“Threading the Needle” | May 7th, 2021
Social Media has been a gift for many because it allows a strong, adamant, and often mean voice to be expressed with keyboard courage in a way that people rarely would express face to face. I have shared previously on these pages that when faced with mean words on social media or other platforms that offer refuge, we should aim to not reply with the same mode of communication. Instead, attempt to converse in person, or by phone, or ZOOM. Most times, this will deescalate the tension and ensure that softer, kinder words are used.
However, there are times when we have to say things that are not pleasant, and times we have to hear things that are not pleasing on our ears. In this week’s parasha, that is called the Tochecha or in English, it is referred to as the Admonitions. We are told that if the Israelites do not observe God’s commandments, God will wreak upon Israel misery, consumption, fever, stolen harvests, defeat by enemies, poor harvests, attacks of wild beasts, pestilence, famine, desolation, and timidity. When this section is covered in the congregation, the reader usually reads it in a soft voice because the punishments are not pleasant.
I never understood why we whisper the reading or why some are reticent to receive that honor of the Aliyah. It is not a decree of what DID happen. It is what WOULD happen if we do not listen to God’s commands.
Do not all of us deserve to be warned in life where and when we can? Are there not times that we all need to be made aware of our consequences if we make bad decisions? I just think we need to be sensitive to those around us and watch the manner we share our concerns and worry. But the essence of what we share can and should stay the same.
Let us all strive to share the “harder” stuff in life but do it in a way that is less mean-spirited, cruel, or insensitive. Doing so will make the speaker and listener, grow.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner
“Finding Light on Lag Ba’Omer” Parashat Emor 5781
Today is 33 Days, which is four weeks and five days of the Omer.
I always get excited when I read these words while counting the Omer- the 49 days leading up from Passover to Shavuot. Today, Lag Ba’Omer, day 33 of the count, is a special day of celebration in the Jewish calendar. As the yahrzeit of one of the most important Jewish mystics, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (2nd century CE), Lag Ba’Omer celebrates the mystical side of Judaism, Kabbalah, and its most important work, the Zohar.
All over the world, Jews celebrate this mystical day by lighting bonfires of all sizes to symbolize the primordial light of the creation of the universe, and the reflected spiritual light that the Torah imparts to us. These massive fires draw us in, encouraging us to look into their multicolored depths, contemplating the great luminaries of our own lives.
This Lag Ba’Omer, I hope you’re able to safely light your own fire, whether in your backyard, in your fireplace, or in your own heart. As you do, ask yourself- What supernal light are you drawn towards, what fiery teaching inspires you? May your fire be a light of inspiration to you and help ignite others to find their own light.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jeremy Fineberg
Parashat Archei Mot-Kedoshim | April 23rd, 2021
Parshat Acharei Mot and Kedoshim remind us from its onset about the painful tragedy of the deaths of two people, Nadav and Avihu.
I never understood why these two sons of Aaron were instantly killed for offering a strange fire in the form of a sacrifice to God. Whether the sacrificial act was done irreverently or by accident, the punishment does not seem to fit the crime. Aaron was filled with silence in the wake of this act, seemingly speechless at how and why such a tragedy would or could take place. Perhaps he could not even speak to God in his anger and grief.
After the incident of the Golden Calf, the Israelites are appropriately shamed into silence for their act of distrust and betrayal. When Moses hits the rock in anger, we are taught that the punishment is that he cannot enter the Promised Land of Israel. Another harsh decree. If God is full of compassion and forgiveness and proscribes a remedy to heal us from sins in this very portion (the day of Yom Kippur), why then does God not afford that remedy to Nadav and Avihu? God can certainly punish harshly at times in ways that do not seem to meet the crime and sometimes, people are not even afforded an opportunity to regret and repent for such crimes.
This has been a week filled with conversations and thoughts about crimes and punishments and meeting expectations. In these societal cases, I will leave the punditry to others. Still, I will remind all of us that in our pursuit of being holy (Kedoshim Tehheyu) and aiming to emulate God in acting holy, we must make room for not only fair punishments that meet crimes where and when we can, but also creating space and avenues for forgiveness, where and when appropriate.
Wishing you a Shabbat of peace and health,
Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner
“The Playlist of Israel” | April 16th, 2021
It used to be mix-tapes, then it was burning CDs, and now there are playlists. We make them or have them made for us for all types of situations. Breakups, Proms, Weddings, Parties. A good playlist takes you on an emotional journey, helping you to express a wide range of feelings over a few tracks.
Few playlists are as moving as the national set-list of Israel over the course of Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day). In the short span of 2 days, Israeli society uses music to help it reach the depths of sadness as it mourns fallen soldiers and those murdered in terror attacks and then uses music to help escape mourning and break out into joy at the modern miracle of Independence and national sovereignty.
Hundreds of songs for those two days, each one telling a different story and helping Israeli society experience the widest range of emotions. Grief and Gratitude, Sadness and Joy, Loss and Hope.
I invite you to listen to two songs that exemplify the power of the music of these Israeli High Holidays. The first, לבכות לך- Livkot Lechaִ– To Cry for You by Arik Einstein highlights that those we’ve lost will always be remembered. The second, שבט אחים ואחיות-Shevet Achim v’Achayot- A tribe of Brothers and Sisters, celebrates Israel’s diversity and the joy and blessing of having a national home. I hope we can feel the longing and the beauty of this playlist, and connect to our Israeli siblings in commemoration and celebration of this week.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jeremy Fineberg
“The Responsibility to Remember” | April 9th, 2021
I am hopeful that this summer I can fulfill a promise, albeit a year later than expected, to take my children to Poland. They are not too stoked for this trip. After all, it is not a getaway to say, Hawaii or Florida or visiting grandparents in Texas. Still, Dori and I find it a Jewish and moral responsibility to expose our children to Poland, its rich history for the Jewish people, the terrible tragedies that occurred on its soil by the Nazis, and sharing in the excitement and pride in the slow and steady steps of rebuilding a Jewish community in Warsaw and Krakow. This pilgrimage is even more potent since remembering survivors will be a distant and foggy memory for them and learning about while standing in the place where this history happened is even more potent.
The day that is chosen to commemorate Yom Hashoah VeHaGevurah, which we commemorated this week, is the day in the Hebrew Calendar of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. The historians chose a day not about our demise, but about our courage, strength and resilience. That is one of the most compelling reasons I want to be the escort for this trip for my children: I find it equally important to focus on the vibrancy of Jewish life in Eastern Europe and the rebuilding of life there today, as I do the terror and death that happened in Auschwitz and Treblinka. To appreciate the loss that happened, one must understand the level of life that existed, first. While Israel is our ancestral homeland, Eastern Europe gave birth to much of our Ashkenazic traditions, it was flooded with scholars that paved the way for us to pray, study and lead our Jewish lives and it hosted the soil which tells a long and thoughtful story of our impact in the greater society. Jewish memory is much more complicated than the tragedies or hatred that were focused in our direction. It is also about our contributions and value add to the society we were a part of.
In a world without Shoah survivors, I worry about the dwindling light being shined upon the history of the Jews in Europe from 1938-1945. Ironically, the need for memory is even stronger in a world with less Holocaust survivors in it, making OUR role in memorializing and remembering it even more important.
If you have not been to Poland, when the skies and passageways of travel re-open, add it to your agenda. It is important, valuable and a critical section of our shared Jewish history and identity.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Seth-Kirshner