The Cornerstones of Conservative Judaism

The Cornerstones of Conservative Judaism

First Day Rosh HaShanah - September 9^th, 2010

Richmond, Virginia

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

 

I know why my family affiliated with a Conservative synagogue. In 1956, when looking to move from Brooklyn, New York to New Jersey where my father found a job, a flat tire led my parents to inquire about housing in the little town of Belleville. There was one synagogue. It was Conservative. They joined it. There my brother and I grew up. It was the portal to Judaism and everything else Jewish for four generations, from my parents to my grandchildren. There I discovered my Jewish identity, the content of our religion, the language of Hebrew, the far away country of Israel, and the five thousand year long history of our people. I was captivated. I was enriched. I was proud. While I heard about other divisions of Judaism, they did not interest me. Conservative Judaism, steeped in tradition while vibrant and modern had more for me than I could possibly have absorbed to fill my religious quest.

 

Clearly the style, brand, [the word I loathe - "product" - ]called the "Conservative" synagogue was very appealing. Synagogues like Temple Beth-El sprung up across North America mainly because of the nature of its presentation of Judaism, neither too far right nor too far left, attracted the growing American Jewish population. Yet I believe, that in all those decades, it would have been most difficult for the members of these synagogues to answer the following two questions:

1.      Are you a member of a Conservative synagogue or are you a Conservative Jew?

2.      What is Conservative Judaism? What does it stand for? What does it represent?

In concise manner, I phrase the question:

 

Why are you in this synagogue today and not elsewhere?

 

While it was not necessarily wrong, but because we were so completely dedicated to teaching Judaism, so devoted to the Jewish people in general, we never articulated clearly and meaningfully that we were presenting Judaism through a very specific prism. We never inculcated "brand loyalty." We didn't 'grow' Conservative Jews.  I remember that the language always was: we were not Reform and we were not Orthodox. We needed to articulate what we are! What is so unique, so completely special, so distinctive that is Conservative Judaism? Why should anyone join us? Why should anyone remain here?

 I will answer that today.

 

At the Rabbinical Assembly Convention this past May, held at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, Rabbi David Wolpe opened the Convention by addressing this very issue. He challenged us to come up with a new name. I haven't, though I have thought hard. I have taken up his suggestion to define us. Rabbi Wolpe's suggestion was to define Conservative Judaism through the prism of relationships, because our core word is covenant – brit. Conservative Judaism is unique because it brings us to stand in a series of special relationships. I build these remarks on those of Rabbi Wolpe. I call them: The Cornerstones of Conservative Judaism.

 

 

1. We stand in relationship to God. The Jewish story begins with Abraham who heard God's call. That call called our people into being. That is our raison d'être.  Faith gives us the purpose to exist. We gave the world the gift of our faith.  Historical events such as the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem, the many persecutions, the Holocaust, never robbed us of our faith in God. I suppose that every Jew throughout history has had their moments of doubt and questioning. Maybe we have taken Abraham's posture and even argued with God. Conservative Judaism means to standing in that relationship, even as it changes as we do, even as it grows, even when challenged, for it is the core part of our identity and daily life as a Jew.

 

2. We stand in relationship to Torah. Conservative Judaism teaches to study Torah, in shul, at home, in classes, on the computer – and any other media. Torah is alive today. We see the Torah text as speaking in the present tense. We are the participants in its drama. In its laws and in its narrative we find the core values of our faith, different from all the others. We use modern as well as classical scholarship to continue to discover its meanings. We hear God's voice in and between its lines. I pay homage to my predecessor Rabbi Milgrom, may his memory be for a blessing, who brilliantly elucidated the Biblical texts. He truly represented Conservative Judaism.

 

3. We stand in relationship to our tradition and mitzvot. Conservative Judaism teaches us that we are the inheritors and repository of gold: Shabbat and the Chaggim, these holy days, Jewish law and personal mitzvot, our liturgy and our literature. They connect us to God. They weave us into relationships with each other. They are beautiful! They are joyful! They are glorious! Each and every component is imbued with meaning, and spirituality. I wish we could feel the pulsating power of Tevye's singing "Tradition," not that I want to live in Anatevka, but with the unfettered freedom to know that the wisdom of the ages is ours, the connecting web that transcends time and place to reach to the infinite is ours. While not every tradition with a small 't' will speak to each of us, so much can, and so much more can be added to the stock of tradition. Our relationship is infused with joyful obligation to halacha, Jewish law.

 

4. Klal Yisrael – We stand in relationship to every Jew alive. While there are many divisive ideologies, Conservative Judaism stands for the unity of Jew with Jew, the overarching unity of the Jewish people: those born, those by choice, those with kipot, those without, those of every color, those with faith, those without, those of every gender, here in Richmond and around the world. There are compelling reasons to propagate and maintain the existence of the Jewish people. Conservative Judaism teaches that we stand face to face with each other as the Jewish people, bar none. We may argue. We may fight. We are one.

 

5. We stand in relationship to the State of Israel. As Conservative Jews, we are Zionists. Conservative Judaism teaches that while Israel is a political state, and we don't have to agree on every policy, it is a religious-state-of being for the Jewish people. We do have different but dual allegiances. I am a faithful citizen of the United States. I am a loyal Jew to Medinat Yisrael. We do have a national corporate entity. Israel is part of the faith of a Jew. When the faith wanes our loyalty becomes subject to politics. We may differ on our politics but never on our loyalty to Medinat Yisrael. That is a core value of Conservative Judaism.

 

6. We stand in relationship to the non-Jewish world – HaOlam kulo. In our distinctiveness we are a part of the world, neither shunning it nor being overwhelmed by it. We are proud to maintain our identity in the marketplace of America, even when making difficult choices to observe our traditions and law. As Conservative Jews we bring our Jewish values into play with the issues of our day: illegal immigration, unfair taxation, gay civil marriage, the unemployed.  Conservative Judaism welcomes those who truthfully seek to join the faith, to embrace those who embrace the faith. We truly welcome with a warm countenance and respect those who accompany their Jewish spouses and partners without any condition. Securely and confidently we face inward and we face outward.

 

7. Lastly - We stand in relationship to our history and our posterity. I receive many college and church classes in this Sanctuary. There is an audible awe when I teach them that this place – the synagogue - is two thousand years old, that Jewish history began nearly two thousand years earlier than that. There is such a depth to have our rootedness. We sweep the panorama of time and place. Conservative Judaism teaches us to have a positive relationship with our past as we live it and use it to write the present and future. It includes all the languages we have spoken and the Hebrew of our liturgy and Medinat Yisrael.  Conservative Judaism uniquely teaches to appreciate and critically review the immense expanse of being a Jew.

 

God, Torah, masoret and mitzvot, Klal Yisrael, Medinat Yisrael, HaOlam kulo, and our history, these seven, like the days of creation, are the cornerstones of Conservative Judaism. This number represents the creative forces and dynamics which are so special about Conservative Judaism. While other formulations of Judaism contain some of these components, we have them all, in our unique and singular combination. These are the elements that define us and shape us, in the past and in the future. Our Conservative Judaism stresses the covenantal quality of our existence, internally and externally, inwardly and outwardly. I feel it beautiful and a faithful and faith-filled formulation of Judaism. I am thankful for my family's good fortune that brought us to Belleville, New Jersey, a Conservative synagogue and Conservative Judaism.

 

The world has changed greatly from the heyday of Conservative Judaism. It is the time when the daughter of the past President of the United States and the Secretary of State, a Baptist and a Methodist respectively, married a Jewish boy on Shabbat, with a ketubah, under a chuppah and wearing a Talit with a minister and a rabbi. These are complex and complicated times. In the ongoing discussion about the marriage of Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky, Rabbi Irwin Kula wrote a masterful article on the Huffington Post: "From the Cathedral to the Bazaar: What Chelsea Clinton's Wedding Says About Religious Syncretism." He notes that the fastest-growing religious identity in America is "none." 18% of Americans say that they don't belong to any religious group. He then introduces a new acronym – MBBS -  to characterize American society: "mixers, blenders, benders and switchers…Religious identity is becoming fluid, permeable and an ongoing construction."

 

 The challenge for Judaism and particularly Conservative Judaism is to be compelling, to be a source for spiritual nourishment, to have a persuasive and convincing presentation to ourselves and to the world, to maintain our integrity while being magnetic. We can do it! For the future of the American Jewish community, we must do it! These pieces that I have enumerated – and others - are the cornerstones for our expression of Judaism.

 

We need to live them, to express them in a life-giving community.

We need to be a true community.

We are not a membership list. We are a holy community – kehilah kedoshah.

Then we have something precious to say to ourselves, to our children and grandchildren.

Then we have something captivating and compelling to say to the world, to the MBBS.

 

In this year ahead, let us come together as such a community.  Let us be pray together, learn together, work together, throughout the year, not just these days. These days must be the foundation from which we climb higher.

 

May that climb begin today, layla u'l'ayla.

 

Shanah Tovah Tekatayvu.

May this be a great year.

When Nearly Perfect is Truly Perfect: It’s More Important To Be a Mentsch: Armando Galarraga

When Nearly Perfect is  Truly Perfect: It's More Important To Be a Mentsch: Armando Galarraga

Erev Rosh HaShanah First Night – September 8^th, 2010

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

 

An oft repeated phrase is: "Only God is perfect." But in baseball, humans can be too. My cognizance of "The Perfect Game" was the one most often rerun on television, namely that of Don Larsen of the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 8^th, 1956, where, at the end, Yogi Berra jumps into his arms. Of the 'holy grail' of all sports, this is probably the most difficult to attain. The formal definition is that of a nine inning game where twenty-seven batters go up to hit, and none of them – none of them get on base. Twenty-seven up and twenty-seven down. The pitcher doesn't walk a batter. The fielders don't make any errors. The fielders sometimes have to make spectacular fielding plays. They will help by catching any and all pop-ups in foul territory. Twenty-seven up and twenty-seven down. Having played a little baseball in my youth, as a batter, as a pitcher and as a fielder, this is based on skill, on the assists of the team, and on luck. In less than a matter of inches can perfection be attained or perfection denied. It also depends on the eyesight of the umpires. In baseball, humans can be perfect.

 

There are only twenty men who have pitched perfect games. As per Wikipedia, more men have been to the moon. No one has ever pitched more than one. The first occurred on June 12, 1880 by Lee Richmond of the Worcester Ruby Legs against the Cleveland Blues, winning 1 – 0.  Some of the names will be instantly familiar to baseball aficionados: Cy Young, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Kenny Rogers, David Wells, David Cone, Randy Johnson, Mark Buehrle and Roy Halladay. Many of the other names would never be remembered nor recognized. Some are in the Hall of Fame and some will probably be so honored at a later date. The perfect game, dependent on others, on skill and on luck is the 'holy grail' of sports. I don't know how many major league ball games have been played since 1880, but twenty is an infinitesimal percentage.  In these rare instances, humans can be perfect.

 

Not since 1880, when the first perfect game was pitched on June 12^th and the second, five days later on June 17th had two perfect games been pitched in the same year. One hundred and twenty years later this occurs on May 9^th, 2010 and May 29^th, 2010, twenty days apart. No one can explain this phenomenon. But there really should be twenty-one perfect games in the record book with the last one on June 2^nd, 2010 with only four days intervening.  Therein lays the tale and the moral of this story.

 

For reasons known only to God, I have watched on television several parts of perfect games and saw the end of Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies on May 29^th. But on June 2^nd, 2010 I was watching Armando Galarraga, of the Detroit Tigers, a pitcher of whom I had never heard before, pitching against the Cleveland Indians. These are two teams going nowhere this season. For twenty-six batters, Galarraga was perfect. It did require several phenomenal plays by his fielders, especially in the ninth inning. Nine times before in history pitchers arrived at this moment, batter number twenty-seven. I recognize some of them from the modern era: Billy Pierce, Milt Pappas, Milt Wilcox (also of Detroit), Dave Stieb, and Mike Mussina. Nine times they all failed. The batter either was hit by a pitch walked or got a hit. Perfection was lost. There are many superstitions held by baseball players during no-hit and perfect games: what you say to the pitcher, or not; where you sit in the dugout; and, walking over and not touching the white lines. Even the crowd's reactions are different. The twenty-seventh batter was Jason Donald. He hit the 83^rd pitch of the game towards the second baseman. Galarraga ran to first to field the throw. The throw got there first with Galarraga's foot on the bag. And the umpire, Jim Joyce called him safe. From every angle, professional and amateur, Donald was out. Jim Joyce called him safe. It was close but he was clearly and indisputably out. It was a perfect game. It was not to be a perfect game.

 

I don't know about you, but as I watched the events unfold I was muttering to the television, "look at the replay," "ask the other umpires," "reverse the call." If I was a screamer, I would have been screaming. This was more than "he was robbed!" Maybe once in a lifetime can you even dream this! It is impossible to describe the emotions of that moment going through everyone in the stadium and everyone watching on television.

How would you have reacted if you were Armando Galarraga?    Physically? With rage?

How would you have acted if you were Jim Joyce, otherwise known as an outstanding umpire?

 

While neither men are Jewish, their behavior reflected the essential teachings of these days. Both of them were mentches. Neither of them, not Detroit's manager nor the players behaved with anger, nor bad language, or ill will. I can see the smile of resignation on Galarraga's face as he looked in disbelief, and then turned to the mound to go finish the game. Even the fans realized that the man had just made a mistake. And he had to live with it. It couldn't be undone. It couldn't be erased. He was human. He made an error. And because of it, the pitcher lost a perfect game. Here was a 28 year old journeyman with a 20-18 won/lost record, unknown to most, who would have had his name enshrined with the legends of the game to be recorded for all time. And it was gone. The umpire acted humility and regret, charatah. He admitted that he had sinned, chatah. Even without asking, the pitcher bestowed mechilah, forgiveness to him. I have replayed the YouTube recording of the interview after the game. Galarraga was entitled to be embittered, even angered. Joyce had umpired a long time. He should have called this one correctly. And yet, Galarraga was explaining that Joyce was human and he just made a mistake, and he forgave him. Sports do not usually exemplify such menshlichkeit. And when Jim Joyce said: "I just cost that kid a perfect game. I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay." Then he admitted his error. Teshuvah, repentance, begins with recognition, hakarah, of wrong doing, proceeds through the stages to regret, charatah, for having done it, and the asking for and receiving forgiveness, mechilah and selichah by the one wronged. This process doesn't change history. What was done is done. Yet it enables a cleansing of the soul and the rapprochement between two individuals. It mitigates pain and encourages healing of soul and heart.  This process makes a whole out broken parts. At the beginning of each baseball game, a representative of each team brings out the line-up cards to home plate and meets there with the home plate umpire. The umpires rotate their positions each game, home, first base, middle infield and third. The next day, Jim Joyce rotated to home plate and the Detroit manager Jim Leyland sent  Armando Galarraga to home plate. Remember what I said about the perfect game being the Holy Grail. Here were the two men facing each other, one the person who earned it and deserved it, and the other the denier, depriving the former of fame and fortune and a place in Cooperstown, baseball heaven and nirvana rolled into one.  I urge you to privately and silently consider that if anyone of us was put in this position, to face the person who so sorely hurt us and can only offer after-the-fact words, how you would have behaved. What you would have said or done. On June 3^rd pitcher Armanda Galarraga embraced umpire Jim Joyce at home plate. It was a most remarkable scene. There was true kaparrah, atonement, true mechilah and selichah.

 

I don't know if Galarraga will ever even come close to what he did on June 2^nd. I hope he does it. That would be divine justice. And even if he remains an otherwise unknown 500 pitcher, he will never be forgotten, he will be a true hero of sports because of his menchlichkeit, his humanity, and unbeknownst to him, his implementation of core Jewish values of this season. My hat goes off to Jim Joyce for his conduct and his humanity.  They are both heroes that labored in relative obscurity. Now the spot light shines on them both. That night, nearly perfect was truly perfect.

 

I wish them a Shanah Tovah, a good year. Thanks for the lessons. See you at the game.

 

Shanah Tovah.

more than a 'tourist' trip

My Dear Congregation,

 

Shalom!! Despite the heat, I hope that everyone has been having a wonderful summer and is in good health. We have spent time this summer with Menachem and Liz and the grandchildren in California and our elders (my mom, aunt and father-in-law) in New York. I have already written several of the High Holy Day Sermons and look forward to sharing these sacred times with you. The New Year is almost upon us, yet we have a little more time of summer.

 

There was a wonderful response to my initial blurb about going to Israel next December to "Stand With Israel" in these days. I am truly encouraged that from only that bulletin article came such a response. I know that others are talking about it and am putting this out on the listserv to share this the information with everyone. I look forward to a wonderful response!

 

ITC Tours, the company that I used in the past has developed a fantastic itinerary. For anyone that has been to Israel in the past, there will certainly be a few reprises, but then again, this is more than just a 'tourist' trip but also a semi-pilgrimage, and so we do return to the Kotel, etc. Yet there will be many new places that we did not go in the past. For first-time travelers I hope that it will just whet the appetite for return visits. It will be an phenomenal experience!

 

While nothing is set in stone, this is the plan as currently developed:

 

Proposed departure

on December 21st, 2010

 

Proposed return

on December 30th, 2010. [most of 2 days is spent flying. we try to fly through the night and not 'waste' more time when we land.] You would be back in time for New Year's Eve! This can  be modified to be shorter if necessary, but it would mean the elimination of some of the components detailed below. Also, if you wish to stay longer, the ticket can be arranged in advance and avoid an extra cost of changing it. This needs to be done from the very beginning. Let me know if this is something you might wish to do.

 

Highlights:

Viewing Jerusalem from Mt. Olives and visit oldest Jewish cemetery opposite the Old City

Visit the world renowned Rockefeller Museum with most special antiquities

Kotel Tunnels

Southern Wall Excavations

Masada

Ein Gedi

Swim in Dead Sea [weather permitting]

Shabbat in Jerusaelm !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yad Vashem

Light and Sound Show in David's Tower - really beautiful

Gush Etzion - south of Jerusalem, that defended southern approach in 1948 War of Independence

Herodian

Caesaria or Megiddo along the coast

Visit Emek Hefer and stay overnight with host families. This is our partnership region in Israel.

Day in Tel Aviv

    Independence Hall

    Panoramic View of Tel Aviv and Old Jaffa

    Museum of the Diaspora

 

Cost:  Based on 20 individuals, and two in a room, the "Land Only" package is $1955 per person. They estimate the round trip airfare from Richmond to be about $1750. Total is about $3,700 per person which is a very good price considering that we are going in the second highest peak season. If the group would reach 25 people there is a modest decrease, similarly if it reaches 30 and so on (miracles might occur!?!) The way they kept the cost was to select a modest hotel. I think that it is a good balance since it will more economical and thus enabling people to financially manage the cost and it has excellent location and food! If indeed the group would like a higher class hotel, that can be priced, but we need to all be in the same place.

 

I truly hope that this has piqued your interest!  Please respond to me at Rabbi.Creditor@bethelrichmond.org.  I will then take the next steps of forwarding to you the appropriate documents from ITC to continue the steps and then have a meeting in our home, the first of several in terms of preparation and details. Please make sure that you have a passport now. If you have to apply or renew you can do it now without the rush and extra expense!

 

I encourage you to share this information with anyone else who you feel might be interested. If they have more detailed questions, feel free to email me and I will quickly get back to  you and anyone else. This trip is open to anyone in our community and beyond.  This is a great opportunity and I hope many will join us!

 

Perhaps an added incentive for this trip is the video that I am attaching. I have now watched it three times and it has moved me to tears and affirmed the necessity of being in Israel to see and be seen. It is so different living in the huge United States with friends north and south, from being in Israel when those directions are only enemies. If "We Are One" is to be more than a slogan, then we must turn it into action. Our action. We must walk the walk. Watch the video and then consider the power and impact that a trip to Israel will make on each of us and on Israel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGHUZ-8DWw

 

Again, our best wishes for a cooler and enjoyable summer. Ruby and I look forward to hearing from you in the affirmative and traveling to Israel with you on a most special experience.

 

Shalom uv'racha,

Rabbi & Ruby

Stand With Us Come to Israel Summer 2010

Stand With Us! Come To Israel!

From The Heart

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

 

At the Rabbinical Assembly Convention held this past May the Israel Ambassador to the United States was asked what we, the Jews of America, could do for Israel. He answered: Stand With Us! Tears came to my eyes! After 62 years of sovereignty, the Ambassador of Israel would have to say those words?!? And that was before the Gaza episode! What else could I do? I support Israel by signing on-line petitions. I donate to our Federation Campaign, a portion of which goes to Israel. Ruby and I "have given" Israel our own flesh and blood when Tzeira made aliyah. We have visited as often as we could. Yonina just studied there for a year, and Menachem is imbued with the same zeal and advocates for Israel most strenuously and passionately. What else can I do?

 

I turn to you for that answer!! Through this bulletin article which is being sent out on the listserv, on my Facebook page and on my blog, I am sending out this message:

                        Stand With Us!!                                  Stand With Israel!!

            Not just with words.   Not just with donations.         Not just with signatures.

                        Come to Israel!!          Stand with Israel!!         In Israel!!!!

 

Ruby and I propose to lead a trip to Israel at the end of this December, 2010.

We have not chosen dates. (We will be flexible.)I don't know how much it will cost. (We'll do our best to make it affordable.) We haven't created an itinerary. (We'll take your input.) Those are the easy parts. I will use the company, ITC that served us so well in our trip in 2006. We will see the special highlights; be informed by Israeli representatives; meet members of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement; visit Emek Hefer, our partner in P2K; walk the streets, smell the aromas, and dine Israeli cusine.

 

Most importantly we will make a statement: We are here!! We Jews are with Israel!! We stand as One Jewish people!! We give our heart, our hand, our neshama, which sometimes is superior to our dollars, no matter important they are.

Israelis will know that they are not alone in this world!!!

 

We seek at least twenty individuals who will join us (the more the merrier!) Contact me as quickly as possible at rabbi.creditor@bethelrichmond.org. I will begin preliminary work with ITC on possible dates for an eight to ten day trip. Those who wish to stay longer can have their tickets arranged in advance to come earlier or remain later. While we might be tourists, we will be tourists with a historical, emotional, and spiritual mission. We will tie the pieces of the Jewish people together!

 

I recommend that you click on the following link (or paste into your web browser) that brings you to an article written by Ed Koch, former major of NYC. Read carefully the most articulate, passionate words of the Spanish politician, journalist and activist Pilar Rahola. http://www.standwithus.com/app/iNews/view_n.asp?ID=1502 Check your calendars and contact me. We passionately look forward to receiving your reply!

            Meanwhile, Ruby and I wish everyone an enjoyable and refreshing summer.

Gilad Shalit: Four Years Later Four Years Too Late -- (June 25, 2010)

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Gilad Shalit – Four Years Later – Four Years Too Late

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

June 25, 2010

Richmond, Virginia

 

When Ruby and I led our synagogue tour to Israel in the summer of 2006, Gilad Shalit had just been captured, kidnapped in a terrorist attack at the Keren Shalom crossing point into Gaza. The terrible of irony of these past days in the demand for 'humanitarian aid' to be allowed to enter Gaza, this was one of those crossing points. How does the world expect material to enter if the Hamas terrorists attack the Israelis on their side of the border? Why does the word "humanitarian" apply to "them" and "not to us?" [I don't like the answer I have, but from millennium of hatred of the Jews is the answer that they don't consider us human.]  It is inconceivable that four long, hard years later he is still in captivity. His parents have been tortured during these years with longing to know if he was even alive. It is not that the State of Israel has not tried to free him. They have. But it is at the price of extortion, of allowing those with Jewish blood on their hands to go scot-free and terrorize and murder again and again. To this Israel will not agree.

Perhaps it is because of the brouhaha created over the flotilla off the Gaza seacoast, and this phony cry for more "humanitarian aid" which was only a vaguely veiled attempt to break open the gates for missiles of all varieties and the materials to make them so to rain down on Israel [which they have continued to do but in only very limited amounts because of the blockade] which is none too humanitarian [depending on how you look at this!] that we, the Jews of the world and of the State of Israel, raise the name of Gilad Schalit as the true humanitarian issue of the Gaza Strip. We pray every morning that God should 'matir asurim' – 'release the imprisoned.' We have to add our voices, our names, to His so to stir all possible places from Heaven to Earth for his release and return home.

To that end I have added here two sources that I have received. Even though I am in Richmond seventeen years, professionally I have kept my relationships with the New York Board of Rabbis and through them to the New York Jewish Community Relations Council. I urge you, I beg of you, to follow the links below and add each and every name of your family and friends to the petitions and messages. There must be a welling up from the Jewish people. It is about Gilad and not about Gilad. Certainly it is for his freedom. Yet the denial of the term "humanitarian" to an Israeli, to a Jew, transcends the individual to our people. It is the denial that we are humans and deserve the same respect, same dignity, the same protection of law, to which everyone else is entitled. The last ones to say that were the Nazis, and no one challenged them. We rise up and challenge the world!! We rise up in fullest self dignity, with a true democratic homeland, with pride, and will not be silent!! Or will we?

Shabbat Shalom

SEND A MESSAGE TO GILAD SHALIT!

As many of you are aware, Friday, June 25th marks the 4th year of Gilad Shalit's captivity. Let him know you care.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY) will bring your message, along with thousands of others, to the International Committee of the Red Cross and demand that Hamas allow the ICRC to visit and deliver the notes to Gilad in accordance with international humanitarian law. Since he was abducted in 2006 all such requests have been denied. We cannot remain silent in the face of Hamas' cruel violation of Gilad's human rights!

Send your message here: 

http://jcrcny.org/gilad/messagetogilad.html  (If this doesn't automatically take you to the website, please copy and paste the link into your internet browser window.)

We will also be sending a copy of your messages to Noam and Aviva Shalit.

For additional resources on Gilad Shalit, please visit http://www.jcrcny.org/gilad. (If this doesn't automatically take you to the website, please copy and paste the link your internet browser window.)

As issues arise, the JCRC-NY will continue to provide you with meaningful opportunities to digitally engage with issues affecting Israel and the Jewish community at large.

To forward this message to a friend click here.

KEEPING THE PROMISE

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik
Executive Vice President, New York Board of Rabbis

Often as we take leave of our loved ones, we say, "We love you, see you soon."  Noam Shalit, father of kidnapped soldier and son Gilad has reminded us during the past four years not to take those words for granted.  He has also taught us the importance of these poignant and painful words, "Please do not forget my son."

An ancient legend tells us that when God created the world, He assigned different names to every flower in the universe.  The next day, God reappeared and asked each flower to repeat the name given to it.  Each responded immediately except for one.  That flower said, "God, I do not remember the name that you gave me.  Please tell it to me again."  God turned to the flower and said, "Since you do not remember the name I conferred upon You, I will give you a different one. Your new name will be Al Tishka-chay'nee which means Forget-Me-Not."  According to the folk tale, that is the origin of the flower's name.

Four years ago, a blossoming young man with a bright future named Gilad Shalit was abducted illegally from his family.  Since that fateful day, no international body has been permitted to see him and ascertain his well being.

This week, the fourth anniversary of his kidnapping, we faithfully fulfill our promise to Gilad's father as we demand his son's immediate release and return to his loving family.  Some will save a special chair for him in synagogue this Shabbat, some churches will dim their lights for a few minutes, some will travel on a special humanitarian flotilla with signs bearing Gilad's name and some will send letters again to leaders of our country asking that they raise their voices on his behalf.  We must renew our effort to remember Gilad Shalit.

Recently, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak remarked, "The only man in the Gaza Strip who needs humanitarian assistance is Gilad Shalit…A million and a half people are living in Gaza, and only one of them truly needs humanitarian assistance,

only one of them imprisoned, does not merit to see daylight, his health situation is unknown, and his name is Gilad Shalit."  The United Nations Human Rights Council which readily voices its vitriol against Israel is remarkably silent when Gilad is deprived of his human rights.

Rabbi Israel Leventhal z"l was very troubled by a rabbinic description of Balaam, mentioned in this week's portion of Balak.  According to our sages, "Balaam suma b'achat m'eynov haya - Balaam was blind in one eye."  Rabbi Leventhal writes, "I could understand if our sages told us that Balaam was blind in both eyes.  That is telling us something that makes a difference, that's important to know.  Why however do the sages emphasize that he was sightless in one eye?"  Rabbi Leventhal explains, "When Balaam looked at the behavior of other nations and prophesized about their fate, he looked clearly with his good eye.  It was only when he studied the life of the Jews, did he use his blind eye.  He had a blind spot for the Jews."

Does that description not summarize the story for us today in the world?  So many are willing to overlook the serious shortcomings of other peoples but will look unfairly at Israel to find the flaws.

This week's portion contains the famous words "Ma Tovu Oha-lecha Yaakov, Mish-keno'techa Yisrael – How goodly are thy tents O Jacob, Thy dwelling places O Israel." A strange sentence because firstly it was supposed to be a curse from Balaam and secondly, it seems superfluous – it mentions both Jacob and Israel, tents and dwelling places.  Someone once explained the verse to me in this fashion.  What each Jew (Jacob) will do in his/her own tent will be a reflection on the entire community of Israel.  Simply said, when we Jews stand in solidarity as one people and speak with one voice, we can confront the crises of life with moral strength and collective courage.  As the portion reminds us, we must seek to transform a curse into a blessing.  May we fulfill our promise to the Shalit family and soon see Gilad return safely to his home, reunited with those who have waited so long for that moment.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I wish to thank Rabbis Yaakov Kermaier and Mitchell Wohlberg for their invaluable insights.

Chok and Mishpat - Is Religion of the Heart or Head June 18, 2010

Chok and Mishpat: Is Religion of the Heart or Head?

June 18^th, 2010

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

Richmond, Virginia

 

Today is Ruby and my anniversary. We met in Camp Ramah forty years ago this summer. Despite whatever she tells me from her side of the equation, I "knew" – typed in quotations, immediately that she was very special, different from the others girls I had met. While I couldn't say that I said to myself "she is the girl I'm going to marry," I clearly acted like that until we did get married.

 

I open with these biographical remarks, typing the word "knew" in quotations marks because it is the most obvious way to exemplify that the word "knew" doesn't apply to the head but to the heart. But that is poetry because we know that the heart is a muscle and does not process emotions. The head does. But by saying "heart" instead of "head" we are really saying something else: There is some kind of unconscious, subconscious, unvocalized, non-rational, non-analytic process/formula that occurs. This stands in contradistinction to a rational, analytical, and conscious process where we analyze pros and cons, good and bad, bottom line, likes and dislikes. That didn't happen when I met Ruby. My heart – or was it my head – went thump, thump. My vision tunneled to exclude all others. Still does.

 

Let me transition.

What is the main word, the leitmotif of Judaism? If I asked you, as I do my Basic Judaism class every year, "Give me Judaism in one word" and you can't say God or Torah, what word would you offer?                                              My answer is: Love.

 

As liturgy is the main vehicle to understand core Jewish values and thoughts, we see that even when the prayers don't use that word, that is what it is referring to. God's creating the world, God's sustaining the world, God's choosing Abraham and his descendants – us – to be His messengers, God's revelation of Himself through the giving of Torah, the mitzvot of Torah, are all acts of God loving us, loving humanity, loving the earth. The answer to the question: "Why did God do any of this?" is: "God loves us." I don't why God did any of this. The Torah doesn't say "why." The Rabbis formulate their answers in the Midrash and "put them in God's mouth," but they are human answers and not the Divine.

 

If God foresaw what we would do to His earth, if He knew what we would do to the Gulf, to the air and to the land, and He still made it and gave to us?!? I have many more questions and still no answer from God. I can only make up what I hope that He was thinking.

 

If God foresaw what we would do to each other, the inhumanity of one to another throughout human history, the disparity of the rich and the poor, the degradation of slavery and genocide which is still going on, and He still created us?!? My questions multiply and my answers about God are still non-existent.

The only answer that I can posit is that God's love like our love is unexplainable in rational terms. The Rabbis imagine that when God told the angels that He was going to create the earth and humans they argued with Him not to do it. In the Midrash God did not enter into logical debate about creating the world and humanity. If He did, we would have lost!! It is only because God's love triumphs over any other value, an unfathomable love, an inconceivable, inscrutable, and undecipherable love by which we exist and so, too, the cosmos. There is no explanation that we can formulate other than love.

 

In a sense, when we look at a baby, when we look at the sky, when we look at each other, the operative condition is love. You can't teach it. You can't explain it. You can't rationalize it. You live it. It just is.

 

Once I posit as the foundation of my belief that there is a God, then there is the question: How do we relate to God? The obvious answer is: Love. And that is exactly what we say when we get to the S'hma: "V'ahavta…" "And you shall love…" We are not just singing along, we are not just mumbling a bunch of incoherent syllables. We are saying to God: I/we love You. And we do it every day, several times a day, when we get up in the morning and when we go to bed at night. Again, it is unexplainable emotion to see Menachem put Ariel, Moshe and Raya to sleep singing S'hma and V'ahavta, just as we sang him, Yonina and Tzeira. It is an emotion beyond words to believe that there are metaphoric divine arms that embrace us, as we use our human arms to embrace God. While I need words to express this to you and talk about God, about our existence, about emotions, the feelings, the object of my thoughts is beyond words. I can't teach this. I can't preach this. I can't explain it. It just is.

 

Tomorrow's Torah portion is known as Hukkat. That word refers to a law that is unexplainable. If God did not put it in the Torah, we would never have dreamed it up. The proper noun – Hok – is a law that does not yield its secret to any analysis. There is no good reason for it. There are several Hukkim in the Torah. In their inscrutability Hukkat stands in contradistinction to the only other word used in the Torah as the title of a sedra in this genre, namely Mishpatim, which refers to laws that have obvious explanation and rationale. In these we clearly see their utilitarian purpose and if God hadn't given them to us in the Torah, we could have and would have made them up ourselves. These two words stand in juxtaposition: Hok u'Mishpat.

 

Just like in my love of Ruby, I could, can and did come up with all the reasons I love her. With age the list only gets longer. I can explain and rationalize all those answer. This is akin to Mishpatim. But the "Why" the mystery of love is unanswerable and shouldn't be explained, that is akin Hok. This paradigm of explaining the love between us is the paradigm for explaining the love between God and us and us and God. I feel secure, comforted, uplifted in each love. No words can explain it. And there are no words to explain the love I give. I hope that Ruby and God feel as good as I do. May we all have unending and indescribable love in our lives. That which we receive and that which we give. Between each other. And with God.

 

Shabbat Shalom.

Helen Thomas Should Get The....Out Of... (June 11, 2010)

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Helen Thomas Should Get The ***** Out of *****

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

June 11, 2010

Richmond, Virginia

 

The title of this piece should certainly catch your attention.

 

I really wonder about people sometimes. What were they thinking? What is really going in the back of their minds? What do they really believe, think and feel?  We now know about Helen Thomas. I also wonder about people asking questions? What was my colleague looking for from an eighty-nine year old lady? Was Rabbi Nesenoff just baiting the hook seeking a tasty tidbit? He got a mouthful! Yet make no mistake. Helen Thomas hasn't said anything new. It has been said long before. It is said every day in the Arabic press. This has been an eternal issue for the rest of the world:

            Where do the Jews belong?

            Should they belong anywhere?

            Should we exist at all?

Helen Thomas did not invent these questions or the responses. They have existed for two thousand years. And we as Jews might not like the answers. Then again, there are many parts of the world who won't like mine, including Helen Thomas. I intend to tell her where she can go.

 

We are very unique. We probably don't sufficiently appreciate our uniqueness.

 

We are the only people who have carried around a document – the Torah - for nearly three thousand unbroken years.

We are the only people who can scratch a piece of land and find what an ancestor wrote in the same language – Hebrew – that we use today.

We are the only people, whom one of our chief adversaries – Christianity – has their own book which is based on our book in which they claim to inherit who we were, which means that we were there – in the land of Israel, then, in the first decades of the first century.

We are the only people who have a second chief adversary – Islam – that claims to have a book based on our book which means that our book, which means us – we – came first, and their book talks about places were we were which means we were there first!

We are very unique!

Everyone one of our adversaries of the ages, Christianity and Islam, both testify by their own books that we lived in the land of Israel, PALESTINE, before either of them existed! Wow! We really were there, in the Land of Israel, Roman province of Palestine. About the only people who could claim prior residency are the Canaanites, and I don't hear anybody claiming to be their descendants. Essentially that means that we are the first and only people to have claim to this patch of earth, regardless of where any border line is drawn.

No body else claims to have built cities that we have through excavation, but us.

No body else claims to have built the roads and waterways that still exist, that we can trace from satellite pictures, but us.

No body has written love poetry about the land earlier than us.

And no body has vowed, pledged, sworn and promised to rebuild their autonomous existence on its soil, but us.

 

WE ARE NOT THE OCCUPIERS OF PALESTINE!

WE ARE THE ORIGINAL PALESTINIANS!

EVERYONE TESTIFIES THAT WE HAVE BEEN THERE FOR OVER THREE THOUSAND YEARS!

WHY SHOULD I GET OUT?

 

Some might want to say, even so, that when we left we relinquished our rights to it. WHO SAID WE EVER LEFT? This is also unique. It seems that everyone is always testifying that we are there.

The Greeks wrote about Alexander the Great meeting the Jews of Israel when he peacefully invaded.

The Romans wrote and left huge amounts of physical evidence that they fought two wars against us. And after the second, even though they expelled us from Jerusalem, continue writing about have to keep throwing us out. I guess we were still there.

When Christianity will rule the area, inheriting the Holy Roman Empire, they will continue to issue edicts throwing us out. I guess we were still there.

And when the Moslems wrest control from the Christians and when the Crusaders fight the Moslems both groups testify to horrors perpetrated against the Jews who are living there.

When the Turks and Ottomans control the area they take censuses of the population, and we are there. In fact, in many places, the majority of inhabitants are Jews.

When the British receive the Mandate from the League of Nations, we were there.

 

WE ARE NOT THE OCCUPIERS OF PALESTINE!

WE HAVE NEVER LEFT THIS HOLY SOIL.

 WE NEVER RELINQUISED CONTROL, NOR GAVE UP OUR AUTONOMY –

            It was taken from us through war, and perpetuated through persecution.

WHY SHOULD WE GIVE UP WHAT IS OURS?

 

The truth be told, the answer to my original question, where do we belong, for Helen Thomas and others like her is –nowhere. Until the recent decades official Christianity still believed in the dénouement of Judaism and Jews as they were the inheritors of the covenant and of the name Israel. Mohammed was mad at the Jews of his time for their not adopting Islam because, he claimed, we messed up the authentic traditions, now Islam had it right, and all should become Muslims. And they conquered a huge empire by the sword. Christian Europe did not cry when they burnt our bodies in the Holocaust, having perpetrated centuries of pogroms and persecutions. Moslem North Africa, Middle East did not protest that slaughter and trumpeted their own designs upon us in 1948, 1967 and 1973. It never was a war to regain land. It was wars to destroy the Jewish State.

 

When Helen Thomas said that we should go back to Poland or to Germany I know what she really meant. Even if it was "just" he subconscious speaking, she meant for us to go back to the slaughtering houses and the crematorium and disappear like smoke, so that she and the world don't have to hear from us, see us, know from us – ever again. I get it. I get it loud and clear.

 

I have one word and only one word for her: NEVER!!

Never will we disappear.

Never will we bow our head.

Never will we wander homeless in the world.

Never will we be defenseless.

                                                                        NEVER!! EVER!!

 

So Helen Thomas shouldn't get the **** out of anywhere!

If she wants to play that game, she needs to trace her family's journey. And go back. Go back to wherever they came from. Her family didn't begin on this continent. Indeed nobody did. Even the Native American's didn't start here. They should go back to Asia over the land bridge. The English didn't begin in England. They were invaders. In fact, nobody began anywhere. Everyone moved into somewhere. So Helen Thomas can go wherever she wants. She can even stay here. And those of our people who so wish, will fulfill our destiny and live in an independent, democratic Jewish state of Israel in its ancestral land. The truth be told, at least according to the Bible, from the first man and woman, everyone began in the Garden of Eden, that singular place of peace and harmony. That's only the place to which to go back.

Shabbat Shalom.