Noah was a righteous man of his generation. We don’t what others were like and if it is a compliment to Noah or that he was being compared to other biblical characters.  We do know that Noah did just as Gold commanded him to build an ark by precise dimensions 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high and to have the animals seven pairs of every clean animal and bird and two pairs of every other animal to keep their species alive onboard the ark with him. You can wonder if he, or his family members, felt remorse about those that were left behind. Noah could have told everyone to build their own ark, but we can only imagine about that and the impact if the ones that G-d wanted destroyed actually survived the great flood.

The rains fell for 40 days and 40 nights and then the water swelled for 150 days to flood the world. After 40 days Noah sent a raven and it returned. Then Noah sent a dove and the dove returned. Then after another 7 days the dove returned with an olive leaf. Then after another 7 days Noah sent the dove and it did not return indicating the ground had dried. So again Noah is relying on an animal, the dove for his safety to leave the ark.

Then G-d makes a covenant with Noah, his sons, and every living thing that never again would a flood destroy the earth. G-d set the rainbow in the clouds as the sign of G-d’s covenant with the earth.

There is a lot of symbolism in this portion 40 days and the number 40 is one of the mystical numbers and of course, the rainbow is always an eye catcher when we see one and has come to symbolize luck.  There are huge rains and floods that destroy homes and large areas, it is always a warning to heed when the weather report includes flooding being possible on roads.

I will end with a posting on Facebook this week called ‘Everything I need to know about life I learned from Noah’s Ark”. 1. Don’t miss the boat. 2. Remember that we are all in the same boat. 3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark. 4. Don’t listen to critics, just get on with the job that needs to be done. 5. Have a reliable source check if the coast is clear, only then proceed.

6^th Annual Kehillat Chaverim Blessing of the Animals – October 24, 2020

Eternal G_d, Creator of all life, help us to respect all your animal creations in our world.  Please guide us to protect the sanctity of all the animals in our homes and in our hearts.  Our G-d and G-d of our fathers, bless my wonderful and beloved___________ (pet’s name).  In animals we find great expressions of your love for us. Thank you for providing us with such great friends and loyal family members.  Our pets bring so much happiness to our homes, may they continue to have long, healthy, and happy lives.  Blessed are you Oh Lord, our G-d for creating all animals that have become such great pets, friends, and family members for us. Amen.

Covid-19

Let us also pray for the animals that are in homes where the owners have become ill with covid-19 and may not be able to care for their pet as well as usual. Also let us pray for those who have lost jobs or have reduced hours at work due to the pandemic and are unable to provide enough food for their pets.

Healing Prayer for Our Sick Pets

May the one who blessed our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, bless our pets who are ill ________.  May the Holy One, source of all blessings, be filled with compassion for them, and grant healing and recovery, strength and fortitude.  May they receive a swift and complete healing from heaven, a healing of the soul and a healing of the body.  May this be soon and without delay and let us say:  Amen.

Memorial Prayer for our Departed Pets- Barkzheit

We would like to take this time to remember our beloved pets, devoted friends and loyal family members.  We have sadness in our hearts but also joy from our experiences with our pets. We are here to celebrate the lives of our pets. We remember the playful times, the quiet moments and the love we shared.  We spent many days together on long walks, dining together, celebrating happy and sad moments over the years we were together. When we lose a pet there is a special place in our hearts that feels empty.  However as time passes, we realize that animals have a way of showing us about loving, loyalty, joy and friendship.   Whatever we have shared in our pet’s presence can never really be lost.  These are the memories of our friends that we will always treasure.  Pets are wonderful creatures and thank you to G-d for creating them and providing us the opportunity to share our lives with them. Amen

“Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” was written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s and first recorded in 1959. The lyrics – except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the final two lines – consist of the first eight verses of the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain that which is to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time of love, and a time of hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

These lines are open to myriad interpretations, but Seeger’s song presents them as a plea for world peace because of the closing line: “a time for peace, I swear it’s not too late.”

Tomorrow we’re going to read Parshat Ha’azinu. It is the next to the last chapter of the Torah, we read it most years on the first Shabbat following Rosh Hashanah like we are this very year.

As endings merge with new beginnings, Ha’Azinu focuses on the fact that Moses is about to pass away. It is his time / his turn to die. The Parshah concludes with G‑d’s instruction to Moses to ascend the summit of Mount Nebo, from which he will behold the Promised Land before dying on the mountain. “For you shall see the land opposite you; but you shall not go there, into the land which I give to the children of Israel.”

Ha’Azinu is described as ‘listen in’.

Moses uses a song to deliver his final message. Why a song? Music connects to the spirit, the heart, and the mind in a ways plain words often miss.

Moses begins dramatically but gently, calling heaven and earth to witness what he is about to say. He speaks to a theme that has been there from the beginning. It is one we’ve heard before: God, creator of the universe, made a world that is fundamentally good. It is humans, granted freewill as God’s image and likeness, who introduce evil into the world, and then suffer its consequences. Moses insists that when trouble and tragedy appear, we should search for the cause within and not blame God. God is upright and just. The change, the turn, should be found in us.

Why this song? Is it the right or wrong message for the occasion?

Haazinu is always read in the month of the holidays, in the month that contains both the days of awe, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as well as the days of joy, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. In the beginning of the month we face the pain. We think about the sins of the past year, we think about the pain of separation caused by sin, the pain of separation from those (G-d and/or people) we sinned against. In the days of awe, we overcome the pain, we return, we reconnect. We often realize that no matter how much pain we caused, no matter how far we tried to run, most are —waiting for us to return, waiting to accept us, waiting to embrace us.

We rediscover joy with Sukkot and Simchat Torah. We discover that all parts of the journey are parts of the same song.

No matter where we are in life remember that we are in the middle of our own song. If we keep singing, keep playing the notes, we will discover the music, we will discover the words.

As we prepare for Yom Kippur and continue to reflect on our lives and actions – let’s recall there is a time for every season – a time for every purpose – a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time of love, and a time of hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

May you and your loved ones be signed in the book of life for a wonderful year.

Songs were common and always heard in the Holy Temple. Every day besides Shabbat, while the priests would offer the daily offerings, the Levites would accompany the service with music and songs of praise from King David’s book of Psalms. All of the songs sung were joyous, and were meant to imbue the service with a spirit of joy.

On Shabbat, as the priests offered the Musaf offering, the additional offering for the Shabbat, the Levites offered up the Song of Haazinu. They would sing one section per week, completing the song every six weeks.

Nitzavim is Moses’ third and final discourse.  He pours his heart out to the Israelites one last time.  One senses the urgency of Moses’ message: “Hear me! This is life and death we are talking about. It is not just the natural cycle of being. What’s at stake is what it means to be alive – to live! What it means to be in a relationship with God. What it means to truly be a free people – a holy nation.  He ends with: “I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse; choose life so you and your offspring may live”.

These are as powerful as any words in the Torah.  What is meant by the words ” and you shall choose life?” Is this a commandment? A promise? A statement of fact? The Torah and Judaism have many interpretations.

When the Torah states that God puts life and death before us, our tradition is not telling us to decide whether to live or die but that every choice we make from birth to death matters. It is obvious that if one chooses life, then he or she will live, and if one chooses death, then he or she will die. But our physical life and death was not what God was referring to. He is not talking about the physical sense but rather the spiritual and emotional sense. Simply put, in context of the parashah, Moses is instructing the people to accept and follow the laws of God.

It is impossible to count the number of decisions we make each day. These choices range from how we treat our loved ones to how we spend our money; from whom we bring into our world, to how we choose our food and how we practice our religion. We constantly sort and analyze matters that vary from simple to complicated. We base our serious and careful decisions on knowledge and wisdom we gained through experience, education, or personal advice. But there is an underlying determination that is much more fundamental – the one that establishes a firm foundation that leads to sensible choices in everything we do. And, as important as it is, it is not always based on knowledge or wisdom that we can acquire on our own.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks relates that scientists tell us that we are determined by our genes, that our fate is scripted in our DNA.  Therefore, some think that choice is an illusion of the conscious mind.  It is the fiction we tell ourselves.  Judaism says no.  Choice is like a muscle:  use it or lose it.  Jewish law is an ongoing training regime in willpower.  To be a Jew means not going with the flow, not doing what others do just because they are doing it.

When the Torah says,” choose life,” it means avoiding a dangerous lifestyle which promotes death rather than life. A second, less dramatic way, of choosing life is by not wasting time. The number of years a person is given is not under our control, but what we do with the moments God has given us, is. If we choose not to waste his precious moments, we have chosen life. To choose life means living life in its fullest meaning.  This is something that has become more challenging with Covid19 restrictions.

Rabbi Eliezer Davidovits has another interpretation.  He says that there are two ways to “choose life”.  The first way is the “I” way. If we want, we can choose to think of ourselves first. We can worry about our needs and desires and our wishes, and only later – much later sometimes – will we consider the needs, desires, and wishes of others. But there is another way to” choose life”.  This is the” you” way. Before we act, before we decide, before we speak, we can choose to think about how our actions, decisions, and words will affect others. We can think about how our behavior will affect future generations, including our own children and grandchildren. A real choice is, in fact, being offered. Do we live in a way that supports life in the broadest sense, or do we live in a way that serves only ourselves, only our narrow interests? Rabbi Davidovits says that the narrow way, this second choice, ultimately leads not to life but to death.

I believe that part of what it means to choose life is to not expect too much from people; to learn to accept people for who they are, to respond to them with understanding and compassion. Forgive them for what they are not and try to accept them for who they are.

Choosing life also means forgiving ourselves, especially for things were not responsible for. But what about the stuff we are responsible for? What about our failings, our weaknesses, our sins of various kinds? At some point, when we’ve done the best we can do, the only life affirming responses we can have is to have compassion on ourselves and to recognize we are humans and accept our weaknesses. Ultimately, choosing life also means learning to love ourselves in spite of our failings. And this is not easy.

Humans require an objective which goes beyond existence. As Victor Frankel, noted psychologist and philosopher, discovered at the concentration camps, the most important drive within humans is not the will for pleasure or even the will for power, but the will for meaning. Those who had higher meaning, who were involved in helping others survive, and those who were calculating in their heads different mathematical or philosophical problems or preserving and copying segments from the prayer book or the Bible from memory stood a better chance of surviving the horrendous living conditions of the concentration camps. Frankel said that it is this search for purpose beyond one’s own physical survival, this quest for self transcendence and reaching out for the infinite, is what comes forth from God’s mouth and what the Torah refers to as “life.”

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has yet another interpretation of choosing life:

Choosing life means engaging with life, not taking refuge from it. It seeks, not so much happiness as joy: the joy of being with others and together with them making a blessing over life. It means taking the risk of love, commitment, loyalty. It means living for something larger than the pursuit of pleasure or success. It means daring greatly.

Choose life. Nothing sounds easier yet nothing has proven more difficult over time. Instead, people choose substitutes for life. They pursue wealth, possessions, status, power, fame, and to these gods they make a supreme sacrifice, realizing too late that true wealth is not what you own but what you are thankful for; that the highest status is not to care about status, and that influence is more powerful than power.

Moses’ last testament to us at the very end of his days, when his mind might so easily have turned to death, was to choose life.

As we approach the high holidays, we all need to take a realistic inventory of ourselves and our lives. The most important choice we can make is to choose life. In other words, to decide on core beliefs that will shape our character and define our purpose – the standards and values that determine how we live from day to day, what we believe, where will we be at the end of our life, and most importantly, what will happen after that.  What characteristic traits and examples did we demonstrate that will live on in our children and grandchildren as they choose life for themselves?

Is it ever okay to challenge God’s decisions and actions? In our parashah, God reveals to Abraham that he will destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness. God had every right to destroy the cities, and it is likely that anyone who was familiar with the cities would agree. But then Abraham does the unthinkable. He challenges God. This is a phenomenal moment in Jewish history. It is the first time a human challenges God. No, it isn’t that Abraham tries to change God’s mind. It isn’t even that he tries to bargain with God to spare the city for a handful of righteous people if they are found in the city. It is in his bold questions which could implicate God for this action. “Would you sweep away the innocent along with the guilty?” Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” Is Abraham speaking foolishly? Why would Abraham say such a thing?  Does Abraham believe God would do a grave injustice by slaying the innocent along with the wicked? Abraham knows he is going out on a limb, so he pleads with God not to get angry as he tries to save the wicked cities.  By what right does a mere mortal challenge God, Himself? The short answer is that God, Himself, signaled that he should. The words,” shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” are a clear hint that God wants Abraham to respond to him; otherwise why would he have said them?  What is amazing about this is that God intentionally involved Abraham in his decision. There is a give and take between Abraham and God. In the end, Abraham could not save the city, but as some scholars have put it,” Abraham has saved God.”

Abraham understood the principle of collective responsibility. The people of Sodom were not his brothers and sisters, so he was going above and beyond in what he did in trying to rescue them. He prayed on their behalf because he understood the idea of human solidarity and the nature of moral responsibility.

Chasidic Masters describe how Abraham represents the attribute of benevolence. So, if kindness is his innate characteristic trait, how is it possible for Abraham to speak harshly, especially to God? And not only did Abraham speak harshly with God, his remarks opened with a rebuke! What happened to Abraham’s more natural, kind demeanor? Abraham was not kind because it was his instinct, but because that was the proper way to serve God. So, when Abraham saw that he had to act in a way diametrically opposed to his natural tendencies, he did so with complete selflessness and commitment.  Instead of his nature dictating his behavior, the necessities of the hour determined Abraham’s course of action. Abraham’s actions, which were immediate and went against his inborn tendencies, are instructive for all generations. It teaches us that when a situation calls for it, we must move into action, with all our strength and with all of our means even if our natural instinct would have us do otherwise.

We hear or read about this sort of circumstance all the time. When an emergency occurs such as flames coming from a burning house or car, there are those ordinary people who do extraordinary things to try and save the victims. What is the process? What propels these men and women to defy the natural instinct for self-preservation and save a stranger? Is there a pause of deliberation when one consciously overrides personal risk in favor of another’s life? Or is it instinctive, an internal flip of a switch that sends one to act first and reflect later? A team of Yale researchers collected 51 statements by some of these situational heroes.

When interviewed, these heroes say:” I just did what I felt I needed to do. You don’t think about someone making that big a deal out of it.”

As I stated, kindness was embodied in Abraham. Abraham’s tendency was gentle, not combative; warm and respectful, not abrasive. This makes his protestation of Sodom and Gomorra’s impending destruction so remarkable. How did Abraham override his soft, obedient nature to stand up to the God he would die for?

Rashi said that Abraham trespassed his own proclivity for peaceful reconciliation into the foreign land of confrontation. Faced with the possibly unjust destruction of an entire city, Abraham discarded his natural composition and” approached to speak harshly.”

It happened one transformative moment. The heroes of the Yale study did not pause to weigh their predicament of another human against their own natural interests and habits. And Abraham did not consider the repercussions of challenging the all-powerful being whom he served.

But another question remains. Why did God want Abraham to challenge him? Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said:  The answer is that Abraham was to become the role model and initiator of a new faith, one that would not defend the human status, but challenge it. Abraham had to have the courage to challenge God if his descendants were to challenge human rulers, as Moses and the prophets did. Jews do not accept the world that is. They challenge in the name of the world that ought to be. This is a critical turning point in human history: the birth of the world’s first religion of protest – a faith that challenges the world instead of accepting it. Abraham was the role model of leadership as Judaism understands it. He took personal and collective responsibility. He acted; he did not wait for others to act. Judaism is God’s call to responsibility.  Abraham felt a sense of ownership for the world in which he lived. If there was something wrong, it needed to be changed, even if it had been decreed by the will of God. Strong leadership determines the direction of the community and provides a valued role for the community and its members.

It happens to all of us. You are not quite seeing eye to eye with your boss on something, and you feel strongly enough about your opinion that you need to speak your mind and voice your concerns.  However, ideally, you would like to do that in a way that does not make you look like a know- it- all who is challenging his or her authority.  Is that a smart move?

Employment experts say regularly challenging your superiors could be good thing for your career – provided you are smart about it. Choosing your words carefully and finding the right forum to express your challenge could boost your career prospects, rather than damaging them. When dealing with a sticky work situation, it is best to be positive, sincere, and respectful. So how and when do you challenge your leader in a smart and effective way? Carefully consider time and place; start positive; ask questions; focus on results; respect the final decision.  In the end your boss has the final say. If he or she considers your opinion, only to rule against it, you need to respect that as Abraham did.

We must seek opportunities in our own generation to make our world a better place not only for ourselves but for the rest of humanity. As individuals, there are times we must follow Abraham’s example, challenging those in power and reminding them of their values.

In this parsha, we begin with the instructions upon entering the promised land for the Israelites to give an offering of the first fruits harvested as an expression of their gratitude for all the blessings from the life creating, life sustaining higher power, we call Hashem.  Gratitude for our blessings engenders humility.  Humility is cultivated in the crucible of life’s blessings and curses.  In this process that can take up to 40 years in the crucible of lessons learned from wandering in the desert of life, we finally can gain the heart to know, the eyes to see and the ears to hear.

But why does this take 40 years?  What does this symbolize for us?  Is there something that we gain in life that is only achieved once we have lived to the age of 40?  And, what do we make of the visual imagery of the curses and blessings shouted by half of us on one mountain top back and forth to the other half of us on the opposing mountain top?  And, what of the Levites and Cohanim standing in the valley between us?

This imagery is rather startling.  Think of the seeming impossibility of 300,000 people on one mountain top rising 2,000 feet above a valley filled with priests numbering however many and an additional 300,000 people on the opposing mountain top maybe one mile or more across the valley.  Could they really hear each other calling out both blessings and curses to one another?  How did that sound reverberate within the valley filled with priests?  It truly staggers the mind if we take this event literally.  Did it really happen this way, or is this simply an image used to get across a very important point?

In Jewish tradition, I am tempted to continue asking and answering with purely questions, but I will resist that temptation and posit what you will hopefully deem a useful answer.  Imagine yourself as one of the priests in the midst of this surrealistic stage.  The blessings and curses echo back and forth over your heads.  You are already consumed by the important task you have to keep the Israelites morally and ethically and task-wise on track as they prepare to enter uncharted territory into a homeland they have been promised, that they will have to take by force, but is inhabited by peoples who will be physically and spiritually opposed to what you are bringing.  So, you must absorb and enforce the carrot and stick approach that is being shouted over your heads so that the Israelites can achieve their destiny.

Wow.  I need to step back for a second myself.  This gets a bit intense.  The Israelites were faced with an unprecedented and daunting task.  Was this part of a necessary process from exiting 40 years in the desert where we started as slaves to then become the invading and conquering force of an unknown land?  Was this part of Coach Moses’ final pep talk to the team under the auspices of team owner Hashem before taking the field in order to win the game?  And, what was that game we were playing again?  Was that to be G-d’s chosen people living in the promised land?  And, chosen for what?  Oh, I’ve got it, to be an example for the world of life lived properly, a Holy nation, a nation of priests.

Fortunately, most of us have learned to set our goals high, realizing we may never achieve them, but at the same time knowing that it is easier to achieve something of substance if we have raised the bar so high for ourselves that we might never reach it.  Did it really take me getting to at least age 40 wandering the desert of life to gain the humility so that I might have the heart to know, the eyes to see and the ears to hear?

Probably!  Shabbat Shalom!

Ki Tetzei means when you go. This portion is filled with laws and regulations to establish moral and legal order of the land the Israelites will enter. There are more mitzvot in this parshah than any others, 74 of the 613 commandments are found here. The parshah also includes acts of tzedakah.

The reading begins with saying that if you take captives in war and an Israelite saw among them a beautiful woman that he wanted to marry, he should bring her to his house, have her haircut, nails trimmed, give her new clothes and spend a month lamenting her parents. So capture her, bring her home, give her an extreme makeover and some time. Then he could marry her, however if he no longer wanted her, he had to release her and not sell her as a slave. So this is giving a woman some rights and her freedom if he no long wants her.

A famous mitzvah is that if you come across a bird nest with eggs of new borns with the mother sitting on them, take the young but let the mother go in order that you fare well and have a long life. There is compassion toward the mother bird, that she must not witness her eggs being taken.

Judaism shows compassion to animals. The Talmud calls this mitzvah the lightest of all commandments. Why such a great reward, long life, for a light mitzvah? The commentary on this is that all mitzvot have equal reward that is not easy to calculate.

The Torah places humanity above animals. It mandates respect for all of G-d’s creatures, forbids causing unnecessary suffering to animals and idealizes the state of peace and harmony among all living things. Nefesh chayah, living soul, refers to animals as well as to humans.

The parshah mentions that when loaning money and you take an item as security to repay the loan, if it is a cloak, you must return it to the person overnight so that he is not cold and this is an act of tzedakah.

The Torah mentions that every act is of immense significance. No act is trivial. When you observe kashruth, even when you speak, you can say words of encouragement or malicious gossip. Each act is important and we have many decisions daily about how to act and therefore opportunities to do mitzvot and acts of tzedakah or not.

The Garden of Eden had perfect balance and harmony among people and all living creatures. Maimonides said in the laws of repentance that every person should consider him or herself as perfectly balanced between good and bad and the world is perfectly balanced between good and evil. According to the sages, the next action you do, however trivial, can tilt the whole world to the side of good and life or the side of evil and death. We see that today so often from those that ignore the warnings of covid and carelessly expose themselves to being in large groups and not wearing masks, they may be superspreaders, and society as a whole is suffering the consequences.  So each act that we chose to do or not do has a potential for doing good and fulfilling a mitzvah and doing acts of tzedakah from which all can benefit.

This week’s Torah portion, Shoftim (Hebrew for “judges”), contains a series of laws directing the nascent Israelite community on how to establish a just society. The issues it covers include many that we still struggle with in our society today: setting up a fair and impartial legal system, making distinctions between murder and manslaughter, establishing the level of testimony necessary to convict someone in a capital crime, laying forth the principles for conducting a just war. Through laws pertaining to each one of these systems, the Torah shapes a unique rulership that had not been heard of before or since. This uniqueness is not merely symbolic. It is practical. The laws are meant to create a different consciousness for both the private individual and the public.

Moses continues his last speech to the Israelites before he dies saying: “Judges shall be appointed to judge the people with justice. When you come to the land that God is giving you, and dwell in it, you will want a king. You shall then set a king over yourself whom God will choose. This king shall not be a foreigner but one of your brethren.” Several of the commentaries note the ambivalence about having a king.  For more information on this ambivalence, check out the commentary from Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks at his website: https://rabbisacks.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/CC-5778-To-Lead-is-to-Serve-Shoftim-1.pdf

These varied concepts, from appointing judges, selecting kings and prophets to the system of justice, are all tied together through one guiding principle found at the beginning of the portion:

Deuteronomy 16:18-20

You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice. You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eye of the discerning and upset the plea of the just. Justice, justice, shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

This parasha is  the classic source of the three types of leadership in Judaism, called by the sages the “three crowns” of priesthood, kingship and Torah. This is the first statement in history of the principle, described later in the eighteenth century by Montesquieu in L’Esprit des Lois, and later made fundamental to the American constitution, of “the separation of powers.”

Here is a striking contrast in the parasha between two central ruling systems: kings and judges. The command regarding the appointment of judges is resolute and unequivocal: “You shall set up judges and law enforcement officials for yourself in all your cities… and they shall judge the people

In Parashat Re‘eh:

We learn that we have an obligation to care for others.

It is haShem’s Commandment to us!

With this obligation to God, Moses continues his second speech to the Israelites preparing them for entering the Promised Land. He speaks about values and behaviors, which lead to blessings; OR, to curses. So beware!!! Would you like to receive blessings or curses? It is your choice through your actions. Our Torah portion teaches us that blessings do not arrive just because we ask God for help! HE bestows blessing if our actions exhibit certain values and behaviors. The Israelites will receive their blessings should they live according to the Commandments of haShem, as they enter the new land.

Through Re’eh, we learn that if we live a life of ethics, values, and morals – they will bring blessings to us from God.

“Moreover, if there is a needy person among us, a disadvantaged individual in any of the land that haShem has given to us, G-d says to not harden your heart and shut your hand against this individual. Rather, you must open your hand and give that person help, for whatever he needs.

Give to him readily and have no regrets when you do so – for in return, haShem will bless you in all your efforts and in all your undertakings.”

“There will always be people in need in your land, which is why God commands you to “open your hand to share that which your brethren needs.”

The Mishnah and the Talmud elaborate on this notion of sharing, introducing us to the value of tzedakah: charitable giving or philanthropy. Maimonides followed up with his “Eight Degrees of Charity”.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks takes the value of tzedakah even further. According to Rabbi Sacks, and, please listen-very carefully), “To know God is to act with justice and compassion, to recognize his image in other people, and to hear

the silent cry of those in need.”

One can imagine a society that fastidiously observes the rule of law, and yet contains so much inequality that wealth is concentrated into the hands of the few, and many are left without the most basic requirements for a dignified existence. There may be high unemployment and widespread poverty. Some may live in palaces while others go homeless. HaShem did not contemplate this kind of environment, or these living standards.

There must be justice not only in how the law is applied, but also with respect to how the wealth of G-d’s blessing are distributed.

This is tzedakah! It is a part of our society, implemented not by power – but by moral responsibility and the network of obligations created by the

covenants at Sinai.

Talking about tzedakah in the Parashat today, I would be negligent if I did not share some of what I know about Poverty in Dallas. I have worked with thousands of disadvantaged and at-risk young people that are growing up here – in a cycle-of-poverty – that passes from one generation to the next, L’dor V’dor.

From the DISD Data Portal – 130,437 students are growing up and classified as “Economically Disadvantaged”. Those are nice words for growing up in Poverty.

The Dallas Morning News reports that almost 281,000 people live in POVERTY in Dallas today.

The former reading czar for Dallas Independent School District, Robert B. Cooter, says that the School District is failing to teach most kids to hit the mark in reading. Only 15% (please, listen carefully), only 15% of all DISD students tested proficient in reading by the fourth grade. Moreover, 55% scored in the lowest category – – – below basic.

We all know that literacy is the gateway to opportunity in America!

I researched and discerned the above economic statistics prior to the Pandemic and the economic crisis it created for our Country this year. I have no idea about the current economic landscape for the young people to whom our nonprofit is of service, and the 281,000 people living in poverty. WE live in harsh economic times. Jobs have disappeared, evictions and foreclosures are at an all-time high, and people are having trouble feeding their families. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Dallas not coping well with today’s economic crisis.

WE have to empower the young people with the necessary tools to remove themselves from the Cycle–of–Poverty into which they were born. IT has to start somewhere…

This is tzedakah in action. This is God’s Commandment! Let’s help the adults of tomorrow – climb out of their neighborhoods of poverty today, and give them a chance to explore, learn about, and enjoy the real world as WE know it!

Maimonides shared…

The highest degree of tzedakah, exceeded by none, is when YOU assist a poor person, strengthening him in such a manner that his falling into neediness again – will never happen!

I wish each of you a safe and spiritual Shabbat Shalom!

What is the scariest word in the English language?  This question was posed to me several years ago by a friend and colleague who often presented striking verbal and visual images.  His answer was “unless.” What might your answer be?

I’ve thought about this question off and on in the intervening years and though I’m not 100% sure of my answer, I’m leaning towards the word “deserve.”  This word serves a devilish purpose in advertising, attempting to convince people that they may not “need” the product or service being offered but since they “deserve” it, well, then nothing should stand in their way!

In parsha Eikev, it’s almost as though G-d, through Moses, is saying “if you do what I say, you’ll get what you deserve.”  He points out that other nations haven’t obeyed, and they got what they deserved. But those nations already got what they deserved, while the promised fruits of our good behavior remain elusive. G-d lost his temper with the Jews, when we crafted the golden calf as well as other times, but G-d listened to Moses’ pleas, spared his people, and gave us yet another second chance.  How many was that for us?  Did we deserve that grace? Why did we deserve yet another chance?

I also often wonder if what I think I deserve is what others believe that I deserve.  A phrase I told my daughters is that “luck is when preparation meets opportunity.  And the only aspect of that which you can control is preparation.  So be well prepared and you’ll find yourself lucky.”  Similarly, when people hear my girls play the violin, they usually say something along the lines of “Oh! They’re so talented.”  I take exception to that because giving the credit to talent takes away from the hours and hours of work and practice and preparation that went into the performance.  They don’t play well because of talent any more than they got lucky to get a good job; they prepared and put in the time and that’s the case whether or not outsiders view them as talented, lucky, or getting more (or less) than they deserve.

In the parsha, we are warned to be obedient so we get what we deserve but that may or may not be what we think we deserve.  How the outside world views someone and their accomplishments and how that may differ from your own view was brought home to me recently when I heard a story, perhaps apocryphal, about the origin of the Nobel Prize.

The namesake of the international prize was Alfred Nobel.  It so happened that in 1888, Alfred’s brother, Ludvig, died.  Thanks to poor reporting, at least one French newspaper believed that it was Alfred who had perished though he didn’t die until 1896.  The newspaper proceeded to write a scathing obituary that branded him a “merchant of death” who had grown rich by developing new ways to “mutilate and kill.” The error was eventually corrected, but not before Alfred had the unpleasant experience of reading his own, unflattering, death notice. The incident may have brought on a crisis of conscience and led him to reevaluate his career. According to biographer Kenne Fant, Nobel “became so obsessed with his posthumous reputation that he rewrote his last will, bequeathing most of his fortune to a cause upon which no future obituary writer would be able to cast aspersions.”

What sort of obituary might be written about us today?  Is it what we deserve, what we think we deserve, or what others might think we deserve?

During this whole fifth book of the Torah, Moses guides us towards Israel, towards the way of G-d, and towards what we deserve.  He knows he won’t see the promised land (the question of whether or not he deserved that particular punishment is a topic for another day) yet he beseeches us to behave and trust in G-d that we will ultimately get all that we deserve.  This parsha has such weight that the second paragraph of the Shema is found in it.

I had a lot of questions while reading this parsha:  Do we modern Jews deserve the land of Israel?  Did we deserve the Shoah?  Why does G-d, through Moses, painfully recount all of our failings as a people yet he simultaneously continues to urge us to do better?  Why does G-d often threaten punishment and then seem to relent?  That’s no way to earn respect as a leader or as a parent.

If we smoke or eat unhealthy food, are we disrespecting the body G-d gave us, meaning that we deserve the health consequences of those poor decisions?  If we don’t take care of our planet, do we deserve the consequences of those poor decisions?  Is that a cynical view of G-d or a pragmatic one?

I guess in the end, like so much of our faith, it boils down to just that… faith.  A leap of faith perhaps, or blind faith (though I’d like to think not).  We persevere in our daily lives, doing our level best, in the hopes that we’ll get at least what we deserve, if not better.

Shabbat Shalom.

Life is filled with challenges and difficulties in getting along with others — family, friends, fellow workers. How can one successfully defuse a situation and find a creative solution?

Often a first reaction is: “He can’t do that to me. It’s not right. He should do the right thing!” We first look to blame others. There is an old Jewish proverb: The Almighty gave us two eyes — one a telescope to see the faults of others from afar; the second, a microscope to see our own faults.

Rule #1: Determine the reality of the situation. Am I at fault in any way? Why is G-d doing this to me? What am I supposed to do to pass this test and to learn from this? These questions put the situation in perspective and soften the emotions.

Too often people initially seek justice and righteousness (and too often, self-righteousness!) — which often means seeking revenge. Instead of sweet and fulfilling, it ends badly and is destructive for everyone. There is an old adage, “He who seeks revenge should dig two graves.” If you want misery in life, seek justice and fairness.

Luckily for us, the Torah commands us, “You shall not take revenge nor bear a grudge against the children of your people” (Leviticus 19:18). Not only is revenge a bad idea, it’s forbidden! Pirke Avos, Ethics of the Fathers, teaches “Who is mighty? He who subdues his passions, as it is written (Proverbs 16:32) ‘One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city’ “.

Rule #2: Look at the possible solutions and their outcomes. This is where one sees that all of those “solutions” that seem so “sweet” may actually end in bodily harm and/or jail! Be creative to find a win-win answer. Success is measured by looking at the results of your actions.

Here’s a real-life example: A neighbor in the apartment building has an air conditioner drainage hose dripping from her balcony to the parking spot below — onto your car! You have politely asked her to remember to move the hose, but she has forgotten and your car is being covered in a slurry mess as the water mixes with the dust to make your car look like modern art. How would you feel? What would you think? What would you like to do? Yell at her? Scream? Call the police? Write a letter to the condo board?

One guy had this problem. What did he do? He brought her flowers! She was completely baffled. “Why are you giving me flowers?” The man softly said, “You’re a good neighbor…. and I really appreciate your efforts to keep your air conditioner hose from draining on my car.” She thanked him and shut the door a bit confused. However, never again did she forget to move the hose. It is very difficult to get angry at someone who brings you a gift.

About 10 years ago, I lost my job of 21 years. At the time, I was the sole earner for my family, still had 2 kids in school, not yet college, and it was a terrifying time. It was nothing personal, rather the result of a layoff due to shrinkage in my industry and changes in media habits.  I intentionally sought to find work outside of media, and took a position working for a hospice. It was a disastrous fit for me and I was fired after a miserable 2 short months.

One ray of sunshine from that experience was a friendship I made with a chaplain who gave me some very helpful reading. One such book is The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci. Subtitled, The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life. Ferrucci, a psychologist, argues that it is kindness that will not only lead to our own individual happiness and the happiness of those around us, but will guide us in a world that has become cold, anxious, difficult and frightening. Ferrucci reveals that the kindest people are the most likely to thrive, to enable others to thrive and to slowly but steadily turn our world away from violence, self-centeredness, and narcissism – and toward love.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama says this in the book’s forward – We were not born for the purpose of causing trouble and harming others. For our life to be of value, as Piero Ferrucci amply demonstrates, we need to foster and nurture such basic good human qualities as warmth, kindness and compassion. If we can do that, our lives will become more meaningful, happier and more peaceful; we will make a positive contribution to the world around us.

Sometimes a problem can be dealt with by a mental reframe — looking at it from a different direction. If you’re like me, you might be very sensitive and even turned off by horn honking on the road. It can be disturbing.

However, one person’s perspective, put the honking in a different light. “It’s a cultural difference. When the person behind you is honking, he might be saying, ‘Good morning, my friend. I hope you slept well. Just in case you are feeling a little drowsy, I want you to know that the light is about to change so you won’t miss it and be late to where you are going. Have a wonderful day!’ “Driving has been oh so more pleasant since that person realized that’s what the honking really could mean.

Another example – One recent morning, while in the gym, I noticed that 1 of the 2 elliptical machines had been removed. Since this tends to be the most popular item in the gym, I instantly started wondering if they had plans to replace it, once it had been repaired, and then felt perturbed, thinking they’d use this as a an opportunity to cut services.

When neighbor arrived for his workout, I pointed out the missing elliptical that he typically used. He told me the reason it was removed was for residents’ safety, so that we can work out more distantly from one another. Oh. It was for my benefit, not to my detriment, as I had assumed.

All the same facts, just different conclusions. It’s all a matter of perspective. Same input, but different results. The stuff of human misunderstandings.

The purpose of life is not to be comfortable. G-d did not put us in this world so that we can cruise through with all of the comforts of life, no pain, no challenges and then to die peacefully on the beach with concierge servce. G-d placed us in this world to face challenges, to perfect our character and to grow spiritually. That’s why life is filled with challenges. It is our choice whether to view the challenges as obstacles or stepping stones!

Shabbat Shalom