A Holy People

A Holy People

At Jewish Newport

June 27, 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel

Edited by Rebecca Beit-Aharon

Also at facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

The Parsha this week is Korach. Rabbi Marc Mandel of Newport’s Touro Synagogue shared some words from aish.com:

“This week's Parsha tells the story of a man named Korach who led a mutinous rebellion against Moses and Aaron. Korach claimed that the entire Jewish people was holy, and therefore it was inappropriate for Moses and Aaron to exalt themselves over the people (Numbers 16:3). Moses responds to Korach, ‘In the morning, God will make known who is His own and who is the holy one, and He will draw him close to Him’ (Numbers 16:5).

“It seems strange that Moses would want to wait until the morning to resolve such a critical issue. Why not settle the matter immediately?

“Furthermore, Rashi (based on Midrash Tanchuma 7) teaches that Korach spent the entire night going around to each tribe and trying to gain support for his rebellion. Why does the Midrash stress that Korach went around at night?

“Korach tried to gain support for his rebellion at night because  Korach lived in darkness. Although he was a Torah scholar, he didn’t really have his own light. Therefore, he tried to gain followers at night, because he shone most brightly at that time. Moses, on the other hand, knew the true source of Korach's light. This is why he waited until the morning to resolve the issue. In the daytime, it would be obvious that Korach was merely a reflection of Moses's light.” ___________________________

Korach’s idea that we are a holy people is reflected in the oft used am hodosh. And it is not unusual for Jews to say that we are holy people. I like the sound of it, yet to me it sounds arrogant.

Where does the idea that the Jewish people are a holy people, an am hodosh originate? One source is Deutoronomy 14:2 (from Sefaria.org):

כִּ֣י עַ֤ם קָדוֹשׁ֙ אַתָּ֔ה לַיהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ וּבְךָ֞ בָּחַ֣ר יְהוָ֗ה לִֽהְי֥וֹת לוֹ֙ לְעַ֣ם סְגֻלָּ֔ה מִכֹּל֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ (ס) 

“For you are a holy people to the L-rd your G-d [by virtue of your fathers], and in you [in your own right] has the L-rd chosen to be unto Him a chosen people from all the peoples that are on the face of the earth.” 

So there is an important qualification in the verse. Jews are a holy people to G-d. That sounds a little different. 

Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman points out that, “The commentators explain that kadosh means separate or set aside for a specific purpose.” 

What is that purpose? The Torah gives different reasons for being holy. Rabbi Dalia Marx tells us that  “[Parashat] K’doshim starts with God’s call: ‘You shall be holy, for I, the Eternal your God, am holy’ (Leviticus 19:2).”  Parshat K’doshim includes the commandments of how we behave towards our fellow man, who is created in the image of God. By following those commandments we are respecting the divine in each person and become holy ourselves. In other words, we may become holy because of our deeds, but it is not a given. To seal the deal it requires action.

This week I became closer to that holiness. One thing we can do is to comfort people when they are ill. A good friend of mine is very ill, and I helped comfort her this week. It is not a role I am accustomed to. I decided to be as upbeat as possible, stifling the tears with difficulty. 

I sang some of my favorite Rogers and Hart songs and Ned Rorem musical settings of poems to her, held her hand, and gently swabbed her with a wet towel. When I sing, it is not singing. Nevertheless, when she was able she asked for an encore each day. She even noticed when I forgot the bucket hat I usually wear. 

May your deeds and your bucket hats lead to holiness.

Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport!

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.”

______________________________________________

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!

Live Long and Prosper!

Live Long and Prosper!

At Jewish Newport

June 6, 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg aaron.ginsburg@gmail.com

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel

Edited by Beth Levine

Also at facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

Our parsha this week is Naso. Most of it is about sin offerings, the Nazarite vows, skin eruptions, the tasks of the Levites and about a wife suspected of infidelity. How do we know if a wife is unfaithful? She just has to drink the magic water, and the truth will be revealed. It sounds like voodoo! 

There is more than one truth revealing liquid. In vino veritas. In wine there is truth. In Wikipedia, we learn that the ancient Greek historian, “Herodotus asserts that if the Persians decided something while drunk, they made a rule to reconsider it when sober. Authors after Herodotus have added that if the Persians made a decision while sober, they made a rule to reconsider it when they were drunk (Histories, book 1, section 133).[5] 

If you are sober all the time, or drunk all the time, it would be difficult to emulate the Persians. 

There is one gem in the parashah,

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ 

דַּבֵּ֤ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶל־בָּנָ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר כֹּ֥ה תְבָרֲכ֖וּ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אָמ֖וֹר לָהֶֽם׃ (ס 

יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ 

יָאֵ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה ׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ 

יִשָּׂ֨א יְהוָ֤ה ׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם׃ 

וְשָׂמ֥וּ אֶת־שְׁמִ֖י עַל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַאֲנִ֖י אֲבָרֲכֵֽם׃ 

“The LORD spoke to Moses, ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons. Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them,” ‘The LORD bless you and protect you! The LORD bless you and protect you! The LORD bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!’ Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.’”

__________________________________________________________

Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue shared some words by  Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis about the parashah, Naso,

“God conferred upon our Patriarch Abraham the privilege of bestowing blessing, as the verse states, ‘And you shall be a blessing.’ That honor was passed on to Isaac and then to Jacob. In this parashah, Hashem instructs Moses to bequeath this privilege to Aaron and all his descendants, the Kohanim, in perpetuity. In the Land of Israel, the Kohanim bless the congregation daily. Outside of Israel, the Kohanim pronounce the blessings on the holidays. However, no matter where we reside, the blessings are part of our daily prayers.”

__________________________________________________________

When the Kohanim bless the congregation, there is some Jewish theater involved. In fact our services often have a theatrical touch. And like any theater, there are always members of the audience, myself included, who like to gab. Leonard Nimoy was one of those who took the priestly blessing to heart. Nimoy has explained many times how Star Trek’s Vulcan greeting came from the priestly blessing. Each time the story comes out differently. Watch the video to see an early example. https://youtu.be/Xp5SKWfFyhw

Live Long and Prosper!

Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport!

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments

At Jewish Newport

Shavuot

May 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg aaron.ginsburg@gmail.com

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel

Edited by Beth Ginsburg Levine
also at www.facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport/

During this time, there is an opportunity to take advantage of many online learning opportunities.

On Tuesday, I listened to Brown University Professor Adam Teller speak about his book, Rescue the Surviving Souls: The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the Seventeenth Century

The crisis was caused by the Cossack uprising from 1648 to 1657 against their Polish rulers. The Cossacks were a military caste who helped defend the borders of The Polish Lithanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth was a large country that included parts of many countries that today include Poland itself, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. 

The Cossacks rebelled because they were not treated equally with the other groups in the Commonwealth, Poles, LIthanians, and Jews  It might have been a matter of the Cossack nationality, Ukranian, or their Orthodox religion, or just a matter of snobbism by the Polish Catholic rulers.

Jews helped the nobles manage their land, and were targets of the uprising. Many were killed, many fled west into Poland or Germany, and others became slaves to be sold on the slave market in Istanbul as servants. Women were a particular target as household servants. In many cases, people were abducted so ransom could be demanded to free them.

The influx of refugees reinvigorated the German Jewish community, which had been decimated by the crusades and subsequent pogroms and banishments. 

In the Turkish Empire,  Jewish communities, although relatively small by Polish Jewish standards, rose to the occasion and did their best to redeem the captives.

How did Polish Jewry cope? A typical Jewish response is that we are punished for our sins. This didn’t sit too well with the victims, who insisted that Polish Jews recite memorial prayers. There was a precedent for this. After the crusades, German Jews introduced memorial prayers. The memorial prayers in Poland continued until the Holocuast. 

Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island shared some thoughts with us,

“Shavuot is the celebration of the giving of the Torah.

What exactly happened at Mount Sinai?”

Rabbi Mandel turned to  Rabbi Philip Moskowitz for an answer,

“According to one Talmudic source, the revelation was a moment of national coercion. God suspended Mount Sinai above the Jewish people and gave them an ultimatum – accept the Torah or die, leaving us with very little choice in the matter.

“According to another Rabbinic source, God went on a world tour,  and approached each nation to offer its people the Torah. Only after each one declined did He finally approach the Jews who excitedly proclaimed “Naaseh v’nishma – we will do and we will understand.”

“So which one is it? Did God force the Torah upon us or did we voluntarily choose to accept it? Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm suggests there is no contradiction between these two stories:

‘Both chronologically and logically, God first chooses us, but then we must choose Him. He chose us only once, at Sinai. This choice, thereafter, devolved upon each and every Jew, in any place and at any time, no matter what his wish, his commitment, or his conduct. We must choose God anew in every generation. Indeed, every individual must choose God all over again… At Sinai it was true that “Asher Bachar Banu,” God chose us. But, when we study Torah and recite the blessings, and preface our remarks with Baruch Ata Hashem, Blessed are You, God, then we have chosen Him as well.’” 

Rabbi Mandel concluded, “For us, accepting the Torah is not just an obligation, but a great honor and privilege.” 

Chag Sameach from Jewish Newport!

Stand up and be counted!

Stand up and be counted!

At Jewish Newport

By  Aaron Ginsburg

May 23, 2020

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel and Beth Ginsburg Levine aaron.ginsburg@gmail.com

Also at www.facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport/

In Parshat Bamidbar, God told Moses to take a census of men able to fight. The total was 603,550. And that didn’t include the Levites! So were a million Israelites really traipsing around the wilderness? This bothers modern biblical scholars, who don’t think this is an historical fact. Professor Shaye Cohen, Harvard University Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy, points out that asking if the bible is historical is not the right question. Instead we should ask, “What does it mean?”

This year the decennial United States Census is taking place.  At our pre-Shabbat meeting, Irene Glasser told us that the census may undercount the number of residents in the United States. She said the consequence of an  undercount would be less federal aid, which is apportioned based on census results,  and, possibly, less representation in the United States House of Representatives.  

While the United States Census is underway, we are engaged in another count. How many people have had Covid-19 and how many people have died from Covid-19? Once again there is a possibility of undercounting. Decisions about what to do may be affected by inadequate statistics, with lethal consequences.

Rabbi Marc Mandel, Touro Synagogue, Newport, R.I., gives meaning to each one of the 600,000,

“Parshat Bamidbar begins with a census of the Jewish people. We might think this "reduces everyone to a number." But actually the census teaches that every Jew is important. The Kabbalists point out that just as 600,000 Jewish souls stood at Mount Sinai, so too there are 600,000 letters in the Torah (including the white spaces between letters). And just as a Torah scroll is invalid if even a single letter is missing, so, too, the Jewish people need everyone working together.”

_________________

The idea that every Jew is important has broadened. Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman, 1194-1270) believed that the life of every human is important and that we have a duty to save a life,  pikuach nefesh, because each human is made in the image of God. As it says in Vayikra Leviticus 24:22,

 מִשְׁפַּ֤ט אֶחָד֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם כַּגֵּ֥ר כָּאֶזְרָ֖ח יִהְיֶ֑ה כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ 

“You shall have one standard for stranger and citizen alike: for I the LORD am your God.”

May you be counted in the Census!

Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport