Adas Israel - Mason City, IA

Torah Thoughts 30 October 2020 - Parsha Lech Lecha

We are Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. Welcome to our weekly look at the Torah Portion of the week. Today we're reading from Genesis 12 - 17 known in Hebrew as "Lech Lecha" or "go" or "leave" and literally "go for you".  Let's go:

In the opening verse of this week's parsha we are told that G-d says to Abram (whose name would later be changed to Abraham) "Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives and from your father's house to the land that I will show you."

Think of that for a moment. How uncomfortable it must have been for Abram to leave everything he knows and loves. But then G-d gives Abram this message, "And I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing." Then the clincher: "I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you."

Pretty heady stuff...and how could Abram say "no"?

As a Jew we're reminded of blessings and curses on a regular basis.  If we follow the commandments we will be blessed. Likewise if we toss them aside we are cursed. Not that we would break out into a rash...but our lives become empty and without purpose.

But, let's look again at that promise.  Did the Jewish people become a "great nation"? Truly, if you measure greatness by the size and might of the people the answer would be...no. But if you measure greatness by the impact a people has on human history then the answer is completely different.

From a moral code of conduct to a code of justice to how we are commanded to treat others it is the Jew that took those messages to the rest of the world. While some may decide to ignore that fact the reality is that it is true. Where would the world be without the teachings of the Torah?  You get my point.

Meanwhile what has become of the mighty nations that took on the Jew? Where are the Romans and Babylonians the Nazi nation of Germany and the Arab League? Three of the four are no longer with us (thank G-d!) the other is defined as a barbaric set of nations where freedom is non-existent and where the people are subjected to worship in only one way.  Is that...great? Is that a blessing?

Please understand this is not gloating. We have suffered greatly because of our faith. And, those that come to us wishing to convert to Judaism are, at least in my case, turned away several times until the motive becomes crystal clear.  So many times I've asked  the person, "Why would you wish to become part of a faith group that is hated and despised by so many others?"  The answer to that question is telling.

What else is in this parsha?

Finding a famine in Canaan, Avram travels to Egypt asking Sarai (later renamed Sarah), to say she is his sister so they won't kill him to marry her (the Egyptians were particular not to commit adultery ... so they would kill the husband instead).

Pharaoh evicts Avram from Egypt after attempting to take Sarai for a wife. They settle in Hebron (also known as Kiryat Arba) and his nephew Lot settles in Sodom. Avram rescues Lot -- who was taken captive -- in the Battle of the Four Kings against the Five Kings.

As a side note:  When entering into a covenant with G-d it is a covenant for all time. There is no changing the deal. Meanwhile, Avram is told that his descendants will be enslaved for 400 years and that his descendants (via Isaac, "... through Isaac will offspring be considered yours." Gen. 21:8) will be given the land "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."

Sarai, childless, gives her handmaid Hagar to Avram for a wife so that he will have children. Ishmael is born. The covenant of brit mila, religious circumcision, is made (read 17:3-8), G-d changes their names to Avraham and Sarah and tells them that Sarah will give birth to Yitzhak (Isaac). Avraham circumcises all the males of his household.

Whew....

If you go back and read the above there are some great truths and answers to even contemporary questions.

Thanks for reading and I'm told that very soon we'll have yet another Virtual Midrash!  Stay tuned and stay well. 

Shabbat Shalom!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Torah Thoughts 23 October 2020

Each week Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City brings you Torah Thoughts. A look at the weekly Torah Portion and how it impacts our lives today.  This week we spend some time with Noah. In fact the name of this parsha is Noach (Genesis 6:9 - 11:32).  Let's go:

You would think, based on the countless political ads running, that each major party is suggesting that if the other party wins the world will end. This week we read about what did happen when the world was running amok and how G-d chose Noah to save a sliver of humanity and the critters of the earth. What is interesting is that in the entire Torah it is Noah who is called a tzaddik – a righteous person: "...Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations, Noah walked with G-d."

Pretty good start...right? I mean gosh that is quite an opening.

It's important to remember that Noah was not a Jew. The first Jew was Abraham. So even more stunning the only person in the entire Torah to be called a tzaddik is a non-Jew. This one detail is a window into the inclusion of Judaism. While we have been created to have a specific relationship to G-d we also recognize that people from other faiths...or no faith at all...can be righteous.

And so G-d gives Noah a task to build an Ark and it takes Noah 120 years to complete the task. 

Here is another interesting part of the story. All of the animals that were taken into the Ark where not, as we have been told "two by two". In fact there were more kosher animals taken into the Ark than those that were not. We read in Gen. 7:2, "Of every clean animal take unto you seven pairs, a male with its mate, and of every animal that is not clean, two, a male with its mate..."

Wait a minute!  Two things jump out here why more kosher animals and the idea of what was "clean" or kosher isn't established until way later in the Torah in the Book that is called Vayikra (Leviticus).  What's up?

The first question about why more kosher animals is pretty easy. During the time of Noah and afterward, the way man entered into a relationship with G-d was through animal sacrifice. That, of course, was replaced by prayer following the destruction of the Temple thousands of years ago.  So, G-d wanted to make sure there were sufficient livestock for Noah and his family to continue the relationship.

The second question is about time. The way we judge time and the way G-d sees time. It is said by the rabbis that the entire Torah was known to Abraham well before Moses came on the scene. If that is the case and if, as we are told in this parsha that Noah "...walked with G-d" it is clear that, at least some of the 613 Commandments were known at that time.

Stunning...yes?

One of the things we as humans attempt to do is put G-d into a box...a time box.  In other words there is no "time" to G-d and that is hard for us to understand and that's also why we tend to question the commandments because they, often, don't make sense to us.  We've got to remember that our duty isn't to always try to "make sense" out of what G-d tells us to do...our job is to do the commandments in honor of G-d.

Have a wonderful Shabbat and thank you for reading! 

 

 

 

Torah Thoughts 16 October 2020

Torah Thoughts is from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. Thank you for reading. This week we start all over again with the reading of the first "book" in the Torah.  Let's go!

Some, who are not associated with the Jewish Faith may not know that we read each of the 54 portions of the Torah each year. There isn't any "skipping around" we start this week with Bereishit (Hebrew for "In the beginning") Gen. 1:1 - 6:8. As a matter of fact the entire "first book" of the Torah is called Bereishit. "In the beginning of G-d's creating the heavens and the earth--when the earth was astonishingly empty, with darkness upon the surface of the deep..." 

On that first day of creation G-d created light which he called "Day" and the darkness was called "Night". "There was evening and there was morning, one day."

It is stunning when you read this opening of the Bible that from nothing comes everything. And it started with...light. It is said that we are called to be a "light unto the world".  What does this mean? It means that to chase away the darkness there must be the light of truth. We often fear what we do not see. The Torah allows us to push past the darkness and open up the world to the beauty of G-d and His creation.

This is also why in nearly every synagogue in the world there is an "eternal light" or a "Ner Tamid" that is usually above the ark where the Torah scrolls are kept. It is a symbol that there is light within the Torah...and it is our duty to understand and spread that light in every way we can.

And so the Torah begins with the Six Days of Creation, the Shabbat, the story of the Garden of Eden -- the first transgression, consequences and expulsion; Cain & Abel, the ten generations to Noah, the Almighty sees the wickedness of man in that generation and decrees to "blot out man" (i.e. the flood).

One of the most profound verses in the whole Torah is "And G-d created man in His own Image." Since G-d does not have a physical being, this means that we are endowed with free-will, morality, reason, and the ability to emulate G-d Who bestows kindness. Also, if we really appreciate that we are created in the image of G-d, we realize that we have intrinsic worth. Therefore, there is no need to be depressed wondering if you have intrinsic worth! 

You were born to be worthy of a miracle. 

Shabbat Shalom and thank you for reading.  We are working on holding our next ZOOM Midrash.  Stay tuned! 

 

 

Torah Thoughts - Shall We Dance...

What a weekend we have in store! Welcome to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City.  So much to share...let's go!

We are coming to the end of Sukkot and tomorrow is not only Shabbat but also Shmini Atzeret and then on Sunday we celebrate Simchat Torah.  So what is going on?

We have, for the past week, been celebrating Sukkot that beautiful holiday where we "dwell in booths" and take up the lulav and etrog, strong symbols of our faith.  Then, at the close of Sukkot there is Shmini Atzeret...an extra day of Sukkot.

There is a poignant midrash that offers an explanation for why the holiday of Sukkot is extended one more day by the addition of Shmini Atzeret, a holiday with no specific mitzvot attached to it. The midrash imagines G-d as a king whose children are about to depart after a pleasurable visit. He implores them to stay one more day, saying, "Your departure is hard on me." This midrash strikes me as the Jewish equivalent of: "If G-d had a refrigerator, your photo would be on the door."

G-d longs for us to connect with Him and so we are given this extra day, this year on Shabbat, to get closer and to renew our faith.

And then on Sunday...it's a really big deal.  Welcome to Simchat Torah which means "rejoicing in the Torah". What do we know about this major holiday?  Sadly, today many people know little about the joy that we experience because of the Torah. The day is a major celebration and during my time in the Orthodox shul, which is now gone, it was truly a party.  We sang and we danced with the Torah. 

Here's a story about that and I think you'll get the connection.

On Oct. 14, 1663, the English civil servant Samuel Pepys decided to pay a visit to the Jewish synagogue in London. Jews were a novelty in Restoration England. They had been expelled from the realm nearly four centuries earlier, and it was only in 1656 that they had once again been permitted to live on English soil. (Let that sink in for a moment...)

Pepys, knowing nothing of Judaism, wasn’t aware that his excursion happened to coincide with the most euphoric day in the Jewish calendar – the festival of Simchat Torah.

What he witnessed baffled him and he wrote in his diary: “...to see the disorder, laughing, sporting, and no attention, but confusion in all their service, more like brutes than people knowing the true God, would make a man forswear ever seeing them more and indeed I never did see so much, or could have imagined there had been any religion in the whole world so absurdly performed as this.”

Welcome to Simchat Torah!  Yes, there is singing, there is dancing, there are folks taking a shot or two...there is pure joy in the celebration.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes: "That book (the Torah) is our most cherished possession.  We stand in its presence as if it were a king. We dance with it as if it were a bride. We kiss it as if it were a friend. If, G-d forbid, one is damaged beyond repair, we mourn it as if it were a member of the family.”

If a Torah scroll is accidentally dropped, everyone who witnesses it is expected to fast in penance. When a synagogue is burned, whether by accident or by arson, there is an immediate, palpable anxiety to know whether the Torah scrolls were saved or lost.

Simchat Torah is not biblically ordained. It was not imposed by religious authorities from the top down, but grew organically from the bottom up. Its roots reach back 15 centuries to the ancient Jewish community of Babylonia, which formalized the practice of publicly reading the entire Torah – from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy – over the course of a year.

The completion of the annual cycle became an occasion of joy, marked by singing and dancing around the synagogue with the Torah scrolls. Adults and children alike take part in the festivities. And as soon as the final verses of Deuteronomy are chanted from the end of one scroll, another is opened and the first chapter of Genesis is chanted: “In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth.” The Jewish engagement with the Torah never ends; as soon as we finish, we start again.

It truly is the oldest love affair in history

Shabbat Shalom and may you have a blessed holiday...

 

 

 

 

 

The Sukkah and The Jewish Embassy

This is the Shabbat before Sukkot the Festival of Tabernacles when Jews all over the world leave the comfort of their home to "dwell in the Sukkah" the temporary "home" for the next week.  This week we read about Sukkot in Leviticus 22:26-23:44. It's that passage sets out what Sukkot is and why we do it.

The Sukkah is supposed to be very temporary and we're to be able to see the stars through the roof. The Sukkah reminds us of several things: 1) Life can be temporary; 2) There are people on the planet who live like this all year and 3) It can be the Jewish Embassy.

Not long ago I was in Washington D.C. on a business effort to engage political leaders about economic development in Central Iowa. On our first night there we had a welcoming party at the Canadian Embassy a beautiful building not too far from Capital Hill. There we mingled with the our friends, old and new. We got to visit with the Canadian Ambassador, talk a little politics. It was really a good experience.

And then it hit me.  We were, really, no longer in the United States. We were in...Canada. The flags were Canadian, the staff was Canadian the land...was Canadian.

If you think about it the Sukkah can be the Jewish Embassy. It's a place where it is no longer our home but a connection with G-d and His Torah. It is a place where we pray, eat and say blessings over the lulav and etrog just as we did thousands of years ago. The Sukkah is transformative.  It is our Jewish Embassy in our own backyard.

And, it is...good.

A quick note to those of you who came to our High Holiday Services via Zoom. What an experience. The services were short (because listening to somebody reading isn't very exciting). The personal stories and reflections about favorite High Holyday moments was really wonderful and when it came time for the Memorial Service we remembered and shed tears. A big thank you to Tracy Smith to was able to help make that all come about.

Be watching for our next Midrash...and yes, via Zoom!

Have a wonderful Shabbat and a Memorable and Safe Sukkot.

Shabbat Shalom!