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.

“We had a plan” - Column for the June, 2020 El Paso Jewish Voice

     We had a plan for 2020.   

      After my retirement from the active congregational rabbinate at the end of June, Rhonda and I were going to move to a community in the Midwest that we knew quite well.   We had not yet determine what we might do in terms of activities and service to local organizations, but we believed that our connections would organically develop over time. 

       Normally, I might describe a need to alter our course for the coming months by referring to the Yiddish saying, Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht, (Man Plans, and God Laughs.) 

       I don’t believe in a God who would laugh at what is happening now.   I do believe in a God who would help us to be grateful for our lives, guide us to find new ways to promote healing for ourselves and others, and inspire us to sustain communal hope and to brighten our days enough so that we won’t lose our sense of humor. 

      My path in May and June towards retirement was always going to include organizing and downsizing files and my collection of books.    I had planned to  continue leading weekly study groups, conduct worship services, bring the Religious School year to a close (on May 3), officiate at a group Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah (on May 2), and hold a Confirmation service for our oldest students in Religious School.  

       Most of that is still happening, just not in person.   Confirmation will wait until we can be in one another’s presence again, and there are other individual ceremonies that will happen in a virtual space. 

       So how is this retirement going to be different than the retirement I expected?  I will never know.   I suppose that we do have only one world and one existence, despite the fact that the alternate timelines of my favorite science fiction series do intrigue me.  

       What I do know is this:  I was ordained almost 39 years ago.  I have notebooks containing articles by me and about me from local and national press, Bar/Bat Mitzvah programs, High Holy Day sermons, and photos from significant family and communal events.  I have been reviewing some of those materials in recent weeks.   

    These materials describe my presence at special moments in people’s lives.   They recount my reflections on the meaning of Jewish holidays and personal and congregational milestones.   They chronicle my efforts to advocate for people in need, combat bigotry and prejudice, foster cooperation among people of different faith groups, and gather people together for study and discussion.   They trace my interest in music as a way to give voice to what we hold inside our Jewish souls.   They demonstrate how much Rhonda and I have done together to make Judaism come to life for the communities where we have lived. 

        During our last Religious School session, held on Zoom, I asked the members our learning community what Jewish values they believe are important now, more than ever before. They cited principles that could have been chosen at most any time: being attentive to one’s own health; community; practicing Judaism at home; kindness/Chesed; remembrance; family; generosity; peace in the home/sh’lom bayit; tzedakah; acceptance; patience; connection; compassion; joy/simchah; and gratitude.     

       Soon after the conclusion of our online meeting, one of the parents called me and asked Rhonda and me to go outside on our driveway.  The Religious School families had organized a thank-you drive-by caravan for our years serving Temple and the Religious School.   

     They were demonstrating one of the most central Jewish values that has sustained our community over the centuries:  adaptability.   

      I can only think as their cars passed by our home, that God had blessed their secret plan...and that God was laughing and smiling at their success.   

     And that is how I will go into the next chapter of my rabbinate: ready to expect the unexpected, and prepared to serve in any way I can no matter where I will be.  

     Rhonda and I thank Temple Beth-El, the Las Cruces community, and the regional Jewish community for the opportunity to be partners in enhancing Jewish life.   May we always be strong and  gain greater strength for ourselves, so that we can strengthen one another. 

If there are needy among us - Words of Torah for the second day of Shavuot Torah reading - May 28, 2020

Words of Torah for the Second Day of Shavuot, 5780 from Rabbi Karol

 

“There shall be no needy among you.” (Deuteronomy 15) 

There are always needy among us. 

The needs depend on the situation. 

Some are more dire and material, when normal sources of well-being and sustenance may not be readily available. 

Some needs are related to our physical ability to maintain good health at this time. 

Some needs are intangible.  

We need hope. 

We need healing. 

We need a listening ear if we have faced any type of loss.  

We need reassurance for a secure future.  

We need others to acknowledge that our perceived needs are real. 

We need respect and consideration. 

We need to know that we can depend on those closest to us, as well as people we don’t know, to keep us all safe.  

We need love and connection.  

We need to find the peace within ourselves that will allow us to move forward.  

We read in Psalm 145,

“You open Your hand, Eternal One, feeding every creature to its heart’s content.” 

Eternal God, feed us, guide us, grant us protection under Your merciful shelter.  

Release from Hatred - D’var Torah - Parashat Behar/Bechukotai - May 15, 2020

RELEASE FROM HATRED - D'var Torah for May 15, 2020

    For several weeks now, the Anti-Defamation League has been holding a series of webinars under the general title, “Fight Hate from Home.”  

  This week, the ADL released its annual of audit of antisemitic incidents in the United States for 2019. 

   I don’t think I have to give you the actual numbers for you to know that there has been an increase in overt expressions of hatred against Jews in American communities. 

   You have probably heard of the violent attacks, harassment, episodes of swastikas and hateful messages sprayed onto synagogues and other buildings housing Jewish institutions.  

   Antisemitism is coming from all across the spectrum of ideology, sometimes inadvertently, if you can believe it, but, most often, based in perspectives of grievance that see Jews as perpetrators of the world’s ills, now including the Coronavirus, and as manipulators and puppeteers controlling national and international events.   

    Such views were already present before the arrival of COVID-19 in our country.   As in past centuries, when plagues have taken many lives and Jews were blamed for the deaths, some of that is happening now.  

    Perhaps the worst image to appear at an open up rally was in Columbus, Ohio.  Demonstrators carried a poster bearing a rat portrayed in blue, decorated with a Star of David and wearing a kippah.  Blue stripes were laid out above and below the rat.  It was a morphed Israeli flag. The words on the placard read, “The Real plague.”

   In response to this image, Ohio State Representative Carey Weinstein spoke about how he had served in the Air Force to defend the right of people to express themselves and to advocate for his right to speak out in opposition, if he disagreed.  He said,  “There’s a long history of Jews being blamed for plague, for disease, being scapegoated for problems like this ... and it’s not happening – not here, not now, not today not ever while I’m around….Our people have learned the lessons of what complacency could look like in the past or allowing hatred to percolate. ... or allowing it to become mainstream. It can never become mainstream. It requires a strong response.”   

     Some of these expressions continue to this day.   Holocaust imagery has been finding its way into many recent expressions whereby people facing stay-at-home directives have compared themselves to Jews in World War II who were confined in Ghettos, or deported to Concentration Camps, and murdered by the Nazis.  

     The Torah portion for this week recounts the practice of the Sabbatical year, when the land would lie fallow, and the Jubilee year, proclaimed every 50 years, when land would return to its original owners.  

     I had hoped that, during these times when we are facing challenges of health and well-being, these hateful expressions would be given a rest.  

     My hopes have been dashed, but not surprisingly, because I know that people often look for someone to blame for what they see as their predicament. 

     People need support.  People need reassurance.  People need to be unified by our leaders.   

    No one needs hatred.   

    As we pray each Shabbat, I try to allow the values expressed in our worship – rest, learning, patience, appreciation, gratitude, and peace – wash over me and reinforce the work that I do within our congregation and with the greater community.  

     Let us be partners in making peace and understanding possible, because we will be better able to stay healthy and safe only if we join with each other as partners who truly care about one another.   

      The Torah reading speaks of proclaiming a release, DROR -  sometimes translated as liberty - throughout the land. 

      May we have release from those who can only hate, and may we use our freedom to spread the love that will see us through this trying time.

Land of Opportunit - Words of Torah for Temple Beth-El Las Cruces NM - May 15, 2020 (Behar/Bechukotai)

WORDS OF TORAH – May 15, 2020

Shabbat Shalom!

       Many struggles in society over the last 100 years, and before, have attempted to engender equality for all people.   In the United States alone, the Civil Rights movement, the supporters of the Equal Rights amendment, the human rights campaign (working for rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity) all have hoped and still hope to bring about change.  In the economic realm, there are a variety of perspectives regarding what constitutes equality in our country, especially the view that we are a “land of opportunity,” the “Golden Land” in which many of our immigrant ancestors came to live and thrive.   Many of us have not wanted to see the United States become, in the extreme, a land of “haves” and “have-nots.”  There are programs for assistance that help people in need to some extent, but there is always more to be done to make this a land of equal opportunity.   That principle of offering support has been activated, on many levels, during the COVID-19 pandemic.   We do not yet know the end of this story, but Jewish values on preserving life while doing what we can to sustain livelihoods point towards a balanced approach in the coming months. 

      The Torah reading for this week describes a theoretical system that was intended to keep people on an equal footing as much as possible in Israelite society.   Every half-century, the Jubilee Year would bring about restorative shifts in society.  Land would revert to the previous owners.  Debts would be forgiven. Slaves (often serving to pay off debts) would be set free.   The Israelites were commanded to begin this annual observance (and upheaval) with a shofar blast on Yom Kippur.  The Torah commanded, “Proclaim a release (also translated “liberty) throughout the land to all the inhabitants” (the quote on the Liberty Bell).   Scholars are not certain that the jubilee was ever practiced to the fullest extent, but they do recognize the values embodied by this equalizing system.   According to the Etz Hayim Torah commentary, we can still learn from this practice that, ultimately, everything belongs to God, that no one should have to feel as if he or she is in a state of permanent servitude, and that no one’s value should be based only on economic terms.  

        This Torah portion envisions countries, organizations, and congregations as communities of equals, where it is acknowledged that everyone has something to offer.    In a community of equals, there are many ways to contribute.  Judaism notes that everyone should give tzedakah – contributions from their own resources based on righteousness and justice – according to their means.  The jubilee should, finally, teach us that we should always strive to attain what the jubilee year sought to restore: unity, self-respect, and hope.  May we continue to sustain these elements as a part of the core of who we are individually and together.