https://youtu.be/gRbZxILJrVU I don’t typically give a sermon on a Friday night when we have a Ma’ariv Family service. I feel, however, the need to address the horrendous attack on two Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand which had tragic consequences. It was a hate crime of the same caliber as the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh a few months ago. Families attend the family service with their children. It is a happy occasion meant to highlight the wonderful accomplishments of our students and spotlight their potential leadership. The Torah consistently mentions “L’Dor vaDor”, from generation to generation to remind us that these are Judaism’s future leaders. It is up to us to impart wisdom and knowledge of our culture so they can carry on. How, then, do we frame this horrific event against the backdrop of innocence? Do we ignore it and save it for another time in the future when they are older and perhaps better able to process something like this? Do we start early to make sure that they are prepared to live in a world where sometimes hate rears its ugly head? Since we are living in a world of media-frenzy where no one can escape the inevitable influence of the 24-7 News cycle do we try to head it off at the pass so we can control the flow of information and frame it the most productive light? As a rabbi, I have embraced the idea of providing the best spiritual inspiration possible. We face many day-to-day challenges during the week and when Shabbat arrives, we want to put on our best clothes and most positive demeanors and just enjoy peace. I also feel that it is my responsibility to address this and put it into perspective to help all of us deal with it. First of all, let me echo the sentiments of other rabbis around the world and the Anti-Defamation League that I also “condemn this devastating attack, which has no place in society. When one faith is under threat, every faith is under threat”. This attack underscores that we all, all of us, Jews, Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, everyone, has to come together and denounce this bigotry. We must stand in solidarity to respond and to heal. This may bring up another question. How do we reconcile our empathy to the innocent victims of this attack with the recent spates of anti-Semitism? The UN has been for years attacking Israel and Jews with its monthly issues of resolutions against Israel. Many countries around the world have called for censure of Israel for protecting itself against unprovoked attacks. How do we reconcile our heartbreak for these people who’s only crime was observe their Sabbath against the recent anti-Semitic remarks by two Muslim women who are now sitting US Congresswomen? These two women, as well as a third who openly supports BDS, have made their share of statements that recall the age-old tropes against Jews, how we secretly rule the world by buying the favor of politicians. It is, to invoke Martin Buber, a narrow ridge. We must therefore separate ignorant individuals from philosophies. It is tempting to slip into prejudice and proclaim that Muslims in general have the same agenda as these two women. We have to fight that evil inclination and remember our Jewish values, to befriend the stranger and love our neighbors as ourselves. But we must also be vigilant. This Shabbat is “Shabbat Zachor”, the Sabbath or remembering. We are commanded to remember the wanton attacks of Amelek that would attack the women and children of the Israelites as they marched through the wilderness. This special Shabbat comes the week before Purim. The sages said that Haman was a descendent of the Amelikites and his hatred of Jews was in his DNA. While we remember the aggression of the Amelikites, we must learn from their bigotry and rise above it. While we take care to know our enemies and act against them, we must balance this with our innate love of humanity. We must honor HaShem by honoring all his creatures but we must also protect ourselves as well. #ChristchurchShottings #TragedyInNewZealand #MosqueShootings

https://youtu.be/xFmDG2enXkc

https://youtu.be/NHwdDKcdCto As a Jewish rabbi, I feel compelled to address a political issue that I, and probably many if not most of you, find very disturbing. This past election, the Democratic Party made history with the addition of three new Congresswomen. Two of them are the first Muslim women elected to the House of Representatives along with a third woman who is the youngest person ever to serve. All three are considered rising stars in the Democratic party and they represent a new “progressive, socialist” point of view. There is, unfortunately, a problem. All three of these women, one in particular, have been very vocal about how they Israel is oppressing the Palestinians, the indigent Arabs that also inhabit that area of the Middle East. They will profess that they are not anti-Semitic, mind you, but they are criticizing what they feel is the unfair treatment of a people by a repressive government. That’s all. By now, almost everyone knows who Ilhan Omar is and what she’s said about Israel and Jews. She has been very prolific on twitter talking about how American Jews have dual loyalty to Israel to the point of preferring their policies over their own country’s best interests. She had accused politicians of caving in to AIPAC (American Israel Political Action Committee), an organization that stands up for Israel. When asked by a twitter follower why she believes they influence politicians, her response was “It’s all about the Benjamins”, a reference to politicians being bribed by $100 bills. This on the heels of other similar past posts that betrayed an anti-Semitic point of view. While many might consider that she was confronting a lobby group that was seeking to unduly influence politicians, many of the references with which she criticized AIPAC were familiar anti-Semitic tropes. These were typical anti-Semitic comments that Jews control the world, hold most of the money, and seek to control governments for their own nefarious purposes. The Democratic party sought to contain this damage. The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, made a statement criticizing her comments and affirming that she does not represent the views of the Democratic Party. However, Ms. Pelosi also appointed Ms. Omar to one of the most important committees in House. As Ms. Omar’s previous comments were discovered, she started pushing back and defended and justified her position that Israel is oppressing the Palestinian people. This prompted some Congresspeople to present a resolution condemning anti-Semitism with a veiled reference to Ms. Omar’s comments without actually naming her. Supporters of Ms. Omar and her political point-of-view and detractors of Israel pushed back furiously. They drove the issue to the point where the resolution became a general condemnation of ALL forms of bigotry including Islamophobia, bigotry against the LGBTQ community, and others. At this point, many people are supporting her and her views denying that she in anti-Semitic. This has even got to the point in which some Jews have spoken out in her support. So let’s take a look at reality. All someone has to do is read the news, any news, to see that Israel only attacks to defend its sovereign nation, something that is guaranteed in the UN Charter. Recently, people from Gaza have been staging protests at the Israel border. These so-called protests involving sending over balloons with incendiary devices that have ruined the farm land of innocent Israeli civilians. These people have also thrown rocks at Israeli soldiers on the Israel side of the border who were doing nothing more than standing guard. Another issue that is not mentioned is that Hamas, the terrorist organization (labeled as such by the US and many other countries), launched 400 missiles at Israel during a time while they asked for peace talks. No one discusses how Palestinians have broke into Israel and some civilians’ homes and knifed people to death. These issues are either ignored or justified by people who claim that the Palestinian people are merely fighting for their rights. Let’s continue looking at reality. Ilhan Omar is a Somali refugee. She and parents came over to this country to escape persecution by a hostile government. In her tweets, has she ever condemned the government of Somalia or called for uprising? Has she or her cohorts discussed human rights violations in places like Saudi Arabia, Iran or North Korea? How about Gaza? That’s right, Gaza, where any journalist who disagrees with the government of Hamas is beheaded and gay people are thrown off buildings? As far as watering down this resolution. There have been organizations like “Black Lives Matter” that seeks to end persecution of people of African descent by police. When asked about black people attacking other black people in economically depressed areas, the response has been to dismiss that as another issue. Similarly, when people have expressed differences of opinion with the gay community about them getting married, the response was swift and aggressive. Last month was Black History. There are also International Women’s Day and Hispanic History Month. What if someone were to propose that this is too narrow and we should have just a general “Minorities History Month”? Now don’t misunderstand me—I fully support having various groups be showcased to help instill pride in their culture. Why, however, is there not a Jewish History Month? Consider that Jews represent, as of the last census, 1.7% of the population of the United States. The country of Israel is less than the size of New Jersey and yet receives the ire of practically the entire world. We have been persecuted and oppressed for 1800 years. We have been murdered by governments in various countries. We have been chased out of countries and had our possessions stolen. Why are we not considered a protected minority? Despite all these hardships, we are some of the most successful people in the world, as a group. We are overrepresented in professions such as medicine and law and have won a disproportionate amount of Nobel prizes. So, no, no benefits. There is an unfortunate pattern to this. When some of us were children, our parents, many of whom went through World War II and others that survived the Holocaust said that it can happen in this country. It is. This is the beginning. We have to fight this subtle prejudice. We have to confront these people that would justify and validate hatred and criticism against Israel for what it really is: yet another attack on Jews. Many people criticize the government in Israel. In fact, there is an impending election with all the sniping that you’d expect when opposing parties seek power. Issues are being discussed. But they are discussed in a typical political fashion without talking about oppression and bigoted stereotypes. These people are using this to blur the lines. We must remain vigilant and stop this cancer before it grows. #AntiSemitism #IlhanOmarAntisemiticrtropes

https://youtu.be/NguqcsUhLZc #ParashatPekudei #ParashasPekudei #TorahCommentary #TorahPortionParashaReeh

https://youtu.be/IwBcKfGi_Ik SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA Dvar Torah – March 1, 2019 Tonight, is the twenty-third annual SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA, sponsored by NJOP (National Jewish Outreach Program is now NJOP). Tonight, SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA is being celebrated in over ___ locations, in ___ U.S. states and ___ Canadian provinces. By participating in SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA, you join in a grand celebration of Shabbat that ties together Jews from all walks of life, who are participating in synagogues of all denominations, and connecting to Jews all across the North American continent and beyond. This Shabbat we read in the Torah both parashat Vayakkhel and the special Torah portion for parashat Shekalim, that describes the half shekel donation given in Temple times to the Temple treasury to support the Temple’s budget, but also to serve as a way of conducting a census of the nation. Parashat Vayakhel’s opening verses (Exodus 35) juxtapose two major themes: the mandate to construct a mishkan -- a portable tabernacle, with the call to observe the Sabbath. Prior to mentioning both of these lofty directives, Moses gathers all of the Children of Israel. A famed Chassidic Rebbe, Rabbi Abraham Bornstein, the first Rebbe of Sochatchov (1838-1910, Poland) found significance in the order of the three items that are mentioned in the opening verses of Vayakhel: 1) first a call to unify and to gather the nation, 2) then an admonition to observe the Sabbath, and 3) only then are the people encouraged to erect the Tabernacle. Rabbi Bornstein points out that prior to consecrating the Tabernacle, individual Israelites would sacrifice to God on bamot, elevated stages that were found throughout the Israelite camp. With the consecration of the Tabernacle, use of the bamot became prohibited. As the sacrificial order became unified, the Jewish nation was united with the Tabernacle serving as the nation’s headquarters. For this reason, advances the Sochatchover Rebbe, the command to unify and gather came first, followed by Shabbat, the special sacred day that holds the secret of Jewish unity. Only after those first two levels of unity are established, does the third takes place, centralizing Jewish worship by consecrating the Tabernacle. For 23 consecutive years, SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA has transformed the Divine mandate and the Divine gift of Shabbat into an international movement and phenomenon. SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA‘s goal has always been to unify North American Jewry through the sanctity of Shabbat. NJOP has passionately endeavored to bond Jews to their Jewish birthright and heritage. Whether through Hebrew reading, SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA, Crash Courses in Basic Judaism and Jewish History, Holiday programs, or a robust social media presence, NJOP has built bridges between Jews and fellow Jews, and between Jews and their Judaism. Tonight is SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA because hundreds of dedicated Jewish professionals and volunteers have made it so. Tonight is SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA because tens of thousands of North American Jews have decided to spend Shabbat night together in fellowship with co-religionists, engaging in Jewish life and contemplating our collective Jewish future. Each and every one of NJOP’s partners - comprised of synagogues, military bases, Hillel houses, Moishe Houses, JCCs, Federations and outreach centers - have committed to the notion that when we celebrate Shabbat together, the observance is ennobled, and becomes more uplifting, uniting us all. Thank you for attending and elevating this particular Shabbat, and transforming it into a collective one with this community and with hundreds of others across North America and beyond. Enjoy the rest of Shabbat! Shabbat Shalom. #ShabbatAcrossAmerica #DvarTorah

https://youtu.be/D9uNeSHKtr4 #ParashasVayakhel #ParashatVayakhel #DvarTorah #TorahCommentary

https://youtu.be/1YrUBM839f4 “Oh, Lord, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking falsehood; and to those who slander me, let me give no heed. May my soul be humble and forgiving to all.” Three times a day we close our silent standing prayer, i.e. the “Amidah”, with this sentence. It is noteworthy that in the Torah, the commandment to not murder is cited only twice. The commandment to not talebear or bear false, on the other hand, is cited about eight times in one form or another. There is a purpose to everything that is in the Torah—the order, the specific words, and yes, the amount of times something is discussed. And yes, the fact that the former is mentioned twice and the latter is mentioned eight times is significant. Gossip, “L’shone HaRah” (Evil Tongue), has been described as being sort of a living death. When a person is dead, they’re dead. That’s it. When someone’s reputation is maligned, it affects every faucet of their life in a negative way. If people have a bad image of someone, they are very likely to not do business with them. This affects their ability of make a living, and maintain shelter from the elements and put food on the table and clothe themselves, etc. These people would invariably have to leave their home and settle somewhere else where people don’t know them and they can start fresh. In the Torah, there is the case of a husband who suspects his wife of adultery. The woman is put through tests and when she passes those tests, her husband and her community are commanded to act as if it never happened. She is vindicated. This is a negative commandment, a commandment in which we are told NOT to do something. There is a positive commandment that may be considered to be the converse of this. That would be to “love your neighbor as yourself”. If you are loving your neighbor as yourself, what would make you want to demean them? During the High Holidays, we’ve chanted the “Ashamru”, the list of insults that we’ve committed as we strike the left side of our chest with our right fist. Interesting, by the way, that, according to Kabbalah, we are striking the “judgement” side of our body with the “mercy” side. We recite such sins as “we’ve gossiped” and “we’ve lied”. What would make people gossip and slander and demean people? Consider that it’s an attack. It’s a way of belittling someone. Of course we’re looking to hurt them. It’s also very cowardly because people are talking about other people behind their backs, when they’re not there to defend themselves or set the record straight. This is the whole point. The people who are demeaning the others don’t want a fair fight; they just want to hold all the cards and not be confronted or challenged. They also don’t want to be held accountable for their statements. This has even spilled over into social media. How many people—kids, actually—have been bullied even to point of suicide by people posting untrue declarations about them? Gangs of kids attacking other kids for really no reason, just because. Why? They want that power. There are people who make their living, gossiping about famous people. These people sit in judgement of others, discussing in a lot of cases, their problems and weaknesses ostensibly to reveal the “truth” about these people. Many people believe that this is OK, because since these are public figures, they have implicitly accepted this “occupational hazard”. Some famous people have even given up their celebrity rather than bear this situation. Judaism would not condone this; a commandment is a commandment. Consider that there is a larger picture. Politics, today, has devolved into a battle of wits, and contest of insults, what we used to call—in grade school—a big rank out session. No longer are elections about policy or how candidates are going to make life better for their constituents. Rather, it’s about how bad the other person is and all the terrible things they’ve done. In fact, as many of us have seen, some of those things that politicians are purported to have done aren’t even real and are the stuff of fiction. During the last presidential election, it wasn’t about problems facing our country and who is best capable of fixing them. It was about someone’s wife, or someone else who was crooked or a liar or their honesty in business. Etc. Name calling and accusations. And we love it. It’s the best reality show on air! People are talking about it all the time. Journalists, many of whom have won prestigious awards, are visibly uncomfortable attempting to treat this childish nonsense in an intellectual capacity. The problem is that after years of this, it’s become the new normal. People have accepted this and are now making their voting decisions based on who can rank out their opponent better. L’shon HaRah at its absolute worst. Asking forgiveness for our sins does not come cheap. When you repent, you have to mean it. It’s been said that if you repent and ask forgiveness for a sin, HaShem will put you in the same situation again to give you the opportunity to show that you are sincere in wanting to change. The only way we are going to be forgiven is not accept gossip and not listen to slander. Beyond that, we shouldn’t allow others to talk bad in our presence. Confront them with facts, suggest that if they have an issue with someone, rather than talk about them behind their back, they should approach that person and resolve the issues. If they’re not willing to do that, then they shouldn’t say anything. As it has been said: Evil flourishes when good does nothing. #Gossip #FridayNightSermon

https://youtu.be/dXa8wwH_2as #ParashatKiTisa5779 #ParashasKiSisa5779 #DvarTorah #TorahCommentary

https://youtu.be/G06zuQvK2XA There are many stages in life, and each contains its own unique emotional challenges. Erik Erikson was a psychologist who looked at the various challenges of these particular “stages”. He categorized each of these stages as pertaining to the psychosocial development at that stage. For me, I am getting to the point in my life in which I am known as a “senior citizen”. Of course this depends on which business is willing to give a discount at a specific age. Some are a little older, some are a little younger. Either way, I’m at the point where I get an invitation to join AARP just about every other day, it seems. Approaching these “Golden Years”, as a senior citizen, I am at the point of looking back at my life, wondering if I made the right choices and pushed myself as much as I could to accomplish things in life. As one tends to look back on their lives, we wonder if they did the right thing. Anybody have these same feelings? Erikson called this final stage, “Ego Integrity vs. Despair”. Do we see our lives as productive? Or do we feel guilty about our past, dissatisfied with what life threw at us, wondering if somehow we could have done better? To extend this a bit, do we feel that somehow life was unfair, always challenging us yet not letting us reap any rewards for any hard work we put in? It’s a tough call. Now, even though Erikson confined this stage to older people, I’ll bet that there are many younger people, maybe even teenagers, who ask themselves these questions. I submit that most decisions we make in life come with the afterthought, “did I do the right thing, make the right decision?” It’s probably more a part of human nature than we think. Time machines do not exist. We can’t go back in time and change things, or see how this decision would have worked out. I listened to a lecture by a rabbi on “Torah Anytime”, and he made the comment that it’s a good thing that we live finite lives. There’s a sense of urgency to accomplish things since we really never know how much time we have or how we’re going to end up. So we have to confront our challenges in life the same way and know that we made the best decision we could have for that moment. So what if we’re concerned that we made the WRONG decision? Consider that HaShem loves “Teshuva”. HaShem loves it when we feel that we’ve strayed from the path, the “derech” and returned to His commandments. So too, we can always “return” to what may be a better path after making a less-than-efficacious decision. One of the things that people who ruminate on their life’s paths tend to ignore is how much they’ve grown. They say that “hindsight is 20/20”. Looking in the rear-view mirror, we can always see the bigger picture. What people don’t seem to give themselves credit for is the fact that whatever those previous decisions were, they gave us more wisdom, and the insight to evaluate our previous actions in a brighter light. RATHER THAN BEAT OURSELVES UP FOR NOT HAVING THAT KNOWLEDGE THEN, LET’S USE OUR NEW-FOUND WISDOM, THE WISDOM WE ACQUIRED THROUGH THESE PAST DECISIONS, TO DRIVE OUR LIVES WITH MORE MEANING GOING FORWARD! Right? Finally, let’s look at the 10th Commandment: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s belongings”. In other words, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. How about bringing this closer to home? Don’t covet your own imaginings either, the better life that you think you would have had with a different decision. One of the reasons that stealing is an offense against G-d is because He apportioned everything for everyone according to His wisdom. By stealing, we are really going against His Design. We have what we have because G-d gave us what we needed, what we deserved, and what would motivate us to push ourselves. By coveting another life, we are going against G-d’s plan, questioning His Divine Knowledge. Let this then answer your question. G-d put the challenges in front of you, and you did the best you could with what you had. Sure we may think we could have, would have, wanted something better, but we got the best we could and did the best we could under the circumstances. So if you ever consider that somehow you’ve failed, you probably are selling yourselves short. Imagine how your life would have turned out if you didn’t have the insight to question?

https://youtu.be/_2TRhmsAUYY #ParashatTetzaveh #DvarTorah #TorahCommentary

https://youtu.be/deB-znCprXY Why do we need commandments? Ever consider that? Why do we need to have a Torah? Why, in fact, is even religion necessary? Why should we even believe in G-d? On the surface, these questions are sacrilegious and border on heresy. Here we are in a sanctuary of G-d praying to him as we do every day and now there are questions as to why. Stop and think for a minute and as we’ll see, these philosophical questions will lead us to a potentially disturbing realization. As a species, we need rules and they need to be enforced. Most people take that for granted. We all live in society and we have to have standards in order to get along and be able to fulfill ourselves without having to worry about devastation or attack. The potentially disturbing realization is that humans are not intrinsically good. At first blush, this comment is very cynical, negative and misanthropic. But true. People will skirt rules, lie, cheat, steal and even kill to get want they want. That’s why Torah is not just necessary, but critical. In fact, in the Tractate of Shabbat in the Talmud, one sage lamented that without Torah, Hebrews would have destroyed the world. Many people will be indignant at this consideration. They will state emphatically that humankind is intrinsically good. Hate, they say, is learned, and they will show you a picture of two kids—one white, one black—who cut their hair exactly alike so their teacher wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. So where did all the bigots come from? Their parents? Were they born innocent and then get brainwashed by bigoted parents? What happened when they became adolescents and gained, according to a famous psychologist, creative thought processes? They couldn’t figure it out themselves that skin color is an extremely small part of a person’s physiology and has no effect on any other part of their cognitive functioning? Look around the world. Some egotistical hypocrite schemes his or her way to top of a political heap and enslaves their people. In fact, that’s not good enough for them and they go after other peoples. Never do they consider, hmmm, I love a challenge, let’s turn this country into a veritable Utopia. When you look at the commandments, they seem to just make sense. Don’t kill? Yes, it’s pretty final and violent what right do you have to take a life? Don’t steal? Same concept, and besides, it’s not your stuff. Mother and father? They raised you, be grateful. Adultery? You made a promise, stick to it. And so on. OK, so we humans need rules. We’re not perfect and we’re all works in progress. G-d created us not perfect so he can proud of us that we made something of ourselves and grew to be good people. Consider our natural tendencies. Most of us wake up in the morning, still tired despite how much sleep we got and craving that cup of coffee, the first of many. Things happen in life, like the car doesn’t start, we’re out of our favorite cereal and we forgot to get more, we fight traffic, have to go through an imperfect system to get anything and all this puts us in a bad mood. And now we have to go out in the world and be polite to people when all we really want to do is go back to bed. For a week. That’s why we need to have commandments. So we can be good. So that as we go through life and get stressed dealing with imperfections, we remember what it’s all about. Sure, other people may not be so virtuous or honorable, but we can be. Many people are influenced by other people’s actions. Someone is mean to you, you’re mean to them back. What the commandments do is show us how to behave when we don’t want to. The praying and tzitzis and mezuzot are reminders. We study Torah each week to drill it into our heads. Prophets and Writings are the commentary and the Talmud answers just about any question we would have on how to apply those principles. We study Torah so that acting rightly becomes second nature. We study so that it becomes instinct between our first and second cups of coffee in the morning. We study so that if just happen to take over a country, we know how to behave. And we know, first and foremost, that Hashem is watching over our shoulder waiting for us to make Him proud. #FridaysSermon #FridayNightSermon

https://youtu.be/M2jGLumYBJo Shabbat services this week @ Congregation B'nai Chaim, Murrieta, CA: Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, February 8 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, February 9 @ 9:30am Services Parshas Terumah / פרשת תרומה Shabbat Services the following week: Bar Mitzvah of David Wallace, led by guest Rabbi Joshua Ginsberg-Margo Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, February 15 @ 7pm. Shachrit Services Saturday morning, February 16 @ 9:30am Services Parshas Tetzaveh / פרשת תצוה #ParashatTerumah #DvarTorah #TorahCommentary