Rabbi Gary Creditor: "The Pope and the Jews"

The Pope and the Jews: Was it good for the Jews? Was it good for the Church?

From the Heart

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

 
In comparison to issues, local, national and global, facing the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and in comparison to issues facing the Catholic Church, it might seem trivial to ask if Pope Benedict XVI was "good for the Jews?" and if his relationship to us was good for the Church? I am not sure how to answer the latter, but the former is certainly clear.
 
First of all, why is this question so pressing? The answer is, it seems to me, that since the global issues confronting the Jewish people and the State of Israel will not go away until the Messiah comes, we need advocates to constantly raise their voices, use their influence on our behalf on the world's stage.
            Even if and when anti-Semitism decreases, it will never disappear and must be confronted, fought and defeated. Vigilance is a prerequisite for survival.
            No matter how many court battles are won against deniers of the Holocaust and malicious claims against us, they never disappear. It is a virus for which there is no immunization.
            In comparison to the nearly two millennia of Christian opposition to Judaism, it is barely fifty years since Vatican II began the change of its core theology about us. This can never be taken for granted. The relationship needs constant tending, deepening and widening.
            For us, we take for granted the right of the existence of the State of Israel. Not so the rest of the world. We need voices that are not our own, to articulate the historical justice and the political correctness to the existence of the State. We need these voices when the bombs fly and to make sure the nuclear one does not.
 
In all of these matters, Pope Benedict XVI has been a good and steady friend, a chaver, to the Jewish people and Medinat Israel. This change began with Pope John XXIII and then was furthered by Pope John Paul II. In these years Pope Benedict XVI continued and deepened the connection and support of the Vatican towards the Jewish people and Medinat Yisrael. Despite a few bumps in the road, this Pope has been a blessing to us.
 
It is difficult to know if this has been "good for the Church." They are beset by very serious issues that are not ours. They have a vast population that is not in Europe, were born after the Holocaust, hardly know Jews and Judaism, and that reside in areas that are at risk. The next Pope will face serious and severe challenges.
 

Yet the Pope and his immediate predecessors have created a historical vision about themselves and about us. They looked deeply inside themselves, their theology, and their holy texts and radically rewrote their "story." It is now critical that this direction be fortified, strengthened and maintained. I pray for Pope Benedict XVI, that without the burden of leading the Catholic Church, he will find peace and restoration of health. I pray that the new Pope will walk in his footsteps and be a chaver to us. As Pope John Paul called us their "elder brother," as family-in-faith, I pray for their choice to lead them to a successful and blessed future.

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Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom

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On What is Our World Based?

On What is Our World Based?

February 9^th, 2013

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

 

If you were asked, "What are the three pillars upon which our world stands," what would you answer? I am not referring to any architectural structure. I am not referring to the three branches of government. In all earnestness and seriousness I am asking: What values undergird our society?

 

The Jewish answer is found in Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, 1:18. There, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, the spiritual leader of Palestinian Jewry in the decades after the Bar Kochaba rebellion (132-135 C.E.) is recorded as having said:

 

"The world rests on three things: with truth, justice, and peace, as it is written (Zechariah 8:16) 'With truth, justice and peace shall you judge in your gates."

 

I believe that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel chose Zechariah's words because it most succinctly captures the purpose of Torah, of the mitzvot, of the mission of the Jewish people, of the Messianic vision of Judaism which is to proclaim to the world:

            Everyone on earth:                    is a creature of God;

                                                            Embodies a spark of God;

                                                            is holy;

                                                            and, that holiness descends from heaven to earth as

                                                               we live the values of truth, justice and peace.

 

The question that we should be asking our children and grandchildren is not: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" or "How much money are you going to make?" The real question is: "What kind of person will you be when you grow up?" "What values are going to be the foundation for your life?" "How will you make this a better world?"

 

That question is not just for them. It is for us, too. For us we phrase the same question in the following way:

            What kind of culture do we wish to make in/of/for our country?

            What kind of world do we want to live in?

            How are we to feel when we look out of our windows walk down our streets,

                        shop in the malls, go to the parks?

            Are we to live with trembling because of fear of what is going to happen to us?

            Are we going to lock up our children from the moment we pick them up after

                        school until we drop them off the next day and then live with fear until

                        we get them home again?

If Rabban Gamliel would visit America today, travel from coast to coast, read the papers, observe Congress and our Legislature, and watch the media, what would he say are the three things upon which we rest? I think that he would say: "This world rests on violence, power and greed." It is one or the other or in any combination that drives us.

 

Especially since I attended the conference of an organization I had never heard of before, PICO National Network and their "Lifelines to Healing" campaign, whose slogan is "Unlocking the Power of People," an interfaith organization, these feelings and thoughts have been whirling around in my brain. The deliberations were more than just about gun violence, even as that was the main focus. The discussions really extended to the core issues of our society. In the brevity of the time we had, these were either just mentioned or inferred, but were definitely central. Violence and guns, poverty and prosperity, video/media/music/films and moral values, greed and ethics, racism/sexism and equality, power and powerlessness, respect/love and hatred are not separate subjects. In some mysterious formula they are all tied together. Unfortunately it wasn't the purpose of the conference to create a structure in which to assimilate these pieces and make sense of it all, but it was clear to me: We won't solve one without addressing all of them. That is the necessary agenda of America.

 

The question that lies before us at every level, governmental from Washington,. D.C. to Virginia to Richmond, society whether secular or religious, in groups or as individuals, is: "Is this the America that we want to live in?" To paraphrase Smokey the Bear's slogan: "Only you, only we can make the America we want."

 

The unique and singular understanding of Judaism comes from this Torah portion of Mishpatim. Law is necessary. There can be no justice without law. But law needs to be coupled with truth and peace: in the Rabbinic language, "tzedek u'mishpat"– "righteousness and law." This phrase echoes in the High Holy Day Machzor. From the outset of our journey with Abraham, God knows that Abraham will "instruct his children and posterity to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just." Laws are necessary but there must be a heartfelt desire and attitude, to bend the law to do righteousness. That bending must be done by us.

 

What motivates us to make a better world? What values does Judaism teach us?

            Mipnei darkei shalom – that things are done out of the interests of peace, wholeness, completeness, comfort and ease, especially of those weakest in society;

            Mipnei tikun ha'olam – for the proper ordering of the world, to fix the wrongs that even laws create or cannot fix; it is our attitude towards others, towards the world;

            Darkei noam – ways of pleasantness, that all people should be able to live a pleasant life.

 

My dismay over Washington and Richmond is that they don't seem to understand that there is real pain, real agony, felt by so many and little or nothing is done because they seem to lack the vision of a just, true society. It is not a matter of dollars. It is a matter of heart. The Rabbis said that "All is in the hands of heaven except the awe of heaven." That is what is lacking, the awe of heaven. No one is seen as holy. No one is seen as being a child of God. No one sees that we must protect each spark.

 

That remains our task: to goad leadership at every level, through every organization. For that reason I am a member of PICO, of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, of One Million Moms For Gun Control (despite being a Dad), and of any other organization I can find. I press every "send" button to every congressman, senator and delegate. I lay down on the ground for the vigil for the dead at the Bell Tower sponsored by the Virginia Committee for Public Safety. It is not enough, but it is a start.

 

What are you doing to change the world?

Will you hear Zechariah and join Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and struggle to make our country to be based on truth, justice and peace?

 

Shabbat Shalom. May others besides us also know the peace of Shabbat.

This is a fragile while beautiful place: We dare not spoil it. January 11th, 2013

This is a fragile while beautiful place: We dare not spoil it.

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

January 11^th, 2013

 

 

Tomorrow's haftarah, special for when Rosh Hodesh and Shabbat coincide begins with the words from the prophet Isaiah: "Thus said the Lord: the heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool." Allowing for many theological issues, the singular point I elicit for this sermon is that God has a special relationship with this planet. Our theology imputes that all existence stems from God's creative power, but this place is special. Throughout the Bible there are many verses that sustain this belief. The very opening of the Torah, with the narrative of the Creation, excludes every other star and galaxy to focus just on Earth, the pinnacle of Creation. The sacred charge to the first human being was to "l'av-dah v'sham-rah," "tend it and guard it." While there is little argument over the second word, there are many meanings embedded in the first. It can be translated "work it." But it should not be translated "exploit it." The prophet says: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." This place, this spinning orb in the universe, is owned by the Divine. It is only lent to mankind. This is the focus of the second great narrative, namely, the Flood of Noah. Its main thrust is that mankind capitulated its right to live on the earth because of the evil they were performing. Humanity does not have an inherent right to live here. It is not an entitlement. It is a gift, a privilege, which can be yielded or removed.

 

I was struck by a science article this week that indicated that there are an immense number of planets approximately the size of planet earth out there in space. When we look up at the night sky and see all the points of light, around them are revolving many planets, and many of them are just our size. And yet, to date, with all our ability to explore them, and for the billions of years since God said "Let there be…" no place in all existence has life like ours, the beauty of the flowers and the bees, the brilliance of human beings and majesty of the animal kingdom. There is no place like this. Anywhere. There is no species like human beings. Anywhere. We are beyond rare. We are beyond precious. There are no words in language to express this.

 

This planet is not limitless. When we stand by the sea shore and look out to the ocean, it might seem endless, we know better. When we stand in the forest we can't imagine counting the trees, or on our knees we can't imagine counting the blades of grass. But their numbers are finite. It does not go on forever. We can chop them down and the earth will be barren. We can spread chemicals on the lawn and kill all the grass as well as the weeds, and make it impossible to reseed. The earth can be ruined. It can be ruined forever. Forever is a very long word.

 

It is something I fear. I fear a law of "consequences-unknown-for-some-time-that-ultimately- destroys-us." How frequently does it happen that a product is released to the market place and is readily consumed or used and yet its detrimental impact upon only comes to light much later, with little ability to rectify its destructive power on humans or the environment. The devastating effects of the chemicals poured on Viet Nam and the chemicals consumed by pregnant women can never be reversed. Judaism teaches us to respect science because it reveals to us the majesty and magnitude of God's creation. We stand in awe of the Divine the more we study science. Science proves God! For this place, we humans cannot be duplicated! The earth cannot be cloned! Robots can't be humans. And yet we are so fragile. And not everything broken can be repaired. When, as a child, I played ball in Brooklyn, my mother warned me about running into the street after it. She called out: "I can always buy another ball. I can't buy another boy." We can't buy another planet. We can't buy back damaged human beings. The consequences of our actions are forever.

 

In the Book of Deuteronomy (20:19-20) it refers to making war on a city. "…thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, but thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field 'man' that it should be besieged of thee? Only the trees of which thou knowest that they are not trees for food, them thou mayest destroy and cut down…" This narrow focus on fruit trees must be expanded to embrace a wider vision of preserving and enhancing the entire earth. Why do we attack it? Why do we ruin it? Is it making war on us? If we cannot breathe its air, we cannot live. If we cannot eat its food, we cannot live. If we cannot drink its water, we cannot live. The Torah is God's word to us, no matter the details of its journey from God to us. God is commanding us to respect the earth for it sustains us. It nourishes us. It gives us life.

 

The Rabbis understood the delicate balance of our world. I don't know how they came to this conclusion, for their scientific knowledge was certainly limited. Yet, they knew what science has now proved. It is contained in a brief midrash.

 

 Midrash Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) Raba (Vilna edition) 7:28:

"When G-d created the first man He took him and showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him 'See My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are. And everything that I created, I created it for you. Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.'"

 

My children thought that as their father I could fix everything they broke. I appreciated their faith in me, yet I cautioned them, saying: "I can't fix everything." There are things in this world, in our lives, that once broken, can't be fixed, no matter how much money we have. I enlarge my mother's cry out to me. Not only can I not buy another boy, I cannot buy another ball, kaddur ha'aretz, the ball of the earth.

 

It is for that reason that I attended this past Monday the session of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, convened to vote on the report of the Uranium Working Group. What will ultimately be decided is a matter of life and death. Certainly it will create jobs. Certainly jobs will improve the economy, at least in the short term. Certainly those out of work are literally dying for jobs. Yet the thrust of the report, in the writing of regulations for "what if…", in its essence recognizes the inherent dangers in the mining of uranium. It assumes that rules will be followed. It assumes that money can be spent to fix its ills. Yet it ignores the frailty of man and of the earth. No place does it say: "What if we can't fix it? What then?" That is the ultimate reality that must be confronted. It will be too late to wake up and bemoan "What have we done?" It will be too late to wake up and pray to God to fix the evil we have perpetrated. God will not have brought the flood. We will have brought it upon ourselves.

 

I was dismayed that they voted so overwhelmingly to forward to the report to legislature. It is a terrible error. I most vociferously oppose it.

 

One person closed her remarks by citing the words of President Roosevelt: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." There are times when we are blinded by unwarranted fear. We can't always know the result of our decisions. We often face forks in the road. We have to take one and we if don't like it, if it doesn't work out, we can't back and try the other. Life is not a child's game. It isn't a toy. Yet there are times when fear is warranted. There is enough knowledge to inform us, warn us, caution us, not to pursue a path. At least not yet. At least not now.

Perhaps God works through human agency. Certainly the prophets saw the foreign empires as God's agents against Israel when they sinned. So, following their pattern, I see scientists as God's agents, using the knowledge they have discovered about God's creation, as His voice warning us how terribly we have impacted this planet in less than two hundred years. We have blown it up, carved it up, heated it up, dirtied it up, dangerously, tragically.

 

Now is the time to reverse this course. The planet is too hot. The air is too dirty. The ground is too polluted. And there is no Ark to board.

Now is the time to refrain from actions that have no recourse for correction, like mining uranium.

Now is the time to alternate fuels that will allow us our lifestyle yet respect and replenish the planet.

Now is the time to conserve the resources of the earth that are limited, so that humanity can live forever.

 

For all those make policy, let them remember the wisdom of Rabbis: "Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.'"

 

Shabbat Shalom

Can Lance Armstrong Do Teshuvah?

Can Lance Armstrong Do Teshuvah? Should We Accept It?

January 18^th, 2013

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

 

While in my youth I used to bicycle extensively and still have the second bike that my parents bought for me, cycling as a sport never attracted me. It was enough to keep up with the four "big" sports, baseball, football, basketball and (ice) hockey. With the explosion of the numbers of leagues and teams, and alternative sports, I just couldn't keep up with it. But I instantly recognized the name Lance Armstrong. Who couldn't? Who wouldn't? He won so many races, beat cancer, and created a foundation, that his name was frequently and prominently in the public domain. Who could miss it?

 

His name was also prominent in the issue of drugs. Often he was accused of using one illegal and illicit means or another to win all those races, that otherwise seemed humanely impossible. Vehemently he denied every accusation, and as I have learned by following this sordid tale, embarrassed, humiliated and intimidated everyone and anyone who accused him of violating the laws, codes and ethics involved. Who could not know Lance Armstrong?

 

The past ten days have been most interesting in sports, not because of who won and lost games, especially in the run-up to the Super Bowl or the return of National League Hockey, a plague on their house for the greed, but because of the vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame. No one got in! Mazal Tov! The names on the ballot included those so prominently mentioned in the record books for home runs and pitching: Roger Clemons, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds. I don't know how or why they were not convicted. Yet at every turn, they were linked to drug use to enhance their inhumane performances. Yes, we all loved the velocity of the pitch, the incapability of the batter to even come near the ball, and for the others, the arc of the ball as it splashed into McCovey's Cove or the avenue beyond Wrigley Field or into the St. Louis night sky. We were enraptured. Maybe we should say "Shame on us," for our admiration and fascination gave the media to keep the spotlight so bright and elevated the stimulation to keep hitting and keep pitching which need more and more drugs. We, in a sense, were willing co-conspirators. We collectively have sinned by enabling the sinners. We need to account for our behavior and atone.

 

These players have not made public confessions and I don't expect them to do so. And I urge the Baseball Writers Association to reject them time after time that they appear on the ballot. They should be permanently barred from the highest accolade that the sport can give. At least some forum will stand up for the righteousness, for their sinning changed the complexity of every game, and the destiny of the other players. It is no longer a "game, a sport." There is no honor.

 

But what do we do with Lance Armstrong? I have listened much too much to parts of his interview and their minute dissection by pundits high and low. Every news commentator has taken a whack at him. Me, too. I ask the quintessential Jewish question?

            Is this really teshuvah (repentance)?

            Can he do teshuvah at all?

            Do we have to accept what he said?

 

To respond to my questions in this brief format, I turn to Hilchot Teshuvah, Laws of Repentance, of Maimonides.

 

 

Chapter 1, section 1

…How does one confess? He says: "O Lord, I have sinned, I have done evil, I have rebelled against Thee and have done this….I regret now and am ashamed of my acts; I will never do this again."…Furthermore, one who has injured a person or damaged his property, even though he pays what he owes him, is not pardoned unless he confesses and resolves never to commit such an offense again.

 

Chapter 2, section 1

Perfect repentance is where an opportunity presents itself to the offender for repeating the offense and he refrains from committing it because of his repentance and not out o fear or physical inability. If, however, one repents only in his old age, when he is no longer able to do what he used to do, his repentance, though not the best, will nevertheless do him some good.

 

Chapter 2, section 3

Anyone who makes a verbal confession without resolving in his heart to abandon his sin is like one who takes a ritual bath while grasping a defiling reptile. The bath is useless unless he first casts the reptile away…

 

Chapter 2, section 9

…sins committed against a fellow man, as when a person either injured or cursed or robbed his neighbor, he is never pardoned unless he compensates his neighbor and makes an apology. Even though he has made the compensation, the wrongdoer must appease the injured person and ask his pardon. Even if he only annoyed him with words he must apologize and beg his forgiveness…

 

Chapter 4, section 1

Twenty-four things hinder repentance. Four of these are grievous offenses. If one commits any of them, God gives him no opportunity to repent because of the gravity of the offense. Offenders of this type are: (1) he who leads the people to sin; this includes one who prevents them from doing a good deed; (2) he who diverts another from the good to the evil, such as a seducer or enticer; …(4) he who says: "I will sin and then repent." This includes one who says: "I will sin and Yom Kippur will atone."

 

From this very small sampling of the Hilchot Teshuvah which is the tersest and most succinct version of Jewish law, it is clear that Lance Armstrong's mea culpa does not meet any minimum threshold to be accounted as teshuvah and for him to be forgiven. How many people has he injured, on his team, other competitors, to whom he has given nothing? Whose careers he has damaged, reputations marred forever?

Was there sincere repentance? I did not see even one tear in his eye, on his cheek as he answered Oprah's questions, one after the other? His countenance looked as hard hearted as when he was on a bike.

 

And lastly, this charade must be repudiated because our children and grandchildren must know that this was absolutely, unquestionable wrong. Not every wrong can be fixed. Not every sin can be undone. The core Jewish value is truth. Emet is the nickname for God Himself. Lance Armstrong can't possibly fathom that word. He was untrue to his wife, his children, his teammates, his fans, his donors, his opponents, and to all those who wanted to emulate him in cycling. All the donations by others for cancer research don't effect atonement for his sins. There are those of us who stand up in front of others, whether it is the pulpit, the podium, in politics, in the classroom, in the sports arena, to whom others turn and look up to. We bear the highest burden to represent the right, the true, honesty and fairness. We hold the trust of others, from young and old, in our hands.

 

To me, Lance Armstrong has not done teshuvah. He has betrayed everyone's trust. He has harmed and manipulated, distorted and destroyed. He has evinced no regret; demonstrated no sincerity; exhibited no remorse. Every punishment that he receives, he deserves. Cycling, for its honor and integrity should ban him forever. We need to affirm this for our own lives, our own integrity and our own honor. We need to hold the light of truth and honor to ourselves and to our children.

 

Shabbat Shalom

What Do You Tell Your Children

What Do We Tell Our Children?

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

December 28^th, 2012

 

In the aftermath of this year's events that have shaken us to the core, as the secular year is soon to close, I want to ask a simple question: When, they too, reflect on this past year, the violence, the bloodshed, the proposal to arm their teachers in every school and university, the daily body count in Richmond and the counties – no place is immune: What Do We Tell Our Children? Though our children are all adults, I remember them as children when tragedies and catastrophes occurred, and so I compose this as an abbah (father) and a sabbah (grandfather). Of course every answer is conditioned by the age of the questioner and exactly what they are asking, but these responses are meant for all ages and all questions.

 

The first thing I say is that sometimes I am scared, too. Terrible events scare us, frighten us, shock us, even if we are adults. We cannot pretend. We cannot hide our emotions. We must validate what is true in them and is also true in us. What were we taught to do before corssing, when we came to the street corner, a place of possible danger? Stop. Look. And Listen. In these moments, two weeks removed from the calamity of Connecticut, we stop to really think about events, life, ourselves, our lives. We look at our world, and while there are bad things in it, there are also many things of beauty. Never lose the beauty. The mourner eats a hard boiled egg because while it wobbles down in sorrow, it wobbles up to also indicate future joy. Don't lose the joy in life. And listen to your heart. You are alive. You are filled with infinite possibilities. Listen to those who love you. Listen to the birds, the leaves and the snowflakes.

 

The second thing I say is that they are loved unconditionally. They need to know that we their parents and grandparents cherish them, respect them, dream about them, nourish and sustain them, now and forever. No matter what they do, we love them.  In a scary and fearful world, we must make them a world of peace, at least inside our homes. The Rabbis taught us to have shalom and shalvah in our abodes, peace and tranquility. Our children must know that we are there with them, even when we are not. They must have our presence in their hearts and in their minds. Always. Everywhere.

 

The third thing I say is that the most important things is life is to be loving and good. If I believe in a peaceful world, a righteous world, I must model the values to those whom I can shape and mold. I enunciate in word and deed, my vision of life. I don't articulate career tracks. I don't set financial goals, though both will be important. It is the neshama that is critical, the soul of the child and adult. I tell them that we have two sides, the inside and the outside. And they must agree. Not only do we dress the outside with beauty, but more importantly, we dress the inside with beauty. And when the clothing on the outside get dirty, the inside always stays clean and pure. It is up to us to make it that way.

 

The fourth thing I say is that I agree. The world can be a cruel and bad place. But they can help me make it better. I don't deny reality. I just don't accept it. This isn't the way things have to be. We are not powerless. Even in the lives of little children, there is always something they can do to make things better. Little children can do little things. And we can do bigger ones. Can we say "hello" to strangers that we pass while walking down the street? Can we help our elders with physical tasks? Can we link our voices in demonstrating to create a power that can change things? Our Rabbis understood that the world is far from perfect. When referring in the liturgy to God's actions, the verbs are all couched in the present tense. Creation, salvation, redemption are never in the past. They are always in the present and in the future. They and we can imitate God – that can be reduced in language for children's comprehension – and make our world a better place.

 

The fifth thing I say is that God always loves us and wants us to do what is good. I don't tell them that God can save them from everything. I don't tell them that God can stop all evil in the world. God doesn't work that way. The world doesn't work that way. I know what God wants from us, what we can do. I want them to have the faith that in the worst of times and in the worst of places, God loves us, encourages us, inspires us, strengthens us, and is there with us, even in the corner of a classroom. I want them to have the faith, born of millennia, that has sustained the Jewish people in every crisis:  God loves us, forever and ever, and that if not now, then later, there will be a world, shekulo shalom, that is entirely peace.

 

The last thing is something I do and not say, deeds not words, I give not-on-condition-to-receive, but if I do it good enough I know that they will give it in the same way: I give hugs and kisses. Lots of hugs and lots of kisses. Even when they didn't do anything special I give kisses and hugs because they are special. I remember from my childhood in Brooklyn to this very day, how my grandmother on her way to the bus would look back at me in the window of the apartment and throw me a kiss. I believed that I felt that kiss, right here on my cheek. I want my children, scattered to the four winds, and my grandchildren in California to feel my moustache, feel my beard as they feel my kiss, even if it is just over the telephone or on Skype. Now. Forever.

 

In the most trying times of their lives, and in ours, the only thing that I can give them is the knowledge and memory of my love, and the conscious sense of my presence, to protect them and guide them, when I can't be there. I can bestow upon them the feelings and attitudes that help me, are true to me. And while there are many things that I have not experienced and don't want to, and have no idea of what I will experience in the rest of my life, so far, these have sustained me and enabled me to reach this day.

 

And then I give them a song from my favorite group, Peter, Paul and Mary, one of their older pieces, written by Peter Yarrow. If they won't remember my words, if my kisses and hugs fall off to the distance, then let the song remain.

 

 

Peter, Paul & Mary — Day Is Done

 

Tell me why you're crying, my son

I know you're frightened, like everyone

Is it the thunder in the distance you fear?

Will it help if I stay very near?

I am here.

 

Refrain:

And if you take my hand my son

All will be well when the day is done.

And if you take my hand my son

All will be well when the day is done.

Day is done, Day is done

Day is done, Day is done

 

Do you ask why I'm sighing, my son?

You shall inherit what mankind has done.

In a world filled with sorrow and woe

If you ask me why this is so, I really don't know.

 

 (Refrain)

 

Tell me why you're smiling my son

Is there a secret you can tell everyone?

Do you know more than men that are wise?

Can you see what we all must disguise

Through your loving eyes?

 

 (Refrain)

"The Blood of the Children Cries Out From the Ground"

The Blood of the Children Cries Out From the Ground!

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

December 22^nd, 2012

 

Over the many years that I can remember, beginning with the assassination of President John Kennedy with a rifle, the sound of the bullet was echoed by the citation of the second amendment and the "right to bear arms."  Whenever a catastrophe occurs, whoever cites past catastrophes always omits the earliest ones, which never lose their terribleness, because it is too hard, too painful, too long a list to remember to recite all the names of all the places.

 

I want to talk about the "Right to Live." This is not the cliché lifted from the Declaration of Independence, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," even as that is a very significant statement. I want to talk about the "Right to Live" of six and seven year olds to grow up, discover the universe, and fulfill their destinies. I want to talk about the "Right to Live" of the people dedicated to teaching them, who threw themselves in harm's way. I want to talk about the "Right to Live" of all innocent people, struggling in a difficult world, being good people, loving men and women, who are murdered, wantonly murdered by those with guns in their hands, in any place and at any time. No just now.

 

I want to know something. Doesn't the "Right to Live" supercede the "right to bear arms?" Isn't there something more important than guns? Isn't there something more fundamental than the caliber of the bullet? Isn't there something more precious than the rate of fire? Doesn't the "Right to Live" trump all other rights? To paraphrase the verse from Genesis from the story of Cain and Abel, "the blood of the children, the blood of their adult defenders screams out to Me from the ground." It is to them, the dead, to our children, the living, that the answers must be given.

 

I want to know something. Does the 'right to kill' supercede the "Right to Live?" What is the purpose of guns? I remember being a little boy with a holster and cap guns. You had to put one cap in each and it made a bang. For some reason I had a Mattel gun that used a roll of caps and you could make a lot of sustained noise. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea what it meant. I don't know why my parents bought them for me. Our children never had toy guns. Never! Ever! Stop the nonsense that guns don't kill. Yes they do! Yes, guns kill because they are held by people. Guns kill people. Guns kill animals. Killing begets killing, which begets more and more and more until there is no end! The blood of the children cries out from the ground: stop the killing! Who needs guns?!

 

I want to know something. Is the "Right to Live" held so cheaply because the profit is great from the proliferation of the "culture to kill" through video, movies, music – do you listen to the message of the lyrics?, toys, television and the manufacture of guns? What is more important? To make money and elevate the culture of death?  Or the culture of life? Is this the America we want? Is this the epitome of our society? Is this the "alabaster city?" Is this the country that we want God to bless? I enjoy the old westerns on cable. Where is the blood? Where is senseless violence? None. Justice, honesty, truth were the elevated values that would triumph, but killing was not glorified. There was even a sense of remorse by the guy who was clearly good. Today it is reversed! The more gore, the more horror, the more blood and guts and cut open bodies, the more explosions and destructions. Just because there is the technical capability to show all this, do we have to? Should we? Must we?  What world are we making? Do we promote fine arts? Do we esteem classical literature? Do we elevate excellent music?  What do you expect to reap, when the seeds of destruction are so blatantly planted? The blood of the children cries out from the ground: make us a better world! Make us a world of peace!

 

I want to know something.  Against whom are we bearing arms? Do we fear invasion from our neighbors to the north and south? Do we fear our neighbors who live next door? Do we intend to confront the local and state police? Would not intruders be more deterred by active alarm systems? Will the ability to defend against an intruder outweigh the number of deaths caused by people with guns who are ill-trained and ill-tempered? Will the proliferation of more guns, in a society already more armed than any in the world, make us safer, securer, surer? Are these quasi-military, high powered, quick-firing guns, the ones used to shoot duck, deer and antelope? The blood of the children cries out from the ground. They demand to know: who needs these guns?

 

I want to know something. I remember when living in New York it was decided to close facilities dealing with mental health, as it was deemed better to integrate these people into society at large. It never happened. If they had, they were abandoned to their families who did not have means to cope with the needs. Otherwise, they were on the streets. It really wasn't the philosophy, it was the cost. They would rather build prisons that honestly deal with the needs of society. They didn't want to deal with people. People with mental issues are "nobody's fault." They are members of our universal family. They are the easiest to cut in any budget. They are seemingly invisible. They don't have a lobby like the NRA. Now, now, it is on the agenda! The blood of the children cries out from the ground: this is the real cliff! This is the real cliff over which our world is destroyed! Fix it! Repair it! Mend it! Do not ignore us!

 

I want to know something. How many innocent deaths will it take for our elected officials to be leaders with moral backbones and not wimps who pander for votes? Where is their moral courage to face the mirror and know that day after day they have labored in society's vineyard to make each hamlet, each town, each county, each city better for each boy and girl, infant and adult, young and old, reach and poor, healthy and ill? How many tears must be shed by human beings? How much blood must spill in movie theatres, college campuses, high schools, elementary schools, shopping mall parking lots? How many hearts must break when the bell tolls as each name is read, as each tender body is buried? What must it take for delegates, senators, representatives, and president will finally act?

 

Until then, every morning, noon and night, at the break of dawn and the setting of the sun, in the dead of night and the brightness of the midday  sun, The blood of the children cries out from the ground! And it will continue to cry and cry, scream upon scream, like those in Newtown, Connecticut, until someone, someone will give them an answer.

When they say End the Occupation They Mean Destroy Israel

When they say "End the Occupation" They mean "Destroy Israel"

From the Heart

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

 

Language is important. Sometimes words mean exactly what they say. That would be nice. But there are problems in language. When you translate from one language to another and words have different meanings or shading of meanings, the translator has to pick just one, and freezes out all the other possibilities. The Aramaic translation of the Bible, the Targum, sometimes gives us a better insight to the Hebrew text, as understood in its time.

 

But there are times when people speak "in code." The words do not mean what they usually mean. They mean something else entirely. If you don't know that the person opposite you is speaking in code, you are completely blinded to what they are saying. Your response could be entirely wrong and inappropriate, even to the extent of doing your own self significant harm. This is dangerous. Very dangerous.

 

It is even more dangerous when the other listeners to the words being said about you don't realize that the speaker is speaking in code. They are hearing them in their face value, their plain meaning. As such, they don't sound so bad. But the speaker and those 'clued in,' they know the real message. They get it. They can trap all the rest of the listeners by having them reply to the fake message and not to the real message.

 

So when Hamas says that "Israel needs to end the occupation," it sounds plausible? It sounds appropriate? Hamas sounds right and Israel sounds wrong? Because you might be thinking that Hamas is arguing about Israel's control of the West Bank/Judea/Samaria. There is a discussion to be had on this matter. But they're not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hamas is not talking about the West Bank. When they say occupation they are talking about Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheva, Eilat, Tiberias and everything in between. They mean, completely and totally, the destruction of the State of Israel.

 

There is no occupation of the Gaza Strip. Israel left there in 2005 'lock, stock and barrel.' Except for synagogues, they left everything else standing. They left all the fields that they had created. They left their homes erect. They left the streets, the electric lines and buildings. The Palestinians either tore them down, or their leadership did not allow them to use it. What a sin against their own people!

 

The Gaza Strip is not under siege. That, too, is a lie. While there could be more, there is a constant stream of trucks from Israeli ports to the Gaza Strip. They are not starving because there is a constant stream of produce and food. They are not cold because Israel has been supplying them with electricity even when they haven't been paying for it. They are not thirsty because Israel has been supplying them with water, even when they haven't been paying for that, too. They are not dying from illness, because they have access to Israeli hospitals [even though one cured patient wanted to come back as a suicide bomber and blow it up] even when they don't pay for the services. Peace loving people in Gaza don't have to worry at night for Israel does not shoot indiscriminate rockets into Gaza, as Hamas has done to Israel.

 

Understand the code!!!

When they say: "End the Occupation" They mean: "Destroy Israel."

 

Our answers are:          Understand the code.    Tell that to others.         Support Israel.

 

We celebrate Tu B'Shevat in January. Buy trees and help the Jewish National Fund build the state, repair that which has been bombed and broken. Buy Israel Bonds that also help build the state. There are many things that you and I can't do or change.

 

But there are things we can. Do them!