Hanukkah Means Dedication

This evening we will light the eighth candle of Hanukah. Our Menorah will be filled with eight regular candles and the Shamash. To us it seems obvious that this is how we light Hanukkah candles. We should be aware that the Talmud presents two contrasting ways of lighting the Hanukah lights.

“The house of Shammai maintains: On the first day eight lights are lit and thereafter they are gradually reduced by one each day; but the house of Hillel says: On the first day one is lit and thereafter they are progressively increased… the reasoning of the house of Shammai is that it should correspond to the days still to come, and that of the house of Hillel is that it shall correspond to the days that are gone. But another maintains: house of Shammai's reason is that it shall correspond to the bullocks of Sukkot (which decrease in number as the festival progresses)  while house of Hillel's reason is that we increase in matters of holiness but do not reduce.”

Talmud Bavli Shabbat 21b

Our custom clearly follows the position advocated by the house of Hillel. We also embrace the principle upon which the house of Hillel’s position stands, “we increase in matters of holiness but do not reduce.” We aim higher. We want to raise the spiritual level of our lives.

Franz Rosenzweig, a deeply influential Jewish thinker of the early twentieth century, saw his life as a journey along this path of “increasing in holiness".

Rabbi Louis Jacobs writes, “Rosenzweig’s approach was subjective also in connection with the mitzvot, Jewish observances. He …believed in the gradual approach in which the observances slowly made their impact by “ringing a bell” for him. Typical of this approach is Rosenzweig’s answer to someone who asked him whether he wore tefillin,  “Not yet,” he replied.”

The word Hanukah means dedication. As we conclude our festival of lights, let us rededicate ourselves to leading lives that are ever increasing in holiness.

 

 

 

The Life of Sarah

This week’s Torah portion is called “Chayei Sarah, The Life of Sarah.“ In western culture titles describe the content of the work that is to follow. Thus we would expect a portion entitled, “The Life of Sarah” to tell the story of her life. In the Hebrew Bible titles are created from the first significant words of the book or portion. So the weekly Torah portion is titled “The Life of Sarah” because it opens with the sentence, “The length of Sarah’s life was a hundred and twenty and seven. Sarah died in Kiriat Arba, now Hebron, in the land of Canaan.”  The portion continues to describe Abraham’s mourning for Sarah and the steps he takes to bury her in Hebron.

The wording of the opening phase attracted the attention of the ancient rabbis. Sarah is the only woman in the Hebrew Bible whose age at the time of her death is mentioned by the text. This is an expression of her status.

Not only does the text tell us Sarah’s age, it tells us her age in an unusual way. The Torah portion describes Sarah as “Mai’ah Shana V’Esrim Shana, Sheva Shanim, One hundred years, and twenty years and seven years.”  Rather than simply saying 127 years. We could say it is written this way for emphasis. The rabbis see more. They say that the text is written this way to teach us that at the time of her death Sarah was as innocent as a seven year old girl, as beautiful as a twenty year old young woman and as wise as a woman of one hundred. Sarah, the mother of our people, was an extraordinary woman. As her descendants we can aspire to follow her example.

Adam & Eve

This week we begin our annual cycle of reading the Torah with the familiar story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The story centers on the woman and the man eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

 

What resulted from the man and woman eating the fruit? Before they ate the fruit the Torah calls them man and woman. They do not have names. They do not need names. They were the only man and the only woman. They were immortal and alone. They lived in the Garden of Eden where they did no work.

 

Before they ate the forbidden fruit nothing ever changed. Every day was like the day before. The man and the woman living in the garden had no sense of time. There was no calendar, no future and no past.

Everything was as it always was and always would be.

 

After they ate the forbidden fruit God banishes them from the garden. God tells them that they will die. God explains that the woman will give birth.

 

They will no longer be the only man and the only woman. They will be two among many. They can no longer be called the man and the woman. They need names. The text tells us that they will be called, Adam and Eve.

 

They have to eat the fruit to propel the story forward. The curiosity that moved the woman and the man to eat transformed them into people with the names. They became people with a sense of time. They became people with memories of the past and hopes for the future. This is not the story of the fall of Adam and Eve it is the story of the beginning of the ascent of human beings.

 

 

What is Your Name?

Often when our members travel to other congregations for life cycle events, they bring me regards from the rabbi they met at the event. Our members will tell me what the rabbi they met said about me:

“Your rabbi is Steven Bob, oh he’s the Obama rabbi.” “Steven Bob, oh he’s the Bobblehead rabbi.” “Steven Bob, oh he’s the Jonah rabbi. It seems that I have a variety of names.

According to a Midrash, “There are three names by which a person is called. One which his father and mother call him, and one which people call him, and one which he earns for himself. The best of all is the one that he earns for himself.”

What name have you been earning for yourself? What is your reputation among your friends? Among your relatives? Among your co-workers?

Simcha is my given Hebrew name. My parents named me Simcha, after my mother’s father. Simcha means joy. It is a perfect name for me. I am as positive and happy a person as exists. Simcha is the name my parents gave me. And it is a name I earn every day. A biblical phrase applies to me, “Kain K’mo Shmo Hu, He is just like his name.”

This phrase comes from the book of Samuel. Abigail is speaking to King David. Abigail explains her husband’s character to King David. She says, “He is, just what his name says, his name means boor and he is a boor.”

In the Bible, as in other literature, the characters’ names often tell us a lot about them. Tomorrow afternoon we will read the Book of Jonah. His name tells us a lot about who is.

In English we call him Jonah. By calling him Jonah we miss out on the meaning of his name. His real name in the original Hebrew is Yonah. Yonah means dove. Where else in the Hebrew Bible does a Yonah play a part? In the Noah story in Genesis Chapter 8.  In that story, Noah sends the dove, out from the Ark, three times. Once it comes back with nothing. The second time it comes back with a “freshly plucked olive leaf.” The third time it does not return.

In the story of Noah’s Ark the dove represents the possibility of a new beginning, of new life on dry land after the flood. From its first venture, the dove returns having failed to find any evidence of the possibility of dry land. The dove succeeds on its second try.

Our Yonah, Jonah the prophet, also succeeds only on his second try.

The first time God calls him to go to Nineveh he runs away. After the Big Fish deposits Jonah back on dry land, God calls him a second time. That time he succeeds. He goes to Nineveh, triggering the repentance of the Ninevites, a new beginning for them.

Our story of Nineveh and the Noah story of the flood, both involve a group of people who have become so evil that God decides to destroy them. Both stories involve trips over the water in boats. These are only two stories in the Hebrew Bible which feature boats.

All these connections between these two stories convince me that the author of the Book of Jonah intended for us, the readers, to make the connection. He wants us to see the prophet Yonah as an extension of the Yonah of the Ark story.

A major difference is that the Book of Jonah presents Jonah as the main character. In the Noah story, the dove is a secondary character.

We do not think of the flood story in Genesis Chapter 8 as, "The Dove and the Ark."

We could imagine restructuring the story told in the Book of Jonah from the point of view of the Ninevites. In the restructured story,
Jonah would become a supporting character. The real active central characters would be the repenting people of Nineveh.

Jonah would be a secondary character in this Nineveh story. Like the dove, he would be a messenger. Jonah would show up only for his brief scene in Nineveh to announce that, “In forty days Nineveh will be overthrown.”

In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are minor characters. They are friends of the prince. Tom Stoppard wrote an inventive play retelling the story from a different point of view. The title of the play shifts from Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

In Stoppard’s play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern become the center of attention. And the main characters from Hamlet become the supporting players. In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Hamlet himself has only a small part.  

We see ourselves as the star of the show that is our life. In truth, we are also secondary characters in the lives of all the people we know. In these other stories we play small parts.

I may be the central figure in the Simcha Bob story but in the story of your life I play a supporting role. I may play a minor role. I may play a recurring role. For some of you I am a new character.

We are all secondary characters in much larger stories. We are part of a larger narrative than the story of our individual lives. The meaning of our existence is not expressed simply in our individual accomplishments. We have lasting impact beyond limits of our lifetime.

We contribute to many stories, the stories of our families, of our friends, and our co-workers. We even play a role in the lives of people we encounter briefly, people who never even learn our names.

In the credits at the end of a movie the list of players begins with the main characters. Then come the supporting characters.  And finally the characters, who are not given names. The credits refer to them as, “The security guard” or “The woman in the green dress.” We play a role in the lives of people for whom we remain anonymous.

In “As You Like It”, Shakespeare tells us, “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts.”

The Book of Jonah presents Jonah as a man of one part.  The rabbis, however, understand Jonah as “a man of many parts.”

What do we know about Jonah as the story begins? The Book of Jonah opens with, “And the word of the Eternal came to Jonah ben Amittai.”  The Biblical text does not introduce Jonah or provide the reader with any background as to who Jonah is or why God is speaking to him. Is this the first time God has spoken to Jonah? What names has Jonah earned before the events described in the Book of Jonah?

The 15th century Bible commentator, Don Isaac Abarbanel provides a full backstory for Jonah by turning to the Midrash. In the Book of Kings, we read the story of a widow whose son dies. The widow summons the prophet Elijah. Elijah brings her son back to life. The Biblical next does not include the name of the boy. He remains anonymous.  The Midrash imagines that this anonymous boy is actually the young Jonah.

Abarbanel turns to another story of an unnamed biblical character. According to the Bible the prophet Elisha appoints an unnamed prophet to anoint Yehu to be the ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel. In the Midrash, rabbis identify this anonymous prophet as Jonah.

So for Abarbanel, Jonah has a special relationship with God before the events described in the Book of Jonah begin. And Jonah has a connection to God’s main representatives of that time and that place, the prophets, Elijah and Elisha. Jonah’s very existence is due to a miracle performed by Elijah. And Elisha, Elijah’s apprentice and successor, views Jonah as an appropriate agent to carry out God’s will in anointing Yehu.

We can try to imagine the role we play in the lives of those for whom we remain anonymous. The strangers we encounter everyday. We may perform a small act of kindness or we may mutter harsh words of criticism. In either case, we make an impact.

As we reflect on the influence we have in dramas in which we play a minor role, we should consider the significance of our impact on the stars of those stories. Have we been giving award winning performances as supporting players?

There are three names by which by which we are called. One which our father and mother call us, and one which people call us, and one which we earn for ourselves. The best of all is the one that we earn for ourselves.

During these hours of Yom Kippur, We should ask ourselves, what is my name? What name am I earning for myself? And what parts have I played in the lives of the people around me?

Then we should ask ourselves, what do I want my name to be? And what parts do I want to play in the lives of the people around me?

On its second journey from the Ark the dove returned with an olive twig expressing the hope of a new life on dry land. May we emerge from these 24 hours of fasting, prayer and reflection filled with the hope of a new life on dry land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosh Hashanah 5774

I have an idea for a TV show. The show is called 9:04 AM. Each week a minister, a priest and a rabbi meet to play golf. The young rabbi is Josh Cohen, the son of the previous rabbi in town, Eliot Cohen. The minister is Rev Ellen Casper. The Priest will be Father Jim. So every Thursday, Father Jim, young Rabbi Cohen and Rev Casper gather for their round of golf. The staff around the course refers to them as “The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost” but never to their faces.

 

Each week one of the three begins to tell a story. Or a fourth golfer joins the group and tells a story. I imagine each episode beginning with the group approaching the first tee, then the action turns to the story. You never actually see them play golf. The episode concludes with the group walking off the 18th green. Saying to each other, “See you next week at 9:04.”

 

I always have new ideas. Some of my ideas are less practical. Some of ideas are more practical. But I never run out of ideas. I have new ideas for me, new ideas for the congregation and new ideas for the world.

 

Some of my new ideas have actually led to real world projects. A few years ago I raised the idea of solar energy. Many of us worked together. We now have 142 Solar panels on the roof of our building.

 

In June of 2008 I sent an email to a presidential campaign, suggesting the formation of a rabbis group to support that candidate. In that election campaign we gathered 500 rabbis to support our candidate. In the 2012 election our group of rabbis supporting our candidate exceeded our target number of 613. Scholars reported that in the history of the United States no one had ever done such a thing. There was no Rabbis for Roosevelt or Rabbis for Reagan. We were the first.

 

New ideas keep me fresh. New projects provide challenge. New ideas and new projects give me a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I understand the need for stability. But, if everything remains the same from year to year we move beyond stability to routine. Following the same routine drains the spice out of life.

 

The Hasidic master Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav had a beautiful way of living his life. Nothing was ever routine. Everything was exhilarating and exciting. How could he do that? Simple – every new day was a new beginning for him. Even more so, if he ever felt a setback, he’d declare a new beginning in the middle of the day and start all over.

 

We should follow Rabbi Nachman’s example and let everyday be a new beginning. This New Year should be marked by new ideas. We should not do the same thing every year that robs of our lives of texture and spice.

 

Joshua Foer in his book, ‘Moonwalking with Einstein,” explains how we fall into routine. He describes three stages in acquiring a new skill:

1. The Cognitive Stage of intellectualizing the task and discovering new strategies to accomplish it more proficiently.

2. The Associative Stage, during which we concentrate less. We make fewer errors become more efficient.

3. The Autonomous Stage. In which we lose conscious control over what we are doing. We just “do” without thinking.

 

When we learned to drive as teenagers. We moved through these three stages. At first it was all new. We really paid attention to exactly how to maneuver the car. Now we just drive. We do not need to think about how to make a left turn. We just do it without reflection. Our level of driving no longer improves. But we do not need it to improve. We get safely from place to place.

 

There may be areas in which we want to improve, but have not gotten any better. Foer uses the example of his father’s golf game. He could have been writing about my golf game. His father has played for decades. His father continues to play but does not get better. His father is in the Autonomous Stage.

 

Foer explains that to improve, you have to force yourself back into the Cognitive Stage of discovering new strategies to accomplish their goals more proficiently.

 

Which golfers work with coaches on an ongoing basis? Recreational golfers like me? No. Who has coaches? The pros. The best golfers in the world have coaches. These professional golfers do not play golf in the Autonomous Stage. They remain in the Cognitive Stage. They want to improve. They consciously practice the aspect of their game that needs work.

 

We should not allow our lives to slip into the Autonomous Stage of acting without thinking. Leading our lives, we should stay in Cognitive Stage, discovering new strategies to accomplish our goals more proficiently. If we want to improve, we need to consciously focus on the aspect of our lives that needs work. We should be searching for new opportunities and be open to new ideas.

 

I have a friend who always has new ideas. Jerry Kaye has been the Camp Director at Olin-Sang-Ruby-Union-Institute since 1970. One might imagine that after 43 years, Jerry just does what he has always done. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Jerry never just puts our camp on cruise control. He keeps coming up with new programs or discovers new twists for old programs.

 

This summer Jerry announced that the camp has received a significant grant for an environmental project to be called "To Till and To Tend.” OSRUI will create a Jewish Land Ethic based on Jewish texts and hands on work. The project will include the creation of a greenhouse at camp and a "community garden" in which congregational groups will work during spring retreats and campers will work in the summer.

 

Sometimes circumstances generate new ideas. As we all know Rosh Hashanah is “early” this year. Or perhaps Labor Day was late. All the Jewish holidays fall earlier than ever. Hanukkah is as early in November as it gets. And Thanksgiving is as late in November as it gets. Hanukkah will overlap with Thanksgiving for the first time since 1889. My thought? Latke stuffing!!!

 

Our connections team led by Merle Erlich has created a wide variety of new groups and activities for members of the congregation.

 

The newest project is the Environment Team. Last week with the leadership of Mary Slack, eight of us sat in the Spenadels’ dining room to begin this exciting new project. We will look at ways to help our members know more about our solar panels through visuals displays in the building, including a model of our building with the panels and a periscope through which children could look and see the solar panels on the roof. We will create a solar stronger presence on our website and learning projects for our children.

 

We will be looking at other environmental concerns here at the synagogue including an energy audit and making improvements to qualify our facility for environmental certification.

 

We will be exploring ways promote solar energy in other houses of worship through a reinvigorated Fourth Day Initiative. We will help our members examine environmental issues in their own lives.

 

The direction of our Environmental Group will be determined by the interests of its members. Come and joins us. Speak to me or to our leader Mary Slack or see us at the Committee Rush on September 29.

 

Some people see barriers to new ideas. People point to their age, to frustrating personal history and difficult circumstances

 

People say I am too old. Age should not be a barrier to new projects. I know a guy who published his first book at 63.

 

People say nothing I do ever works out. Feeling down or defeated should not be a barrier to new ideas. No group of human beings has had a more consistent record of disappointment than the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs are not moping around. They are rebuilding the team, and remodeling their home.

 

People say I can’t do anything new my situation is too difficult. The odds against me are too great for me to succeed. Difficult circumstances should not be barrier. Last January in Odessa on the JUF Rabbis mission, we met an amazing couple. The Lubavitch Rabbi Avraham Wolff and his wife. When the Wolffs arrived in Odessa, they saw that Odessa had many Jewish orphans, regular orphans and social orphans as the result of alcoholism. The couple arrived in Odessa with virtually nothing. They saw the need. They raised the money. They developed the contacts locally with Jews and the non-Jewish power structure. They had a vision. They built a beautiful orphanage. The impressive building includes classrooms, dormitories, play areas, even generators because of the frequent power outages. Everything is new, no hand me downs. They now offer college classes. Chabad is not normally my favorite group, but I was deeply moved by the example of Rabbi Avraham Wolff and his wife. They did not let difficult circumstances prevent them from bringing their ideas to reality.

 

In 1897 Theodor Herzl convened the First World Zionist Congress in Basel Switzerland. Who gave Theodor Herzl the authority to convene the first World Zionist Congress? Theodor Herzl! Theodor Herzl famously said, “Im Tirtzu Ein Zu Aggadah. If you will it, it is no dream.” But first you need to dream.

 

What are your dreams? What are your new ideas? What are your new ideas for your lives? What are your new ideas for this congregation? What are your new ideas for the world?

 

Over lunch today, talk about new ideas, new ideas for your lives, new ideas for the congregation, new ideas for the world. I would love to hear from you about your new ideas.

 

A Jewish fellow from Minnesota once wrote that a person “not busy being born is busy dying.” As the New Year begins, let us all get be busy being born.

Fall 2013

Despite the warm weather summer is ending. The fall is beginning. This is the time of year to get serious. Children have returned to school. Students are off to college.

In a week, we will gather for Rosh Hashanah. In our homes we will sit around the table with friends and relatives and dip apples in honey to wish each other a sweet new year. In the synagogue we will gather with our fellow congregants to hear the call of the Shofar summoning us to return to the path of righteous living.

We will soon be resuming two study groups. Last spring we began our Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives group. We will resume our weekly sessions on Friday, September 20. We meet each Friday for an hour at noon.

The Book of Jonah raises key questions about the purpose of our lives, including: Who am I? Why are we here? What is evil? You need no prior knowledge to be part of this group. This is a study group not a course. You do not need to attend every session to participate. Together we read selections from the Book of Jonah and explore what they have to teach us concerning how we lead and understand our lives. You can read the material we studied during our first six sessions last spring by clicking here.

On Saturday, September 21 at 9:00 AM our Torah study group will begin a new year. For over 30 years we have been working our way through the Hebrew Bible. We are now in the midst of the Book of Isaiah. There are no prerequisites for joining the Torah study group. We have varying backgrounds but share an interest in the Biblical text and conversation. You do not have to commit to attending every Saturday.

We look at the text in the context of our lives and our ideas. Our explorations of the text always touch on what is going on in the large world and in our Etz Chaim world. While we avoid fancy scholarly vocabulary, our conversations regularly return to big themes, such as; leading Jewish lives in the modern world, our relationship with God, our understanding of truth, and truths and our connection to the Jewish People and the Land of Israel.

Jonah and the Meaning of Our Live Teachings

In April I began teaching a new study group, Jonah and the Meaning of our Lives. We met six times this spring before beginning a summer break. We will resume in the fall on Friday, September 20 at noon. We meet for an hour on Fridays.

 

Each week I share with the class a verse from the Book of Jonah, excerpts from the medieval commentaries to that verse and other relevant texts. I have posted the text pages for the six classes for members of our group who missed a class and for other members of the community who might be interested in joining our group in the fall.

 

If after reading these text pages you want to know what we had to say about them please contact me Rabbi Bob.

 

You need no prior knowledge to be part of this group. This is a study group not a course. You do not need to attend every session to participate. We read selections from the Book of Jonah and explore what they have to teach us concerning how we lead and understand our lives. The Book of Jonah raises key questions about the purpose of our lives, including: Who am I? Why are we here? What is evil?

 

For many years I have devoted my January study leave to understanding the Book of Jonah. I am pleased to have the opportunity to share what I have learned with the members of our community.