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
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