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וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃ “God said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” Genesis: 12:1 This week we open the Torah to parashat Lech Lecha, meaning to “Go into yourself.” The Rabbis have interpreted this phrase in many ways, though I have developed my own interpretation that contains a deeper message conveyed in these short two words. Lech lecha has always meant to me, “Take a risk and have faith believing in the promise of tomorrow without knowing exactly where you are going but knowing you will be found.” This is where we encounter the story of Abram, eventually becoming Abraham after he follows the counterintuitive instructions from Gd to leave his father’s home, holding onto the promise of a future through the whisperings of his heart. He eventually becomes our founding father who began the covenantal relationship between the Jewish people and God. Abraham is often seen as the embodiment of the Jewish attribute of “chesed,” known as loving kindness. His actions over his lifetime included welcoming wayfarers into his home, providing hospitality with food and drink, unlimited kindness and compassion exemplifying the importance of chesed in Jewish life. One cannot say enough about the importance of “chesed” or sometimes called “gemilut hasadim” acts of loving kindness in Jewish life at this moment in our world. Our sacred texts share a variety of actions that fall into this category, such as hospitality, visiting the sick, attending a wedding, giving interest free loans, redeeming captives, burying the dead and comforting mourners. While we sometimes emphasize tzedakah (righteous giving) in our modern lives, the Rabbis clearly favored chesed, since it refers to the way that we help others in times of need. There is no better time than now for all of us to embody the compassion of Abraham by recognizing the crucial needs right here in our own community. As many of you know, the federal government has notified the state of Ohio that due to the ongoing government shutdown, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) may not receive their November benefits as normally scheduled. This is heartbreaking, especially at this time of year as the weather gets colder and the darkness descends (this weekend!) It is particularly upsetting that our friends and neighbors may not know where their next meal will come from. Please join me as we live out Abraham’s chesed by providing food to the needy in one of these 3 ways:
Whatever our reason may be, these practices of “loving kindness” are essential in creating a caring and giving community. They are both individual as well as communal responsibilities, carefully defined in Jewish law. So, I charge you “Lech lecha,” and go help others in need. By doing so you will also hear Gd’s voice and carry out the whisperings of your heart to make the world a better place. This year when we hear the shofar we will certainly hear it as a broken cry. We are crying for injustice, violence, pain, fear and unspeakable grief as we enter 5786. This opening prayer, Hinneni, meaning HERE I AM is also a cry, as we cry out in all of our heartbreak and in all of our hope. I can't think of a more urgent time in our collective experience than in this moment of absolute heartbreak as we desperately cling on to hope. This prayer is chanted by the Hazzan/Cantor, the prayer leader on behalf of the congregation, as we stand together as one during the high holy days trembling in fear, overwhelmed in worry and yet also filled with a deep desire for change and redemption. This year, as you hear this ancient melody, close your eyes and let it pierce your soul. This prayer instructs us to love peace and to love truth. It also pleads to the Divine. “May there not be stumbling blocks in our prayers.” What are your personal stumbling blocks? What are our collective stumbling blocks? It concludes with the following blessing. “Blessed are you, who hears our call for renewal, redemption, healing and harmony.” Ken Y’hi Ratzon- May it be so. “I ASKED MYSELF
Who’s listening to these words of confession? Magnificent Ear of the universe, are You my personal confidant? Or am I just talking to myself? Then I got it: The question is a diversion- To distract me From hearing who I really am.” Mishkan HaLev These words are taken from the prayer book that contains our S’lichot prayers, which focus on forgiveness and repentance. These words should stir our souls and ignite more questions such as, “Who am I, really in this moment? And “Who do I want to become?” One of my favorite teachings is from Rabbi David Aaron, who taught me while I was on my first trip to Israel on a Birthright program (a very long time ago!) that we are not human beings, but rather “human becomings.” This is the essential work of the High Holy Day season as we engage in “heshbon hanefesh,” the accounting of our souls to recognize how we want to grow spiritually, act in a more compassionate manner, and be of service to others. There are actually three levels of forgiveness according to Jewish law.
It is interesting to have a deeper understanding of these levels of forgiveness. However, we must recognize that we are all desperately trying to do the very best we can living in this complicated world. So before you rush out to apologize for the hurt you may have caused others, take a moment to instead of beating your chest, to pat your back and to forgive the most important person who will be there to travel with you on your journey for the rest of your life, you. It is okay and mandatory to forgive yourself. It’s already on God’s list. So scratch it off yours. קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־יְ֫הֹוָ֥ה חֲ֭זַק וְיַאֲמֵ֣ץ לִבֶּ֑ךָ וְ֝קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־יְהֹוָֽה׃
Look towards God. be strong and let your heart take courage! Look towards God. Psalm 27:14 This is one of my favorite passages in all of the 150 Psalms of David. Every day during the month of Elul that just arrived a few days ago, reminds us to start spiritually preparing for the High Holy Days. We are invited to immerse ourselves in rituals that help us prepare for the deep spiritual work of “teshuva,” a returning to our best selves through acts of prayer, tzedakah, and repentance. This passage we recite twice a day in psalm 27, should wake us up by encouraging us to practice patience and strength. We should do this by not only passively looking towards the Divine but relying on our own actions of courage and resilience as we actively trust in God at the same time. This task feels extremely daunting in this challenging moment we are living in as Jews. “Teshuvah,” meaning returning and repenting, is the central gesture of the High Holy Day season. Rabbi Joseph Solevetchik describes teshuva as a circular motion. He writes,“If you aren’t moving along the circumference of a circle, it might seem as if the starting point is getting farther and farther away, but actually it is also getting closer and closer. The calendar year is such a circle. On Rosh Hashana, a new year begins and every day is one day farther from the starting point, but every day is also a return, a drawing closer to the completion of that cycle.” Rabbi Solevechitch points out that every step we take away is a step closer to home. This Shabbat, we invite you to come home as we begin to celebrate this cycle of life as we bring new babies into the covenant, bless new adventures, as well as come full circle as we welcome the “Millie Baran Project” to Temple Israel. In collaboration with a local organization, A Tribe for Jazz, composer and pianist Albert Marquès will be presenting his Ampl!fy Voices project, the haunting and heartfelt “Mir Zaynen Do,” a musical collaboration with 99 year old Holocaust survivor Millie Baran. Released as three tracks/videos, this new jazz composition includes Millie and her daughters singing the Yiddish song “Mir Zaynen Do” (We Are Here מיר זיינען דא). Its lyrics were written in 1943 by Hirsh Glick, a young Jewish inhabitant of the Vilna Ghetto, who was inspired by news of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Mir Zaynen Do (also known as “Zog nit keyn mol," “Partisan Song” or "The Song of the Warsaw Ghetto") was adopted by Jewish partisan groups throughout Eastern Europe during World War II, and became a symbol of resistance against Nazi Germany. With the help and partnership of Jewish Family Services, we will also be welcoming and hosting local Holocaust survivors to stand and be recognized for their courage, resilience and faith, the true essence of the psalmist words. Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av is a day of communal mourning in the Jewish calendar. On this day we commemorate and mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E and 70 C.E. respectively, as well as many other disasters said to have befallen the Jews on this day. We observe this holiday by gathering together without greeting each other, sitting on the floor in mourning in the dark, chanting psalms, reading poetry and chanting from the book of Lamentations, known as Eicha in a haunting melody that evokes suffering, longing, and an eerily kind of comforting hope.
Hauntingly, this day will not be difficult for us to observe this year. The continuous and overwhelming mourning and loss, the betrayal of our own humanity, the rise in antisemitism has plagued us over these years of war, and at times it is paralyzing. Tisha B’Av gives us the opportunity to feel all the brokenness in its fullness, and wake us up to the pain that must be transformed into purpose. Join us this weekend as we begin Shabbat, holding onto and sharing the precious moments in our lives that we can celebrate turning these dark times, (which is imperative!) with our monthly Celebration Shabbat. Come back on Saturday evening as we end Shabbat together and release into communal mourning giving each other the space to cry, to mourn, to hurt and eventually to heal as we observe Tisha B’Av. In her book UNFOLDING, Rabbi Karyn Kedar writes, “Tisha B’Av is a solemn period grounded in historical circumstances that encourages deep personal reflection. The Temple was destroyed because of human frailty; we chose hate over love, and all was lost for the nation. So too, with us, when we give into negativity we lose so much. Destruction, we learn and know so well, is caused by senseless hatred. Redemption will come with love.” Join us in love, help us be redeemed. Shabbat Shalom, Cantor Bat-Ami Moses |
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