tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86941917619603819912024-03-13T16:47:35.176-07:00HaMirpeset SheliThe View from
MY PORCH
המרפסת שליRabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.comBlogger177125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-67970033439694763902023-03-12T08:31:00.005-07:002023-03-12T08:31:44.000-07:00<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Open Letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu</span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Mr. Prime Minister,</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I am a Zionist. I love Israel. I love what it is, what it represents, and that to which it aspires to be – a light unto the nations.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>love Israel so much that I uprooted my family nine years ago and made Aliyah from Chicago to Jerusalem. Like so many American Jews, I did so not because I was running away from something but because I was running toward something: the highest fulfillment of Zionism, to “throw our fate” in with that of the modern State and People of Israel. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I made Aliyah to be part of the greatest Jewish creation of the modern period: a Jewish and democratic/democratic and Jewish State that strives to embody the values of our Torah, our Prophets, and our Declaration of Independence. The country to which I moved is and must remain one that “will be based on freedom, justice, and peace…;” “will ensure the complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race, or sex;” and “will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture.”</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">As I write, Mr. Prime Minister, I feel the torment in my heart. These words come from the depths of my neshama:</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Prime Minister Netanyahu, you are wrecking this beautiful, miraculous country!</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">You, and the members of your party and coalition who have embraced a combination of extremism, messianism, racism, and fascism, are causing the greatest rift among the Jewish People since the Second Temple period.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">One need not be an attorney to understand that the combination of:</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• Emasculating the Supreme Court and the judicial branch of their role as a check and balance to the executive and legislative branches;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• Giving the coalition government the unbridled ability to nominate only their judges to the Supreme Court;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• Creating a coalition mechanism for investigating prosecutors, especially those investigating and trying Knesset members of the coalition and Government Ministers; </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• Changing the law so a convicted criminal can be a Minister in the government (the Deri law);</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• Permitting civil servants, from the Knesset down, to raise funds for “defense” and family “medical” issues;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Along with other misguided measures being advanced by and rushed to final approval in the Knesset by the Justice Minister and by the chair of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee creates the real possibility of a dictatorship. One only needs a little common sense to understand that a judiciary branch devoid of power, a police force, and office of the prosecutor fearful for their jobs if they dare investigate or try members of the Knesset, not to mention a Prime Minister, means that the Prime Minister and his government have absolute power and, as you well know, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The time has come to cease listening to the extremists in your government and begin listening to the over 500,000 Israeli citizens </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Druze;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Religious and Secular;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Right, Center, and Left;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Tzabarim and Olim;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Ashkenazim, Sefardim, and Mizrahim;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Seniors and teens;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Tzfonim and Daromim, Tel Avivim and Yerushalmim;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Peacefully protesting and engaging in peaceful, non-destructive acts of civil disobedience who are sending you the message that we will NOT live under a dictatorship. I, and I am certain that most citizens, will not permit our sacred country to be soiled by those who seek to reduce it to a puppet, weak “democracy” rather than the robust, Western, liberal democracy it is today. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">There are those who claim that we are protesting because we do not accept the outcome of the election. This is false! True, I do not like the outcome of the election. I am not happy that you, on trial for three serious charges, are Prime Minister. Nonetheless, I refer to you as Prime Minister, an act which many Knesset members from your party refused to do regarding the previous two Prime Ministers. While I speak only for myself, I suspect that there are millions of others who feel the same way.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">There are those who claim that the coalition is acting in a democratic fashion and that those of us who oppose this legislation are anti-democratic. Either they do not understand, or they choose to twist the meanings of and the differences between democracy, majority rule, and dictatorship. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Only you can stop this madness, Mr. Prime Minister. Only you can tell the Justice Minister and the Chair of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, to immediately and fully halt all judicial “reform” legislation. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, has prohibited you from any involvement in this legislation due to your personal conflict of interest. It is the case that instructing your ministers and committee chairs to advance your judicial “revolution” IS a conflict of interests because it can lead to your ending your own trial. However, requiring them to freeze all related legislation, something that is not in your best interests, is clearly not a conflict. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Mr. Prime Minister, you are fighting the wrong fights and for the wrong reasons. You should be fighting:</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• To neuter Iran’s ongoing efforts to create nuclear weapons;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• To reduce the cost of living for all citizens;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• To eliminate spousal abuse and murder;</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• To make the country safer for all citizens, especially those Israeli Jews and Arabs alike, living in crime ridden regions under the daily threat of gangs, protection payments, and murder, not to mention everyone from terror attacks, violent civil disobedience by Israeli Citizens living in the West Bank, and rocket attacks from Gaza; and</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">• To gain greater normalization for and treaties with Israel throughout the region.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Instead, due to the obsessive focus on the judicial revolution, the economy is faltering, people are suffering, and Israel is becoming a liability to our allies who stand with us if we hold shared Western liberal democratic values. While Amir Ohana and others think our allies will stand with us no matter what, they are wrong. Ambassador Nides, Secretary Austin, and I suspect that many others have told you as much. The frosty relationship that will develop with the US administration will rest solely on your shoulders, as will the collapse of our economy because you chose a judicial “revolution” and dictatorship over shared, Western liberal values. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">You are the only one who can call for real negotiations without “any pre-conditions.” This requires that legislation be stopped in its tracks first. Anyone with basic strategic and tactical understanding recognizes that inviting people to negotiate while the legislation proceeds through the Knesset at lightning speed is a pre-condition in and of itself. It is the legislative equivalent of a shotgun wedding, a trojan horse. Stop the legislation. Come to the table to negotiate in an open, honest, free, and equal fashion and I am certain the opposition will answer your call. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Mr. Prime Minister, the time has come to act. It is upon you to stop this legislation fully and immediately. Only you can do so and only then can there be real negotiations. At this moment, you must choose: </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Will Israel, under your watch, continue being the greatest modern creation of the Jewish People or will you be responsible for nothing short of the fall of Bayit HaShlishi?</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Et La’asot LaShem, Heferu Toratecha. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Respectfully, </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Rabbi Loren Sykes</div></div>Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-86913160299330446642015-10-23T05:39:00.000-07:002015-10-23T05:39:44.387-07:00Never Hide!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The streets of Jerusalem were quiet at 3 am. I walked with my two daughters to our friend’s home to watch our beloved Chicago Cubs lose game one of the NLCS. I felt completely comfortable at this hour, in a way I never felt safe walking to the 7-Eleven nearest Wrigley Field to get ginger ale for a sick child. Walking the streets late at night felt normal, even during this wave of attacks. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The game ended, we walked home and started our day. I dropped my youngest daughter off at school and went to the gym near the Old City. Afterwards, I had a strong feeling inside that I needed to walk around. Strolling felt necessary. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First stop: Roladin in the Mamilla Mall to get a large café hafuch. While there were people walking, window-shopping and sitting in the restaurants, the mall was far from full. It seemed there were as many police officers and soldiers as there were customers and it felt safe. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second stop: The plaza outside the Jaffa Gate. I met a group of Armenian Christian tourists from Australia finishing their tour. At the same time, another group, from the Philippines, was just setting off on their Old City adventure. Standing across from the outer walls of ancient Jerusalem, I saw that the tourists looked happy and comfortable, not nervous or frightened. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Third stop: The Old City. I talked with Zaki who sells Middle Eastern bagels and breads. We exchanged pleasantries and he complained that all he wanted was “to be able to feed his family and for us to live in peace.” I agreed. Zaki then asked, “But tell me, Why do you people want to go to Al Aqsa? It is not your place. Why do you provoke?” The “Jews want to take over and destroy Al Aqsa” is a total fabrication, a lie spread by Fatah and Hamas to provoke Palestinians that has no basis in truth. But I knew I would not be able to convince Zaki of the truth. Instead, I asked him which of the yellow bagels was more authentic, the chocolate or the date-filled, purchased the date-filled one, and continued my walk. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fourth Stop: Jaffa Street. Like Mamilla Mall, there were people going about their regular errands – shopping, eating, talking and working – and plenty of soldiers keeping watch, keeping us all safe. Like the Arab shopkeepers at the Jaffa Gate, there were plenty of storeowners complaining about the lack of business. During these conversations, I started to get a hint of why this walk was so important.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-71cc2e90-94b0-dca4-d67c-dcdbbbdf967d" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifth Stop– Ben Yehuda Street. I moved down Jaffa Street toward Ben Yehuda Street. I found the answer to my question, my need to walk around town, in a Simon & Garfunkel-esque way, almost straight out of The Sounds of Silence. The words of the prophet were not written on subway walls – we don’t have subways in Jerusalem – or tenement halls; rather, it came in the form of an advertisement for Ray Ban Sunglasses. In big, bold letter, above a group of athletes were two words:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NqbVWI8OJi4/VioqKQHtgXI/AAAAAAAABLw/XlVV0ZL6E0A/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NqbVWI8OJi4/VioqKQHtgXI/AAAAAAAABLw/XlVV0ZL6E0A/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NEVER HIDE!</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Never hide.” It is so simple. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I needed to walk around downtown Jerusalem because I could not hide. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hiding means the terrorists win, they cause me, they cause us, to change our lives. They dictate where we go and what we do or don’t do. They breed fear, hatred and, unfortunately, more violence. I won’t hide because this is my home, my country, my city. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Never hide” doesn’t mean take needless and careless risks. Like any major city in the US, there are certain areas here I don’t go to because the “crime” statistics are too high to make it worth the risk. At the same time, “Never Hide” also means not to avoid your gym or your regular coffee place or wherever you like to sit and work.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Never hide” means not conceding our Jewish values. It means being like the children of Aaron: pursuing peace. It means remembering that redress is in the hands of God, not people; that we demand safety but won’t execute vengeance. It means that even in a war on terror, we trust the IDF and Police to protect us and to do so in an ethical way. At the same time, “Never Hide” does not imply or permit violence, vigilantism, chants of “Death to Arabs.” That is simply not our way. “Never Hide” demands that we call out our own who act counter to our tradition, who murder, beat and berate in the name of vengeance; it means we don’t let them hide from justice.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unlike in the past, we no longer need to hide. We are a “Free people in our own land.” We can and must be publicly proud, both in Israel and across the world. We cannot sit alone in our darkened rooms, letting life pass us by, conceding victory to the terrorists.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, I believe that the more we are out and about, the greater the sense of individual and collective security we will feel. I write this secure in the knowledge that things will ultimately quiet down and return to normal. One day, there may even be Peace here. Let’s hope and pray it arrives before my Cubs make it to, let alone win, the World Series. While we wait for and work toward it, we can say, as Cub fans do every year, “There’s always next year.” And there is always the next cafe hafuch, the next moment of pride and the next possibility for Peace.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until that time, the words of the Ray Ban prophet will continue ringing in my ears:</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Never Hide.”</span></div>
Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-19519797897025088902014-08-07T03:09:00.001-07:002014-08-07T03:09:46.899-07:00A Funeral in Israel<div class="MsoNormal">
For me, it was the gunshots - three rounds, seven shots per
round – piercing the heavy silence that brought home the finality of the
moment: the burial of Staff Sargeant Liel Gidoni. He grew up and lived in a
neighborhood I know well.
Nonetheless, I never met Liel, or his family, prior to Sunday afternoon on
Mt. Herzl. The entire neighborhood
came to bury Liel. I joined
hundreds of others who did not know Liel and, nonetheless, came to pay last
respects, to honor his service to and ultimate sacrifice for the State of
Israel.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sQy2AGqRSVY/U-NOTJoVdvI/AAAAAAAAA9c/m5PFQrXRXS8/s1600/ShowImage.ashx.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sQy2AGqRSVY/U-NOTJoVdvI/AAAAAAAAA9c/m5PFQrXRXS8/s1600/ShowImage.ashx.jpeg" height="127" width="200" /></a>Liel was killed last Friday when he and two other comrades, <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Major Benaya Sarel
and Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, were preparing to destroy a tunnel in or
near Rafah in the Gaza strip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Three hours into a cease-fire, during which Israel indicated it would
continue destroying tunnels, terrorists burst onto the scene and murdered the
three Israeli soldiers, one more cease fire ignored or broken by Hamas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A tunnel is not a human being. It
sounds so obvious that it may be better not to even say it. In the eyes of the
attackers, however, a destroyed tunnel seemed to be equal to a human life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During what was to be a period of
quiet, Hamas could not help itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They attacked, broke the cease-fire and killed another three Israeli
soldiers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">While I attended one military funeral in the past in Fitzgerald,
Georgia, this was completely different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In Fitzgerald, we buried an 82-year-old, Jewish WW II war hero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew the family and almost everyone
at the funeral very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a
wonderful wife, children, and grandchildren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lived a full life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On Mt. Herzl, however, we were burying a twenty-year old, killed in the
line of duty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were burying a
teenager, someone with an entire lifetime to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew nobody at the funeral, not parents or siblings,
grandparents or friends. My connections to Liel were distant at best: 1) I
heard about his death while on the plane on Friday, two hours before we landed
at Ben Gurion and 2) He was defending my and our collective home. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, I felt as if I was burying a member
of my own family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZBFxnJnlHO8/U-NPEJhlp5I/AAAAAAAAA9k/UEMKwDYE6hI/s1600/IMG_0003_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZBFxnJnlHO8/U-NPEJhlp5I/AAAAAAAAA9k/UEMKwDYE6hI/s1600/IMG_0003_2.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Each of the eulogies for Liel was more heart-rending than the one before
it. Representatives of Givati, where Liel served, as well as the Mayor of
Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, spoke in personal, yet official roles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither knew Liel personally yet
managed to capture the importance of his service and sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Principals, teachers, classmates, best
friends and relatives painted a picture of Liel for those of us who didn’t know
him personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Liel was always
smiling an infectious smile, striving to be the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He came back to school even after he was drafted to
volunteer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever he could, he
came back to help out, joining the Yom HaZikaron ceremony the school put
together annually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His cousin and
played a song in his memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
gathered mourners tried as best as possible to pick up the chorus and join
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The memorial prayer, El Maleh
Rachamim, wailed forth, echoing across Mt. Herzl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there were any dry eyes left by this point, the power
contained in the sadness of the shaking voice brought out the tears they were
meant to evoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">And then there were the gunshots of the twenty-one-gun salute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">A final farewell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-olC-kLpgrss/U-NPTkFhWPI/AAAAAAAAA9s/fTi308UlL_k/s1600/IMG_0001_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-olC-kLpgrss/U-NPTkFhWPI/AAAAAAAAA9s/fTi308UlL_k/s1600/IMG_0001_2.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Once the funeral ended, a throng of people went to visit the Liel’s
grave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There it was, among five
other freshly dug graves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Liel
joined ten other Jerusalem residents killed in Operation Tzuk Eitan, now
resting rest in peace on Mt. Herzl. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I paid my last respects to this wonderful soul I never had a
chance to meet, stood quietly praying several Psalms. I moved out of the way to
make space for others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>Staring at his grave, I pondered the meaning of Liel’s name. The first syllable, Li, means “me.” El
is one of the names of God. There
are so many hidden meanings: the combination of the human and the Divine; the
personal and the transcendent; the true meaning of faith, recognizing God
within us. Seeing the Godly in
each of us, in every human being, honoring the Godliness residing in every
person, describes Liel. I can only imagine what he would have accomplished if
he had not been killed last Friday.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Today, I think about the news of Liel’s death last week and
his funeral on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think about
where we were and where we are going, both of which lead me to…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Send prayers of comfort to Liel’s family as they mourn his
death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Hope there will be an extension of the cease-fire today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Pray the cease-fire will continue through Erev Shabbat,
becoming a long-term cease-fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Dream that, someday, there will be peace in Israel and the
region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">And I pray that the quiet is not broken by more gunshots - those
of war or those of military funerals – ever again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">May the memory of Liel, his sixty-three other IDF
compatriots killed in battle, and the civilians killed, be blessings for all of
us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-18009833857794959472014-07-13T09:03:00.002-07:002014-07-13T09:03:56.227-07:00Praying During Difficult Times<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aYz0pXyUV7w/U8KtIdI2P1I/AAAAAAAAA8c/_BljH4Sc7cg/s1600/Fragments.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aYz0pXyUV7w/U8KtIdI2P1I/AAAAAAAAA8c/_BljH4Sc7cg/s1600/Fragments.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, like so many other days, missiles are launched at many areas in Israel. Fortunately, Iron Dome is doing the job for which it was created, something truly miraculous, and there have been virtually no injuries. Even the damage has been incredibly limited. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here in Jerusalem, we have had a total of four red alerts: One false alarm, one alarm where missiles fell in Hebron, located in Palestinian territory, and not in Jerusalem, and two cases where missiles were shot down by Iron Dome. Life continues as normal. People are eating out, going to work, taking children to gan. Business as usual.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the South, however, the red alerts are almost non-stop. Even in the Gush Dan region, the center of the country along the coast where most of the population lives, while the red alerts are increasing in frequency, they still pale in comparison to what those in the South experience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of us are praying for the end of this. We don't want innocent civilians injured, killed or displaced on either side of the conflict. We don't want our precious soldiers put in harms way. At the same time, we don't want our country to continue to operate under the continuous threat of missiles, rockets and mortars. No other country in the world would tolerate this kind of attack on their population centers, their capital, their country. We will not, we cannot tolerate this either. This is our ancestral homeland, our nation-state, the land where the Zionist dream, utopian as Herzl was in certain ways, will be fulfilled.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We search for words to pray. Will our prayers serve as a direct link to God, that will be answered positively and immediately? Will my prayers be answered because I eat kosher food, observe Shabbat, etc? Because I give tzedakah or help others? Many people believe in the direct impact of prayer on the Divine and their personal ability to see the answer in this world and on a daily basis. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Personally, I don't believe in the efficacy of prayer as a way to get God to act in a certain way. I do not believe that I can identify God acting in this world. That does not mean I deny the possibility; rather, I just don't believe that even if my prayers do have that power, that I can identify the finger of God acting in this world, in answer to my prayers. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do, however, believe that God gives human beings free will to choose to do good, evil and all that lies between. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prayer gives words to the deepest feelings in my soul, to emotions I may have difficulty articulating. Prayer causes me to be reflective about what is important, what is frightening, what brings hope and what causes sadness. It is no coincidence, in my opinion, that the Hebrew word for prayer, L'Hitpalel, is conjugated in the reflexive, to look inside. So, in these challenging times in Israel, what words are there to help me feel strength, confidence, and blessing? What prayers can give flight to my emotions of concern and determination, helplessness (as I do not serve in the IDF) and confidence that as a Jew living in the Jewish State, I am no longer powerless?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Rabbinical Assembly circulated the following prayer, composed by Rabbi Simcha Roth z"l, for times like this. The words speak to and for me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps they will for you as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I write this, my phone beeps with red alert warnings for so many communities in the South, near the Gaza Strip. So I pray...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I pray for the day when the children of Sderot, Nahal Oz, Yad Mordechai, Sa'ad and other communities can go outside without needing to know where the nearest bomb shelter or protected area is located. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I pray for the day when Hamas ceases to hold its own people hostage, when they seek Peace and Co-Existence rather than death and destruction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I pray for the day when we never see a group of Jewish teens kidnapped and killed for any reason and for the day when we cease needing to add names of Israelis to the list of those killed in battle or from in acts of terror</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I pray for the day when we uproot racism and hatred from our own communities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I pray for the day we do the cheshbon nefesh (soul searching) demanded by recent events like the racist march through the streets of our capital, and the cold blooded murder of a 16 year old Arab teen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I pray for the day we see Peace for Israel, for the Jewish People, for the Land and for all who live in this region:</span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">May the One who blessed our patriarchs -
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - and our matriarchs - Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel
and Leah -, bless the residents of the State of Israel who live under the
constant threat of destructive missiles. May the Holy One Blessed One
strengthen their hearts and their staying power at this moment of crisis, until
the danger has passed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">May it be the will of the Almighty, that God imbues
wisdom in the hearts of all the members of the State’s Cabinet, that they will
know to direct this national war with wisdom, insight and understanding.
God of Hosts, Sovereign of Peace, please protect the soldiers of the
Israel Defense Forces serving in this campaign on land, in the air and at sea,
on the front and in the rear – and all the forces of defense and rescue.
Save them, God, from all trouble, distress and malady, and give them
blessing and success in all their endeavors. May they go out in peace and
return to their homes for life and peace.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Our Father in Heaven, bring peace to the land and
eternal peace to all its residents, and establish amongst us, speedily in our
days, what is says in our Tanakh: “And each person shall sit under his
vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, because the mouth of the
Lord of Hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:4)” And spread a shelter of Your Peace
on all the residents of your land. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">And so it shall be. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">And let us <b>all</b> say, Amen.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-77637861750212826642014-07-04T02:09:00.000-07:002014-07-04T02:09:11.973-07:00Reaction to Calls for Vengeance and Another Murder<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Written just after the announcement of the discovery, in the forests of Jerusalem, of the body of murdered 16 year old Muhammad Abu Khdeir from Shuafat, </i></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">At this time, we do not know the perpetrators or reasons for the killing of a 16 year old Arab boy, discovered in the early hours of this morning in the Jerusalem Forest. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">And you know what?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">It doesn't matter. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">The pain we feel here for the murder of the three kidnapped teens, for Eyyal, Gilaad and Naftali, CANNOT be channeled into acts of "Nekama" or vengeance. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Last night, I wandered through downtown. I saw a processio</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">n of far right extremists chanting "Death to Arabs," looking for Arabs to harass and harm.<br /><br />This is not the Jewish way.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">We cannot stand idly by. </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">We must demand quick action from our Government to protect all citizens.<br /><br />It does NOT matter if, in the end, the Arab teen was murdered by other arabs due to internal family tensions or by Jews. </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">If this was a family problem, we are still left with "ours" walking through downtown Jerusalem, chanting hatred and looking for innocents to harm.<br /><br />If this was done by "ours," we have serious cheshbon nefesh, soul searching, to do. When we are done with out accounting, we must then act as a nation to uproot this hatred. Punishment for "our" perpetrators, when found and tried, must be <i>ma'asar olam</i> - life sentences - and sealing of homes. Homes here can't be destroyed because almost all live in multi-family apartments. But families can be locked out permanently<br /><br />Those who know me know I am a pragmatist, a realist, and center just slightly right on security issues. They also know that I am center, slightly left, when it comes to questions of civil rights.<br /><br />But this is not an issue of left or right, religious or secular. </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">This is a matter of the soul of our country. </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Nothing less. </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Praying this is a quiet Shabbat, one of comfort for the families of Eyyal, Gilaad and Naftali and for the family of Muhammad.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Praying there is quiet in Sderot and the communities in range of the Hamas missiles.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Praying we witness Peace, Shalom, soon and in our day.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">הע</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">שה שלום במרומיו</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> הוא יעשה </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">שלום</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> עלינו ועל כל עם ישראל</span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">May the One who makes Peace in the Heavens make Peace for all Israel...</span></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">ועל כל יושבי תבל</span></b><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">And for all humanity.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Amen</span>Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-68887419997084316102014-06-30T23:45:00.000-07:002014-06-30T23:45:22.825-07:00What we need to do now: Thinking of Eyyal, Gilad and Naftali, zichronam livracha<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Watching the news, listening to the politicians and the analysts, reading the status messages on Facebook and Twitter, the following is clear to me:<br /><br />Now is the time for one thing and one thing only: </span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">mourning. </span><br />
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<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">To feel the deep, penetrating sadness. </span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">To send messages of support and embrace to the families.<br /><br />That is all.<br /><br />Now is NOT the time to argue about the strength of a response.<br /><br />Now is NO<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">T the time to talk about either showing military restraint or building new communities in whatever name you use to refer to the land to the East, between the "Green Line" of armistice and the "Blue Line" of the Jordan River.<br /><br />Now is NOT the time to dehumanize the "Smolanim," the leftists or those Israeli citizens who live in Gush Etzion (often referred to as "Mitnachalim," Settlers).<br /><br />There will be time to debate what is cause and what is effect. </span></span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">There will be time for all of the above.<br /><br />But there is only <b>now</b> to feel the immediacy of the pain, of the loss, of the sadness.<br /><br />Now is the time to focus on what binds us together as a family, as a people, as a nation.<br /><br />We owe it to the three beautiful souls snatched from this world, to their families and last, and in this case least,</span></span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">to ourselves.</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Let the memory of Eyyal, Gilad and Naftali forever be for a blessing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">May their parents be comforted along with all the mourners of Zion and Israel.</span></span>Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-63934089792805336802014-06-17T01:29:00.001-07:002014-06-17T01:29:34.539-07:00Bring Them Home Alive!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: David; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ויש תקווה לאחריתך, נאום-יהוה; </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: David; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And there is hope for your future, declares The Lord; </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: David; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your children shall return to their country.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: David; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jeremiah 31:16</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qH29asptefE/U5_7JgF2TOI/AAAAAAAAA7M/OK0ejlCy56g/s1600/Hatufim+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qH29asptefE/U5_7JgF2TOI/AAAAAAAAA7M/OK0ejlCy56g/s1600/Hatufim+.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: David; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: David; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walking around Jerusalem, you might think everything is “business as usual.” Traffic in the morning is as bad as ever and people honk their horns within a nanosecond of the light turning green. As always, the woman who hands out newspapers at the corner of Keren HaYesod and Agron Streets is there today. People still say hello and smile. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: David; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The reality, however, is different. The tension in the air, the concern, the hope and the fear are all palpable. Three teenagers, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gilad Sha'ar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frankel, kidnapped on Thursday night, are still missing. Their safety and well-being is in the forefront of our minds. Talking with others, I hear the same thing over and over again. It is hard to concentrate. It is hard to focus. Little problems that under other circumstances elicit disproportionate, frustrated reactions are swept aside as if they are nothing. The return, alive, of Gilad, Eyal and Naftali is all that matters.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right now, we are stuck between the compelling desire to want to do something and the grating frustration that there is little we can do. We send words of support to the family, we share messages on social media and we look for any shred of good news. The tradition of praying from the Book of Psalms helps us act and articulate, privately and communally, our thoughts and feelings. The Psalms are aspirational. They express our hope for a certain outcome, a positive outcome: the return of our boys to their families. They are not a guarantee. While the IDF forces search for Eyal, Gilad and Naftali, we send them and their families strength through our prayers. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I ask that you, my friends of all faiths, join me and others throughout the world in praying the words of Psalms 121 and 142 several times each day, keeping in mind our three kidnapped boys in the hope that they will return alive into the warm embrace of their parents and their families very soon.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amen!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">תהילים קכ״א</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">שִׁיר, לַמַּעֲלוֹת:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי, אֶל-הֶהָרִים-- מֵאַיִן, יָבֹא עֶזְרִי.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ב</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> עֶזְרִי, מֵעִם ה׳-- עֹשֵׂה, שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ג</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> אַל-יִתֵּן לַמּוֹט רַגְלֶךָ; אַל-יָנוּם, שֹׁמְרֶךָ.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ד</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> הִנֵּה לֹא-יָנוּם, וְלֹא יִישָׁן-- שׁוֹמֵר, יִשְׂרָאֵל.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ה</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ה׳ שֹׁמְרֶךָ; ה׳ צִלְּךָ, עַל-יַד יְמִינֶךָ.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ו</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> יוֹמָם, הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לֹא-יַכֶּכָּה; וְיָרֵחַ בַּלָּיְלָה.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ז</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ה׳, יִשְׁמָרְךָ מִכָּל-רָע: יִשְׁמֹר, אֶת-נַפְשֶׁךָ.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ח</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ה׳, יִשְׁמָר-צֵאתְךָ וּבוֹאֶךָ-- מֵעַתָּה, וְעַד-עוֹלָם</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A song for ascents.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I turn my eyes to the mountains; </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from where will my help come?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My help comes from the Lord,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maker of heaven and earth.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God will not let your foot give way;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Your guardian will not slumber;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">See, the Guardian of Israel </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neither slumbers nor sleeps!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord is your guardian, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord is your protection at your right hand.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By day the sun will not strike you, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nor the moon by night.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord will guard you from all harm; </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Adonai will guard your life.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord will guard your going and </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coming now and forever.</span></div>
<h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 24pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">תהילים קמ״ב</span></span></h1>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">א</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> מַשְׂכִּיל לְדָוִד;</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">בִּהְיוֹתוֹ בַמְּעָרָה תְפִלָּה.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ב</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> קוֹלִי, אֶל-ה׳ אֶזְעָק; קוֹלִי, אֶל-ה׳ אֶתְחַנָּן.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ג</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> אֶשְׁפֹּךְ לְפָנָיו שִׂיחִי; צָרָתִי, לְפָנָיו אַגִּיד.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ד</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> בְּהִתְעַטֵּף עָלַי, רוּחִי-- וְאַתָּה, יָדַעְתָּ נְתִיבָתִי:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">בְּאֹרַח-זוּ אֲהַלֵּךְ-- טָמְנוּ פַח לִי.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ה</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> הַבֵּיט יָמִין, וּרְאֵה-- וְאֵין-לִי מַכִּיר:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אָבַד מָנוֹס מִמֶּנִּי; אֵין דּוֹרֵשׁ לְנַפְשִׁי.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ו</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> זָעַקְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ, ה׳:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אָמַרְתִּי, אַתָּה מַחְסִי; חֶלְקִי, בְּאֶרֶץ הַחַיִּים.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ז</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> הַקְשִׁיבָה, אֶל-רִנָּתִי-- כִּי-דַלּוֹתִי-מְאֹד:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">הַצִּילֵנִי מֵרֹדְפַי-- כִּי אָמְצוּ מִמֶּנִּי.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ח</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> הוֹצִיאָה מִמַּסְגֵּר, נַפְשִׁי-- לְהוֹדוֹת אֶת-שְׁמֶךָ:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 27px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">בִּי, יַכְתִּרוּ צַדִּיקִים-- כִּי תִגְמֹל עָלָי.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Maskil of David, while he was in the cave. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A prayer:</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I pray aloud to the Lord; </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I appeal to the Lord loudly for mercy.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I pour out my complaint before God;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I lay my trouble before Adonai </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When my spirit fails me.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You know my course;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They have laid a trap in the path I walk.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Look at my right and see-I have no friend;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is nowhere I can flee, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No one cares about me.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I cry to You, O Lord; I say, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”You are my refuge and </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All I have in the land of the living.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Listen to my cry</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For I have been brought very low; </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Save me from my pursuers, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for they are too strong for me.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Free me from prison, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that I may praise Your name.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The righteous shall glory in me for</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Your gracious dealings with me.</span>Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-75425529723275859362013-12-13T02:32:00.002-08:002013-12-13T02:32:55.115-08:00Nurturing the Core: Putting Jewish Learning Front and Center<div class="MsoNormal">
In a recent editor’s column in the New Jersey Jewish News,
“The way we do the things we do”
(November 20, 2013), Andrew Silow-Carroll presents a succinct and
accurate portrait of current and future challenges faced by Conservative
Judaism in North America. Unlike
those who just bemoan the current state of affairs or proclaim our death, Mr.
Silow-Carroll presents both challenges <b><i>and</i></b> areas of focus that, if
addressed in a serious fashion, can serve as the building blocks for a bright
future for the movement. His
analysis and suggestions merit further reflection.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The author describes himself in the same way many affiliated
Conservative Jews do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They go to
synagogue regularly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">even</i></b> if they feel services are too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They continue attending because they
are at home in terms of ideology, practice and community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Describing himself as a rarity, Silow-Carroll
writes:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Although
I struggle with “obligation,” I like to surround myself with folks who can
access Jewish tradition on a deep level, who make Judaism part of their lives
well beyond the three hours on a Saturday morning, and who at some level are
unable to reconcile the tension between modernity and tradition. We want that
old-time religion alongside the new stuff – but constantly worry that one will
hurt the other.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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Based on personal conversations and experiences, I believe
he is less a rarity than he perceives himself to be. Like Silow-Carroll, many
core Conservative Jews are people who want to be in places where they are not <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the</b> most knowledgeable, most observant
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seek to do more and
learn more Jewishly. They want to be part of a community, a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kehilla</i>, with multiple levels of learning
and experience, abundant in role models beyond the clergy to whom they can
aspire to emulate and rich in relationships with others with whom they can
share Shabbat and other Jewish traditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, because they represent a minority of the whole, they
are not studied in-depth and, as a category, are too often marginalized in
studies, op-ed articles and strategic efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must pay more attention to this group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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As a way to address the future, Silow-Carroll suggests three
crucial areas of focus for “scrutinizing the face” Conservative Judaism
presents to the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
recommends:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Invigorating the Shabbat experience;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Putting learning front and center; and</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Exploiting new media.</li>
</ul>
<br />
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Embedded in these areas is a deeper message beyond
repairing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“the face we show to the
public.” Namely, having regular, high-quality, immersive Jewish living and
learning experiences together with being part of a powerful, meaning and action
driven community are keys to our future and success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is neither new nor earth shattering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, however, time for us to pay
greater attention to the voices of people like Silow-Carroll and others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sitting in Jerusalem, I will leave the
question of how to invigorate the Shabbat experience to others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do, however, want to address
Silow-Carroll’s other two suggestions.</div>
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The Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center and our Conservative Yeshiva
serve as a home for Jews struggling “to reconcile the tension between modernity
and tradition,” seeking to experience intensive exploration of Jewish text in
an intellectual-spiritual and inclusive-egalitarian-pluralist framework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is our raison d’etre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From online learning opportunities to
programs in Jerusalem, The Conservative Yeshiva is the place for people to do
Torah Lishmah, to learn for learning’s sake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Our summer programs, three to six weeks in length, welcome
nearly two hundred participants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The program offers a range of options from full-day learning to half-day
study/ half-day volunteering through our partner, Skilled Volunteers for Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participants range in age from nineteen
to ninety-one and come from incredibly diverse backgrounds and abilities: some
know no Hebrew while others are fluent; some are affiliated, others are not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are united by a desire to learn
for their own growth and increased commitment. </div>
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<br /></div>
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This winter, we are launching a pilot program for college
juniors and seniors seeking a Jewish learning alternative winter break program
in Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first time,
those who want to delve deeper into their Jewish soul will be able to do so
with us instead of other kiruv oriented programs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twenty young Jews from across North America will join us for
twelve days of immersive learning, exploration of this great city, and soulful
experience of the myriad of Shabbat communities in Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the next few years, we hope to
welcome over one hundred students each winter.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Our year-long program is filled both with immediate college
graduates and those in their fifties and sixties, learning and experiencing a
wide-variety of answers and approaches to Jewish questions of ideology, thought
and practice. Our Yeshiva is known for helping individuals take the next steps
on their Jewish journeys, not dictating specific paths or outcomes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the future, we will offer shorter
programs, from one week, theme-based open programs and programs for specific
professions to drop in programs for those who want to invest one day of an
Israel trip to Jewish learning.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Programming in Israel, however, is not sufficient to impact
the lives of Jews in North America and the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To that end, the Conservative Yeshiva offers a growing
number of online learning opportunities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From e-shiurim, single unit lessons, source sheets included, on a
particular issue delivered via e-mail to semester-long online courses, people
are able to learn at their own pace, in their own home with teachers in
Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, we piloted
Daf Shevui, a program where two pages of Talmud are broken up into six
digestible units also delivered to your inbox daily (<a href="http://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/introducing-daf-shevui">http://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/introducing-daf-shevui</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also study one Mishnah each day
with the Conservative Yeshiva.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Over 3,000 Jews in North America participated in Mishna Yomit (<a href="http://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/category/mishnah-yomit">http://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/category/mishnah-yomit</a>)
.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we secure additional
resources, we will produce more learning opportunities on a diverse range of
topics.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
For too long, The Conservative Yeshiva, a program of The
Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, has been among the best kept secrets for Jews in
North America like Andrew Silow-Caroll and those he represents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If putting learning at the forefront
and using new media to reach more Jews are key to building a stronger future
for the vital center of Judaism, we are answering the call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To retain the Andrew
Silow-Carrol’s and the myriad others like him, immersive, relationship-based
learning and community will be key.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We would do well to listen to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center and our Conservative
Yeshiva, we already are.</div>
Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-63899188508813816372013-10-17T02:01:00.000-07:002013-10-17T02:01:12.726-07:00The Vital Center: Thoughts on the USCJ Centennial Shabbaton<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Baltmore, Maryland, Motzei Shabbat, Parashat Lekh Lekha:</div>
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<br /></div>
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In a post on my personal blog, I wrote with a touch of sadness that I would not be in Israel for Shabbat Lekh Lekha. Because the Torah portion begins with the command to Abram to leave his homeland and go to what will ultimately be known as the land of Israel, this is a Shabbat that celebrates Aliyah and new Olim. As an Israeli citizen for almost two months, I looked forward to being with my family in Talpiyot, Jerusalem to celebrate our arrival in Israel.</div>
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</div>
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While I certainly miss my family and Israel, as I look back on this weekend, I am happy I spent Shabbat in Baltimore, with six hundred others, starting a different odyssey: a journey to the new future of Conservative Judaism. From energy to options, from kavvanah* to customer service, the weekend exceeded all expectations. The way the Shabbaton was structured I felt as though I could easily have been in Israel:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span>On both Friday Night and Saturday morning, I could shul-hop, with no less than five different options at every service. There was something for every taste and flavor of Conservative Judaism.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span>I enjoyed Shabbat meals with old friends while, at the same time, making new friends. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span>My spirits were lifted high by energetic zemirot* sessions led by one hundred USYers, over twenty-five Bogrei Nativ, and emerging adults from Marom Olami. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span>My soul and intellect were enriched and challenged by a vast, rich menu of shiurim – classes – led by superstars of the Jewish world, from Clive Lawson, founder of Limmud, to Vanessa Hidary, the Hebrew Mamita, to my mentor, teacher and friend, Rabbi Bradley Artson, all teaching at levels where every person could walk away having learned something.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Perhaps the greatest difference between this Shabbat in Jerusalem and Baltimore is the quality, the depth and the optimism I heard in conversations about the future of Conservative Judaism. Before, during and after sessions, the corridors were filled not only with conversations about how fantastic the presenters or the shlihei tzibbur* were but about what the messages were about the future of our approach to Judaism. People argued passionately, and respectfully, about the implications of the lessons and take-aways. A few examples: </div>
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In a world where people have multiple identities, how do people identify with and strengthen their commitment to their identification with the values of Conservative Judaism. Clive Lawson brought the difference between identity and identification to the forefront. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
The Hebrew Mamita, Vanessa Hidary, raised our sensitivity not only to our own self-perceptions but how we perceive Jews from whom we are different.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Rabbi Artson presented an integrated theological approach, weaving our experiencing of the world with discoveries in a variety of fields of science as well as with the layers of ideas contained within our rich tradition. What are the implications of an integrated theological system on our behaviors, on our relation to Mitzvot and commandedness? And how do we engage members of Conservative Kehillot in this kind of conversation. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Just to name a few. </div>
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<br /></div>
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In its variety and quality, this weekend was the demonstration of reaching an understanding that in a world where one can choose not only from five hundred cable channels but can opt out of the regular/cable television system entirely and stream shows from sites like Netflix and Hulu, the one size-fits all kehilla approach needs to and is changing. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Shabbat ended with a summer camp-style Havdalah. Our cup overflowed with exceptionally positive energy. USYers and eighty year olds danced and sang together. The power of over six hundred voices shouting “Amen” was testimony to the different feeling about our future.</div>
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<br /></div>
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On Tuesday, I will return back home to Israel. Much of my work there is to help strengthen the lives of North American Jews and Kehillot via intensive learning and experiential programs. The Shabbaton and Conversation of the Century send me home with a renewed energy and optimism that the Jewish world needs a vital and vibrant center, that we are positioned to be that center in the future in new and exciting ways just as we were in the past, and that there is much exciting work and opportunity ahead. </div>
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<br /></div>
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To all those who made the Shabbaton and Centennial happen, thank you.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now go and do! </div>
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Shavua Tov.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This post originally appeared this past sunday on the USCJ Centennial Site, www.uscj100.org</div>
Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-53106061147303417572013-10-11T12:48:00.001-07:002013-10-11T12:48:36.370-07:00Lekh Lekha - And You Will Go Forth!<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"></b></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Baka, Jerusalem: October 27, 1990 – Sitting in the basement of The Efrata School on Gad Street, I listened intently to the d’var Torah. The woman stood, speaking haltingly in Hebrew with a heavy American accent:</span></b></b></div>
<br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: David; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Go out from your country and from your homeland and from the house of your family to the land that I will show you.” Genesis 12:1</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Olah Hadasha, a new citizen of Israel, spoke of her choice to leave the comforts of America to make a home in Israel, the motivations for her choice and the adventures she experienced over the course of the year. </span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By this time, I was in Israel for a total of two weeks. Listening to the refrain of Lekh Lekha, “Go Forth!”, I </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">knew</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I would never give such a d’var Torah. I felt a tremendous sense that there was something I was supposed to do in the US. In addition to my personal sense of purpose, the idea of serving in the IDF was simply beyond my comprehension. For these and other reasons, I returned to the US after an incredible year filled with exceptional Torah, a few weeks of life in a sealed-room during the first Gulf War, memories of helping participants in the second Aliyah from Ethiopia and a lot of very good friends in Israel.</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seems my choice to return to The US was correct. I met Becca, we built a family and have three truly magnificent children! I was privileged to be the founding director Ramah Darom, a family and home that created numerous Jewish leaders and continues to inspire thousands to be more involved in Jewish living, learning and community. Working with a few very good friends, I got to create Camp Yofi: Family Camp for Jewish Families with Children with Autism. I feel confident that I can honestly say, “Mission Accomplished.”</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Midrash asks why God, while directing Abram to leave Ur for Canaan, uses multiple words to describe the place from which Abram will depart. Abram does not want to go and for each word God uses, Abram has a retort. The give-and-take continues until Abram overcomes fear and begins his journey to “the place I will show you.” </span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s be clear: I am no Abram. But, like all people, I have internal dialogues filled with voices of fear and of strength. When confronting choices or challenges, I hear encouraging voices pushing me to take risks and try to change worlds just as I hear my own voices of criticism, lack of confidence, fear. Do you hear those voices? Are they purely human or are they partially the Divine within us? I don’t know. But in 1991, I heard voices of mission and vision driving me back to America just as I cowered in fear of the implications of making different choices.</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Rebecca and I made the final decision to make Aliyah, I remembered that Shabbat morning at Kehillat Yedidya in 1991, to the woman with her heavy American accented Hebrew, and to my internal voice telling me I would never stand in that spot. I laughed. How right and how wrong I was! The years of fulfilling North American missions were completed. There would always be voices telling me why it was not the right time to make Aliyah, that I would not succeed, that it was not right for so many reasons. The voices of confidence, of desire to live in Eretz Avoteinu v’Imoteinu, The Land of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs, the constant pull of the air of Israel, the desire to contribute to the Jewish State won out over the voices of fear. On August 20, we landed at Ben Gurion Airport and our Aliyah adventure started.</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As fate would have it, I am not in Israel for my first Shabbat Lekh Lekha as a new Israeli citizen. I am in Baltimore, on the waterfront, at the United Synagogue Centennial. We will discuss the future. There will be impassioned voices for a variety of strategic directions. It will be lively and invigorating. There will be great Torah. I will meet new people and reconnect with mentors and friends. And all the while, the words of Yehuda HaLevi, will ring in my ears:</span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-33a07b89-a90e-bc15-047e-84cf1d6eb4bb"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">לִבִּי בְמִזְרָח וְאָנֹכִי בְּסוֹף מַעֲרָב</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My heart is in the East and I am in the distant West…</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unlike all my previous trips back from Israel, when I felt what Yehuda HaLevi expressed, this time I know that on Tuesday evening, I will board Delta Flight 268 from JFK back to Tel Aviv. My body and being will be reunited in Israel with the heart I left behind as a deposit.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I know I am blessed: I continue my life work of creating communities where we strengthen the committed core of Jews seeking more Torah, more knowledge, more spirit, more connection and commitment to Jewish living. Now, however, I get to do it where my heart truly is, BaMizrah, in the East, in the State and the Land of Israel, living with the People of Israel and with Torah Yisrael. </span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, for those of you who are thinking about making Aliyah, I hope and pray that you too will reach the point where the voices of confidence, of support, of action overcome the voices of fear and the perceived and sometimes real barriers to Aliyah. I hope you will choose to start your own Lekh Lekha journey and join us in living in and contributing to The Jewish State, The State of Israel. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who knows? Maybe next year, you will be giving the Shabbat Lekh Lekha Drasha in Israel!</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shabbat Shalom.</span></b>Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-33895585971642789562013-08-19T04:25:00.002-07:002013-08-19T04:25:52.950-07:00"When You Go Out..." Thoughts on our last day in America<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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While yesterday’s portion opened with instructions regarding
taking captives during wartime, the first two words of the parashah, “Ki Tetze” or “When you go out…”
captured my attention for most of Shabbat. After a year of commuting, of
temporary housing in a lovely apartment hotel in Jerusalem, of having my
“southern office” at the corner table at Grand Café on Derekh Bet Lekhem and
Reuven, we finally celebrated our last Shabbat in the Lakeview Neighborhood. We were on the cusp of a
different kind of going out: leaving our home in America to make a new home in
Israel. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Sitting on the plane on our way to New York, I think about
all the wonderful blessings I received during these forty-six years of life in
the US, about the people who influenced me up to this point in my journeys,
about the values I acquired growing up here and being an adult here. There are those who move to a new
country because they are running away from something. That is not our
case. I lived a life of nearly
limitless blessing in suburban Chicago, New York, Atlanta and then in the City
of Chicago. The debts of gratitude
I owe to so many are too great to list here. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Among the many things I learned in America, I was introduced
to…</div>
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<br /></div>
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The value of Democracy and of the First Amendment;</div>
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<br /></div>
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My faith, in the free environment that results from separating
Church and State;</div>
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<br /></div>
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The importance of and passion for learning; as well as,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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The centrality and challenge of equality and pluralism; </div>
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<br /></div>
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…just to name a few.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I was privileged to learn these values from so many
incredible teachers, from Miss Habecost, my first grade teacher at The
Willowbrook School, to my teachers at Columbia University and The Jewish
Theological Seminary. To try and list all those who helped me along my Jewish
journey would be virtually impossible.
To all of you, thank you. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These chapters of life, making a living in the United
States, now come to a close.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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For us, Aliyah is about running to something: The State, the
People and the Land of Israel, the greatest experiment in the modern history of
the Jewish People. Making Aliyah
comes as the result of years of experiences and multitudes of people
influencing us. So this morning,
as we get ready to board the plane.
We are going out, out to a new chapter, a new adventure in Israel. </div>
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Thanks to our families for supporting our decision.</div>
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L’hitraot to our friends in North America – come visit us
soon. </div>
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And to all our friends in Israel, from the shlichim we were
so blessed to work with and learn from to the friends we have made during our
longer stays – I simply say,</div>
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<br /></div>
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See you in about 14 hours!</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-3826165360075706662013-07-14T08:50:00.000-07:002013-07-14T08:50:17.257-07:00When will comfort come? A Reflection on The Ninth of Av<b id="docs-internal-guid-37911295-ddd7-3aaf-9249-edd64562f3e7"></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-37911295-ddd7-3aaf-9249-edd64562f3e7"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אבל מקדש שני, שהיו עוסקין בתורה ובמצות וגמילות חסדים מפני מה חרב? מפני שהיתה בו שנאת חנם</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-37911295-ddd7-3aaf-9249-edd64562f3e7"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">יומא ט ע”ב</span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-37911295-ddd7-3aaf-9249-edd64562f3e7"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But why was the second Temple destroyed when people were busy with Torah study, Mitzvot and Acts of Lovingkindness? Because there was needless hatred. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Babylonian Talmud Yoma 9b</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Nazi Atah!” – “You are a Nazi!” screamed the little boy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No older than eight or nine, the boy yelled with the hostility of one who lived a full life of persecution. His eyes burned hot with anger, his face flush with hatred. Long black curls, payot, trembled with animosity as he continued shouting at the man on the other side of the gate. This was not a scene from the shtetl in Europe during World War II. He was not yelling at a German Soldier. This was last week at the Western Wall, the Kotel, and this child was yelling at another Jew. What provoked the little boy to yell “Nazi” at another Jew? Here is the story…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I got to the Kotel late for services on Rosh Hodesh Menachem Av, the arrival of the new month of Av. As is regularly the case, Women of the Wall (WoW) gathered for services. This time, thousands of young yeshiva girls came out to fill the Kotel Plaza, as they were instructed to do by their rebbeim, so the group was forced to meet far from the Kotel, behind police barricades. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c-L_r3AkWpI/UeLH9M2o1_I/AAAAAAAAA0Q/P-yXUAzxLJw/s1600/0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c-L_r3AkWpI/UeLH9M2o1_I/AAAAAAAAA0Q/P-yXUAzxLJw/s1600/0.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arriving at the bottom of the steps leading to the plaza, I stood next to a group of Haredi teenagers to put on my tallit and tefillin. I was minding my own business when a guy came from out of the “corrall,” got in the face of the Haredim, yelled something unintelligible, and pushed one of the black hat and black-suit clad youths. A melee ensued around me with ten Haredim pounding on this guy and young kids screaming at him. To their credit, the police rushed in and broke up the fight, taking away the WoW participant and the Haredi who hit him the most.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As they were led away, I noticed that the guy from WoW dropped his tallis bag. I picked it up and followed the group to the police holding area. I approached the gate and asked if the tallis bag belonged to him. All around me, Haredi teens and children were screaming in Hebrew and Yiddish:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Reformi – You’re not Jewish!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You are a blasphemer!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You are a Nazi!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last slur drew my attention away from the WoW participant behind the fence and toward the gang behind me. There, I saw the angry, raging little boy gesticulating wildly at the WoW guy and screaming “Nazi! Nazi Atah!” All around me, shouts of “Reformi,” “Lo Yehudi” and “Nazi” rose to a crescendo. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I looked at the little kid with the flying black curls and calmly, in my Hebrew Jewish educator voice, asked:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Who taught you to say such horrible things?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He stopped shouting and just stared at me, a mixture of curiosity and surprise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Really, who taught you to call another Jew something so horrible?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hu lo Yehudi!” – He is not Jewish!” The boy retorted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“And how do you know that? Did you check? I said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If he prays like that, he is Reformi, not Jewish!” He screamed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Devastated, I wondered what kind of “religious” parent, educator, rebbe would teach a child to label another Jew a Nazi. What kind of fear led people to inculcate their children with such hatred, labeling another Jew a “Jew-Killer?” There is no circumstance that could ever justify the gross negligence of parents, of rabbis, of educators who teach children that any Jew who disagrees with them is equal to those who tried to destroy our people. I was even more devastated by the fact that we were celebrating the arrival of the Hebrew month of Av.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rl2sL7CC97M/UeLIOCnqUZI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/NpC2JHmLifk/s1600/0-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rl2sL7CC97M/UeLIOCnqUZI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/NpC2JHmLifk/s1600/0-1.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We call this month “Menachem Av,” menachem meaning comfort. According to tradition, The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed twice on the 9th of Av(first in 586 b.c.e. and again in 70 c.e.). During the month, we pray for a future when the pain of the destruction, the pain of exile, the pain of wandering will be comforted, will be healed. And why was The Temple destroyed? The Talmud teaches that destruction came because of “Sinat Hinam,” senseless hatred. Now, at the base of our holiest site, the foot of The Temple Mount, The Place, where the Jewish People and God interacted in the most direct way, here I see for the first time what real Sinat Hinam, real senseless hatred looks like: A little boy, screaming in full fury, “Jew Killer” at another Jew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“When will the redemption come?” I ask myself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not when every Jew observes a few Shabbatot. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not when we all check our Mezuzot or our Tefillin to be sure that the parchments are “kasher.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not when we all behave according to one opinion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Redemption will come when Jewish educators, parents and rabbis teach their children to live a life of Ahavat Hinam, of generous love toward the entirety of the Jewish People.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Salvation will come when the Jewish tradition of Makhloket, of arguing positions, is done for the Sake of Heaven, with Love and respect and generosity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Comfort will come when one group of Jews watches another group of Jews pray and sees in that different way one of the seventy faces of Torah.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deliverance will come when every Jew, child and adult, invests more energy in Ahavat Yisrael, in loving all of the Jewish People, than they invest in being “right.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Achieving redemption is a big, hairy, audacious goal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For now, maybe we should begin with the most modest of goals: teaching kids not to scream “Nazi” at those who are different from them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With unending hope that we see Redemption, Salvation, Comfort, and Deliverance soon and in our day, I wish us all a meaningful fast, a day of reflection and self-assessment, and a day for renewing commitment to achieving complete repair of our world. </span></div>
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</b>Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-81796523176975318222013-07-12T06:18:00.000-07:002013-07-12T06:18:01.828-07:00A Last Jerusalem Shabbat - Parashat Devarim<b id="docs-internal-guid-1aa96d19-d304-6e97-1fb8-9ae0f500b966"></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-1aa96d19-d304-6e97-1fb8-9ae0f500b966"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: David; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> שמחו את-ירושלים וגילו בה, כל-אוהביה; שישו איתה משוש, כל-המתאבלים עליה</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all that mourn for her. Isaiah 66:10</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Last Shabbat in Jerusalem, not ”</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” last but “</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A”</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> last…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as a visitor, as a foreigner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A last Shabbat in Israel with a temporary address, a temporary home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anticipation grows as:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A last Shabbat siren draws near, a last Friday sunset, a last Kabbalat Shabbat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My last Shabbat before Aliyah, before fulfilling the Mitvah of Yishuv Ha’Aretz (settling the land), before ceasing to be a stranger, a wanderer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last Shabbat without a teudat oleh or a teudat Zehut.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A last Jerusalem Shabbat brings time to thank so many for the blessings of the year:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the staff of The Tamar Suites, my home away from home, for making me feel comfortable and part of the family this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the Grand Café, owners and employees, for welcoming me so warmly and for delivering great food and customer service</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To my friends at Gehtz Li, where I get my laundry done,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the fruit guys on the corner of Bet Lechem and Esther HaMalka, and</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the great folks at Bet Lehem for wonderful conversation plus cheese and bread recommendations,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you to the staff and teachers of The Fuchsberg Center and our Youth Hostel. You all do exceptional work and it is a pleasure and privilege to join you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To every cab driver who gave me a “Kol HaKavod” upon hearing our Aliyah intentions, and who engaged me in honest conversation about co-existence and friendship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To all who hosted me for a Shabbat meal, a meal during the week, or a cup of coffee. I look forward to inciting you to our new home on Qorei HaDorot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To our long-term, dear friends and to the new friends I discovered this year for everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To thirty-five years of Shlichim for contributing to the inspiration leading to our Aliyah, from</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The shaliah I only met once who, after a talk I gave at kibbutz Shefaim, stopped me and said, “Rabbi Sykes, you are such a Zionist. Why don’t you live here yet?!” to...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shlichim who started out as employees at camp and became dear friends and mentors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To my wife, Becca, who took the brunt of the stresses this year in the US, who handled most of the logistics leading to our Aliyah; And</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To Elan, Mira and Amalya who are making this journey, each in their own way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To The One who promised this land to our ancestors and grants people the strength to return home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A last Shabbat in Jerusalem, before a First Shabbat here…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a citizen, a contributor, a participant in the greatest endeavor in Jewish, democratic sovereignty, in over 2,000 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you Jerusalem and Israel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">See you again, as an Oleh Hadash, on August 20.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shabbat Shalom.</span></b>Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-76442996748457652092013-05-17T07:33:00.000-07:002013-05-17T07:33:58.606-07:00A New Community in Baka, Jerusalem: Zion: Kehilla Eretz Yisraeli<br />
I experienced something amazing last Erev Shabbat. I got to be part of another start-up, not a high-tech start-up, but a Jewish start-up: The first Friday night davvening of Zion, a new congregation/kehilla in the Baka neighborhood of Jerusalem. Zion is the initiative of my friend and colleague, Rabbah Tamar Elad Applebaum, who saw the need for a different kind of community in the neighborhood - "musical, egalitiarian, traditional and innovative"; a community incorporating both Ashkenazi and Sefaradi customs, ritual poetry from across the generations, and the tunes of the land of Israel." Baka, a neighborhood filled with synagogues large and small, minyanim of every flavor and custom, hardly seems to be the place needing yet another minyan. Yet, Zion brings something different.<br />
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The setting was so familiar. When I was younger, The Nativ Program met here. The campus is now home to Young Judaea's Year Course, as well as the historic home of Ulpan Etzion. Sitting in the Bet Knesset, I immediately felt the specialness of this first tefillah. I was one of the few anglo saxons in the room. Most of the participants were native born Israelis, Ashkenazim and Sefaradim, married couples with children as well as singles. While many of the new initiatives in the area of tefillah here are based around North Americans, Zion is focused on Israelis. Innovations that include what is called Nusah Sefarad, the Sefardic custom, may be taking place in other areas but this is the first one about which I have heard. <br />
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The evening started an hour before Shabbat's arrival. We started singing the poems of Bialik, Alterman and Goldberg, religious poetry of the modern era now included in our tefillah. By starting so early, the service could include a group of musicians playing a variety of instruments native to the Middle East. I have never been a big fan of musical accompaniment during tefillot, be they weekday or Shabbat services. My past experiences included those where the tunes were in the style of rock, and those where the tunes sounded more like one would hear in a French cafe. Last Shabbat, however, the music was Middle Eastern, it was ancient, its ebbs and flows followed the words and enhanced the tefillah.<br />
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The dominant tune for Kabbalat Shabbat was native to Morrocan Jewry. As an Ashkenazi Jew, my only exposure to this particular melody comes from the little shul directly across from my apartment here in Jerusalem. Yet, I never felt out of place. As I sang along, out loud, every word of the Psalms leading up to L'kha Dodi, my Sefaradi side started to emerge and I picked it up quickly. I was not the only one for whom this was not the regular practice and I saw others picked it up and also felt at home quickly. Praying according to a different nusah makes me even more sensitive to and aware of the words. I just have to pay closer attention. The accompaniment helped me find my key, my place, my comfort.<br />
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Before L'kha Dodi, two young women came dancing into the synagogue. They were wearing adorable head bands. They announced themselves as the Malkot Shabbat, the Queens of Shabbat and invited all the younger children outside for kid's activities. I watched as all the happy children ran to them and went out to the grass to play, to learn, and to enjoy. At the end of services, they returned to show us, with great enthusiasm, what they worked on during their activity. They smiled from cheek to cheek, as did their parents.<br />
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After a beautiful d'var Torah, the instruments were put away as Shabbat officially arrived, and we turned to Ma'ariv. For this service, the tunes were mostly Carlebach and other, older Ashkenazi tunes. Just as in Kabbalat Shabbat, there were those who were less familiar with the tunes and those who were more familiar. Everyone joined together. The spirit, the kavvanah, the intention, was powerful. I truly felt up-lifted. I felt part of a community. I felt part of Am Yisrael, of Eretz Yisrael and of Medinat Yisrael - of the People, The Land, and the State of Israel. <br />
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What Rabbah Tamar and those involved in the design of Zion accomplished in one evening was incredible. A new kind of minhag, or custom, an ancient and new nusah Eretz Yisraeli. It was a privilege to be part of the first tefillah and I look forward to being part of this growing and important new community in Baka - one that is native Israeli in its custom, welcoming to all, egalitarian, Hebrew, ancient and new. Are you going to be in Israel this summer? Come and see what can happen when customs are respected and combined; what can happen when the ancient meets the new; and what can happen when people see a need, act on it, and build something new that touches souls in the deepest ways. Come visit Zion: Kehilla Eretz Yisraeli, an innovation created by a Rabbah, a graduate of the Schechter Institute, and a member of the Masorti community.<br />
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Shabbat approaches. I am rushing out the door to get to the next Friday night at Zion. I hope to see you there in the future.<br />
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Shabbat Shalom.<br />
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עַל הַחֵרוּת הַזֹּאת:<br />
לִרְאוֹת, לָחוּשׁ, לִנְשֹׁם<br />
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ולקבל פני שבת, יחד<br />
בתפילה שתביא לידי ביטוי את עצמנו,<br />
יהודים בארץ ישראל שנושאים קולות קדומים<br />
אבל גם קולות מיוחדים לעצמם ולזמנם.<br />
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וכל הטוב שהתקבץ לכאן,<br />
נוסחי ספרד ואשכנז, פיוטים ממסורות שונות,<br />
ניגוני ארץ ישראל ושירתה.<br />
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קבלת שבת מוסיקלית. שוויונית. מסורתית ומתחדשת.<br />
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Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-15505177265001317882013-05-14T09:00:00.001-07:002013-05-14T09:00:59.688-07:00Shavuot and the Rule of Law<br />
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In the morning, we will meet at Sinai...again. Annually, at sunrise on Shavuot morning, we gather around the world and read the narrative of the giving of The Ten Commandments, the moment of God's Revelation to Israel. We see the thunder and the lightning. Sound becomes visible. Gathered in our own minyanim and kehillot, it is possible to feel the collective power generated by the reading. And when it is over, we tell one another we will meet again next year at Sinai, just as we met there the very first time so many thousands of years ago.<br />
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Beyond the power of the collective gathering, Shavuot is about the power of the rule of law. As much as we are the People of The Book, we are The People of the Rule of Law. In the ancient world, before the exile at the hands of the Romans, we were a sovereign nation. Not only did we have ritual laws for The Temple and for daily life; we had civil law to cover everything from property disputes to supporting the needy. In exile, we lived according to both our own law and the law of the land. Now, we are once again a sovereign nation, a free people in our own land, The State of Israel. And once again, we toil with the challenges of being a Jewish civil society based on the rule of law. Who decides the law? Which interpretation is authoritative? When Divine and Civil law conflict, how do we decide which framework and law takes precedence.<br />
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This past week, we saw the power of the rule of law in a democratic society in all its glory. On Rosh Hodesh, this past Friday, Women of the Wall gathered as they always do to celebrate the arrival of the new month, with a service on the women's side of the mehitza. In the past, women wearing tallitot was against the law, against the "commonly accepted" practice. Until this Rosh Hodesh, the police enforced the law and Women of the Wall broke the law. The police arrested them. Forget for a moment that these women were simply coming to pray, to sing the Divine Name aloud, at the Western Wall, the Kotel, the symbol of the return of the Jewish People to sovereignty. Their goal was not important. There was a law. Women of the Wall violated that law and bore the consequences: Interrogation and arrest. This time, however, the situation was flipped. Why? Because of the rule of law.<br />
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After the last gathering on Rosh Hodesh, the police went a step further than they usually do. They took the arrested women to court, fully expecting to win. After all, Women of the Wall violated the law as clarified by The Israeli Supreme Court. To their surprise and to the surprise of everyone, the outcome was different. Judge Sobel ruled that the women were not in violation of the law, that there acts were not provocative, and there was no reason for their arrest. Moreover, Judge Sobel ruled that it was the Ultra-Orthodox who created conditions that led to violence. The law changed, plain and simple. Instantaneously, Women of the Wall, tallitot and all, were no longer scofflaws. They were to be protected by the police against those who would do them violence. The aggressor, previously viewed as the victim, could no longer claim that the women deserved to be harassed.<br />
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The rule of law meant that this time, this Rosh Hodesh, the police protected the Women of the Wall, fought of throngs of Ultra-Orthodox males hurling insults at the women. There were arrests, police cordons to protect the group, as it was surrounded by Haredi males screaming and young Haredi girls clogging the women's section so Women of the Wall could not gain access to the Kotel itself. But, the rule of law, the cornerstone of a democratic society, held. The women were now within the bounds of the law and the police protected them. After years and years of tension between WoW and the police, the situation changed in an instant.<br />
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Tomorrow, we will celebrate the Revelation, the Covenantal relationship between Israel and God, and we will celebrate the rule of law. For thousands of years, we prayed for our return to Israel, to sovereignty, to control over our destiny. And last week proved the power of being a free, civil, democratic society in our own land, in Israel. The rule of law prevailed. May it do so again, and again, and again.<br />
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Hag Sameach.<br />
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Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-18764406565106259012013-04-12T06:25:00.000-07:002013-04-12T06:25:29.086-07:00Jewish Pluralism: Alive and Well in Jerusalem.<br />
With all the negativity about pluralism in Israel these days, it is easy to develop a picture that is wholly pessimistic. There is no question that on the governmental level, restrictions on Jewish choice exist here. Yet, as one sided-as the governmental religious establishment is in Israel, so too is the exclusively negative picture of Israel we are most often presented with by the press on this subject. <br />
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Take this past Tuesday, for example. In just a few hours, I visited a Bet Midrash for young Masorti Jews in Jerusalem, attended a concert devoted to the subject of supporting a modern, Democratic Israel and met a group of Taiwanese Christians here on the second half of their March of the Living Trip. I also spent time at a meeting of the Tnuat Yerushalmim - The Jerusalem Movement - devoted to strengthening and preserving Jerusalem as the capital for all Jews. Incredibly, all five groups were meeting at the same place at the same time. Pluralism is alive and well here on the non-governmental level! <br />
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The concert, titled "Sacred Rights, Sacred Song" and created by my friend Fran Gordon, took place at Moreshet Yisrael, the Conservative Synagogue in downtown Jerusalem. Fran, and those who worked with her, created the piece out of a desire to support Israel's democracy by calling to the forefront the importance of maintaining Israel in general and Jerusalem specifically as the homeland and capital city of all Jews. The affiliation of the synagogue did not prevent both Orthodox and Secular Jews from attending. The material, challenging much of the status quo on religious issues, did not prevent Secular or Orthodox Jews from attending. The fact that councilwoman Rachel Azaria's Yerushalmim Movement was meeting on the campus at the same time did not prevent people who might disagree with the party's platform from attending the concert.<br />
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In the bet midrash, a large group twenty-something Israelis, joined together for a weekly learning session. They came to study with Tomer Persico, an expert on the study of New Age Religion, Neo-Hasidism and other Jewish, New Age variations. I was only able to stay for a few minutes before running to the concert but I could feel the great energy and anticipation in the room.<br />
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The dining room at The Fuchsberg Center was full. Members of a group of Israeli educators spending the day on professional development dined among a group of Taiwanese Christians in Israel for the second half of March of the Living, having learned about the Shoah while in Poland the previous week. They were joined by a group of young German Christians, also here on a mission of some sort. One room, three groups. Jews and non-Jews dining together in the heart of Jerusalem in the Jewish State. Wow! What's next? Lions lying down next to lambs?!<br />
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After the concert ended, I joined Yerushalmim: For a Vibrant, Pluralistic Jerusalem. According to their website, Yerushalmim focuses on two main issues and is unique because:<br />
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"The struggle against religious extremism and gender segregation and promoting the status of young families in Jerusalem...We are the only organization uniting secular, Conservative, Reform and Orthodox volunteers who share a passion for diversity and pluralism in Jerusalem and...have developed strong friendships and working relationships with both the city council and the Jerusalem mayor’s office, and are thus better able to turn our ideas into urban reality." <br />
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Again, wow! Just Wow!<br />
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I went to the group discussing our new home neighborhood, Baka. Sitting in a circle, ten of us discussed everything from parking and traffic problems in the neighborhood to whether or not the Israeli equivalent of a neighborhood JCC, called a Matnas Kehillati, should be open for family activities on Shabbat, to insuring that improvements to Jewish sections of neighborhoods extend to the Arab sections as well. As the meetings broke up, I looked around and saw men with large kippot, crocheted kippot and no kippot. I saw women wearing traditional Orthodox head coverings, no head coverings and wearing skirts and women wearing the latest in secular fashion. And, rather than sticking with their own, they were all talking with one another. I left the Center exhausted and reassured that the Zionist ethos of a State for ALL Jews is alive and well among the citizens of Israel.<br />
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Look beyond the focus on the negative in the media, on the hegemony of the Ultra-Orthodox over all things governmentally religious, on the discord, and you will find incredible partnerships developing in Jerusalem between Secular and Religious, denominations and independents.<br />
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You will see a beautiful Jerusalem tapestry of varying perspectives meeting, learning together and valuing one another. <br />
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Finally, because of the ever growing number of individuals and organizations committed to realizing Ben Gurion's dream of a State for All the Jews, as articulated in the Declaration of Independence, we will ultimately see and be part of a stronger, officially pluralistic Israel for all of us sooner and, I believe, in our day.<br />
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Shabbat Shalom.<br />
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Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-84641326292012570432013-02-22T15:10:00.000-08:002013-02-22T15:10:07.824-08:00Zakhor - Remembering and Doing<b id="internal-source-marker_0.9383080871775746"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the beauties of reading and rereading Torah is how our understanding of specific narratives, laws and even sentences or words can change annually. Take this Shabbat, the one immediately preceding Purim, for example. Known as Shabbat Zakhor, we read a special Maftir Aliyah, one that reminds of what the Amalekites did to our ancestors as they wandered in the desert. They did not confront Israel from the front where, presumably, they were strongest. According to Torah, Amalek came from behind, killing those who moved slowest, who were most vulnerable. As a result, Amalek becomes the paradigmatic enemy of the Israelites and of Am Yisrael throughout history. The end of the special maftir this Shabbat commands us to wipe out the memory of Amalek from beneath Heaven. In wiping them out, we are also commanded to commit them to our eternal memory. What does it mean to blot out the memory of Amalek? To not forget? How is it possible to wipe out all memory and to remember at the same time? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rashi understands our maftir literally: We are to eliminate any and all evidence of the Amalekites existence: the humans, the property and even the animals. Rashi’s reading is based on Samuel where King Saul ultimately loses his throne to David due to his failure to carry out God’s instruction. Saul leaves the King of Amalek alive and the people to keep the animals, purportedly to make offerings to God. There is something visceral both about the original text in Torah and in Rashi’s explanation. Our modern mindset rejects the active, physical, complete nature of this understanding.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have to admit: there were times when my own discomfort with literalness of the command to eliminate Amalek gave way to a desire to see the haters of Israel and the Jewish People disappear ,in a very real way. Sitting in a “sealed” room during the First Gulf War, wearing my gas mask, knowing there were people around the world dancing on their rooftops in celebration of our being attacked, part of me wanted them to be blotted out, to be erased. And, frankly, there is a part of me that always remembers that feeling. Even though reason gives way, my modern sensibility prevails and my humanity returns, hatred breeds hatred and there is a little part of me that wonders what would have happened if Amalek really was completely wiped out long ago.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ramban and the Pesikta Rabbati, however, can be interpreted to read the passage figuratively. If the literal reading of the text is one of vengeance and murder, the figurative approach lets us consider what Amalek represents: the impulse to hate, to take advantage of the weak, the forgotten, the easy target. It also demands us to act in opposition to Amalek: To love Humanity, to sanctify God’s Name in this world, to care for the widow, the orphan, the stranger. Defeating hatred and evil required greater emphasis on love, on understanding, on communicating, on building. Ramban argues that as long as Amalek is present in the world, God’s name and God’s Holy Seat remain incomplete. Obviously, once Amalek disappears from the world, the unification of God’s Name and Seat in this world are completed. That time is what we call The Messianic Era, the time of Eternal World Peace. The question is:what are each of us doing to bring about this Era?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This week, I sat in Jerusalem with an exceptional Rabbi who suggested we start a Gemach, A Loving-Kindness Fund, together, one that will bring something real, something good, to individuals who need it. On my next trip, we are going to choose an area not currently being taken care of, a population not being cared for, and start collecting so we can help. One possibility, based on models of Gemachim in Israel that collect wedding dresses for brides who cannot afford them and projects in the US that collect prom dresses for girls who cannot afford them, is to collect bat mitzvah and bridesmaid dresses and make them available to those in need. It is small but concrete and is the anti-Amalek: it supports those in need rather than taking advantage of them. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Shabbat, as we hear the words of the Maftir of Zakhor, we must take time to think, in very concrete terms, about what we are doing to be the antithesis of Amalek. What are we doing to increase good in the world? What are we doing to support those who fall through the cracks, who fall behind, who are attacked for no other reason than they are weak and forgotten? And how can we do more? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As soon as the focus of our Gemach is determined, I hope you will join us in the effort. I hope you will be inspired, as I was this week, by my friend, colleague and teacher, Rabbah Tamar Elad Applebaum, who suggested the idea of a joint-Gemach. Similarly, I hope you will be inspired by my teacher, Danny Siegel, to find ways you can be the anti-Amalek and contribute to bringing about the completion of God’s Honored Throne in this world. Finally, please share with me your own projects so I can spread the word and invite others to join you. In so doing, we will all eliminate the memory of Amalek - of hatred, of suffering, of advantage-taking - and eternally remember the needs to bring more love and humanity into God’s Divine creation.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shabbat Shalom.</span></b>Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-36618105452843697212013-02-01T14:49:00.002-08:002013-02-01T14:49:18.342-08:00This I believe...<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Emerging leaders often have to learn that it is far more impressive to communicate complex ideas in easy to understand language than it is to communicate simple ideas in complex jargon. “Jargonization” is so deeply ingrained in some fields and people that it is virtually impossible to make any sense of their written or spoken strings of buzzwords and catchphrases, all connected by confusing sentence structures. We need a return to simplicity.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The power of simplicity lies in its ability to unmask complexities, to reveal meaning that might otherwise be missed in a sea of difficult words, long passages and obfuscation. At the same time, “Simplicities are enormously complex. Consider the sentence "I love you," as Richard O. Moore reminds us in, <i>Writing the Silences. </i>Just as simplicity can unmask complexities, it can just as easily<i> </i>hide them.<i> </i>Nowhere is this more evident in The Torah than in Parashat Yitro, which contains the עשרת הדברות, The Ten Commandments. In this singular passage, we experience the power and challenge of both simplicity and complexity.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We encounter the challenge of complexity at the start of Exodus Chapter 20. What does עשרת הדברות actually mean? In most places, these ten things are translated as “The Ten Commandments.” The word dibrot , however, comes from the root daber or “say.” Are these ten “commandments,” or “sayings,” or “core beliefs”? From here, meaning gets more complicated as the first five “sayings” are longer, contain more information and are more complex. The last five “commandments,” however, are models of simplicity. Don’t do x. Don’t do y. Yet, these models of simplicity are also incredibly complex. Simply stated? Yes. Simplistic? Definitely not. Why? Because the Torah understands that we need to start somewhere. We need an easy to understand beginning before we dive into the complexities of law and belief.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All the way to today, the עשרת הדברות, these ten utterances, serve as a model for belief statements. Look at most lists of core values and you will see just a few words in bold, followed by paragraphs explicating the meaning of those values. The phrases are the starting point. The paragraphs are the “next conversation.” If they are truly core and practiced, any member of the staff in an organization is able to recite the short, bolded, value phrases. They are recited so easily because they are embodied in the lives and rhythms of the individual and the community, the volunteer and the organization, the employee and the company. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For decades, we, Conservative Jews and institutions, have found it hard to articulate a definition of our unique approach of Judaism in short, easy to understand phrases. On the one hand, we gave people the catchphrase “Tradition and Change.” It fit on a bumper sticker but was not enough to convey meaning. On the other hand, we gave them books: from the brief <i>Emet Ve’Emunah</i> to the recent volume, <i>The Observant Life</i>. A motivated person can devote a few hours to a few weeks to read about Conservative Judaism. For many if not most, however, these works are too overwhelming a starting point for conversation or exploration. We can’t put a book in someone’s hands and say, “Read this and we can talk next week” and expect to see them again just as we cannot we give a person a one or two word answer and expect it to mean much of anything to them. We still lack a brief, simple response to the person who wants to know what we are all about.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To insure the future of our stream of Judaism, we need an answer to the question “What is Conservative Judaism?” that is as beautiful in its simplicity as it is brief. Because I believe this to be crucial, and because I want to initiate a public conversation on the topic, I propose the following:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Conservative Judaism is</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Deeply spiritual;</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Richly intellectual;</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Soulfully engaged in repairing the world;</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Passionately egalitarian; and</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Avidly Zionist,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">all deeply anchored in The Covenant and expressed through living and learning Torah and Mitzvot. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This is not an exhaustive list. It is not meant to be; rather, I hope many others will suggest additions and subtractions. Most of all, I hope people, colleagues and friends and as of yet unknown voices, will join this conversation leading to a recognized and accepted communal answer.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We stand for important, dynamic Jewish living and Jewish values. If we start the conversation with an answer that is memorable, beautiful, powerful and simple, people will be interested in hearing more, in learning more and in doing more. If every organization in the Movement articulates the same brief answer, we build a far more powerful voice than when we have we have too simple an answer, too long an answer or, most dangerous, no answer at all. Finally, if we can communicate this in a unified, passionate voice, we will succeed in starting deeper, more transformational conversations with individual Jews who, interest now piqued, will make the next appointment, join the conversation, take the next step on their personal Jewish journey. That next step leads to stronger communities and a stronger Jewish People.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This Shabbat, we will imitate our ancestors as they stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai. We will reenact the moment of Divine Revelation. We will try to feel the power of the Heavenly voice dictating to Moses the foundational principles of The Covenant. We will experience the dynamic power and challenge of simplicity and complexity. I hope we will consider our own <i>Ani Ma’amin’s</i>, “I Believe...” statements. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Finally, I hope that in the near future, we will arrive at a collective, jargon-free, simple, powerful answer to the question, “What is Conservative Judaism?” Without a collective answer to that question, I fear for our long-term future. With a collective answer, we can all look forward to a bright destiny full of international impact on people, communities and countries. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Shabbat Shalom.</span></div>
Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-70716182976562980762012-12-28T05:20:00.001-08:002012-12-28T05:21:28.394-08:00Rock, Pluralism, Blessings and Jerusalem!<br />
There is no question that the picture painted about Israel in the press today is not pretty. Nurses went on strike to force the government to increase what are embarrassingly low wages. Only a last minute action by the Knesset prevented the shutting down of Channel 10, a noteworthy critic of the current Prime Minister. The man slotted for the number two spot on the "Likud - Yisrael Beiteinu" list was indicted by the attorney general for breach of communal trust. The neighborhood, also known as the Middle East, gets nastier and more unstable every day. And let's not forget about the daily announcements of the Chief Rabbinate trying to impose the opinions of the very few on the entire country. It all sounds so bleak.<br />
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Yet, this is not the full picture of today's Israel. It leaves out important discoveries in the fields of medicine and technology. It fails to include the rich cultural events that are woven into the daily life of jerusalem. It neglects the wide variety of social entrepreneurial ventures popping up on a constant basis, the beautification projects making Jerusalem a more livable and lovely place and the sounds of multiple religious traditions co-existing in the most sacred of cities. Finally, the journalistic approach of publishing only the darkest narratives neglects the incredible projects related to התחדשות היהדות - the reinvigoration of Judaism - taking place all over Jerusalem and Israel. Here is an example of what I am talking about.<br />
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I spent Sunday night at The Yellow Submarine, a music club in the Talpiyot Shopping District, to listen to a group of rock bands. Surprised? Rabbi Sykes went to a what?A rock concert? After all, rock is not my musical genre. I am not one to frequent concerts or rock clubs. I am definitely not the "clubbing" type. This, however, was not an ordinary battle of the bands. The musicians were all teenagers and the bands were a mix of religious and secular, Ashkenazi and Sefaradi, socially comfortable and socially akward teens. They were participants in "Meko-Rock Jerusalem" - a project of Bet Midrash Elul, the pluralistic bet midrash in Jerusalem and the founders of Merko-Rock, a project started in a place called Emek Chefer, by David Levy.<br />
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Meko-rock is a play on the Hebrew word, Mekorot or sources. The concept is simple and beautiful. Meko-Rock brings together teens of different backgrounds on a weekly basis, for three to four months, to study Jewish sources. These teen musicians create study groups that become bands. They choose sources from the Bible, Rabbinic literature and other Jewish texts which become the inspiration for writing rock music. Just as the teens have excellent facilitators to help guide them through exploration of Jewish texts, they also work with top notch musicians who help take their source-based inspiration and create inspired rock music. I am not talking about taking "Oseh Shalom biMromav" and writing a new tune to replace the one we know; rather, by learning about different faces of Peace, participants may look at their lives, their angst and where they lack Peace. Their exploration becomes lyrics and music and performance techniques. <br />
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I was blown away by the music, by the depth of learning and the depth of the material created. It was exceptional. The bands were fun to watch, the participants were all very talented and were totally into it! The audience, made up of parents and friends, supporters and funders, was equalling inspired. Roni Yavin, the power house professional leader of Bet Midrash Elul, understood the potential of this program to touch the lives of all points on the religious spectrum. For teens on the "religious" end of the spectrum, the project allows for the re-examination of familiar texts, for the extraction of different life lessons, for exposure to perspectives different than their own and for the expression of identity through music. For the more "secular" participants, Meko-Rock creates the space to encounter a part of Jewish heritage often denied them by secular educational institution and increasingly Haredi off-putting. Perhaps most important of all, teenagers progress through this encounter together, breaking down barriers between the different sectors of Israeli society.<br />
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Meko-Rock is but one of many similar examples of efforts to bridge the gap between "religious" and "secular" Jews of every age and stage. The התחדשות movement is a reaction to the trend toward התחרדות or Haredization of Jerusalem and the government. Meko-Rock, Bet Midrash Elul, The Jerusalem Movement, The Masorti Movement and other organizations - religious, pluralist, denominational and not - are working together, bridging gaps, and insuring that Jerusalem remains the creative, religious capital of the entire Jewish people. <br />
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The pluralist, open approach to Judaism being taken by the above mentioned groups is the embodiment of the blessings given in VaYechi, the final portion of the book of Genesis. The children of Jacob are not given just one collective blessing; rather, they are given an individual blessing. They are a family and are blessed and they are recognized as individual components of the family and blessed. The התחדשות or reinvigoration approach to Jewish Jerusalem acknowledges that Jerusalem is both collectively and individually ours. That is something to celebrate!<br />
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Thank you to Roni Yavin for introducing me to Bet Midrash Elul and to Meck-Rock and thank you for the work that you do on behalf of the Jewish People. Your work is definitely avodat kodesh - sacred work - and it brings to life the sentence we will all shout at the end of the Torah reading this week:<br />
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חזק חזק ונתחזק!<br />
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Be Strong! Be Strong! And together, we will be strengthened!<br />
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Shabbat Shalom!<br />
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<br />Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-41308070822553102662012-12-14T05:17:00.001-08:002012-12-14T05:19:29.175-08:00Partners in Adding Light in the Winter<br />
My flight from JFK to Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv was fascinating. As usual, the plane was packed. Half the plane was filled with Birthright participants while the rest of the 747 was filled by a mix of secular, religious and ultra-Orthodox Israelis and Americans, as well as a number of Christian pilgrims. I settled into my seat expecting to fall asleep when the person next to me struck up a conversation. This was her first trip to Israel and she was SO excited. She had traveled to much of the world but this was the trip she was most excited about. A Christian pilgrim, she was traveling with a group of widows and widowers to The Holy Land to play the harp at the gates of Jerusalem and to meet their counterparts, Jewish Israeli widows and widowers. While keeping me up with conversation during the flight would normally annoy me, the energy of this group was so delightful that I wasn't bothered.<br />
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Listening their excitement about coming to Israel for the first time, their hope to bring love and joy to Israel, without any intention of proselytizing or changing anyone, of bringing light to those who often live in darkness got me thinking about others who do the same at this season of the year. Reviewing my e-mail, I came across a note from just such a person. Beth Steinberg, a friend we made during our sabbatical in Israel, is one of the bright lights in the Israeli winter. After not finding programs that met the needs of her son with special needs, Beth, together with Maya Avraham, created Shutaf, partner in Hebrew, to provide after school inclusion programs for her son and others like him. Since starting the program in 2007, Shutaf now includes summer camps, winter camps and leadership programs, touching hundred of lives. <br />
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According to their mission statement, Shutaf<br />
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<i>for children and teens with special needs is committed to inclusion-based programming that answers the social, educational and vocational needs of our community. We believe in quality services for all, regardless of disability, financial limitations and religious differences. Our program creates new opportunities for children and teens – with and without disabilities – to come together and learn important Jewish values of acceptance and understanding.</i><br />
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To that end, the Shutaf summer camp and other programs intentionally seeks a mix of participants where 75% are children with special needs and at least 25% are "typical" kids. Both those who are "typical" and those with "special needs" learn from experience the centrality of Jewish values of acceptance, understanding and inclusion. For families with children with special needs, for the kids themselves, for the typical kids and their families as well, Shutaf shines a light on possibilities, possibilities for a more inclusive and supportive world.<br />
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Shabbat is a few hours away. The Jerusalem skies alternate between sunshine and overcast. Soon, the gray will turn to darkness, deep winter darkness, illuminated only by the streetlights, Shabbat candles and Channukiot. And the light will grow by the energy, joy, and goodness that Beth and Maya and others like them add to the world. <br />
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And who knows, maybe I will even hear some harp music in the distance...<br />
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Shabbat Shalom, Rosh Hodesh Sameach and Happy Hannukah.<br />
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For more information about Shutaf, visit their website at: http://www.campshutaf.org/about/mission/<br />
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<br />Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-34116774924454909672012-11-30T09:40:00.000-08:002012-11-30T09:40:30.498-08:00Humanity in 140 Characters or Less
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Glued to the television, I watched news
coverage of the battles in Gaza.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">
</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Exhausted from eighteen hours of return travel from a month in Israel, I
grew increasingly frustrated by what I felt was bias in CNN’s coverage of the
situation.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I watched as anchorpeople
tolerated long-winded tirades by representatives of the Palestinian Authority
without interruption or challenge to any points raised.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">At the same time, they had no problem
interrupting Israeli government officials or IDF spokespeople.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">As night melted into day, my frustration heated
up as I thought about my friends in Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and Beersheva living under
a constant barrage of Hamas missiles intentionally aimed at civilians.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Anderson Cooper of CNN broke in to the coverage
to report from a rooftop in Gaza that at least one person was shot dead and
dragged through the streets behind a motorcycle. Cooper reported that Hamas men on motorcycles
were shouting, “God is Great” and that the man was a spy for Israel. I could not believe my ears. Perhaps I was so tired I missed his using the
term “alleged,” but the first time I heard the report I was certain he stated categorically
that the dead man was a spy for Israel.
Exasperated, I tweeted:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/Rabbi_Sykes"><b><span style="color: #333333;">Rabbi
Loren Sykes</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> </span><s><span style="color: #bbbbbb; font-size: 9.0pt;">@</span></s><span style="color: #999999; font-size: 9.0pt;">Rabbi_Sykes</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May just stop watching <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23CNN&src=hash"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">#</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">CNN</span></a>.
Now <a href="https://twitter.com/andersoncooper"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">andersoncooper</span></a> almost
apologizing for <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Hamas&src=hash"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">#</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">Hamas</span></a> dragging
a dead "Spy" for <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Israel&src=hash"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">#</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">Israel</span></a> &
yelling God is great! Oy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I was shocked to discover that while standing
on a Gaza rooftop, missiles flying toward my friends while IDF missiles struck
military targets in Gaza, Anderson Cooper had time to read my tweet and, more
surprising, had time to respond:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: whitesmoke; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/andersoncooper"><b><span style="color: #333333;">Anderson
Cooper</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> </span><s><span style="color: #bbbbbb; font-size: 9.0pt;">@</span></s><span style="color: #999999; font-size: 9.0pt;">andersoncooper</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: whitesmoke; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<a href="https://twitter.com/Rabbi_Sykes"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">Rabbi_Sykes</span></a> excuse
me, but how am I apologizing for Hamas by reporting them dragging a body
through the streets? That is deeply offensive<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I took a few moments to let Mr. Cooper’s
message sink in: Was I oversensitive to
his reporting? <b><i>Was</i></b> his tone apologetic
toward Hamas? Did he leave out the word
“alleged” with the word spy? What was it
that set me off and why did I use the term “apologizing?” In retrospect, Mr. Cooper was right. He was not apologizing for Hamas. He was reporting what he saw and heard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I was, however, bothered by Mr. Cooper leaving
out the term “alleged,” and by his not just referring to the victim as a human
being. Reporting what Hamas members yelled about the murdered man while dragging his body behind a motorcycle was,
in my opinion, unnecessary. I tweeted again:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/Rabbi_Sykes"><b><span style="color: #333333;">Rabbi
Loren Sykes</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> </span><s><span style="color: #bbbbbb; font-size: 9.0pt;">@</span></s><span style="color: #999999; font-size: 9.0pt;">Rabbi_Sykes</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/andersoncooper"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">andersoncooper</span></a> In
this case, you are correct. "Apologizing" is an unfair term. My
apologies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">And:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/Rabbi_Sykes"><b><span style="color: #333333;">Rabbi
Loren Sykes</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> </span><s><span style="color: #bbbbbb; font-size: 9.0pt;">@</span></s><span style="color: #999999; font-size: 9.0pt;">Rabbi_Sykes</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F6F6F6; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/andersoncooper"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">andersoncooper</span></a> At
same time, you know words matter. Your peers note victims were alleged spies.
Makes a difference. Murdered nonetheless<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I did not hear from Anderson Cooper again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">What happened next shocked me as much as
getting a response from Anderson Cooper in the first place. I was unaware that Mr. Cooper has a penchant for responding, at times harshly, to tweets from certain people. Moreover, I did not know that there were stories about this circulating on websites throughout the blogosphere. Looking at his response to me,I did not think it was harsh. It was direct. It
actually made me reconsider what I had written.
However, Mr. Cooper’s fan base went ballistic. I experienced a Twitter fusillade: over two
hundred responses in just under a few minutes.
They ranged from the polite:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/Rabbi_Sykes"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">Rabbi_Sykes</span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/andersoncooper"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">andersoncooper</span></a> There was nothing said
that suggests he's a Hamas apologist. It was a neutral statement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">To the insulting:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: whitesmoke; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/Rabbi_Sykes"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">Rabbi_Sykes</span></a> where
the hell do u get off?!? @andersoncooperis one of the bet reporters ever! You
need to just shut up!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">To the offensive:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/andersoncooper"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">andersoncooper</span></a> I
think its becoz u appear 2refer 2 Palestinians as humans- 4people like <a href="https://twitter.com/Rabbi_Sykes"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">Rabbi_Sykes</span></a> they r subspecies &
deserve 2die <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gaza&src=hash"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">#</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">Gaza</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">And hateful:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: whitesmoke; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://twitter.com/andersoncooper"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">andersoncooper</span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Rabbi_Sykes"><s><span style="color: #bec98e;">@</span></s><span style="color: #93a644;">Rabbi_Sykes</span></a> If this guy was a cause in
killing my children, brothers and sisters and destroying my home I'd do the
same!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">In reflecting on my brief twitter encounter
with Anderson Cooper, I distilled a few rules to live by. I refer to them as <b><i>The
Sykes Rules for Tweeting in General and Tweeting on Hot Topics with Celebrities</i></b>. Sharing them is a helpful reminder to me and
I offer them in case of interest or need. There is no great wisdom here, just personal
learning:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><i>1. Never
Tweet when tired and/or angry.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I am a careful listener but maybe I did miss something this time. I am, however,
certain that I was both tired from the travel and angry about the coverage of the
situation in general. I should not have
sent the tweet. I should have written
it, gotten it out of my system and then deleted it; or, I should have been just a little more thoughtful about the message I wanted to send to Anderson Cooper and CNN.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><i>2. Discretion is the better part of valor.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">It is difficult to make a nuanced statement on
a complex topic like the situation in Gaza in 140 characters or less. In the world of social media, a Facebook
status can be a more appropriate place to share a thought or feeling, as it can
be more detailed and complete.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><i>3. Remember, almost nobody reads past the second
tweet in a conversation.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Looking over the twitter feed, it is clear that
most people jumped from Mr. Cooper’s response to their own thoughts or the
thoughts of others. Very few actually
noted that I <b>DID</b> apologize to Anderson Cooper.
Most either jumped directly onto the Anderson Cooper support bandwagon
or onto the hateful, anti-Semitic bandwagon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Moreover, my first tweet was included in
articles on websites that I would never want to appear in, such as Perez Hilton
to cite just one example, and they clearly never read past the initial exchange
either (Rebecca said I’m lucky he didn’t include my photo with his visual
commentary), which leads me to the next rule:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><i>4. Once you put your thoughts out there, you have
NO control over what happens to them, how they are understood or where they end
up. Post responsibly and let it go.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><i>5. If you make a mistake, apologize publicly.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Despite rule #3, if you are wrong, even
slightly, take responsibility and do the right thing: apologize.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><i>6. Don’t bother engaging with “true believers.” They will not hear you.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The responses from Hamas apologists,
anti-Semites, haters of Israel were numerous. I engaged with a few of
them. One wanted to argue about
whether or not I thought God was great, as I indicated a problem believing that
a great God would want any person shot in the head and dragged through the
streets behind a motorcycle. He had a
hard time with that. One or two tweets in, I remembered: there is no convincing
a “true believer” to think differently. I was wasting my time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><i>7. Do engage with people that respond in a civil,
thoughtful fashion.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I now follow one aspiring journalist who
pointed out the absence of any apology in Mr. Cooper’s broadcast in a polite
and thoughtful way; one friend of Israel who was being pushed by a supposed
“expert” in bullying to avoid engaging with me because I was “bullying”
Anderson Cooper; and one person who wants to visit Israel but is scared because
of the constant turmoil in the Middle East, to name just a few.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><i>8. Remember, it doesn’t cost anything extra to be
polite and nice.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I was bombarded with tweets from people who
were just nasty and made assumptions about my beliefs and about me. In the limited number of cases where I did
engage, I did so in a polite and civil way so I could go to sleep at night,
secure in the knowledge that I behaved like a mensch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><i>9. Don’t let rule #3 or #4 prevent you from holding
journalists accountable for their words.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I never heard back from
Anderson Cooper. I did, however, watch
his broadcast following our twitter exchange.
In the next segment, when showing the horrific video footage of the poor
guy shot in the head and dragged through the streets, Anderson Cooper did state
that the Hamas terrorists were chanting “God is Great” and that the man was “alleged”
to be a spy. He was horrified and disgusted. In the end, Mr. Cooper was
right to call me out. At the same time, I could not help but feel that I made a
small difference in how the story was reported the second time around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b>At the end of the day,
however, the twitter conversation is beside the point.</b> Sadly, the man dragged behind the
motorcycle is still dead, murdered brutally by Hamas. A human being, he was deprived of any due process, any rights, any dignity. His family and friends buried him. They mourn his death. Others in Gaza are once again reminded by Hamas: this can happen to you, for any
reason, at any time, just because we can. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">And the world saw the
brutality that is Hamas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Unfortunately, I fear, not enough people are willing to pay attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">May we all work hard to
achieve Peace soon and in our day!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Shabbat Shalom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-8524889786676149902012-11-16T05:12:00.001-08:002012-11-16T05:12:42.786-08:00Taking Back the "Z" Word!<br />
With tensions escalating throughout the region, with increasing numbers of citizens living under the threat of missile attacks, it is not surprising that an important date in modern Jewish and Israeli history passed by this week virtually unnoticed. On November 11, 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed the infamous Resolution 3379 declaring that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination." While the UN revoked the resolution in 1991 after the first Gulf War as an enticement to gain Israel's involvement in the Madrid Peace Conference, General Assembly Resolution 4686 could not undue the damage already done. The revocation, while symbolically important, was irrelevant in practice. The basis for today's efforts to delegitimize Israel were sown and given legitimacy by the UN with the 1975 resolution. The term "Zionism" became anathema, the equivalent of the actually repugnant "N" word. <br />
<br />
The 1975 UN resolution initiated a process whereby individuals, countries and terrorist groups co-opted Zionism for their own purposes, turning it into the "Z" word. To make matters worse, by preceding the "Z" word with the modifier, "Anti," they gave themselves cover from accusations of anti-Semitism. "We don't hate individual Jews; rather, we are just opposed to Israel." The far left throughout the world, the Jewish world included, took ownership of Zionism, turned it into the "Z" word and claimed that those who were Zionists were, by definition, racists, discriminators and murderers. <br />
<br />
Worse still, as the far left claimed the "Z" term with greater and greater passion, many in the organized Jewish world distanced themselves from using the word Zionism. Sadly, that distancing continues today. The result is the strengthening of radical BDS groups who revel in our embarrassment while, at the same time, strengthening the true racists and murderous terror organizations and the regimes, past, present and emerging, that support them. Terms such as "pro-Israel" and phrases such as "support Israel" are wonderful. At the same time, I believe they represent reactions to the co-opting of the word Zionism by those who hate Israel, who seek to delegitimate it and to destroy it. "Pro-Israel" is clearly a reaction to "Anti-Israel."<br />
<br />
The time has come for a new strategy, one that is proactive rather than reactive.<br />
<br />
Instead of distancing ourselves from Zionism, we must reclaim the word and celebrate it anywhere and everywhere. While definitions abound, we must make clear that the meaning of the term Zionism is "the certain knowledge of the right of the Jewish People to a safe, sovereign State in our ancient and ancestral homeland." We must cease arguing the legitimacy of this right with those who seek to delegitimate Zionism, Zionists and The State of Israel. Engaging in such argument is a waste of time as it simply legitimates the ability to raise the question of our right, a right that is as inalienable as it is ancient. When others try to embarrass us by turning Zionism into the abhorrent "Z" word, we cannot not run and hide. Our response must be clear, full-throated and unbending: Those who deny the fact of the "the right of the Jewish People to a safe, sovereign State in our ancient and ancestral homeland" are the racists, the spreaders of hatred, the hypocrites. One can accept the fact of this right and still be critical of or have a problem with specific policies. One cannot, however, be a denier of the fact of Israel and expect to be invited to join, be part of or initiate conversations that seeks to solve those problems by eliminating that fact.<br />
<br />
Being "pro-Israel" or "supporting Israel" is important. We need as many people as possible to side with Israel, to support her, to love her. What we need even more, however, is for everyone who knows with certainty the fact of "the right of the Jewish People to a safe, sovereign State in our ancient and ancestral homeland," everyone throughout the world - Jews and non-Jews alike - to take back the "Z" word from those among our detractors who seek to destroy Israel. We must remove any sense of shame that others may give to it, shouting loudly to the world in a strong, clear voice that the "right of the Jewish People to a safe, sovereign State in our ancient and ancestral homeland" is a non-negotiable fact. <br />
<br />
While over one million Israeli citizens need to be close enough to protected shelters to avoid death by missiles shot with the intention of killing civilians, while thousands of missiles have been shot from Gaza into Israel on a near daily basis over the past few year, reclaiming our 2,000 year old dream, "being a free people in the Land of Zion and Jerusalem," from those who seek to destroy us, seems to me to be the least we can do.<br />
<br />
Shabbat Shalom.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-84369019560887654042012-11-09T05:55:00.000-08:002012-11-09T05:55:09.407-08:00MASA and The Jewish Future<br />
The music was so loud I felt the bass pounding in my chest. The crowd, having spent much of the first hour of the evening seated, leapt to their feet, raised their hands, clapped and moved toward the stage. Idan Reichel, legendary musician, and his "Project" took the stage, replacing the speakers, dancers and videos, and the room rose to a different level of life. I was not the intended audience for the evening nor were the scores of donors and representatives sitting nearby in the VIP section of Binyanei Ha'Umah in Jerusalem. This was MASA Fest, the grand opening event of the year for participants on long-term Israel programs. This show was for the students.<br />
<br />
Despite my feelings of aging (and awareness of increasing amounts of gray hair), I too was energized by the event. One of the heroes of my teen years, Natan Sharansky spoke about the importance of Jewish identity and exploration MASA participants could experience this year. Videos of the emcees were inspiring and included a participant from NATIV, our excellent gap year program, as well as one of my former campers at Ramah Darom. The message MASA participant emcees sent was one of diversity, joy and Jewish hope. The hall shook with cheers from programs and participants of all kinds: multiple languages, ages ranging from gap-year to post-college, and programs focused on everything from Torah study to high-tech internships. Even the somewhat sappy choreography, with dancers in blue and white, strutting to a mix of Hava Nagila and the theme song to "Dirty Dancing," seemed appropriate during our Zionist pep rally.<br />
<br />
As mentioned earlier, if the first half of the program was an infomercial on Israel, Zionism and MASA programs, the second half was a straightforward rock concert for the enjoyment of the collective MASA community. Idan Reichel's hauntingly beautiful music, a mix of jazz, gospel and Middle Eastern tradition, was a far cry from the Safam and Craig Taubman tunes of my youth. Reichel speaks to the souls of his listeners in a completely different and transformational way than the mix of English and Hebrew music of twenty years ago. It didn't matter that half the room had no idea what the lyrics meant. The performance had a magical way of creating a common community out of a mix of Jews from around the world.<br />
<br />
Reading this week's Torah commentary by Rabbi Haim Amsallem, head of the Am Shalem party, I am reminded that, at the heart, parashat Hayyei Sarah is about leadership transitions. This week, while the US demonstrated the power of the democratic process and peaceful transition of power, the Torah teaches about passing on the torch of leadership. Abraham, coming to the end of his life, passes on the Divine blessing and promise - generations and a homeland - to his son, Isaac. Isaac represents a different kind of leadership than that of Abraham. In a very short time, Isaac too will pass on leadership to Jacob who will encounter a different world and will build his own leadership style. The process that started with Abraham continues in the Jewish world today.<br />
<br />
Watching the MASA participants, I was acutely aware of the start of the leadership transition taking place before my very ideas. The gap year and graduate students in Binyanei Ha'Umah, rocking to the beat of Idan Reichel, will be the next generation with potential to take on the mantle of leadership in the Jewish world. Right now, for the foreseeable future and perhaps for always, however, they are consumers of what we in the Jewish world and in Jewish leadership have to offer them. We have to invest in them, meet them where they are AND move them forward on their path. <br />
<br />
The Jewish world makes this investment in many ways. Birthright Israel is one, and the most attended, example. As a short-term program, it can be a taste of rich, sweet, joyous Jewish involvement and, for a few, that is enough to transform lives. I believe that short-term programs have their greatest impact when they lead participants to long-term programs such as Nativ, the Conservative Yeshiva and the plethora of other excellent, immersive programs. From multiple studies, we know that the greatest transformation, the deepest involvement, and the most soulful commitment to Jewish living, learning and, perhaps, leading comes from those who participate in long-term, immersive, substantial Jewish experiences. This is what leads someone like my friend, Rabbi Todd Berman, to make the case in eJewishphilanthropy that ever larger investment is needed to support MASA programs. I believe this to be true regarding increased funding both for scholarships for participants and operational funds for the providers. <br />
<br />
In my first few weeks on the job as CEO of the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, I am deeply impressed by the future potential of participants in our Conservative Yeshiva and Nativ programs to be the next generation of committed Jews and, perhaps, Jewish leaders. It is clear that the greater the investment in long-term programs like Ramah camping, gap year programs and post-graduate MASA programs, the greater the impact we will have on building lifelong involvement and commitment. Like Isaac to Abraham, these incredible people and their compatriots on countless other MASA programs deserve our best. They also deserve our continued involvement with and investment in them once they finish these programs. Long-term connection with and investment in MASA participants is how we will build a brighter future for the Jewish people, how we will pass on the blessing and promise that started with Abraham, was passed on to Isaac and to every subsequent generation of Jews and how we will attain the vision of an eternally brighter tomorrow.<br />
<br />
Shabbat Shalom.<br />
Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-58010568995719506762012-11-02T06:50:00.000-07:002012-11-02T06:50:52.256-07:00Wearing New Shoes...<br />
From the drive to the food, from the people to the shoes, everything feels different. The world feels different. I feel different. This time, I know I will be back again and again and again, all year long. More than just a visit, this is the beginning of a journey to citizenship, back to the motherland, to the State, Land and People of Israel. What is most amazing though is that I feel the differences the most in the small things. Perhaps my senses are heightened or maybe, just maybe, I am different.<br />
<br />
דוגמא ראשונה:<br />
<br />
The drive from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem in a taxi is one I made a hundred times before. Like Persimmon Road in Clayton, Georgia or Buckatabon Road in Conover, Wisconsin, I can drive this with my eyes closed. On previous trips, I quivered with the anticipation of a tourist. Now, I look forward, excited, with the eyes of a soon to be citizen. Rather than visiting, I feel the pulse of coming to a new home. My taxi driver, Lazer, asks why I am here. I tell him about my new job and our Aliyah in August 2013. Like most Israelis, he wants to know why in the world I am leave America, The Goldeneh Medinah, to come here where everything is so hard. In fact, he tells me that he is thinking that 25 years in Israel, coming from Tajikistan, is enough. He is considering moving to America. By the time I am done with my personal, and perhaps naive, Zionist narrative, he is saying: "Kol HaKavod! Who am I kidding? This is my home. I can't leave." <br />
<br />
דוגמא שניה:<br />
<br />
My Achilles' tendons have been bothering me for months. A visit to an ankle specialist in the US, six months overdue, sends me to a physical therapist. At the end of my visit, she looks at my gym shoes, tells me they are not right and hands me a list of shoes and styles that will be better. She tells me that the more I can walk around barefoot the better. The next best thing, in her opinion, are sandals. <br />
<br />
"Flip flops?" I ask, my arch-enemy as a camp director.<br />
"No! Good sandals." She replies.<br />
"Have you ever heard of Teva, Naot?" I retort, fully prepared for a "no" as the therapist is not a Hebrew speaker, an Israeli, or Jewish for that matter.<br />
"That is exactly what I mean. They form to your feet. Great for your ankles."<br />
<br />
I don't ever recall wearing sandals as regular shoes. In fact, other than wearing them on Shabbat at Ramah Darom making my way down to the pool, I cannot remember wearing sandals at all. I don't even like walking barefoot. Sandals? She might as well demand that I eat okra every day. But, as soon as I got here, I met our friend Zahava for coffee and she accompanied me to buy my first pair of sandals. <br />
<br />
Now, I walk to and from the office more conscious of my gait and posture, trying to stand straighter and look ahead rather than downward. My heightened awareness leads to noticing small things along the way: how the flowers on Emek Refa'im/Keren HaYesod smell different in the fall than in the winter when I usually visit; the Eritrean weddings, replete with elaborate costumes, taking place in the park next to Yemin Moshe on Shabbat Mornings; and even the way my feet feel as they strike the floor in the Shuk Mahane Yehuda as I go eat at an Indian vegetarian restaurant that is giving up its kashrut certification rather than conceding to the near extortion mashgichim are demanding by forcing them to buy vegetables from only four stands in the shuk.<br />
<br />
And, wouldn't you know it, in the end my feet feel better.<br />
<br />
דוגמא שלישית:<br />
<br />
Coming to visit, to interview and, later, to train shlichim, I always felt the need to eat fleishigs (meat) as much as possible. While there are a few good kosher meat restaurants in Chicago, they are a schlepp from the city and the variety is limited. Here, however, I can eat kosher Indian, Thai, Moroccan, French, Italian and virtually every other cuisine you can imagine. As a visitor, I wanted to be so fleishig that upon return to the US, I would feel fleishig for months. Moreover, most meat restaurants in Israel have excellent desserts which I used to dutifully eat at the end of each meal. <br />
<br />
This time, I find myself making different choices. I eat fish as often as I eat meat. I eat smaller portions. I am more conscious of what I order. I almost never eat dessert. I eat more vegetables and fruit and they taste sweeter and richer than anything I buy back in Lakeview. These differences may seem silly but for me, they represent the shift from tourism visits to home building, from guest to resident, from foreigner to citizen. <br />
<br />
I walk past the Old City of Jerusalem, in my sandals of course, and see The Dome of The Rock sitting on The Temple Mount. According to tradition, The Beit HaMikdash was built on the spot where Abraham took Isaac, bound him to the altar and almost offered him up as a sacrifice. At the last moment, God intervened through the voice of an angel and Abraham spotted a ram caught up in a thicket and offered it up in place of Isaac. The midrash teaches that this same spot, on the top of Mount Moriah, is where two brothers bumped into each other to discover that they had been helping one another anonymously. Mt. Moriah is the place of brotherly Peace, of human-Divine connection, of שלימות and שלום. As I walk, looking at The Temple Mount, it looks different and I feel different. I won't have to take in the vision so that it will sustain me for another year. I will be able to walk by any time I want to catch a glimpse.<br />
<br />
Today, Mt. Moriah looks different. It isn't different. The eyes that look toward it are different. I am different. I, and my family, are about to become part of the first experiment in Jewish sovereignty since 70 C.E. We will be part of all of the blessings and the challenges. Things that used to bother me but that I refrained from commenting on or working to change precisely because I was not a citizen will now be my problems to speak up about and act to try and change, like eating at the Indian restaurant. Laws that I found problematic in theory will now be problematic in reality. It will be my job to join others to insure that Israel is an אור לגוים, a light unto the nations. And the things that I love about Israel, that fill my soul, that heighten my spirit will be here every day to invigorate me with a greater sense of purpose.<br />
<br />
This trip is different. And, more importantly, I am different too.<br />
<br />
Shabbat Shalom.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8694191761960381991.post-10272641288907851182012-09-14T13:56:00.000-07:002012-09-14T13:56:18.777-07:00Bruce Springsteen and Rosh HaShanah<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r1ET-pWYku0/UFOZHvlGM_I/AAAAAAAAAyQ/xw74BpE1WuQ/s1600/69459c96fa3b11e1b3ad22000a1de2ac_7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r1ET-pWYku0/UFOZHvlGM_I/AAAAAAAAAyQ/xw74BpE1WuQ/s200/69459c96fa3b11e1b3ad22000a1de2ac_7.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7124783187173307" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week, I attended a religious experience: I went to my first rock concert. Not just any rock and roll concert, mind you, but THE rock concert: I saw Bruce Springsteen play Wrigley Field. It was like going to selichot with 60,000 people at The Temple of Baseball. The Boss and the E Street Band played 38 songs in about three-and-a-half hours with no break and, watching from the first base line, a few things were apparent to me. The obvious first, Bruce Springsteen is an exceptional musician. He is charismatic and magnetic. He is also a preacher, focusing on the American and human condition.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was amazed by how many people knew the words to every song. They sang along, danced themselves into trances, and, when Bruce held out the microphone to the crowd, 55,000 people all shouted in unison. And then it occurred to me: I wasn't just watching a concert; rather, I was witnessing a religious moment for passionate believers in the performer and in the meaning of the lyrics. Their dancing and singing took on an intentional, religious fervor. They knew the words, they knew the drum beats so well they were jamming their hands in concert with the drummer, crashing imaginary cymbals on cue. I, on the other hand, was a mere spectator. Never a big rock and roll fan, I never paid much attention to Bruce. I didn't know the words to every song. I don't have ten of his albums on iTunes. In fact, I was probably the only person at the concert who could only name two songs by Springsteen.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please understand: I enjoyed the experience. After all, who doesn't like to see a winner at Wrigley Field? For me, however, this was not a personal awakening of the soul; rather, it was more like an anthropology field trip observing Springsteen fans in their natural environment, noticing their rituals and fervor. I knew enough of the "language" to clap my hands to the beat every once in a while but I was not going to be deeply moved or changed or transformed. For that to happen, I needed to study up on The Boss, to listen to his music for a few weeks, to study the lyrics. To be deeply moved, I needed to be prepared, to open my soul, to commit to transforming myself into a real Springsteen fan and that was not going to happen. So, I went, I enjoyed and I left.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walking home in the rain with Becca, I realized that my Springsteen concert experience shared many similarities with those people who only attend synagogue on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. People come for connection, are in shul for hours, listening to prayers in a language they don't know or understand, listen to a preacher and then leave. We hope that the soulful significance of High Holiday services and a Bruce Springsteen Concert would be profoundly different. Sadly, however, I see just how similar they are. As I wrote above, having a powerful spiritual experience requires preparation: reading, thinking, reflecting, absorbing and emulating. To truly experience a transformation, you have to open your soul and be fully present. You need to know the words, to be able to sing along, to participate in the choreography. Otherwise, you are left as a spectator. How different would my Springsteen concert experience have been had I invested the preparation time?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wish I knew how to get more people to invest in the preparation required to make High Holiday services a more meaningful, more transformational experience. Imagine what it would be like if more people would invest the same kind of time in learning the "lyrics" or piyyut of the Yamim Noraim and the tunes to those lyrics as they do memorizing the lyrics to Glory Days? What does it take to get people to want to invest that kind of time? To value their soul and their heritage enough to be fully equipped to participate? Like I said, I wish I had the answers but I don't.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a hint to an answer in the opening words of this week's parashah:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7124783187173307" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם, לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7124783187173307" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You, all of you, are standing this day before The Lord Your God...</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before focusing on the words of the High Holiday services, learning them, absorbing the tunes and the choreography, maybe everyone just needs to start with standing, being fully present. Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur give us, at minimum, the opportunity to stand and reflect, to think about ourselves, to decide how we want to be better, what we want to accomplish, and how we want to change ourselves and the world. The gift of time is precious and the opportunity to stand before God is timeless.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the precipice of the start of the New Year, I will be standing, reflecting and thinking forward. The words of the High Holiday liturgy are familiar to me as are the tunes and they will enhance my experience. They will provide a framework for thinking about the exciting year about to begin, a year of new work, of new family stages, and, in August, of a new home in The State of Israel. What will this new year bring for you? What will you stand and think about? How will you be present?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Becca, Elan, Mira, Amalya and I join in wishing you all a Shanah Tova U'Metukah. May this be a year of blessing and joy, happiness, success and growth. And, if by some chance he decides to play a concert at The Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem after August but before next Rosh HaShanah, we hope you will come and join us for my second Bruce Springsteen Concert of the year!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shabbat Shalom.</span></b>Rabbi Loren Sykeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03567603205696694725noreply@blogger.com2