| October 2009
Sinai Update – Week of October 25-31, 2009 Parashat Lech L’cha (Genesis 12:1 – 17:27) Reflections on Our Jewish World – Rabbi Andy Vogel
As our congregation prepares for a celebratory weekend in honor of our 70th anniversary as a synagogue, we reflect on our values as a community. Rabbi Beryl Cohon, the founding rabbi of Temple Sinai, wrote in 1939 that the key principle of the congregation was that “the synagogue is the heart of Jewry.” While much has changed in 70 years, at Temple Sinai and within the American Jewish community as a whole, we continue to affirm that the synagogue is still the institution where the overwhelming majority of Jews encounter their Jewishness in the most meaningful ways. With great joy, we celebrate our growing and thriving community, which brings us together, even though we are a diverse bunch, to perform the essential acts of being Jewish: studying and learning, living out a rich ritual life, repairing the world, and building our community through caring. Our celebratory Shabbat is one way for us all to affirm our commitment as Jews to this way of living. Mazel tov to us all on 70 years! Sinai Update – Week of October 18-24, 2009
Parashat Noach (Genesis 6:9 – 11:32) Reflection on the Torah Portion – Rabbi Andy Vogel
In the story of Noah, the Torah tells us that the rain came down upon the earth only then did Noah bring his whole family into the ark, “because of the waters of the Flood” (Gen. 7:7). The rabbis of the Midrash read these words and imagine that Noah waited until the waters “came up to his knees” (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 32:6) before entering the ark. Why did he wait so long? The rabbis, who denigrate Noah as they try to compare him to righteous Abraham, frame Noah here as a non-believer, even at this moment, doubting God’s word!
This reading leaves much open to interpretation. We might judge Noah differently than the rabbis in his moments of hesitation. Maybe Noah was waiting to enter the ark even as the water reached up to his knees in hope that he would not have to go in it at all. Perhaps Noah was hoping that God would change his mind, wishing the people would repent and God would reverse the decree. Or, perhaps Noah was in denial of the destruction that would come, a nearly-disastrous procrastinator, hoping that if he closed his eyes tightly enough, the problems of humanity and of God would all just disappear. Can we see ourselves in Noah if we view him as an optimist, believing in the human ability to rise up to the best in ourselves even until the end? Or do we see our own reflections in a Noah who chose to ignore dire problems in the world, pretending that destruction and suffering will not exist if we try to ignore them? - Rabbi Andy Vogel Sinai Update – Week of October 18-24, 2009 Parashat Noach (Genesis 6:9 – 11:32) Reflection on the Torah Portion – Rabbi Andy Vogel
In the story of Noah, the Torah tells us that the rain came down upon the earth only then did Noah bring his whole family into the ark, “because of the waters of the Flood” (Gen. 7:7). The rabbis of the Midrash read these words and imagine that Noah waited until the waters “came up to his knees” (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 32:6) before entering the ark. Why did he wait so long? The rabbis, who denigrate Noah as they try to compare him to righteous Abraham, frame Noah here as a non-believer, even at this moment, doubting God’s word!
This reading leaves much open to interpretation. We might judge Noah differently than the rabbis in his moments of hesitation. Maybe Noah was waiting to enter the ark even as the water reached up to his knees in hope that he would not have to go in it at all. Perhaps Noah was hoping that God would change his mind, wishing the people would repent and God would reverse the decree. Or, perhaps Noah was in denial of the destruction that would come, a nearly-disastrous procrastinator, hoping that if he closed his eyes tightly enough, the problems of humanity and of God would all just disappear. Can we see ourselves in Noah if we view him as an optimist, believing in the human ability to rise up to the best in ourselves even until the end? Or do we see our own reflections in a Noah who chose to ignore dire problems in the world, pretending that destruction and suffering will not exist if we try to ignore them? - Rabbi Andy Vogel
Sinai Update – Week of October 11-17, 2009
The first stories the Torah tells us depict grandeur itself: Creation, the ordered universe, the majesty of the moon and stars and our planet in all its glory, and a celebration of humanity ourselves and why God created us. And then, almost suddenly, the darker parts of human nature begin to make themselves present in the narrative: Adam and Eve’s “noncompliance” with God’s regulations regarding the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and their subsequent exile from the Garden foreshadow a series of episodes in Biblical history – with Cain and Abel, the wickedness of Noah’s generation, the Tower of Babel – when human behavior provokes an angry and disappointed God to question the worth of God’s human project. We read in these first few chapters of the Bible a recurring motif: God creating, becoming angry with, destroying and then re-creating humanity. As time progresses, God establishes understandings with humankind – first with Noah and, later, with Abraham. As humanity learns and matures, so does God’s relationship with us. According to the Biblical view, we stand in a relationship with God that grows and develops as time goes on. Even in our own time, our understanding of God and what God is continues to grow and develop. As we contemplate today what God wants of us, and how we connect with God, we might experience awe at the grandeur of our ongoing relationship with God, different from, but emerging out of, that original splendor with which God created the universe.
Sinai Update – Week of October 4-10, 2009
The holiday of Simchat Torah reminds us of the grand cycles of life. Our ritual is to read the end of the Torah and immediately start with the beginning of the Torah. No sooner do we conclude the book of Deuteronomy, which closes with the death of Moses, than we return to the very beginning of the Creation story. Like the Hakafot, which are the joyous circuits and circles that we dance while holding the Torah scrolls, we affirm that life has a never-ending circle and cycles that repeat. Amazingly, the death of Moses, while sad, is not morbid; knowing that every ending is also a beginning of sorts, we conclude the story of Moses’ journey with the Jewish people in the desert and immediately begin the universal story of the Creation of the universe, a story for all humankind, all Being. One man’s life ends, but, as if to help us grieve the loss of Moses our teacher, we are reminded of the larger picture of the beauty and order of the universe by immediately turning to the mysteries of Creation. In this way, by continuing forward with a new cycle of Torah readings in a new year, we affirm life and its beauty.
I hope you will join us for our Simchat Torah celebrations this year, held on the day following the 7th day of Sukkot, according to the Reform calendar, a combined Simchat Torah / Sh’mini Atzeret celebration, this Friday evening. This celebration is one of the highlights of the year, as we unroll the Torah and celebrate new beginnings with the brief Consecration of our new religious school students – and also make the evening joyous with lots of chocolate at our famous Chocolate Oneg. Please join us! Chag same’ach!
Sinai Update – Week of September 27-October 3, 2009
While constructing my Sukkah in my backyard yesterday, the day after Yom Kippur, I was struck by how abrupt the transition is from one holiday to the next. After a day of singing, praying and meditating in the synagogue, suddenly Jews are thrust out of doors, to build the fragile hut of the Sukkah for Sukkot, which begins this Friday, a mere five days later. After an intense day of spiritual focus, suddenly, our tradition wants to us remember that to be a Jew is not merely to focus on the spiritual and our inner life; for Yom Kippur to be effective, it seems to say, we must direct our attentions to our material life as well. A successful Yom Kippur will lead us to act differently in the physical world, not just in our emotional lives.
Perhaps it is for this reason that, immediately after a day of fasting and purifying our souls, Sukkot comes and requires us to build a Sukkah outdoors. Now we are aware that the autumn weather is changing and becoming cooler and that we – like all others we meet, too – need the warmth and protection of shelter in the physical world. A harvest holiday, Sukkot reminds us to care for the physical needs of others, as well as ourselves. As Rabbi Israel Salanter put it, “The material needs of my neighbor are my spiritual needs.”
May you and your dear ones enjoy a very happy Sukkot. I hope that if you do not have your own Sukkah, that you will enjoy the Temple Sinai Sukkah, and join us for our celebrations this week. Chag same’ach! |
