A Bissel of This and That

Recently, Rabbi Maya Leibovich and her husband Menachem, serving as lay cantor, visited Temple Beth-El and led our Shabbat service, as part of our Guest Rabbi program, which is generously funded by the Ravitz Foundation. Rabbi Maya was the first Israeli-born woman ordained as a Rabbi by Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem in 1993. She served as founder and leader of Kehilat Mevasseret Zion outside of Jerusalem for 22 years and retired in 2014. Since then Rabbi Maya has been serving as “Summer Rabbi” at Temple B’nai Israel (TBI) in Petoskey, MI, with her husband Menachem serving as lay cantor.

The day of Rabbi Maya’s visit was Tu B’Av (15^th day of Av) which is the Jewish day of love, celebrated in both ancient times and in modern-day Israel. Rabbi Maya stated, “It is the love expressed on this day which I hope will serve as an antidote to vain hatred of all kinds.” She further explained that Rabban Shimeon Ben Gamliel, the Head of the Sanhedrin (1^st century, just before the destruction of the 2^nd Temple) described the day in Mishna Ta’anit (4:8): “Never were more joyous festivals in Israel than the fifteenth of Av…, for on them the maidens of Jerusalem used to go out dressed in white garments and thus they went out and danced in the vineyards saying, young men, look and observe well whom you are about to choose (as a spouse); regard not beauty but rather look to a virtuous family ‘for gracefulness is deceitful and beauty is vain, but the woman that fears God, she is worthy of praise’ (Proverbs 31:3).”

Although we followed our regular Shabbat liturgy, Rabbi Maya included several interactive moments, and called on individual members in the congregation to read aloud sayings or proverbs about love that they had prepared as “homework”. While one individual read William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”, another shared Sculptor Ann Truitt’s definition of love: “…the honoring of others in a way that grants them the grace of their own autonomy and allows for mutual discovery, of each person, not only on a daily basis, but on a moment-to moment basis. In this way, the experience of love is an existential possibility of becoming.” Excerpts from Song of Songs were shared as well.

During her D’var Torah, Rabbi Maya spoke about love, which is central to the Torah portion-Va’Etchanan in Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11. The portion begins with Moses’ love of the land promised to his people. He pleads with God to “let him cross the Jordan river, just to touch the land, just to feel the beginning of a mission accomplished. It is unfortunately, for this great leader, an unfulfilled love.” Rabbi Maya went on to explain how “love is central in the relationship between God and His people Israel”, saying this love is expressed in the form of a covenant, as Moses explains to the Israelites: ”The Eternal, our God, made a covenant with us at Horeb (or Sinai). It was not with our ancestors that the Eternal made this covenant, but with us, the living, every one of us who is here today. Face to face the Eternal One spoke to you on the mountain out of the fire. I stood between the Eternal and you at that time to convey the Eternal’s words to you for you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.” (Deut. 5:2-5) After these words, Moses proceeded to repeat the ten commandments.

Rabbi Maya discussed the Sh’ma- “Hear, O Israel! The Eternal is our God, the Eternal alone”-and how “the hardest commandment” is found right after the Sh’ma, namely the command to love God, where it states: “You shall love the Eternal with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” She stated that this is a “demand to give all we humans have for the love of God” and asked “How can one perform such a mitzvah? How does one express the love of God?” and then went on to explain, “To me, the answer is in love of the other as in the command to love thy neighbor as thyself. Love of God flows through love of all creatures born in the image of God. To be consecrated to the Eternal means to be loving, kind and moral human beings. When God chose us of all nations, His intention was that we shall be a model of humanism and ethical behavior: ‘For you are a people consecrated to the Eternal your God: of all the peoples on earth the Eternal your God chose you to be God’s treasured people. It is not because you are the most numerous of peoples that the Eternal grew attached to you and chose you-indeed, you are the smallest of peoples; but it was because the Eternal loved you.’ (Deut. 7:6-8)”

Rabbi Maya concluded her D’var Torah, saying “Acts of kindness and love are powerful. They change our lives. ‘All you need is love’, sang the Beatles. Indeed all we need is love of each other whatever party, gender, color, or faith. Love of God is love of mankind, or to be more politically correct: Love of God is love of humankind.”

At the end of the service, following “Adon Olam”, Rabbi Maya and Menachem led us into a chorus of “All you need is love”. Thus ended a delightful, inspirational, and thought-provoking service, which made us only want Rabbi Maya, Menachem and other members of Temple B’nai Israel congregation to visit us again soon.

08/11/21

A Bissel of This and That

With Memorial Day taking place next Monday, May 31^st, I started thinking about all the Jewish men and women who have served in the U.S military in general, as well as those who sacrificed their lives during their time of service.

Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, it marks the beginning of the summer season and is a time for stores to advertise their “Big Sales”.

Needless to say, Memorial Day should mean more than that to all of us. It should be a day to learn about and remember the thousands of Jewish men and women who lost their lives protecting our country’s citizens. Jews have served honorably in the military since colonial times. They fought and died for American independence in the Revolutionary War. They fought on both sides of the Civil War, and among the troops were nine Jewish generals. The Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond, VA, with its section for 30 Jewish Confederate soldiers, is believed to be the only Jewish military cemetery in the United States.

Among the estimated quarter-million American Jewish service members who fought with U.S. forces in World War I was 19-year-old William Shemin, who sprinted across no-man’s land in France three times to drag wounded soldiers to safety. Recognizing many of his unit’s leaders were dead or wounded, he took command of the remaining unit and led them until wounded himself.

Over half a million Jews served in World War II. For perspective, the Jewish population in the United States at the time was around 4.7 million, and just over 16 million Americans served in World War II. Another 150,000 Jewish service members served in Korea, and 30,000 more served in Vietnam. More recently, thousands of Jews served in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and an estimated 10,000 American Jews continue to serve across all six U.S. military branches today.

Beyond the sheer number of Jewish service members throughout American history, tens of thousands of our service members have been decorated with military awards. Among them are 17 recipients of the nation’s highest recognition of military valor, the Medal of Honor. 

On Memorial Day, a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time. This is a designated moment in time where we can remember and give thanks for those who lost their lives. On Monday, May 31^st, let us take the time during the day to remember the many Jewish military members who gave their lives for our country.

And if you are a veteran or currently enlisted any one of the U.S. Military armed forces, thank you for your service.

Further information may be found at:
https://www.jwv.org/programs/in-your-area/memorial-day/ This is the website for the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America. On Memorial Day, their members plant flags on graves of service members, participate in community events, and tell their stories of service to local organizations.

https://www.jewishedproject.org/news/taking-minute-remember-memorial-day The Jewish Education Project

https://jcca.org/news-and-views/what-do-you-know-about-jews-who-have-served-our-country/ Article from the JCC Association of North America website

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Jewish_Americans Military History of Jewish Americans from Wikipedia

5/25/21

A Bissel of This and That

This year, the eight-day festival of Passover, which commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt, will be celebrated from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan or March 27 – April 4, 2021.  Passover (or Pesach) is observed by avoiding leaven (chametz) and highlighted by the Seder meals that include four cups of wine, eating matzah and bitter15 herbs, and retelling the story of the Exodus.

According to this story, after many decades of slavery to the Egyptian pharaohs during which time the Israelites were subjected to backbreaking labor and unbearable horrors, G‑d saw the people’s distress and sent Moses to Pharaoh with a message: “Send forth My people, so that they may serve Me.” But despite numerous warnings, Pharaoh refused to heed G‑d’s command. G‑d then sent upon Egypt ten devastating plagues, afflicting them and destroying everything from their livestock to their crops. At the stroke of midnight of 15 Nissan in the year 2448 from creation, G‑d visited the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn. While doing so, G‑d spared the children of Israel, “passing over” their homes—hence the name of the holiday. Pharaoh’s resistance was broken, and he virtually chased his former slaves out of the land. The Israelites left in such a hurry, in fact, that the bread they baked as provisions for the journey did not have time to rise. Six hundred thousand adult males, plus many more women and children, left Egypt on that day and began the trek to Mount Sinai and their birth as G‑d’s chosen people.

In order to commemorate the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt, we are not to eat, or even retain in our possession, any chametz from midday of the day before Passover until the conclusion of the holiday. Chametz refers to leavened grain—any food or drink that contains even a trace of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt or their derivatives, and which was not guarded from leavening or fermentation. This includes bread, cake, cookies, cereal, pasta, and most alcoholic beverages. Ridding our homes of chametz can be an intensive process, and in many homes involves a full-out spring-cleaning search-and-destroy mission during the weeks before Passover, culminating with a ceremonial search for chametz on the night before Passover, and then a burning of the chametz ceremony on the morning before the holiday. During Passover, instead of chametz, we eat matzah, which is flat unleavened bread.

The highlight of Passover is the Seder (order), observed on each of the first two nights of the holiday. The Seder is a fifteen-step family-oriented tradition and ritual-packed feast. The central points of the Seder include eating matzah, eating bitter herbs to commemorate the bitter slavery endured by the Israelites, drinking four cups of wine or grape juice, and the recitation of the Haggadah, the liturgy that describes in detail the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The Haggadah is the fulfillment of the biblical obligation to recount to our children the story of the Exodus on the night of Passover. It begins with a child asking the traditional “Four Questions”.

Further information about Passover may be found online at:
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/default_cdo/jewish/Passover.htm This site includes Passover Recipes, Stories, History, Covid Passover Resources, and information on ways to celebrate Passover and how to prepare a Seder

https://reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/passover/passover-customs-and-rituals This site explains all of the customs and rituals of Passover, including a step-by-step summary of the Seder and a list of ritual items used during the Seder.

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/passover-pesach-101/ This site includes basic information about Passover.

3/9/2021

A Bissel of This and That

The joyous holiday of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). Purim 2021 begins on Thursday night, February 25, and continues through Friday, February 26, (February 27-28 in Jerusalem). It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination.

The story of Purim is told in the Biblical book of Esther. The heroes of the story are Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman living in Persia, and her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as if she were his daughter. Esther was taken to the house of Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to become part of his harem, and he loved her more than his other women and made her queen. But the king did not know that Esther was a Jew, because Mordecai told her not to reveal her nationality.

The villain of the story is Haman, an arrogant, egotistical advisor to the king. Haman hated Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman, so Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish people. In a speech that is all too familiar to Jews, Haman told the king, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king’s laws; therefore it does not profit the king to suffer them” (Esther 3:8).The king gave the fate of the Jewish people to Haman to do as he pleased to them. Haman’s plan was to exterminate all of the Jews.

Purim is so called after the lots cast by Haman to determine the month in which the slaughter was to take place. In Hasmonean times it was known as the “Day of Mordecai”.

Mordecai persuaded Esther to speak to the king on behalf of the Jewish people, telling her that it was possible she had attained her royal position in order to serve her people “at such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). This put Esther in a dangerous position because anyone who came into the king’s presence without being summoned could be put to death, and she had not been summoned. Esther fasted for three days to prepare herself, then went to see the king. Thankfully, he welcomed her. Later, she told him of Haman’s plot against her people. The Jewish people were saved, and Haman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai

The book of Esther is unusual in that it is the only book of the bible that does not contain the name of  G-d. In fact, it includes virtually no reference to G-d. Mordecai makes a vague reference to the fact that the Jews will be saved by someone else, if not by Esther, but that is the closest the book comes to mentioning G-d. Thus, one important message that can be gained from the story is that G-d often works in ways that are not apparent, in ways that appear to be chance, coincidence or ordinary good luck.

The holiday of Purim is preceded by a minor fast, the Fast of Esther, which commemorates Esther’s three days of fasting in preparation for her meeting with the king. Then the celebration begins! The centerpiece of the communal celebration is the reading of the Scroll of Esther, the Megillah, in the synagogue. This is typically a rowdy affair, punctuated by booing and noisemaking when Haman’s name is read aloud. Another tradition is the Purim shpiel or play.

One of the favorite activities in preparation for the holiday is the baking and eating of hamantaschen, triangular filled pastries bursting with poppy seeds, apricot or other sweet fillings. In addition, following the commandment to give gifts to friends and the needy, the preparation of so-called mishloah manot baskets is a fun activity to engage in, as is their distribution on the holiday. 

Although considered a minor holiday, Purim has become one of the best-loved holidays of the Jewish year. The reasons for this are easy to see. It is a joyous day on which everyone is encouraged to have fun and enjoy themselves. Most significant, however, is the story of Purim, in which a small and threatened Jewish community in exile is able to triumph over its foes. This is a powerful image for a community that over the centuries has been faced with threats from many different sources. The story of Purim holds out the hope that no matter how bad the circumstances, things will turn out well in the end.

Sources of information: https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/645309/jewish/What-Is-Purim.htm; https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/purim; https://reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/purim

2/15/2021

A Bissel of This and That

(Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be observed this year on January 18, 2021. The following excerpts come directly from an article written by Peter Dreier, titled “Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights Movement, and American Jews” featured on the “Los Angeles Review of Books” website on January 18, 2020. The full article can be found here.)

Reverend King often expressed his appreciation for the close affinity between the black and Jewish communities. In 1958, speaking at a meeting of the American Jewish Congress, King said: “My people were brought to America in chains. Your people were driven here to escape the chains fashioned for them in Europe. Our unity is born of our common struggle for centuries, not only to rid ourselves of bondage, but to make oppression of any people by others an impossibility.” In 1964, King said: “It would be impossible to record the contribution that the Jewish people have made toward the Negro’s struggle for freedom — it has been so great.”

Much has been made of Jews’ longstanding support for the black freedom movement. But the black-Jewish alliance has been a two-way street. For example, during the 1930s and ’40s, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ralph Bunche, and other prominent black intellectuals spoke out against the rise of Nazism in Europe and the United States’s reluctance to admit Jewish refugees seeking to escape from fascism. During the Holocaust, when most elite white universities in the United States refused to provide jobs for Jewish professors fleeing persecution in Europe, historically black colleges offered refuge, with schools like Howard University, Atlanta University, and Tougaloo College, among others, employing at least 53 Jewish scholars. Most recently, black leaders in New York City, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and other cities have demonstrated their solidarity with the Jewish community in response to the recent upsurge of hatred against Jews. In New Jersey, where race-based and antisemitic hate crimes have more than doubled since 2016, the ADL and the NAACP have joined forces to educate politicians and the public about prejudice to “allow our communities to lock arms and stand together against bigotry and those who seek to distract and divide us.”

Blacks and Jews have expressed their shared goals in different ways, on the front lines of the protest movement for civil rights and in the voting booth. On the protest front, many Americans are familiar with the iconic photograph of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marching arm in arm with Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1965 march for voting rights. Heschel later wrote: “For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.” For his part, King called Heschel “my rabbi,” and the two often shared political and theological ideas.

In January 1963, Heschel delivered a speech (and King gave the closing speech) at a meeting National Conference on Religion and Race sponsored by the National Council of the Churches, the Synagogue Council of America, and the National Catholic Welfare Conference. Heschel began his remarks by linking biblical history to contemporary struggles:

“At the first conference on religion and race, the main participants were Pharaoh and Moses. Moses’s words were, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to me.’ While Pharaoh retorted: ‘Who is the Lord, that I should heed this voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go.’ The outcome of that summit meeting has not come to an end. Pharaoh is not ready to capitulate. The exodus began but is far from having been completed. In fact, it was easier for the children of Israel to cross the Red Sea than for a Negro to cross certain university campuses.”

Rabbis were involved in the Freedom Rides, the lunch counter sit-ins, local efforts to challenge racial discrimination in housing and integrate schools, and the 1963 March on Washington, where Rabbi Uri Miller gave the opening prayer and Rabbi Joachim Prinz spoke prior to King’s “I Have a Dream” oration. In 1964, 16 rabbis joined the protest campaign in St. Augustine, Florida, a hotbed of segregationist resistance. All of them were arrested with King for engaging in a nonviolent demonstration at the segregated Monson Motor Lodge. At least 25 rabbis besides Heschel participated in the Selma march the next year. Heschel also led a delegation of 800 people to FBI headquarters in New York City to protest the agency’s failure to protect the civil rights demonstrators from racist thugs and the Alabama state police.

But it wasn’t just rabbis who were on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement. More than any other white religious or ethnic group, American Jews played a significant role in many different aspects of the freedom struggle. Jewish activists represented a disproportionate number of the whites who were involved in the struggle. They were active not only in the NAACP but also in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. From his earliest days as the leader of the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, King’s closest advisor was Stanley Levison, who helped him write speeches, raise funds, organize events, and strategize. Kivie Kaplan, a vice chairman of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism), served as the NAACP’s president from 1966 to 1975.

Although Jews made up less than three percent of the nation’s population, they made up at least half of the young people who participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964 — especially Jewish women like Heather Booth and Vivian Rothstein, as well as future Congressman Barney Frank, who volunteered to register voters under dangerous conditions. The two architects of that effort were Allard Lowenstein (a Jew) and Bob Moses (an African American). That summer, two young Jewish volunteers from New York, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, along with a young black Mississippian, James Chaney, were mur­dered in Neshoba County by Klansmen, their bodies dumped in a secret grave. Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld of Cleveland was severely beaten in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he’d traveled to participate in the voting rights effort. Dr. Edward Sachar, who volunteered his medical services to the freedom marchers, nearly lost his life when his automobile was forced off a Mississippi back road by local segregationists.

The Jewish and black communities have continued to be allies in the struggle for a more inclusive society. In the summer of 2015, Jews were actively involved in the NAACP’s Journey for Justice, an historic 860-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to Washington, DC, carrying a Torah the entire way. They marched to advance a national agenda that protects the right of every American, especially black Americans, to a fair criminal justice system, uncorrupted and unfettered access to the ballot box, sustainable jobs with a living wage, and equitable public education. The Jewish community — through the work of both individual activists and organizations — has persisted in its support for these goals.

On Rosh Hashanah in 2017, Reverend William Barber II, perhaps the most influential civil rights leader since Reverend King, spoke at the IKAR synagogue in Los Angeles. “I have come here to hear the blowing of the shofar,” said the North Carolina minister who is leading a new Poor People’s campaign, “and to call us all to become shofars for a new year and a new reality until we are one nation under God for liberty and justice for all.”

At this time of growing white supremacy and bigotry — including attacks on immigrants, African Americans, Jews, and other groups — we need to heed Dr. King’s words: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

(Peter Dreier is professor of politics at Occidental College and author of The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of Fame (2012). He is co-editor (with Kate Aronoff and Michael Kazin) of We Own the Future: Democratic Socialism — American Style, published in January by The New Press.)

1/8/21

A Bissel of This and That

Chanukah (also spelled Hanukkah) is an eight-day festival beginning on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, which begins this year on Thursday evening, December 10^th and ends Friday evening, December 18, 2020. It celebrates the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greek regime of Antiochus, who attempted to Hellenize the Jews and abolish many Jewish practices, such as observing Shabbat and studying the Torah. Jews were severely oppressed and even massacred, and the Temple was desecrated by requiring the sacrifice of pigs on the altar. A small band of the devout, led by Matitiyahu the Priest and his son Judah Maccabee, led a  successful rebellion against the much larger and powerful Syrian army. Afterwards, the Maccabees returned to the Temple, cleared it of idols, built a new altar and rededicated it. When they went to relight the Menorah, they found only a vial of pure oil sufficient to burn one day, but miraculously, it burned for eight days, giving them time to produce additional pure oil.

In order to commemorate the miracle of Chanukah, we light the menorah, also known as a Hanukkiah, for eight days. The Hanukkiah holds nine candles: one for each night, plus a shamash (servant or attendant) at a different height. On the first night, one candle is placed at the far right. The shamash candle is lit and three brakot (blessings) are recited: l’hadlik neir (a general prayer over candles), she-asah nisim (a prayer thanking G-d for performing miracles for our ancestors at this time), and shehekhianu (a general prayer thanking G-d for allowing us to reach this time of year). The first candle is then lit using the shamash candle, and the shamash candle is placed in its holder. Each night, another candle is added from right to left (like the Hebrew language). Candles are lit from left to right because we pay honor to the newer thing first.

A fun tradition on Chanukah is to play the Dreidel Game for pennies, nuts, or candies, such as M&M’s or chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. A dreidel (Sevivon in Hebrew) is marked with four Hebrew letters:  Nun, Gimmel, Heh and Shin. This stands for the Hebrew phrase “nes gadol hayah sham,” a great miracle happened there. (In Israel, the Shin is replaced by a Peh, which stands for the word Po, meaning “here”.) The four letters, Nun, Gimmel, Heh, and Shin also stand for the Yiddish words nit (nothing), gantz (all), halb (half) and shtell (put), which are the rules of the game.

It is traditional to eat fried foods on Chanukah, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and Sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) because of the significance of oil to the holiday.

Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, brings light, joy, and warmth to our homes and communities as we celebrate with candles, food, family, and friends. Light comes literally, with the lighting of an additional candle each day, and metaphorically, through a newer emphasis on charitable donations and a commitment to tikkun olam (repair of the world) during the holiday.

Further Information on the history of Chanukah, lighting the Hanuukkiah, playing the Dreidel Game, as well as recipes and interesting facts can be found at:
https://www.aish.com/h/c/
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hannukah
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm
https://reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/hanukkah

12/5/20

A Bissel of This and That

On the night of November 9-10, 1938, the sounds of breaking glass shattered the air in cities throughout Germany and parts of Austria, while fires across the countries devoured synagogues and Jewish institutions. By the end of the rampage, gangs of Nazi storm troopers had destroyed 7,000 Jewish businesses, set fire to more than 900 synagogues, killed 91 Jews and deported some 30,000 Jewish men to concentration camps. In a report back to the State Department a few days later, a U.S official in Leipzig described what he saw of the atrocities. “Having demolished dwellings and hurled most of the moveable effects to the streets,” he wrote, “the insatiably sadistic perpetrators threw many of the trembling inmates into a small stream that flows through the zoological park, commanding horrified spectators to spit at them, defile them with mud and jeer at their plight.” 

An incident several days earlier had given the Nazi authorities an excuse to instigate the violence. On November 7th, a 17-year-old Polish Jewish student named Hershel Grynszpan had shot Ernst vom Rath, the Third Secretary of the German Embassy in Paris. Grynszpan, enraged by the deportation of his parents to Poland from Hanover, Germany, where they had lived since 1914, hoped that his dramatic action would alert the world to the ominous plight of Europe’s Jews. When the French police arrested Grynszpan, he sobbed: “Being a Jew is not a crime. I am not a dog. I have a right to live and the Jewish people have a right to exist on earth. Wherever I have been I have been chased like an animal.” The assassination attempt was successful; vom Rath died on November 9th. 

News of the Third Secretary’s death reached the leading figures of the Nazi party later that day while they were attending a dinner in Munich. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels delivered an inflammatory speech, urging the assembled crowd to take to the streets. The message was clear: The German Jews would have to pay for vom Rath’s death. Later that night Reinhard Heydrich, the head of the Security Service, sent a series of orders to all State Police offices: Business establishments and homes of Jews could be destroyed but not looted; German life and property should not be jeopardized; and as soon as the events of the night permitted, officers should arrest as many Jews, particularly wealthy ones, as the local jails would hold. 

The following day Goebbels announced, “We shed not a tear for them [the Jews].” He went on to comment on the destruction of synagogues saying, “They stood in the way long enough. We can use the space made free more usefully than as Jewish fortresses.” 

“Kristallnacht” (literally meaning Night of Crystal) provided the Nazi government with an opportunity at last to totally remove Jews from German public life. It was the culminating event in a series of anti-Semitic policies set in place since Hitler took power in 1933. Within a week, the Nazis had circulated a letter declaring that Jewish businesses could not be reopened unless they were to be managed by non-Jews. On November 15th, Jewish children were barred from attending school, and shortly afterwards the Nazis issued the “Decree on Eliminating the Jews from German Economic Life,” which prohibited Jews from selling goods or services anywhere, from engaging in crafts work, from serving as the managers of any firms, and from being members of cooperatives. In addition, the Nazis determined that the Jews should be liable for the damages caused during “Kristallnacht.” 

The events of “Kristallnacht” represented one of the most important turning points in National Socialist antisemitic policy. Anti-Jewish policy was concentrated more and more concretely into the hands of the Nazi authorities. Moreover, the passivity with which most German civilians responded to the violence signaled to the Nazi regime that the German public was prepared for more radical measures.

The Nazi regime expanded and radicalized measures aimed at removing Jews entirely from German economic and social life in the forthcoming years. The regime moved eventually toward policies of forced emigration, and finally toward the realization of a Germany “free of Jews” (judenrein) by deportation of the Jewish population “to the East.”

Thus, “Kristallnacht” figures as an essential turning point in Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews, where radical violence reached the point of murder and so paved the road to Auschwitz.

Sources and Further Information:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/holocaust-kristallnacht/
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht
https://www.history.com/topics/holocaust/kristallnacht
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/kristallnacht/

11/5/2020

A Bissel of This and That

Sukkot (Feast of Booths or Tabernacles) is one of the three biblically based pilgrimage holidays known as the shalosh regalim and is celebrated five days after Yom Kippur on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. This year it is observed from October 2-9, 2020. It is an agricultural festival that originally was considered a thanksgiving for the fruit harvest. The holiday has also come to commemorate the 40 years of Jewish wandering in the desert after the giving of the Torah atop Mt. Sinai.

Sukkot is the only festival associated with an explicit commandment to rejoice and is marked by several distinct traditions. One, which takes the commandment to dwell in booths literally, is to erect a sukkah, a small, temporary booth or hut. Sukkot (the plural of sukkah) are commonly used during the seven-day festival for eating, entertaining and even for sleeping. Sukkot have open walls and open doors, and this encourages us to welcome as many people as we can to rejoice, eat, and share what we have with each other.

The enforced simplicity of eating and perhaps also living in a temporary shelter during Sukkot focuses our minds on the important things in life and divorces us from the material possessions of the modern world that dominate so many of our lives. Even so, Sukkot is a joyful holiday and justifiably referred to as Z’man Simchateinu (Season of Our Rejoicing).

In commemoration of the bounty of the Holy Land, four special species of vegetation (arba minim), consisting of palm, myrtle, and willow (lulav), together with citron (etrog) are held and shaken. When reciting the blessing over the lulav and etrog, one should wave them in six directions—north, south, east, west, up, and down. This action symbolizes that G-d can be found in all directions, not only in one particular place.

At the conclusion of Sukkot are the two holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (Oct. 10-11, 2020). In Israel they are combined into one holiday, while in the Diaspora (outside of Israel) they are observed separately from one another on two consecutive days. Shemini Atzeret means the “Eighth Day of Assembly,” while Simchat Torah means “Rejoicing in Torah.”

Beginning on Shemini Atzeret and lasting until Pesach (Passover), a short prayer for rain is inserted into the second blessing of the Amidah Prayer. It is traditional to include the Yizkor, or memorial service, as part of the liturgy for this day. Simchat Torah is characterized by joyful dancing with the Torah. The final portion of the Book of Deuteronomy is read in the synagogue followed by the beginning of the Book of Genesis. In this manner, the annual cycle of Torah readings continues unbroken.

Sources of Information:
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4784/jewish/What-Is-Sukkot.htm; https://toriavey.com/what-is-sukkot/; https://reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/sukkot; https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/sukkot-101/

10/08/2020

A Bissel of This and That

Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of the universe, the day G‑d created Adam and Eve and it is celebrated as the head of the Jewish year. It begins at sundown on the eve of Tishrei 1 (Sept. 18, 2020) and ends after nightfall on Tishrei 2 (Sept. 20, 2020). It is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year while also taking stock of one’s life. Together with Yom Kippur (which follows 10 days later), Rosh Hashanah is part of the Yamim Nora’im (Days of Awe, or High Holidays).

The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is blowing the shofar (ram’s horn) on both mornings of the holiday (except on Shabbat). The shofar blowing contains a series of three types of blasts: tekiah, a long sob-like blast; sh’varim, a series of three short wails; and teruah, at least nine piercing staccato bursts. The blowing of the shofar represents the trumpet blast that is sounded at a king’s coronation. Its plaintive cry also serves as a call to repentance. The shofar itself recalls the Binding of Isaac, an event that occurred on Rosh Hashanah in which a ram took Isaac’s place as an offering to G‑d.

The challah (traditional bread) that is eaten for the Rosh Hashanah season is round, symbolizing the eternal cycle of life, and is traditionally dipped in honey, symbolizing the hopes for a sweet New Year. The same is done with apples, which are made even sweeter with the addition of honey. 

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the holiest day of the year, when we are considered to be closest to G‑d and to the essence of our souls. It is observed on the 10th day of Tishrei (from several minutes before sunset on Sunday, September 27, 2020 until after nightfall on Monday, September 28, 2020). This is the day at the conclusion of which, according to tradition, G-d seals the Books of Life and Death for the coming year. The day is devoted to communal repentance for sins committed over the course of the previous year.

Yom Kippur is the day on which we are instructed to divorce ourselves as completely as humanly possible from the mundane world in which we live, in order to devote ourselves with all our hearts and minds to our relationship with the Divine. Fasting is the most widespread manifestation of this devotion. Other examples include refraining from washing, marital relations, and the wearing of leather (a sign of luxury in earlier times). It is traditional to dress in white on this day, symbolizing personal purity.

At the end of a long day of praying and fasting, Sh’ma Yisrael is recited, and the blowing of the shofar is sounded in one long, final blast, followed by the proclamation, “Next year in Jerusalem.”

Sources of Information: Chabad.org;
myjewishlearning.com; alephbeta.org

9/13/2020

A Bissel of This and That

The current Hebrew month of Elul (observed this year from August 21st to September 18th, 2020) is traditionally a time of personal reflection and spiritual repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which are celebrated in September this year.

According to the Talmud, the word “Elul” is an acronym for Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li, a phrase from the Song of Songs which translates to “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” where “beloved” allegorically refers to G-d. As such, it is a time to reshape our lives and return to G-d.

Elul is a month of deep introspection, where we ask for forgiveness so we can come into Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) with a clean slate. As the month of divine mercy and forgiveness, Elul is a most opportune time for teshuvah (“return” to G‑d), prayer, and charity to others, in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G‑d.

Some basic customs and practices for the month of Elul include:

• Each day of the month of Elul (except for Shabbat and the last day of Elul), the shofar (ram’s horn) is sounded. The shofar blasts are meant to inspire us to begin our soul searching and repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days.
• Psalm 27, which begins with the words “G-d is my light and my helper, whom shall I fear?”, is recited every day from Rosh Hodesh Elul (the beginning of the month) through the middle of Sukkot (the Festival of Booths).
• During the last week of Elul, in the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, special penitential prayers, called Selichot, are recited. On the first night they are recited at midnight; on the following days, in the early morning.
• When writing a letter or meeting one another, we bless one another by including the greeting, L’shanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim, which roughly translates as “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”

May this month of Elul be meaningful for us all as we prepare for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In our next A Bissel of This and That, we will focus more specifically on the preparations and observances associated with these High Holy days.

Sources of Information:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/renewing-ourselves-our-visions/
https://www.alephbeta.org/the-high-holidays
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/293704/jewish/Elul-Observances-in-a-Nutshell.htm

8/27/2020

A Bissel of This and That

This month we will be focusing on Tisha B’Av, or the ninth day of the month of Av, which is observed this year from the evening of Wednesday, July 29th through the evening of Thursday, July 30th. Tisha B’av is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar and in fact, is considered to be a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which coincidentally occurred on the ninth of Av. Tisha B’Av primarily commemorates the Babylonian destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and the Roman destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE.

Since then, numerous other tragedies have befallen the Jewish people on Tisha B’Av. Among them are the crushing of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt at the hands of the Romans in 133 C.E.; the expulsion of the Jews from  England in 1290 C.E.; the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492; and the beginning of World War I in 1914, which by general historical consensus led to World War II and the Holocaust.

Accordingly, Jews observe this day as a national fast day and a day of mourning. In Jewish law, many pleasurable activities are forbidden, and many of the restrictions generally observed by a mourner are followed. The restrictions on Tisha B’Av are similar to those on Yom Kippur: to refrain from eating and drinking (even water); washing, bathing, shaving, or wearing cosmetics; wearing leather shoes; and engaging in sexual relations. Work in the ordinary sense of the word is also restricted. People who are ill need not fast on this day. Many of the traditional mourning practices are observed: people refrain from smiles, laughter, and idle conversation, and sit on low stools.

The Book of Lamentations or Megillat Eicha, is read at night, and kinot, a series of mournful liturgical poems, are recited throughout the night and day. Many of the kinot mourn tragedies other than the destruction of the Temples, such as the Crusades and the Holocaust.

Even as we mourn, there is an element of joy and comfort. Indeed, the reading of Lamentations concludes with the verse “Restore us to You, O L‑rd, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old.” There is also a custom among many to use flimsy paperback Kinot booklets, hoping that they will not be needed next year.

Sources of information: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tisha-b-av;
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/tisha-bav-101/
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3739997/jewish/The-9th-of-Av-Tisha-BAv.htm
https://www.alephbeta.org/tisha-bav/what-is-tisha-bav

7/27/2020

A Bissel of This and That

Our thanks to David Schindler for the original topic and input.

Hatikva, what is now the National Anthem of Israel, originated as a nine-stanza poem titled “Tikvateinu” meaning “our Hope.” Written in Palestine (then controlled by the Ottoman Empire) by Naftali Herz Imber in 1886(7) and set to music by Samuel Cohen in 1888, it expresses the Jewish hope to return to the land of Zion. It asks to return after more than 2000 years to live as a free nation in peace and that G-d will still have mercy on us.

Imber began reading his poem Tikvateinu at the campfire gatherings of the Jewish Agricultural Settlements in 1887. It was greatly accepted and repeated often. After a while, the nine stanzas were shortened to the first two. It became the official anthem of the Zionist Movement in 1897.

It continued to flourish through the years, even though some people (both Jews and Non-Jews) objected to it. During WWII it could be heard being sung at night in some concentration camps. It was openly sung in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp at the first Sabbath service after its liberation.

Unofficially adopted in 1948 as the national anthem of the newly formed State of Israel, it wasn’t officially made the anthem until November 10, 2004 when the Knesset formally amended the Flag, Coat of Arms and National Anthem Law of 1949.

Our hope for peace continues today, not only for Israel but for the entire world during these times of great stress brought on by the Pandemic, and political and social unrest.

English Translation of Hatikva:

“As long as in the heart within,
The Jewish soul yearns,
And toward the eastern edges, onward,
An eye gazes toward Zion.
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope that is two-thousand years old,
To be a free nation in our land,
The Land of Zion, Jerusalem.”

Hatikva Video:

Sources: Knesset.Gov; Wikipedia: Jewish Virtual Library; HonestReporting.com

6/22/2020

A Bissel of This and That

Welcome to the first installment of “A Bissel (a little bit in Yiddish) of This and That”.

Future installments will hopefully include information about Jewish Holidays and Traditions, as well as lessons from the Torah. If there is something you would like to see written about, or if you have any questions or comments, please let me know. Today’s topic covers “Shavuot” a Jewish holiday that takes place May 28-30 this year.

Happy Shavuot!
Deborah Farrar
TBE Service Team Leader

The holiday of Shavuot is a two-day holiday, beginning at sundown of the 5th of Sivan and lasting until nightfall of the 7th of Sivan (May 28–30, 2020). In Israel it is a one-day holiday, ending at nightfall of the 6th of Sivan. The word Shavuot (or Shavuos in Yiddish) means “weeks.” It celebrates the completion of the seven-week (49 days) Omer counting period between Passover and Shavuot.

Shavuot combines two major religious observances. First is the grain harvest of the early summer, while the second is the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai seven weeks after the exodus from Egypt. The first determines the ritual for the holiday, which was one of the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot) of ancient Israel, when Israelite males were commanded to appear before G-d in Jerusalem, bringing offerings of the first fruits of their harvest. The second determines the significance of the holiday for Judaism, tying it in with the seminal event of Jewish religious memory, namely the entering into a covenant between Gd and Israel, exemplified by Israel’s assumption of Divine Law.

The Torah was given by G-d to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai on Shavuot more than 3,300 years ago. Every year on the holiday of Shavuot we renew our acceptance of G-d’s gift, and G-d “re-gives” the Torah. The giving of the Torah was a far-reaching spiritual event—one that touched the essence of the Jewish soul for all times. Our sages have compared it to a wedding between G-d and the Jewish people. Shavuot also means “oaths,” for on this day G-d swore eternal devotion to us, and we in turn pledged everlasting loyalty to Him.

In ancient times, two wheat loaves would be offered in the Holy Temple on Shavuot. It was also at this time that people would begin to bring bikkurim, their first and choicest fruits, to thank G-d for Israel’s bounty. These fruits included only the fruits of the seven species of the land of Israel: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates.

In current times, Shavuot is celebrated with candle-lighting on the first and second evenings of the holiday. Special foods, specifically dairy foods, are eaten on Shavuot, and no work may be performed. On the first night of Shavuot, it is customary for people to stay up all night studying the Torah and listening to the reading of the Ten Commandments.

It has also become a tradition to read the Book of Ruth on the second day of Shavuot. The heroine, Ruth, a Moabite woman, is married to an Israelite man who dies suddenly. Rather than return to her Moabite family, she follows her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Bethlehem. Her declaration of fidelity to Naomi and the Jewish people is beautiful and moving: “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your G-d my G-d. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the L-RD do to me if anything but death parts me from you.” In Bethlehem, Ruth is as good as her incredible words; she faithfully cares for Naomi, even in hard times. Ruth goes on to remarry (to another Israelite man) and ultimately becomes the matriarch of one of the great kings of Israel, King David.

The book of Ruth is read on Shavuot for several reasons. First, Ruth’s pledged fidelity to Naomi and the Israelite G-d mirrors the fidelity Israel expresses to G-d upon receiving the Torah. Second, Ruth’s story takes place during the season of the barley harvest, the agricultural occasion for Shavuot. Finally, Ruth is the great-great-grandmother of King David, who is thought to have been born and died on Shavuot.

Sources of information: Chabad.org and
My Jewish Learning.com

5/26/2020