Adas Israel - Mason City, IA

Torah Thoughts 28 January 2022 - Parsha Mishpatim

Hello Friends and welcome to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. Before we begin please know that we've set our February service schedule and Midrash. We will meet for services at the shul on Friday the 4th of February at 7:00PM and our Torah Study (Midrash) will take place on Shabbat on the 5th of February at 10:00AM. The board has requested that attendees be fully vaccinated and wear masks. We are able to socially distance at both events.

In addition, it is with a heavy heart that I pass along to you the death of Shirley Serleth. Shirley was a regular attendee for services as well as our Midrash. She always had questions and input. She was committed to helping Israel and loved being with us.  A "spunky" woman who truly enjoyed our company. She will be missed and may her memory be a blessing to all she knew.

Shabbat Mishpatim

This week we read Exodus 21 - 24. "And these are the ordinances that you shall place before them."  Mishpatim is Hebrew for "laws" and in this parsha we get into the civil laws of the nation.  What is interesting is that unlike many other faiths that demand a separation between "church and state" that is not the case with the Torah. Jews strongly believe that the civil laws are part of our religious duty. All areas of religious life are, as the rabbis say, "...intertwined and holiness derives from the halachically correct business dealings no less than from piety in matters of ritual."

In other words our faith in laws and legal concepts are connected with our faith and not a separate part of our life. This is why it is forbidden in Orthodox circles to take a fellow Jew to civil court.  Rather the court must be made up of a Bet Din or "religious court" made up of learned rabbis. In my life I have had experience with this process and it truly is a sound way in which to iron out differences.  In case you are wondering the closest Bet Din I know of is with the Chicago Rabbinical Council or CRC.

The Point

The Almighty informs Moses that the laws are to be presented in such a way that the Jewish people should garner pleasure from them and thus have a desire to do them. The ultimate lesson here is that the Torah must be transformative. It isn’t enough to give charity; one must become a charitable person. A charitable person feels good and derives pleasure from helping others. The “high” they feel after doing good makes them want to do so again. It isn’t enough to keep Shabbat; one must connect to the spirit of Shabbat and take pleasure in everything it has to offer. A person who connects to Shabbat looks forward to it all week instead of restlessly counting down the hours until it’s over.

In order to truly enjoy the mitzvot, we must first understand the reasons for the commandments. Once we do, then we can begin to see that everything G-d asks of us is really for our own good. All these laws were given to us in order to provide us with the best possible life. In this way, we begin to anticipate the joyful experience of every one of G-d’s commandments; only then do we begin to scratch the surface of all the good G-d has created for us in this world.

The point my friends is to live in harmony with our faith and with the laws that govern us.

Once again our service schedule for February will be on Friday the 4th at 7:00PM and then the Midrash on Shabbat the 5th at 10:00AM.

Shabbat Shalom and thank you for reading!

If I can be of help my Cell Phone is 515-570-2220 and I am sorry this is so short this week...it's been quite a busy time.  Thanks for understanding! 

Michael

 

Torah Thoughts 21 January 2022 = Parsha Yitro

Greetings from Kansas City and welcome to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. Glad you're here. Me? In Kansas City for business this week and yes, the Kansas City Chiefs are playing football on Sunday and the town is running in high gear.  While I'm not going you can tell football is in the air.

Parsha Yitro

This week we read from Exodus 18 - 20 and the selection is called Yitro as it reads, "Now Moses' father in law, Jethro, the chieftain of Midian, heard all that G-d had done for Moses and for Israel, His people that the L-rd had taken Israel out of Egypt." By the way, Yitro is Hebrew for Jethro.

This is a pretty big deal because Yitro is a major ruler of a great nation and a pagan.  And for him to take notice of what had been going on becomes something of importance in allowing people, other than the Jews, to know G-d. Oh, and he is also the father in law to Moses.

Yitro is so impressed that he converts and becomes a follower and an adviser to Moses telling him that he needs some help in judging all the cases that come before him. So, Moses listens and does what his father in law says.

The Money Thing

One of the pieces of advice that Yitro gives to Moses is to appoint judges that can not be swayed by money: "But you shall choose out of the entire nation men of substance, G-d fearers, men of truth, who hate monetary gain..." What valuable insight and something that we should also remember when we are appointing not only judges but also electing leaders.

When someone does something only for financial gain there is a problem.  Note that Yitro says they must fear G-d and they must be truthful and that is linked to actually hating financial rewards. And the Torah tells us that when this is accomplished there will be...peace.

The Warm Up

Now things are about to get serious. G-d says to Moses that he needs to hear from the people that they are ready to follow Him. Note...G-d should already know what is in the hearts of the people but they must actually say it. It's not enough to simply think you are going to follow the laws of Hashem...you must acknowledge it with voice.

Of course the people are all in at this point. They have seen the wonders and now they are ready to accept the yoke of faithful followers.

Sinai 

If might surprise you that there is total agreement between Jews, Christians and Muslims on what is about to happen. All three of these main world religions believe as part of their doctrine that G-d descended upon Mount Sinai and gave the Torah to the Jewish people? In fact, they all consider the prophets of the "Old Testament" to be authentic conveyers of G-d’s truths.

To be sure after we agree on that part...things take a turn. However, at least we have that.

Have you ever wondered why so many hospitals, recovery centers, and medical facilities are named Mount Sinai? On the surface this seems to be a very random and rather odd name to associate with healthcare.

This week’s Torah reading gives us a clue. In this week’s portion we find the following verse, “God shall descend before the eyes of all the people on Mount Sinai” (Ex. 19:11).

The implication of this verse stating that everyone was able to see G-d descend is that even those who had been blind could actually physically see G-d descend. A two thousand year old Jewish tradition therefore concludes that an incredible miracle occurred prior to the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai: Everyone was miraculously healed.

In other words, all the sick, infirm, and handicapped were cured at Mount Sinai. We can now understand why almost every large city has a hospital or medical facility named “Mount Sinai.”

The Commandments

We now get to the Ten Commandments. What is interesting about this is that there are truly another 603 commandments. After all, each time G-d says to do something or not to do something it is truly a...commandment.

In addition, did you know that there are differences in the Ten Commandments as stated here in Ex. 20:1-14 and then later in Deut. 5:6-18. It makes for great table talk around the Shabbos Table with the kids.

The portion concludes with the Almighty telling Moses to instruct the Jewish people not to make any images of G-d. They were then commanded to make an earthen altar; and eventually to make a stone altar, but without the use of a sword or metal tool.  Why is that?  Because tools made from iron can be tools of war and death. G-d wanted to people to pursue...peace.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful Shabbat!!

Torah Thoughts 14 January 2022 - Beshalach

Hello and greetings from a very snowy Iowa. This is Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel, the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa based in Mason City. Because of the projected snow we have made the decision to cancel services for Friday the 14th as well as our in-person Midrash. However because of technology we will hold our 10:00AM Midrash via Zoom. Tracy Smith has been kind enough to offer to host the session. The link is in our email version of Torah Thoughts. If you are not on our list but wish to join us please send your information to us: [email protected] should work.  OK?  Let's go!

Parsha Beshalach

This week we read Exodus 13:17 - 17:16. It is called Beshalach after the second word in the reading. Beshalach means "when (he) let go". "It happened when Pharaoh sent out (let go) the people that G-d did not lead them by the land of the Philistines, because it was near."

That begs an interesting question. Why would G-d wish the Jewish people to take the "long way" to Israel? The answer is that G-d knew the people would "backslide" and when faced with the possible battle against the Philistines they would want to go back to Egypt. By diverting them in a "round-about" manner it was more difficult for them to flee.  So he sent them on a big detour. What is stunning is they had been witness to all the miracles in Egypt but yet they were not sure.  Oh, people of little faith...right?

Pharaoh's Heart

Now it's getting interesting. We read in Ex. 14:4 that G-d says, "I shall strengthen the heart of Pharaoh and he will pursue them (the people), and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and his entire army and Egypt will know that I am Hashem." For all of Egypt to know that G-d is...G-d there had to be yet another amazing event. That event would cement in the minds of all who is in charge. The event was the splitting of the sea and the drowning of the Egyptian army.

But, of course, before we get there the people see the army coming and they panic. They even tell Moses that they were better off when they lived in Egypt...at least they would not be run down by the great army. G-d once again tells Moses that it's going to be alright. Stay strong even in the face of this...

Money, Money, Money

We now come to a very interesting part of the parsha. The Egyptian army is so sure of victory that they take with them gold and jewels to decorate their chariots. When they drown in the sea what happens to all the money?  The rabbis say that G-d caused it to rise from the bottom of the sea and for the gold and jewels to wash up on the beach where the Jews stood.

Surprise!

If you read Ex. 15:22 this is how we know. It says, "Moses caused Israel to journey from the Sea of Reeds..." The rabbis say that Moses had to force the people to leave the shore because they were busy collecting the wealth that washed up on the beach. 

Roll Back

Let's roll back a bit. Rabbi Zweig "G-d decreed that Abraham’s descendants were to go to a land that was not their own and become slaves for four hundred years (Gen. 15:13) In the next verse, G-d promises Abraham that when his descendants leave the land of their bondage they will do so bearing great wealth. How did G-d fulfill this promise?"

G-d pleaded with Moses that the Jewish people should ask their Egyptian neighbors for fine jewelry and clothes so that when they left Egypt they would have wealth (Ex. 11:2). They did so and managed to accumulate significant going away presents. Yet according to our sages, all that they managed to get from the Egyptians as they were leaving paled in comparison to the booty they seized from the Egyptian soldiers who came to slaughter them but instead were drowned by G-d in the Red Sea.

Court Fight

Here is an interesting story from the Talmud and it has to do with a court case with Alexander the Great. It seems that the Jewish people were summoned to appear in court to answer a charge of theft for taking money out of Egypt and not returning it. And the Egyptians had proof. After all it was written in the Torah. 

A sage who appears only one time in all of the Talmud tells the court that indeed the Egyptians were not wrong: “You have a legitimate claim, for the Torah records that we left Egypt with much of your gold and silver.”

But, he went on: “But the very same Torah says that we were slaves for four hundred and thirty years (Ex. 12:40) – so in fact, we have a counterclaim! Pay us the wages for 600,000 slaves who labored day and night for four hundred and thirty years; for those wages surely exceed anything we might have taken when we left Egypt!” Alexander the Great turned to the Egyptian plaintiffs and demanded that they answer the counterclaim. “Give us three days to answer” the Egyptians pleaded. He granted them the time and they promptly disappeared and never returned.

The Lesson

Back to our story at the sea. Moses had to push the people to leave even in the face of them collecting more wealth than they could imagine. But why would Moses care if they stayed and collected more?

There is a very deep message here. G-d promised our forefather Abraham that the Jewish people would leave Egypt wealthy. But at what point can you consider yourself wealthy? At what point are you satisfied with what you have?

The answer is when you leave gold, silver, and precious jewels laying on the ground in front of you and you just walk away. That is what Moses was trying to teach them: You are wealthy now and you do not need any more. When they realized that they had so much that they could simply walk away from more they finally understood that they were in fact wealthy and left the seashore. So, G-d fulfilled his promise to Abraham.

When a person can look at what he/she has and say, "I have enough" they can then we are free from the pressure to gain more and can now spend time in service to others including our family. That is true enrichment.

Midrash

Once again, we'll be holding our Midrash on ZOOM. If you do not get our weekly email newsletter that will have the link.  Please send us your name and email and we'll include you.

Shabbat Shalom and stay well. 

Torah Thoughts 7 January 2022 - Parsha Bo

Hello friends and welcome back to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. Grateful you've come by again to learn. A reminder that we'll be holding out January services at the shul on Friday the 14th at 7:00PM and our Midrash (Torah Study) on Shabbat the 15th at 10:00AM. Once again, our services are socially distanced and we require you to be fully vaccinated to attend. Thank you for respecting the wishes of the Board. Now, let's go!

The Portion Is...

This week's Torah portion is Bo (Exodus 10:1 - 13:16). "Bo" is Hebrew for "go" as we read in the first line of the parsha: "Hashem said to Moses, come (go) to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart and the hearts of his servants stubborn so that I can put these signs of Mine in his midst..." I'm reminded, each year, that this parsha was a favorite of my Father z'tl. I fondly remember that when we got to this portion of the Torah he really engaged in the conversation both at the shul and at home. It's a good memory.

Often I get the question as to why G-d would make the heart of Pharaoh "stubborn" and in some places "harden". The answer is in that first line. If Pharaoh had simply complied and let the people go G-d would not have that opportunity to show how He truly controlled everything. And so, to carry on the mission the heart of Pharaoh and his servants were hardened.

Which Is It?

Studying for this week I came on an interesting question posed by Rabbi Yitzchak Zweig that has its basis in this week's reading. The question is, "Are you a Jewish American or an American Jew"? At first blush you might think they are the same thing...but are they?

This week we read "at midnight the Almighty struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon” (Ex. 12:29) What does this mean?

The great commentator Rashi wondered why the firstborn sons of the captives were also killed. After all, they weren’t even citizens of Egypt and had nothing to do with the enslavement of the Jewish people.

He then offers two approaches, one of which is that the captives rejoiced that the Jews were being enslaved and abused and they would have happily participated had they been given an opportunity. This is akin to the Nazi soldiers who claimed to only be “following orders,” but in many pictures they can be seen laughing and jeering while terrorizing and abusing the German and Polish Jewish population.

Now, follow this logic: The fact that Rashi has to explain why the first born children of the captives were included in the plague indicates that otherwise the first born children of the captives would not have died.

The Sign

Remember, Moses instructed the Jewish people to put the blood of the Paschal lamb on the door posts of their homes so that they would be protected and not fall victim to the tenth plague. Moses is therefore informing them that the first born sons of the Jewish nation would also die unless there was blood on the door posts.

How is it possible that first born Jews would die and not the first born of the captives in jail?

There seems to be only one possible explanation: there was no decree of death from the plague on foreigners – the tenth plague was only a decree on the Egyptians. That is why the children of the captives would have been excluded. But still, why were the children of the Jewish nation susceptible to this last plague?

Entitled

We have often talked about this in shul. There were Jews in Egypt that did not believe and they failed to mark their doors. Why did they not believe?  Because they had become...entitled.

Many Jews began to feel like privileged Egyptian citizens and they were faced with the question of self-definition – are we Jews living in Egypt or rather Egyptians of Jewish descent?

You see, the tenth plague came at the end of a year when many Jews in Egypt were doing just fine...thank you very much. The rabbis tell us they had been relieved of their slavery shortly after the plagues began. And then they started to prosper. They sold water during the plague of blood, their livestock were not affected by the pestilence, their crops were not destroyed by the hail, etc. They were no longer perceived as the downtrodden class. Their circumstances changed dramatically for the better. So, why...leave?

In a very short time, the Jewish people began to feel that they had finally “made it” and were now members of the upper class of Egyptian society. Many preferred to self-identify as Egyptians, of Jewish descent.

The Answer

Moses gave the people the sign of how to define themselves: If you’re an Egyptian Jew put the blood of the Paschal lamb on the doorpost and proudly declare “I am a Jew.” Those who were merely Jewish Egyptians met the same fate as the Egyptians. It is no coincidence that we place mezuzahs on the same place (as the blood of the Paschal lamb) to declare that the home is inhabited by Jews who are proud to be members of the Jewish nation.

It is indeed unfortunate that so many of us identify as American Jews rather than Jewish Americans. If history has taught the Jewish people anything at all it should have taught us that, try as we might to blend into a host nation, they will always consider us Jews first and citizens of the state second. From ancient civilizations all the way to 20^th century Europe – they have made their opinion of us very clear. We must internalize this message and understand who we really are and where our allegiances must ultimately lie.  That is not to say we can not be proud Americans but we must also be proud Jews.

Shul News

Once again we'll be holding services on Friday the 14th at 7:00PM and then our Midrash on Shabbat the 15th at 10:00AM. We're looking forward to seeing you.

Shabbat Shalom!