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In this week’s Torah portion we start hearing about the dark side of the Wilderness journeys of Israelites on their march towards freedom in their home land. The Israelites had been taken away from the only place they’ve known as home for the last 400 years and are led out into new and strange territory with nothing more than a promise. The grumbling has begun. Reading about it now, about 3000 years later, we have to wonder why. The Israelites had seen plagues inflicted on Pharaoh and the Egyptians while they themselves remained untouched. They had been led out of Egypt, protected by a cloud and pillar of fire, watching the Sea of Reeds split open to allow them through only to be closed upon the Egyptian special forces. They had spent time in the Wilderness fed by manna, a perfect food, and quenched by water appearing almost out of nowhere. So what’s the problem now? They wanted meat. Meat, or more appropriately animal flesh, in the way of quail, was provided. The grumbling, however, continued. The obvious answer is G-d provides, why grumble? Maybe not exactly at the moment we think we need it…it’s not like we sit down to eat a meal, fork and knife in place, plate in front of us saying, “OK, HaShem, we’re ready. Send down that manna anytime”. No, life is a little more complicated than that. Three times per day in our “Amidah”, we thank HaShem for the daily miracles He provides. But does He? Does G-d intervene in our lives to help us as He did to our grumbling ancestors so long ago? Consider that He does. Proof? Israel. Anti-Semitic incidents are up over the last two years. Israel is being shelled and attacked almost constantly by an enemy who was given land 13 years ago in exchange for a peace that never happened. To boot, the world is siding with the aggressors, somehow concluding that Israel is the true aggressor going after innocent civilians when by all accounts the reverse is reality. Despite all this, sympathy towards Jews is actually up. Israel remains triumphant having the developed the technology and weaponry to fend off attacks and be victorious. And many municipalities are taking measures to fight the PR barrage to economically make Israel a pariah nation. Yes, the miracles are happening. Israel has been involved in yet another war, or skirmish, or conflict…whatever we can call it. They got over a war in 2014, and that’s only because it actually broke out. That’s not including the almost daily individual attacks on its citizens. Add to that the constant barrage of condemnation from the UN and the world. Israel is the only country in the world that doesn’t get to choose its own capital. Whatever Israel does to defend itself, it’s using excessive force. And yet Israel survives and thrives. Israel takes in wounded from…Gaza. Israel has this thing where they seem to have to be the first on the scene of any disaster. They have even fought with countries that hate them to bring in the most experienced relief teams in the world to help victims. So I guess we’ve learned our lesson, haven’t we? It may have taken 3000 years, but if you see scenes of people hanging out in cafes in Tel Aviv, these seem to be the happiest people in the world. They seem to be enjoying life. These are the miracles that we enjoy. Some of them are simple, daily. Some are more pronounced. We can even go so far as to appreciate our own little synagogue out here in the middle of nowhere. We’ve had our share of ups and downs, but we’ve survived and we’re still here. Whenever things here look bleak, something happens and we’ve back on our feet. Consider this our version of manna in the desert and water wells just when we need them. It’s hard sometimes to see this as we get so entrenched in our daily lives. This is why it’s good to stop and look around and not just look, but see what’s going on around us. (Shabbat Services plug). Let’s remember to take stock of the daily miracles in our own lives.

https://youtu.be/E3Ocjk7wXrU #DvarTorah #ParashaBahalotcha #ParshasBehaaloschaפרשתבהעלתך #פרשתבהעלתך

This past week we celebrated Shavuot. This is the pilgrimage festival that celebrates both Moshe Rabbeinu receiving the tablets of the Ten Commandments and Torah, and the first fruits of the harvest, the barley. This is why we count 49 days from the second day of Pesach to this holiday with the Omer, the unit of measure equal to about 43 eggs that was part of the Temple offerings. We also read the book of Ruth, part of the section, “Writings”. Ruth was a proselyte who stuck by her mother-in-law, Naomi, when they were in dire straits. She was the great-grandmother of David, and therefore the matriarch of the Messiah of the house of David. Ruth tells the story of Naomi and her husband were wealthy. They had two sons who both married Moabite women. Naomi’s husband and her two sons died leaving the three widows penniless and destitute. Naomi told both women to go back to their native people as they would have a better chance of marrying and living a more comfortable life. The other woman left, but Ruth stayed with Naomi. Ruth had converted and held her Judaism dear. Naomi was selfless and almost pleaded with Ruth to leave and seek a better life. Naomi felt that being old, no one would marry her, let alone allow her to have more children and why should Ruth subject herself to this misery as well? In one of the most touching and heartfelt responses in the Holy Scriptures, and literature itself, Ruth tells her she will stay. “Whither thou goest, I will go. Your people will be my people”, she insists. Ruth stays with Naomi. Together they beg for food and subsist on the gleanings of fields, quite a different from their former life of plenty. Ultimately, Ruth meets the Judge, Boaz, who falls in love with her. They marry and he provides her and Naomi with a comfortable life. It is primarily because she was the progenitor of the House of David that this book is read during Shavuot. The story of Ruth is a beautiful story of faithfulness, devotion and loyalty. It provides an example of the fifth commandment of honoring one’s father and mother. It highlights what happens when one acts righteously. Perhaps there’s another lesson here that we can glean. Ruth married into a family of very well means. And the Holy Scriptures discusses that for about, oh, four or five lines. The next three chapters or so discuss what happened after she lost her family and wealth and how she and her mother-in-law struggled to just survive. Through it all, she seems to have kept up a very positive attitude especially in caring for her mother-in-law. She accepted her current situation and made the most of it. She even helped Naomi keep up her spirits as well. And in the end, her perseverance, as the I Ching says, brought good fortune. How do we all deal with adversity? Many of us—and let’s face it, it’s human behavior—tend to get upset, angry, bemoaning our fate. We can be prone to negativity and thus inaction. Ultimately, things turn around, life being what it is, and we move on. Ruth, however, kept up her spirits the whole time and we see that she is rewarded. The Holy Scriptures tends to be sparse at times but we get a sense of what’s important from where it does focus. In this case, it focuses on Ruth’s journey. It focuses on the fact that she survived. It’s certainly hard when the chips are down to be positive and upbeat. Did Ruth know that in the end things would turn around so dramatically? Did she consider that she was being tested to become the matriarch of the Messiah? Probably not. She just knew she had to withstand tumultuous times. Consider the fact that Ruth’s origins weren’t even Jewish. As we start our day with the morning brachot, we thank HaShem for making us Jews. Ruth, in effect, made herself a Jewess. She adopted a philosophy that prided humanity and tzedakah about all else. More important, she lived and embodied it. We can all learn from Ruth’s integrity and tenacity. Perhaps we will not sink to such dire depths and rise to such great heights, but we are will navigate the vicissitudes of life. As we do, let us take it from Ruth, maintain our faith, and look and work towards a grander future.

https://youtu.be/xxO4m_PdQ-w #DvarTorah #ParashaNaso

https://youtu.be/pEg1rzk5Wgk

https://youtu.be/M5dzZd9WkY8

Some may feel that a sermon about gossiping is redundant. There was a sermon during the High Holidays after all. There are probably a lot more topics that can be covered. However, consider that during the yearly course of Torah portions, I submit that you can’t go four to five portions without encountering this topic, the idea of LaShoh Harah, “bad tongue”. Why? Because it’s so easy to do, so prevalent and what a great way to seize control and hurt someone without exposing yourself. Now that may sound very severe, and we’re going to explore that. But first, how does Torah address this? The idea of gossiping and character assassination is first encountered in the Torah in Genesis, Chapter 38 in the Parasha, “VaYeishev”. Tamar is Judah’s daughter-in-law and her husband dies without giving her a child. Anxious to have an heir, she turns, as was the custom, to her husband’s next younger brother to fulfill levirate. He dies as well. Judah is then concerned that his final son will succumb to the same fate and so refuses to consent. Tamar is undaunted and disguises herself as a prostitute and entraps Judah to fulfill the obligation. Tamar is soon discovered to be pregnant and accused of adultery. Judah finally relents and admits it was him and she is spared. Tamar would rather die than expose Judah, even though she is within her rights. This is our first example of the character of not succumbing to talebearing. A couple of portions later, we have Joseph. He is now in Egypt and resists the advances of his master’s wife, who being jilted, then lies and accuses him of attacking her. He ends up spending 12 years in prison. A few weeks later into the next book, Exodus, Moses save a couple of Israelites from an Egyptian taskmaster’s attacks by killing him. The Israelites threaten to basically “tell on him”. He now has to leave his home and his people and spend 40 years in exile. A few portions later, in the Parash Yitro, Moses climbs Mt. Sinai and receives the Ten Commandments. The ninth is “Do not bear false witness against thy neighbor”. This is repeated in Deuteronomy. The portion after that starts laying out the other 603 commandments, one of which is “Do not talebear”. This is repeated another five or six times throughout the Torah in one form or another. Finally, we have a discussion of “tzarat”, a skin blemish that resembles both leprosy and elephantiasis. This is the physical manifestation of someone’s impurity who has, you guessed it, gossiped. In fact, Miriam, who has been spreading rumors about Moses’ lack of affection with his wife, comes down with it herself. This impurity confines the afflicted person outside the camp, where they can’t gossip to anyone. The sages were so impressed with the importance of this concept that they made sure to insert it into our liturgy. At the end of the Amidah, which we recite during our three-times-a-day prayers, we end it with: “Oh, L-rd, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking falsehood. To those who curse me, let my soul be silent.” (Artscroll Prayer Book, Wasserman edition, p. 119) More on this last statement in a minute. Unfortunately, our politics has devolved from discussing policy to character assassination. “Fake news” or what used to be called “propaganda” abounds. People have a taste for rumors and gossip. Why? Consider that it gives people control. It puts doubt in people’s minds and thus give the gossipmonger power. The gossipee is now on the hook to disprove the accusations. But the fact that they even came to the fore has now tarnished this person’s reputation. These comments can have a very real adverse effect on someone’s livelihood. People depend on their reputations to grow their businesses and make a living. The more severe the rumors, the worse the effect on their income. What can we, as Jews, do to combat gossip? Very simply, as the prayer states, don’t listen. Tell people you don’t listen to gossip. People gossip when that behavior is reinforced by getting attention, and thus power and control. With no audience, no power. We can also seek the truth. If we hear something disturbing, we can go to the source and check it out. Consider that there are always three sides to a story: your side, my side and what really happened. When gossippers see that you are not reinforcing their strategy, they’ll try to go on to someone who will. If they’re met with disinterest and they exhaust an audience, the issue is put to rest. The hardest thing to bear, though, is when you are the target. We hear accounts of bullies using social media to destroy someone’s reputation. These cowards are out of sight, not having to confront their targets personally, but do a lot of emotional damage. It is important to find support. Find people who know you and trust, and whom you can trust, to be an emotional support. It is also important that we always conduct ourselves with the utmost integrity so that these people are not believed in the first place. This is one of the reasons that we have this Torah, this code of moral conduct; if someone tries to defame us, our reputation and character speak for themselves. Similarly, be there to support people who are under attack. When these people see that they get nowhere with their degradation, they will end up ostracizing themselves, thus coming down with tzurat and having to remove themselves from the community.

https://youtu.be/zeg5qedEXLU #ParashaEmor #DvarTorah

The issue came up recently about changing the Friday night service to include a mini-Torah service. This was postulated since we typically do not get a minyan Saturday morning for the Shabbat Shachrit service and therefore do not typically take out the Torah. There are reasons why, with a few exceptions, Torah services are typically conducted in the morning. When the Second Temple was destroyed, and our people scattered in exile, the rabbis developed our services based on the sacrifices that were conducted. There were prayers and psalms that were recited, but the main focus were the sacrifices. The rabbis wanted Judaism to continue until such time as we rebuilt the Temple and either resumed the sacrifices or enacted another appropriate program based on whatever divine inspiration or prophecy was given by HaShem. The morning service was the main service of the day. The animals were prepared, the altar was cleaned, ashes from the previous day were removed, the incense was set up, the menorah was checked to make sure there was enough oil. Later on in the day, typically towards dusk, there was another, lesser sacrifice. Many rabbis, in fact, will wait until about half an hour before sundown to daven Minchah. No sacrifices were conducted at night because typically there was enough food left over. Consequently, when we were left without a Temple, the morning service was designed to replicate that process. Many Orthodox Jews when davening the Shachrit service will typically include portions from Torah that discussed the process of sacrifice, incense and setting up the menorah. This is the vicarious way of complying with those particular Torah commandments. We remember the three prayer services as originating from the Patriarchs. Abraham originated the Shachrit service, Isaac the Minchah and Jacob the Ma’ariv. This was the pattern of the Temple services and the Ma’ariv was typically short and of course included the Shema and its blessings. The sages disagreed about designing and even including the Ma’ariv service. Some suggested it either not be done or optional since there was no corresponding sacrifice. Others felt that since it was implied by Torah it should be included. They compromised, ultimately and said, yes, it should be done, but there would be no repetition of Amidah and thus there is no Kedushah as part of it. Since the Shachrit service was the main service of the day, this is when we do the Torah service and when we wear a tallit with the tzitzit. There are two exceptions to this. The Shabbat Minchah (Afternoon) service is a shortened Torah service with three aliyot. This was enacted by the prophet Ezra to make sure that people observing Shabbat had something to do and wouldn’t have free time and be tempted to break Shabbat. Some people will wear a tallit for that service especially if they’re being called up to the Torah. The second exception is Yom Kippur afternoon; this is a very holy day, similar in holiness to Shabbat, and therefore we have an afternoon Torah service for the sanctity of the day. We do not wear a tallit for other Minchah services not any Ma’ariv services. The one exception is Erev Yom Kippur, again due to the holiness of the day. In fact, most Jews do not wear tzitzit at night either with a tallit or the small tzitzit. This is because the third paragraph of the “V’Ahavta” states, “when you look at them”, and at night it’s dark and we typically cannot see. This may bring up the question, why do we say the V’Ahavta at night if we don’t carry out that particular commandment? This is because we’re commanded to say, but given the circumstances, again according to our sages, only wear them during the time of the day when we are able to see them. Of course, we can study Torah any time of the day. The formal readings, however, is only done as per the aforementioned times. It is important, then, that we devote that time during Shabbat to join with other Jews in forming a minyan and participate in a Torah service. Consider that it is by divine design that we need at least ten. Yes, it may be an inconvenience, but it compels us to come together as a community. People often quote, in appropriate context, that it takes a village. So too with Torah. In coming together during that special time, we are a community. We support each and be with each other. This is how we’ve survived for so long and under the most challenging times. Many references to that are found in Torah. We are commanded to help someone who is destitute by offering them interest-free loans; we allow the vulnerable and underprivileged to help themselves to our gleanings; we see someone on the side of the road struggling with their beast of burden, we assist them. So too do we assist each other in our spiritual journey as we evolve spiritually.

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