Spies and Strangers

Spies and Strangers

At Jewish Newport

June 20, 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel

Edited by Rebecca Beit-Aharon

Also at facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

Rabbi Marc Mandel, Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island,  shared some words of Torah with us, which were summarized from aish.com  

“When the spies gave their report to the nation, they related that there were giants in the land of Canaan, and they felt like grasshoppers next to them. How is it possible for members of a nation that stood at Sinai, that heard the voice of God, to view themselves as grasshoppers? In our generation we should be proud of our heritage, aware of the Divine spark in our souls and the gift of Torah that is our legacy.”

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God was so upset when the Israelites refused to proceed to the promised land, he threatened to kill them all. In Bereshit, Avraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom if there were a few righteous people there. Moses rose to the occasion, and asked that all of Israel be spared. He appealed to God’s vanity. “How would it look to the Egyptians if you destroyed your own people?”  They would say, “מִבִּלְתִּ֞י יְכֹ֣לֶת יְהוָ֗ה לְהָבִיא֙ אֶת־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֣ע לָהֶ֑ם וַיִּשְׁחָטֵ֖ם בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃ 

It must be because the LORD was powerless to bring that people into the land He had promised them on oath that He slaughtered them in the wilderness.”

Moses then rubbed it even more, remind God that he had already promised to be patient (Numbers 14:18)

 יְהוָ֗ה אֶ֤רֶךְ אַפַּ֙יִם֙ וְרַב־חֶ֔סֶד נֹשֵׂ֥א עָוֺ֖ן וָפָ֑שַׁע וְנַקֵּה֙ לֹ֣א יְנַקֶּ֔ה פֹּקֵ֞ד עֲוֺ֤ן אָבוֹת֙ עַל־בָּנִ֔ים עַל־שִׁלֵּשִׁ֖ים וְעַל־רִבֵּעִֽים׃ 

‘The LORD! slow to anger and abounding in kindness; forgiving iniquity and transgression; yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, upon the third and fourth generations.”

We recite this passage during the shalosh regalim, Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuat, and during the High Holidays.

Nowadays, we might take exception about punishments falling on succeeding generations, but when this passage was written, this did not raise an eyebrow.

The One Above backed down. He decreed that all the adults would die in the wilderness. Only the children, and two adults, Caleb and Joshua (who dissented from the other spies' warnings) would enter the promised land.

In Numbers 15:15 God commanded,

 חֻקָּ֥ה אַחַ֛ת לָכֶ֖ם וְלַגֵּ֣ר הַגָּ֑ר חֻקַּ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם כָּכֶ֛ם כַּגֵּ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ 

“There shall be one law for you and for the resident stranger; it shall be a law for all time throughout the ages. You and the stranger shall be alike before the LORD.”

Although it was a command, in Leviticus 19:34 God gave a reason, 

כְּאֶזְרָ֣ח מִכֶּם֩ יִהְיֶ֨ה לָכֶ֜ם הַגֵּ֣ר ׀ הַגָּ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֗ם וְאָהַבְתָּ֥ לוֹ֙ כָּמ֔וֹךָ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ 

“The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the LORD am your God.”

Whether you are a stranger or a citizen, may you be treated fairly!

Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport!

@tourosynagoguenewportri

Not by Might!

Not by Might!

At Jewish Newport

June 13, 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel

Edited by Rebecca Beit-Aharon

Also at facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

The Bar Mitzvah ceremony of Into Shymshi took place in the "Burla" synagogue on 24 Vasilaous Hercilaous street in Saloniki. In the photo Into Shymshi can be seen wearing a traditional Jewish outfit, holding the Torah scroll. source: yadvashem.org

 During our zoom pre-Shabbat meeting, my cousin Elliot Slom ably recited his bar mitzvah haftarah fifty years after his bar mitzvah at Touro Synagogue. His proud mother, Rita Slom, and his brother Michael listened with joy. Mazel tov, Elliot, Michael and Rita! Elliot had his first haircut in three months just in time for his special Shabbat.  

The haftarah for Beha'alotcha, this week's parasha, is Zechariah 2:14 - 4:7. Zechariah lived during the time of Darius I of Persia. In 4:6, an angel explains to Zechariah the meaning of a vision. (I could use one of those explanatory angels! Do you know one?)

 וַיַּ֜עַן וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלַי֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר זֶ֚ה דְּבַר־יְהוָ֔ה אֶל־זְרֻבָּבֶ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר לֹ֤א בְחַ֙יִל֙ וְלֹ֣א בְכֹ֔חַ כִּ֣י אִם־בְּרוּחִ֔י אָמַ֖ר יְהוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת׃ 

Then he explained to me as follows: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit—said the LORD of Hosts.

Together with the priest, Joshua, Zerubbabel initiated renewed Temple worship in Jerusalem and began to re-erect the Temple. What is the message to Zerubbabel? It might be a warning that he would not succeed in his plans by force.  

The haftarah is linked to the Torah reading because they both discuss the seven branched menorah in the Temple. For the same reason, the haftarah is recited during Shabbat Hanukkah. What Zerubbabel and Joshua could not accomplish by force, the Maccabees did...or thought they did when they successfully revolted from the Seluecids. In both cases, however, the ruling powers were in turmoil, which contributed to the successful outcomes. Perhaps it was God’s spirit that made the difference.

In her song Not by Might, Debbie Friedman gave it a modern twist. Her version sounds like it could have been written in the early 1960s when I had my bar mitzvah, also at Touro. https://youtu.be/XJLZfrw86Ws

Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue Newport shared a dvar from aish.com written by his friend in Los Angeles, Rabbi Ron Jawary. Learn about Rabbi Jawary.

“Seeing the Positive in Those Closest To Us”

B'haalot'cha (Numbers 8-12)

"And Miriam spoke against Moses, her brother" (Numbers, 12:1).

“One of the things even great people can forget is that they have to constantly be on guard against the tendency to see the negative in others. Ironically, it seems that those closest to us are often the ones most harshly subjected to our negativity.

“The Torah is teaching us that we need to be careful to avoid making assumptions about others. When we are negative, we are disconnecting ourselves from the Divine, who looked at the world He created and saw that it was ‘very good.’

“A person can choose to live in a world where they think they are the only good and deserving person around, or they can try to see the world through the eyes of God. There is no room for negativity in God's world; the positive in such a world can be overwhelming and all-encompassing, leaving no room for anything else. That's one of the reasons why there is a specific mitzvah to remember the episode of Miriam every day - it is so easy to forget how good our loved ones really are.”

Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport!

Keep singing!

From Riga to Or Yehuda

AT JEWISH NEWPORT

Saturday, February 24, 2018

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From Riga to Or Yehuda

by Aaron Ginsburg

It was nice to be home at Touro Synagogue after a long trip to Israel.

The parsha dealt almost entirely with Aaron, his sons, and assistants, and their duties as priests in the Ohel Moed…the Tent of Meeting. The topics ranged from the clothing a priests wore (it should be made by “all who are skillful, whom I have endowed with the gift of skill”), to how they should be consecrated, what and how to sacrifice and what incense to burn (the aromatic kind was preferred). We adorn our Torahs with breastplates modeled after the priestly breastplate described in the parsha.

Purim was coming up, and Rabbi Mandel said,

“When I was at Congregation Beth Shalom in Lawrence NY, Rabbi Kenneth Hain asked, why is it "When Adar comes in, we increase in happiness" (Mishenichnas Adar marbin b'simcha, משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה). Why Adar and Purim? Why not Nissan for Pesach or Tishrei for Sukkot? A rabbi ( I have forgotten whom ) said, because on Purim we created our own redemption, so that is real joy, when we initiate and create our future that is true joy. On the other holidays, it was God who did the miracles.”

It’s not our role to wait around for miracles.  We need to create our own opportunities both as individuals and as a community. We have the potential. Do we have the will?

The parsha began with instructions, “You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly.”  That’s שֶׁ֣מֶן זַ֥יִת shemen zayit in Hebrew.

During the Israel trip I met Michael Somin. He was born in 1966 in Dokshitz (where several Newporters trace their roots). Michael visited Dokshitz in August, 2017, for the first time since immigration to Israel in 1978. Michael asked if I had room in my luggage to take something back, and then gave me a gift of a two pound can of pure olive oil made in Omer, Israel, a suburb of Beer Sheva.

During my trip I met several relatives of Newport’s Friedman family. After a brief visit with Friedman family member Shai Viseman in Tel Aviv, I had some free time. I went to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. A special exhibit on display was about “Forbidden Music: X-Ray Audio in the USSR, 1946 - 1964.”  From the 1940s to the 1960s, banned music was produced by making recordings on X-Ray film, which could be played on a record player.  The exhibit focused on jazz and Western rock n' roll, immigrant music, and prisoners’ songs.

In 2013, musician-composer Stephen Coates found a recording for sale in St. Petersburg, Russia. He started the X-ray Audio Project  to gather information, and wrote the first history on the subject in 2015, “'X-Ray Audio’ The Strange Story of Soviet Music on the Bone.” This led directly to the traveling exhibit.

When I visited Regina Zhuk, another Friedman relative and asked if she had heard of these recordings, she replied, “I’ve heard of them, and I have some.” They were a different type of banned music, Jewish music.

Regina Friedman Zhuk was born in Moscow, grew up in Riga, and immigrated to Israel in 1999. When I spoke of how one of my Kusinitz great-uncles who was a revolutionary was arrested in Moscow 1937 and sentenced to 10 years in prison, and then sentenced to a second ten years six months after being released, she had a similar story about her father. She had never told the story before, because her parents engrained it in her that she should never speak of it.

In 1937 in Moscow, her father, Abram Friedman, was visited by an acquaintance who was also from Dokshitz. The visitor wrote her father’s name and phone number in his notebook. When the visitor was arrested so was Regina’s father. He was sentenced to 10 years.

When he was released in 1947, he joined his family in Riga, where they had moved after the war. To help avoid being rearrested, a friend obtained a clean passport that did not mention the arrest. That was not enough. He and Regina’s mother, Mara Shulman Friedman, hid in the open by moving to Rostov-on-Don for several years to get away from the heavy but not so efficient hand of the KGB. Rostov-on-Don is a 23 hour drive from Riga today. Now that’s a long way!

Libyan Jewish Museum

I met another Friedman family member, Paula Shaham, at the Libyan Jewish Museum in Or Yehuda, where she is the education director. The museum’s website  is in Hebrew, English, and Italian. Most Israelis that I met have never heard of this museum. Just a few blocks away, the Babylon Jewish Museum, tells the story of the Jews from Iraq. Paula recounted how she lived in a tent after arriving in Israel, and how various members of the family in Israel were helped by their relatives in Newport. 

As I write this, the wind is howling, it’s raining, the electricity is out, and it’s a long way from Israel, Riga, Dokshitz, and Rostov-on-Don, but not so far from Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island.

Shabbat Shalom

#tourosynagoguenewport #newportri