Immersed in the Waters of Torah: Responding to Antisemitism by Living Full Jewish Lives

(delivered by Rabbi Jill Maderer at Shabbat service on 1/3/20).   The lights of Hanukkah now dim, I can see as clearly as ever, how desperately the world needs our light. I have been outraged to witness American Jews attacked in antisemitic acts on every night of Hanukkah and beyond.  And I have taken solace, and found inspiration from your presence in our Community and knowing we stand together.

One of our responses to antisemitism needs to be the practical security review.  The recent security updates that have been reported to the congregation over this passed year, already address the rise in antisemitic acts and so, for that we can feel a sense of reassurance, even in a world without complete certainty.

Another of our responses to antisemitism is the expression of solidarity with other the Jews, the welcoming of solidarity from non-Jews, and the readiness to reach out in solidarity when other groups are in need.

Tonight the response to antisemitism I’d like to focus on, is perhaps the most critical of all.  We respond to the rise in antisemitism in the very same way, that we respond to every single day: by living full, vibrant Jewish lives.

A Giant Step In The Right Direction; A Long Road Remains Ahead

By Doug Rosenblum, Chair of the Rodeph Shalom Gun Violence Prevention Task Force

In the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy in 2012, the clergy of Rodeph Shalom convened a series of meetings to provide a forum for grieving and constructive thought on stemming gun violence in our country.  Those meetings first led to a board resolution put forward by Dan Seltzer putting forward a commitment to work on this important issue. Following the school shooting in Parkland, FL, our synagogue leadership convened a task force to look more seriously at concrete ways we could help work to end gun violence.  Our task force has been productive in provoking discussion and welcoming learned community members to visit our congregation and share their views.  Last month, our committee marked an important milestone in the culmination of years of work within city government.

On November 19, 2019, Mayor Jim Kenney committed Philadelphia to joining the national Do Not Stand Idly By (“DNSIB”) campaign.  Rabbi Joel Mosbacher of Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City started DNSIB when he saw a unique opportunity for communities to grab the attention of gun manufacturers.  Cities and municipalities are some of the largest consumers of firearms, ammunition, and related accessories in the world.  Think about it: police departments buy a lot of guns and ammunition.  If gun manufacturers lost those customers, their bottom lines would be severely impacted.  DNSIB provides a forum for those cities and municipalities to harness their collective buying power to ask questions of those companies that manufacturer and sell firearms.  Specifically, DNSIB members have sent a request for information to manufacturers focused on two specific topics:

The Covenant Reimagined with a More Prudent Abram

By Carl W. Schneider*

God’s first words to Abram (whose name had not yet changed to Abraham) in their initial communication were “Go forth…to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation.”  (Gen 12:1-3)  God never identified himself as a deity, as He did in other important messages (Gen. 17:1, Ex. 3:6)  God gave no details about the nature or consequences of the proposed relationship.  At the time Abram was 75 and childless.  According to the record, Abram did not ask the obvious questions such as:  Who am I listening to – you have not identified yourself? How can a childless couple, consisting of a 75 year old man with an elderly barren wife, create a large family?  In fact the record indicates that Abram did not utter a single word in the entire encounter.  Without any due diligence and without any further communication from God, he simply followed the instruction and went forth with his family for the Promised Land.  (Gen. 12-4)  His actions were fairly naive and impulsive. Here is my alternative narrative.                                

Abram said to God.  I am overwhelmingly grateful at your generous and unexpected offer. I am thrilled at the prospect You and my family will enter a covenantal relationship.  But please indulge me if I request some clarification.

My counsel taught me that if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. As I understood your proposal, all I must do is go forth to the place you designate to receive land, progeny and all of the other wonderful benefits you described.  As presented, there are no strings attached.  You have not stated any material expectations for performance on my part, beyond going forth to claim the prizes.  Tell me what consequences are likely to follow.  Will anything be expected of me or my descendants, if I relocate in the Promised Land?

After a moment of hesitation, God replied.  Well, I mention that your descendants will be subjected to 400 years of hard slavery in a foreign land.  But rest assured that I will use a series of miracles to deliver them from the yoke of slavery at the end of that period, and they will leave with great wealth.  (Gen. 15:14)

In lieu of the yoke of slavery, your descendants will accept the yoke of Torah.  They will receive a set of 613 rules to follow.  The rules will cover how they run their business and farms, employee relations, the food they eat, the clothes they wear, what they do when rising in the morning, retiring at night, or leaving their homes.  The rules specify fast and feast days as well as other holidays to observe.  In fact, the rules cover most of life’s activities.  The rules cover what must and what may not be done.  The reasons for some rules will be obvious.  Others may seem totally arbitrary, with no apparent rationale.

Many of the rules will require ritualized burning of items such as animals, birds, grain or oil.  Some items are to be incinerated to smoke while others are simply well grilled.  A branch of your family will be picked to perform these rituals, and they will be entitled to eat the choicer burned items, such as grilled meats.

All rules must be followed.  I am slow to anger.  But I will become seriously vexed if I detect significant violations by leaders or widespread violation by the masses.  The offenders will be subject to chastisements of My choosing.  For example, if I specify the fire pan design for the burning rituals, and an official uses alien fire, he might be consumed by flames on the spot.  (Lev. 10:1-2)  If a group becomes rebellious, the earth may swallow them up.  (Num. 16:31-34)  If a legitimate leader is challenged inappropriately, the challenger may suffer a debilitating skin rash.  (Num. 12:10)  It is my policy to impose punishments not only on wrongdoers but also to the fourth generation of their families.  (Ex. 20:5)

There may be some controversy within your descendants about how the rules are followed.  Early on, many in your family will get involved with a golden calf.  The details are unimportant.  Suffice it to say, 3,000 from the calf party will be slaughtered by the group that knows how to do the right thing. (Ex. 32:28)

You should know that on the way from slavery to the Promised Land, one generation will be forced to wander for 40 years, and eventually die, in the desert.  They will face food insecurity and other hardships.  The people will complain endlessly about their leadership and their harsh conditions while on the move.

When you get to the Promised Land, you will find it occupied by several other nations.  Ten of your 12 scouts will tell you that the natives look like giants and your tribe will look like grasshoppers in their eyes.  Their cities will be well fortified.  (Num. 13:31-33)  But have confidence.  Using My superior powers, I will help you conquer and occupy the Promised Land.

Although we enter this covenant when you are 75, you will be 100 when Sarah has her first child.  (Gen. 17:1-2, 18:10, 21:5).

As a mark of our covenant, you and all your male descendants will have to be circumcised.  (Gen. 17:10-14)  Abram replied, etymologically, I know that the word means to “cut around,” but I am not familiar with this ritual.  What is to be cut around?  God explained.

I will expect you to change your name from Abram to Abraham and your wife will change hers from Sarai to Sarah.  (Gen. 17:5, 17:15)

Abram said to God, I will consult my counsel and give my response tomorrow.  Abram rose early the next morning and called out to God, saying here I am.  Reluctantly I must decline Your gracious offer.  But I remain very anxious to enter into a covenant with You.  Permit me to share my concerns.

My family is well established here in Haran.  We have adequate land for our farms and for grazing our herds and flocks.  My elderly father has a high end idol shop in Haran, Terah & Son.  It will be mine eventually if I remain here.  I promised my father to manage the shop as long as he lives and I would not feel right in leaving Haran at this time. I love the idea of having children of my own, but I already have a nephew, Lot, who is now like a son to me.   Submitting my descendants to 400 year of slavery is a non-starter.  I could not consider it.

Frankly, it troubles me that the Promised Land is occupied by other nations and we must take possession of it by conquest.  I fear that those nations will try to retake their ancestral homelands and we will be subjected to an endless series of wars.  Even if You can assure us victory with Your superior powers (after all, who is like You among all the other gods), we would not want to live under a perpetual threat of attack, if not actual war.  No matter how often we win, if we lose one war we can be expelled from the Promised Land or pushed into the sea.

Besides, moving is complicated and expensive.  Your directive that I go forth did not include reimbursement for moving expenses.  If I relocate, I will expect such reimbursement.

In summary, Your proposal is very tempting, but Sarai and I are very well and comfortably established here in Haran.  We feel that we cannot accept Your proposed covenant on exactly the terms offered.  Permit me, with respect, to suggest a few changes and I believe we could then enter a mutually agreeable covenant.

First, drop the relocation provision, which will also eliminate the need for a generation doomed to desert wandering.  I agree that our growing family will need more land.  The area around Haran is thinly populated.  Secure additional space for us that will be needed for our growing tribe within 300 miles of Haran.  The precise number of square miles can be determined in further discussion.

Second, the slavery condition is out of the question under any circumstances.  The value of the labor pool represented by the slaves for 400 years is far out of proportion to the benefits we would receive from the covenant.  Here is my alternative suggestion.  For five generations, each male in our tribe will agree to five years of indentured servitude, starting at age 13.  They will work on building fixed or portable tabernacles or temples, as well as other infrastructure projects for the good of the community.  All labor-related provisions of the 613 rules will apply to the indentured servants.

Third, make two changes in Your punishment policy.  It is unfair to punish anyone for wrongdoing of an ancestor.  Punish only wrongdoers, but not their children or later generations of their families.  Also, in fixing punishments, we would like assurance that You access Your attribute of mercy as well as Your attribute of justice.

Fourth, I am feeling very queasy about circumcision, especially in my age.  Let us substitute a distinctive tattoo on the thigh, say a six pointed star, instead of cutting.

Fifth, do not make us wait until I am 100 to have our first child.  Sarah will be post-menopausal by then and who knows about our fertility.  (Gen. 18:11)  Let him be born here in Haran as soon as practical.

One other point I consider non-substantive but important.  I are very pleased that my descendants will be Your Chosen People, Your personal possession, a kingdom of priests, a blessing to the world and a light to the nations.  However, I fear that if these special relationships become widely known, they will cause hostility, jealousy and resentment among our neighbors.  Our special positions may cause us more problems than benefits, by subjecting us to prejudice, discrimination and possibly even expulsion.  Therefore, I suggest that any information regarding our special status or relationship be kept strictly confidential between You and my family elders, and not made known to third parties.  On my side, our special status will be disclosed only to senior leaders on a need-to-know basis.

God, if You will agree to these changes, I, on behalf of myself, Sarai and all of our descendants, will accept You as our one and only God and You shall be our One.   Our covenantal relationship will be in accordance with the terms You stated, subject to these changes.

God said to Abram, I knew you were smart, cautious and well represented by counsel.  Indeed, that is one of the reasons I selected you for a covenant.  I am not surprised that you have made a counterproposal, but I am frankly surprised by the scope of the suggested modifications.  My answer is …

Epilogue

After several rounds of counterproposals from each side and some tense negotiation, God and Abraham agreed as follows:  The Promised Land would remain in Canaan.  Abraham would relocate at his own expense.  The period of slavery was reduced to 20 years with the possibility of reduced time for good behavior.  The tribe would be permitted to travel through the desert at whatever pace it set for itself.  It was estimated that the trip to the Promised Land would take six to 12 months.  God agreed to punish only wrongdoers, but not their offspring.  God rejected Abram’s proposal that Sarah become pregnant as soon as possible.  Both parties agreed it was not be ideal to travel while Sarah was pregnant or when the family included a newborn.  So they reached a compromise that Abraham’s son would be born as soon as practical after Abraham arrived in Canaan.  All the other terms proposed by God were agreed upon.

Lot agreed to take over the management of Terah’s idol shop.  Terah was delighted.  He felt that Abram had tried his best but was not an effective salesman, probably because Abram was never convinced that idols could really accomplish anything.

Abraham’s counsel breathed a sigh of relief when the revised covenant was concluded.  He realized that there was a very delicate balance between negotiating the best possible deal and being overly aggressive to the point where no agreement can be reached.  Abraham had no bargaining leverage. By requesting multiple changes, he had gambled that God would not simply select another available candidate for His favors.  At times it seemed likely that negotiations would fall apart, and that Abraham would miss what would turn out to be a very favorable arrangement.

The covenant itself changed with time.  Before Jacob would accept God as his deity, Jacob insisted on several significant conditions that God would have to fulfill first. (Gen. 28:20-22)  By the time of Sinai, the momentum reversed.  God imposed a whole Torah full of commandments on the Abraham’s descendants that were never mentioned to Abraham when the covenant was first proposed.

Author’s Note

The formal record of the covenant raises another question worth considering: Why did God select Abraham as His covenant partner in the first place?  With the goal of starting a large tribe, it was odd for God to pick an elderly childless couple with questions about their own fertility.  (Gen. 18:10-11)  Why not start with a younger couple that had already borne children and proven their fertility?

It is easy to surmise why God picked some key figures.  The record tells us that Noah was selected to save humankind and the animals from the Flood because he was a righteous man, blameless in a lawless age.  (Gen. 6:9)  When God picked Moses to lead the Exodus, He selected the only Hebrew in all of Egypt who was raised as a family member of the royal court.  He was familiar with its ways.  Who was better suited to negotiate with Pharaoh?

What does the record tell us about Abraham?  He was simply a generic upper middle class rancher and businessman.  He was successful but not a self-made man.  Rather, he was born into a wealthy and prominent family.  Abraham was fairly worldly and could act as a mensch.  He knew the conventions in buying property, a burial cave, from a neighbor.  It was inappropriate for him to accept a purported gift of the property when everyone knew he was expected to decline the gift and pay full price.  (Gen. 23:10-16)  He knew the hospitality one was expected to extend to strangers in the desert.  (Gen. 18:2-8)  When it became necessary to part from Lot, Abraham gave his nephew the first choice of locations.  (Gen. 13:9-12)  Abraham stood up to God and argued for justice in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:23-32), although not when God demanded the sacrifice of Isaac. (Gen. 22)

But Abraham could also act in a shameful and caddish way.  For his own safety, he twice passed off his beautiful wife Sarah as his sister, and he caused her to participate in the deception.  He resorted to this reprehensible scheme to fool local leaders, who might have killed her perceived husband in order that that they could consort with Sarah.  However, these leaders would not feel the need to harm her perceived brother in order to consort with her.  (Gen 12:10-16, 20:1-16)  What a trauma to inflict on Sarah!

I find nothing in the record suggesting that Abraham had any special qualifications to be God’s covenant partner.  In passing, we are told that God selected him to pass the law on to his children (Gen. 18:19), but there is no indication that Abraham had any special talent as an instructor.  Like most of the patriarchal family, he was an imperfect person with character flaws.  Indeed, God may have picked Abraham not because he was especially qualified but precisely because he was so typical — an everyman if you will.  Or maybe the selection was a random choice on God’s part.

If Abraham had over-negotiated the covenant and caused the discussions to abort, no doubt God could have found many other covenant candidates, even in the small town of Haran, whose credentials were equal, if not superior, to Abraham’s.   In hindsight, it was probably quite prudent of Abraham to accept God’s terms, no questions asked.

*Mr. Schneider, a retired Philadelphia lawyer, is a member of Philadelphia’s Congregation Rodeph Shalom, and participates regularly in Torah Study led by the Congregation’s renowned Clergy.

 

 

 

A Part of Something Greater Than Ourselves

Rabbi Jill Maderer wrote this article for the December Bulletin.

I can picture, as a young child, sitting at my family’s Shabbat table on an evening when our Rabbi was there as our guest. I remember he and my parents were engaged in a conversation about the importance of the Reform Movement. Rabbi Kroloff spoke about the Movement’s thought leadership and resources such as the youth movement and summer camps. He spoke about the social justice voice of about 1,000 North American congregations and the network of leaders who support each other. He spoke about responsibility to the whole— to think not only of our own Jewish lives and synagogues but about the Jewish people. And most of all, Rabbi Kroloff spoke about how powerful it is to be a part of something greater than ourselves.

Reform Zionism: Rooted in Caring for Ourselves & Caring for the Other

Rabbi Jill Maderer wrote this article for the November RS Bulletin.

I recently had the joy of co-leading a discussion in our 6th grade, along with Rabbi Freedman, during Berkman Mercaz Limud. Our topic was theology and the students raised a common question: is God good? I was struck by the nuance of the conversation that followed. The students opined that God could not be good because what’s good to one person or side, is not good to the next person or side. Inherent in their understanding of God’s role in our lives was the notion that our lives are different. Our perspectives are different.

I left that conversation with faith that the world will be a better place because these kids are in it and that they have much to teach us all.

Brit Olam: A Covenant With Our World

Rabbi Eli Freedman delivered this sermon during the Yom Kippur morning services.

According to the Torah, who were the first Jews? I heard some Adam and Eves, I heard some Abraham and Sarahs, I think I heard someone say “my grandmother!” The correct answer is Abraham and Sarah, but it is a common misnomer to think that Adam and Eve were actually the first Jews. They are the first people, but it is not until twelve chapters into Genesis that we are introduced to Abraham and Sarah, the patriarch and matriarch of Judaism. If the Torah is the story of the Jewish people, why not start with Abraham and Sarah?

The authors and editors of the Torah were making an important point by telling a series of pre-stories before our progenitors arrive on the scene. The first four stories in the Torah all end poorly. Adam and Eve get expelled from the Garden, Cain kills his brother Abel, God destroys the entire world with a flood, and, in the Tower of Babel, God confounds our languages and scatters us across the world.

So why begin the Torah with so many negative stories of failure? In his book, A Lifetime of Genesis: An Exploration of and Personal Journey Through the Covenant of Abraham in Genesis, my teacher and Rodeph Shalom confirmand, Rabbi Henry Zoob, argues that the unifying theme of Genesis (and much of the Torah) is the Covenant of Abraham and Sarah. And for that precise reason, the editors of the Torah made a point to include stories of the pre-Covenant world.

According to Rabbi Zoob, these first four stories of Genesis teach us that the pre-Abraham and Sarah world could not function properly because it was missing the covenantal relationship between God and people. Although God spoke to Adam and Eve, and even walked with Noah, the world was not complete because it lacked brit – covenant.

Letting Go

Delivered by Rabbi Jill Maderer, Kol Nidre 5780

Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter, would tell this story. Shortly after Wiesenthal is liberated, a man asks if he can borrow $10.  Week after week, the man comes to say he cannot pay it back. Excuse after excuse. Weeks turn into months, and finally the man comes to Wiesenthal to say “Here’s the $10, my visa came through, I am going to Canada.”  Wiesenthal looks at the man and says “Nevermind.  Keep the money.  For $10, it’s not worth changing my opinion of you.”

A grudge can feel so good.  One commentator jokes “revenge is sweeter than honey” (Rabbi Moshe Cham Luzzato).  The entitlement, the righteous indignation– that power can serve, as a source of confidence.

And yet, according to the prophet Jeremiah, God proclaims “I will not look upon you in anger, for I am compassionate; I do not bear a grudge for all time.”  Striving to emulate God, tomorrow afternoon we will read from the Torah in the Holiness Code: Do not bear a grudge.

This Yom Kippur, what would it mean to heed the message of Leviticus– to release a grudge? Would you even want to relinquish that power?

Tikkun Middot: AKA, What I Learned at Camp

Erev Rosh Hashanah sermon delivered by Rabbi Eli Freedman

In his new Netflix movie, Between Two Ferns, Zach Galifianakis asks Paul Rudd if he is a ‘practicing Jew.’ Without missing a beat, Rudd responds, “I’m not a practicing Jew… I perfected it!”

Funny, but not true. None of us have perfected it. This is the central message of the High Holy Days – none of us are perfect and we all have the opportunity to discover our best selves.

I got an early start to this soul searching while working at our Union for Reform Judaism’s Camp Harlam. There, they use unique mindfulness tools rooted in the teachings of mussar to help each camper and staff find the path to their best selves. 

Mussar is a concrete practice that gives instructions on how to live a meaningful and ethical life that arose under the leadership of Rabbi Israel Salanter in 19th-century Lithuania. Salanter believed that through prayer and meditation, study, journaling, and group conversations, we all hold the power to better ourselves. Using these traditional teachings and updated practices, Rabbi Maderer will be leading a mussar cohort this year. 

The Cave Is Not an Option: Community as a Response to the World

Delivered by Rabbi Jill Maderer, Rosh Hashanah morning. 

Why are we here?  Why are we here as individuals and as a community?  Generations ago, one of our prophets, Elijah, is called to answer that question.

Immersed in a spiritual quest, and frightened by a broken world, Elijah crawls into a cave where he spends the night.  That’s when the word of God comes to him:  God asks: “Why are you here, Elijah?”  Trembling with fear, Elijah replies:

“I despair that we have forsaken Your covenant, And torn down Your altars. I am alone.”

Rings true today. This Rosh Hashanah, we too, stand at the mouth of the cave, saying in our own words:
“I despair that we have forgotten to listen, to live, to love.
That we have torn down human dignity.
I yearn to commit to something greater than myself, something sacred.”

We too tremble in fear.  Frightened by the many things that make ourselves, and our world, broken.

We Value Multiple Perspectives on Israel

We all know the old expression, “Two Jews, three opinions!” A cute, funny line, but rooted in a fundamental philosophy that is paramount to our tradition. From our very beginnings, Judaism has been a religion that encourages dialogue and debates l’shem shamayim (for the sake of heaven). Jacob wrestled with a divine being and was renamed Israel – one who struggles with the Divine. In our Yom Kippur morning Torah portion, Nitzavim, we are taught, “the Torah is not in Heaven… it is in our hearts,” for us to interpret and disagree over! And the rabbis of the Talmud provide one of the greatest examples of discourse, constantly pushing each other and questioning. 

In this spirit, we are excited to engage with Israel this fall in three distinct learning opportunities, beginning with two very different perspectives.