Shabbat Shalom
Many people have asked me why I don’t often speak about Israel. There are a lot of reasons that Israel is not the first topic I gravitate to when I begin planning my lessons on Shabbat. First of all, I don’t consider myself a political commentator. Cable Television and Talk Radio have full time commentators that are able to put their full time into examining and researching the nuances of international politics. They do a far better job of analysis than I can do. Second, Judaism is a vast and intricate way of living and Israel is only one part of it. I have to balance my time covering the ritual, historical, spiritual, moral, communal and private aspects of our faith. Israel is a part of this, but it isn’t the only part, so I split my time between them all.
But the biggest reason that I don’t often speak about Israel is because I know that when I do, I make a LOT of people angry with me. I don’t think it is wise to have my congregants come to synagogue to get angry at the Rabbi, so I don’t often venture into the realm of politics.
But I am going there today. This was a very interesting week for Israel, for the United States and for all the pundits and bloggers who comment on every blip in politics between these two countries. There was a bit of a spat last week. Vice President Biden went to Jerusalem. He went to show his support for Israel as indirect talks with the Palestinians was about to begin. But in the middle of his visit, the Interior Minister of Israel decided to announce that there would be 1600 new homes to be built in East Jerusalem. The announcement not only angered the Palestinians, it embarrassed the Vice President. Everyone got angry but as the week ended, our President called the whole thing just a “disagreement among friends”. But if you were reading the papers and listening to the news, one would have thought that we were about to break diplomatic relations with Israel.
The Right wingers here and in Israel saw this as another example of how the Obama Administration is trying to undercut Israel. The Left wingers saw this as another example of Israel snubbing the United States and preventing a Middle East peace agreement. Which one was right? In my mind, neither of them. While they all can point to a myriad of “proofs” that their side is correct, the truth is, as usual, somewhere in-between.
My opinion? Israeli politicians play a vicious kind of hardball that goes far beyond any right/left argument in this country. I have little doubt that the Shas and Yisrael Beytainu parties were looking for a way to embarrass Prime Minister Netanyahu. He needs them for his coalition and they could act with impunity to undercut any talks with the Palestinians and to promote the building of settlements. Now the Prime Minister can’t overturn the announcement without causing the government to fall. He can apologize but can’t give the US a freeze on building in East Jerusalem. The US will not send its envoy, George Mitchell, to Israel; the Palestinians will boycott even indirect talks and the world gets a chance to condemn Israel one more time. Only it gets scarier. This week, for the first time in quite a while, a rocket was fired from Gaza and it killed a Thai worker on a Kibbutz.
Hamas, yes Hamas has asked groups not to fire rockets. Now the Al-Qaeda militants, with whom Hamas has allied themselves, have challenged Hamas to stop them. Hamas buildings in Gaza have been bombed by these extreme militants. Hamas will now have to assert some control over Al-Qaeda; but if they do, they could be seen as being “soft” on Israeli aggression. If they don’t, Israel could invade again and destroy more of the Hamas infrastructure. Hamas is now squirming as much as Netanyahu. This is not good for peace, and it brings both sides way too close to killing each other again.
I generally feel that Israel has to play the same kind of hardball that the Palestinians play. I don’t like it but then, I don’t live there. My opinion: leave this kind of political posturing to the experts in Israel. Between the nuances of diplomacy and the unknown factors that come from Israeli intelligence which we will never know, we should not be telling Israel what to do.
But I don’t feel that Israel is always right. This past week, one of the ultra Orthodox members of Knesset introduced a bill to give full control over conversions in Israel to the Rabbanut. It would also not allow those who converted out of the country to become citizens of Israel. We had barely 48 hours to stop this bill. The outcry from Jews, all over the world was so loud that the bill was pulled from consideration for now. The Jewish Agency, UJC, Federation, Reform and Conservative/Masorti Jews are now in discussions with the Prime Minister’s office to prevent this bill from getting back on the floor of the Knesset. Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, has expressed his support to kill this bill. So far, it is off the table.
But the issue of freedom of religion for Jews in Israel is still on the table. Every attempt to get State money to build synagogues for Conservative and Reform communities is defeated. Any attempt to get our Rabbis on the local religious councils is subverted either legally or illegally. In some cases, rabbis properly chosen for the council find that the Orthodox rabbis refuse to call a meeting. Even rulings by the Israeli Supreme Court have been ignored by these groups who deny basic religious freedom to Jews who are not as frum as they are. These Orthodox groups are rioting over civil rights for people they don’t agree with. They are rioting over parking lots open on Shabbat and are rioting to close industries that dare to be open on Shabbat. They are way out of control and no one, not the Army, the police nor the Government of Israel seem to have the nerve to stop them. They throw chairs at women at the Western Wall who dare to pray wearing tallitot. They have attempted to steal the Torah scrolls from non-Orthodox synagogues and there have been a series of fires at some Conservative synagogues, multiple attempts at arson. So far, nobody has been caught. In this country, these would be hate crimes. In Israel, they happen almost every day. If you want to know why Americans don’t make Aliyah to Israel, look at how Conservative Jews and Reform Jews are treated like second class citizens, being spit upon by Orthodox Jews, and the State does little to help.
On the issue of whether or not Israel is treated fairly by other nations, here I can see where a little paranoia is warranted. Some countries just can’t say anything good about Israel. No matter how many acts of terror Israel endures, she is still told that it is her own fault. No matter how much the Israeli Army tries to fight a war in a humane way, it is never enough. No matter how many humanitarian missions Israel sends to poor countries and to disaster sites, Israel is never given credit. Israel seems to be the country everyone loves to hate.
What I find interesting is how some countries have now had to back away from this stand. Governments sometimes say and do things for all kinds of political reasons, but Western countries can’t fool their citizens for long. England just had a really serious bout of Anti-Semitism and it has so embarrassed the country that they have softened their criticism of Israel. France had Moslem youth rioting in the streets. Jews there are told they should not wear a kippa outside because of the danger. French Jews are leaving France and immigrating to Israel. France is so embarrassed by all of this that the French Prime Minister, in spite of his own problems, has said some things in support of Israel. Turkey says one thing publicly against Israel but still sells Israel vitally needed oil. Saudi Arabia, no friend of Israel, in the face of its own terrorism, has stopped broadcasting hatred for Israel. Even Abu Dhabi, where the Mossad may or may not have killed a Hamas leader, has condemned the Israeli government for the murder but has not condemned the entire country.
Israel has trampled on the civil rights of many citizens. Not just Palestinians but her own Arab citizens, as well as homosexuals of all faiths. There is culture of corruption that we can compare to our own Dade County where politicians are found guilty of all manner of scandals; stealing money, sex scandals, giving no show jobs to friends, bribery etc. They run again for office at the next election and get elected by promising to give more money to those who get out the vote. Arab citizens in Israel get precious little justice in Israeli courts and some elements in the Israeli army seem to think that they can harass Palestinians with impunity.
So you tell me. Am I on the right or on the left when it comes to Israel? Do I believe in the Jewish State, no matter if she is right or wrong? Not hardly. Do I condemn her at every turn for her policies? Never! Do I insist on peace at any price? Nope. Do I advocate killing all the Arabs and ending this long war? No again. Do I believe that Israel has made some mistakes? Yes. Do I think that Israel deserves its bad reputation in the world? Nope. Israel is clearly held to a standard that no other nation is required to hold. Sometimes I agree with Israeli policy, sometimes I don’t. I lend my voice to the most outrageous claims, and roll my eyes over the rest. Israel is just another country trying to make the best decisions it can. Sometimes they do it right, sometimes they don’t. Their track record is no better or worse than any other country. When she gets it right, I am first in line to cheer her on. When she is falsely accused, I am first in line to defend her. And when she is wrong, democracy tells me I can offer my critique and vent my frustration.
So, after all this, I can say without any hesitation. I love Israel. It is the only real democracy in the Middle East. It is the one place where Judaism can be practiced openly. It is the political stage where Jews make a difference in world politics. It is the best refuge for Jews all over the world who are in danger. The existence of Israel makes Anti-Semitism harder in any country since Jews can count on the support of Israel, a State prepared to rescue Jews in danger anywhere in the world. In just a few more years, there will be more Jews in Israel than in any other country in the world. We are first in agricultural research, in technology, computers, reversing desertification, and Israel even has a pretty stable economy in spite of her high taxes and constant state of war. Israel is a miracle, a miracle that I proudly support.
I pray every day that God gives Israel’s government the courage, wisdom and strength to meet every challenge and to be true to her values and faith. May this be our constant prayer, as we say… Amen and Shabbat Shalom
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Home on the Range
Parshat Vayakel/Pekuday
2010
SHABBAT SHALOM
If the incident of the golden calf, which we read last week, teaches us anything, it teaches that the people needed something tangible to focus their attention in prayer. Clearly an image of God or some other figure was not permitted. In fact, we will see later in the book of Numbers, Moses will make a bronze image of a snake to save the people from a plague and it will have to be destroyed centuries later when the snake becomes an item of veneration by the people.
The Israelites need something visible, something in the realm of space so they know where to look when they pray. In this week’s parsha, we see the People of Israel giving their gold and jewelry to build a Mishkan, a portable sanctuary that will go with them as they travel in the desert. The people will not be permitted to ever see the Aron HaKodesh, the Ark that would rest in the Holy of Holies, but they would know that the presence of God was inside that tent and it would give them a place to direct their praise, petitions and thanks to God.
Over the millennium, we have grown to better understand the nature of this God that has no physical form and without any parallel in the physical world. We have come to understand that no matter where we are and no matter how far we are from sacred space, God is still with us. We know that God is all around us and inside of us. And yet… we still direct our eyes and our hearts when we pray, to the front of the synagogue, and if there is no synagogue, we direct our gaze up to the sky, perhaps a vestige of our childhood belief that, up there somewhere, is an old man with a beard who wants to hear our prayer.
As long as Jews have built synagogues, we have tried to create inspiring prayer spaces. Ancient Jews decorated their synagogues with elaborate mosaics on the floor. In Eastern Europe, a shteible was any small room where people prayed, but there was also a grand Synagogue in the cities, where, on Shabbat and Holidays, the community would gather for formal worship. Many of these synagogues were elaborate structures with great works of art inside. Here in America, we have created grand synagogues with soaring ceilings, stained glass and unique artwork. Some of the greatest American architects have tried their hand at creating a spiritual atmosphere in which we can pray.
Take a look around this sanctuary. It is a beautiful place to pray. The windows let in a mixture of natural light and the hues of the stained glass. The seats are comfortable, the bima is easy to see and the sound system brings all the beautiful notes of our Hazzan to life. The entire room calls our attention to the front where our eyes are lifted to see the Ner Tamid, burning in front of the Ark. Everything about this room is designed to inspire us to words of prayer.
But if I were to ask, which of the elements of our sanctuary is the most important parts, where should be invest our resources to improve our prayer experience, what would you answer? Should we invest in our bima, updating our ark and bima furnishings to new and inspiring forms? Perhaps we should make our prayer space more accessible for those who enter with disabilities, so that they too can be inspired by this space? Should we change the colors of the walls, the carpets or the ceiling? Should we improve our entry foyer or buy new doors for the sanctuary? Funds are limited, of all the things in this room, which should be the first to be improved?
I often enter this sanctuary when there is nobody here. The lights are off and only the Ner Tamid lights my path. I can tell you, when the room is empty, it is just that, a big empty room. The most important part of our synagogue is not the bima, windows or seats. The most important part is the people sitting in the seats.
Without you sitting here, nothing in this room would make any sense. All of the beauty and all of the furnishings are designed for people to appreciate them. We are the most vital part of our synagogue. The Hazzan can sing and I can preach on this bima, but without you, the congregation, it is only an exercise in futility. It is you who inspires us. It is each and every one of you that makes Temple Emeth a place of inspiration.
I mention all of this because we, all too often, come here and insist that others stay out of “our space”. People get angry if someone else should sit in their seat. We don’t take too well to changes in our synagogue. Each part of the building has a story to tell, and we find comfort in arriving here and finding everything just the way we remember it.
Over the past weeks, as discussions about our merger with Anshe Shalom began, there has been a lot of discussion about what would happen to our building, to our property and to our sanctuary. Will we get to stay in this building or go to the other synagogue? Where will we sit for the holidays? Where will we park for the holidays? How can I feel at home in a different place than here?
One of the things I like to do as I travel around the country, is to visit the daily minyan in different places. One of the things you learn about daily minyan is that what is important are people. If ten adult Jews don’t walk through that door, then nobody can pray. When prayer is that intimate, we learn to take notice when someone is not there one morning. We learn to care about those who join us in worship and to care about their family. At minyan, we look out for each other, help each other, learn from each other and celebrate with each other.
The reality of our congregation is that no matter where we are, no matter what may happen, in the end, we are all about people. Terrible things could happen to our building, (God forbid), fire, flood, hurricane, but as long as we are together, as long as we gather together to pray, to learn and to share good times, we are a community. If we were to leave this location to build anew in a different part of town, with a different floor plan and different space, as long as we are together, we will still be “home”.
If we merge with Anshe Shalom (and we are still not in the “sure thing” stage), but if we merge, there may be good financial, logistical and practical reasons to leave this building and gather together down the street. If we do, it may be a different building and a different location, but as long as we are with our friends, we are where we belong. No one knows what the future will bring, but as long as we are together, we can face that future with strength and security. Anyplace where the members of Temple Emeth gather, that is where Temple Emeth will be.
I am, like you, very curious about how the two congregations will resolve the many issues that the future will bring. There are certainly many things upon which there is general agreement, but there are significant challenges as well. Some of them affect the members of both congregations. These are serious issues and will require some very careful negotiations to resolve. Combining two different congregations, making new friends and establishing new habits, these can be very challenging. But the issues of space and logistics, these should be the easiest to resolve.
So if your seat is broken, if the carpet needs cleaning, or if the walls need painting, that is all easy to fix. But if, after a whole year together, we don’t know who is sitting in front of us or behind us … that is a major problem. A crisis is not about the building, it is about whether or not visitors feel welcome when they attend our service for the first time. What is important is not space, but relationships, friendships and concern for our neighbors. If we can master that in our congregation, we can handle any other issue the merger might bring.
May God help us see past the physical to see our fellow Jews, to pray with them, to welcome them, and to share holy time with them. If we can do this, we can face the future with certainty that our holy community will be eternal.
May God be with us on the path to our future as we say….AMEN AND SHABBAT SHALOM.
2010
SHABBAT SHALOM
If the incident of the golden calf, which we read last week, teaches us anything, it teaches that the people needed something tangible to focus their attention in prayer. Clearly an image of God or some other figure was not permitted. In fact, we will see later in the book of Numbers, Moses will make a bronze image of a snake to save the people from a plague and it will have to be destroyed centuries later when the snake becomes an item of veneration by the people.
The Israelites need something visible, something in the realm of space so they know where to look when they pray. In this week’s parsha, we see the People of Israel giving their gold and jewelry to build a Mishkan, a portable sanctuary that will go with them as they travel in the desert. The people will not be permitted to ever see the Aron HaKodesh, the Ark that would rest in the Holy of Holies, but they would know that the presence of God was inside that tent and it would give them a place to direct their praise, petitions and thanks to God.
Over the millennium, we have grown to better understand the nature of this God that has no physical form and without any parallel in the physical world. We have come to understand that no matter where we are and no matter how far we are from sacred space, God is still with us. We know that God is all around us and inside of us. And yet… we still direct our eyes and our hearts when we pray, to the front of the synagogue, and if there is no synagogue, we direct our gaze up to the sky, perhaps a vestige of our childhood belief that, up there somewhere, is an old man with a beard who wants to hear our prayer.
As long as Jews have built synagogues, we have tried to create inspiring prayer spaces. Ancient Jews decorated their synagogues with elaborate mosaics on the floor. In Eastern Europe, a shteible was any small room where people prayed, but there was also a grand Synagogue in the cities, where, on Shabbat and Holidays, the community would gather for formal worship. Many of these synagogues were elaborate structures with great works of art inside. Here in America, we have created grand synagogues with soaring ceilings, stained glass and unique artwork. Some of the greatest American architects have tried their hand at creating a spiritual atmosphere in which we can pray.
Take a look around this sanctuary. It is a beautiful place to pray. The windows let in a mixture of natural light and the hues of the stained glass. The seats are comfortable, the bima is easy to see and the sound system brings all the beautiful notes of our Hazzan to life. The entire room calls our attention to the front where our eyes are lifted to see the Ner Tamid, burning in front of the Ark. Everything about this room is designed to inspire us to words of prayer.
But if I were to ask, which of the elements of our sanctuary is the most important parts, where should be invest our resources to improve our prayer experience, what would you answer? Should we invest in our bima, updating our ark and bima furnishings to new and inspiring forms? Perhaps we should make our prayer space more accessible for those who enter with disabilities, so that they too can be inspired by this space? Should we change the colors of the walls, the carpets or the ceiling? Should we improve our entry foyer or buy new doors for the sanctuary? Funds are limited, of all the things in this room, which should be the first to be improved?
I often enter this sanctuary when there is nobody here. The lights are off and only the Ner Tamid lights my path. I can tell you, when the room is empty, it is just that, a big empty room. The most important part of our synagogue is not the bima, windows or seats. The most important part is the people sitting in the seats.
Without you sitting here, nothing in this room would make any sense. All of the beauty and all of the furnishings are designed for people to appreciate them. We are the most vital part of our synagogue. The Hazzan can sing and I can preach on this bima, but without you, the congregation, it is only an exercise in futility. It is you who inspires us. It is each and every one of you that makes Temple Emeth a place of inspiration.
I mention all of this because we, all too often, come here and insist that others stay out of “our space”. People get angry if someone else should sit in their seat. We don’t take too well to changes in our synagogue. Each part of the building has a story to tell, and we find comfort in arriving here and finding everything just the way we remember it.
Over the past weeks, as discussions about our merger with Anshe Shalom began, there has been a lot of discussion about what would happen to our building, to our property and to our sanctuary. Will we get to stay in this building or go to the other synagogue? Where will we sit for the holidays? Where will we park for the holidays? How can I feel at home in a different place than here?
One of the things I like to do as I travel around the country, is to visit the daily minyan in different places. One of the things you learn about daily minyan is that what is important are people. If ten adult Jews don’t walk through that door, then nobody can pray. When prayer is that intimate, we learn to take notice when someone is not there one morning. We learn to care about those who join us in worship and to care about their family. At minyan, we look out for each other, help each other, learn from each other and celebrate with each other.
The reality of our congregation is that no matter where we are, no matter what may happen, in the end, we are all about people. Terrible things could happen to our building, (God forbid), fire, flood, hurricane, but as long as we are together, as long as we gather together to pray, to learn and to share good times, we are a community. If we were to leave this location to build anew in a different part of town, with a different floor plan and different space, as long as we are together, we will still be “home”.
If we merge with Anshe Shalom (and we are still not in the “sure thing” stage), but if we merge, there may be good financial, logistical and practical reasons to leave this building and gather together down the street. If we do, it may be a different building and a different location, but as long as we are with our friends, we are where we belong. No one knows what the future will bring, but as long as we are together, we can face that future with strength and security. Anyplace where the members of Temple Emeth gather, that is where Temple Emeth will be.
I am, like you, very curious about how the two congregations will resolve the many issues that the future will bring. There are certainly many things upon which there is general agreement, but there are significant challenges as well. Some of them affect the members of both congregations. These are serious issues and will require some very careful negotiations to resolve. Combining two different congregations, making new friends and establishing new habits, these can be very challenging. But the issues of space and logistics, these should be the easiest to resolve.
So if your seat is broken, if the carpet needs cleaning, or if the walls need painting, that is all easy to fix. But if, after a whole year together, we don’t know who is sitting in front of us or behind us … that is a major problem. A crisis is not about the building, it is about whether or not visitors feel welcome when they attend our service for the first time. What is important is not space, but relationships, friendships and concern for our neighbors. If we can master that in our congregation, we can handle any other issue the merger might bring.
May God help us see past the physical to see our fellow Jews, to pray with them, to welcome them, and to share holy time with them. If we can do this, we can face the future with certainty that our holy community will be eternal.
May God be with us on the path to our future as we say….AMEN AND SHABBAT SHALOM.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show
Parshat Ki Tissa
2010
1. Shabbat Shalom
2. This Shabbat we have read about the lowest moment in the history of our people in the wilderness. The people, anxious that Moses has been on the mountaintop so long, begin to fear that he has died and there is no one to lead them to the Promised Land. They have no leader and without Moses, who will bring to them the world of God? Our people were frightened and feeling alone.
3. So they start to demand a God that they can see. After all, Moses was their only link to the invisible God and now Moses is gone. Every other nation had a god or multiple gods that could be seen and worshipped directly. Can we really blame them for wanting a golden calf? Some scholars claim that the calf was really not a god at all; the calf was merely the pedestal upon which God would stand. God was invisible, riding on the back of the calf but the calf gave the Israelites a place to direct their prayers.
4. Others blame God for the golden calf. After all, God has left Israel in Egypt for hundreds of years. All their experience with religion had been in Egypt where there was a god for everything and the gods were larger than life. Some Sages claim it is like a parent that sets his son up in the hair styling business and puts the shop in a part of town where all the vain and shallow people congregate. Then the parent is shocked that his son has become vain and shallow. “Don’t blame your son,” the friends of the father say, “after all, you set him up in a bad part of town.” So too, it is God’s fault that Israel strayed, after all, God sent them to live among the Egyptians! Do you ever notice how when children get in trouble, they always find a way to blame the parent!
5. The details of the story focus on the sin of the people for demanding a god they could see. I look at these passages and understand that the people have a serious concern and there are no really good answers to their problems. Moses seems to have vanished. The people are lost and afraid. A god they can see would be their “security blanket”, to help them feel the closeness of God. The golden calf was an object they could point to, admire and direct their anxiety toward. I guess there is a bit of Aaron, Moses’ brother in me. I can’t help feeling sorry for the people. After all, could we honestly say that if we were in the same circumstances, we would have done better?
6. It is true that we don’t fashion gods out of gold anymore. But we do put our trust in lots of things that clearly are not God. We put our trust in our possessions, that they will protect us from hard times. We trust that our investments will be there to pay for our retirement and then are horrified to find out that when the economy takes a dive, that our investments are unreliable. And apparently we could not trust those who were supposed to prevent the misuse of our retirement funds, they too were fallible and could not prevent either Bernie Madoff or the financial crisis. Do we rely on our Doctors and Lawyers and Politicians to save us from tragedy? Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. People used to rely on Insurance to protect them from tragedy, but today we know that sometimes it is very hard to get an insurance company to pay what they owe us.
7. We also all have our superstitions that we rely upon to protect us. The lucky charm that we take with us when we leave our homes. The mezuzah that we think will protect us at home and the Jewish jewelry that somehow brings us under God’s protecting wings. Dare we ask ourselves what we are really expecting to happen when we stand up and add our friends’ and loved ones’ names to the Mishebayrach for the sick? Is kissing the Torah s sign of respect or do we expect good luck? What about if we kiss the Rabbi? (No, that would be a bad idea. Way too many germs out there.) We may know that there is a God that we cannot see, but we rely all too often on things we can see to save us from the dark forces that surround us.
8. So then, what SHOULD we do to face the future with confidence and certainty? If Judaism, if God, knows that we are insecure human beings, what does our religion and our faith have to teach us about where we should look if we seek to find God?
9. The first place we should look if we seek the image of God is in the face of the people around us. Not just those who sit around us in synagogue, but those among whom we live, work, eat and play. Each human being is unique from each other, but all of us are created in the image of God. It is not in our differences that God can be found, rather, God is found in the core parts of each and every one of us, deep inside where we are all the same. I am not talking about raising up one person to the level of God; I am talking about finding that spark of the divine that exists in every person, old and young, male and female, religious and secular, Democrat or Republican, black, white, red or yellow, rich or poor.
10. I think Moses, when all was said and done, understood the fear and anxiety in the people. When he returns to the mountain, he too is unsure and insecure. Did he do the right thing in punishing the people? How could he blame them for their sin if they really did not understand the full meaning of a God that sees but cannot be seen? He needs God to forgive the people but this is the God who destroyed the world with a flood, and overthrew the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins. What would prevent God from destroying the Israelites for this grave and serious breach of the new Jewish law? Moses does not know what to say to God about the people and he is unsure himself about the nature of this God, who saved Israel from Egyptian slavery, but demands complete and perfect loyalty. Moses returns to the mountain and returns to God with one request, to see the “presence of God”. What Moses actually sees is the subject of Jewish mystical literature. I am only concerned with what Moses hears.
11. He hears that famous passage :
12. “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord! The Lord! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the \
13. thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin:”
14. When Moses hears this he understands that God has forgiven the people, because the essence of God is forgiveness. If we are to understand that human beings are created in the image of God, then we must also understand that these qualities of God are the qualities that we too must cultivate if we are to discover the nature of God’s essence.
15. When we are gracious and full of compassion, we can see the point of view of others easily and can work to ease their discomfort and to calm their souls. When we do, we can “see” the image of God at work. When we are slow to anger and when we fill our hearts with abundant kindness, we are bringing the presence of God into the world. When kindness leads us to forgiveness of even the most dark sins, we can easily experience the divine in ourselves and in others. When we bring these qualities of God down to earth, we are creating the foundation so that together we can move forward. Life is no longer stuck in the present or in the past. When we bring God into the world, we also make possible the future.
16. A Hasidic Rabbi once offered this prayer to his students, “if you can treat every person next to you as if he were the messiah, waiting for just one more act of kindness so that his presence can be revealed and the world redeemed, if you can treat that person to every act of kindness, then even if that person is NOT the messiah, it will not matter.”
17. We bring God into the world when we reach out our hands to those who are in need, both Jews and non-Jew, no matter if they are in Delray Beach, the United States, Chile, Taiwan or Haiti. When we hear of earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis or fire and we open our hearts, our hands, our homes and our wallets to those who are alone, afraid and suffering, we are bringing God into the world, and making the presence of God into a reality. When we visit someone who is sick, comfort someone who is bereaved, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, stand up for the oppressed and clothe the naked, we have created the image in which we can focus our prayers and our eyes.
18. The golden calf should never be worshipped; we should instead worship the golden heart. We should not berate others for not being pious enough, rather we should aspire to live the kind of life that we would like to see in others, and then shower all those around us with the kindness and concern that will make others sure that if they too seek God’s presence, they only need to emulate your actions and open their hearts to others. We need to be less judgmental, and more forgiving. We need to be less impatient and slower to anger. We need to be less strict with the law and more merciful in our dealings with others. And above all we must be kind.
19. When we feel alone in the wilderness, when we feel anxious about life and insecure about what the future holds for us, when we find ourselves looking for a Moses to lead us out of the wilderness and into the promised land, we need look no further than our own hands and our own hearts to unlock the secret of God’s presence in our lives and in the world. God is not on the mountain top where we must climb to find God. And God is not across the sea that we must sail far and wide to find God. And God is not deep within the earth requiring our strength and stamina to find God. God is in every meaningful relationship. God is found whenever we open our hearts and God is close at hand whenever we turn to our neighbor in compassion and kindness.
20. May we all find God today and every day, in our actions and in our hearts as we say…
AMEN AND SHABBAT SHALOM
2010
1. Shabbat Shalom
2. This Shabbat we have read about the lowest moment in the history of our people in the wilderness. The people, anxious that Moses has been on the mountaintop so long, begin to fear that he has died and there is no one to lead them to the Promised Land. They have no leader and without Moses, who will bring to them the world of God? Our people were frightened and feeling alone.
3. So they start to demand a God that they can see. After all, Moses was their only link to the invisible God and now Moses is gone. Every other nation had a god or multiple gods that could be seen and worshipped directly. Can we really blame them for wanting a golden calf? Some scholars claim that the calf was really not a god at all; the calf was merely the pedestal upon which God would stand. God was invisible, riding on the back of the calf but the calf gave the Israelites a place to direct their prayers.
4. Others blame God for the golden calf. After all, God has left Israel in Egypt for hundreds of years. All their experience with religion had been in Egypt where there was a god for everything and the gods were larger than life. Some Sages claim it is like a parent that sets his son up in the hair styling business and puts the shop in a part of town where all the vain and shallow people congregate. Then the parent is shocked that his son has become vain and shallow. “Don’t blame your son,” the friends of the father say, “after all, you set him up in a bad part of town.” So too, it is God’s fault that Israel strayed, after all, God sent them to live among the Egyptians! Do you ever notice how when children get in trouble, they always find a way to blame the parent!
5. The details of the story focus on the sin of the people for demanding a god they could see. I look at these passages and understand that the people have a serious concern and there are no really good answers to their problems. Moses seems to have vanished. The people are lost and afraid. A god they can see would be their “security blanket”, to help them feel the closeness of God. The golden calf was an object they could point to, admire and direct their anxiety toward. I guess there is a bit of Aaron, Moses’ brother in me. I can’t help feeling sorry for the people. After all, could we honestly say that if we were in the same circumstances, we would have done better?
6. It is true that we don’t fashion gods out of gold anymore. But we do put our trust in lots of things that clearly are not God. We put our trust in our possessions, that they will protect us from hard times. We trust that our investments will be there to pay for our retirement and then are horrified to find out that when the economy takes a dive, that our investments are unreliable. And apparently we could not trust those who were supposed to prevent the misuse of our retirement funds, they too were fallible and could not prevent either Bernie Madoff or the financial crisis. Do we rely on our Doctors and Lawyers and Politicians to save us from tragedy? Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. People used to rely on Insurance to protect them from tragedy, but today we know that sometimes it is very hard to get an insurance company to pay what they owe us.
7. We also all have our superstitions that we rely upon to protect us. The lucky charm that we take with us when we leave our homes. The mezuzah that we think will protect us at home and the Jewish jewelry that somehow brings us under God’s protecting wings. Dare we ask ourselves what we are really expecting to happen when we stand up and add our friends’ and loved ones’ names to the Mishebayrach for the sick? Is kissing the Torah s sign of respect or do we expect good luck? What about if we kiss the Rabbi? (No, that would be a bad idea. Way too many germs out there.) We may know that there is a God that we cannot see, but we rely all too often on things we can see to save us from the dark forces that surround us.
8. So then, what SHOULD we do to face the future with confidence and certainty? If Judaism, if God, knows that we are insecure human beings, what does our religion and our faith have to teach us about where we should look if we seek to find God?
9. The first place we should look if we seek the image of God is in the face of the people around us. Not just those who sit around us in synagogue, but those among whom we live, work, eat and play. Each human being is unique from each other, but all of us are created in the image of God. It is not in our differences that God can be found, rather, God is found in the core parts of each and every one of us, deep inside where we are all the same. I am not talking about raising up one person to the level of God; I am talking about finding that spark of the divine that exists in every person, old and young, male and female, religious and secular, Democrat or Republican, black, white, red or yellow, rich or poor.
10. I think Moses, when all was said and done, understood the fear and anxiety in the people. When he returns to the mountain, he too is unsure and insecure. Did he do the right thing in punishing the people? How could he blame them for their sin if they really did not understand the full meaning of a God that sees but cannot be seen? He needs God to forgive the people but this is the God who destroyed the world with a flood, and overthrew the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins. What would prevent God from destroying the Israelites for this grave and serious breach of the new Jewish law? Moses does not know what to say to God about the people and he is unsure himself about the nature of this God, who saved Israel from Egyptian slavery, but demands complete and perfect loyalty. Moses returns to the mountain and returns to God with one request, to see the “presence of God”. What Moses actually sees is the subject of Jewish mystical literature. I am only concerned with what Moses hears.
11. He hears that famous passage :
12. “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord! The Lord! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the \
13. thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin:”
14. When Moses hears this he understands that God has forgiven the people, because the essence of God is forgiveness. If we are to understand that human beings are created in the image of God, then we must also understand that these qualities of God are the qualities that we too must cultivate if we are to discover the nature of God’s essence.
15. When we are gracious and full of compassion, we can see the point of view of others easily and can work to ease their discomfort and to calm their souls. When we do, we can “see” the image of God at work. When we are slow to anger and when we fill our hearts with abundant kindness, we are bringing the presence of God into the world. When kindness leads us to forgiveness of even the most dark sins, we can easily experience the divine in ourselves and in others. When we bring these qualities of God down to earth, we are creating the foundation so that together we can move forward. Life is no longer stuck in the present or in the past. When we bring God into the world, we also make possible the future.
16. A Hasidic Rabbi once offered this prayer to his students, “if you can treat every person next to you as if he were the messiah, waiting for just one more act of kindness so that his presence can be revealed and the world redeemed, if you can treat that person to every act of kindness, then even if that person is NOT the messiah, it will not matter.”
17. We bring God into the world when we reach out our hands to those who are in need, both Jews and non-Jew, no matter if they are in Delray Beach, the United States, Chile, Taiwan or Haiti. When we hear of earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis or fire and we open our hearts, our hands, our homes and our wallets to those who are alone, afraid and suffering, we are bringing God into the world, and making the presence of God into a reality. When we visit someone who is sick, comfort someone who is bereaved, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, stand up for the oppressed and clothe the naked, we have created the image in which we can focus our prayers and our eyes.
18. The golden calf should never be worshipped; we should instead worship the golden heart. We should not berate others for not being pious enough, rather we should aspire to live the kind of life that we would like to see in others, and then shower all those around us with the kindness and concern that will make others sure that if they too seek God’s presence, they only need to emulate your actions and open their hearts to others. We need to be less judgmental, and more forgiving. We need to be less impatient and slower to anger. We need to be less strict with the law and more merciful in our dealings with others. And above all we must be kind.
19. When we feel alone in the wilderness, when we feel anxious about life and insecure about what the future holds for us, when we find ourselves looking for a Moses to lead us out of the wilderness and into the promised land, we need look no further than our own hands and our own hearts to unlock the secret of God’s presence in our lives and in the world. God is not on the mountain top where we must climb to find God. And God is not across the sea that we must sail far and wide to find God. And God is not deep within the earth requiring our strength and stamina to find God. God is in every meaningful relationship. God is found whenever we open our hearts and God is close at hand whenever we turn to our neighbor in compassion and kindness.
20. May we all find God today and every day, in our actions and in our hearts as we say…
AMEN AND SHABBAT SHALOM
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