The Minhag of Reform Judaism

Is Reform a proper noun or a verb? Is the process of "reforming Judaism" a continuous endeavor that adapts to the needs of the time or was there a great moment of reform and now Reform Jews are left with Reform Judaism?

These are critical questions for the thinkers of Reform Judaism and apparently there are those within their camp that are advocating essentially the halakhic argument of minhag avoteinu b'yadeinu, which literally translates as the custom of our forefathers is in our hands. In other words, we have a received tradition and we can not alter it. According to a recent JTA report an entire organization has been created to promote and advocate for the preservation of Classical Reform Judaism.

What are the central Classical items that these individuals are fighting to preserve? According to the news story: "... its distinctive worship style -- services conducted mainly in English, accompanied by organ music and a choir." In a world that is constantly changing, where cultural and political shifts are happening all around us, it is tremendously comforting to have religion be an anchor amidst turbulent waters. I do not believe it is a coincidence, as the article points out that "the split is largely generational."

I remember when I first had moved to the neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City. I was so thrilled to attend services at K'hal Adath Jeshurun (KAJ), the German Orthodox synagogue that is the direct heir to the legacy of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. One of the unique innovations of Rav Hirsch was to increase the meaningfulness, access and relevancy of services to the members of his congregation by instituting a weekly sermon in German and creating a choir. The spirit behind those changes was to continue to seek ways to make Jewish ritual meaningful and inspiring while still staying true to the eternal truth of the Torah. I was very curious to see what the institution that he began in Frankfurt am Main would look like now, over a hundred years later, in New York City.

To my surprise the services looked pretty much like they probably did in Frankfurt during the time of Rav Hirsch. The sermon was in English but other than that, the melodies employed were the same and they still kept with the style of a Hazzan, with the grandiose Hazzan's hat, and a choir. What had happened? The original innovations of Rav Hirsch developed into the status of minhag avoteinu b'yadeinu and thus unalterable.

Perhaps to the chagrin of the new Society for Classical Reform Judaism, in order to preserve a tradition which declared the "Mosaic Law" irrelevant they end up using -- albeit unintentionally -- a principle of the very same Mosaic Law to do so.

The NEW Pop Chanukah Song

From Tablet Magazine and Senator Orrin Hatch:

Eight Days of Hanukkah from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.

Rabbi tweets Torah 4 Jews on the go

(Courtesy of The Jewish Advocate - Boston's Jewish newspaper. They have a great online subscription plan of only $18 for full access, with PDFs available.)

Rabbi tweets Torah 4 Jews on the go
Harvard chaplain sermonizes in 140 characters or less
By Elise Kigner Advocate Staff

Rabbi Ben Greenberg and his Twitter page.

As he talks about Torah and Twitter, Rabbi Ben Greenberg compares the Internet messaging service to the New York subway system. "The great people equalizer," Greenberg calls it, providing a platform for preachers with and without a realworld platform.

As with everyone else, Twitter gives Harvard's 27-year-old Orthodox Jewish chaplain just 140 characters to express his thoughts on a Torah portion. Greenberg sees the forced brevity as a good thing, especially when it comes to wordy rabbis. He likened the Twitter challenge to a Talmud class he took in rabbinical school, where at the end of each 60- minute session students had to summarize everything they learned in one sentence.

"If the message resonates with people, then it's impactful," Greenberg said. "It has meaning without all the poetry and all the rhetorical tools that rabbis use in sermons, just the meaning itself."

This fall, Greenberg self-published, "Twitter Torah: Thoughts on the Hebrew Bible in 140 Characters or Less," a collection of tweets from himself and four other rabbis, among others. Each chapter includes reflections on a different Torah portion.

He assembled the 53-page paperback despite acknowledging that most people don't have time to read books anymore. So why did he write one about Twitter?

"I think the book exposes a wider audience to the dynamic and vibrant conversations on Torah that happen on the Internet," he said.

He tweets regularly on TorahTweets.org, a site created by Rabbi Shai Gluskin last spring to generate excitement for Shavuot. Citing a book of Torah commentary, Kedushat Levi, Greenberg tweeted, "1st step to success: know that you're capable of succeeding. 1st flaw of Noah: he didn't know his capacity 4 success."

Gluskin, who is also a Web developer, works at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation in Pennsylvania.

Not everything that Greenberg tweets is an interpretation of holy writings. On Oct. 21 he tweeted, "Cambridge moment: Davening at Hillel, looking out the window and seeing Ben Affleck struggling to get a police belt on outside."

Last month, he attended the inaugural conference of the International Rabbinic Fellowship, an organization of modern Orthodox rabbis from the United States, Canada, South America, Israel and Hong Kong.

At the conference, they debated Orthodox conversions and the question of whether to admit women acting in a rabbinic capacity as full voting members. And Greenberg tweeted his own reflections:

On Nov. 17: "Confirmed in my career choice of rabbi and not lawyer."

And 40 minutes later: "Wouldn't be an irf conference w/o dancing."

Before coming to Harvard, the San Diego native attended rabbinical school in New York at Yeshivat Chevei Torah. He served as a rabbinic intern at the Jewish Center of Teaneck in New Jersey and the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in New York.

Greenberg said Twitter keeps him in touch with friends and congregants across the country. As of Monday, he had 293 followers on Twitter.

"No matter where you move from, or where you move to, you can stay in a relationship with them," he said.

His wife, Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, Harvard's first Orthodox Jewish female chaplain, recently joined Twitter, using it to campaign in the Jewish Community Heroes contest, sponsored by United Jewish Communities. With more than 8,000 online votes, she was among the 20 finalists.

Rachel Barenblat, a rabbinic student from the western Massachusetts town of Lanesborough, also contributes to Twitter Torah. Barenblat is in the Aleph rabbinic program, which includes online, phone and in-person classes.

A published poet, she said both poetry and Twitter involve "trying to say the most with the fewest words."

Barenblat, who also has a blog called the Velveteen Rabbi, said part of the appeal of Twitter is that people will pay attention regardless of whether you have a title. "Both Twitter and the blogosphere are places where you can make a reputation," she said.

Barenblat has never met Greenberg, but just received an email from him asking whether he could reprint her Torah tweets. "That's part of the joy, that serendipitous connection," she said.

With a baby on the way, she hopes to be ordained by January 2011. When she does become a rabbi, she doesn't expect tweets to replace sermons. Some ideas, she acknowledged, require more than 140 characters.

Still, she said, Twitter, blogs and Facebook provide a convenient way for people to keep up their Torah studies. Rabbis can use Twitter to reach people in their homes, on their computers. "Part of it is going to people where people are," she said.

But Barenblat noted that people who tweet about the Torah do run the risk of making shallow rather than thoughtful commentary.

"I think it probably encourages us to be cute rather than meaningful," she said. "I think that's the challenge, how to say something that's meaningful rather than gimmicky."

The Holiness of the Unexpected

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life

he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

- Henry David Thoreau

This quote from Thoreau aptly describes the juncture in life that Ya'akov finds himself in as he begins his exile from family and home. "Va'yetzei Ya'akov - Ya'akov leaves," on his journey away from the quickly

unraveling family dynamics at home. Rashi comments on this verse to tell us that the reason why it includes both the language of "va'yeitze" and "va'yeleikh" is to inform us of the tremendous impact a righteous person has on a place, and, when they leave, the place they have left becomes notably worse. The language of "va'yeitzei" can mean more than just going away; va'yeitzei is indicative of the immediacy and necessity of the departure. He is not only going towards, "va'yeleikh," Haran, he is exiting Be'er Sheva. While the note by Rashi is certainly true, the inclusion of the language of "va'yeitze" hints at the abrupt and unexpectedness of this move. Ya'akov was suddenly thrust away from the safety and comfort of his known world and now finds himself on the road, by himself.

It is precisely in this moment of tension and disjointedness that Ya'akov experiences transcendence. "Va'yifgah ba'Makom - And he encounters the place." Rashi informs us that this "place" is none other than The Place - Mount Moriah, the foundation stone of the world and the place where Heaven and Earth meet. It is in encountering this place that Ya'akov comes to encounter God. Furthermore, this specific encounter becomes the paradigm for the Divine encounter we as a community experience every day, that of the evening tefillah. It is paramount that we take a moment and probe deeper into the word that defines this moment. This moment is encapsulated in the phrase "va'yifgah," an encounter or a meeting. The language of pegiah comes up in a few other places in Tanakh. In both Joshua 16:7 and 19:11 we find the term being used in the allocation of portions of the Land of Israel to the tribes. The usage of a word that has been defined by Hazal, our Sages, to be a prayerful word, in what appears to be a wholly mundane activity of allocating land is very telling. The term also comes up in Jeremiah 7:16 in the midst of a rebuke of the Jewish people for their departure from the ways of Torah.

The theme that unites both the Joshua texts and the narrative in our Parsha is experiencing a Divine encounter when you least expect it. One might consider the division of lands and the setting up of borders to be an act totally devoid of holiness. One can imagine a terrified Ya'akov, alone for the first time, fearing the revenge of his brother and the disappointment of his father not expecting to experience Divine transcendence at that moment. What is most striking is the rebuke that Jeremiah offers the people in chapter seven is for their transgressions against one another; in their acts of theft, oppression, murder and other violations against their fellow person. Jeremiah rails against the false separation between those acts which are a violation against God and those against other people. All misdeeds impact on our ability to encounter God. The opposite is of course also true. All actions we perform that help others impact positively our encounter with God. Whether the action we are speaking about is the proper division of land or refraining from stealing both fall within the prayerful category of pegiah.

May we strive to encounter God not only in shul but in every area of our lives.

Shabbat Shalom.

International Rabbinic Fellowship

International Rabbinic Fellowship

347 West 34th Street New York, NY 10001

Press Release

Contact: Rabbi Jason Herman, Executive Director Phone: 917.751.5265 Email: jlherman@jlherman.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9 A.M. EDT, November 20, 2009

NEW ORTHODOX RABBINICAL GROUP ESTABLISHED

Rabbis from across the United States, Canada, South America, Israel and Hong Kong came together last week to officially establish a new and long awaited organization of Orthodox Rabbis. The International Rabbinic Fellowship (IRF), several years in the making, is the brainchild of Rabbi Avraham Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Riverdale, the Bronx, New York, and founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and Rabbi Marc D. Angel, Rabbi Emeritus of New York’s oldest Jewish congregation, Shearith Israel, and director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.

A board and officers was elected consisting of the next generation of Orthodox Rabbis who have shown themselves to be at the forefront of modern Orthodox leadership. The organization’s 120 or so founding members elected Rabbi Barry Gelman, Rabbi of the United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston, Houston, Texas, as the IRF’s first President, Rabbi Hyim Shafner, Rabbi of Bais Abraham Congregation, St. Louis, Missouri, as Vice President of Education and Communication, Rabbi Nissan Antine, Rabbi of Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah, Potomac, Maryland, as Vice President for Membership and Conferences, Rabbi Joel Tessler, Rabbi of Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah, Potomac, Maryland, as Vice President, Rabbi Saul Strosberg, Rabbi of Congregation Sherith Israel, Nashville, Tennessee, as Treasurer, and Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky, Rabbi of Congregation B’nai David-Judea, Los Angeles, California, as Secretary. A code of ethics that will bind the new group was provisionally adopted.

This first conference of the International Rabbinic Fellowship included the voting into reality of several new initiatives that promise to transform the Orthodox community and perhaps the Jewish world. A committee to formulate new procedures for Orthodox conversions, so much in the news in Israel and the United states as of late, was appointed. The committee is tasked with presenting to the IRF a final outline of requirements and processes for Orthodox conversions to be adopted by the membership in June at its annual meeting. The committee’s chairs are Rabbi Dov Linzer, Head of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in New York City and Rabbi Joel Tessler, Senior Rabbi of Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah, Potomac, Maryland.

Though Orthodox Judaism does not ordain women as rabbis, several Orthodox women who serve in a handful of Orthodox congregations in rabbinic capacities were present. A long discussion was held at the conference on the question of admitting women acting in a rabbinic capacity as full voting members among the Rabbis. The group voted to task the membership committee with creating criteria for the potential consideration of admission of women. If the IRF votes to admit women, criteria for membership will also be voted on in June. The IRF recognizes that there are highly capable women serving in rabbinic roles and as such the group might benefit from their presence, ideas and guidance. This heralds the first time that an Orthodox rabbinical group has entertained the possibility of admitting women as full members into its ranks.

For more information about the International Rabbinic Fellowship and the proceedings of its seminal inaugural conference held this past Tuesday and Wednesday November 17-18, please contact any of the following members:

Rabbi Barry Gelman, tel. 713.723.3850, email

Rabbi Hyim Shafner, tel. 314.583.4397, email

Rabbi Nissan Antine, tel. 301.279.7010 x 209, email<rabbiantine@gmail.com>

Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky, tel. 310.276.9269, email

Rabbi Marc D. Angel, tel. 212.724.4145, email <mdangel@jewishideas.org>

Rabbi Jason Herman, IRF Executive Director, tel. 917.751.5265, email

Thoughts on the 2009 General Assembly

This past week I attended the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America (formerly known as the United Jewish Communities) in Washington D.C. Over 3000 people from across North America came to the conference from all walks of life. I found it heartening to see so many Jews actively interested in contributing to the Jewish community. While there were plenty of Jewish professionals in attendance there were also many lay leaders and volunteers who had taken off time from work and spent a significant amount of their own money to attend the General Assembly and their dedication should be honored.

Overall, I left the assembly with a few critiques that I offer for people to consider:

• Disconnect between rhetoric and reality: During the first plenary the new C.E.O. of the Jewish Federations of North America, Jerry Silverman, addressed the urgent need to make Jewish life more affordable. How though could he genuinely address this very important need while utilizing a caterer that charged $16 for a kosher sandwich at the conference? One needs to keep in mind that access to food at all, not to mention kosher food, was very hard to come by at the conference and this caterer (I believe it was Prestige Catering) essentially had a monopoly. How is charging $16 for a sandwich modeling affordable Jewish life?

• The balance between lecture and discussion: I made an effort to attend as many sessions as I could and having done so I noticed that the conference relied heavily on the frontal, lecture style of presentation. There was one session in particular that even attempted to have a discussion format ("Growing Jewish Education in Challenging Times") but ended up utilizing about three quarters of its time with two frontal lectures. Furthermore, during the last quarter of the session when the audience was invited to have smaller conversations the organizers of the session had people at each table which presented even more in a lecture format rather than facilitating conversation amongst the attendees.

• Quality vs. Quantity: There were lots of sessions to choose from at the General Assembly but I, along with many other educators who attended, found the sessions to be quite underwhelming. The last GA that I attended in 2007 had a scholar-in-residence, Rabbi Dr. J.J. Schachter, who presented sessions for rabbis and educators that were quite thought provoking and rich in content. This year, however, there was no scholar-in-residence and I also noticed there was no "rabbinic cabinet" sessions, which provided a smaller forum for some very engaging learning opportunities.

• Anti-Climactic: During the closing plenary there were two separate events which ended up being very anti-climactic. Firstly, there was a moment of pomp and circumstance when a delegation of high ranking Jewish officers marched an incomplete Torah scroll to the front stage where a scribe was waiting to, what looked like, finish the Torah scroll. It ended up that the scribe only was going to write a couple more letters in the scroll and not finish it. Before this became clear the idea that a scroll was being finished for the Jewish soldiers of the U.S. Army had spread throughout the Jewish Twitterverse and ended up being a major let down. Secondly, for the past three months an intense competition for The Jewish Community Hero of the Year had been occurring on the internet. The winner, out of the five finalists, was chosen at the closing plenary. This should have been a moment of excitement and build up. Rather, the ceremony was done after the keynote speaker, Rahm Emanuel, had addressed the conference and everyone was making their way out of the room. It was done quickly and promptly with no enthusiasm.

There is certainly much excitement about the new name for the organization and its new C.E.O. and this excitement was palpable at the General Assembly. I hope my critiques will help make the next General Assembly in Orlando an even greater opportunity for people to engage with their Jewish community.

A Parshat Vayeira Dvar Torah

This week’s Parsha is rich with both narrative and depth and there is much that could be said on many points within the text. I would like to focus on a couple lines in particular. In 18:17 the Torah records God in the midst of a reflective moment. These reflective moments are not that common as usually the text takes note of God’s communication with people and not the actual private reflections of the Divine. The verse states, “And the Lord said: Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am doing?” The action being contemplated is of course the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Rashi filling in the picture a bit more states that “לא יפה לי לעשות דבר זה שלא מדעתו – It would not be nice (or pleasant or proper) for me to do this without his [Abraham’s] knowledge.” This one moment of reflection conveys a great deal about the importance of the bilateral relationship between God and humanity. As Heschel famously argued, “God is in search of man as much as man is in search of God.” There is no doubt that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were overrun with depravity and that if the course of action chosen by God was utter destruction then that was the proper course of action to bring an end to the rampant wickedness. Yet, God wants even a decision of this magnitude and gravity to be in relationship with Abraham.

Perhaps though the most instructive point in this process is what occurs only three verses later: “And the Lord said: Since the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great…” Rashi has a remarkable statement when he mentions, “שעשה כאשר אמר שלא יכסה ממנו – for He [God] did as He said, not to hide it from him.” In these three short verses we have the movement from planning to full completion. It was not going to be an easy dialogue for God to have when He declares to Abraham that the time has come to annihilate two cities. Indeed, Abraham’s response could be seen as challenging and provocative (e.g. “Will the Judge of the entire earth not perform justice?”). However, God demonstrates to us the fundamentally important lesson to not let difficulty or challenge stop us from doing what needs to be done and saying what needs to be said. It is vital that when the time calls for it that we do not shy away from hard conversations with those we care about. To pursue a path of concealment and deception is not healthy nor is it the path put forward for us by God in this week’s Parsha.

May we find strength and encouragement from the model God sets forth for us and do and say what is right even when it is challenging.

The Advice of the Hertz Chumash

The classic Chumash one will find in a Modern Orthodox synagogue is the Hertz Chumash. It offers the commentary of Rabbi Dr. Joseph H. Hertz (b. 1872 d. 1946). Rabbi Dr. Hertz was the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth from 1913 until he passed away in 1946. As I was reading his commentary on this past week's Torah portion of Noah I couldn't help but be amused at the following quote discussing the incident of Ham's transgression against his father Noah:

Some Jewish and non-Jewish teachers omit this story in children's Bible classes. Yet, it is of deep significance in a child's moral training. An intelligent child cannot help now and then detecting a fault or something to laugh at in his parents; but instead of mockery or callous exposure, it is for him to throw the mantle of filial love over the fault and turn away his face. 'Am I the one to judge my parents?' a child should ask himself. Few Jewish children have parents who are drunkards, but there is a great number whose fathers and mothers do not, e.g., speak the language of the land as fluently as they do. Instead of laughing at them, Jewish children should be taught to feel: 'Have my parents had the opportunities in life that they have given me?' - pg. 34

Donating your life?

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, the former chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel, has been hospitalized in serious condition for more than a month. We all pray that he should have a refuah shlaymah, a full recovery. However, one devoted follower has taken it a step further as reported in Haaretz:

The advertisement, displayed all around Jerusalem, asks for people to donate a year of their life towards the lifespan of Rabbi Eliyahu. Where does this idea come from? There are other more traditionally grounded approaches in Judaism of contributing towards the recovery of a sick person. These approaches include adding a name to their Hebrew name, the recitation of Psalms, the inclusion of their name in a prayer for the sick said in synagogues and the donation of charity in their merit.

What does this significant request come to signify about the relationship of certain segments of Orthodox Judaism with their rabbinic leadership? What role do the rabbis play in these communities, both pragmatically and theologically? There are no easy answers to these very difficult questions.

Why start with creation?

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

- Genesis 1:1

Why does the Torah begin with creation? I would like to offer one possible approach based on the teachings of Nahmanides, Kli Yakar and Rabbeinu Bahyah.

Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman, b. 1194 d. 1270, Spain and Land of Israel) in his introduction to the Book of Genesis asks two fundamental questions in Biblical exegesis. Why does the first paragraph of the Torah not begin with the oft-repeated phrase “And God spoke to Moses, saying…” and why does Moses always address himself in the third person?Nahmanides argues in regards to the first question that it would not have been proper to include himself in the narrative prior to the account of his birth. Moses, according to Nahmanides, exercised tremendous humility in choosing to not mention his own self in places that it would have been seen as arrogant to do so. In regards to the second question:

The reason the Torah is written in this form [namely, the third person] is that it preceded the creation of the world, and needless to say, it preceded the birth of Moses our teacher.

Once again, the answer offered by Nahmanides is centered on the humility of Moses. The ability to copy down what would become arguably the most important literary work in human civilization and not flash your name everywhere was a deep testament to the integrity of Moses.

There is one phrase in the explanation offered by Nahmanides that I believe has a great amount to teach us as to why the Torah began with the story of creation and not with, for example, the first commandment of sanctifying the new month. Nahmanides states “… that it [the Torah] was written with letters of black fire upon a background of white fire.” How are we to understand this statement? What does it mean to have letters of black fire emblazoned unto a background of white fire?

Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz, b. 1550 d. 1619, Poland), a medieval commentator on the Torah, suggests an explanation of the phraseology of “black fire on white fire.” He writes in his commentary on Parashat Haazinu:

Like there is white and black similarly in the Torah there is what is revealed, like the color white, and what is hidden, like the color black… and both are dependant on each other.

Thus, the colors white and black take on new meanings as representative of that which is readily known and accessible and that which is secretive and difficult to penetrate. With every story mentioned in the Torah one can view it as white fire or as black fire and, indeed, both methods of interpretation are dependant on each other to create a full and holistic picture of Torah.

The account of creation offered in the Book of Genesis, on the surface level, provided a framework for understanding the formation of the world. However, if we end the discussion there or get bogged down in trying to reconcile religious truth with scientific truth, we will have missed the central point of the creation narrative which lies somewhere in the mix of white and black fire.

Rabbeinu Bahya (Rabbi Bahya ben Asher, 13th century, Spain) suggests that if the Torah would have only begun with the first commandment, it would have not provided us with the background behind the One who commands. We would have not gained a deep sense of appreciation for the wonder of God and how central the role of love is in the entire narrative of the Torah. Indeed, there are many commandments and directives in the Torah. Those rules and regulations though come from the same God who created all life and invested that life with sacredness. An omniscient, omnipresent and all-powerful God has no compelling reason to create life and sustain it. Thus, it is only the overwhelming force of love that causes God to bring the entire universe into existence.

Genesis then teaches us both to approach life with a sense of humility and recognize that it is appropriate at times to write about ourselves in the third person. It also provides insight into the character of God which becomes essential as the commandments begin to be given only shortly thereafter. The ultimate challenge for us as we begin anew our study of the Torah is to transcend a bit the black fiery letters and embark on a journey into the white fire of Torah.

Why Jews Pray

From my latest article for the On the Square web segment of First Things:

Every moment that we stop and begin to move our lips in prayerful words towards God is a testament to the notion of purposeful creation. The basic ability to pray, to yearn for a connection to God, demonstrates the meaningfulness of life. Yet, this only explains a broad universalistic Jewish motivation for prayer. What lies at the core of Jewish prayer?

The article, Why Jews Pray, can be found in its entirety on the First Things website.

Twitter Torah now only $10!

My book Twitter Torah is available for only $10!

Twitter Torah brings the profundity, beauty and depth of the Torah to you in 140 character messages based around the weekly Torah portions. The book shares insights from seven unique and thoughtful people. The contributors to this book all come from different places in the Jewish community: traditional and non-traditional, men and women, Jewish professionals and lay members. The common denominator that brings these people together is a love for Torah and a desire to share their short and profound thoughts with the wider world.

The following Torah Twitterers contributed to the book: Rachel Barenblat, Harriet Goren, Michael Green, Mark Hurvitz, Andrew Pepperstone and Phyllis Sommer.

Rethinking Judaism in the public square

Michael Paulson, in today's Articles of Faith segment of the Boston Globe, presents a fascinating interview with David F. Wells, a professor at the evangelical Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. I was particularly struck by the following quote from the interview:

Many of those who claim to be born again don’t live very differently than those who don’t make that claim. Biblical faith really should be producing moral authenticity and integrity -- you should see it in honesty, courage in articulating enduring moral principles, and the sacrificial giving to good causes.

This quote got me thinking about Judaism in the public square. How does Judaism interact with the public? What is the face that we present in the larger society? Are we more than Lubavitchers asking if you have put tefillin on yet? Can we be more than only concern for Israel?

What are the ways that we as a community exhibit "moral authenticity and integrity"? How can we do a better job of "articulating moral principles" and contributing to the national conversations on ethics and morality?

Enabling Community Through Sukkot

We are now in the midst of the pilgrimage festival of Sukkot. During the holiday of Sukkot, Jews dwell in booths which act as temporary living spaces. The "walls" are usually made of canvas and the "roof" of palm fronds or something similar. The ritual of living in these booths is meant to recall the booths our ancestors lived in during their journey through the wilderness from the bondage of Egypt to the Land of Israel. Another tradition understands the booths to represent the clouds of glory that accompanied the Children of Israel through the desert and guided them along the treacherous, sun scorched path to a land of their own.

While celebrating the holiday this year I have observed how the act of dwelling in a sukkah leads to the strengthening of community. As a campus rabbi I see all too often students get overwhelmed with their course load and in an effort to stay afloat spend the entirety of their non-class time locked in their dorm rooms or behind a cubicle in a library.

However, for those students who choose to observe at least some of the holiday of Sukkot, the tradition itself demands that they leave their rooms or library cubicles and emerge into a shared communal space. They are to enjoy their breakfast, lunch and dinner in the company of others celebrating the holiday and can not sit in solitude and confinement.

For one week a year we are commanded to move out of our comfort zones and enter the unstable and quickly constructed booths that we are to call home and dwell therein. For those who are students that means, for a week, calling a public space home. Thus, for one week a year, we are compelled to surround ourselves with friends and the sounds of community. It is my sincere hope that the moves towards furthering community that have transpired within that booth this week continue throughout the rest of the year.

Twitter Torah

I just published my first book on Lulu.com called Twitter Torah. It brings the profundity, beauty and depth of the Torah to you in 140 character messages based around the weekly Torah portions. The book shares insights from seven unique and thoughtful people. The contributors to this book all come from different places in the Jewish community: traditional and non-traditional, men and women, Jewish professionals and lay members. The common denominator that brings these people together is a love for Torah and a desire to share their short and profound thoughts with the wider world.

The following Torah Twitterers contributed to the book: Rachel Barenblat, Harriet Goren, Michael Green, Mark Hurvitz, Andrew Pepperstone and Phyllis Sommer.

Truth on Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur has a lot to do with seeking atonement by repenting for all the misdeeds one committed throughout the year. It also has a lot to do with accepting God as the Creator and Ruler of the world. Indeed, at the climax of the final service of Yom Kippur, the Ne'ilah Service, we shout out "The Lord is God!" seven times.

Throughout the Yom Kippur services I could not help but focus in on the Truth of God as the following image was hanging off the wall directly in front of the room:

The image representing Harvard University contains the word Veritas, which means in Latin, truth. Hence, all of Yom Kippur "the truth" was quite literally hanging over my head.

Points to Consider for a Meaningful Yom Kippur Prayer

(From Rabbi Barry Gelman, originally posted on Morethodoxy)

The Yom Kippur davening is challenging in that it is very busy ,full of choreography and very long.
Some find it difficult to focus and create moments of quiet introspection.

Do not feel rushed to keep up. It is more important to internalize the prayers.

The Yom Kippur Mussaf is an amalgam of prayers with High Holiday themes as well as recreations of the Temple service, mourning dirges and the account of the Ten Martyrs.

Use this guide during the silent Mussaf Amidah or the repetition of the Mussaf Amidah to help you focus on the prayer themes. Various sections of Mussaf will be briefly described followed by some questions to help us focus on each theme.
Instead of talking to your neighbor when the service starts to feel too heavy, use this sheet to redirect your thoughts.

Fasting:

Did you ever wonder why we are obligated to fast on Yom Kippur? How can fasting help us return to God? The Torah considers the Yom Kippur fast an act of affliction. One the one fasting makes perfect sense. A day on which we are judged is hardly a day on which to be concerned with food.

Perhaps we can consider the idea of self denial a positive spiritual practice. On Yom Kippur fasting reminds us that it is very often the material aspects of our lives and the need to supply them (like food and shelter) that take us away from spiritual pursuits. On Yom Kippur we are told not to worry about food and we find outselves under the protection of the synagogues. With our basic needs either cared for or removed we can focus on spirituality.

Fasting may also remind us that we have the capacity to survive with far less than we usually have.

Ask yourself:

• How does fasting help me attain a deeper spirituality on Yom Kippur?
• Would Yom Kippur “work” the same if we were allowed to eat? If not, what added benefit does fasting bring?

Mussaf Amidah

Seder Ha-Avodah (Description of the Temple Service)

We recite or even re-enact the temple service that cannot be performed today because of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. It is not really a prayer, but rather a detailed description, in poetic terms of what used to happen in the Temple.

What purpose does the Seder Ha-Avodah serve?

• To keep alive the ancient tradition in a vivid way
• To reassure us that even in the absence of the Temple service we can achieve forgiveness and closeness to God
• Create a longing for the Beit HaMikdash.
• The seder ha-avodah is introduced with a magnificent prologue – essentially a brief summary of Jewish History from creation to the Temple service.

There is heavy concentration on God’s interaction with and direction of the world in the prologue. Perhaps this is to indicate the cosmic importance of the Avodah. Consider the “path” of the prologue: descent to sin thought Adam and Chavah, Cain and the generation of the flood and the subsequent ascent from Noach to Avraham to Yaakov and his sons – from whom came Levi, eventually entrusted with the service of the Beit Hamikdash.

Ask Yourself:

• Has the progress of the spirituality expressed in the prologue continued? Do we live in an age where people feel connected to God? Do I feel connected to God? If not, why not?

Rabbi Solovetichik defined spirituality as: “the descent of divinity into the midst of the concrete world.” Perhaps the recitation of the Temple service is supposed to give us a chance to relive the divine descent as the Yom Kippur service represented the pinnacle of divine revelation as the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies.

Ask Yourself:

• How can I experience the Divine descent?
• Choose one area in life that you will work on this year in order to be more God aware.
• The section of the Temple service ends on a celebratory note when we say: “True – how majestic was the Kohen Gadol as he left the Holy of Holies in peace, without injury. “

“Why The Happiness in reciting the end of the Temple service? Why was it sung with such a happy tune? The answer is that the Kohen Gadol reflected the radiance of God. Throught witnessing the radiant appearance of the Kohen Gadol, there could be no doubt of God’s acceptance of the prayers of the children of Israel” (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik).

Ask yourself:

• Who in my life helps me feel like I am in the presence of God? What experiences have I had where I truly felt like I was in God’s presence? How can I recreate those moments?

The Ten Martyrs

Immediately after the joy of reciting the Avodah, we recite mourning dirges. “Suddenly Yom Kippur is transformed in to the Ninth of Av, the morning reaching its most intense point when we read of the ten martyrs.

• What role do these dirges play on Yom Kippur?

Perhaps we are pleading to God: “We have suffered enough. Put an end to our torments and tormentors. Show mercy not only by forgiving us but by bring complete redemption.
We remind ourselves of a sin not listed in the long list of “al chet” – the admission that our sins have extended the state of the destruction and delayed redemption.

Ask Yourself

• How does the contrast of the joy and the mourning enhance our prayer experience? What does it take to fully appreciate what we had and what we lost? How can I be more appreciative this year of the people and blessings in my life?

“The startling contrast of the joy of the avodah recitation and the pain evoked by reciting the mourning dirges immediately following serve a basic cognitive purpose. In order to truly feel a loss, a person must internalize two key points: 1) how wonderful life was before the loss and 2) hoe terrible life is after the loss. In the words of Jeremiah: “Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old” (Eicha 1:7). (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik)

Ten Martyrs: What Are You Willing To Die For?

The inclusion of the Ten Martyrs in the Yom Kipur prayers is noteworthy. Why is it included and whay it is supposed to add to our prayer experience? Perhaps the inclusion of the Ten Martyrs is supposed to help us focus on what is really important in life by compelling us to ask ourselves: asking: What are we willing to die for? These sages were willing to give their lives for Torah and Jewish life. What are our ultimate values?

Perhaps we are asked to judge what is really important in life by the answer to the question of what are we willing to die for.

Is there anyone who would willingly sacrifice his life for wealth? Or honor? For a high position? On the contrary: We would readily give up all this in order to buy health… On the other hand, are there not mothers who would sacrifice even their own lives for the life of their children? Aren’t there many who would die for freedom and peace?

Ask yourself:

• What are my ultimate values? How are they similar or different to those of the ten martyrs?

Ripping Up Evil Decrees

Now that we are in the midst of the week in between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur many people are thinking or are supposed to be thinking about repentance. The word repentance is one of those words that is loaded with connotations and associations. Does it mean entering the confession box at a Catholic Church? Does it mean fasting and other forms of self-denial? There is a fascinating piece of Talmud, and one particular comment within it, that I would like to focus in on for the purpose of this discussion. The Talmud in Tractate Rosh HaShanah 16b states:

ואמר רבי יצחק: ארבעה דברים מקרעין גזר דינו של אדם, אלו הן: צדקה, צעקה, שינוי השם, ושינוי מעשה
Rebbi Yitzhak said: Four things tear up the decree of judgment on a person, and they are: tzedakah, tza’akah (screaming, prayer), a change of name and a change of deed.

The term "tear up the decree of judgment" refers to someone who successfully repented and therefore has become a new person. If the judgment was issued for Joe but once Joe repents, he no longer is the same Joe the decree was issued for, then the decree of judgment is nullified.

Most of the items on the list seem to fit. Someone who commits acts of charity changes and becomes a person who is a giver. Someone who invests themselves in a life of serious prayer ("tza'akah) becomes a more reflective person. Someone who totally reinvents their persona with a new name starts all over. The last one on the list, change of deed, though is peculiar.

Should it not be obvious that the first and perhaps the most important step towards repentance is to change one's actions? Why should that even be on the list? All the other steps on this list are items that help craft a new and better person but before one can even start re-imagining themselves, don't they have to first change their actions, at the very least?

Rabbi Yom Tov Asevilli, a great 13th century Spanish rabbinic commentator on the Talmud, notes this difficulty and presents us with a resolution that contains great import for us today as people seeking to become better human beings. Rabbi Asevilli writes on his commentary to this passage:

והנכון שאפילו מעשים של רשות שאינם הגונים קצת הוא משנה
It is better understood that even optional deeds that are not all that respectable, these are changed.

The sort of deeds being referenced in the Talmud are not the obvious misbehaviors that anyone observing would condemn. Rather, we are referring to the sort of actions that fall within the gray area of life. The list of these sorts of actions can go on for a mile. In my opinion, the barometer for these actions is: if your mother called you asking what you were doing, would you tell her?

The obvious misdeeds absolutely need to be rectified before any sort of self-transformation can begin. But once the big hurdles have been overcome, the challenge becomes evaluating the little things, the small actions that we are not so entirely proud of. A person who does that can say that they have truly and profoundly changed for the better.

The Different Ways We Pray

There are so many diverse ways people come to express their desire and yearning for God, the one that transcends all description and language. Throughout all of the methods and techniques utilized by people of faith around the world there is one common denominator: an attempt to connect to a force greater than ourselves and a desire to become a better human being through that process. Zev Chafets in the New York Times magazine discusses the ways in which some communities, most notably a 3,500 seat church in downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Tabernacle, goes about doing that. I would like to expand upon a Jewish approach to the different ways we as people can come to a deeper relationship with God.

The Talmud (Berakhot 26b) presents two opinions as to the source for the concept of prayer. The one opinion which we will focus in on is that of Rabbi Yosi the son of Rabbi Hanina who states that prayer began with the life stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was through their triumphs and difficulties, their ups and downs and their own personal "aha!" moments that we have before us the different modalities of prayer.

Let's begin to look at this piece of Talmud:

אברהם תקן תפלת שחרית – שנאמר +בראשית י"ט+ וישכם אברהם בבקר אל המקום אשר עמד שם, ואין עמידה אלא תפלה

Abraham instituted the morning (shaharit) prayer, as it is stated: “And Abraham arose early in the morning to the place where he had stood (Genesis 19:24).” And “standing” in the verse refers to nothing other than prayer

Abraham embodied in the very life he led, the iconoclast (which means a destroyer of idols, Abraham being literally the very first iconoclast in recorded history), the man of mission and vision who followed God into a land he did not know because of the call of faith and responsibility he so profoundly heard. Abraham more than anyone else represents a "morning person." The morning symbolizes new opportunities and renewed hope. One "arises" and "stands" in that hope proclaiming a new day full of possibilities and opportunities. This is the prayer of promise.

The Talmud continues:

יצחק תקן תפלת מנחה – שנאמר +בראשית כ"ד+ ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה לפנות ערב, ואין שיחה אלא תפלה

Isaac instituted the afternoon (minha) prayer, as it is stated: “And Isaac went out to speak in the field towards evening (Genesis 24:63).” And “speech” in this verse meaning nothing other than prayer

Upon the passing of a great, charismatic founder of any movement there exists the possibility for that movement to wither and falter eventually being left in the pages of history. To be able to assume leadership and simply carry on what the founder had begun is no simple feat and characterizes an incredible human being, one of endurance and stamina. Isaac was that person. Upon the death of his father Abraham, he continues the life work of his father. He makes sure the wells of water his father had dug remain sources of vitality for all those who rely upon them. The ability to continue through the day, when the vigor of the morning, with its newness and potential, begins to wear off, is a tremendous feat. This is the afternoon and this is what Isaac was able to accomplish. To be able to go out into the field, continue the work, remain "speaking," in conversation with God even when so many hours have passed and fatigue begins to set in is the challenge and opportunity presented to us by the afternoon prayer.

Lastly, the Talmud in this section concludes:

יעקב תקן תפלת ערבית – שנאמר +בראשית כ"ח+ ויפגע במקום וילן שם, ואין פגיעה אלא תפלה

Jacob instituted the evening (maariv) prayer, as it is stated: “And he encountered the place and spent the night there (Genesis 28:11).” And the term encounter in this verse refers to nothing other than prayer

The moment that Jacob was transformed into Israel where he wrestles throughout the night with an unidentified person, presumably an angel, and overcomes albeit hurt in the process, is paradigmatic for who Jacob was. He was a man who forged ahead and was the father to twelve sons who would become the twelve tribes of Israel. He was also a man deeply impacted by the events that transpired in his life. From running away from home in the cover of night from a revengeful and angry brother to being led to believe he had lost his beloved son, he had experienced much pain and fear in his life. Jacob was a Jew who lived in exile; whether the exile from physical space or the exile from family. He taught us much about how to live in a world that is in need of serious repair and also how to strive to bring that world closer to how it should be and not be content with the world as it is. Imagine night time prior to the advent of electricity. It was a fearful and scary time, especially if you were vulnerable. Yet, it was in this night time that Jacob "encounters" God and realizes that God was "in this place and I did not realize it." In the darkness, in the difficulties and pain God is there. It can be difficult to perceive and appreciate but once we do, once we "encounter" God even there it is transformative. There is a Hasidic teaching that exile is not the absence of God, the absence of light, but rather being blinded by an overwhelming amount of light and when our eyes adjust to the brightness we can then see God even in that place. This is what it means to pray like Jacob, to pray the evening prayer.

As we begin Rosh HaShanah this weekend and begin the days of examination leading up to Yom Kippur, let us think about the different ways we, as individuals and as a community, pray. Let us be conscious of those times when we are praying like Abraham, Isaac or Jacob and tap into those different existential states of spiritual depth and meaning.

The soulfulness of Dr. Eli Kranzler

The blogger Honestly Frum has a new post where he discusses attending the first night of selichot at The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale where Dr. Eli Kranzler leads the services. As someone who had the privilege to be a rabbinic intern this past year at HIR I absolutely agree with his assessment of Reb Eli, "One thing that I thought about while listening to Dr. Kranzler singing selichos, was, 'wow, I really believe this guy, he means what he is saying.'"

The whole post can be found here: http://honestlyfrum.blogspot.com/2009/09/lishmoah-el-ha-rina-v-el-ha-tefila.html