Yom Kippur Day-To learn to live to love”
What is Judaism? How would you explain Judaism simply? Is it we believe that G-d is one – we promote that to the world?
Or we recognize there are hundreds of commandments that G-d gave us from the Torah, the Orthodox say six hundred thirteen, and to be a Jew is to observe those commandments?
Is it Maimonides thirteen principals of faith, articulating the fundamentals of Jewish belief?
Or if you simply say it in one sentence, as the great sage Hillel did two thousand years ago when someone asked him to explain Judaism on one foot – “Do not what is hatful to you, do not do to your neighbor, all the rest is commentary – go and study.”
Is it as the great prophet, Micah, in the bible tried to summarize, to say “what does G-d want from us, to do justice, to love mercy and to walk company with G-d.?”
Or what it says in Deuteronomy-what does God ask of you? To be in awe of God, observe the commandments, serve God and love God??” What is it to be a Jew?
In one way to look at it- If Yom Kippur atones for our transgressions against G-d, the most indispensable basis of it, then is to know what G-d wants us to do, so we know what we are responsible for. All these huge classic books of Judaism on my shelves, and I could point to all those and say “This is Judaism”, but I try and think about a succinct way to sum up the essential ideas. After reviewing and reflecting on all of these possibilities, I have three simple words that I want to communicate to you today as guideposts in what I think of the essentials of Judaism. And they all begin with L.
The first one is “To Learn”. The Hebrew word for learn begins with the same letter sound – Lamad, the basis of the word Talmud, to learn. In one of the classic formulas of Judaism, from the Talmud, it is taught, “the world is based on three things, Torah, Avodah, and Gmilut Hasidim”. The first word, Torah, means learning/ instruction. It is the root of that word is the same as a parent, to instruct, to teach. When the prophet, Micah said the key is to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humble with G-d, we are not walking humbly with G-d if we think we are know-it-alls, if we think we don’t need to learn from G-d what our lives should be.
Some born Jews sadly get virtually no Jewish education and go through life without really knowing the basis of Judaism. For those who do get Jewish education, some end at thirteen.
There are some bright spots on the horizon, the fantastic growth of Jewish Day schools. When I graduated from the fist Solomon Schechter 8th grade class with 13 classmates here in 1970, there were a few schools like it in the nation. Now there are many and many non-denominational ones as well, besides all the Orthodox. The proliferation of Jewish high schools, the ground breaking for the Chicago land Jewish high school is happening and of course, you have the Ida Crown Jewish Academy, and other high schools growing around the country, you have a proliferation of Jewish study classes at universities.
The access now to the internet has made learning just about anything jut a touch away. One of activities this past year has been uploading 175 videos of Jewish educational content to youtube, and they have been watched over 50,000 times, as one rabbi’s effort to assist Jewish learning. There is a great passage that we recite every morning in our prayer service, at the beginning of the morning Jewish prayers, which goes like this – These are deeds that yield immediate fruit and continue to yield fruit in time to come – honoring your parents, doing deeds of loving kindness, providing hospitality, visiting the sick, helping the needy bride, attending the dead, making peace between one person and another, but preserves for the last, a study of Torah is the most basic of them all. Read Torah.
A founder of human secular Judaism died in July sadly of an accident. In his obituary it said that when he founded secular human Judaism, in the prayer service they don’t recite the Shema, they say they revere the best in man. I obviously disagree with that. We do need to aspire to the best that human beings can achieve, but Judaism has always believed that there is a source of wisdom and power greater than us, and that source of wisdom and power we call G-d, Adonai, and that G-d communicates with us and has things to tell us. Whatever we study in Judaism, we are really trying to understand what it is that G-d wants. That doesn’t mean that we go to it blindly. Jews have always questioned. I have a whole sermon on the High Holidays about questioning. These are faculties we challenge, each other and even G-d.
When we say at the end of the Shema twice a day, the reader says “Adonai, elohachem, abet”, G-d is a
G-d of emet that is a source of truth. The word emet, if you think about it, has the first, middle and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, we continually want to find the truth. There is obviously so much more available now. In 1456 there were sixty copies of the Guttenberg bible which was the first book printed in Europe. But yet, less than fifty years later by the turn of the century in 1500, there were fifteen million printed books in circulation. And it has just continued to explode, now the internet, where the people have multiple opportunities to learn.
One of the things I am so proud of about the Synagogue is the opportunities we have here. On a daily basis, you can get my Torah email, if you have a computer, with a sermon or Torah thoughts, or something every day. You can even do it while we are all sleeping, 24 hours a day. Besides my Youtube videos thousands more, and websites and newspapers, periodicals, books
We have weekly classes here. You want to learn how to read Hebrew; we offer it nearly year round. You want to learn the essentials of Judaism; we offer our sixteen week class nearly year round my mother offers a monthly Yiddish class. Gail offers her weekly spirituality Pirkei Avot class. We have a monthly lunch and learn with a variety of lectures. The Synagogue is a hotbed for Jewish learning, and of course, just not here. You are in one of the biggest Jewish communities the world, with a quarter million Jews, and all kinds of activities and learning opportunities here.
I don’t know if any of you have watched that show, “are you smarter than a fifth grader.” Well, in Judaism we should be smarter than a fifth grader. We should continue to learn every day. Why is Torah study considered to be the highest value above all others on that list of the ancient list from the Talmud? Because it leads to everything else.
There are a lot of stories of the summer about people diving for sunken treasure and finding huge treasures at the bottom of the ocean. The Torah says it is not across the ocean, it is not so far away you can’t find it, it is right there.
. The second “L” is to live Jewishly. I choose that because the Torah says “Here are the commandments, Hi Bahem, you should live by them. It does mean to live Jewishly, When G-d first offered the Torah, our ancestors said Naasah Vnishma, we will do it and then we will understand why we do it. Judaism is a leap of action. Of course we are a religion of faith, but primarily a religion of doing. In the famous expression, the world stands on three things, the first is Torah, which I just talked about is learning, the second is Avodah, which is work, but it is also divine worship, divine service, living with G-d, in G-d’s ways. There is a great passage, an ancient passage which says we have to imitate G-d and all G-d’s ways, walk in G-d’s ways. How do you do that? We don’t know what G-d does. While we know what G-d does through the commandments, when G-d sent a messenger to visit the sick, when the good deeds recorded as G-d’s doing, we have to emulate them. What does that mean?
We have to pray. We have a daily minion and most of the time, thank G-d, we’re not the biggest synagogue in the world, we have a daily minion, we have ten people. Make a commitment, come to our daily minion, and pray with us. Pray daily, even if you are not in our minion, but pray. The basic way Jews pray is through blessings. We should bless G-d a hundred times a day, our tradition said, through our daily prayers, whenever we benefit from something, to live Jewishly is to pray. Don’t be afraid to talk to God.
Judaism is also concerned about what we eat, not only healthily, which is a constant struggle, but also kosher, to discipline ourselves through Torah, to inspire to eating in a kosher way.
Judaism also tells us to live in terms of Jewish time. I don’t mean being late, - it means to sanctify the Sabbath, lighting candles, making kiddish and having Hallah.
I read a book this year called “How to think like Leonardo DiVinci, Seven Steps to Genius Everyday.” Step number three of the seven is about being attuned with all your senses to life. I’m thinking about how much of Judaism is attuning the senses to G-d. We light the candles, we feel the warmth and we see the light. Havdalah we smell the spice box. Shabbat we smell the Hallah and the chicken cooking, or whatever you are making. We hear the words of the Shofar and our prayers and Jewish songs. To live, to spend our time jewishly, sanctifying the Sabbath, coming to services, observing the holidays. We are not a religion that says “I’m Jewish so I eat a bagel and lox; it is a religion of sanctifying our lives for Jewish time.
And I’ll talk more about living jewishly means Jewish life cycle rituals. There is a disturbing trend I read about in the media of not only some Americans but young Jewish couples not circumcising their sons. We’ve done it for four thousand years. Ok, so you can’t walk for a year after you get circumcised (joke), but we have never not done it-even under threats. Huge medical studies indicate it is healthful in many ways.
Our adolescent life cycle event the Bar and bat Mitzvah. There are more Jewish kids this year who have applied to go on the birth right trip to Israel, somewhere about fifty thousand, but they cannot all be accommodated for lack of resources, but thank G-d that program exists, more, than are going to have bar/bat mitzvahs this year. I encounter parents who don’t bother with Jewish education and bar mitzvah- everything else is more important. In the sad aftermath of the bridge collapse in the twin Cities there was much bemoaning of the failure to invest properly in infrastructure of roads and bridges. The classic system of Jewish infrastructure, that has made Judaism possible, has been uniform, universal education of our youth.-and the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony which celebrates one stage of it. .
Jewish marriage and Jewish weddings-the classic angst thereof course is intermarriage, but the real issue is whether the family will be Jewish thereafter-we must do whatever we can to support the couple-in married or not, and encourage Jewish living after the ceremony.
Jewish funeral practices. Cremation seems to be an increasing mode of Jewish end of life, and as you know Judaism is opposed to that. We think people’s bodies should not be burnt. They should be lovingly placed back into the earth from whence they came, and we remember that Hitler major way of disposing of dead Jews was to burn them.
We think we should live our lives in Jewish life cycle ways.
And of course, live our lives based on the ethical pattern of Judaism In the hullabaloo about the various terrorist plots being uncovered in England, the papers say the average Londoner is watched and photographed three hundred times a day by these anonymous cameras. Well, we know G-d is watching us all the time. There is a wonderful Shabbat story that goes along with the Shabbat hymn Shalom Alachem, which talks about the welcoming the Shabbat angels-the story goes that there are angels looking in our window and they are checking to see if we are making Shabbat. Well, I want to borrow this story, that we are being photographed all this time and G-d’s watching us.
One of the ways to assess if we are living jewishly or not, is to imagine when the angels look through our windows, they wonder about more than Shabbat. Do they see us creating a Jewish home? Are there kiddish cups on display, is there a Hanukkah menorah, and are there Jewish books? Are these things dusty or are they being used? Is there a Hallah cover? Are there two sets of dishes for meat and milk? Is there music on that is Jewish?
Vanessa ocks teaches in the department of religious studies at the University of Virginia. She is the author of a book called “Words on fire, one woman’s journey into the sacred.” She identifies three useful categories as to what makes a Jewish home Jewish. The first category she calls “Jewish stuff”. Religious books, coffee table art, photographs of Jews, Jewish jewelry, seduccah boxes, Jewish art work, Jewish articulate objects. Does your home have this stuff? The second category she calls “Jewish Signifying Objects.” Objects that are not in of themselves considered exclusively and uniquely Jewish, but they function in many Jewish to embody, create an express Kiddush holiness, by their sheer presence. Traditional Jewish foods like Hanukkah latkes, homintashen, gefilte fish, displays of extended families, from generation to generation, do we have an abundance of Jewish signify objects? The third set in the Jewish home she calls “ordinary objects transformed.” Material objects found in any Jewish home, but function in a Jewish way. A dish is a dish, but in a Jewish home where Kashrut is observed, the dishes may have certain colors or patterns. A telephone is a telephone, but when it is used to check on a sick friend, it becomes a holy vessel. Even cleaning equipment when it is used to clean one’s house before Shabbat, to make Shabbat special, it becomes a holy vessel. And money, too, - is money being dropped into a tseddakah box before candle lighting?
These three categories of Jewish subjects signify objects of Jewish stuff that makes your home Jewish. What do the angels see? Is the home and immediate home defined by Jewish values? Is the conversation that occurs in your home gauged by a Jewish thermometer? Our tradition says that three people who eat and not share with the Torah, it is as if they consumed idolatrous sacrifices. Even one person sitting and thinking about Jewish subjects, brings the divine presence. Dr. Arnold Eisen, the newly appointed chancellor urged all Rabbis to speak about Jewish living and mitzvoth observance these High Holidays.
The third “L” after learning and living, is to love jewishly. There are two kinds of love. The first is to love G-d. The Torah commands us to love G-d three different ways, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might. Now how do you love G-d?
First of all, G-d has to be first. Anything else is idolatrous. And for many people, many Jews, G-d aren’t even on the agenda. But G-d has to be first. That means we need to pray, we need to thank G-d every day for the blessings in our life. One of the ways in which we love G-d is by doing G-d’s bidding, by extending ourselves to help others, to sanctify G-d through our deeds, called kiddushat hashem. You know the word enthusiastic means to be filled with G-d. So, we need to focus as a priority on loving
G-d. Lest you imagine this as unscientific, a recent article in the NYT about science and God said “Albert Einstein mentioned God often enough that one could imagine he and the “OLD ONE” as he called God sometimes, had a standing date for coffee. To wit-“the Lord is subtle, but malicious he is not.”
The other kind of love is to love others. And that starts with us. You know in a very pivotal central verse of the Torah, which is really the key to life, love thy neighbor as thyself, a lot of people talk about the challenge of loving your neighbor, but the key to the verse begins with loving yourself, and how many people don’t love them. But G-d loves you. You are made in the image of G-d, and we can’t ever forget that. And if we don’t love ourselves, how can we reach out and react to the world with any kind of image befitting being made in G-d’s image.
And after we understand we have to love ourselves, we have to reach out and love others. We have to see G-d in everyone else. There is no room in Judaism for any kind of racism, because we are all members of the human race. The Torah begins with one Adam. I don’t believe there is literally just one guy Adam at the beginning-(if so, who did his son marry?) But one Adam as a myth is a way of saying we all come from the same person, it is a classic madras saying, no one can say my father was greater than yours.
Key words of Judaism are chased and reclaim, as Micah said, to do justice and to love mercy. One of the names for G-d is Rickman lay, the merciful one. What does it mean to have mercy? One common expression is -Oh he is a dirty rat. But you know what; they have done studies this year that show that rats are very kind to each other, even to stranger rats. Chimps are the closest to humans of any animal but a study released in August showed that while chimps and humans can be properly vengeful to punish bad behavior, only humans are spiteful. We should just be as kind to other human beings, at least as nice as rats are and chimps are to their own. Dogs don’t fight each other unless there is a good reason-its only humans who amuse ourselves by starving man’s best friend into killing other of man’s best friends for sport.
The Torah says one law for Israelite and stranger alike. Love the stranger. It is a very unique and special religion in this regard to teach human beings not to have xenophobia, fear of strangers, but love of strangers. The basis of loving others is to treat all as we would like to treated-respect them, their property, and their honor.
NYT had story about hotels trying to improve wake-up calls. With all the fancy technology, often calls don't happen, or the wrong hour. We have always had a wake-up call using the most ancient and simple device-the shofar. Rambam-wake us up from our spiritual slumber. Our spiritual slumber is not really living fully as God intended.
And so my friends, what is it to be a Jew? What is Judaism? What are the pillars upon which we should live our lives? I offer this simple formula, to go forward this year and to think about this every day. To learn as a Jew, to live as a Jew, and to love as a Jew, G-d and our fellows. Every night before you go to bed, assess your day on that basis. Did I learn today? Did I live as a Jew today? Did I love G-d and my fellow creatures today? And, of course, every day we fall short, that is what it is to be human and so we repent and we reflect and we strive tomorrow. And every morning as we say the traditional words, which are beautiful to say, thank you G-d for restoring my soul. Modeh Ani Lifanecha Melach Chai Vikiyom. We also quote the great verses from the psalm – this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Be filled with enthusiasm for the new day. By again say with me, to learn, to live and to love.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
The 100 Q's every jew should know-answers on youtube
"100 Questions" Every Jew Should Answer I The Bible
1. What is your Hebrew name and the Hebrew names of your father and mother? What do these names mean?
2. What is a Sidrah?
3. What is a Haftorah?
4. What are the three main divisions of the Hebrew Bible? What is the Hebrew name for the Bible? Why do Jews prefer not to use the term "Old Testament"?
5. Name the five Books of Moses. Describe what took place at Mt. Sinai. (Exodus Ch. )
6. Why was King David's reign considered such an important episode in Jewish history?
7. Who were the early kings of Israel and why was the country later partitioned into Israel and Judah?
8. Define a prophet. Name three important prophets.
9. What is the Talmud? Why was it called the Oral Tradi t i on?
I I The Synagogue
10. What are the three terms for a Synagogue in Hebrew and how does the modern synagogue live up to them?
11. Describe the Tailit and Tefillin and explain why and when they are worn.
12. How is a Torah written? How is it treated and why do we accord it so much respect?
13. What is an Aiiyah? On what special occasions other than Bar Mitzvah does one usually receive an Aiiyah?
I I I The Prayer Book
14. Define the terms S iddur and Mahzor.
15. What is the importance of the Shema and what do its three paragraphs say?
16. What is Shahar i t, Mi nha, Maar i v? What prayer is an indispensable pray
III The Prayer Book (continued)
17. What is the Hallel service and when is it recited? When is the Musaf recited?
IS. What is the meaning of the A1e n u prayer? Is it always recited only at the end of a service?
IV The Home
19. What is so special about being Jewish? What are your responsibilities along these lines?
20. What is a Mezuzzah? On which side of the door should it be placed? What does it signify?
21. What ritual objects are basic to making a home "Jewish"?
22. What does "Kosher" mean?
23. What does Ha 1achah mean? What role does it play among Jews today in the Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstruc-tionist and Reform movements?
24. What is the blessing that a Jewish woman recites over Sabbath candles and when are they kindled? What prayers does a father recite to his children and wife on Friday night?
25. What is Kiddush? On what occasions is wine used in Jewi sh ritual?
26. Recite the Hamotzi (Grace before meals). What is
Birchat Hamazon? .........,....__„.._..
V Sabbath and Holidays
27. Why does the Jewish calendar change every year? What is the Hebrew word for calendar?
28. Name some Hebrew months of the year and the major holidays that occur during these months.
29. Why is the Sabbath (Shabbat) considered a cornerstone of Jewish tradition? How is it observed traditionally? Why does it have meaning for our society?
30. What is the Havdalah ceremony? What objects are used?
Sabbath & Holidays (continued)
31. In what ways is Yom Tov (the Festivals and High
Holidays) like Shabbat? In what ways does the >0 observance differ? Why do traditional American Jews observe the first two and last two days of Yom Tov unlike in Israel?
VI Sukkot - Simhat Torah
32. Why do we celebrate Sukkot and what is the significance of the Sukkah?
33. What are the four species used on Sukkot and what do they represent?
34. Why is Ecclesiastes (kohelet) read on Sukkot?
35. What is the Yizkor service and how often is Yizkor recited during the year?
36. Explain Simhat Torah and what Hakafot are. V I I Passover
37. What is the meaning of Pesach?
38. What is Hametz (unleavened foods) and what are the requirements for making a home ready for Passover?
39. Name some of the rituals of the Seder. What is the Haggadah?
40. Why is the Biblical book "The Song of Songs" read during Passover?
41. Why should the Holocaust be remembered? Do you think the Nazis should be forgiven?
42. What does "Counting the Omer" mean and what is Lag B'Omer?
VIII Shevuot
43. What does Shevuot mean and what is its significance?
44. Name the Ten Commandments and explain why they are still important to follow.
"100 Questions" - Page 4
»
v VIII S h e v u o t (continued)
45. Why is the "Book of Ruth" read on Shevuot? What is the attitude of the Book to the proselyte (i.e., a non-Jew who accepts Judaism).
IX Minor Festivals
46. What is Tisha B'av? What is its significance for us today?
47. What is the historical background of Hanukah?
48. In what order are the candles kindled on Hanukah?
49. What is the Megi11 ah or Scroll of Esther?
50. What is the story of Purim and how does it reflect Anti- semitism?
X High Holvdays
51. What is the meaning of Rosh Hashanah and what does the Ho 1y Day stress?
52. When is the Shofar blown and what does it symbolize?
53. What are some of the special prayers recited in the Mahzor on Rosh Hashanah?
54. Explain how Jews "confess" their sins, and how do Jews "repent"?
55. Why is the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur called Shabbat Shuva?
56. What is the importance of Yom Kippur and why do we fast?
57. What is the Kol Nidre prayer? What does it have to do with the theme of Yom Kippur?
58. What are some of the special prayers recited in the
Mahzor on Yom Kippur? Why is the Book of Jonah read
Yom Kippur afternoon? What is the Neilah Service?
XI The Lifetime of the Jew
59. Why is the ceremony of'Brit Milah" (circumcision) so significant for a Jewish boy?
60. When is a Jewish girl named?
"100 Questions" - Page 5 XI The Lifetime of the Jew (continued)
61 . What do we mean by performing a Mi tzvah? What do the terms Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah signify?
62. Why is it essential to continue Jewish education through our lifet ime?
63. Why do we insist that the meal following a Bar/Bat Mit'zvah or a wedding be part of the religious eelebrat i on?
64. Define the following terms relating to a Jewish Wedding: Huppah; Ketubah; Sheva Brachot.
65. Why do Jews break a glass at the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony?
66. Why do we stress s imp 1 i c i t y and economy in celebrating ahappy or a sad milestone in Jewish life? Give examp1es.
67. Do Jews believe in divorce? What is the meaning of Get?
68. What are some traditions regarding a Jewish funeral and a House of Shiva?
69. What is the most appropriate way to show sympathy for the bereaved?
70. Why do we recite the Mourner's Kaddish and when is it recited? Are there other types of "Kaddish"?
71. What do Jews believe about Heaven and Hell?
72. What is a Yahrzeit?
73. What is an unveiling? XI I Jewish Beliefs
7k. What do we mean about Jews being the "chosen people"?
75. Define Mess i ah and explain how Jews differ in their definition from Chr i s t iani t}'' s definition.
76. What is the Jewish view concerning Jesus?
"100 Questions" - Page 6
XII Jewish Beliefs (continued)
77. Should a Jewish home have a Christmas tree?
78. How does Judaism feel about Jews marrying non-Jews? Why is inter-dating risky?
79. Why is it important for a Jew to belong to a Synagogue? What does being "a good Jew" mean?
80. What does Tzedakah mean? Why is it important for a Jew to support all worthy causes?
81. What are the functions of a Rabbi and Hazzan? What does their training involve?
82. What is Orthodox Judaism and what is an Orthodox Jew's way of life? Identify the "Yesh1va. "
83. Explain Reform Judaism. How does Reform differ fundamentally from Orthodoxy? Identify Hebrew Union College.
84. Describe Conservtive Judaism and what it stands for.
How should a Conservative observe the Mitzvot? Identify-the Jewish Theological Seminary. Describe Reconstruc-tionism and its Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
XIII Jewish History
85. Who was Ezra and what was his importance in connection with the Torah?
86. Identify Hillel and the Pharisees. What are some of Hillel's famous sayings?
87. Who was Rabbi Akiba and what was his connection with the Talmud?
88. What is the meaning of Midrash?
89. Define the term Halachah.
90. Define diaspora, and draw a map showing chronologically the rise of large Jewish communities outside of Israel.
91. Who was Moses Maimonides? What did he write and why is he regarded as the foremost Jewish philosopher?
92. What is the importance of the guidebook "Shulchan Aruch"? Can a Jew live by it today?
"100 Questions" - Page 7 XIII Jew!sh History (continued)
93. What is a Hasid? What did the Hasidic Movement of the 19th Century contribute to modern Judaism? What is the Lubavitcher Movement?
94. What is the world Jewish population today? American Jewish population? Why are we so concerned about a declining Jewish population?
XIV Israel
95. What does Zionism mean and when did the movement begin?
96. What roles did Theodore Hertzl and Chaim Weizmann play in shaping the movement?
97. What is the Balfour Declaration and what did it mean to the Jews?
98. Who were great personalities in the State of Israel since establishment in 1948?
99. What kind of government does Israel have and what is its relationship with Jews in the Diaspora?
100. Explain the following:
UN Resolution 242
PLO
West Bank
Palestinian Autonomy
Peace Movement
PIuralism
*****
1. What is your Hebrew name and the Hebrew names of your father and mother? What do these names mean?
2. What is a Sidrah?
3. What is a Haftorah?
4. What are the three main divisions of the Hebrew Bible? What is the Hebrew name for the Bible? Why do Jews prefer not to use the term "Old Testament"?
5. Name the five Books of Moses. Describe what took place at Mt. Sinai. (Exodus Ch. )
6. Why was King David's reign considered such an important episode in Jewish history?
7. Who were the early kings of Israel and why was the country later partitioned into Israel and Judah?
8. Define a prophet. Name three important prophets.
9. What is the Talmud? Why was it called the Oral Tradi t i on?
I I The Synagogue
10. What are the three terms for a Synagogue in Hebrew and how does the modern synagogue live up to them?
11. Describe the Tailit and Tefillin and explain why and when they are worn.
12. How is a Torah written? How is it treated and why do we accord it so much respect?
13. What is an Aiiyah? On what special occasions other than Bar Mitzvah does one usually receive an Aiiyah?
I I I The Prayer Book
14. Define the terms S iddur and Mahzor.
15. What is the importance of the Shema and what do its three paragraphs say?
16. What is Shahar i t, Mi nha, Maar i v? What prayer is an indispensable pray
III The Prayer Book (continued)
17. What is the Hallel service and when is it recited? When is the Musaf recited?
IS. What is the meaning of the A1e n u prayer? Is it always recited only at the end of a service?
IV The Home
19. What is so special about being Jewish? What are your responsibilities along these lines?
20. What is a Mezuzzah? On which side of the door should it be placed? What does it signify?
21. What ritual objects are basic to making a home "Jewish"?
22. What does "Kosher" mean?
23. What does Ha 1achah mean? What role does it play among Jews today in the Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstruc-tionist and Reform movements?
24. What is the blessing that a Jewish woman recites over Sabbath candles and when are they kindled? What prayers does a father recite to his children and wife on Friday night?
25. What is Kiddush? On what occasions is wine used in Jewi sh ritual?
26. Recite the Hamotzi (Grace before meals). What is
Birchat Hamazon? .........,....__„.._..
V Sabbath and Holidays
27. Why does the Jewish calendar change every year? What is the Hebrew word for calendar?
28. Name some Hebrew months of the year and the major holidays that occur during these months.
29. Why is the Sabbath (Shabbat) considered a cornerstone of Jewish tradition? How is it observed traditionally? Why does it have meaning for our society?
30. What is the Havdalah ceremony? What objects are used?
Sabbath & Holidays (continued)
31. In what ways is Yom Tov (the Festivals and High
Holidays) like Shabbat? In what ways does the >0 observance differ? Why do traditional American Jews observe the first two and last two days of Yom Tov unlike in Israel?
VI Sukkot - Simhat Torah
32. Why do we celebrate Sukkot and what is the significance of the Sukkah?
33. What are the four species used on Sukkot and what do they represent?
34. Why is Ecclesiastes (kohelet) read on Sukkot?
35. What is the Yizkor service and how often is Yizkor recited during the year?
36. Explain Simhat Torah and what Hakafot are. V I I Passover
37. What is the meaning of Pesach?
38. What is Hametz (unleavened foods) and what are the requirements for making a home ready for Passover?
39. Name some of the rituals of the Seder. What is the Haggadah?
40. Why is the Biblical book "The Song of Songs" read during Passover?
41. Why should the Holocaust be remembered? Do you think the Nazis should be forgiven?
42. What does "Counting the Omer" mean and what is Lag B'Omer?
VIII Shevuot
43. What does Shevuot mean and what is its significance?
44. Name the Ten Commandments and explain why they are still important to follow.
"100 Questions" - Page 4
»
v VIII S h e v u o t (continued)
45. Why is the "Book of Ruth" read on Shevuot? What is the attitude of the Book to the proselyte (i.e., a non-Jew who accepts Judaism).
IX Minor Festivals
46. What is Tisha B'av? What is its significance for us today?
47. What is the historical background of Hanukah?
48. In what order are the candles kindled on Hanukah?
49. What is the Megi11 ah or Scroll of Esther?
50. What is the story of Purim and how does it reflect Anti- semitism?
X High Holvdays
51. What is the meaning of Rosh Hashanah and what does the Ho 1y Day stress?
52. When is the Shofar blown and what does it symbolize?
53. What are some of the special prayers recited in the Mahzor on Rosh Hashanah?
54. Explain how Jews "confess" their sins, and how do Jews "repent"?
55. Why is the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur called Shabbat Shuva?
56. What is the importance of Yom Kippur and why do we fast?
57. What is the Kol Nidre prayer? What does it have to do with the theme of Yom Kippur?
58. What are some of the special prayers recited in the
Mahzor on Yom Kippur? Why is the Book of Jonah read
Yom Kippur afternoon? What is the Neilah Service?
XI The Lifetime of the Jew
59. Why is the ceremony of'Brit Milah" (circumcision) so significant for a Jewish boy?
60. When is a Jewish girl named?
"100 Questions" - Page 5 XI The Lifetime of the Jew (continued)
61 . What do we mean by performing a Mi tzvah? What do the terms Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah signify?
62. Why is it essential to continue Jewish education through our lifet ime?
63. Why do we insist that the meal following a Bar/Bat Mit'zvah or a wedding be part of the religious eelebrat i on?
64. Define the following terms relating to a Jewish Wedding: Huppah; Ketubah; Sheva Brachot.
65. Why do Jews break a glass at the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony?
66. Why do we stress s imp 1 i c i t y and economy in celebrating ahappy or a sad milestone in Jewish life? Give examp1es.
67. Do Jews believe in divorce? What is the meaning of Get?
68. What are some traditions regarding a Jewish funeral and a House of Shiva?
69. What is the most appropriate way to show sympathy for the bereaved?
70. Why do we recite the Mourner's Kaddish and when is it recited? Are there other types of "Kaddish"?
71. What do Jews believe about Heaven and Hell?
72. What is a Yahrzeit?
73. What is an unveiling? XI I Jewish Beliefs
7k. What do we mean about Jews being the "chosen people"?
75. Define Mess i ah and explain how Jews differ in their definition from Chr i s t iani t}'' s definition.
76. What is the Jewish view concerning Jesus?
"100 Questions" - Page 6
XII Jewish Beliefs (continued)
77. Should a Jewish home have a Christmas tree?
78. How does Judaism feel about Jews marrying non-Jews? Why is inter-dating risky?
79. Why is it important for a Jew to belong to a Synagogue? What does being "a good Jew" mean?
80. What does Tzedakah mean? Why is it important for a Jew to support all worthy causes?
81. What are the functions of a Rabbi and Hazzan? What does their training involve?
82. What is Orthodox Judaism and what is an Orthodox Jew's way of life? Identify the "Yesh1va. "
83. Explain Reform Judaism. How does Reform differ fundamentally from Orthodoxy? Identify Hebrew Union College.
84. Describe Conservtive Judaism and what it stands for.
How should a Conservative observe the Mitzvot? Identify-the Jewish Theological Seminary. Describe Reconstruc-tionism and its Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
XIII Jewish History
85. Who was Ezra and what was his importance in connection with the Torah?
86. Identify Hillel and the Pharisees. What are some of Hillel's famous sayings?
87. Who was Rabbi Akiba and what was his connection with the Talmud?
88. What is the meaning of Midrash?
89. Define the term Halachah.
90. Define diaspora, and draw a map showing chronologically the rise of large Jewish communities outside of Israel.
91. Who was Moses Maimonides? What did he write and why is he regarded as the foremost Jewish philosopher?
92. What is the importance of the guidebook "Shulchan Aruch"? Can a Jew live by it today?
"100 Questions" - Page 7 XIII Jew!sh History (continued)
93. What is a Hasid? What did the Hasidic Movement of the 19th Century contribute to modern Judaism? What is the Lubavitcher Movement?
94. What is the world Jewish population today? American Jewish population? Why are we so concerned about a declining Jewish population?
XIV Israel
95. What does Zionism mean and when did the movement begin?
96. What roles did Theodore Hertzl and Chaim Weizmann play in shaping the movement?
97. What is the Balfour Declaration and what did it mean to the Jews?
98. Who were great personalities in the State of Israel since establishment in 1948?
99. What kind of government does Israel have and what is its relationship with Jews in the Diaspora?
100. Explain the following:
UN Resolution 242
PLO
West Bank
Palestinian Autonomy
Peace Movement
PIuralism
*****
My Videos to help explain Parashat Reah
Videos to help explain Parashat Reah
False Messiahs in Jewish History JewU 165 see Deut 13
Kosher 101 JewU 8 See Deut 14
Jewish Values 4-6 JewU 14 especially on free will
False Messiahs in Jewish History JewU 165 see Deut 13
Kosher 101 JewU 8 See Deut 14
Jewish Values 4-6 JewU 14 especially on free will
Rosh Hashanah second day sermon draft on Kol Yisrael
Sermon draft for the second day of Rosh Hashana-Kol Yisrael
I take the opportunity every year on the second day of Rosh Hashana to offer my thoughts about the state of the world Jewry. Jews the world gathers today, and as much as this is a holy time to reflect on our relationship to God, we sense kinship to fellow Jews everywhere and to our heritage.
I want to start with Jews abroad, because it is more human nature to be concerned about our neighbors and our family, it is more challenging to be concerned about Jews elsewhere. The place to start is the disheartening study of a Jewish sociologist who says that half of American Jews don’t respond positively to the Jewish value of all Israel is responsible one for the other. We need to remember the powerful story in the Torah, when two and one half of the twelve tribes wanted to stay outside of the land of Israel and Moses challenged them with the challenge “Will your brothers go to war while you stay here?.” They finally agreed that it was their responsibility to help settle Israel. That lesson serves as a paradigm for the Jewish value-kol yisrael aravim ze baze- we have a responsibility to our fellow Jews.
We aren’t, of course, only concerned about Jews. Jews, more than any other group of people, are at the forefront of raising consciousness of tragedies elsewhere, in Darfur for example. While Jews are responsible for all, and reminded constantly to help the oppressed, today we speak about our lansmen.
How are our Jewish brethren fairing?
Israel- . The Middle East constantly in our lifetime seems to be on the verge of warfare. The proclivity to war and to terror has little to do with Israel. It is a product of culture and history. Arabs have and do fight Arabs. Sunnis and Shiites, Iran vs. Iraq, etc. When the reversal of decline of the Arab world set in, and the ascent of the west and its power and achievements in every area of human endeavor, has spawned a lust for terror that will not end until the Arab Moslems come to terms with the west. No matter what Israel does, to some extent it will never be enough unless Israel disappeared and even then the violence and terror would not stop. Even after Israel departed from the Sinai, Gaza, Lebanon, and billions of dollars of American aid to Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians, there is not that much progress toward peace. Of course, there is a kind of peace with Egypt and Jordan, but Israel’s past magnimity many in that region see as weakness. Israel’s recent diplomacy has earned it rounds of kidnapping, ransom and rocket attacks. Terror impacts Israel, though the security barrier has greatly cut that down, but still faces regular rocket attacks from Gaza and the North.
We can ask ourselves all day long what if:
-if the Arabs had accepted the UN partition plan in 1947, dividing the mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and Arab state.
-if the Arabs had created a Palestinian state between 1948 and 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank
-if the Palestinians had accepted the Clinton parameters in 2000 calling for the creation of the Palestinian state on more than 90% of the west bank, all of Gaza, and East Jerusalem as its capitol.
You can ask all day long what ifs, but shouldn’t young Palestinians be asking why at every opportunity why their parents choose conflict over compromise. Now Gaza and the West Bank as we speak are split – with Hamas determined to destroy Israel and control Gaza. At least PM Omert has been conducting discussions with Abbas of Fatah, and we never stop hoping for progress. Tom Friedman wrote an interesting article in the New York Times talking about how the first three Israeli approaches to peace have been exposed as failures
One-the way of the left: the land for peace is discredited by the collapse of Oslo,
Two-the way of the right permanent Israeli occupation of all the land of Israel has been impossible by Palestinian demographics and through uprisings,
Three-third way unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon and Gaza has been discredited by Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon and Hamas’s rocket attack from Gaza.
So what would the fourth way be? What do we hope for?
Of course, the largest problem is Iran with each passing day, with each triumph and pronouncement, the chance is dim that diplomacy will or can stop Iran’s juggernaut rush to develop nukes. So all the West can do is more tightly squeeze Iran, they can try military action which has very serious consequences, or they can let them go ahead and just hope that deterrence will stop them from nuking Israel and nuking Europe and nuking the West. There isn’t any really clear solution as depressing as that is.
Israel has many other challenges we are called upon to help navigate-religious domination by the Ultra-Orthodox-the government funds only Orthodox synagogues and rabbis and the religious decisions are made by them,
Poverty is a significant problem, often exacerbated by the many thousands of able bodied ultra orthodox men who study all day in lieu of employment
On a positive note, when we think about Israel, 83% of Jewish Israelis say they are satisfied or extremely satisfied with their lives and nearly ¾ of Israeli Arabs say they feel the same way. In the orthodox community it is 97%. Can you find that many people in any other country in the world say they are extremely satisfied? The Israeli economy continues to bloom, in spite of the second Lebanon war, the divestments, and the boycotts, Israel’s economy enjoyed the largest growth in the GMP in any western country at 8% in the last quarter of 2006. Lists of Israel’s amazing achievements in just the first ¾ of the year is long and phenomenal. The budget deficit was under 1%, industrial exports leading the surge, and high tech industry.
For those who follow this, it is unbelievable how often Israel comes up with revolutionary inventions that will help make the world so much better. Last year some Israeli scientists came up with a straw that you can stick into completely polluted dangerous water and it filters the water so you can drink it. Of course it will save much of the world of terrible disease, because so much of the fresh water is polluted, but some of the Islamic countries, when they heard it was Israel invented it, didn’t want to buy it because they would rather have their citizens suffer. Just in the first few months of this year, Israel found that brackish water drilled from underground desert aquifers could be used to raise warm water fish They are moving forward fast on advances in treatment of Lou Geris disease and Stephen Hawkings, one of the world’s greatest scientists came, he taught them but he also learned that they are making great progress on that disease that could help him and thirty thousand Americans. They have a new capsule that sits in the stomach of animals that sends real time information on the health of the herd. They have made huge progress in helping heart disease and a device that uses electrical nerve stimulation to treat congestive heart failure. These are just a few of the continual achievements of Israel.
In contrast to the efforts to the tiny Israel to make contributions to the world, to make better humankind, we have to ask what of those who strive to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth, ----what have they contributed, other than create hate and bloodshed, and we have to wonder what Israel could achieve if it were just left alone.
So what is our obligation to Israel, what is our answer to Moses when he said “will you stay here and sit on your seat and your brothers go to war”?
First visit if at all possible. We are planning another trip in May. We had a very successful trip last October of twenty-seven people Come with us or go on some other trip- go by yourself, but visit.
One the bright spot in this regard has been the birthright to Israel program, where Jewish young people between the ages of 18 and 26 get a free trip. Over the past 12 months the papers have reported that 45 thousand applied for birthright, which is more that the 30 thousand who have a bar/bat mitzvah this year in the United States. Birthright has become an important Jewish right of passage. While 44 thousand have applied this year, funding limitations mean only 12 to 18 thousand can go on each of the sessions. Right now, 150 thousand participants have come from 52 countries to participate, an amazing program. The evidence is already piling up about the impact that has.
Two Financial help-After the synagogue, which of course should be everyone’s number one tseddakah priority, it’s your synagogue, we need it to survive, worldwide Jewry and Israel has to be right up there, with donations to the UJA, part of our synagogue’s continuing support, Jewish United Fund of Chicago, which gives about half its money to worldwide Jewry in Israel. Our past president, Alan Carroll, give a pitch for investing in Israel Bonds, which helps support Israel’s activities-, the Jewish National Fund which plants trees, helps with water conservation and land development, women’s organizations like Hadassah and Naamat, which support so much medical care in Israel.
Three-We have to be active politically. I am so happy that when we were in Israel last year, an Israeli employee of AIPAC in Jerusalem spoke to our group, and the Hermans and the Urbans went with me to the AiPAC conference. I hope others of you will go with me this year in June and all of you could join. We need to be involved with our Congress people, our state and house legislators because you never know who is going to move up in politics. We also must explain Israel’s predicament and position to our neighbors. It makes a big difference. And now with election season rolling around again, we must make our voices heard with the candidates.
And what about our fellow Jews everywhere?
When various British organizations reach to the bottom morally and vote to Boycott Israeli academics etc, British Jews suffer. Jews in many places around the world feel ever less safe. Every week there seems to be a new revelation of a forestalled terror attack here or abroad and constant threats to kill Jews. attack on Fort Dix, Eight British Muslim doctors, who are conceiving a plot, and suicide bombing continues. CNN showed a video of a Middle East school suicide bombing graduation ceremony with nearly 300 suicide bombers graduated. And Leno’s quip was that all of them were doing the same thing this summer that most graduates do, backpacking through Europe. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. We are fighting people who blow up Mosques, markets, hospital emergency wards, and girls’ schools. It is a culture of death. The suicide Jihadists are so hard to defeat because they have no desire to build anything. Their only goal is to make sure America and Israel fails in its effort to help make the Middle East decent, pluristic and progressive. Argentina has a large Jewish community-hundreds of thousands. There is a growing link betwen that country and Venezuela, whose dictator, Chavez, has a very close relationship with Iran, a contry whose president continuously calls for the destruction of Isrel and is suspected of being behind the 1994 bombing of the JCC that killed 85.
What about American Judaism? The tale of 2 cities-best of times and worst of times-
We have our own terror issues to worry about. Tom Freedman of the New York Times reported on a study done of American Moslems, and the conclusion overall they are better assimilated and more concerned about the religious extremism than their counterparts in the rest of the world. And yet, what I found scary about that study was that among those under 30, despite deeper American roots, one in four young Moslems think suicide bombing in the name of Islam can be justified – one out of four American Moslems under thirty. Clearly building relations with moderate Muslims must continue, as we maintain vigilance.
In a new book about the study of Jewish future by Calvin Goldshiver, he writes convincingly about the astonishing proliferation of vibrant creative Jewish activities, the unprecedented availability of Jewish educational venues and materials. Conversion to Judaism, and I am proud to say we have the city’s largest conversion program here, run by my wife Gail, has yielded may new passionate and committed Jews. We must reach out worldwide and welcome those who might find a spiritual home with the Jewish people, much as our ancestors did until stopped by foreign powers. We have Jews-by-choice here working to build better relations with the African American and Hispanic communities. One Latino fellow who says his family were Marranos from 500 years ago in Spain is translating my youtubes into Spanish.
In clear ways we are all Jews-by-choice today. We have free choice. How can we exercise it properly?
Women’s Jewish activism well established and sweeping development has revitalized adult Jewish education in many communities.
Perhaps the most encouraging fact is the majority of Jews are not fleeing connections with other Jews in Judaism. While the book Bowling Alone a few years ago chronicled America’s diminishing sense of joining others in community, and people increasingly isolated themselves in the audio visual game rooms, instead, Jews statistically continue to have some Jewish friends observed some Jewish rituals, belong to some type of Jewish organization, have visited Israel, and have some interest in Jewish cultural, spirituality or social action. He writes in the book “in diverse ways, Jews consider being Jewish one of the most important things in their lives. Therein lies hope for the Jewish future and motivation to meet its challenges”.
College Jewish studies are a real bright spot. My son is now starting Indiana University, and for those who know, Indiana University awhile ago didn’t have much Jewish study, but today you can major in Jewish studies, living in a Jewish interest group housing program. When I went to University of Chicago years ago, they had one Jewish study’s professor in medieval Jewish history, a course in biblical Hebrew and some Biblical courses in the divinity school. Now they have a big program in Jewish learning there.
Camping and day school The Reconstructionist movement now has a new summer-camp in the East and is thriving. The Conservative movement’s Ramah camp is thriving. Chicago will formally dedicate its new beautiful Jewish High School building on the 30th.
There are many challenges. When the Development Director of the Jewish Theological Seminary of Chicago’s office came to visit me, she said I was the first Rabbi she talked to whose Conservative Synagogue’s membership wasn’t dropping, but in fact, was increasing. May it continue. But we must continue to grow. Every Jew has an obligation to the Jewish people, to God and to history to belong to a synagogue. Every one of us has to think beyond ourselves to the next generation-dor ldor and make a commitment in our estate planning to the synagogue.
We face many challenges nationally and internationally on the assimilation front. On what basis today is the average Jewish household different from the non-Jew next door?
What can we do? We can do our share. We can create the strongest, most vibrant synagogue we can, where people who comes with questions and essential human needs:
What’s the meaning in life?
Where is my community?
How do I connect?
How do I feel God’s presence in my life?
What is my purpose?
What do I do with my God given talent?
We need to support our fellow Jews in the state of Israel, and the Jews who are threatened in worldwide communities while our key task is to learn our tradition, and live it while providing a sacred, religious community here. We do that so we can help people sanctify their lives daily through prayer, through deeds of loving kindness, and we help them honor the godliness in every human being, in a sacred community of welcoming, because we are here to be God’s partner. We need to do that and to help bring God’s kingdom closer to earth.
I take the opportunity every year on the second day of Rosh Hashana to offer my thoughts about the state of the world Jewry. Jews the world gathers today, and as much as this is a holy time to reflect on our relationship to God, we sense kinship to fellow Jews everywhere and to our heritage.
I want to start with Jews abroad, because it is more human nature to be concerned about our neighbors and our family, it is more challenging to be concerned about Jews elsewhere. The place to start is the disheartening study of a Jewish sociologist who says that half of American Jews don’t respond positively to the Jewish value of all Israel is responsible one for the other. We need to remember the powerful story in the Torah, when two and one half of the twelve tribes wanted to stay outside of the land of Israel and Moses challenged them with the challenge “Will your brothers go to war while you stay here?.” They finally agreed that it was their responsibility to help settle Israel. That lesson serves as a paradigm for the Jewish value-kol yisrael aravim ze baze- we have a responsibility to our fellow Jews.
We aren’t, of course, only concerned about Jews. Jews, more than any other group of people, are at the forefront of raising consciousness of tragedies elsewhere, in Darfur for example. While Jews are responsible for all, and reminded constantly to help the oppressed, today we speak about our lansmen.
How are our Jewish brethren fairing?
Israel- . The Middle East constantly in our lifetime seems to be on the verge of warfare. The proclivity to war and to terror has little to do with Israel. It is a product of culture and history. Arabs have and do fight Arabs. Sunnis and Shiites, Iran vs. Iraq, etc. When the reversal of decline of the Arab world set in, and the ascent of the west and its power and achievements in every area of human endeavor, has spawned a lust for terror that will not end until the Arab Moslems come to terms with the west. No matter what Israel does, to some extent it will never be enough unless Israel disappeared and even then the violence and terror would not stop. Even after Israel departed from the Sinai, Gaza, Lebanon, and billions of dollars of American aid to Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians, there is not that much progress toward peace. Of course, there is a kind of peace with Egypt and Jordan, but Israel’s past magnimity many in that region see as weakness. Israel’s recent diplomacy has earned it rounds of kidnapping, ransom and rocket attacks. Terror impacts Israel, though the security barrier has greatly cut that down, but still faces regular rocket attacks from Gaza and the North.
We can ask ourselves all day long what if:
-if the Arabs had accepted the UN partition plan in 1947, dividing the mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and Arab state.
-if the Arabs had created a Palestinian state between 1948 and 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank
-if the Palestinians had accepted the Clinton parameters in 2000 calling for the creation of the Palestinian state on more than 90% of the west bank, all of Gaza, and East Jerusalem as its capitol.
You can ask all day long what ifs, but shouldn’t young Palestinians be asking why at every opportunity why their parents choose conflict over compromise. Now Gaza and the West Bank as we speak are split – with Hamas determined to destroy Israel and control Gaza. At least PM Omert has been conducting discussions with Abbas of Fatah, and we never stop hoping for progress. Tom Friedman wrote an interesting article in the New York Times talking about how the first three Israeli approaches to peace have been exposed as failures
One-the way of the left: the land for peace is discredited by the collapse of Oslo,
Two-the way of the right permanent Israeli occupation of all the land of Israel has been impossible by Palestinian demographics and through uprisings,
Three-third way unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon and Gaza has been discredited by Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon and Hamas’s rocket attack from Gaza.
So what would the fourth way be? What do we hope for?
Of course, the largest problem is Iran with each passing day, with each triumph and pronouncement, the chance is dim that diplomacy will or can stop Iran’s juggernaut rush to develop nukes. So all the West can do is more tightly squeeze Iran, they can try military action which has very serious consequences, or they can let them go ahead and just hope that deterrence will stop them from nuking Israel and nuking Europe and nuking the West. There isn’t any really clear solution as depressing as that is.
Israel has many other challenges we are called upon to help navigate-religious domination by the Ultra-Orthodox-the government funds only Orthodox synagogues and rabbis and the religious decisions are made by them,
Poverty is a significant problem, often exacerbated by the many thousands of able bodied ultra orthodox men who study all day in lieu of employment
On a positive note, when we think about Israel, 83% of Jewish Israelis say they are satisfied or extremely satisfied with their lives and nearly ¾ of Israeli Arabs say they feel the same way. In the orthodox community it is 97%. Can you find that many people in any other country in the world say they are extremely satisfied? The Israeli economy continues to bloom, in spite of the second Lebanon war, the divestments, and the boycotts, Israel’s economy enjoyed the largest growth in the GMP in any western country at 8% in the last quarter of 2006. Lists of Israel’s amazing achievements in just the first ¾ of the year is long and phenomenal. The budget deficit was under 1%, industrial exports leading the surge, and high tech industry.
For those who follow this, it is unbelievable how often Israel comes up with revolutionary inventions that will help make the world so much better. Last year some Israeli scientists came up with a straw that you can stick into completely polluted dangerous water and it filters the water so you can drink it. Of course it will save much of the world of terrible disease, because so much of the fresh water is polluted, but some of the Islamic countries, when they heard it was Israel invented it, didn’t want to buy it because they would rather have their citizens suffer. Just in the first few months of this year, Israel found that brackish water drilled from underground desert aquifers could be used to raise warm water fish They are moving forward fast on advances in treatment of Lou Geris disease and Stephen Hawkings, one of the world’s greatest scientists came, he taught them but he also learned that they are making great progress on that disease that could help him and thirty thousand Americans. They have a new capsule that sits in the stomach of animals that sends real time information on the health of the herd. They have made huge progress in helping heart disease and a device that uses electrical nerve stimulation to treat congestive heart failure. These are just a few of the continual achievements of Israel.
In contrast to the efforts to the tiny Israel to make contributions to the world, to make better humankind, we have to ask what of those who strive to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth, ----what have they contributed, other than create hate and bloodshed, and we have to wonder what Israel could achieve if it were just left alone.
So what is our obligation to Israel, what is our answer to Moses when he said “will you stay here and sit on your seat and your brothers go to war”?
First visit if at all possible. We are planning another trip in May. We had a very successful trip last October of twenty-seven people Come with us or go on some other trip- go by yourself, but visit.
One the bright spot in this regard has been the birthright to Israel program, where Jewish young people between the ages of 18 and 26 get a free trip. Over the past 12 months the papers have reported that 45 thousand applied for birthright, which is more that the 30 thousand who have a bar/bat mitzvah this year in the United States. Birthright has become an important Jewish right of passage. While 44 thousand have applied this year, funding limitations mean only 12 to 18 thousand can go on each of the sessions. Right now, 150 thousand participants have come from 52 countries to participate, an amazing program. The evidence is already piling up about the impact that has.
Two Financial help-After the synagogue, which of course should be everyone’s number one tseddakah priority, it’s your synagogue, we need it to survive, worldwide Jewry and Israel has to be right up there, with donations to the UJA, part of our synagogue’s continuing support, Jewish United Fund of Chicago, which gives about half its money to worldwide Jewry in Israel. Our past president, Alan Carroll, give a pitch for investing in Israel Bonds, which helps support Israel’s activities-, the Jewish National Fund which plants trees, helps with water conservation and land development, women’s organizations like Hadassah and Naamat, which support so much medical care in Israel.
Three-We have to be active politically. I am so happy that when we were in Israel last year, an Israeli employee of AIPAC in Jerusalem spoke to our group, and the Hermans and the Urbans went with me to the AiPAC conference. I hope others of you will go with me this year in June and all of you could join. We need to be involved with our Congress people, our state and house legislators because you never know who is going to move up in politics. We also must explain Israel’s predicament and position to our neighbors. It makes a big difference. And now with election season rolling around again, we must make our voices heard with the candidates.
And what about our fellow Jews everywhere?
When various British organizations reach to the bottom morally and vote to Boycott Israeli academics etc, British Jews suffer. Jews in many places around the world feel ever less safe. Every week there seems to be a new revelation of a forestalled terror attack here or abroad and constant threats to kill Jews. attack on Fort Dix, Eight British Muslim doctors, who are conceiving a plot, and suicide bombing continues. CNN showed a video of a Middle East school suicide bombing graduation ceremony with nearly 300 suicide bombers graduated. And Leno’s quip was that all of them were doing the same thing this summer that most graduates do, backpacking through Europe. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. We are fighting people who blow up Mosques, markets, hospital emergency wards, and girls’ schools. It is a culture of death. The suicide Jihadists are so hard to defeat because they have no desire to build anything. Their only goal is to make sure America and Israel fails in its effort to help make the Middle East decent, pluristic and progressive. Argentina has a large Jewish community-hundreds of thousands. There is a growing link betwen that country and Venezuela, whose dictator, Chavez, has a very close relationship with Iran, a contry whose president continuously calls for the destruction of Isrel and is suspected of being behind the 1994 bombing of the JCC that killed 85.
What about American Judaism? The tale of 2 cities-best of times and worst of times-
We have our own terror issues to worry about. Tom Freedman of the New York Times reported on a study done of American Moslems, and the conclusion overall they are better assimilated and more concerned about the religious extremism than their counterparts in the rest of the world. And yet, what I found scary about that study was that among those under 30, despite deeper American roots, one in four young Moslems think suicide bombing in the name of Islam can be justified – one out of four American Moslems under thirty. Clearly building relations with moderate Muslims must continue, as we maintain vigilance.
In a new book about the study of Jewish future by Calvin Goldshiver, he writes convincingly about the astonishing proliferation of vibrant creative Jewish activities, the unprecedented availability of Jewish educational venues and materials. Conversion to Judaism, and I am proud to say we have the city’s largest conversion program here, run by my wife Gail, has yielded may new passionate and committed Jews. We must reach out worldwide and welcome those who might find a spiritual home with the Jewish people, much as our ancestors did until stopped by foreign powers. We have Jews-by-choice here working to build better relations with the African American and Hispanic communities. One Latino fellow who says his family were Marranos from 500 years ago in Spain is translating my youtubes into Spanish.
In clear ways we are all Jews-by-choice today. We have free choice. How can we exercise it properly?
Women’s Jewish activism well established and sweeping development has revitalized adult Jewish education in many communities.
Perhaps the most encouraging fact is the majority of Jews are not fleeing connections with other Jews in Judaism. While the book Bowling Alone a few years ago chronicled America’s diminishing sense of joining others in community, and people increasingly isolated themselves in the audio visual game rooms, instead, Jews statistically continue to have some Jewish friends observed some Jewish rituals, belong to some type of Jewish organization, have visited Israel, and have some interest in Jewish cultural, spirituality or social action. He writes in the book “in diverse ways, Jews consider being Jewish one of the most important things in their lives. Therein lies hope for the Jewish future and motivation to meet its challenges”.
College Jewish studies are a real bright spot. My son is now starting Indiana University, and for those who know, Indiana University awhile ago didn’t have much Jewish study, but today you can major in Jewish studies, living in a Jewish interest group housing program. When I went to University of Chicago years ago, they had one Jewish study’s professor in medieval Jewish history, a course in biblical Hebrew and some Biblical courses in the divinity school. Now they have a big program in Jewish learning there.
Camping and day school The Reconstructionist movement now has a new summer-camp in the East and is thriving. The Conservative movement’s Ramah camp is thriving. Chicago will formally dedicate its new beautiful Jewish High School building on the 30th.
There are many challenges. When the Development Director of the Jewish Theological Seminary of Chicago’s office came to visit me, she said I was the first Rabbi she talked to whose Conservative Synagogue’s membership wasn’t dropping, but in fact, was increasing. May it continue. But we must continue to grow. Every Jew has an obligation to the Jewish people, to God and to history to belong to a synagogue. Every one of us has to think beyond ourselves to the next generation-dor ldor and make a commitment in our estate planning to the synagogue.
We face many challenges nationally and internationally on the assimilation front. On what basis today is the average Jewish household different from the non-Jew next door?
What can we do? We can do our share. We can create the strongest, most vibrant synagogue we can, where people who comes with questions and essential human needs:
What’s the meaning in life?
Where is my community?
How do I connect?
How do I feel God’s presence in my life?
What is my purpose?
What do I do with my God given talent?
We need to support our fellow Jews in the state of Israel, and the Jews who are threatened in worldwide communities while our key task is to learn our tradition, and live it while providing a sacred, religious community here. We do that so we can help people sanctify their lives daily through prayer, through deeds of loving kindness, and we help them honor the godliness in every human being, in a sacred community of welcoming, because we are here to be God’s partner. We need to do that and to help bring God’s kingdom closer to earth.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Kol Nidre Sermon draft
Kol Nidre Sermon Draft
1. Maslow hierarchy of needs
Maslow, one of the classic psychologists, talked about a pyramid of human needs. At the bottom is
.A. the need for food and water;
There tragically are many without adequate of either and water will be an increasing problem.
B...above that is shelter and security;-many substandard housing and not secure-darfur, Iraq
Caboose that is love and companionship; -many feel unloved and alone (call weather)
D. Above that is the need for esteem and appreciation-kavod –much low self esteem and feel no kavod
God wants us to live abundantly with enough food, water, housing, security, love, friendship, esteem, companionship-Judaism says tikkun olam fight for the right of all for this and work towards it for ourselves. Never give up. Have faith.
E. is the question that we ask tonight, at the top of the pyramid, is self actualization of meaning and purpose in life. Many don’t feel meaningful purpose
2. Most people spend most time and concern on 1-4,
3. The largest questions in our life often focus on area 5, the least discussed, explored, or reflected upon in our culture. And as we age we concern ourselves with self-actualization-the meaning and purpose of our lives, what good have we done, has it been worthwhile, more and more.
4. Out of concern about that and concern about the future, according to studies certain Americans believe in astrology and a sixth has actually consulted psychics. There is even a new scholarly field which studies meaning. It is called “experimental existential psychology, or XXP.” It explores how people find meaning and purpose in their lives. A topic that once was the province of poets and philosophers, research now say can be granted under the cold light of science. How people deal with existential concern explains a broad specter of behavior. It is a new field of study being taught at science universities. The question is getting ever more complicated because of, for one thing development in science. Scientists believe that eventually, in the near future, we will have a do it yourself virtual reality, abandoning our own world for a made up one will an ever larger.
What do we make about our lives part of adult life? For futurist, Ray Birdwell, this is only the beginning. We are approaching the age of full immersion virtual reality. Thanks to innovations in genetics, nana technology and robotics, we will soon be able to design our own mental habitat. Those same technologies will help us overcome our genetic heritage, live longer, become smarter. It is amazing to think about that we will learn how brains operate and devise computers that function like them. The barriers between minds and computers will disappear. Then the question is what do we do with these enhanced human beings? They will become our relations to one another, but what would our purpose in life be? As we move into that kind of world over the next decades and century, we will continue to contemplate the questions that have perplexed humanity since the beginning.
As we age the question on our purpose and meaning on this earth grows greater. Has there been a purpose? What difference have I made? Can I make in my remaining time? Does it matter? The main question that we ask ourselves is about the meaning of our lives. Rabbi Harold Kushner who wrote “When bad things happen to good people” also wrote a book “When what you have isn’t enough – a search for life’s meaning.” That book, based loosely on the biblical book of the ecclesial Kohelet, begins with a story of someone who came to see him who said that he sat next to a fellow in a desk in an office for many years. They exchanged little stories about their families, they knew each other’s names, and they worked side by side for over a decade. They didn’t socialize much together. Then one day the fellow died of a heart attack. A week later, his wife came in, cleaned up his personal effects, after receiving condolences from the office, and left. A few days later, somebody new was at the desk working, as if the person never existed. So the question to Rabbi Kushner was “Is that all it is?” It’s like a pebble that drops in a pool that makes a few ripples and then disappears.
. In order to answer this question, of course, the key would be to know what our goal is, what we want to achieve, what the answer is. It isn’t as easy as Map quest, or a gps system, where you plug an address in your computer, and say where you are and where you want to go and then it gives you the exact directions for doing so.
Friends, we gather tonight on the beginning of the holiest Day of the year, a day that the Torah commands us to afflict ourselves to atone for our transgressions, so we can become, NAKI, clean before G-d. Historically, with the haunting melody of Kol Nidre, this day has been a day of intense introspection for Jews. To consider our lives in the largest possible scope, to take a break from all our activities, these 24 hours are very precious to us today, but we know how important it is to spend the day reflecting and preparing ourselves for the future. This day is a day for, first of all, clearly understanding ourselves that is the purpose of all the prayers, confession and atonement.
Life goes so fast. Over before we know it. The first answer is that there is 86 thousand seconds everyday. We sleep about 25 thousand of them-not counting naps. What do we do with rest?
Of course, for G-d, our seconds don’t mean the same thing. There is the old joke about the fellow said to G-d, “G-d how long for you is a second”? And G-d says “a million years.” “And G-d, how much money for you is a penny?” and G-d says “a million dollars.” So then the man says “G-d, can I have one of your pennies”? And G-d says “yes, in just a second.” But for us, all we have is our seconds, this time with which we live. I’m fifty-one now, and I meet vigorous people in our congregation who are 89 and 93. That age doesn’t seem as far away as it did awhile ago, what happens in one’s life? One 87 old fellow here told me his life was just like a click of a finger, and then he clicked his fingers.
Yom Kippur then, bids us contemplate “what then is the destination”? , and “how does Judaism help us on this journey”?
1. Never give up
One illustrativeexample came from the Chicago Bears and the exciting Kevin Hester. In that great play where he caught a kick from the Giants, and stood under the goal post. They thought the play was over, they started walking off the field, and he took off and tied for the longest touchdown in sport’s history – 108 yards, simply because the Giants didn’t know that you don’t walk out until the play is over. Don’t assume because your old, that’s it, or reached a dead end in career, or relationship or health.
There is a lot of Jewish thinking about aging. One of the favorites I hear is aging is not for sissies, it is tough to get old. You may wonder why nature fized it this way. There is an old rabbinic legend about why this happens. The story was that before Abraham, people did not show their age, they simply got to a certain point and died. And Abraham and Isaac were walking down the street and Abraham didn’t look any older that Isaac at that point, and people didn’t know who was the older and who they should give honor to. And Abraham mentioned that to G-d and G-d said “well if I change that and I make you look older, so they will know to whom to pay homage, you will feel older. There is no other possibility.” Abraham said, “Well, we have to teach the world respect for the elderly.” And G-d said “OK” and changed nature so that people began to show their age. And that’s the first time the work Zaken, old was used in the bible in the context of Abraham. The Torah tries to communicate that the value by saying to us that you have you have to stand before the gray haired. It is a mitzvah to show respect to the elderly. The commandment to honor your father and mother is viewed as older people and teachers as well. It is obviously though that the cry of the psalmist who said “don’t abandon me in my old age”-. The worry that old people will be neglected. But the psalmist also taught us-teach me to number my days, that as long as I am getting older, I should learn something from the experience.
It is obvious that people are always looking for the fountain of youth. In fact some pharmaceutical companies, who are not cranks or quacks, that include well regarded Harvard scientists, who believe that they are going to develop a pill that treats many feared diseases, like diabetes, degenerative nerve conditions, many form of cancer, and the only side effect is the increase of life span. That is what they are working on. May we all live to experience that little pill!!. But in the meantime, there is a lot of wisdom about how to stay younger than our chronological years might indicate-, a lot of studies show that older people who frequently visit museums, play musical instruments, play chess or have schedules packed with other brain stimulating but fun activities, are less likely to develop dementia. I’m sure if you put regular synagogue attendance in the mix it would be number one.
There is a lot of evidence that growing old doesn’t mean frailty, researchers are finding. They may not be the inevitable result of aging, rather as preventable and perhaps treatable. Weight training, even in older individuals reduces inflammation, helps prevent falls. They are studying now the question of if a combination of aerobic exercises, weight lifting and balance training can help frail, sedentary individuals retain the ability to walk at least four blocks. There are even studies that say thinking negatively about getting old and you age more quickly. But if you think good thoughts about aging, you’ll likely stay healthy a little longer. People 70 or older who have negative thoughts and beliefs about aging had poor memories as the years passed. Those with positive views lived a medium of 7 years longer, even after taking into account differences in their age and health.
But of course, there comes the inevitable point of illness. There is a book by a professor, Donald Murray, called “My twice lived life,” about coping with what life deals us and seizing control of it, about living in the moment, and also about accepting our lot. The book says life is a journey and adventure, a ride filled with obstacles that help us to see living in a new light. The other book I read about is called “Learning the? the blessings of imperfect life by a young professor who was struck with Lou Geris disease at the age of 35. That disease made it urgent for him to ask all kinds of questions that most of us avoid. What he learned from those questions is that formal consciousness of my own mortality has been my best guide to being more fully alive, live more fully in the present.
The advice to aging well is pretty documented, Dr. Abraham Weil wrote “Healthy Aging”, talking about how important it is to do exercise throughout your life, eat healthy, take vitamins, watch stress , think positively, rest, and keep learning. In fact, some scholars believe that the real question is not how old are you, but what is your real age. I love the story about a Rabbi who was asked in an interview what age he works with; he said “I work with young people of any age.” These 137 factors including, do you take vitamins, how do you handle stress, do you smoke, do you floss, are you active, do you get your fiber, do you laugh, do you learn, do you get regular checkups, do you buckle up. 137 different things that affect your real age.
These questions have a greater urgency as one becomes older in life. The old joke about a Yemenite Jew who is 76 goes to the doctor for a checkup, and the doctor says “You are amazing; you have the body of a 40 year old. How old was your father when he passed away?” The man said “Oh, my father didn’t pass away, he is doing fine, and he is 95. In fact he is getting married next week.” “Your father is 95 and is getting married! Oh my goodness. Why is a man 95 getting married?’ He said “Well, his parents thought it was a good idea, since he’s got this girlfriend.” The Yemenite Jews are notorious for long lived, but of course, even with all the increased technology, none of us are going to live forever. So the question becomes especially acute for the aging. Where do we find meaning and how does that help us in our quest for a better life but after having thought about all of this, about whether it is a little pill or all this work to try and stay young, still there is the large question of what is it all for. We want to live healthy, we want to live long, we want to be remembered well, we want to live productively and positively. Asking what is the meaning of life is even to be viewed humorously. You used to have to go to India and climb a mountain and wait 6 months to talk to the guru, who would give you a two word answer. Today you can click on the internet for a search for the meaning of life and you get more information than imaginable
But we never, ever, stop until this play is completely over. One of the marvelous books I read over the summer is the book about the smartest man who ever lived. Now, some of you probably are going to say Einstein, but according to books on genius, Einstein was number ten. The smartest man who ever lived was Leonardo Deviancy. And his book is called “How to think like Leonardo Divine, seven steps to genius every day.” One of the main points about this book that was so interesting to me was that several of the essential steps in Da Vinci’s genius are that he never, ever gave up. In the face of amazing adversity that would cower almost all of us, he never gave up. Even on his death bed, he was always curious, trying to learn. He doesn’t fear a single second wasted. But towards what end? What purpose? What goal?
The Jewish people have thought about this question for a very long time.
2. It’s the journey-enjoy it. There really is no determinate ending. Part of our clear understanding on this journey is that when our little piece physically ends, the journey itself never ends. There is such a huge amount of discussion about the end of that HBO hit series Sopranos, because it didn’t seem to be really an ending. It just sort of ended without resolution. And there is even editorials in the paper about it, one of them in the Tribune said endings are hard, beginnings are easier, they are full of energy and possibility. The creator of the series invited questions, not just about the unorthodox ending, but by filling the scenario with clever portions. If we physically learn anything from the Sopranos its -- and that’d how the editorial ended. And there were even articles which compared the ending of the Sopranos, that TV show about mobsters to great works like Gone with the Wind, which didn’t really end. Scarlet vowed some day to win Rhett Butler back, but its summer vows, you don’t know if she does. Or the Samuel Beckett play, Waiting for Godot, where the two main characters wait for Godot who never shows. They keep waiting for the answer and you are left with the unresolved issue does life have any meaning whatsoever. Well, a lot of that is in the journey
3. The task on the journey is raising holiness
. G-d wants us to stay healthy. G-d wants us to use our time productively, to help ourselves and the world to grow in holiness, to repair the broken world, to work with integrity, to live intensely, Jadishly, to be part of a religious community, to do no harm, to do good and to do so as long as our breath lasts, and not to walk off the field before the play is over. We will have all of eternity to bask in glory and not worry about this world and doing good deeds. But while we are in this world, until the very last breath, it is ours to continue to grow. Even Deviancy on his death bed continued to grow. So for these 24 hours, as we take a stock of our lives and ourselves, as we reflect on what G-d wants from us, where will we find meaning. Yes, it is true that one day someone else will take our place at the desk where we sat, doing our work that we someday will cease living physically. But while we are here, we are commanded to live holy lives, to help others, to help ourselves, to grow in love and holiness that is to have a life well lived. Moses was not able to enter the Promised Land, the thing he wanted most, to remind us that we never complete our journey, we continue journeying. At some point, our journey in this world stops and we move on to the next world. Until then, the laws of the road are to live hold lives.
. A wonderful Rabbi named Daniel Matt put it this way. A spiritual task is to discover the divine spark in each person, and situation we encounter. To become aware that single thing we do, see, touch or imagine has the possibility of being laded with holiness. Judaism teaches that we must raise the fallen sparks of the unperfected world, to make that a spiritual adventure. For Judaism it’s living the journey in a hold way, continuing to look around us to see opportunities that we have to make the world better, to do tikkun olam, to save the world.
4. Community important to help out-As Jews we are also members of a covenant of people, and that helps us understand that this search for meaning takes place in the --?—community. We ask ourselves what is the purpose of our existence, how do I respond as a Jew to the exigencies of life. Some of the authentic questions of life, we do not do this alone, we do it within a community
5. But the main thing in all of this life and the next is God. Question in parasha a few weeks ago-Moses asks at end-what does God ask of you? Who cares? Best seller book by Harris posits God and religion have just a source of evil for the world. There are even synagogues called secular human ism which don’t say shma yisrael-they pray to the best we revere in humankind. To Judaism though, there is no more important question in life that what does god ask of us. It is what gives us ultimate meaning, purpose, esteem. Security.
Interesting studies over the summer showed 1. The subconscious has much more power over us than we thought and does not limit its control to our dreams at night but can effect us all day long, and helps explain why we can be noble one minute and petty the next. Next study-can’t say “he’s a dirty rat” because rats turn out to be nicer than humans. Next study-we are closest to chimps, both can be purposely vengeful to punish bad behavior but humans alone are also spiteful for no good reason. Dogs fight in the natural world over territory-only human stoop low as to train dogs to fight for our sport, or mass murder for no purpose. We can’t rely on human spirit-it too easily duped. We need God. Almost all people believe-but if we don’t squarely face what God ask of us-it means nothing.
Micah the profit answered 2800 years ago-do justice, love mercy, walks humbly with god. Moses answered 500 years earlier, to be in awe of God, to serve God through prayer, study of torah and mitzvoth, and to love God. The punch line there-Man does not live by bread alone, but from what comes from God’s mouth.
We have a choice as we live on this planet, waiting for the next world and the next life-we deserve to have enough food, water, shelter, security, companionship, esteem, respect. If we or our neighbor do not, we must fight for it, with justice and mercy continually and never give up. But mean while, as the overreaching guide principle, the reason why we are here,, the thing that gives us and our lives eternal meaning and purpose, is to use our God given talents and abilities, with our loved ones, our neighbors, our community, our country, our world, to be in awe of God-year, to learn what God wants from us by studying the tradition, to live what God asks of us through the mitzvoth, and to love both God and our neighbors through prayer and deeds of loving kindness. That’s why we say that it is repentance yeshiva -reflecting on our errors and rectifying them, tfilah-praying over it, and tzedakah turning our lives out to help others. That is the key to this holiest of days
.
1. Maslow hierarchy of needs
Maslow, one of the classic psychologists, talked about a pyramid of human needs. At the bottom is
.A. the need for food and water;
There tragically are many without adequate of either and water will be an increasing problem.
B...above that is shelter and security;-many substandard housing and not secure-darfur, Iraq
Caboose that is love and companionship; -many feel unloved and alone (call weather)
D. Above that is the need for esteem and appreciation-kavod –much low self esteem and feel no kavod
God wants us to live abundantly with enough food, water, housing, security, love, friendship, esteem, companionship-Judaism says tikkun olam fight for the right of all for this and work towards it for ourselves. Never give up. Have faith.
E. is the question that we ask tonight, at the top of the pyramid, is self actualization of meaning and purpose in life. Many don’t feel meaningful purpose
2. Most people spend most time and concern on 1-4,
3. The largest questions in our life often focus on area 5, the least discussed, explored, or reflected upon in our culture. And as we age we concern ourselves with self-actualization-the meaning and purpose of our lives, what good have we done, has it been worthwhile, more and more.
4. Out of concern about that and concern about the future, according to studies certain Americans believe in astrology and a sixth has actually consulted psychics. There is even a new scholarly field which studies meaning. It is called “experimental existential psychology, or XXP.” It explores how people find meaning and purpose in their lives. A topic that once was the province of poets and philosophers, research now say can be granted under the cold light of science. How people deal with existential concern explains a broad specter of behavior. It is a new field of study being taught at science universities. The question is getting ever more complicated because of, for one thing development in science. Scientists believe that eventually, in the near future, we will have a do it yourself virtual reality, abandoning our own world for a made up one will an ever larger.
What do we make about our lives part of adult life? For futurist, Ray Birdwell, this is only the beginning. We are approaching the age of full immersion virtual reality. Thanks to innovations in genetics, nana technology and robotics, we will soon be able to design our own mental habitat. Those same technologies will help us overcome our genetic heritage, live longer, become smarter. It is amazing to think about that we will learn how brains operate and devise computers that function like them. The barriers between minds and computers will disappear. Then the question is what do we do with these enhanced human beings? They will become our relations to one another, but what would our purpose in life be? As we move into that kind of world over the next decades and century, we will continue to contemplate the questions that have perplexed humanity since the beginning.
As we age the question on our purpose and meaning on this earth grows greater. Has there been a purpose? What difference have I made? Can I make in my remaining time? Does it matter? The main question that we ask ourselves is about the meaning of our lives. Rabbi Harold Kushner who wrote “When bad things happen to good people” also wrote a book “When what you have isn’t enough – a search for life’s meaning.” That book, based loosely on the biblical book of the ecclesial Kohelet, begins with a story of someone who came to see him who said that he sat next to a fellow in a desk in an office for many years. They exchanged little stories about their families, they knew each other’s names, and they worked side by side for over a decade. They didn’t socialize much together. Then one day the fellow died of a heart attack. A week later, his wife came in, cleaned up his personal effects, after receiving condolences from the office, and left. A few days later, somebody new was at the desk working, as if the person never existed. So the question to Rabbi Kushner was “Is that all it is?” It’s like a pebble that drops in a pool that makes a few ripples and then disappears.
. In order to answer this question, of course, the key would be to know what our goal is, what we want to achieve, what the answer is. It isn’t as easy as Map quest, or a gps system, where you plug an address in your computer, and say where you are and where you want to go and then it gives you the exact directions for doing so.
Friends, we gather tonight on the beginning of the holiest Day of the year, a day that the Torah commands us to afflict ourselves to atone for our transgressions, so we can become, NAKI, clean before G-d. Historically, with the haunting melody of Kol Nidre, this day has been a day of intense introspection for Jews. To consider our lives in the largest possible scope, to take a break from all our activities, these 24 hours are very precious to us today, but we know how important it is to spend the day reflecting and preparing ourselves for the future. This day is a day for, first of all, clearly understanding ourselves that is the purpose of all the prayers, confession and atonement.
Life goes so fast. Over before we know it. The first answer is that there is 86 thousand seconds everyday. We sleep about 25 thousand of them-not counting naps. What do we do with rest?
Of course, for G-d, our seconds don’t mean the same thing. There is the old joke about the fellow said to G-d, “G-d how long for you is a second”? And G-d says “a million years.” “And G-d, how much money for you is a penny?” and G-d says “a million dollars.” So then the man says “G-d, can I have one of your pennies”? And G-d says “yes, in just a second.” But for us, all we have is our seconds, this time with which we live. I’m fifty-one now, and I meet vigorous people in our congregation who are 89 and 93. That age doesn’t seem as far away as it did awhile ago, what happens in one’s life? One 87 old fellow here told me his life was just like a click of a finger, and then he clicked his fingers.
Yom Kippur then, bids us contemplate “what then is the destination”? , and “how does Judaism help us on this journey”?
1. Never give up
One illustrativeexample came from the Chicago Bears and the exciting Kevin Hester. In that great play where he caught a kick from the Giants, and stood under the goal post. They thought the play was over, they started walking off the field, and he took off and tied for the longest touchdown in sport’s history – 108 yards, simply because the Giants didn’t know that you don’t walk out until the play is over. Don’t assume because your old, that’s it, or reached a dead end in career, or relationship or health.
There is a lot of Jewish thinking about aging. One of the favorites I hear is aging is not for sissies, it is tough to get old. You may wonder why nature fized it this way. There is an old rabbinic legend about why this happens. The story was that before Abraham, people did not show their age, they simply got to a certain point and died. And Abraham and Isaac were walking down the street and Abraham didn’t look any older that Isaac at that point, and people didn’t know who was the older and who they should give honor to. And Abraham mentioned that to G-d and G-d said “well if I change that and I make you look older, so they will know to whom to pay homage, you will feel older. There is no other possibility.” Abraham said, “Well, we have to teach the world respect for the elderly.” And G-d said “OK” and changed nature so that people began to show their age. And that’s the first time the work Zaken, old was used in the bible in the context of Abraham. The Torah tries to communicate that the value by saying to us that you have you have to stand before the gray haired. It is a mitzvah to show respect to the elderly. The commandment to honor your father and mother is viewed as older people and teachers as well. It is obviously though that the cry of the psalmist who said “don’t abandon me in my old age”-. The worry that old people will be neglected. But the psalmist also taught us-teach me to number my days, that as long as I am getting older, I should learn something from the experience.
It is obvious that people are always looking for the fountain of youth. In fact some pharmaceutical companies, who are not cranks or quacks, that include well regarded Harvard scientists, who believe that they are going to develop a pill that treats many feared diseases, like diabetes, degenerative nerve conditions, many form of cancer, and the only side effect is the increase of life span. That is what they are working on. May we all live to experience that little pill!!. But in the meantime, there is a lot of wisdom about how to stay younger than our chronological years might indicate-, a lot of studies show that older people who frequently visit museums, play musical instruments, play chess or have schedules packed with other brain stimulating but fun activities, are less likely to develop dementia. I’m sure if you put regular synagogue attendance in the mix it would be number one.
There is a lot of evidence that growing old doesn’t mean frailty, researchers are finding. They may not be the inevitable result of aging, rather as preventable and perhaps treatable. Weight training, even in older individuals reduces inflammation, helps prevent falls. They are studying now the question of if a combination of aerobic exercises, weight lifting and balance training can help frail, sedentary individuals retain the ability to walk at least four blocks. There are even studies that say thinking negatively about getting old and you age more quickly. But if you think good thoughts about aging, you’ll likely stay healthy a little longer. People 70 or older who have negative thoughts and beliefs about aging had poor memories as the years passed. Those with positive views lived a medium of 7 years longer, even after taking into account differences in their age and health.
But of course, there comes the inevitable point of illness. There is a book by a professor, Donald Murray, called “My twice lived life,” about coping with what life deals us and seizing control of it, about living in the moment, and also about accepting our lot. The book says life is a journey and adventure, a ride filled with obstacles that help us to see living in a new light. The other book I read about is called “Learning the? the blessings of imperfect life by a young professor who was struck with Lou Geris disease at the age of 35. That disease made it urgent for him to ask all kinds of questions that most of us avoid. What he learned from those questions is that formal consciousness of my own mortality has been my best guide to being more fully alive, live more fully in the present.
The advice to aging well is pretty documented, Dr. Abraham Weil wrote “Healthy Aging”, talking about how important it is to do exercise throughout your life, eat healthy, take vitamins, watch stress , think positively, rest, and keep learning. In fact, some scholars believe that the real question is not how old are you, but what is your real age. I love the story about a Rabbi who was asked in an interview what age he works with; he said “I work with young people of any age.” These 137 factors including, do you take vitamins, how do you handle stress, do you smoke, do you floss, are you active, do you get your fiber, do you laugh, do you learn, do you get regular checkups, do you buckle up. 137 different things that affect your real age.
These questions have a greater urgency as one becomes older in life. The old joke about a Yemenite Jew who is 76 goes to the doctor for a checkup, and the doctor says “You are amazing; you have the body of a 40 year old. How old was your father when he passed away?” The man said “Oh, my father didn’t pass away, he is doing fine, and he is 95. In fact he is getting married next week.” “Your father is 95 and is getting married! Oh my goodness. Why is a man 95 getting married?’ He said “Well, his parents thought it was a good idea, since he’s got this girlfriend.” The Yemenite Jews are notorious for long lived, but of course, even with all the increased technology, none of us are going to live forever. So the question becomes especially acute for the aging. Where do we find meaning and how does that help us in our quest for a better life but after having thought about all of this, about whether it is a little pill or all this work to try and stay young, still there is the large question of what is it all for. We want to live healthy, we want to live long, we want to be remembered well, we want to live productively and positively. Asking what is the meaning of life is even to be viewed humorously. You used to have to go to India and climb a mountain and wait 6 months to talk to the guru, who would give you a two word answer. Today you can click on the internet for a search for the meaning of life and you get more information than imaginable
But we never, ever, stop until this play is completely over. One of the marvelous books I read over the summer is the book about the smartest man who ever lived. Now, some of you probably are going to say Einstein, but according to books on genius, Einstein was number ten. The smartest man who ever lived was Leonardo Deviancy. And his book is called “How to think like Leonardo Divine, seven steps to genius every day.” One of the main points about this book that was so interesting to me was that several of the essential steps in Da Vinci’s genius are that he never, ever gave up. In the face of amazing adversity that would cower almost all of us, he never gave up. Even on his death bed, he was always curious, trying to learn. He doesn’t fear a single second wasted. But towards what end? What purpose? What goal?
The Jewish people have thought about this question for a very long time.
2. It’s the journey-enjoy it. There really is no determinate ending. Part of our clear understanding on this journey is that when our little piece physically ends, the journey itself never ends. There is such a huge amount of discussion about the end of that HBO hit series Sopranos, because it didn’t seem to be really an ending. It just sort of ended without resolution. And there is even editorials in the paper about it, one of them in the Tribune said endings are hard, beginnings are easier, they are full of energy and possibility. The creator of the series invited questions, not just about the unorthodox ending, but by filling the scenario with clever portions. If we physically learn anything from the Sopranos its -- and that’d how the editorial ended. And there were even articles which compared the ending of the Sopranos, that TV show about mobsters to great works like Gone with the Wind, which didn’t really end. Scarlet vowed some day to win Rhett Butler back, but its summer vows, you don’t know if she does. Or the Samuel Beckett play, Waiting for Godot, where the two main characters wait for Godot who never shows. They keep waiting for the answer and you are left with the unresolved issue does life have any meaning whatsoever. Well, a lot of that is in the journey
3. The task on the journey is raising holiness
. G-d wants us to stay healthy. G-d wants us to use our time productively, to help ourselves and the world to grow in holiness, to repair the broken world, to work with integrity, to live intensely, Jadishly, to be part of a religious community, to do no harm, to do good and to do so as long as our breath lasts, and not to walk off the field before the play is over. We will have all of eternity to bask in glory and not worry about this world and doing good deeds. But while we are in this world, until the very last breath, it is ours to continue to grow. Even Deviancy on his death bed continued to grow. So for these 24 hours, as we take a stock of our lives and ourselves, as we reflect on what G-d wants from us, where will we find meaning. Yes, it is true that one day someone else will take our place at the desk where we sat, doing our work that we someday will cease living physically. But while we are here, we are commanded to live holy lives, to help others, to help ourselves, to grow in love and holiness that is to have a life well lived. Moses was not able to enter the Promised Land, the thing he wanted most, to remind us that we never complete our journey, we continue journeying. At some point, our journey in this world stops and we move on to the next world. Until then, the laws of the road are to live hold lives.
. A wonderful Rabbi named Daniel Matt put it this way. A spiritual task is to discover the divine spark in each person, and situation we encounter. To become aware that single thing we do, see, touch or imagine has the possibility of being laded with holiness. Judaism teaches that we must raise the fallen sparks of the unperfected world, to make that a spiritual adventure. For Judaism it’s living the journey in a hold way, continuing to look around us to see opportunities that we have to make the world better, to do tikkun olam, to save the world.
4. Community important to help out-As Jews we are also members of a covenant of people, and that helps us understand that this search for meaning takes place in the --?—community. We ask ourselves what is the purpose of our existence, how do I respond as a Jew to the exigencies of life. Some of the authentic questions of life, we do not do this alone, we do it within a community
5. But the main thing in all of this life and the next is God. Question in parasha a few weeks ago-Moses asks at end-what does God ask of you? Who cares? Best seller book by Harris posits God and religion have just a source of evil for the world. There are even synagogues called secular human ism which don’t say shma yisrael-they pray to the best we revere in humankind. To Judaism though, there is no more important question in life that what does god ask of us. It is what gives us ultimate meaning, purpose, esteem. Security.
Interesting studies over the summer showed 1. The subconscious has much more power over us than we thought and does not limit its control to our dreams at night but can effect us all day long, and helps explain why we can be noble one minute and petty the next. Next study-can’t say “he’s a dirty rat” because rats turn out to be nicer than humans. Next study-we are closest to chimps, both can be purposely vengeful to punish bad behavior but humans alone are also spiteful for no good reason. Dogs fight in the natural world over territory-only human stoop low as to train dogs to fight for our sport, or mass murder for no purpose. We can’t rely on human spirit-it too easily duped. We need God. Almost all people believe-but if we don’t squarely face what God ask of us-it means nothing.
Micah the profit answered 2800 years ago-do justice, love mercy, walks humbly with god. Moses answered 500 years earlier, to be in awe of God, to serve God through prayer, study of torah and mitzvoth, and to love God. The punch line there-Man does not live by bread alone, but from what comes from God’s mouth.
We have a choice as we live on this planet, waiting for the next world and the next life-we deserve to have enough food, water, shelter, security, companionship, esteem, respect. If we or our neighbor do not, we must fight for it, with justice and mercy continually and never give up. But mean while, as the overreaching guide principle, the reason why we are here,, the thing that gives us and our lives eternal meaning and purpose, is to use our God given talents and abilities, with our loved ones, our neighbors, our community, our country, our world, to be in awe of God-year, to learn what God wants from us by studying the tradition, to live what God asks of us through the mitzvoth, and to love both God and our neighbors through prayer and deeds of loving kindness. That’s why we say that it is repentance yeshiva -reflecting on our errors and rectifying them, tfilah-praying over it, and tzedakah turning our lives out to help others. That is the key to this holiest of days
.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Gail's great spiritbuilder on Eikev
To red all her stuff
go to www.spiritandjudaism.org
Spirit Builder for August 3, 2007
Deuteronomy 8:2-10 (Excerpt)
'Remember the entire path along which God your Lord led you these forty
years in
the desert. He sent hardships to test you, to determine what is in your
heart,
whether you would keep His commandments or not. He made life difficult
for you,
letting you go hungry, and then He fed you the Manna, which neither you
nor your
ancestors had ever experienced. This was to teach you that it is not by
bread
alone that man lives, but by all that comes out of God's mouth. The
clothing you
wore did not become tattered, and your feet did not become bruised
these forty
years. You must thus meditate on the fact that just as a man might
chastise his
child, so God your Lord is chastising you. Safeguard the commandments
of God your
Lord, so that you will walk in His ways and remain in awe of Him. God
your Lord
is bringing you to a good land - a land with flowing streams, and
underground
springs gushing out in valley and mountain. It is a land of wheat,
barley,
grapes, figs and pomegranates - a land of oil-olives and honey. When
you eat and
are satisfied, you must therefore bless God your Lord for the good land
that He
has given you.'
Read through these verses from this week's Torah reading and insert
yourself into
the story. Imagine this passage is about your life. Change it into
first person,
'I remember the entire path along which God my Lord led me these
(insert your
age) years. God sent hardships to test me, to determine what is in my
heart,
whether I would keep his commandments or not. God made life difficult
for me' . .
. (recall and insert here various difficulties you have encountered in
your
life). 'This was to teach me that it is not by bread alone that I live,
but by
all that comes out of God's mouth. Just as a parent might chastise his
or her
child, so God my Lord is chastising me . . . God my Lord is bringing me
to a good
land' . . . (envision and insert here all that would make you feel
satisfied,
peaceful and loved). 'When I eat and am satisfied, I must therefore
bless God my
Lord for all the good that God has given me.'
I just saw on the NBC Today Show a family I knew well when I was a
pastor in
Minnesota. Sherry Engrebretsen, my former parishioner, was among those
who died
in the bridge collapse. (Which was, by the way, only a few blocks from
my son's
apartment.) Ron, Sherry's husband talked lovingly of his late wife,
emphasizing
her faith in God, and his faith that she was now safe with God. How do
we
understand such an event?
The wisdom of this passage, breathtaking in its scope and depth, can
help us.
Let's begin with the stunning notion that the hardships of life, which
we all
experience to a greater or lesser degree, are from the hand of God.
Take for
example a health crisis. In the midst of sudden ill health, the thought
occurs to
everyone sooner or later—why me? What did I do to deserve this? This
question
'what did I do to deserve this?' frames the issue of illness as
punishment for a
misdeed, and essentially proclaims your innocence, basically saying, 'I
did
nothing to deserve this.' That statement could even be seen as implying
that it
should have happened to someone who deserved it more that you do. If
you actually
ask the 'why me?" question of a friend or relative, they would be quick
to assure
you that it's not your fault, these kind of terrible things just
happen. This
response casts us into a cold and uninvolved universe characterized by
random
events which may befall us out of nowhere for no reason.
The reading from Deuteronomy frames hardship in a completely different
context.
Here we have a universe ruled by the one God. This a not a God who
stands far
off, but is a God who is aware of everything that happens to an
individual and is
intimately involved in what comes to pass. Not only that, God is
compared to a
parent who chastises. In my book of parenting, a parent who
appropriately and
lovingly chastises their child is a good parent. Children need to know
what is
right and wrong, and they need to know that there are consequences when
they make
errors. The idea of bailing your children out when they get in trouble
is a
recipe for an adult with issues. Here God, our good parent, tests and
teaches us
by through what we might call "controlled difficulty".
Do I think that God causes bridges to collapse? No, I don't. But I do
believe
with all my heart that throughout the trials of life God is there, with
an
invisible hand, apparent only to the eyes of faith, providing,
challenging,
guiding, and comforting. We are led through the dark places to a good
land,
abundant beyond our wildest dreams.
God, in all days and times, give us the faith to perceive your amazing
love!
Shabbat Shalom!
***
go to www.spiritandjudaism.org
Spirit Builder for August 3, 2007
Deuteronomy 8:2-10 (Excerpt)
'Remember the entire path along which God your Lord led you these forty
years in
the desert. He sent hardships to test you, to determine what is in your
heart,
whether you would keep His commandments or not. He made life difficult
for you,
letting you go hungry, and then He fed you the Manna, which neither you
nor your
ancestors had ever experienced. This was to teach you that it is not by
bread
alone that man lives, but by all that comes out of God's mouth. The
clothing you
wore did not become tattered, and your feet did not become bruised
these forty
years. You must thus meditate on the fact that just as a man might
chastise his
child, so God your Lord is chastising you. Safeguard the commandments
of God your
Lord, so that you will walk in His ways and remain in awe of Him. God
your Lord
is bringing you to a good land - a land with flowing streams, and
underground
springs gushing out in valley and mountain. It is a land of wheat,
barley,
grapes, figs and pomegranates - a land of oil-olives and honey. When
you eat and
are satisfied, you must therefore bless God your Lord for the good land
that He
has given you.'
Read through these verses from this week's Torah reading and insert
yourself into
the story. Imagine this passage is about your life. Change it into
first person,
'I remember the entire path along which God my Lord led me these
(insert your
age) years. God sent hardships to test me, to determine what is in my
heart,
whether I would keep his commandments or not. God made life difficult
for me' . .
. (recall and insert here various difficulties you have encountered in
your
life). 'This was to teach me that it is not by bread alone that I live,
but by
all that comes out of God's mouth. Just as a parent might chastise his
or her
child, so God my Lord is chastising me . . . God my Lord is bringing me
to a good
land' . . . (envision and insert here all that would make you feel
satisfied,
peaceful and loved). 'When I eat and am satisfied, I must therefore
bless God my
Lord for all the good that God has given me.'
I just saw on the NBC Today Show a family I knew well when I was a
pastor in
Minnesota. Sherry Engrebretsen, my former parishioner, was among those
who died
in the bridge collapse. (Which was, by the way, only a few blocks from
my son's
apartment.) Ron, Sherry's husband talked lovingly of his late wife,
emphasizing
her faith in God, and his faith that she was now safe with God. How do
we
understand such an event?
The wisdom of this passage, breathtaking in its scope and depth, can
help us.
Let's begin with the stunning notion that the hardships of life, which
we all
experience to a greater or lesser degree, are from the hand of God.
Take for
example a health crisis. In the midst of sudden ill health, the thought
occurs to
everyone sooner or later—why me? What did I do to deserve this? This
question
'what did I do to deserve this?' frames the issue of illness as
punishment for a
misdeed, and essentially proclaims your innocence, basically saying, 'I
did
nothing to deserve this.' That statement could even be seen as implying
that it
should have happened to someone who deserved it more that you do. If
you actually
ask the 'why me?" question of a friend or relative, they would be quick
to assure
you that it's not your fault, these kind of terrible things just
happen. This
response casts us into a cold and uninvolved universe characterized by
random
events which may befall us out of nowhere for no reason.
The reading from Deuteronomy frames hardship in a completely different
context.
Here we have a universe ruled by the one God. This a not a God who
stands far
off, but is a God who is aware of everything that happens to an
individual and is
intimately involved in what comes to pass. Not only that, God is
compared to a
parent who chastises. In my book of parenting, a parent who
appropriately and
lovingly chastises their child is a good parent. Children need to know
what is
right and wrong, and they need to know that there are consequences when
they make
errors. The idea of bailing your children out when they get in trouble
is a
recipe for an adult with issues. Here God, our good parent, tests and
teaches us
by through what we might call "controlled difficulty".
Do I think that God causes bridges to collapse? No, I don't. But I do
believe
with all my heart that throughout the trials of life God is there, with
an
invisible hand, apparent only to the eyes of faith, providing,
challenging,
guiding, and comforting. We are led through the dark places to a good
land,
abundant beyond our wildest dreams.
God, in all days and times, give us the faith to perceive your amazing
love!
Shabbat Shalom!
***
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Environmental update
On the environmental front-in the news
1. New York Times editorial yesterday pushing for no buying of bottle water. Use tap water. You'll need a EHNTJC water bottle available soon. You'll save $1400 a year (if you drink 8 glasses a day bottled now), plus the oil they consume in making them could fuel 100,000 cars a year and only 23% now are recycled, so the rest fill up our landfills. Plus, how much gas is used to transport heavy water?
2. NYT yesterday reported Brazil has allowed a rainforest area the size of New Jersey every year to clear cutting. The negative environmental impact has started to hurt Brazil enough that they might be slowing that down.
3. NYT yesterday reported China is suffering huge and extreem weather and scientists there are suspecting warming. Maybe they will slow down their growth.
4. Projections are the world will consume 40% more energy by 2030 than we do now. Hope it will be non-fossil fuel.
There is a book out of 1001 ways to personally help. My High Holiday sermon wil have only 18.
1. New York Times editorial yesterday pushing for no buying of bottle water. Use tap water. You'll need a EHNTJC water bottle available soon. You'll save $1400 a year (if you drink 8 glasses a day bottled now), plus the oil they consume in making them could fuel 100,000 cars a year and only 23% now are recycled, so the rest fill up our landfills. Plus, how much gas is used to transport heavy water?
2. NYT yesterday reported Brazil has allowed a rainforest area the size of New Jersey every year to clear cutting. The negative environmental impact has started to hurt Brazil enough that they might be slowing that down.
3. NYT yesterday reported China is suffering huge and extreem weather and scientists there are suspecting warming. Maybe they will slow down their growth.
4. Projections are the world will consume 40% more energy by 2030 than we do now. Hope it will be non-fossil fuel.
There is a book out of 1001 ways to personally help. My High Holiday sermon wil have only 18.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
