Rabbi's Ramblings...... 

 

Shalom Congregants and Friends.....    

 

We really enjoyed Shabbat Under the Stars last Friday night! Around 100 participants, good food, and good davenning lead by Ethan Nash. All who were there really enjoyed!  We honored Norman Cohen for his many contributions to Beth Hillel Synagogue over the years. And thank you, Dorothy, as well! Many of their family members were here to share the kvod!

 

This Shabbat we will continue explorations of Jewish identity. I will share a fascinating article from a newspaper recentty about the Jews of Kaifung, China. just one of the far-flung places to swhich our ancesters have travelled. It will start off our discussion.

 

Shabbat morning we will discuss some of the issues coming from a rather difficult Torah portion. We continue chanting what are called "Haftorot of Consolation," all from the book of Isaiah, as we start the approach toward the New Year. 

 

Iris and I recently saw a movie titled "Sarah's Key." It was a recent novel turned into a film... with an unusual twist on a Holocaust story that was both meaningful and thought-provoking. I invite all of you to consider viewing it while it is still showing.

 

Again,.....  If you know of any possible members, let the office know so we can invite them to consider membership. David Nemirow and Joel Neuwirth are heading a reinvigorated membership committee. And this time we will invite them to be our guests at the Abe Morrison dinner coming up on Friday evening, September 9th. Please put that date on your calendar and consider coming to / make your RSVP for that event as well! 

 

Enjoy each beautiful summer day... you'll really miss them come January! 

  

Shabbat Shalom ....... Rabbi Gary and Iris Atkins

 
"All it takes to study Torah is an open heart,

a curious mind and a desire to grow a Jewish soul."  

Shabbat  Services & Candle Lighting Times
CANDLE LIGHTING     
Friday, Aug. 19, 7:25pm 
Friday, Aug. 26, 7:14pm

SHABBAT SERVICE TIMES    

Friday, August 19, 8:00pm 

Saturday, August 20, 9:30am, 7:15pm Mincha/ Maariv

  

Friday, August 26, 8:00pm 

Saturday, August 27, 9:30am, 7:15pm Mincha/ Maariv

 

PLEASE NOTE: When sunset becomes earlier than 7:30, we will only daven Maariv at our evening service. This will be effective with the coming of Rosh Hodesh Elul, Monday evening,  August  29.

Joke of the Week 

Patient: How much to have this tooth pulled?

Dentist: One hundred and fifty dollars.

Patient: A hundred and fifty dollars for just a few minute's work?

Dentist: I can do it slower if you'd like......

Social Action Updates    
 
Be aware of those less fortunate than we are!! Carry out the mitzvah of tikkun olam!

 

Beth Hillel Synagogue day at Loaves and Fishes --- Thursday, September 1. Call to volunteer to serve!

 

A mitzvah we can ALL DO: Visit a friend in a nursing home or assisted living center or who otherwise can't get oit!

 News from Israel...

.....from the Rabbinical Assembly Israel Action Committee  

 

As you know, in September the United Nations is slated to hold a vote on whether or not to endorse a unilaterally declared Palestinian State. The Rabbinical Assembly has adopted a resolution opposing the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). We ask you to contact your governmental officials to express your opposition to the unilateral declaration of Palestinian Statehood and we ask you to work in your local communities to educate and advocate on this crucial issue. We note that the US House and Senate have both passed resolutions  affirming the commitment of the United States to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct negotiations between the parties.

 

In addition to the RA resolution, the Israel Action Network, a partnership funded by the Jewish Federations of North America and professionally staffed by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs has prepared background material. We also urge you to sign the petition adopted by the Israel Action Network and the Conference of Presidents.

 

There are many resources your rabbi can share with you. This material includes talking points on the issue of the deligitimization of Israel, FAQ's, and action items. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs has prepared this statement on the dangers of a premature recognition of a Palestinian State.

 

In the next few weeks, the Jewish community plans to visit ambassadors and local consuls to oppose the declaration and other unilateral political action at the UN. 

 

Weekly Quotes

An interesting comment that perhaps you didn't realize.....

 

"The social protests in Israel began 4 weeks ago with a national outcry over the rising price of basics such as cottage cheese. They then snowballed into a full-blown national movement by way of a simple act by a then unknown young woman. The act? Striking a tent in Tel-Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard in protest of high apartment rental costs.... Small potatoes aside, it's been four weeks and zero acts of the barbaric, non-discriminatory violence we've seen across the middle east, and even in the UK. No shots fired. No stores looted. No form of communication has been shut down. In fact, not only have the Israeli police and army not taken any role other than safeguarding the protests themselves, they have even been applauded, literally, by hundreds of thousands for their efforts. While in neighboring countries regimes are slaughtering the opposition, in Israel we have complete free speech to criticize our politicians and leaders....

 

"--Excerpts from an article entitled "Hello World: Israel is Out-Classing You in Civil Disobedience," juxtaposing Israel's ongoing peaceful demonstrations over a lack of affordable housing against the violent civil upheavals taking place throughout the Arab world, and the urban riots in the UK. (Washington Post, August 14.)

Weekly Torah Portion Commentary  -   

Courtesy of Rabbi Michael Gold   

  

In this week's portion God tells Moses that it is forbidden to add anything to the Torah and it is forbidden to subtract anything from the Torah. Israel must observe the Torah as it is given. I remember once someone telling me, "Rabbi, I know God wants me to fast on Yom Kippur. But perhaps God would like it better if I also fast on the day before Yom Kippur." I tried to explain that it is as much forbidden by Jewish law to fast on the day before Yom Kippur as to eat on Yom Kippur. We cannot add to the Torah.
 

Having said that, it is clear that over the course of Jewish history the Jewish community has added to the Torah. The list of traditions added since the time of the Torah is endless - to name a few: Hanukkah, Purim, Tisha B'Av, most of the rituals of the Passover Seder, Kol Nidre, Yizkor, Simhat Torah, Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah, Confirmation, Kabbalat Shabbat, kaddish, yizkor, etc. The list of traditions subtracted from the Torah is almost as long - animal sacrifices, most of the laws of purity, tithes, the Jubilee, the Hebrew servant, the betrothed maiden, the laws of leprosy, etc. On a regular basis the Jewish people have subtracted laws and added laws.
 

What gives us the right to add and subtract laws to a Torah that is unchangeable? Here we get one of the wonderful insights of the Rabbinic tradition. We are not really adding or subtracting from the Torah. On the contrary, everything we say is already part of the Torah. "All that a brilliant student will in the future expound in front of his teacher was already given to Moses at Sinai. (Yer. Peah 6:2). Everything that we teach and do in every generation is already in the Torah. We are not adding nor subtracting, but simply uncovering what is already there. The Torah has seventy faces, and in each generation we uncover new faces.


I love the idea of a malleable Torah, so open to interpretation that we can always find new insights and interpretations. The rabbis were constantly seeking new ways to understand the Torah. For example, they spoke about a pardes - literally an orchard. But the word really is an acronym for four kinds of interpretations - peshat or simple meaning of a sentence, remez or philosophical and allegorical interpretations, drash or rabbinic interpretation, and sod or secret mystical interpretations. All of these are used, even if they sometime contradict one another.
 

Although Jews and Christians read the same Bible (at least the part that Christians call the Old Testament and Jews simply call Tanach), the two faiths went in very different directions. For Christians, the ultimate spiritual reality is incarnation. The word became flesh. Jews do not accept that. Jews believe that the ultimate spiritual reality is interpretation. To quote Professor Susan Handelman of Bar Ilan University from her book The Slayers of Moses, "The central doctrine of the Church - Incarnation - celebrates not the exaltation of the word, but is transformation from the linguistic order into the material realm, its conversion into the flesh. For the Rabbis, however, the primary reality was linguistic; true being was a God who speaks and creates texts."
 

The Torah text is the ultimate reality. But the Torah is not a text that was set down in one time and one place. We cannot speak about what the Torah really means. Rather the Torah is a text that invites a multitude of interpretations and understandings. Those interpretations may change from community to community and generation to generation. But Jewish tradition teaches that all such interpretations were there from the beginning, hidden in the original text. It is the responsibility of rabbis and teachers in every generation to uncover the hidden meetings. Or as Ben Bag Bag said in the Talmud, "Turn it over and turn it over for everything is in it." (Avot 5:22)