Dvar Torahs presented at
JCRC Council Meetings
Dvar Torah
January 10, 2012
Bob Cohn
D'var Torah offered at Jewish Community Relations Council monthly Council meeting by Robert A. Cohn, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the St. Louis Jewish Light and delegate to Council from the American Jewish Congress, 11:45 a.m., Tuesday, January 9, 2012, Congregation Shaare Zedek
Once again it is my honor to offer the D'var Torah for this month's JCRC Council meeting. And once again it is remarkable how timely the ancient words of the weekly Torah Portion is to events that dominate our minds today.
The Parasha Vayechi, Gen. 47:28-50:26, "He Lived," opens with our Patriarch Yakov, Jacob, on his deathbed. HIs son Joseph, his bat zakanim, the child of his older years, whom he favored, brings his own two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph by his Egyptian wife (name?). Jacob embraces the boys, telling Joseph, "I never expected to see you again, and here God has let me see your children as well."
Jacob then crosses his arms, blessing the eldest with his left hand and the younger with his right. When Joseph tries to correct him, Jacob insists, saying that the younger brother shall be greater than his sibling. He offers the blessing, "You shall Israel invoke blessings, saying God make you like Eprhaim and Manesseh." Jewishparents offer this same blessing to their sons to this day--and a parallel blessing for girls is "to be like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah." Just as Jacob, who was not born first surpassed his brother Esau, and Joseph, who while not the eldest surpassed all of his 11 brothers and became the first great Jewish Diaspora leader, so does Jacob recognize that birth order is not as important as leadership and other qualities in choosing our leaders.
Jacob grants his two grandsons, born of his son and and an Egyptian mother, a double portion of inheritance, reflecting the wisdom that Jacob and Joseph have gained in their mature years.
Later, Jacob summons his sons to his deathbed and offers them each a blessing in one of the most moving episodes in our Tanakh. In his blessing, Jacob recognizes both the positive and not so positive qualities among his sons, calling his first born Reuben as "unsteady as water," and rebuking Shimon and Levi for their violence against the residents of Schehem. Our sacred texts do not gloss over or make excuses for the flaws among our greatest leaders. When Jacob and Joseph were young and immature, they did not fully understand the gifts God had bestowed on them. Joseph's gift was the power to interpret dreams, but as a callow 17-year-old he used that gift to enrage his brothers who sold him into slavery. That same ability to interpret dreams caused the Pharoah to make Joseph his second-in-command, and in that capacity Joseph was able to get Pharoah's permission for Jacob and his brothers to settle in the Land of Goshen. When Jacob dies, Joseph asks Pharoah's permission to bury Jacob in Canaan in the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron. Pharoah not only agrees, but sends an honor guard to accompany Joseph and his father to the burial site. Joseph also assures his brothers that he will not exact revenge upon them for having sold him into slavery and deceived their father Jacob into believing his beloved son was dead.
Today, nearly 4,000 years after the incidents in the Torah Portion, the peoples of Israel and Egypt continue their centuries long relationship. There was the Pharoah who made Joseph his second in command and the Pharoah who knew not Joseph and took the Israelites into slavery. There was Moses, the Hebrew brought in the Palace of another Pharoah, who brought about our release. In modern Egypt, we had the President, Anwar Sadat, who signed the peace treaty with Israeli P.M. Menachem Begin in 1979, and his successor Hosni Mubarak, who honored that treaty for over 30 years after the death of Sadat. And now, in Egypt there appears to be a modern equivalent of the Pharoah who knows not Yosef--a military government that is using brute force to say in power, and the growing strength of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi Muslims. some of whom have threatened to set aside the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty.
Recent days have also seen the horrific incident in Beit Shemesh, where members of a Haredi community spat upon an 8-year-old Modern Orthodox girl, calling her names and striking fear into her heart. This incident has been strongly condemned by all streams of Judaism in Israel, in the U.S. and in our own community, where all Orthodox pulpit rabbis denounced it in the strongest possible terms.
In these uncertain and often disturbing times, let us hope that the wisdom of our most ancient texts--the wisdom and compassion of Jacob and Joseph and the peaceful relations they forged with Egypt and other neighbors, will be replicated in our times. The wonderful Muslim/Jewish Day of Service, organized by the JCRC, which attracted 600 people on Christmas day offers a strong Beacon of Hope that brighter days are ahead, and that wisdom, compassion and cooperation will indeed triumph over violence and bigotry.
Dvar Torah
December 13, 2011
Hilary Cedergreen
I thought that today would be appropriate to talk about my family’s favorite upcoming celebration, Hanukkah.
The Al HaNissim is a prayer added on Hanukkah to thank G-d for the miracles with which the holiday is associated.
A portion translates as follows:
“When the wicked Greek kingdom rose against Your people Israel, to make them forget Your torah and compel them to stray from the statutes of Your will- You in Your great mercy stood up for them in the time of their great distress. You took up their grievance, judged their claim, and avenged their wrong. You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton into the hands of the diligent students of your torah…”
But, what is the reason that we are shown this piece or snapshot of history?? What can we learn so that we are not merely celebrating an ancient victory? I think there is so much relevant and current educational value in this prayer.
If we think about what we are really celebrating on this holiday, some may say that it’s the miracle of the oil lasting for 8 days. Others may argue that it is the victory of a small group of Maccabees against a larger more powerful Greek army. Both of these victories are true reasons for celebration, but there is another lesson as well. The bigger lesson, in my mind, is that on Hanukah, we are commemorating the ability of the Jews to live their lives without the fear of persecution and without the threat of violence and war. But, unfortunately, that fear continues to be an ongoing struggle today.
A large part of OUR miracle, as Jews is that we have survived, that we are here now to identify what went so terribly wrong and how things can be set right as we move forward so that we do not make the same mistakes again.
As we begin preparing for Hanukah celebrations in our homes, it is the perfect time to place our thoughts on Israel, the Jewish homeland, and it’s incredible importance in the world.
I was unbelievably fortunate last month to be a part of the Rubin Israel trip. I had no idea that going to Israel would shape and change me the way that it has. It was an immediate and gripping emotion that carried me through my whole trip. The history and richness of the country is, in itself, overwhelming, but in light of Hanukah, I’d like to relate to you a few of the incredible miracles I saw when I was there.
I know that many of you have traveled to Israel and seen the country with all of its amazing spiritual and historical sites. So, I will leave those out of my list of “flickering lights” and tell you about a few small agencies that are succeeding in changing Israel for the better.
In Tel Aviv, we met with two phenomenal women who, in 2005, began an arts high school for at risk youth called Muzot. Listening to them speak about some of the life circumstances of the students at their school was devastating. These are incredibly troubled teens who they literally find on the streets. Muzot gives them an opportunity to begin healing and then, through training and the arts, helps them reach incredible potential. They are receiving the equivalent to a high school education when they leave. In part, because of funding from the St. Louis federation, these kids have not only 2 hot meals a day, but a chance for an educated and fulfilling life.
When we headed north to Yokneam, our sister city, we were privileged to see how another St. Louis program was impacting the lives of Jewish Ethiopian refugees. They came to Israel from a primitive existence with nothing and have had to literally re-learn how to live their lives. We were able to walk around their amazing garden as they pointed out the differences between the Israeli basil and the Ethiopian basil. They also gave us the beautiful experience of helping them plant on their land. Without being able to speak a word of any common language, these men were able to communicate their intense pride. Their families now have an opportunity to grow and thrive in Israel. We remember that Israel was built on the foundation of gathering exiles.
These are just two of the many, many programs I visited during my trip. Each one was truly more impressive than the next. And while Israel is a vigorously independent country, our support allows agencies like these to thrive. It became very clear to me how crucial the work is that we all do locally and through our own agencies.
To relate back to lighting the menorah on the first night of Hanukkah, I think of each candle (or mitzva)….as the beginning of small change. As the nights progress and we light more candles that vision of change becomes more soulful, perhaps even an action of any size. The change comes from deep within and continues to grow until it is noticeable even from the outside. As our menorah’s sit in our windows with fire blazing, so is the nature of mitzvos.
This year when I light the Hanukkah candles with my family, I will think of all the incredible people, programs and agencies that are helping to shape the future of Israel.
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Dvar Torah
November 8, 2011
Heather Silverman
I’m often struck by how often the weekly parsha has a message so relevant to our current lives or current events. The most recent portions have been especially pertinent. As having Gilad Shalit free begins to feel more real, many have started having concerns about the deal that was struck in order to free him. Captives have long been an issue in Jewish history and as such, we do not have a shortage of material to help us think through the Shalit exchange.
In last week’s parsha Lech Leha; an intertribal war breaks out during which Lot and his family are taken captive. When Abram learns of this, he gathers soldiers, pursues the captors, and frees Lot and his family. The story of Abraham saving Lot represents the earliest of a series of examples of the concept of “pidyon shvuyim” — redeeming the captives, invariably at a cost.
The Talmud and the Midrash tell a number of stories about righteous individuals who engaged in ransoming captives, traveling great distances and funds established for this purpose. In medieval times, it many Jewish communities in port cities had funds to rescue Jews who were captured by pirates. The practice continued in various forms under various circumstances throughout history, as recorded in the annals of Jewish communities throughout the world.
Captives should not be ransomed for more than their value, for the sake of the general welfare (in the original Hebrew, tikkun haolam, literally translated as “repair of the world”).
The Talmud seeks to clarify the purpose of this legislation. Concern for the general welfare, the Talmud points out, could mean one of two things:
Only moments ago, it seems, we broke our fast for Yom Kippur. Almost immediately, the sounds of sukkot being built could be heard in my University City neighborhood! In the Torah portion for the holiday of Sukkot, from the book of Leviticus, we read about God’s command for this holiday,
.“You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” (Lev. 23:42-43).
.We are again reminded of our liberation from Egypt – when a great paradigm shift took place for our people. We left a paradigm of slaves and masters for a new paradigm of God as our supreme authority, and we are all equal in the eyes of God. God provided protection for the Israelites living in fragile booths, after coming out of Egypt, and provided for all their needs..
.But for many of those in our St. Louis community, everyday life is like living in the sukkah. Their existence is fragile, at the mercy of the next strong wind that threatens to blow them over, knock them to the ground. The Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry is serving record numbers of individuals and families in St. Louis. Many in our community remain unemployed, and in danger of losing their housing altogether, if they haven’t already. Every day is living in a sukkah for them.
.In Jewish tradition, God has many names. The rabbis sometimes refer to God as “HaMakor,” which can be translated as “The Source” – The Source of Peace, the Source of Blessing … but I think God is also The Source of Nudging. Just as we are feeling a sense of satisfaction for having done our “Al Chets” and made it through the fast, just as we are feeling sated with food again and comfy in our homes, God is nudging us:
“Remember that you were taken out of Egypt so that there would be a paradigm shift – so that you would know to Whom you really answer, and that your job is to remember what social injustice felt like and to make sure that you know what it feels like to live a precarious existence – with God as your only shelter.”
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