SYNABLOG: Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills

Looking Back, Moving On, and Finding Home

 

“The vineyard is such a beautiful addition… you know it used to be a dusty old parking lot.  And see that breathtaking mural?  When I first got here, the paint on the side of that building was chipped and worn.  It’s amazing the difference that just a few years have made.”

 

It was alumni weekend up at URJ Camp Newman, in Santa Rosa this weekend.  Though I never attended as a camper, I spent several years up there on staff and over the course of my time there I saw the facility grow into its rolling hills and redwood trees.  As my husband and I walked the grounds, I couldn’t help but reminisce… “I remember when you tripped walking down this path – now I see they’ve paved it over,” and “I once ran an amazing program in that room… I had 40 fourth graders laughing as they played a life-sized board game about being a mensch (good person).”

 

As I walked through this stunning, vibrant space, I barely saw the camp that was in session before me.  Instead it was as if I was looking backward, watching scenes from my past unfold in my mind’s eye. 

 

The Israelites have a similar experience in this week’s parasha.  As the book of Numbers comes to an end, the reader approaches a long, dry directory of names and places.  The Etz Hayim commentary points out that this is far from a boring list.  Rather, “The Midrash compares this list of place-names to the situation of a king whose son was taken ill.  The king took him to a specialist.  On their return journey, at every stopping place, he reminded his son: ‘Here is where you had a headache, here is where we stopped to rest.’  Indeed, every oasis that welcomed the Israelites and provided them with food and water was rewarded by being mentioned in the Torah.”

 

It is important to note that the parasha moves quickly from the point of reminiscence to next steps.  In one breath they remember, and in the next they receive further instructions about how they will move from this point to the next.

 

As we begin to ruminate on what it means to be ‘home’ this High Holy Day season, there is an important lesson to learn from the Israelites.  It is important, fulfilling and meaningful to look back.  To remember what a space or place has meant to us, what we learned from that time or moment in our lives.  We ought to think about the successes that we’ve had, or the lessons we learned from the challenges we had at earlier moments in our lives.

 

But Torah teaches us about the crucial next step: to turn our mind’s eye forward, bringing the insight of our past into our present and our future.  When I remembered to look both forward and back, I saw all the lives that are changing at this moment at my former summer home.  A new generation of children and staff are building on the lessons I learned and taught there, finding their own home that will stay with them until they day they move on, and beyond.

 

Parashat Masei challenges our concept of home. It shows us that as the notion of ‘home’ changes throughout our lives, it is enhanced by all the ‘homes’ we have had.  ‘Home’ changes as we change, becoming what we need at the time that we need it.  As we stand on the brink of the promised land, we look back.  Then, we take the next step, moving on and finding home again.

Rabbi Sara Mason-Barkin

Protect the Walls

When I spoke to my 89-year-old mother yesterday, she had just returned from her Torah study class in her retirement community outside Boston. Now lest you think that the mother of a rabbi was always interested in Torah study, it isn't true. She is a new student, full of questions for her teacher and for her daughter! She asked me why she had never heard about the holy day that is commemorated today:  Shiva asar b'Tammuz, the 17th of Tammuz. It is the day that marks the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in the Second Temple time, the day the walls of Jerusalem were breached. Three weeks later is Tisha B'av, the ninth day of the month of Av when the Temple was destroyed. 

Mom is right; we didn't learn about the 17th of Tammuz or even about Tisha B'av growing up in our Reform synagogue. Why?  Probably because it falls during the summer; a season without religious school. Also because the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem is not such a central element in Reform Judaism. Yes, it was clearly a horrible tragedy for our ancestors, but we don't pray for the rebuilding of the Temple as more traditional Jews do. For Reform Jews, THE Temple has been replaced by OUR temples. That's why Reform synagogues are typically called "temples" while (in general) Conservative and Orthodox synagogues are not. And finally, as my teacher in Jerusalem Rabbi David Hartman has taught, why focus on the destruction when Jerusalem has been renewed?

Still my mom continued, "Does the day have any meaning for you this year?"

Actually, this year it does.  This year I am struck by the awareness that precious Jewish walls are being breached.

This past week a wall was breached in Israel, the wall that protects democracy.

The Israeli Parliament passed a bill (47-38)  that bans any public expression of support for a boycott against the state of Israel or its West Bank settlements. If the legislation goes into effect, it will now be a punishable offense to voice even sympathize with any economic, cultural or academic boycotts of Israel, its institutions or any area under its control, i.e. the occupied territories.

So what's wrong with that? We are all alarmed by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction  (BDS) movement being organized by anti-Israel forces around the world.  However, in a press release issued by the ADL, Abe Foxman, the National Director, writes: “The Anti-Defamation League has a long history of vigorous opposition to any and all boycotts of Israel, and works every day to expose and combat those who seek to cause damage to the Jewish state.  We are, however, concerned that this law may unduly impinge on the basic democratic rights of Israelis to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Among Israel's many assets is its vibrant democracy – a fact clearly supported by the six-plus hour debate of this bill in the Knesset.  To legally stifle calls to action – however abhorrent and detrimental they might be – is a disservice to Israeli society." This is the breach in the wall of Israeli democracy that I am paying attention to this year on Shiva asar b’Tammuz. 

Our own Reform Movement has been vocal in its opposition to the bill. Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Executive Director of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, and Anat Hoffman, Director of the Israeli Religious Action Center, characterized the law as anti-democratic and anti-pluralistic:

"In principle, the Israel Reform Movement does not support boycott as a means to delegitimize the State of Israel. Reform Judaism in Israel and throughout the world stands against international actors who are taking steps to harm Israel's legitimacy and to isolate the country. However, the attempt to prevent a boycott by means of legislation is much more dangerous than the use of the boycott and may cause greater damage to the strength of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. The law that was recently approved by the Knesset actually provides support to those calling for boycotts and isolation of Israel and in this sense, the law is both unjust and unintelligent at the same time.

Therefore the Israel Reform Movement condemns the Knesset's adoption of the ‘Boycott Law,’ a law that penalizes a form of non-violent protest against government policies and severely infringes on the fundamental right to freedom of expression. This law is yet another sad addition to a series of anti-democratic, anti-pluralistic laws recklessly being passed by the current Israeli Knesset in its efforts to silence opposition.  The Jewish tradition embraces public debate and controversy.  As our sages teach us, ‘these and these are the words of the Living God.’ The Knesset would do wisely to heed this teaching."

My mother is right to ask her question. This year, the lesson of the 17th of Tamuz is to pay attention to the wall of democracy and freedom of expression that protect the Israel we love. If this breech stands up in Israel's Supreme Court, something as precious to us as the Temple was to our ancestors, may well be destroyed.

Rabbi Laura Geller

For more information go to http://urj.org/about/union/pr/2011/?syspage=article&item_id=69780
or http://action.nif.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6485

Coming Home

When you turn the corner to drive down Clark Drive and you see Temple Emanuel's sanctuary at a distance, what do you say? You are supposed to say words familiar from this past week's Torah portion: Ma Tovu Ohelecha Ya'acov.... “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel.” But maybe you would want to say: "It's good to be home." For many of us, the sanctuary is our spiritual home, redolent with the memory of people we loved, and overflowing with hopes and prayers for the future.

What does it mean to come home? The more you think about it, the more complicated the notion of home actually is. Aphorisms abound like: "Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to." Or "Home is where the heart is."

What represents home to you? What is the difference between a physical home and a spiritual home? When your kids go off to college, how do you remind them of home? Is ritual important in creating a sense of home? Can a virtual community give you sense of home or is home only a face to face experience? Do you feel at home in America? Do you feel at home in Israel? Do you feel at home in your Jewishness?  

In celebration of moving into our transformed sanctuary at these High Holy Days, your rabbis are thinking about focusing on these questions for our teachings and sermons. What other questions do you have that will help us think about our message to you? What are some of the questions you'd like to think about during the month of Elul, the month before Rosh Hashana, that might help you really prepare to do the work of the High Holy Days: coming home to Judaism, to a sense of divinity, to your best vision of yourself?  

I am struck by the insight of Rachel Naomi Remen: "Our listening creates a sanctuary for the homeless parts within another person." The new sanctuary is almost ready; through listening to each other, it will really be the kind of sanctuary that helps each of us come home.

E-mail your questions to me at rabbigeller@tebh.org or post them on twitter @rabbigeller or Facebook.

Rabbi Laura Geller

Sacred Stories

Once upon a time…. there was a talking donkey. In this week’s Torah portion, actually. You can come to synagogue on Shabbat to hear more about it. A non-Israelite prophet named Balaam was riding on the donkey when God sends an angel visible only to the donkey to block the path. Balaam can’t understand why his donkey stops so he hits his faithful animal and in desperation the donkey speaks up. The donkey’s  words roughly translate as:  “Listen, you fool.  I’ve been a good donkey all these years; I’ve never done this before.  Pay attention! Can’t you see there is an angel of God blocking my path… with a sword, no less!”  Later in the story, the prophet Balaam blesses the people of  Israel (sort of against his will) with the words: “ Ma Tovu… “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel.” This is the blessing that the ancient rabbis chose to begin the morning service.

Blessings emerge from stories. And from story tellers of sacred tales.  Our tradition calls a story teller a “maggid.” Come and meet a famous one this Shabbat morning --- one who was ordained a maggid by the legendary Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach with these words:

“With the help of God.
Be a maggid, a teller of tales, and speak sacred words to the seed of Jacob.
These are the words you shall speak to the Children of Israel.
With this, we support, strengthen, and uphold the hands of
Reb Yitzhak ben Meir Buxbaum
To live a life of the spirit, making the rounds, knocking on all doors, the doors facing each other, the door of the Temple, the gates of the heart, the Heart of Israel
To return those who are lost, lost to mind,
the Mind of the Most High,
With stories that draw the heart of Israel and cause them to awaken.
Arise, shine, for your light has come!
Tell, tell
Awaken, awaken
Return, return the People of Israel in complete repentance, from love.
So shall you bless, and merit to see the raising of the honor of Israel, in joy.

Remember how Elie Wiesel began his classic book The Gates of the Forest (1966)?  “God created human beings because God loves stories.”

We human beings love stories too. Join us at the New Emanuel Minyan July 9. Services begin at 10:00 in Maltz. Rabbi Buxbaum will share some stories throughout the service that will wake you up.

To learn more about Rabbi Buxbaum click on:  www.jewishspirit.com/about_yitzhak.html

Rabbi Laura Geller