Is there a doctor in the house?

Is there a doctor in the house?

At Jewish Newport 

July 14, 2018

by Aaron Ginsburg

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Today I had a special role. I was designated to ask Mike to get some water for Rabbi Marc Mandel, which I delivered. It was a double parsha, and his voice was reaching its limit.

I remember being sick one day when I was growing up in Newport. My parents, Maurice and Dorothy Ginsburg, went to work at the family grocery store, the Broadway Market. My sisters went to school. I was put on the wonderful couch in the living room, opposite the picture window, by far the nicest room in the house. Not long afterwards Dr. Lewis Abramson came by to make a house call. I loved the attention. It was around the time we had to line up in front of Dr. Abramson’s office on Broadway for immunizations.

In kindergarten and first grade I was friendly with Buddy Ritchie. His mother owned Broadway Florist. They lived nearby on Wilbur Rd. Buddy and I clambered up their low garage roof. I slipped and fell on to my back.  I was a little winded. Buddy said, “I forgot to tell you about the slippery shingle.”  We went into the house.  Mrs. Ritchie put me in a laundry basket on top of the just folded clothes, right next to the basket of young puppies. She called my mother, who called Dr Abramson. He instructed her to take me to the Newport hospital for an x-ray. I received a back brace, which I wore obsessively for the next few months.

Today at Touro we were joined by several doctors who were attending the 18TH ANNUAL THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY SPINE FELLOWS ALUMNI SYMPOSIUM. This has been in Newport for many years, and some of its physicians have formed a strong attachment to Touro Synagogue. With their families Drs Lewin, Hillebrand, Reich, Baron, and Kay sponsored the Kiddish Luncheon.

Rabbi Marc Mandel greeted everyone and continued,

“Where would our world be without doctors or without medicine? Our lives would not be what they are today without these excellent doctors and without the advances in medicine that they create daily. Look at those boys that were in the cave. Without the medicine and the food they would have died. And as soon as they were rescued – they were sent to the hospital for urgent medical attention. Much of the technology used in the cave rescue was from Israel.

“Today we finished reading the book of Bamidbar and we said, ‘Hazak, hazak, Vnithazek’ be strong, be strong and be strengthened.

“The talmud says there are several things that need to be strengthened. One of them is Dereh Eretz. Dereh Eretz refers to anything that improves this world. To make anything that leads to a better society. Medicine is improving so rapidly – and it is making our lives so much better. Without these advances in medicine we’d be in deep trouble.

“The Jewish people have always understood this and that’s why many of the great doctors throughout history were Jews. Think about the Rambam, Maimonides, who was the king’s physician in Egypt 1000 years ago. And think to our own day with the Salk vaccine from Jonah Salk which eradicated polio. Hazak hazak. Doctors need our unconditional support – in their work to improve  this world.

“Recently there was a guest here in Newport who I hadn’t seen in a while. He said, 'I came to Newport to recover from an ordeal.' He had a new kidney donated by his son. What an amazing medical breakthrough, kidney transplants. He’s fine now and so is his son. Doctors need chizuk, they need our support. 

“Each year Jeanie and Jay sponsor the Schottenstein prize in cardiovascular sciences and medicine: it’s a prize that goes to a physician who has was excelled in medicine – and it’s a very generous prize that’s chizuk that strengthens medicine. The most recent recipient was Dr. Helen Hobbs from Texas, who has done outstanding heart research in Dallas.

“This  week I received an email from the Puah Institute, which is an organization that deals with medical fertility issues. They asked, 'Why does the Torah have to list each place the Jews traveled? Why is that so important?'

“The journey is not always easy. There can be delays, challenging weather, and personal issues to deal with – but if a parent has a child that’s not well, they will make any journey that is necessary for their children, just as Hashem is with us in our life‘s journey.

“So we thank all of the spine surgeons who made the journey to Newport this week – and we think all the physicians in this room for their outstanding work – we thank Jeanie and Jay for giving chizuk(strength) to the medical world – and may each of us have the strength to improve this world, each in our way. There  are many great professions in the world- we each have a role to play.

“Shabbat Sholom!”

At the kiddish, Dr. Jonathan Lewin, of The Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders in Englewood, New Jersey, spoke briefly. He complemented Rabbi Mandel for reading the double parsha, and said it would have taken him two months to prepare it. He also thanked CJI for its hospitality.

Shabbat Sholom from Jewish Newport.

Butterflies Are More Fun

Butterflies Are More Fun

At Touro Synagogue

July 7, 2018

by Aaron Ginsburg

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On Shabbat seventy-five congregants and visitors heard Touro Synagogue’s Rabbi Marc Mandel speak about people who make a difference. 

After welcoming everyone, the Rabbi gave shoutouts to Jeannie and Jay Schottenstein for their “extraordinary dedication to the well-being of the Jewish people all over the world and in the US and Israel where so many great projects are undertaken thanks to your philanthropy and commitment,” and for their “concern and care to make sure our Shul continues to serve as a vibrant community dedicated to sharing its history with everyone,”

And to Paul Glasser, vice-president of Touro College, which has campuses all over the globe. Paul Glasser has been serving as a leader in the Jewish community for decades, and to Milton and Doryne Davis, leaders in Englewood, New Jersey.

Milton Davis’s father was a Holocaust survivor from Munkács, Hungary, now Mukachevo, Ukraine. During WW II, eighty-five percent of the Munkács Jewish community was murdered, most in Auschwitz.

I visited Munkács in June. Munkács nestles in the Carpathian Mountains. Before WWII the population was over 40% Jewish. Now it is a lively Ukrainian town, but signs of the past exist. There is a very small Jewish community.

The Jewish cemetery was marked for destruction during the Soviet era; the matzevot (headstones) were buried in four pits. Public pressure prevented the final destruction. Thousands of flat stones cover the grave sites. (If it does not appear,a video slide show is at https://youtu.be/88f5tJPiaMI)

Monuments have been assembled from matzevot that have been retrieved from the pits. Relatives moved a few of the graves and matzevot to a new cemetery. Both cemeteries are fenced and cared for. The caretaker made sure that we washed our hands on leaving the cemetery.

Does what we do make a difference? If not, what is the meaning of life?  These are questions that keep some of us awake at night.

In The Vocation of Man (1800), Johann Gottlieb Fichte states, "You could not remove a single grain of sand from its place without thereby ... changing something throughout all parts of the immeasurable whole".

To Sir Isaac Newton, it was the three body problem. For Newton, that meant predicting, with mathematical certainty, the positions of the sun, moon and earth at any particular time.

In Einstein’s theory of relativity, the three bodies are any three objects, but since time changes, it becomes a fourth object.

Science fiction writers know a good thing when they see it. Time travel is often used to show how a small alteration in the past leads to a different future. In 1952 Ray Bradbury wrote a short story,  'A Sound of Thunder,' about a hunt that traveled 55 million years back in time to slay a dinosaur. The hunter had a melt down, crushed a butterfly with his boot, and the future changed. If you are a Trekkie, you know what I am taking about. Think timeline and temporal wars.

In 1961, MIT mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz pioneered chaos theory after he realized that the predictions of meteorological models were not always accurate, and that small changes in initial conditions could lead to vastly different outcomes. 

Lorenz described it in terms of one flap of a seagull’s wings causing a hurricane. His colleagues told him, 'Butterflies are more fun.' When Lorenz wrote an untitled paper, a colleague, Dr. Philip Merilees, pounced. The title became, 'Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?' and the “butterfly effect” was launched. 

I asked Newporter Mrs. Namel Chadash if she could make sense of this. She did not disappoint.

“So, Reb Ginsburg, vas is all dis meshugaas? Do you really think people are interested in Newton, Fichte, and butterflies? Genug already!

“Let me explain you the three body problem. When I told my three kindele, Beth, Judy, and Aaron, to sit still, they never listened. Vey iz mir, a few minutes later they were gone. Now that’s a three body problem! I solved it with a kick in the tuchas! 

“Professor Fichte-Geshichte, in Newport we know a thing or two about sand. If you walk on Easton’s beach, the only thing that will change is your feet, with those tiny grains of sand clinging. If that bothers you, just go to Island Park, and enjoy the rocks.  That’s da ganze geshichte!

“And as for you, Professor Lorenz, alvays you shouldn’t listen to your friends. Stick with seagulls. My Jonathan Livingston would never hurt a flea, just an occasional clam. When your feet are stuck in the sand at First Beach, just keep your eyes overhead. Since you have your head in the clouds, vat do they say, ‘No problem!’” 

Rabbi Mandel touched on all of this in his Torah talk, including the meaning of life, and the difference a person makes and should make.

“Individuals play an important role in the world. We see it in these last few Torah readings.

“In today’s Parsha, it’s Pincus who manages to calm things down in the Jewish camp. Last week it was Balak, who hired Balaam who created one of our most important tefillot, ‘Ma Tovu.’ 

“This week millions of people were focused on one individual-one person-I’m referring to LeBron James. Millions of people followed his decision to move to Los Angeles. 

“LeBron James, known as King James. No different than any other king. Well-known throughout the world. The power of one individual to influence the lives of millions of people. 

“You might say basketball is not that important. That misses the point. In today’s world of social media and the Internet everything is equal. King James is just as important as any other big news item and it’s all about one person. Of course this doesn’t last forever.

“.In this week’s pasha – the leader of the Jews, Moshe, Moses, tells God, 'I’m done. I can’t do it anymore. Please, find someone else.' Franz Kafka said, 'The meaning of life is that it stops.' A human being stops! The greatness of a person, the thoughts, the intelligence, the beauty, it all stops. 

“Our job is to utilize the energy and strength that we have  while we can, while we are strong, while our minds are sharp.

“Let us do like Moshe, Yehoshua, Miriam and the daughters of Zelophehad, who told Moshe,  'We want a share in the land of Israel, there are no boys in our family, just girls. We want a share…’ They showed their love for Israel and were  rewarded with a share.

“We have to learn from these women to show our dedication to Israel and not take it for granted. These are the lessons that we need to learn from this week’s great people. 

Shabbat Shalom!”

And Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport

@tourosynagoguenewport @newportri

The Test

At Touro Synagogue 

June 23, 2018

The Test

by Aaron Ginsburg

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It was nice to return home after a long hiatus. During my last visit, on April 28, Rabbi Marc Mandel mentioned a newspaper story. “A Jew in Germany told a gentile friend that it was dangerous to wear a kippah in Germany. The friend, an Israeli-Arab tried to prove that this was not true. The test ended badly and the friend was beaten up.” 

I was about to leave for a trip to Europe including Greece, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. “I asked the Rabbi, ‘Are you suggesting I should wear a kippa during my trip.’ He demurred, ‘That’s not necessary. The test has already been performed.’ “ 

Being contrary, I decided to wear a kippa during the entire trip.  As I previously related, the first person to approach me was an Israeli visitor to Thessaloniki (Salonica), Greece. He told me when services would take place at the local synagogue. We stumbled along in Hebrew until I ran out of breath, and blurted out that I was an American. Subsequently a Jew who lived in Salonica also said hello.  

Every so often someone would say Shalom to me.

In Warsaw, I walked into the Old Town neighborhood with my friend Alan Kaul of Sharon, Massachusetts. Warsaw was almost entirely destroyed during World War Two and most buildings are recreations. As we entered the neighborhood, a short street was lined with six police cars full of police. 

Around the corner we walked into a plaza with 500-1000 boisterous people. On the horizon  was a large stadium with a soccer match. A young man yelled at me, “Juden Raus!”  (Jews Out!) “Really?”, I asked.  The response came quickly, in English, “Yes!”

Alan and I walked in the opposite direction. As we sat down in a nearby restaurant, visiting Israelis at the next table hastened to unburden themselves. They told us about the incident, unaware that I was the protagonist. 

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In today’s parsha, Moses was the protagonist. He was tested at the Hard Rock Cafe. The test did not go well. Our Rabbonim have had a difficult time explaining Moses's error. Following their reasoning is a test in itself. This week, Rabbi Marc Mandel gave it a try. 

“This week’s Torah reading, Parshat Hukat, is one of the saddest Torah readings of the year. In today’s Torah reading, Miriam dies, Aharon dies, and Moses is told that he would never enter Israel, because of his sin with the rock, when he struck the rock instead of speaking to the rock for water: Moshe’s whole family-wiped out in today’s reading. What exactly did Moshe do wrong? No one speaks to a rock? And in the book of Exodus, Moshe was told to strike the rock?

“There a sin of commission and there a sin of omission. According to Rabbi Ari Kahn from Bar Ilan University, Moshe committed a sin of omission. Rabbi Kahn quotes the Netziv [Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin was born in Mir and died in Warsaw. Leading the Volozhin Yeshiva, he shut down the school after onerous pressure from the Russian government in the 1890s.], who says Moshe never taught the people how to pray. He never taught them how to daven. This is a problem that still exists today. 

One of the biggest challenges that day schools face today is davening. The students don’t like to daven. They tune out during davening. It’s a big challenge that day schools face. But davening is a challenge for adults too.

“Years ago, I lived in Manhattan on the West Side, and I attended The Lincoln Square Synagogue. Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald led a service called the “learning minyan” or the beginners minyan. People learned how to daven. I used to attend this service because I wanted to see how to talk teach davening. Several years later I was hired by shul in Manhattan on the East Side, KJ, Kehilath Jeshurun, to conduct the learning minyan. It was a learning experience because I was tasked with the challenge of teaching people how to daven. 

“Hopefully here at Touro, we can all learn how to daven better, with more kavanah, more concentration, and more understanding of our tefilot. This way we will be able to learn to mysterious lesson of this week’s parsha. 

“Shabbat Shalom!”

Hukat was a short parsha. There was plenty of time for davening and for understanding, and for thinking about the next post for Jewish Newport!
@tourosynagoguenewport

Empty Chairs

At Touro Synagogue

April 28, 2018

Empty Chairs  

by Aaron Ginsburg

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On  Friday morning, April 27, I received text messages from an unfamiliar phone number. It was Bernie Friedman, whose father Charles Friedman grew up in Newport. Bernie’s  grandfather was Dr. Bernard Friedman, a Newport dentist, and his great-grandfather was Rev. Nathan  Friedman was a Chazen at Touro Synagogue for many years.  

Bernie was on his way to Newport to attend the funeral of Dr. Anthony Caputi, a good friend of his father. Dr. Caputi served on the Touro Foundation board for many years. I went to services on Friday night to greet Bernie, who is very active in the Jewish Community in Hollywood, Florida.  

On Shabbat, our visitors included Bob and Hillary Zitter, from Stanford, Ct. Bob Zitter has been the President of a large Orthodox shul, and now leads the Bi-Cultural Day School in Stamford. He is a retired superstar for HBO. For many years he was HBO’s CTO (chief technology officer). His job was to keep HBO ahead of the curve, and he did!

I had the honor of reciting the Haftarah, and then taking the Torah back to the aron. I went as fast as possible to cover any mistakes with the text and the trope. I doubt this fooled anyone. 

Rabbi Marc Mandel’s  brief sermon started with a newspaper story. A Jew in Germany told a gentile friend that it was dangerous to wear a kippah in Germany. The friend, an Israeli-Arab tried to prove that this was not true. The test ended badly and the friend was beaten up. The story could have ended there, but instead a perturbation of the force occurred.

According to the Jewish Chronicle, “Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told Berlin public radio that Jews should be careful in big cities, after two men wearing kippahs were assaulted.

‘Mr Schuster said: "Defiantly showing your colours would in principle be the right way to go [to tackle anti-Semitism].

"Nevertheless, I would advise individual people against openly wearing a kippah in big German cities.”

Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, David Lau countered,  German Jews should wear the kippah and, “be proud of their Jewishness.” But many Jews have stopped wearing kippot in public after many years of attacks.

According to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, 

“One who is prepared to die for his Jewishness sanctifies God's Name. Conversely, denying that one is Jewish is akin to idolatry, since it implies a denial of our fundamental beliefs. Therefore, in time of danger, it is forbidden to save one's life by denying that he is Jewish. It is permitted to make an ambiguous statement, to act like a non-Jew, or to disguise oneself as such. It is forbidden to disguise oneself as a priest, however, since this is the same as an outright denial of one's Jewishness.“

In the parsha, Achrei Mot-Kedoshim, the subject was addressed. What does it mean? It depends on the interpretation.

Vayikra 18:3 says we should not walk in the ways of the other nations (don’t go bareheaded). 

כְּמַעֲשֵׂ֧ה אֶֽרֶץ־מִצְרַ֛יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְשַׁבְתֶּם־בָּ֖הּ לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ וּכְמַעֲשֵׂ֣ה אֶֽרֶץ־כְּנַ֡עַן אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֲנִי֩ מֵבִ֨יא אֶתְכֶ֥ם שָׁ֙מָּה֙ לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֔וּ וּבְחֻקֹּתֵיהֶ֖ם לֹ֥א תֵלֵֽכוּ׃

You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws.

Vayikra 18:5 might mean, “Don’t risk your life.”

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֤ם אֶת־חֻקֹּתַי֙ וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֨ר יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה אֹתָ֛ם הָאָדָ֖ם וָחַ֣י בָּהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה׃ (ס)

You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live: I am the LORD.

Since I was about to embark on a trip to several countries in Europe, Greece, Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus, I asked the Rabbi, “Are you suggesting I should wear a kippah during my trip.” He demurred, “That’s not necessary. The test has already been performed.”

During the last few days in Thessaloniki, Greece, the test has been going well. No one has called attention to me. However a visiting Israeli couple stopped me. During a brief conversation in Hebrew, they managed to explain that there were Shabbat services. 

The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki is very well organized. It operates schools, a youth group, an old age home, a cemetery, and a museum.

On Friday I visited the small Jewish museum. I paid the 5 euro admission to the indifferent clerk. The Jewish community is ancient, going back about 2000 years. The old community began to call  themselves, Romaniot , after the Byzantines, who considered themselves Romans, when many Sephardic Jews arrived in Thessaloniki after 1492 from Spain and parts of Italy after Judaism was banned. Each wave of immigrants created its own Jewish community, such as Lisbon, Aragon,Calabria and Puglia.  

At the Monastir Synagogue, built in 1927 by Jews from Monastir, Yugoslavia, I was welcomed with a smile by Lydia. Used by the Red Cross during WWII, it was the only shul, out of 60, to survive the holocaust. Recently restored after an earthquake, it is used for special occasions. The empty chairs are rarely filled.

Friday evening I attended services at the Yad Lezikaron Synagogue, which were followed by a dairy meal which included baklava for desert. I sat with a group of people on a Melton group tour of Greece. The Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning sponsors educational programs world wide. Next to me was a visitor from New Jersey, born in Belgium. “Europe is full of Jewish cemeteries,” she said. She thought it was futile to try to keep the almost vanished Jewish communities in Europe, such as Thessaloniki’s, that seem to be on life support, going.

Saturday morning services started at  8 am. One reminder of the past was a ladino [judeo-spanish] prayer after the Torah was taken from the ark. 

After services I was invited by Rabbi Aaron Israel to his home for lunch. There were many salads, and I was surprised when plates of yams, rice, and roasted meat appeared after over an hour. There were other guests including an Israeli family visiting from Bulgaria. Roasted eggs were served both Friday night and at shabbos lunch. 

Amidst the food we sang zmirot. Rabbi Israel asked, “What do they sing in Boston?” I stretched my brain and came up with Mi Pi El, Hine Matov, and Ele Chamda Libi (This is the desire of my heart; please have pity and please don't hide yourself.)

A Little Piece of Heaven

At Touro Synagogue

March 30, 2018

Erev Pesach

A Little Piece of Heaven  

by Aaron Ginsburg

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My day started at Zayde’s Market in Canton, Massachusetts.  Josh Ruboy and the team loaded up my car with the Passover order for the Seders at CJI. At the Levi-Gale house in Newport, Marcia Cohen, Eileen Kominsky, and Rabi Marc Mandel were waiting. 

Aaron Ginsburg with Josh Ruboy

If you didn’t sign up for the seder this year, I hope to see you next year. 

While I was in Newport, I had a chance to speak with longtime resident, Mrs. Namel Chadash

“So my kindele, I vant that you should know what happened to me this week when I was doing my Pesach shopping.

Eileen Kominksy, Rabbi Marc
Mandel, Marcia Cohen

"I had my hands on a beautiful bottle of schmaltz, you know, that lovely golden glob of cholesterol that's so good when its mixed into chopped liver. Lo and behold, next to me was my cardiologist. He looked at me, I looked at him. It was the last bottle of schmaltz on the shelf. 

"Vey iz mir, vat should I do? I knew my cardiologist wouldn’t let me forget my sin; I vould never hear the end of it. So my young ones, to make a long story short, I put the schmaltz back on the shelf. 

"So vat to you think happened? The second it got  back on the shelf, the cardiologist took it, and didn’t even look at me. 

"My children, I vant that you should think of me when you have chopped liver with schmaltz. And to my cardiologist, let me say, ‘You can count all the cholesterol you vant. You count, and I’ll enjoy the schmaltz.’

"Schmaltz, it’s liquid gold. Ok, maybe semi-solid gold. Life would not be complete if there wasn't schmaltz in this world.

Eileen Kominksy, Aaron
Ginsburg, Marcia Cohen

"They say when the Ubershter, you know, that's the one up above, cried because his children, the children of Israel, were lost, those tears turned into schmaltz. So schmaltz is a little piece of heaven. And did I tell you, if we didn’t have schmaltz, we wouldn’t have gribenes.

"A gut yom tov!”

And a gut yom tov from Jewish Newport!

@tourosynagoguenewport @newportri