Coming back - thoughts on the effects of COVID-19 (and its persistence) - June 12, 2020

Perhaps I need to say this....

   I was asked to write something about my congregation’s approach to coming back in person for worship and programming a couple of weeks ago.   It’s a Board decision, and as I am retiring on June 30, I was not sure whether anything should come from me on the issue in a public statement.  

   After reading about and discussing what congregations are doing, or not doing, what I would say is this: 

1) COVID-19 is not going away any time soon.   Personally, I am limiting my venturing out into the public sphere to necessary shopping for food and medication, medical appointments, necessary auto repairs (my glove compartment ended up on the floor of my car yesterday - it’s fixed!), and maybe a few other purposes.   That’s it.   Congregationally, if we truly care about each other, the presence of the Coronavirus would necessitate, if we were meeting in person, masks, extreme social distancing due to aerosols from our singing even from behind our masks (or NO singing at all), no prayerbooks or constant cleaning of prayerbooks, taking people’s temperatures as they enter the building, limiting the number of people who can come in based on socially-distanced seating capacity, and no serving of food unless it’s individual servings prepared by people with masks and gloves.  But NONE of that should happen while there is still even a modest increase of cases in our area.   That’s still happening now.  We are not ready. 

2) Pikuach Nefesh, saving a life, is a central value of Judaism.  That is one of the things that underlies my approach to this challenge. 

3) I was told in mid March, before Temple was closed, and when we were thinking about it, that we shouldn’t “be afraid” and should stay open no matter what.   This is NOT about fear.  One of the things about New Hampshire that always puzzled me was that adults didn’t have to wear seat belts, while it is the law in all other states and the District of Columbia for adults sitting in the front seat to wear seat belts.   Is that out of fear, or because it’s prudent and wise?   I will go with prudent and wise - same with masks and washing hands.   

4)  I know that there are people who are not dealing well with this lack of contact.  It’s hard. I guess that I have spent my rabbinic career of 39 years approaching challenges with the idea of trying to do the best that we are able in each case.    On that first Friday night after Temple was closed, March 20, I knew exactly what to do, which was to do a service on the Temple FB page on Facebook live.   Soon after that, we began study groups on Wednesdays and Saturdays on Zoom.   Services on Zoom to FB live started in May when congregants began to help lead our worship.  Our Temple Seder was on Zoom.  We just took part in the naming of our granddaughter (in NYC) on Zoom.  Is it real?   Well, almost, but it is the best we can do right now, and if we can master it and stay connected, we have done a lot.    I see it as a triumph.    Some meetings of community groups and friends have taken place in a virtual space that would have not taken place otherwise.   You know, when we give ourselves a chance, we are quite creative, resourceful and resilient. 

5). For those who have had their employment curtailed, there are community groups that may be able to help in some way.  For those who are dealing with health issues and a lingering sadness at the lack of human contact,  there are ways to help with that.   As I said, this is hard.  But we can be here for each other.  Please make your needs known. 

6).  I have not gone out to large groups in the community that have gathered in recent days because, at my age and with my health issues, I am at high risk.  I am doing the best I can to offer support from home, from where I can still share my suggestions and whatever little bits of wisdom I have accumulated over the years.   

7).  Let’s be present for each other as much as possible, and listen to the medical experts as we try to navigate through this passage.   Stay safe and healthy.

Seeing our light - Words of Torah - Parashat B’ha-a-lot’cha - June 12, 2020

    As the beginning of summer approaches, the hours of daylight will grow longer.  Even amid our social distancing and staying at home more than usual, we can still go outside and recognize, and enjoy, the greater presence of light.   It can lift our moods and spirits and offer us hope.   

    Sometimes, we need that external presence of light to remind us of the light that is inside of us.   This past Shabbat, in the Torah portion NASO, we recited the priestly blessing, which includes the phase “May God shine the light of the divine face upon you and be gracious to you.”   The Torah, and various commentaries, interpret this light as divine kindness and wisdom.   The word “enlightenment,” in this context, can refer not only to intellect but also to our own moral and spiritual development and to our heightened sense of awareness at the wonder of living in the world and with each other.  

   This week’s portion, B’HA-A-LOT’CHA, begins with the mounting of seven lamps in the Tent of Meeting, the Israelite center of worship.  The seven lamps comprised the MENORAH, the symbol with which we are so familiar, and which graces the main doors of our building.  It was the duty of the priests to set up the MENORAH and to tend to the light, to keep it burning at all times.  Synagogues and Temples now feature the NER TAMID, the Eternal Light, that always remains lit in a chapel or sanctuary, along with a seven-branched MENORAH that gives light during worship.  These lights signify how divine inspiration and the teachings of our heritage  can guide us.   The EITZ CHAYIM Torah commentary quotes a midrash which imagines God saying, “As I shined a light on Israel…let them shine a light on Me.”   

      Even when we are not worshiping in our sanctuary, there is light all around us.  Jewish tradition envisions God shining kindness on us as we radiate that light back to God.  What is the source of OUR light?  According to the biblical book of Proverbs, “the human spirit is the light of the Eternal One.”   Every one of us – in our community, in the world – shares in that light of divine blessing that pervades the universe, a light that is an intrinsic part of who we are. 

     We have the opportunity, every day, to acknowledge the light of the Eternal One that can emanate from the depths of every person in this world, These days, we can see that light in efforts to promote healing, protection, understanding, and listening, which can lead to the mutual respect and consideration that all people deserve.     

      May this light, God’s light that shines through us, bring us blessing and unity in the days to come.

The virus...the cure -June 10, 2020

The virus 

Of hatred 

Has spread throughout human history

Denying the humanity of some

So that those deniers could elevate and enhance

Their own status

And their own advantage

In the world. 

Some who have been 

victims of hatred themselves 

Have become perpetrators 

While others among those targeted

Have had the ability to empathize

And to begin to understand. 

People, however

Are quick to judge 

those who speak up

Because they are angry at the growing number

Of victims of hatred and violence

“Your response is wrong.” Others say.

“Your calls for justice and equality 

Show your own prejudice.” 

“There is not such thing as a peaceful demonstration

If it lead others act with violence.”

I remember...

After the assassination of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I attended a peaceful, multifaith memorial service. 

It was helpful, heartening. 

The next day

Reports of riots came through on the radio and on television.

I didn’t understand

That it was an expression of despair

Among people who had no measure of hope

For improvement in their lives.  

I was 13 years old then. 

I had not heard 

what Dr. King had said in 1967:

“Certain conditions continue to exist in our society, 

which must be condemned as vigorously 

as we condemn riots. 

But in the final analysis, 

a riot is the language of the unheard. 

And what is it that America has failed to hear? 

It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor 

has worsened over the last few years. 

It has failed to hear 

that the promises of freedom and justice 

have not been met. 

And it has failed to hear 

that large segments of white society 

are more concerned about tranquility 

and the status quo 

than about justice, equality and humanity.”

In the years since that time,

I have tried to understand,

And to listen 

To people of color

In congregations I have served

And to members of the greater community,

partners in interfaith work

Who were my teachers.  

Working with one congregant

Who organized local discussions on racism 

Grounded in her African-American heritage

And in faith values that direct us towards justice and respect, 

Taught me the importance of listening and learning,

Of internalizing all that I had heard—

All of the stories of challenge, of being singled out,

Of Discrimination, and of targeting based on skin color—-

With the hope that hearing those stories

Could lead to action and progress

That could happen through the work of many people,

Including me. 

I understand better, now. 

I can identify 

When I benefit from privilege 

And, also 

when I run into a brick wall because of who I am. 

But I also know

That for many, 

There is no space in front of that brick wall.

There is no room to move. 

There is only that brick wall

Pressing against them

Which, on some or many levels,

precludes acceptance and respect

And precludes the possibility of hope 

That things will change for the better. 

At this time, 

Another virus is keeping me inside

So I am not outside marching and speaking.

But I am watching, 

I am listening, 

I am feeling outrage 

That our supposed leaders cannot respond to protesters 

With even one iota of understanding or human feeling.

They care more about “law and order” 

Than about truly listening 

to why people are marching 

And crying out 

In the first place. 

So I hear you, and I see you, 

Those who are walking together 

on the streets of our cities and towns

Every day. 

I support you

And when I hold up my Bible 

In my own private holy space

And inside my mind and heart, 

I am inspired by calls for justice.

I am moved by the command not to harden one’s heart

In the face of another human being. 

I am ready

To join other voices and partners

To make it possible, more than ever before

To let justice roll down like waters

And righteousness like a mighty stream. 

May those waters

Finally

Provide the cure 

For which we have been waiting

For so long.

Seeds of Goodness - June 8, 2020.

In your goodness You daily renew creation

I wake up each day

To the news 

I hear about

Disease

Riots

Violence 

Murders

Injustice

Hatred

Prejudice 

Peaceful Protests

Vigils

Calls for change 

Helpers 

Healers

And Survivors 

But I know that

I must turn away

from the headlines

For a moment

Not to hide

But to disengage

And find inspiration

Out in the world.

I look out the window in the morning

The sunlight bathes warmth and brightness

on the landscape - the sand, the homes, the mountains nearby

I know, and I have prayed many times 

this humble declaration: 

In your goodness, You daily renew creation. 

Eternal God,

Help me to see that within every part of Your universe

And even deep inside everything I saw on the news

You have placed a touch of your goodness

From which I must learn. 

It is a seed that can grow 

And suffuse the earth and our souls with goodness, 

With wisdom 

With hope 

and with Your loving presence.

In your goodness You daily renew creation

In my corner of the world,

May the contributions I make to the world 

from my heart and spirit

Be for good. 

Rights and Responsibilities are Very Different - Column for Las Cruces Bulletin on June 5, 2020

Some of the discussions swirling around the COVID-19 pandemic have focused on “rights” in relation to “responsibilities.”

      One of the central teachings from my tradition, which I have shared in previous  columns, relates to both rights and responsibilities.  It comes from the ancient Jewish sage, Hillel.

      He said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?  If I am only for myself, what am I?  If not now, when?”

       My fifth grade teacher in my religious school at the Temple where I grew up asked us to interview family members about this saying.     

      Mostly, the responses that I heard from my family back then, and interpretations that I have heard since, have viewed this saying as a progression. 

      First, advocate for yourself. 

      Second, don’t just advocate for yourself, because you don’t live in this world by yourself. 

      Third, there is always an urgency to do both, and to properly balance them. 

      Another famous statement from Hillel declared, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.”   That teaching seems to complete his message of self-confidence that leads to mutual respect and consideration.  

       For me, our current situation calls on us to identify these and other values that are the most important to us, perhaps more than ever before.  Hillel’s declarations are a good start. 

     I recently asked members of all ages at Temple Beth-El to share the moral principles which they view as central to our lives at this time.

 Their responses were instructive and inspiring: 

•  Taking care of your body and health
• Togetherness/community/connection 
• Kindness
• Remembrance for loved ones, and for those who have died in recent months during this pandemic. 
• Peace in our homes and staying connected with family near and far. 
• Generosity: supporting people going through a hard time. 
• Acceptance and patience
• Being helpful and showing compassion
• Finding joy amidst everything going on. 
• Gratitude: finding something for which to be thankful at any time.
• Visiting and staying in touch with people facing illness and health challenges, and praying for their recovery. 
• Treating everyone as equally valuable in this world. 
• Resilience
• Saving a life (or saving lives), so as not to jeopardize our lives or the lives of others. 
• Altruism: showing - selfless concern for the well-being of others.
• Noticing the wonders still happening around us in nature. 
• Truly trying to understand someone else’s viewpoint. 
• Remembering and (hopefully) learning from the past.
• And leaving the world better then when we got here.

    I received a request from the American Jewish Archives, which houses important historical documents from individuals and communities, to submit my sermons and articles that I have shared during the COVID-19 pandemic.   They hope to chronicle, for the future, what we are thinking now, and the messages that clergy and community leaders are trying to convey to guide their communities in the best way possible. 

     You are now reading what I hope will be a part of that collection.   We are living in a time that will be studied and discussed for decades to come.   

    So, every day, may we act in ways the reflect hope, peace, and even love. 

    If not now, when?

Overcoming...Bibliolatry - For greater understanding - June 4, 2020

BIBLIOLATRY: excessive reverence for the Bible as literally interpreted.

   I learned this word from one of my professors in rabbinic school. 

 It sounded complex. 

 It also sounded like something I should never do.  

  I have tried to live up to that value (of “no excessive reverence”) throughout my rabbinate.  

  That is why I have led study sessions on biblical books with a wide range of translations in front of me, including the following: the new Jewish Publication Society translation; the New Revised Standard Version; the Revised English Bible; Robert Alter’s translation; Richard Elliot Friedman’s translation (Torah only); and the New American Bible, Revised Edition.   

    Of course, for me, and for the groups I have led, the Hebrew text has always been the starting point. If I am fortunate, there is someone present with a Greek text as well.  

     This multi-faceted approach to Bible study is an antidote to bibliolatry.  Scholars continue to discover that ancient biblical texts were dynamic, rather than static.  The Dead Sea Scrolls shed light on the long process of development of the wording itself that led to the Bible that we know today. 

      When I was a junior in high school, after my physical education class, we had a half-hour wait until we went upstairs for lunch.   One of my classmates brought his Amplified Bible with him to school every day.   That text was a catalyst for a lively discussion among several of us:  a Reform Jew (me), an Orthodox Jew, an agnostic, a Mormon, a not-so-active Catholic, and our evangelical friend with the Bible.   That went on for months.   My classmate with the Bible did ask great questions when we sat together at lunch, after our locker-room discussions on the passages he presented didn’t resolve much, other than revealing our differences.   I am not so sure that was okay with him, other than the fact that he fulfilled his desire to witness his faith.  Yet, our diversity of opinion was fine with me.   Wouldn’t you know that my Bible-carrying classmate sat next to me at my high school graduation! 

    I know that my classmate’s perspective on this holy book was heartfelt and, sometimes, piercingly insightful.  He had ready answers to questions for which I am still formulating what I believe, because, sometimes, matters of faith require constant redefinition as we move along the life cycle.    

     One thing I know for sure:  he read that book.  He read a lot of it.  Perhaps he focused on the commentary of one interpretation too much for my taste.  But he read it. 

     And that is why it was upsetting to see the leader of the free world fashion a photo-op in front of a church near the White House with a Bible (not “his” Bible, “a” Bible, he reportedly said) in his hand.    The manner in which he cleared the path to the church with his entourage of “power” continues to spark debate, but people who were nearby, PEACEFUL protesters, were forcibly moved away from this church which many past American presidents had visited as a matter of course.   I said, “past,” not “present.” 

    Holding up a Bible that is, to the one holding it, just “a” Bible, makes that book an object.  It also means that the person holding it is trying to merge with the object, perhaps to suggest that book and person should, together, elicit reverence from the people who see that image.  I know that some people responded exactly that way. 

     In my view, that would be actual bibliolatry, where it’s just the image of the book, not what is inside, that makes the difference.   The association of the person with the book is, perhaps, anthropomorphized bibliolatry, as if he (in this case), embodies teachings that some people believe to be primary in the text:  order, strength, elimination of perceived enemies of God, and veneration towards people who are thought to pave the way for those whom they view as “true believers.”

     Of course, what’s in that text?  Off the top of my head, I would cite these verses:

    “You shall have no other gods beside me.” 

   “You shall not take the name of your Eternal God in vain. 

    “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” 

     “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

    “Justice, justice, shall you pursue.”

    “Do not oppress the stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” 

     “What does God require of you?  Only this: to do justly, to love (acts of) mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” 

      “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they again train for war.”

      “Six things the Eternal One hates; seven are an abomination to God: a haughty bearing, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a mind that hatches evil plots, feet quick to run to evil, a false witness testifying lies, And one who incites fellow human beings to quarrel.”

       Once we look at these and other texts, and speak of them over and over, we move beyond bibliolatry to true understanding. 

      In the Chapters of the Rabbis, Pirkei Avot, Ben Bag Bag declared: “Turn it, and turn it, for everything is in it. Reflect on it and grow old and gray with it. Don’t turn from it, for nothing is better than it.” 

     Here I am,  old (but young at heart) and gray (well, my beard is), and I haven’t turned from it yet.    

      May new understandings continue to flow from this text for everyone one of us, so that the greatest wisdom of the book in our hands, and its teachings of love and peace, will always suffuse our hearts and souls.  

     

MAY THE LIGHT OF YOUR FACE - JUNE 1, 2020

  “May the Eternal One cause the light of the divine face to shine on you and be gracious to you.”

(Numbers 6) 

May the light of Your face, Eternal One, illumine our goodness. 

May the light of Your face focus a spotlight on our compassion. 

May the light of Your face warm us with care. 

May the light of Your face inspire us to listen, and listen more, and, only then, to respond with a sense of increased clarity. 

May the light of Your face enable us to turn our recognition of your Oneness into acceptance of people where they are 

So that we can move forward together to where we all should be. 

And...yet...

May the light of Your face force out of the darkness the hatreds that hold us back so we can see them for what they are. 

May the light of Your face reveal what is inside of those people who desire to hold on to the power that sustains and furthers oppression. 

May the light of Your face make it possible for us to understand those who feel that they are at the end of their rope, with no hope left, with no end in sight to systems that perpetuate prejudice and discrimination. 

May the light of Your face, Eternal One, infuse us with Your grace, spread over us Your  protection that will keep all of Your children safe and secure, and grant us Your favor, that encompasses every human being. 

May the light of Your face, Eternal One, enlighten us so that we will 

do all that we need to do 

to turn strife into opportunity, 

grief into comfort, 

discord into connection, 

conflict into hard-won and lasting peace.