The 11th Test Revealed!

We read in Vayeira, in particular Genesis 22:1 that God was going to test Abraham with the Akedah, or binding of Isaac.  Maimonides concluded that the Akedah was the final test of ten in total.  This idea of Abraham being tested, which begins in Lech Lecha and for some ends next week in Chaya Sarah, is found as early as 100 BCE in a book called Jubilees that was written some 300 hundred years before we read in Pirkei Avot 5:4; “Our Father Avraham was tested with ten trails and withstood them all.”  In a commentary on Pirkei Avot by Rabbi Judah Lowe ben Bezalel (the Maharal), called the Derek Chaim (the Path of Life), Abraham was indeed tested, but Rabbi Judah used a different word for test than Pirkei Avot, let alone the Bible itself.  For Rabbi Judah, the word for Abraham’s “test” (mivchan) was more like an examination, inquiry or investigation, whereas for Pirkei Avot the test (nis’sayon) is about a personal trial or experiment, a learned experience of one kind or another, how did life "try us" for this or that?  We have to wonder: did God intend to test Abraham, was this how those who wrote it understood the Akedah, or was the mention of a test added later?  That is not the concern of most commentators nor is it the concern here, our concern is why and how it matters.

Why it matters.  If we view this test according to Rabbi Judah it can easily be read as if God will give Abraham a pass/fail grade depending on the outcome.  If we read this idea of a test per Pirkei Avot then it is about Abraham’s handling of his business when the trails of life came upon him.  The former can be understood as a person being investigated by God if they were naughty or nice so to speak and worth their reward whereas the latter can be viewed as when life trials emerge a person should call on divine wisdom as they walk through it, hence the words of Psalm 11:5 "The LORD tests the righteous," in this case God does make inquiry to how a person will respond to the trials of life.  Those are two very different ways to understand this idea of Abraham being tested that will impact how we might understand being tested, or feel as we are being tested.

How it matters. It matters because of a non-test that should have been a test.  In other words the following was not one of the 10 tests although it should have been.  We read concerning God, then, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”  This question was asked by Abraham of God over the ensuing judgement upon Sodom and Gomorrah.  Found quite often both in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and rabbinic literature, we find this idea of a “machaloket,” an argument for the sake of heaven, Abraham having the first one with God.  In short Abraham calls God out over the sanctity of life even though Sodom and Gomorrah were filled with evil and evil people.  As we spoke about with Noah, Noah did not seek to intervene for the lives of the people of his day, yet Abraham did the very opposite with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.  In the end of the story we read that God relented and told Abraham that if 10 righteous people could be found (Abraham started with 50) than Sodom and Gomorrah would not be exterminated, but there were not even 10 so those cities were destroyed.  

In Genesis 18:7 we find an interesting verse where God elects to tell Abraham about the impending doom for Sodom and Gomorrah, suggesting that perhaps God was considering not letting Abraham know. Based on that question posed by God (should we let Abraham know) Rabbi Jonathan Sacks asks his own question; “why did God invite Abraham’s challenge?”  Rabbi Sacks goes on to say that the answer was not so much that Abraham called God out more than God called Abraham out, asking both he and his “descendants” to be "agents of justice.”  In this case, for R’Sacks, God is asking Abraham to be the “defense attorney” for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah even though they are guilty.  Abraham’s God is an ethical God and just not a deity that demands unquestioned loyalty of action.  As Rabbi Sacks also says, in the end, if God allows the judgement from heaven to be challenged by Abraham, “how much more” does God expect a verdict handled down justly in a “human court?”

We are Abrahams “descendants to be agents of justice” as well and God's justice just like then is handed out through people like you and me.  Abraham did not triumph over all his tests, but he withstood them.  We might not pass all of our tests either, but we cannot cease trying to make life more "just" no matter how unpleasant life’s trials may be.  We live in a world where justice matters and we live in a world where we are the agents of that very same justice, whatever your cause may be.  The non-test that should have been the 11th test asks the following of Abraham; will you rise up and be an agent of justice even if you will not win in the end?  That same question is being asked of us.  Will we stand upon our sense of right regardless of the push back that life puts upon us?  Why vote, does my voice really matter?  Why protest for Israel’s sake, the media is always anti-Israel?  Why stand up for this or that (you choose) if abortion rights got over turned, what can I do to make a difference?   Abraham did not get what he wanted in the end, but his sense of justice never failed him.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Adam    

What the World Needs Now

The first two parshiyot (sections of Torah/Bible), Bereshit and Noach that make up Chapters 1-11 of Genesis, is really the prologue to the story of Israel that begins with Abram (exalted father) who became Abraham (father of many), beginning this week in Genesis 12.  But even before we got here the Torah aspires to establish some foundational criteria before moving forward with the relationship between God and humankind.  We saw this in the lives of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able and Noah, meeting the conflict of their divine image in the struggle with personal choice, a lack of moral responsibility and an awareness or even concern for the collective whole. The voice of Torah wants us to know the following; proper human character built upon the divine image within speaks to every part of how life is to be lived in this world.

Yet in this parasha, Lech Lacha, we encounter fundamental change that is best summed up in the words of Martin Buber.  Buber wrote that the words of Torah (or the Bible) are not directed to an “isolated individual but always as an individual member of the people.”  Yes we saw this in part with Adam and Noah for all humanity in general, but those stories are limited to their immediate circumstances: Adam was about tending to the garden and Noah was about building a boat to save his family.  But with Abraham it was different, Buber going on to say concerning Israel (who we will meet later in the book of Exodus), “its (Israel) father to be, Abraham, is addressed as such; he is to become a ‘blessing’ in his seed,” something that we did not read with Adam and Noah even though they had the opportunity to do so.  Abraham therefore became the figure head not only for Judaism but also for other religions, like Islam and Christianity, Islam telling their story through Abraham’s other son Ishmael as opposed to Isaac and Christianity viewing Abraham’s descendants spiritually as grafted on children to God.

For Judaism the story of Abraham, which will play out over the next few weeks, is ultimately tied directly to the role of all people in this world, but in particular the Jewish people.  In the very beginning of this parasha Abraham is told, not that he will be blessed (although he was), but that he will be a “be a blessing” to others (Gen. 12:2).  According to a Midrash, Genesis Rabbah 39:11, Abraham is blessed in order to distribute blessings as he sees fit, it says “I blessed Adam and Noah — but from now on you (Abraham) shall bless whomsoever you wish.”   But it is also important to recognize that in the Torah, and for that matter the entire Hebrew Bible, Abraham is just the beginning. This is pointed out by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin who says there are two covenants in Torah, the first being with Abraham here in Genesis 12:1ff and the  second being with Israel at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19:1ff.  In the same way that Abram became Abraham, Israel went from being called slaves to a “holy nation and kingdom of priests,” a nation who would be given the same mandate as Abraham.  It says according to the Prophet in Isaiah 49:3 “You are my Servant, Israel in whom I will be glorified,” something that Buber would say the people of Israel were to “embody,” God was glorified because Israel became a blessing to all peoples, just as one person can be been blessed by the hand of another, which begins this week with Abraham..  It is way too simple to say that this is simply a religious thing, spreading your beliefs so others can believe what you do, it’s much more than that.

Abraham was given the power to bless others, something that would later be given to Israel and something we shall encounter over and over again as we travel through Torah.  While sure life was different back then in almost every way one might imagine, the human need to receive in love and goodness is always the same. Contemplate this for just a moment: We have the ability and the power to be a blessing in another person’s life.  In the narrative of the Bible, Abraham and Israel were just not proverbial puppets on a string with God, but they were partners with the Divine to bring blessings into their world. I am going to pass on those particulars at this moment, yet it’s good to take a breath and reflect upon the fact that we too have the power and ability to be a blessing to those around us. That is the role of our inner holy spark within, impacting those who we encounter on any given day.  We have been given a wonderful opportunity - please join me in remembering that.   

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Adam

Noah and the Ways of the Divine Image

 

In the Bible, the foundational verse that defines the relationship between God and humanity is found in the Torah from last week; “Let us make humankind in our image (b’tzelem), after our likeness (d’mot)” from Genesis 1:26.  There is another word similar to image and likeness that we need to dismiss and that is shape (tay’ayr), as we read in Genesis 39:6, “Now Joseph was well shaped (tay’ayr) and handsome.”  The idea of image and likeness in Jewish tradition is not physical (i.e. Gen. 36:9), so we call on the teaching of Maimonides from his “Guide of the Perplexed.”  Maimonides teaches that “no other creature on earth possesses” the divine image, further adding that people have the “intellectual perception, in the exercise of which is employed via the senses, [something that is “similar” to the likeness of the] Divine Intellect with which humans have been endowed.”  All that to say that God fashioned humanity to be in the likeness of the Divine and humanity has the free-will to inculcate the inner divine likeness into how life is lived.      

Turning to the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z''l, he points to the failures in the lives of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and this week Noah, in connection to their own divine image. In this case when Adam and Eve met God in the garden after they ate the forbidden fruit, they failed in their personal responsibility; more so for their denials (Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake) of what they did wrong, resulting in the consequences of being removed from the garden.  When Cain was upset that his sacrifice was not accepted by God and Abel’s was, Cain killed his brother Able and failed in his moral responsibility since murder is not an emanation of the divine image within. Can you only imagine how the course of humankind might be different if Cain was happy for his brothers blessing and rejoiced with him (and we did that with each other?).  Instead, like his father and mother who were banished from the garden Cain was banished to a foreign land forever apart from his family and friends.

We see this with Noah as well.  In Noah’s case it was about collective responsibility, something that he did not achieve and therefore failed in doing so.  When Abraham stood before God over Sodom and Gomorrah he bargained for the lives in those cities, asking God to spare them from destruction even if there were as little as only 10 righteous people, something that Noah did not do.  Noah failed because he only worried about his immediate family given the ensuing flood as opposed to saving others who perhaps did not deserve their fate.  The Kabbalah address this failure of Noah, not as failure, but as process to assume the image and likeness of God.  You see Abraham had ascended to a level of connection with the Divine that endowed him with the importance of collective responsibility whereas Noah had not reached that level of righteousness yet.  One of my teachers, Cantor Lee Greenberg, calls upon a teaching by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin who notes that the rainbow here in parasha Noach is only half a circle, like half a picture and requires another half to complete its image or story.  In this case while God promised not to destroy humanity as evidenced with the sign of the rainbow, seen with the human eye, God did not guarantee that humanity would not destroy itself, the part that we do not see.  Collective responsibility is a way to make that circle whole, something that people do, not God. 

While I would prefer saying “divine character traits” as opposed to “responsibility,” per Rabbi Sacks, looking at Noah I want pose the following question: how much better would our lives be, not to mention the world, if the collective concern for the whole that is birthed out of our “divine character traits” operated more than it does?  You just cannot escape the social, political and even religious discord that is all around us, the anti-Semitism and senseless killings and hate, just to name a few.  Our systemic lack of concern for our “fellow” stands directly opposed for Torah to the divine image within. You know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but since we are fashioned according to the divine image, our “divine character traits” can transcend the brokenness around us - if choose to do so - each doing our part to help in what Rabbi Sacks calls the “collective responsibility.”  Let’s all strive to make this world a little better today than it was yesterday.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Adam  

Here we go Again - another opportunity before us!

Here we are, back at the start of our Torah reading once again.  A Story, which always comes to mind when we reach full circle and begin the journey in Bereshit (Genesis), is about a King who elects his court jester to replace him because he has no family to do so.  After the jester ascended his role as king a cabinet member of the new king’s court quickly recognizes that every day around 2:00PM the king descended into the basement of the palace and went into a particular room only to close the door behind him; this would last an hour before the king would go back upstairs to his throne.

One day, when the new king went downstairs into the basement he entered the room as usual but left the door open just a crack, enough for his cabinet member to peer in, and was he surprised to say the least.  The king had removed his royal cloths and replaced them with his old jester outfit. The king, dressed as the jester, would stand in front of a mirror where he would dance, sing and laugh, but also he would cry, sit quietly and act almost childlike.  When the king had finished and began putting his royal cloths back on, his cabinet member made his way back upstairs so the king would not notice.

One day the cabinet member mustered up enough nerve to question the king about his daily but strange habit.  The king looks at him and lowers his head with a big sigh only to say … “you see when I became king I realized what that meant and I did not want to lose who I was.  I need to recall my humanity and personality, not to mention my need to care for others and support them for who they are.  So every day I go down into that room and put on my old cloths to remember who I am and where I came from; I become a jester to recall and relive my humble beginnings so I can serve my community as the best king as possible."  So when we begin Torah again this is what we are doing: we stand in front of the mirror of our humanity once more to engage in another year of growth.

The very first story in the Torah, after the initial what is called the creation narrative, is about Adam, Eve and their family.  It’s not a pretty story of pomp and circumstance or wealth and processions, but it’s about normal people who are flawed and have to navigate the brokenness of life.   Great, I mean really, the first story of the bible asks us to look at flowed humanity and a broken world!  So as the story goes, one that must of us know regardless of our religious tradition, Adam is urged by Eve his wife to eat the fruit from one particular tree, we tend to call that fruit an apple, which they were not supposed to consume although they could have everything else.  As a result, their eyes are open and all of sudden they see each other’s nakedness and our ashamed, pure life is now dirty, and each sees the others flaws and are so embarrassed they cannot even stand before God to be transparent as they once were.

The famous line, God walks through the garden, comes to Adam and says “Where are you?” Sfrono, the 16^th century Rabbi, says this, “Why do you not show yourselves openly as before?” not just per their location but their human transparency? Ah, so another way of understanding that question, “Where are you”  is not about geographical location but prevailing mindset, so I read that question as; “where are you now that you see different than before, how are you now, how will you react to what happened,” it is much bigger than just where are you location wise!  The story goes onto tell us that Adam and Eve’s actions got them kicked out of the garden, but what actions?  Yes the text says they were banished from the garden for what they did, but what did they do?  But this is not just Adam and Eve, but all Israel, as it says in the Midrash, Genesis Rabbah 19:1. Here, all Israel would go into exile for transgressing God’s commandments as well. But is that it, we make an error and we are kicked out?

I want to suggest that what got Adam and Eve, as well as all Israel kicked out so to speak, was not what they did but what they did next.  How different the world of the bible would look if Adam and Eve simply owned what they did instead of blaming others (Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent).  I think they lost their place in the garden because they refused to take responsibility for what they did, and how can denial and rightness live in the same place?  Think about that for as moment.

We too are flawed and live in a broken world – just look around - but what we learn from this parasha is not about what we do in the moment but what we do next?   How much different would our lives be if we owned something and took responsibility for our actions?  How much different would life be if others who did to us owned something and took responsibility for their actions?   That is the first thing we learn in Torah, the nature of humanity responsibility, accountability and need for humility. When we look into the mirror of our return this is one of  the first reflections we see.  Shabbat Shalom and safe travels. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Adam           

Rediscovering the Divine Image Within

There is a popular Midrash where the heavenly angels object to God giving the Torah to Moses, thus it says, “The Torah is too holy to be given to mortals who will not appreciate it and revere it. Let the Torah remain here, among us.” You see the angels themselves made their comments because they had skin in the game if you will as it says in Genesis; “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness.”  They too (meaning the angles) were invested in the creation of humankind; after all, they had a reputation to maintain and the last thing they wanted was people messing up a good thing.  Looking to the teaching of my Rabbi and Teacher from Los Angeles, Rabbi Ed Feinstein, he tells a story based on this Midrash that I would like to expand a bit.

The giving of the Torah, a special gift that comes from God, actually took a back seat to a bigger issue for the Angels; people were to be created in the divine image. For the Angels that meant; people will think as God thinks, [people] feel as God feels, and [people] create as God creates.  Yet since people are flawed, the Angels also reasoned, if God rules so too people will rule, but instead of doing so with benevolence and justice, they possibility will rule in tyranny and egotism, traits that people have ascribed to God, traits that we see around us in the world today both here and abroad, traits that we have personally encountered in our own lives, let alone we may have perpetrated ourselves at one time or another.  The Angels went on to further say that Human beings will feel that they have the right to be worshipped, although we might call it admired or respected, perhaps they will think they have a false dominion over creation only to destroy the world which God has created, let alone abuse the divine image – using it to hurt others as well as themselves.  The Angels therefore decided; “we cannot let that happen.”  The Angels clearly felt that people were spiritually bankrupt, not capable of appreciating the value of the Torah let alone being representatives of the divine image in the world.

As the Angels gathered to discuss their concerns they agreed that they needed to hide the divine image so humans could not find it.  One angel said “lets hide it on top of the mountain,” to which another responded, “but when they learn how to climb mountains they will find it.”  Another Angel said, “Let’s put it at the bottom of the sea,” to which an Angel said, “one day they will find a way to plumb the bottom of the seas so that will not work either.”  Finally, yet another Angel suggested, “let’s place it in the depth of the farthest forest,” yet another Angel retorted, “No, one day they will learn to transverse the wilderness and find it there as well.”

After rejecting other suggestions they came to an agreement and presented it to God.  The Angels said to God that they we would like to put the divine image deep within the human heart and deep within the human soul, places they thought people would never think to look!   After a moment of consideration God agreed and it was so: the divine image would be embedded deep within our humanity, making it available but harder to discover.

The Angles understood the following. Life would get in the way, the toil of life and the disappointments that come with it; the veneer of hardness and disillusionment, hopelessness and distain, hurt and the human response, the flawed human ego and sense of self-sustainment and preservation as well as the power of anger and fear to have a hand in helping mold human character, all like layers of an onion, the Angels sadly knew that such things would affect the human heart and further hide the divine image from people who might to try to look for it.

You see in order to grasp the divine image within where the human middot (soul character traits) will reflect love and mercy, graciousness and compassion, justice and forgiveness, truth, kindness and the like within a person, negative traits must be conquered first in order to be shaped by the purity of the divine image itself; something that seemingly gets harder as the years go by, although not impossible to reverse.  The Angels wanted to make the divine image something people could make their own, but they did not want it to be easy to find either on account of those who might miss use and/or disrespect it.

God wanted to make sure that each and every person would have the opportunity to find the divine image within so a plan was made called the Yamim Nora’im, the days of Awe.  The beginning of the Yamim Nora’im is when the gates of heaven open at Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur will close again till next year per Jewish tradition.  God reasoned, well, the Angels have a good complaint against humanity, but I want to have a solution, so I will give people a 10 day period to do what they normally do not do during the rest of the year, and that is to look for the divine image within.

The divine image would remind those who sought after it of life’s possibilities and the hopes that are before them, to be reminded of their better selves, not allowing the imperfections found in the world to interfere with the light that shines inside, for self and others, allowing goodness and kindness to no longer be the prisoner that it has become.  On Yom Kippur T’shuvah (return) is needed, not only to find the divine image within, but also to return to how it was intended to be used, emulating God’s image in the way people think, feel and create, let alone have dominion over the creation, receiving and giving love to others, passing those values to the next generation and the ones that will follow after that.

I think it is too easy to see Yom Kippur as a day we stand before God and get judged for our sins, hoping that we are forgiven and have another year ahead of us (for some in might cause more fear).  Well, we do stand before God and we are judged for how we have used the divine image within, connecting us to a Holy God, which is true, but there is more.  The Holiday prayers remind us that life and death happen and we just might not make it to next year, which is the reality of the human condition, “a time to be born and a time to die.”  So when we say the Shehecheyanu, we are reminded that we are fortunate to reach this special time and season to have yet another opportunity to find and respond to the divine image within that helps us become the people we want to be.

The message of Yom Kippur: return to the better self,  because good human life cannot grow in the soil of brokenness, hurt, anger or un-forgiveness. We must therefore return to the soil of the divine image within, our holy spark that produces the traits of love, a desire to heal, repair, and the embrace of life that will shine its light where it is needed.  This might sound like a big task, but until you and I leave this earth this is part of our purpose.  Yeah there are a lot of places to begin with, family, friends and acquaintances, but it begins with ourselves and that is what Yom Kippur wants to remind us of. 

Gmar Chatima Tovah, May you be Sealed in the Book of Life!

Rabbi Adam           

Assessing Our Values

It has been awhile since I have written, but I have something to say given what we have been experiencing and feel like I can no longer remain silent.  Therefore, I do not need to tell anyone that we live in difficult times that have polarized this country, inculcating chaos into our midst.  But I also firmly believe that if we choose we can over come this time for a better tomorrow.

Personal freedoms that have been ensconced in American life have been taken away or redirected.  Albeit reproduction rights regarding abortion, or merely going to the zoo in safety, let alone the market, a mall, a parade, school or places of worship; my gosh is anywhere safe!  Then there was the striking down of a state law for gun control, which happened in New York State, and now private schools can benefit from government funds (and ours) or the ability to openly pray in public schools that can be embraced as manipulative.  The Supreme Court is beginning to make choses that can dramatically impact both state and personal freedoms which seem to project as narrow.  If the Supreme Court can strike down an individual states mandate on gun control then can they over turn a state’s choice on how to handle abortion?  Likewise, will constitutional freedoms continue to protect our religious diversity if choices from “on high” (Supreme Court) overlook or dismiss that same diversity, in affect taking away those same freedoms?            

I appreciated a recent sermon given by Rabbi David Wolpe who championed the Jewish value of abortion while at the same time recognizing that for many it was their view of honoring life (the fetus), it was not bad people verses good people more so that it was different human values that simultaneously coexist.  Of course Rabbi Wolpe has earned the credibility to make such a statement and highlights just how complicated this situation is.  I personally am saddened that the Supreme Court has been given the ultimate power to make a singular choice about our diversity of opinion, robbing people of their deeply held convictions about life and death.  Likewise, how can the court stand in the way of gun control laws based on what we have recently experienced, mass shootings that are now a common trend and particular to our society in frequency;  one that I am sure none of us want to call normal.  It is a scary prospect what may happen, what people will tolerate till they have had enough, and what about those politicians who we elect and get paid to represent all Americans regardless of the color of their skin, religious choices, sexual persuasion, economic standing or political affiliation (to name just a few).  I am concerned about the continued divide that is only growing amongst us, ripping apart the relational fabric of our society.  What can we do as people, what should we do as Jews?

Last week in reading Parashat Korach, I was reminded about two particular things.  First, we have lost the art of self-assessment and gained the right of entitlement.  When Korach approached Moses he felt entitled to have more than he was given, intent to get what he wanted instead of seeking collaboration for the best outcome.  In response we read “when Moses heard that he fell on his face,” something our tradition said he did “because of this dispute” that will impact the community.  But he also fell on his face to assess, after all he was accused of hording power and nepotism, wanting to make sure that his own actions and motives were pure.  I am fairly confident that that type of self-assessment did not factor into recent choices that are failing to unite and validate all Americans.  If we become entitled instead of collaborating, I am afraid that what happened with the divided community of Moses and Korach can happen today, hence civil dispute and disruption can destroy our way of life.  The second thing that stood out to me was Aaron running into the plague to preserve life, hence “and he stood between death and between life, and the plague was stopped.”  How do we stand between “death and life,” how do we make a difference?  We too must assess this situation and how to proceed, and violence and hate, illegal protest and vengeance is not what that means and in the end will not be helpful.  Standing in between “death and life” is fostering change, again something not easy but right.  We need to vote in more balanced politicians who have both sides of the aisle in their interest, let alone the moderate’s out there who are feeling more and more like a choice for one side or the other has to be made.  We need to push for new laws on the ballet this November and seek constitutional protection over the diversity of our country while honoring life in the process, making sure those protests do it right to impower a desired outcome and not fan the flames of more chaos. We have to have politician’s  who value life but protect  2^nd amendment rights, honoring those freedom’s but placing a safe life above a person's rights to own a  gun if a questionable background can be a danger to innocent people; let alone raising the age to own a gun and intensify the background check before taking procession.  I am sure there are folks out that they may disagree, but that is oaky since at the end of the day I know you agree with me about the value of life and our need to preserve and protect it.

It is time to have people lead this country who can fix our divisions and celebrate our diversity, because that is what America is, a land of diversity and not bad people vs. good people.  Starting with myself, I call on us as people to stop the fighting, the hateful speech and the blanket insults, instead aspiring to find commonalties and solutions.    

We Read in Micha 6:8, “Has it not been told of you,, O man, what is good? or what does the Lord require, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord thy God?”

If we don’t have justice in our society can gun violence ever be stooped?  If we don’t have mercy for each other, can we ever accept the diversity of our neighbor?  If we have no standards can we truly walk with our God if we pull the preverbal rug from under the feet of those who do not agree with us although they too are created in the image of God?  When will we have enough?                    

Rosh Chodesh Tevet – the month of Tevet – Leading with the Lights of Hanukkah

 

Tevet is the Hebrew month after Kislev.  The celebration of Hanukkah shares both months, beginning on 25 Kislev and ending on 2 Tevet, the day after Rosh Chodesh Tevet.  This wonderful joyous holiday of Hanukkah ends in a month that is also known for one of the great Jewish tragedies, and that is the destruction of the first temple, or the Beit Hamikdash, at the hands of the Babylonians on the 10^th day of the 10^th month according to the Hebrew calendar, or 10 Tevet (See Ezekiel 24:1).  How important is this day?  Well this day has been called Ta’anit Ah’sarah B’tevet, the Fast of 10 Tevet, and is the only day other than Yom Kippur where we fast even if it falls on the Shabbat.

In the Book of Bnei Yissaschar, a classic Chassidic text authored by Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov, Poland (1783-1841), the Tribe of Dan is connected with the Temple’s demise.  The Tribe Dan, while they are associated with the idolatry that brought about the first Temple’s destruction, also plays an important role in the longevity of Israel as well.  Yet as we shall see Rabbi Zvi Ryzman wants to redeem Dan in connection with how the light of Hanukkah, which began in Kislev, brings brightness into the dark memories of the Temple that was destroyed in Tevet.

The Tribe of Dan was the largest of tribes other than Judah, with both Dan and Judah playing important roles as Israel’s protectors.  The Talmud teaches that as Judah traveled in the front Dan traveled in the back to watch over the rear of Israel as they journeyed in the wilderness.  Maimonides reflecting on the words of Talmud recalls the blessing from Jacob upon his son Dan who would be “like a snake upon the path” where Israel’s enemies “will fall.”  But Dan’s might also translated to their role in sacred things as well.  In building the Mishkan, the traveling worship space in the wilderness, two key figures were Be’zalel ben (son of) Uri and Oh’oliav ben A’chisamach.  Bezalel was from the tribe of Yehuda and had “the skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft to make designs for work in gold, silver, and copper,” whereas Oholiav was from the tribe of Dan and was “the carver, the designer, the embroiderer in blue, purple, crimson yarns, and in fine linen, and of the weaver—as workers in all crafts and as makers of designs.”  We read in Torah that these two from Judah and Dan together were “endowed with skill and ability to perform expertly all the tasks connected with the service of the sanctuary.”  In fact the Messiah according to Jewish tradition physically descends from the tribe of Judah and will “strike down a land with the rod of his mouth, and slay the wicked with the breath of his lips” (Isaiah 11:4).  This part of the job-description for the Messiah is connected to the “spirit” of Dan who would be “a serpent by the road [and] a viper by the path [where Israel’s enemies] … will fall before [him].  Dan stands as a redemptive figure.

Yehuda Aryeh Leib in his writings from the Sefer Emet teaches that “the rays of the Hanukkah candles [that began in Kislev] cause the light to spread to the entire month [of Tevet].”  Again from the book of Bnei Yissaschar, we are reminded that Tevet is also a time where life emerges once again after the 40 days of the flood, playing with the words of Genesis 8:5 Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov writes, “Through the commandments we perform on the first day of the tenth month [Tevet, when the waters receded after the flood] we can hope to see the top of the mountains.” Those mitzvot (commandments) are Rosh Chodesh (new moon) and Hanukkah (festival of dedication), each allowing us to see the mountain tops where the light burns the brightest.

As such when we celebrate Hanukkah in Tevet we embody the spirit of Dan who helped make the holy objects in the Mishkan. As said, Rabbi Zvi Ryzman appeals to that part of Dan’s role and calls upon the Jew – but I say all people of faith and principle - to use our gifts in this world in order to protect and support those around us when our lights burn the brightest.  It seems that there is just too much darkness in our world today that is right here in our cities and towns.  You cannot look at the news without being reminded of the pandemic let alone this new variant that has emerged.  Daily we deal with political strife, continued school shootings as well as ongoing social disarray, whether it is about abortion rights or equal rights, not to mention inflation and labor shortages that impact all of us.  Tevet unfortunately reminds us what we already know, therefore; we need to let our lights shine brightly because the miracle of Hanukkah reminds us that the light always prevails over the dark, freedom always triumphs over oppression and goodness has more power than evil.  Rosh Chodesh Tevet comes with the spirit of Hanukkah attached.  Each of us contain divine sparks with rays that burn brightly.  The light of Tevet comes from our sparks that seek to make the world a better place. 

Shabbat Shalom, Chodesh Tov and Chag Hanukkah Sameach