Just in time for Yom HaShoah, the second of three major holidays in the Holocaustian calendar, the Holocaustian community of Skokie - a community overwhelmingly descended from Jews who once practiced Judaism (remember, the Nazis do not differentiate between Jews and Holocaustians!) - has completed construction of a new temple, the Illinois Holocaust Museum Worship Center.

While perhaps not quite as magnificent as Chicago's Spertus center built by the mainstream Jewish community in downtown Chicago, this new Holocaust temple provides memorial worship to one of the great tragedies of American Holocaustian history that almost happened: a Nazi march in Skokie.

It is hoped that this new temple, estimated to cost a mere $45 million, will prevent this march that almost happened in Skokie from ever being forgotten.

The following thoughts are from the last part of a sermon by Rabbi Bradley Artson, a meditation about taking individual responsibility for one’s actions in the Jewish community: As Rashi once said in a famous midrash, “The wicked bring shame on themselves, their family, and their tribe; the righteous earn praise for themselves, their family, and their tribe.” In other words, our deeds implicate those who love us and those who are connected to us through family and peoplehood. We may think that we act alone, but we touch more lives than we know, and our deeds have the power to taint or adorn the lives of those who love us. Each of us affects the reputation of all. All Jews have a stake in each other. Our deeds, our behavior, and our character alter the way other people perceive us as a group. Indeed, the behavior of one Jew can even influence how other Jews perceive Judaism. When Jews engage in fraud, we shame the values cultivated by our tradition. When Jews express contempt against...

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There are two passages in Leviticus 21-24 that go against the grain of our society: capital punishment for taking God's name in vain and job discrimination against the physically challenged.

The end of chapter 22 concludes with a variation of the third Commandment: "I am the Lord. You shall not profane my holy name, that I might be sanctified in the midst of the Israelite people." At the end of chapter 24, a man (half-Israelite) is stoned to death for taking the name of God in vain during a squabble over which tribe he could set up tent with. Can you imagine such a punishment today? If we executed anyone for dishonoring God's name, there would be a bloodbath in every town in America. Unlike the Elizabethans, who circumvented uttering oaths exploiting God's name by cominjg up with expressions like s'wounds (the wounds of Christ) or s'blood (the blood of Christ), our culture condones and even celebrates cursing using God's name, whether it is done humorously--as in...

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We are told in Genesis that because Noah is a righteous man, he and his family will be spared the devastating Flood that will wipe out everyone else, those depraved wretches for whom God has no mercy. But precisely what are Noah's admirable qualities? How has he devoted himself to God? How has he related to his family and neighbors? We don't know. He is given no personality before the Flood or right after it subsides. His only cited virtue is obedience to God: he does build the ark for him and his family, thus preserving the human race, in addition to housing the requisite animals to replenish the earth. But we are not told how he feels about his mission: Does he have any compassion for his fallen fellow man, or does he gloat over the fact that these debauched sinners will be destroyed? Does he plead with God to subdue His wrath? Or does he wholeheartedly subscribe to the imminent holocaust? Is he so dumbfounded by the enormity of God's terrifying master plan that he cannot speak at...

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I'd like to briefly highlight some of the most unusual events in Genesis, ones that don't get much attention but deserve some scrutiny. In chapters 12-17, when Abraham and his wife, Sarah, are in Egypt to escape the famine at home, Abraham, apprised of the fact that the Pharoah wants to take Sarah as a concubine, convinces her to say that she is not his wife but his sister. If it were known that Abraham was Sarah's husband, the Pharoah would kill him to possess Sarah, but if Abraham were Sarah's brother, custom has it that not only would Abraham be spared; he would also be paid handsomely for allowing Sarah to satisfy the sexual needs at court! Sarah, to save Abraham's life, consents to this deception, sacrificing herself for her husband. Only after God visits the Egyptians with plagues (yes, this is the first wave of plagues in Egypt, much earlier than in Exodus) does the Pharoah realize that Sarah must be Abraham's wife, and so banishes them both. In this sordid episode, it looks...

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For years, I have yearned for some sort of revelation that would give me the strength to accept and the vision to celebrate my own mortality. Last summer, I got my wish when I was ambushed by the twenty-third psalm.

One morning, as usual, I was picking up trash at the beach. Starting from east to west, I hardly found any debris to add to my bucket. But on the way back, I happened to collect bunches of trash right next to the same spots where I didn't see any refuse to begin with. How odd! I scratched my head and continued to retrieve so much trash that my bucket began to overflow. All of a sudden, I heard a voice (I had no idea where it came from) that slowly and emphatically and lovingly said "Justice and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life, and you shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." As these words were proclaimed, I began to cry uncontrollably. I was overcome with awe in the presence of a spiritual force that had either been...

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A variety of animal sacrifices were made at the Tabernacle: bulls, sheep, goats, turtle doves, and pidgeons. These sacrifices--ceremonial purifications--were performed to glorify God and to atone for sins committed inadvertently. Thoughout the first five books of Levitidus, I was struck by how democratic these early Israelites were. All the men, regardless of their worldly station, had the opportunity to give an offering to God--whether it be one of thanksgiving or penitence. Secondly, through the sin offering, every man, including the the tribal elders and even the priests, was obligated to demonstrate in public that he was guilty of sinning unwittingly against God. Another notable feature in these chapters is man's subordination to God as shown in the peace offering in whhich the blood and inward fat of the animal is reserved exclusively for God. Blood, sweet and nourishing as it is, signifies the essence of life: The Israelites are not allowed to consume it--as did the pagans. The...

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Throughout the Torah (and the rest of the Hebrew Bible), God repeatedly warns the Israelites against worshipping idols. Adopting pagan rituals is strictly forbidden, on pain of death. We are all familiar with the disastrous episode of the Golden Calf, in which thousands of the Chosen People paid homage to that idol and were soon slaughtered for such blasphemy. And years later, when the Israelites approach the Promise Land, Moses in no uncertain terms prohibits them from adopting heathen practices. Superstition must not be allowed to enslave the mind (Deuteronomy: Chapters 18-20).

What was the most fearful idol worshipped by the Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites, Hivites, Amorites, and Perizzites who lived adjacent to and within the Promised Land? Moloch, the god of human sacrifice who periodically demanded the burning of a son or daughter. Moloch was such an iconic figure that Allen Ginsburg, in his infamous Beat poem "Howl" with incessant incantations conjures up the...

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When I was in graduate school, one of my non-Jewish professors, while discussing Christian meditative poetry, authoritatively said that the God of the Torah was belligerant, bloodthirsty, and barbaric, persecuting and slaughtering anyone who opposed him amongst the so-called Chosen Few, the perverse Jewish race. I was shocked and outraged by this uncalled-for assault. I had always believed that the God of the Pentateuch was not a bully, a tyrant, a monster: his wrath was justified, and his justice was tempered with mercy. But I didn't dare contradict my professor for fear of antagonizing him and thus jeopardizing my grade.

To what extent was my professor right? Let's examine the events in Numbers, chapters 13-16. The Israelites are too afraid to enter the Promised Land after hearing the reports from their spies that fierce giants roamed the territory. God is so furious with their cowardice and lack of faith that he threatens to annihilate them. But Moses intervenes: he appeals...

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In this Shabbat's Torah portion from Exodus (chapters 21-21:18)--called the Mishpatim or ordinances--we find that the laws prosecuting thieves is very lenient, even though stealing disobeys one of the Ten Commandments. No matter what the thief steals, whether it be a goat or a garment, he or she is not imprisoned, nevermind executed. Instead, the thief is to make restitution--up to five times as much as was stolen. If the thief had destroyed the thing or thing stolen and had no means to repay the victim, then he would become an indentured servant to work off the debt.

These penalties for theft are very practical, very enlightened, very humane, and very fitting, making the punishment fit the crime. What a contrast to the ten-year imprisonment that someone like Jean Valjean received in "Les Misearables" when he was caught stealing a loaf of bread! What a contrast to Sharia Law that requires that a thief have his hand chopped off!

I am not sure why the Torah...

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Wrath

schlomo

Posted: Apr 7, 09 4:28pm

"Numbers," Chapter 25, contains a harrowing narrative about the righteous wrath of Pinchas, a grandson of Aaron. Pinchas slaughters an Israelite and his pagan whore fornicating within the Tabernacle. God is so pleased that He stops the all-devouring plague that He had inflicted upon His increasingly idolatrous, sexually promiscuous Chosen People. In addition, God proclaims that Pinchas and all of his descendants will be priests forever. In fact, some commentators have speculated that when Pinchas died, he would go directly to heaven because the word "shalom"(as used in the peace covenant between God and Pinchas) is written with a small "s," changing its meaning to "whole"; that is, Pinchas goes in tact to heaven, as did Elijah. And is it just a coincidence that the Haftorah...

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Many of my fellow Jews today are fearful that interfaith marriages between Jews and non-Jews will dilute and adulterate our racial purity. It is true that at least half of all Jews in America marry outside the faith and that most of their children are not brought up to be Jewish. But this phenomenon is not new. Intermarriage began in early Biblical times. Esau married two Hittite women; Moses and Joseph also married non-Jews. Of couse, Solomon had harems of heathens. Even in the Middle Ages, when it is assumed that the Jews who married exclusively within the faith were racially homogeneous, there is evidence that a large proportion of the Ashkenazic Jews descended from an ancient Asiatic pagan nation, the Khazars, who had converted to Judaism in the 13th century.

Despite the fact that there is no such thing as a true-blue Jewish identity, I was brought up to believe that I would be cursed if I even talked to non-Jewish girls. Such fraternization was a catastrophic temptation:...

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According to Moses (in the Book of Deuteronomy--16:18-21:9), it is God's plan for the Israelites to annihilate all of the current inhabitants of the Promised Land; no one will be spared, not even infants. Why must these people die? They are forsaken idolaters who might tempt the Israelites to commit abominations against God. This blueprint for genocide was presumably conceived by God, articulated by Moses, and to be implemented by the Israelite army.

How can we as post-Holocaust Jews condone, let alone embrace, what Moses (in the name of God) proposes?: a take-no-prisoner Jewish Jihad against the heathen. Even though the Israelites failed to accomplish this horrific mission, how can we come to grips with such a vengeful, merciless God? Wouldn't it be justifiable blasphemy to curse God for his inhumanity? If God indeed is behind the plot.

But there might be other scenarios. Is it possible that Moses, caught up in a hallucinatory trance, envisions God demanding the massacre...

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Our shabbat reading for this evening (chapter 31, vayelech, from

Deuteronomy) highlights an inescapable fact of human nature: no matter how hard we try to obey God’s commandments, we fail. Our addiction to selfish, self-destructive pleasures undermines our covenant with God. We become spiritually destitute and morally corrupt. Or as John Milton so eloquently stated in Paradise Lost, we are “defaced, deflowered, and to death devote.” And the ultimate death is separation from God. In fact, God, knowing that the Israelites will squander their patrimony in the Promised Land, will actually hide from his wayward children, disappointed, dismayed, and disgusted that they will forsake righteousness and aggressively pursue the idols of the moment. Even when the Israelites eventually repent of their backsliding and crave forgiveness, God will continue to shun them. Moses thus envisions a bleak scenario indeed for the chosen people, as they amass to enter Canaan. Of course, as the...

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In the final chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses proclaims that if the Israelites rejoice in God’s covenant and abide by the commandments in the Torah, then they will luxuriate (physically and spiritually) in the land of milk and honey. But if they forsake the mosaic code, their abode will be a pestilent wasteland and they themselves will be ravaged by every weapon in God’s arsenal, a reign of terror beginning with excruciatingly debilitating and disfiguring diseases, madness and blindness; fathers will cannibalize their children, Israel will be hewn to bits by pagan nations, and the wretched remnant will suffer beggarly exile. Deuteronomy, chapter 28, is ferociously fervent in cataloging the horrors awaiting a stiff-necked Israel. Nonetheless, there is still hope for redemption—as long as the chosen people eventually rededicate themselves to God.

The last time I conducted a service, we encountered in Leviticus the same motif of a prodigal Israel squandering its inheritance,...

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I recently saw a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie,“A Place for Annie,” that reflected the ancient Hebraic paradigm of disobedience, punishment, and redemption: a rebellious, drug-addicted, promiscuous teenager has contracted AIDS either from dirty needles or from unprotected sex. She gets pregnant (she has no idea who the father is), incurs her mother’s lasting wrath, has the baby, and then lets the hospital indefinitely keep her HIV-positive infant.

So much for the promised land, eh? Or the American dream. What a dreary scenario, a wasteland. The daughter is ravaged by AIDS—and has contaminated the life of her only offspring. Feeling tremendous guilt for putting her baby in jeopardy, she abandons Annie--as her mother had forsaken her—and goes into a drug treatment center where she gets clean and stays clean—although she remains depressed.

In the meantime, a nurse who has scrupulously overseen the post-natal care of Annie takes the fragile infant home and soon...

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A few years ago at one of our board meetings, Jacob Stern lamented that too many congregants who came to the bimah were inappropriately dressed—in jeans, t-shirts, shorts, running shoes, even sandals. Such scandalous attire! Such disrespect! After a while, Jake successfully lobbied the board to pass a resolution requiring more formal gear. At the time, I thought that Jake was a bit too fastidious—is it really improper (and perhaps sacrilegious) for someone to read from the torah while wearing levis—a garment invented by a Jew, by the way, who may have had a renegade Levite as an ancestor.

Regardless of my reservations, I grudgingly adhered to the new bimah regulation, ultra conservative as I thought it was—except on a few occasions when it was inconvenient to do so. After all, I was a child of the 60’s and a radical sympathizer at Kent State University during the anti-administration rallies and the subsequent massacre.

But recently I have resolved my lingering...

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A few subtitles come to mind as I reflect on portions of Numbers 11: doldrums and delirium in the desert; stress and distress in Sinai; Moses and the malcontents; O God, please give me a break! The wretched kvetchers are bored and disgusted with their exclusive diet of manna that God has miraculously provided. Instead, they long for the meat they feasted on as slaves in Egypt. God teaches these ingrates a lesson, offering them so much quail that they gorge themselves and go belly up. On a gut level, there is a morsel of wisdom here for all of us: when we discount our blessings, abandoning what nurtures us now for what we once wallowed in (nevermind swallowed), we get our comeuppance. We should be careful what we wish for: it might well bite us on the tuchas—whether it be a wrinkle-free body (beware of botox; it could be toxic) or the good-old days of the sexual revolution (that’s when the acceleration of AIDS began, as the movie “Forest Gump” so poignantly portrays).

Let...

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For this Shabbat, our reading in Deuteronomy, Shofetim, (16:18-21:9) elaborates on the the often-repeated prohibition against idolatry, a capital offense meriting stoning to death. While we today do not worhip pagan idols, we do prostrate ourselves to secular idols: I would like this evening to focus on three of them : greed, celebrity, and vanity. Avarice, one of the seven deadly sins, is endemic and epidemic in America, close to home, on TV game shows, and in the citadels of CEOs. Witness rampant real-estate speculation (At Emerald Isle, I have seen the recent mania to buy and flip homes, condos, and lots—some property doubled in value in one year, and as prices became grossly inflated, greed exponentially accelerated until the market exhausted itself. Flipping became a flop. The money section of USA last week had a feature article on our lust for instant wealth: “Millionaire madness fills our popular culture, literature, and business lore.” One of the grossest examples was...

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The Torah reading for this Shabbat contains at least one universal truth: people, as did the representative spies from the twelve tribes of Israel, can have radically different perceptions of the same persons, places, and things: the more positive the perception, the more life enhancing the effect (the glass is half full); the more negative the perception, the more detrimental the effect (the glass is half empty). Let me reminisce a bit. One day, when I picked up my daughter, Erica, from kindergarten, we talked about the weather. I, habitually wedded to my gloomy disposition, said it was mostly cloudy; Erica shook her head and said "no, Daddy, it is mostly sunny. ACTUALLY, there aren't many clouds at all." I repeated my observation, pointing to masses of clouds hovering overhead. But Erica contradicted me again, emphatically this time; "No, Daddy, you don't see right." I then sensed that my influence over my daughter was beginning to wane--she had a mind of her own....

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I’d like to preface my d’var torah with a quote from a Dec. 28th Washington Post article entitled ”The Year of Living Gloomily” and subtitled: “The recession is bad enough. A relentless news cycle is making it worse.” Here it is: “Negative information is more contagious and ‘stickier’ than positive information. It spreads more quickly and is more difficult to dislodge once it takes hold.”

In our reading from Genesis, when the Pharaoh meets Jacob, he curiously asks him to reveal his age. Many commentators have speculated that Jacob must appear to be very old because he is downtrodden and haggard. In our Tanach’s translation, Jacob (130 years old at the time) laments that he has suffered much in his lifetime: “Few and hard have been the days of my life.” In the King James Bible, Jacob’s attitude is even more negative, more dismal: “Few and evil have been the days of my years.” The encounter between Jacob and the Pharaoh is very brief: 33 words....

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Our Shabbat reading is a mixed bag of R and R: no, not rest and relaxation, but reconciliation and revenge. Jacob dreads the imminent reckoning with Esau, whom years ago, he had defrauded to get their father’s blessing. Esau certainly would have been justified in avenging himself against his deceitful brother. Instead of a violent confrontation, however, the two brothers, after some noncommittal chatter, tearfully embrace each other, much to Jacob’s relief. But his reprieve from festering anxiety is short lived. At the end of our Torah selection, Shechem, a ­­­­­­­­­­­­heathen­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ prince, fornicates with Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He professes his love for her and wants to marry her, but to no avail. Two of Jacob’s sons, after making false promises to reconcile, avenge Dinah by slaughtering all the inhabitants of the Hivite tribe.

Why are reconciliation and revenge, such diametrically opposed cross sections of the human condition,...

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We do not know exactly why Miriam makes an evidently snide remark about Moses being married to a Cushite, probably a black-skinned Eithiopian. Is Miriam jealous of Moses’ good fortune in choosing such an exotic mate, his second wife no less, (does Miriam consider herself a hopeless spinster?) or is she just downright prejudiced? Perhaps, as some Rabbis have speculated, she gossips about the Cushite woman to hurt Moses because she resents not having as much prophetic clout as he does. Just as her motives are not clear, we are not told what tone of voice she uses. Is it harsh, hissing, or matter of fact? Whatever the case may be, God must feel that she is at least kvetching and insubordinate for sure. Otherwise, her punishment (being afflicted with widespread leprous, scaly skin) would have been less severe.

According to Joseph Telushkin: “In the Talmud, the rabbis compared harmful gossip to murder, for it too is irrevocable. The impossibility of undoing damage done by gossip...

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A quote from a great-grandson of the Baal Shem-Tov epitomizes our Torah reading this Shabbat: “No matter how low you may have fallen in your own esteem, bear in mind that if you delve deeply into yourself, you will discover holiness there…a spark you may fan into a consuming flame which will burn away the dross of unworthiness.”

Before I give my own d’var torah, I’d like to read excerpts from one written by Sian Gibby. She is a recent convert to Judaism and a member of Congregation B’nai Jeshurum in New York City.

“Parashat Ekev is the first time the arresting image of circumcising the foreskin of the heart is mentioned in the Torah. Later in Deuteronomy (chapter 30, verse 6), Moses says, “And the Lord thy god will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thine seed, that thou mayest live.”

How can we approach the peculiar idea of the heart’s foreskin? A male infant divests himself of the barrier between him and the universe—his mother’s...

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The 32nd chapter of Deuteronomy, our reading for this shabbat, with apocalyptic fury, denounces Israel’s succumbing to idols in the past and in the future. For some reason, the last three times I have conducted a service, all the torah sections were from the last chapters of Deuteronomy, and all of them to some extent have dwelt on idol worship and the consequent damning repercussions. Last month, I primarily focused on two of our modern-day idols, greed and vanity, whose adherents ranged from once-acclaimed CEOs to low-life exhibitionists. Tonight, I’d like to aim my sights on myself. I too have fallen prey to greed (my obsession to amass an unparalled collection of classical music) and vanity (my monomania to prolong my life through strenuous excercise). Being devoted to both idols has left me with idelible scars—physically and psychologically—scars that are nonetheless ever-so-gradually healing as I have rearranged my priorities.

About my greed. I have always had...

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Many commentators throughout the ages have shed light on the literal and hidden meanings of the animal sacrifices for various sins delineated in the first five chapters of Leviticus. I will address just one all-too-common sin that we need to atone for: ignoring what we say we will do for someone else or for ourselves. This sin of omission is not a minor fault or a casual lapse: I contend that it is a breach of our integrity.

How often have we reneged on promises to relatives or friends or acquaintances? Promises to give them a call about getting together or to send them updated e-mails to keep them abreast of our daily lives. Perhaps we said we’d read a book or see a movie that they enthusiastically recommended. Perhaps we said in public that we’d visit an ailing congregant suffering from a divorce or a death in the family. For whatever reasons, we all too often don’t follow through with vows we make to others. We rationalize: We are either too preoccupied at work or...

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WHAT DO I PERSONALLY HAVE TO SAY ABOUT MENSTRUATION—OR SHOULD I SAY FEMSTRUATION, IN CASE THERE ARE ANY RADICAL FEMINISTS IN THE CONGREGATION? NOT A THING—IF I KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR ME.

BUT I WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT ABOUT A FRIGHTENINGLY REVEALING TV EPISODE FROM THE LAW AND ORDER SERIES SVU (SEX VICTIMS UNIT).

IN AN INCRIMINATING WEBCAM, A TEENAGE DAUGHTER WAS SEEN COVERED IN HER DEAD MOTHER’S BLOOD (NOT MENSTRUAL DISCHARGE BUT BLOOD FROM REPEATED STAB WOUNDS). THE 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL BECAME THE MAIN SUSPECT: HER ALLEGED MOTIVE WAS THAT THE MOTHER, A MANIACALLY CONTROLLING WOMAN, TRIED TO BREAK UP HER DAUGHTER’S ROMANCE WITH THE GIRL’S 21-YEAR-OLD BOYFRIEND, ACCUSING HIM OF STATUTORY RAPE.

THE DAUGHTER’S DEFENSE ATTORNEY, TAKING A NOVEL APPROACH, CLAIMED THAT THE GIRL COULD NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE KILLING BECAUSE SHE HAD PMSR—WELL, WE ALL KNOW THE HEARTBREAK OF PMS, BUT PMSR IS A REAL HORROR STORY.

AS THE STATE’S PSYCHIATRIST...

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The Schma, a prayer read and sung at least twice during every Shabbat service, has been invoked for centuries as the mantra of Judaism, the essense of monotheism: "Hear of Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One."

Instead of giving an exegetical analysis of the Schma, I'd like to relate it to a HBO movie I saw about 20 years ago, "Forbidden Love," the first film I had ever seen about the Holocaust. In Nazi Germany, Heinrich, a non-observant, totally assimilated Jew, finds refuge in Berlin with a Christian aristocrat with whom he has an affair. As the movie progresses, this righteous Gentile protects other Jews as well in her mansion. Her lover,who has always been indifferent to Judaism, begins to develop an abiding camaraderie with these hounded Jews, all of whom are more religious than he is. During their confinement for most of the war, he learns more about his Jewish roots and starts reading smuggled books on Judaism. As Germany disintegrates, the Russians...

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