Parshat Nitzavim Saturday Morning 2011

Parshat Nitzavim

Saturday Morning

2011

1. There is a story, of a man who lived in South Africa; he owned a farm there but the land was poor and filled with rocks and he had to work very hard to earn a living. He wanted to be rich and to seek his fortune in the world so he sold his farm and with the money traveled to many places to seek his fortune. He tried his hand at many kinds of work and investments but slowly his money disappeared and he was left penniless and begging in the streets. The man who bought his farm however took a closer look at the rocks on the farm and discovered that they were all diamonds and the land was a large diamond mine. He was the one who became wealthy and powerful.

2. How often do we go out looking for our fortune and miss the treasures we already have? This is not about wanting more and more, never being happy with what we have. This is about those who think that their fortune must lie far away and they will have to go to great lengths to acquire it. There certainly are people who have sold off what they thought were old collections of comic books and baseball cards only to discover that they had given away the one comic or the one baseball card that was worth thousands of dollars. Remember the man who was browsing a garage sale and found a painting that he liked selling for ten dollars? He bought it and cleaned it up only to discover it was a lost painting of a famous artist and was worth ten thousand dollars! Imagine how the family holding the garage sale felt that what they valued the least was, in fact, the most valuable possession they owned?

3. The stock market is another place we can kick ourselves for wishing we knew then, what we know now. It is so easy to invest in something, tire of it and sell it just before it takes off. We keep our eyes on the blue chip investments but, once upon a time Microsoft, Apple and even Home Depot stock could be bought cheap. Today they are all exceedingly valuable. Sometimes we have to hang on to what we believe in longer in order to see a great return on our investment. Sometimes we have to take a longer view to discover the ultimate worth of our investments.

4. We don't need to only talk about money either. Some things are just more valuable than money. Yes it is good to have enough to live on. Enough to feed the family keep a roof over our heads and provide for some comforts in life. But sometimes we overlook things that are more valuable than money. I know of people in their quest for fortune who abandoned the love of a spouse. The real meaning of the tale of Ebeneezer Scrooge is not that he will die, but that he will die unloved and forgotten. It is not what you get that is often important, it is also what you give. If we take the time to love, our spouse and our children, then we have real wealth. My daughter's name is Ashira. Most Israelis assume that it is spelled, in Hebrew, with an Aleph, and it means happy. She certainly is a happy person. But we spelled her name with an “Ayin” and her name means, “wealth”. She is our living reminder that Michelle and I are very wealthy where it is most important, in the love of our children.

5. So what if I told you that everyone here has an inheritance coming to them and all they have to do is claim it? No, this is not a takeoff of the Oprah Winfry show where she gave away cars to everyone in the audience. And I am not talking about going on the internet to put your name into a website to see if you have any money or accounts that have been forgotten over time. I am talking about an inheritance from your parents and grandparents that is waiting for you to claim it.

6. If this inheritance were money, what would you do with the money you are inheriting? Would you go out and spend it on stuff that would make you feel happy? Would you eat at more expensive restaurants? Buy a fancier car? Go shopping for expensive clothing or jewelry? Perhaps you would save it for a rainy day in the future when you might need the cash, sometime when you may be ill, or when your income no longer is enough to pay the bills. Maybe you might invest the money from your inheritance, letting it grow so that later you might live off the investment income or have it as a gift for your children or grandchildren. What would you do with money you suddenly discovered you had inherited?

7. In this week's parsha we read, “Surely this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say 'who among us can go up to the heaven and get it for us and impart it to us, so that we may observe it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?' No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to observe it.”

8. The inheritance we are talking about is not money, it is our religion, our faith, our way of looking at the world. Our parents or grandparents were steeped in this tradition and they hoped to teach us the ways of Judaism and the treasures that are in our way of living. We often become so distracted by the outside world that we forget that we have this inheritance, one that other people wish that they could inherit. We are often like the man from South Africa, we don't really understand the treasure that we already own.

9. For some of us Judaism is not a treasure, it is a jail. Judaism has bars on its windows and a bolted door. It is filled with restrictions that seem to limit our every move. Don't do this, Don't do that. You must perform this ritual in exactly this way or else it doesn't count. The modern world is evil and only Jews and Judaism can be trusted. This is the kind of faith that people run away from as soon as they are able to leave their home. When Jews came to this country at the beginning of the twentieth century, when they saw the Statue of Liberty, they not only rejoiced that they had left their lands of persecution, but I am told that the bottom of New York harbor was covered with tallesim and tephillin that were thrown overboard by Jews ready to start life anew without the burden of living as Jews. They were literally throwing their inheritance into the sea.

10. But that is not the real inheritance that we receive from our ancestors. Judaism is not a dark force that drains the life and love from our world. Judaism is what helps us see the world as it really is, and it gives us the tools to help make it even better. Generations of Jews have found joy and peace in their Jewish practice. They see Judaism as a way of making sense of a chaotic universe. They see Jewish ritual as a way to keep life organized, with the most important parts of life placed well ahead of everything else.

11. How can we inherit this living Judaism? This is a good question as the beginning of a new year will be next week. If we want to claim this inheritance, there are some things we should resolve to do. First of all we will need to know more about what we have been given. This means that in the new year we should resolve to read more Jewish books, not just novels, but books that will help us explore our Judaism in a deeper way. We use Jewish texts to sharpen our understanding of what it means to be a Jew.

12. Second, we should set time aside for conversations about our faith. Jewish learning is not done in a vacuum; it is done in conversation with others who share our desire to learn. Temple Emeth offers many opportunities to study and learn together and the conversations are always meaningful and stimulating. Think about joining us for an hour or so of give and take on Jewish topics in our Adult Studies program. If your previous Jewish education is missing something, we can help you fill in the gaps.

13. Once we take hold of our Jewish inheritance and learn how it can be important in our lives, we should then decide how we should use or how we should invest in what we have inherited. Temple Emeth is, at its core, a place where Judaism can not only be studied, but practiced. Find a day to join us for daily minyan. Extend your observance of Shabbat to include Mincha/Maariv and Havdala. Join us for a Shabbat Dinner, breakfast in the sukkah, or any other holiday celebration. We can learn here to read Hebrew, chant a haftara, lead a service, read from the Torah or many others ritual skills that will enhance our Jewish life. Certainly there are rituals that can be done at home and we can help you bring your Judaism into your own personal space.

14. Let this new year 5772 be the year that we all learn to appreciate what we have inherited from our families and received from God. Let us learn to be knowledgeable and committed Jews, comfortable at all times with the faith of our ancestors as a faith of our own. Let us discover for ourselves that one of the most precious things in our life is what we already have, our Judaism.

May God guide us as we seek to come closer to our faith and to our people as we say … Amen and Shabbat Shalom

Parshat Ki Tavo

Parshat Ki Tavo

Saturday Morning

2011

1. Shabbat Shalom

2. In the ancient world, all contracts and treaties would have a similar conclusion. After stating the terms of the agreement between both parties, there is a long list of curses called down upon anyone who would violate the terms of the agreement. As we are now approaching the end of the Torah, following ancient custom, there is a long list of curses and dooms called down upon the Jewish people if they should ever violate this covenant they have made with God. It is not the most beautiful part of the Torah, in fact, as you have seen, we read it quickly and quietly; but if you take the time to read it, it is quite effective in listing the awful things that come when we do not follow what God wants us to do.

3. Maybe, as we read this list of curses, we shake our heads and mutter that we don't believe in that kind of a God anymore. We don't believe in a God that punishes us for every sin, for every mistake that we make. We don't want a God who punishes, we prefer a God who supports us in our moments of weakness and who forgives and pardons our transgressions. What kind of a God would bring these disasters down on humanity, punishing the good along side of the bad? There is no escaping the curses that are pronounced. When war and famine come, it not only consumes the saints with the sinners, it also consumes the innocent children and animals as well. What kind of a God punishes the innocent along with the guilty?

4. God might not punish the innocent with the guilty but that certainly is the history of humanity. When just a few of us sin, it is all of society that suffers. Only one company dumped toxic waste into the Love Canal 50 years ago, but the entire community that lived on its banks had to be uprooted and houses built there had to be destroyed. One country, China, still burns fossil fuel without cleaning the sulfur from the smoke, but that sulfur drifts on the winds of the upper atmosphere and falls as acid rain on the forests and trees here in the United States. An obscure agreement between the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan and the terrorist organization Al Queda, was of no concern to anyone in the world until the terrorists hijacked and flew passenger jets into the World Trade Center.

5. Newsweek reported that the wildfires in Texas burning since December of 2010, have now consumed 3.6 million acres. That is an area that is close to the size of the state of Connecticut. Over 700 homes have been burned and four people have lost their lives. Newsweek goes on to say that six of the largest fires in Texas history have occurred this year. Why has this national tragedy occurred? Maybe it is because the Governor of Texas has cut funding for the volunteer firefighters, who are the first responders to these fires, by a whopping 75%. When we don't have enough firefighters, why are we surprised when we have towering wildfires?

6. Newsweek also reported that the Governor of New Jersey is complaining that retired teachers in his state are getting pensions of $35,000 a year that the state has to pay. I don't know why he is so unhappy that they are receiving those pensions. After all, not only did they earn the pension but they are responsible for the high school students in New Jersey having the highest Advanced Placement test scores in the nation. Would good teachers teach in New Jersey if they don't have decent benefits to cover their retirement?

7. What really got me angry this week, was Sen. Ron Paul at the debate in Tampa on Monday. He was asked if a 30 year old who did not have health insurance and who became seriously ill, if society had any responsibility to that person. Ron Paul replied that the man made his decision and the country has no responsibility to heal him at all. It is not the government's job to take care of the uninsured.

8. We can have a great discussion about whether or not government in this country is too big or too small. That would be a fantastic discussion. But to say that government has NO role to play in society is not just foolish, it is dangerous. It is dangerous to people who make poor choices and it is dangerous to those of us who try to follow all the rules. We all suffer when our government does not do its job. Judaism rightly points out that we need to pray on behalf of the government because without it, people would devour each other alive.

9. I want to be very clear; Judaism teaches us that government has responsibilities for the people and we have responsibilities for government. Rabbi Elliot Dorff, philosopher, author and bio-ethicist, lists, in order of importance, how Judaism sees the role that government is supposed to play. The first role of government is to redeem captives, especially women who are in danger of physical violation and those at risk of death. Second, government is responsible for medical care for people who need it, and this cost is more important than raising money to build a synagogue. Life and health take precedence over all other communal priorities. Third comes food for the poor. Fourth is clothing and housing for the poor. In the Middle East where the weather is moderate, clothing and housing are not as important as food. In North America, where there are very cold winters, this need is more urgent. Fifth comes money for the dowry for indigent brides and last is whatever is necessary to sustain a person's dignity.

10. In addition, the Jewish community, when it governed itself, provided ways to prevent poverty. There were strict commercial rules that regulated how much profit a person could make on food and essential items being sold. There were also rules on how quickly laborers should be paid. They preferred that people work for their living and not live off the public till. Rather than give charity, often loans and or aid to help keep someone employed were better ways to preserve the dignity of those in distress.

11. Since everyone has these responsibilities to the poor, it becomes the duty of the community to gather the resources and provide for the poor on behalf of everyone. In effect, the Jewish community taxed its residents to provide a soup kitchen, a homeless shelter and a tzedaka collective to support those who need money or other supplies. The responsibility of how much to contribute was dependent on income. The more you earned, the more you owed. Even those who received charity were required to give charity. Those who could give more, were required to give more. Those who refused to give could be forced by the courts to give or their property could be confiscated.

12. These responsibilities are, first of all, a moral requirement. What separates us from animals is that we don't leave our wounded, sick or elderly behind. It may be OK for a heard of antelope or wolves to weed out the sick and injured. It is not OK for human beings. We believe that we are all created in the image of God and that nobody is more deserving than anyone else. We don't ration food or health care so that those who can't afford it are left out. All Jews are responsible for each other. That is a fundamental part of our faith.

13. There is also a practical reason to provide for the poor. The poor are more likely to contract serious diseases that could affect all of public health. Do you remember the SARS scare in the 1990's? It was so communicable that many people caught it from those who were waiting with them in hospital waiting rooms. When we make sure that everyone has proper health care we are preventing the uncontrolled spread of disease.

14. The same applies to doctors, firefighters and police officers. If we no longer provide an adequate number of professionals in our community, we should not be surprised by increases in disease, wildfires and crime. These also are the duties of government; we certainly don't want private security or local vigilantes in charge of crime prevention. According to the Torah, the communal leaders had to offer a sacrifice if there was an unsolved murder in their jurisdiction. It was a penalty for not providing enough security for strangers and residents.

15. Let us never forget that there is a purpose for government. Our constitution teaches us that we have formed this union to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. For both Jewish and American law, we rely on our government to provide justice, fairness, a social safety net, security and freedom. I know that there are some today that say that the best government is one that stays out of the way. But that is not how Judaism sees the world. Judaism teaches us that government is the one resource that makes freedom and liberty possible. Nobody likes taxes and rules about how to live our lives. And maybe our government has gotten carried away in both areas. That is also a good debate to have from time to time. But when we pray for the government, we are praying that it does its job with justice and that it acts with rightful authority. Without government humanity has known only chaos.

16. As a rabbi, I must teach the important role that government plays in our lives. Ron Paul is entitled to his opinion, but as Jews, we must and should support the government in its duty to give aid to the poor, the homeless, the sick and the aged. That is our duty as Jews, as Americans and as human beings. Let us not get lost in campaign rhetoric and forget our responsibilities to others. That would be a crime against our humanity and a sin against God.

May God bless us with a good government that supports those in need of support and gives opportunity for all. May God bless us and our country as we say …

AMEN AND SHABBAT SHALOM

PARSHAT KI TETZE

PARSHAT KI TETZE

Text :

ז שַׁלֵּחַ תְּשַׁלַּח אֶת-הָאֵם וְאֶת-הַבָּנִים תִּקַּח-לָךְ לְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ וְהַאֲרַכְתָּ יָמִים.

Let the mother go and take only the young, in order that you may fare well and have a long life. [Deut. 22:7]

Commentary:

(One evening as my wife and I were shopping for clothing for our children) I caught a glimpse of a tall, carefully made up, attractive woman out of the corner of my eye, she seemed, even at first glance, to be distraught. Pretending not to notice her as she moved into the aisle where I stood, I saw that she was very pregnant and accompanied by a man. They were discreetly moving toward me and she was trying to catch my eye. But even if she did, I would have feigned ignorance. Yes I know, I'm a rabbi, a public person, but gimme a break, this public person happens to be shopping for clothes.

It didn't work. She was closing in and moving through the bright florescent lights like a guided missile. “Aren't you Rabbi Kushner?” “Yes, I am; have we met?” “Not exactly; we attended a service that you did. My husband and I thought you were very nice.” She moved in for the kill. “Oh Rabbi, we were at the doctor’s this afternoon. The third opinion. He says I have an inoperable tumor. I'm going to die. He says the baby will be fine.”

They introduced themselves to me, gave me the details. They’d been thinking about joining my congregation. Their world had collapsed. Why has this happening? Would I do the funeral? They joined. She bore a daughter, she died. I did the funeral.

There are two ways to understand our relationship with God: God can be above us or we can be within God. In the first, it is possible for us to have a relationship with God. There are two discrete parties who can each behave freely and independently. And since God is other than the world, there must be some things which are not God; a devil, and evil instinct. . . .Evil has its own independent existence. It is in business for itself. In the second model, we are within God; we are one with God. God is everywhere and everything. All being derives its reality from God. According to this paradigm, if God is within all creation, then what appears as evil can only be a distant, albeit distorted, expression of the Divine. This doesn't make it “good.” But nothing can be entirely separate from or independent of God. Everything, therefore, is the way it is “supposed” to be.

The stories with happy endings distract our attention from all the other painful stories. They say to us that somehow things work out, even though it often seems like they don't.. For a moment, it seems possible that our grief may be due only to our own myopia. The seeds of giant redwoods, after all, are capable of germinating only once they have been through the intense heat of a forest fire.

Not long ago I was sitting with the other members of my synagogue's high school faculty... My glance settled on a short vivacious, red haired girl of seventeen. She had just finished telling a joke or playing some kind of a prank. Everyone laughed with her. She is popular. I love that girl. I am honored that she looks up to me. That girl's father never did remarry. Last week the father told me that his daughter was thinking of becoming a rabbi.

Look, I don't think that God made a tumor grow in that girl's mother's brain. Or that God has anything to do with the choice of careers or where I used to shop for bargain basement clothing. But I can't get it out of my head that somehow God is mixed up in the whole horrible, holy and joyous thing. [Lawrence Kushner; Invisible Lines of Connection, Jewish Lights Press, p. 136]

Questions:

A) How can the Torah promise long life for sending away the mother bird when we know that long life has nothing to do with sending birds away?

B) Can we explain evil in the world without denying God's power or God's knowledge of all things? Why must religion, in general and Judaism, in particular answer this question? What does this say about our faith in God?

C) Do you see God as above us or within us? What difference does our choice make in the way we act in the world?

Parshat Shoftim

Parshat Shoftim

Sermon Saturday Morning

2011

1. Shabbat Shalom

2. The Memphis Three were set free from jail this week. Three men, convicted almost 20 years ago for the killing of three children in an occult ritual, one of whom was given the death penalty; they walked out of jail as free men. After more than 19 years in prison, DNA evidence that was not available 20 years ago, convinced a judge that there was no way that these three men could have committed this terrible crime. Anyone who is not a part of this case, looking at the documents that convicted these three, is appalled that they could be convicted on such flimsy evidence. The man was convicted of capital murder by a jury of his “peers” based on a confession that was gained illegally. It was coerced from one of the defendants who was threatened by the police, without access to a lawyer and who recanted this so called confession the next day.

3. This miscarriage of justice was the result of police eager for a quick resolution of a terrible crime. It was the result of a prosecutor who wanted the publicity of a conviction. It was the result of judges who did not want to admit that they may have made a mistake. It took thousands of people, including some very famous people, who paid the lawyers who worked for years to get these three innocent men freed from prison. It is hard to imagine that in the country of justice and freedom, the land of law and order, the nation that is famous for its crime scene investigations, that this kind of railroad justice could even exist, let alone leave three innocent men in prison for nearly 20 years.

4. This is the kind of case that lies at the foundation of our Torah reading today. Judges and officials are to be appointed who will show no partiality to the rich or the poor; magistrates who will not accept bribes to find for one side of the case or the other. A conviction in Jewish courts requires two or three witnesses; one can't be convicted on the testimony of just one person. Courts did not have juries, but they had a panel of three judges, who were supervised by a regional court of 23 judges, who were supervised by a national court of 71 judges.

5. Furthermore, witnesses that testified in a murder case would be required to throw the first stones when the time for execution arrived. Witnesses who conspired against someone were punished with the same punishment they intended for their victim. Witnesses were questioned separately and had to agree to what they saw. They could not be relatives of anyone involved in the case. And once acquitted, there could be no double jeopardy.

6. But even with all these safeguards, there were miscarriages of justice in the ancient world as well. Israelite royalty, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had their neighbor executed for treason on the testimony of two bribed witnesses so that the King could seize the land and vineyard of the neighbor. Nobody said a word to the King until the prophet Elijah confronted them. King David was also punished for killing a man to avoid an embarrassing indiscretion. We see why our Parsha requires a Jewish king to write a copy of a Torah for his own use; to impress upon him the details of the law.

7. We like to think that we take our sense of justice seriously; that if we are called upon to serve on a jury, we would work extra hard to make sure that we made the just and right decision. Maybe some of us have served on a jury and actually had to decide a case. It is not as easy as it looks on TV. When we are the ones who have someone's life in our hands, to send them to jail, to send them home or to put them on probation is not an easy decision. We hope we make the right choice, but often, even at the end of a case, we are unsure of what was the right thing to do.

8. Would we have convicted Casey Anthony if we had been on her jury? What about OJ Simpson? Would we have wanted to sit on the jury of the rape case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Could we have done a better job? Before you answer, it is important to remember that we do not have all the evidence in our hands that was presented in court. Even if we wanted to watch the proceedings of these sensational trials, we could not have seen all the information. Television only covers the “interesting” parts trials. The media only records what their experts say are important and relevant, but seeing the accused and hearing the tone of voice of the witnesses is also an important part of a trial. How can we possibly say what we might have done if we were not there?

9. I actually think that we often rush to judgment on the testimony of just one witness. We all too often allow the trial of someone in the court of public opinion. We convict those arrested without even seeing the evidence that needs to be presented. There was a crime, we have a suspect, if the police say he did it, than it must be true. Unless it is almost 20 years later and we can see that the police did it very wrong. I don't even want to limit this to the sensational crimes in the news each week. We make far too many decisions based on just one opinion and we then cite that testimony as if it has to be true.

10. I get, almost every week, a story in my email about some sensational item in the news. The more fantastic the information the more likely that someone will forward it to me. Just about every one of these emails is filled with inaccuracy and falsehood. Just because we read it on the internet does not make it true. I have read terrible things about the government of Israel that never happened. I have seen horrific quotations attributed to the Koran that are completely imaginary. Did you get the email that said that Saudi Arabia Air is now part of the Star Alliance of airlines and it claimed that Delta Airlines would start refusing to take Jewish passengers? It was completely false. It never happened. It can never happen. This is a terrible example of bigotry against Muslims. We just can't believe everything that we learn on the internet. There is in fact a site on the internet that is dedicated to debunking all these lies that are out there posing as facts for us to repeat.

11. So if you can't trust what you read or see on Television, who can you trust? I have always been a believer in reading more than one source and then, comparing the information and making my own decision. I get my news from many sources. I watch the 11 pm news on TV most evenings. I read the news from many different sources. I read the headlines from the Miami Herald, the Sun Sentinel, ABC news, MSNBC news, CNN, and even the BBC. I have any news about Delray Beach, about Conservative Judaism and Rabbis automatically sent to my email. I read the Israeli paper Haaretz every day and I have national and international headlines from around the world sent to me for evaluation. I get the latest news about technology from a computer magazine. Of course I daily check the headlines for important stories in the New York Times and not just because my son works there.

12. I often check out local news in at least three of these sources before I feel ready to make a comment on it. I usually check out national news also in at least three sources, one of which is a foreign source to see how others look at the same information. The facts may be the same but the interpretations are widely different. It is a lot of work to be able to comment on politics, international news, and even local stories. I never judge a story in the news from just one source. Only if I have read the story in a number of places do I feel I understand what the story is about. I was annoyed this week because all the news stations were complaining that 1.5 million people who were in hurricane Irene are still without power. That may be true, but the number on Sunday was 5.5 million people without power, that is almost an 80% improvement in just a few short days. I agree that 1.5 million people is still a large number but I can't fault the power companies and the politicians for not doing a good job.

13. And that applies all the more so to gossip. I don't know why people want to share gossip with the Rabbi; I never comment on it or share it with others and more often than not I challenge the person telling the story to reveal his or her sources. If I do hear something troubling about someone I know, I call them right away and find out for myself if the information is true and if there is anything I can do to help them in their troubles. I don't judge anyone on the testimony of one witness.

14. One of the things we need to be examining at this season of the year is if we are too quick to judge others based on flimsy testimony. Do we rush to judgment of those who show up in the evening news? Do we form opinions only because our “favorite” commentator endorses it? Do we look askance at our neighbors because of the latest rumors going around about them by the pool? If so, we will have much to atone for on Yom Kippur. Our Parsha challenges us all to be skeptical of what we read and what we hear. It asks us to consider other possibilities for the fantastic stories that we hear; and not let someone else “bribe” our minds with assorted half truths that will cloud our judgment when it comes to the bigger issues.

15. When you hear a talk show and there are people around the table who disagree and are given a chance to explain why they disagree, you have a reason to perk up your ears. If you hear a news personality apologize for getting a story wrong, it is OK to pay attention. But if you find a commentator who shouts down anyone who disagrees with him, it is best just to turn off the noise. There are way too many people in the media who seem to think that the louder they shout, the more people will believe them. That is why I never accept an opinion based on the testimony of one pundit.

16. It does not matter if you read a story in the Jewish Journal or the New York Times. It makes no difference if the news is in the Palm Beach Post or National Enquirer. If you can find the story only in one place, then there is good reason to ignore it and just turn the page. Our parsha says “Justice, Justice shall you pursue”; it says “justice” twice to tell us that it is hard work to know what the real answer is and you have to pursue it because the truth will not always be what it first appears to be. If we can make this our habit when reading the news or when we are “chit chatting” with our friends, then we will be doing our part in fulfilling the commandments of parshat Shoftim.

May God help us to use our minds to uncover the truth when all is false and to find what is real when everything seems too good to be true. May we judge all of life fairly as we say...

AMEN AND SHABBAT SHALOM