not an exaggeration) of missile at Israel and Israel has responded by doing their best to target only the leaders. These “peaceful” protests have included balloons with incendiary devices and rock throwing at Israel, which had their soldiers do their best to just maim and not kill. But these people dismiss bigoted allegations by stating that they just criticizing the government, not the people. Does this mean that this new movement of Liberal, Social Democrats have adopted an anti-Semitic stance in their ideology? It would almost seem so. It’s getting worse, not better. It is important that we stand up to this hypocrisy of espousing social justice while berating a people with slander and libel. We need to call attention to this and call it out among the leaders of both parties letting them know that we will not tolerate injustice in any form. #Sermon #AntiSemitism

https://youtu.be/fhr6NrTCxZ0 We all go through our travails in life. Some of the challenges we face seem so daunting as to be unfixable, and our moods and dispositions inconsolable. What does Judaism offer as comfort to those that face seemingly insurmountable challenges that seem to go on and on? First of all, there are some Psalms—like 23, “The Lord Is My Shepherd—that are good for comforting. Some of the Proverbs are inspirational, like 16:23: “Who is strong? One who controls their passions”. There are some healing prayers—Mi Shaberach—that are also useful in times of distress. And of course, one of the many reasons we pray three times each day is to revisit some of the laws and teachings and behaviors that help us go through life successfully. There are things that affirm that when we call out to HaShem, He or She hears our prayers and responds. Perhaps there is a central theme to all this. Many of us, especially in times of distress, feel that G-d is adversarial. We ask, rhetorically of course but often out of frustration, why G-d puts us in these situations or give us these problems because we have, after all, done our best to be good people? It can almost feel like we are being punished for some unknown sin. Let me offer some of my own feelings with you because I’ve had some very trying times in my life and this realization helped my cope and manage a lot better. This is when I changed my idea of G-d being adversarial to HaShem being a coach. Continuing the analogy, if you were training for a sport, your coach would make you exercise, do drills, practice over and over again. At times, you'd hate Her, wanting to just quit. But then when you're competing, and all that training has given you an edge, and you cross the finish line winning the event, you see how it was all worth it for your victory. After all, isn’t this why we pray, for guidance and help? These challenges that we face throughout our lives are challenges. We can speculate why they occur—past lives, our choices—but the fact is that they do. HaShem has made Herself available for support by giving us Torah. On a more general metaphysical frame of reference, these challenges are there to empower us. We go through them, we resolve them, and we become stronger, more confident, and better able to meet the next challenge. These trying times have compelled us to develop new, maybe different skills and points of view to ascend to the next level of evolution. And then life gets better because we’ve developed new tools and skills, and got better with the skills and traits that we do have. Even beyond working out our problems, we can now relate to others in a different, more effective and efficacious manner. The bottom line here is that for whatever reason, we have to deal with these things. Let’s make the most of them and turn lemons into lemonade, right? Sure, it’s easy to say this rationally sometimes, but being in the thick of battle, sometimes our passions and feeling get the better of us. That’s when we can use those psalms and prayers. #FridayNightSermon

https://youtu.be/BpIguWJVc3c