Words of Torah - Holy Pursuits - Parashat Kedoshim - April 30, 2020

WORDS OF TORAH – April 30, 2020

   For this week’s “Words of Torah,” for the combined portions Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, I am offering a commentary on the last verses of Leviticus, Chapter 19.  Our Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah students will be sharing their insights during their Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah on May 2, 2020, which will focus on their readings in Leviticus 19:1-18.

       We read from Leviticus 19, known as the “Holiness Code,” on Yom Kippur afternoon every year, as the Reform movement decided years ago that this section demands to be shared on that day when we are considering how to improve our behavior and to reach for new levels of sanctity in our actions for the coming year.   In this case, this passage is the weekly Torah portion.

    Here are my comments on the final verses of chapter 19. 

32] You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old; you shall fear your God: I am the Eternal.

       This portion earlier states not to show deference either to people who are poor or rich in court.    In this case, it is not talking about court proceedings.  It offers moral direction for daily life.   It calls on people to show respect for elders because that is the right thing to do.   Buses in Israel, at one time, posted a sign quoting this verse to remind passengers to offer their seat to the elders among them who might not be able to stand.   Another way to state this commandment could be:  “Show respect for elders because YOU will be that person in the future.”

 

33] When strangers reside with you in your land, you shall not wrong them. 34] The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the Eternal am your God. 

    The ETZ HAYIM commentary notes that this verse may have referred, at the time, to strangers who were foreign merchants, people who worked in crafts, or hired soldiers from other countries.    

    The greater point, though, is that we have all been the “stranger” at some time in our lives.  Each of us has likely been the “new” person in a community or organization, or even in another country during a short-term visit or a longer stay.    The essential lesson here is similar to verse 32:  do not wrong strangers, and love strangers as yourself, because YOU have been that stranger, and you know how you would have liked to have been treated at the time (and, hopefully, you did receive the welcome you deserved). 

35] You shall not falsify measures of length, weight, or capacity. 36] You shall have an honest balance, honest weights....I the Eternal am your God who freed you from the land of Egypt.

       This biblical commandment has a modern counterpart: “Don’t put your thumb on the scale.”   That phrase refers to employing clandestine efforts to change the outcome of a transaction or a situation in your favor; in a word, cheating.    The Torah strives here to lead us to the values of equity, justice and honesty.

      And it adds the refrain about being freed from Egypt as a reminder that, now that we are free, we should use that freedom to reach our highest moral potential.  

      May that be our goal every day. 

L’shalom,
Rabbi Larry

Seeking Purity of Character - for Tazria-Metzora - Words of Torah for Temple Beth-El Las Cruces - April 23, 2020

WORDS OF TORAH

Seeking Purity of Character – April 23, 2020 (Based on an original Torah Cybercommentary on April 16, 2010) 

Shabbat Shalom!
The Torah reading for this week, TAZRIA/M’TZORA, deals with a variety of priestly diagnoses made necessary by challenges to human health as well as the well-being of a home/building environment. The main focus of the portions is leprosy and other skin afflictions, but there is also a section that deals with growths on houses (the unfortunate result of too much moisture in a closed space). Rabbis, bar and bat mitzvah students and commentators see this portion from the Torah as a true challenge for drawing lessons for today.
    The Israelite priests were directed to examine both people and places and make a determination about the continued presence or the eventual absence of the disease or growth. They would make their declarations with the words TAMAY (impure) and TAHOR (pure and acceptable). These terms applied mostly to biblical definitions of required sanctity, but they can just as well be used for aspects of behavior and personal attitudes to help us to express our perspectives about what is acceptable in community life.
     Making a “behavioral purity” list offers us an opportunity to define the boundaries which we would set for ourselves and what we could expect and accept from others.
     Here are possible TAMAY and TAHOR lists for individuals, groups, organizations, families and communities:
TAMAY: dishonesty, excessive negativity, bullying, cruelty, discourtesy, disrespect, extreme impatience, selfishness, name-calling, closed communication, destructive criticism.
TAHOR: honesty, optimism based in reality, respect, patience, courtesy, joy, open communication, generosity, compassion, appropriate praise, constructive criticism, menschlikhkeit. 
    These lists are only a beginning. Each of us has our own sense of how we try to present ourselves and how we hope to treat other people in order to engender greater fellowship in our families and in our community.  And at this challenging time, we are required, even more, to exhibit generosity, patience, compassion and optimism.  

    May we continue to reach for our own goals of creating TAHARAH – a sense of openness and purity – in our lives.

Invocation- Temple Beth-El Las Cruces Board Meeting invocation - April 16, 2020

God of Deliverance, Source of healing,

Our Guide and Companion, 

Walk with us as we gradually cross a new sea.

The waters are slowly splitting, 

And we continue to proceed with caution. 

May we learn from our history 

From the Israelites in ancient times

To Jews throughout the ages

Who have found solace in their homes

Making each of their dwelling places

A small sanctuary, a Mikdash m’at, 

even when there were forces at work 

In the countries where they lived

To deny them their freedom, their rights

And their very lives. 

Help us to appreciate the gifts that we have been given

That can sustain us in narrow straits

And difficult moments. 

As we count the days between 

Passover and Shavuot, 

May we count the blessings we enjoy

That keep us connected to one another

Even at a time such as this. 

May we tread carefully in the days to come

Based on wisdom and accurate information

Provided by professionals truly in the know

Who possess your special gift of knowledge. 

Help us lead our community through these challenging days

With a sense of caring, compassion, and hope.

Five Promises - Passover 5780/2020 and an introduction to Chad Gadya - for the Passover Seder

Five promises: Passover 5780 - Rabbi Larry Karol

And God promised the people again, 

Safe in their homes during this challenging and precarious time, “I am the Eternal One. 

You have gathered for many years to seek My presence. 

Now, I am, as I have always been, with you. 

I will create connections between you even though you may feel isolated. You are not alone. 

I will grant you a sense of freedom and openness in your places of refuge and safety. What you have will be not only enough, but more than enough. 

I will liberate your souls with ingenuity and creativity so that light will dwell inside you and around you. 

I will link every home, one to another, so that a virtual BEIT K’NESSET, a House of Gathering, will

encompass all of you. I will be at your side as you move through this passage to a promised land of hope. 

And I will accompany you to a place of health and love. 

I, the Eternal One.”

Before the singing of Chad Gadya in the Seder...

Life is short. Life is precious. Sometimes we forget, and the world forgets. There is violence. There is

disease, and we do our best to contain it, to control it, and to bring healing. There is a thirst for power.

There is selfishness. There are attempts to protect and defend ourselves that may deny life’s value. So let us remember: when Chad Gadya ends, God is there. The father/parent is there. The narrator - the child - is there. May we be Angels of Life for one another in a world that needs our love, our perseverance, and our hope. (Rabbi Larry Karol, April 2, 2020) 

Words of Torah - New Tablets - Shabbat during Passover - April 10, 2020

Words of Torah – April 10, 2020

In the Torah reading for Shabbat Pesach, in the book of Exodus, 

Moses pleaded to God to stay with the people

Even after the creation and worship of the Golden Calf. 

God listened, and agreed, and affirmed the close relationship between them, and Moses’ enduring dedication. 

Moses carved new tablets onto which would be inscribed the original Ten Commadments, and more rules to remind the Israelites of their responsibilities as a holy community. 

As we move through our current passage, we may wonder, what would be written on a new set of tablets for our lives? 

Perhaps….

·       Slow down. 

·       Identify what is most important to you. 

·       Show compassion and consideration. 

·       Be creative problem-solvers.

·       Connect with family, friends, and community members to offer them support and encouragement. 

·       Be diligent in attending to your own health and the health of others. 

·       Explore personal interests too often neglected. 

·       Find comfort in personal expression.

·       Rediscover the meaning of ritual and prayer. 

·       Find multiple reasons to be grateful.  

Happy Pesach – Shabbat Shalom!

This is a Time....written for the TBE Las Cruces Family Service on 4/3/2020

For the Temple Beth-El Las Cruces 

Family Service

On April 3, 2020

This is a time to breathe. 

This is a time to pray. 

This is a time to love.

This is a time to heal. 

This is a time to connect with each other 

and to reach for one another, 

So that, even when our hands cannot touch,

our hearts will draw close. 

**********************

This is a time to be kind, 

to act with goodness,

to recognize our blessings,

and to allow the hope inside of us 

to burst forth as light 

for our souls and for our community.

Be with us, God, 

and always bring us together.

Words of Torah - The Fire Inside....Still Burning - Parashat Tzav - April 2, 2020

Shabbat Shalom and an almost Happy Pesach!

    This message finds it origins in a post I wrote for my previous community on March 26, 2010. 

    It was about responses to the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

    Do you remember how high emotions were running after that?

    So, now, we find ourselves in a new place...or, mostly, in one place

    We are in our homes.  We are staying here to remain healthy and safe.  We are not cowering in our residences, though, or, at least, we shouldn’t be.  

     The steps we are taking are grounded in wisdom and good information.  As the worldwide pandemic continues around us, we are doing our best to keep our home fires burning, so to speak, and, also, to be sure that “home” extends to family and friends in any ways possible.   We are reaching out.  We are studying.  We are discussing topics we may never have had time to address in our own reading or in Zoom group discussions.  The flames we are lighting through our ingenuity and creativity have enabled us to stay in touch.   Our interconnections still burn bright.

      We are, in some ways, like the priests in the Torah portion for this Shabbat, Tzav, in Leviticus, Chapter 6.   The passage speaks about a fire that was kept burning continually on the altar in the ancient Tabernacle, the Israelite site for worship.   That fire was not allowed to go out.   

     Some commentators likened that physical fire to the fire that can burn inside of each of us that reflects our spirit, our beliefs, and our passion for life and community.   That is a fire that can offer warmth and comfort for our souls and spirit.   That is a flame that can enable us to focus on hope rather than pessimism.  It can lead us to act out of courage and resolve rather than fear.  It can increase our generosity at a time when more people need our help and support. 

     “A fire inside of us” can signify offering other people the best of ourselves, even while we are in the middle of a time of social distancing and challenge.   May the fire in our minds and souls become a torch that leads us all to healing and liberation, to gratitude and peace, and to freedom, so that we will remember that we are all in this together. 

L’shalom,

Rabbi Larry