Today we mark the first day of the Hebrew month of Sivan.  Few first days of the month in the Hebrew calendar serve as milestones of significance as does this date.  Since the second evening of Passover, over six weeks ago, we have been counting the Omer, marking the beginning of each Hebrew day (in the evening) with a blessing and a ritual counting of the day.  Like marking off days on a calendar in anticipation of a great event, counting the Omer is our Jewish anticipation-builder . . . for at the end of the counting we will have arrived at the 6th of Sivan, Shavuot, the festival marking the paradigm-creating revelation of Torah at Sinai.  From the moment that our Israelite ancestors looked back at the Sea of Reeds behind them and found their pursuers drowning in the waters that God had held back for them, until approaching the wilderness of Sin (please don't get caught up in the coincidence between the English word "sin" and the Hebrew geographic term, there is really and truly no connection save coincidence) the Israelites had already experienced some elevating and some challenging moments:  They had faced the uncertainties of food and water in the wilderness and learned to rely on God to sustain them; they had been introduced to Shabbat as a day of rest for God (who did not produce manna on Shabbat) and for themselves (they did not collect manna on Shabbat); they withstood a fierce attack by Amalek and his troops and were defended by Joshua and the Israelite troops sustained and inspired by God; Moses, advised by his father-in-law, Jethro, established a system of self-governance and dispute resolution . . . all before arriving at Sinai.

Although the walk to Sinai was through uncharted territory, the wandering of our ancestors was not random.  The Israelites arrived at the third new moon . . . today's date, the beginning of the month of Sivan . . . guided by God's pillar of cloud  during the day and pillar of fire by night and there they prepared themselves for the most extraordinary event they could not possibly anticipate.

I took a look at the challenges our walk from Passover to this first day of Sivan has involved as we, too, prepare to re-experience the revelation of Torah on Shavuot this coming week.   We have mourned the victims of the Holocaust and shuddered when notes bearing Nazi rhetoric were handed to Jews attending Passover services in the Ukraine.   We have found compassion and the conviction to speak out on behalf of the abducted schoolgirls of Nigeria, a compelling contemporary parallel to our own slavery story.  We have organized to lobby for poverty-alleviating legislation here in Rhode Island.  We have mourned both the troops who gave their lives for the establishment and defense of the State of Israel and those who gave their lives for the establishment and defense of the United States of America in two Memorial Days.  Even in these GPS-guided days, our wanderings take us through uncharted territory.

We know that something great is going to happen next week.  We have the advantage over our wilderness-walking ancestors in knowing that the revelatory moment awaiting us can bring wisdom and guidance, inspiration and challenge.  The Sinai revelation was not a one-time event . . . our tradition teaches us that revelatory moments happen throughout time.  When we come together as a community on Shavuot this week, let us stand shoulder-to-shoulder ready to accept the renewal of covenant with God which is the glue that binds us together . . . binds us to God and binds us to each other.  

Letting the eternal and eternally renewing teachings of Torah into our daily lives will guide our walking and provide us with goals and aspirations and the tools to navigate the complexities we encounter in life.

There is so very much to be said about the religious significance of Passover:  indeed, the event we mark during the festival, יציאת מצרים / y'tziyat mitzrayim / leaving Egypt, is such a core concept that we recall this moment of redemption at services every single day.

We pray that God will reach out and replicate that ultimate moment of redemption which saved us from Egyptian slavery and made possible the moment at Sinai during which we entered into the still in force covenant/brit that informs our daily relationship with God and with each other.

The seder experience reaches so deeply into the Jewish soul that everyone, secular, religious, affiliated and not affiliated, all seem to find themselves at the seder table.  It is telling that the secular kibbutz movement has its own Haggadah, it's own source book for the seder night that reflects the significance of the journey from Egypt to the wilderness, from slavery to freedom, from the ideologically driven approach that there are Jews and there is no God.  Search "haggadah" on Amazon and you'll find a bewildering variety of offerings: contemporary and traditional, feminist and interfaith and for kids and for scholars.  Everyone has an investment in making the seder their own.

Jews who are far from their families, or who have lost their loved ones and are alone, find Passover particularly difficult, much more so than Hanukah or even Yom Kippur.  We are all meant to be gathered around a table with the generations of our family to be sharing the story of who we are, how we came to be and hopefully, with children at the table, where we are going.  It can be isolating to be a lone Jew on the eve of Passover.

Observant or not, the conclusion of Purim, a month before Passover, launches of flurry of seder placement activity:  who is doing the inviting?   who is being invited?  who needs a seat at a table?  It's like a game of musical chairs except that, God willing, there is a chair for everyone who needs one.

The principle of revisiting and re-experiencing that journey from slavery to freedom is compelling and the seder is brilliant because it is so experiential:  we dab away the tears of slavery brought to our eyes by the bitter herb, we contemplate the cement-like charoset that, in its sweetness, hints at the promise of redemption, we chew the dry matzah and are humbled by the plenty that surrounds us and that little that so many others survive on.  

But I think that what brings us to the seder table year after year is the need to touch base with who we are, to find that deeply-buried core of Jewish soul that needs nourishment once a  year.  I have attended and led seders in Israel and in the States, with family and with friends and as part of communal experiences, but if you say "seder" to me in a word association sort of exercise, the only place I will go is back to our family seder growing up.  Listening to my grandfather sweetly chant the text of the Haggadah (which I try to replicate in at least one passage at every seder I go to), watching my grandmother toggle between the kitchen and my grandfather's side, the tiny little silver kiddush cups kept especially for my brother and me for the seder night . . . I need to revisit those seders to restore my soul.  

Most of us have cherished seder recipes and aromas and melodies and stories that we bring to the table.  And if we don't, then may we come together this year at seder to start creating them.  The seder is a touchstone experience for us as Jews, a Jewish-soul-confirming journey that moves us to the core whether we are observant or affiliated or secular or engaged. 

This week's parashah/ Torah reading, Ki Tissa, doesn't offer much tranquility . . . as we have gone from meteorological storm to meteorological storm this week, our ancient ancestors in the wilderness underwent emotional storm after emotional storm.

Moses, descending from Sinai, shatters the Tables of the Covenant just created by God.  Fury, frustration, incomprehension are all packed into this moment.

In the aftermath, God tersely instructs the Israelites that they will embrace and adhere to the following:

For you shall not bow down to another god---because Adonay: His name is Jealous, He is a jealous God--that you not make a covenant with the resident of the land . . . .You shall not make molten gods for yourself. You shall observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread.  Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, which I commanded you . . . Every first birth of a womb is Mine, and all your animals that have a male first birth, ox or sheep.  You shall redeem every firstborn of your sons.  And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.  Six days you shall work, and in the seventh day you shall cease: In plowing time and in harvest, you shall cease.  And you shall make a Festival of Weeks, of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Gathering at the end of the year. . . . You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice on leavened bread. You shall bring the first of the firstfruits of you land to the house of Adonay your God.  You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk."  (excerpted from Sh'mot/Exodus 34: 14-26, Friedman translation)

This has a ring of the Aseret Hadibrot / Ten Utterances / Ten Commandments of course.  Especially in the opening strictures of not bowing down to another God and not making molten images.  Clearly, at the moment, these commandments needed repeating:  the people had just contravened exactly these commandments in their building and worshipping the golden calf.

The rest of the list is interesting and does depart from the familiar Ten Commandments list:
Observing Passover.
The unique place of the firstborn of animals and humans as dedicated to God.
Shabbat.
Shavuot.
Sukkot.
The stricture against blood sacrifice.
The first fruits offering.
The prohibition against cooking meat in milk.

The list is quite different from the Ten Commandments list in that the theme of mitzvot guiding the relationship among humans is missing, the "mitzvot bein adam l'havero" commandments between one person and another:  there is not "you shall not steal," "you shall not murder," "honor your father and your mother," . . . Every mitzvah on this post-golden calf list is in the category of "bein adam lamakom", "between a person and God."  These are mitzvot about our relating to God.

In contemplating this list, it strikes me that this is a list of mitzvot that place our consciousness of our relationship to God before us on an ongoing basis.  These are mitzvot that are scattered throughout our day, our week, our year, guiding us to constantly keep in mind that we are in relationship with God at all times.  

God has learned, the hard way, that among the frailties of human beings we must count short memories and lack of confidence.  After the glory of the redemption at the Sea of Reeds, the awe of the revelation at Sinai . . . within weeks we were building an idol and looking to worship it.  Anathema to God and a complete dismissal of the commitment (na'aseh v'nishma . . . we will do, we will obey) we had made at Sinai.

Ours is a tradition that puts our relationship with God before us all day, every day, in a multitude of ways.  Ours is not a one-day-a-week tradition or a tradition that can easily be pigeon-holed.  Judaism is at its richest and most meaningful and most inspiring when we engage with it every day.

After the austerity of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah provide color and noise and joy . . . and, as the name implies, there is no greater joy (simchah) than our joy in having the Torah.

Our joy in the Torah comes from the unique place this text holds in our tradition:  it is through the Torah that we find our collective identity as a people; we learn our history, our values, insights into the human character and insights into God.  The Torah constantly challenges us with spiritual and behavioral goals which can engage us for a lifetime.  The Torah provides us with hope in our future as long as we have a community with which to study and live with and provides comfort to us through the Torah's many assurances of God's love for us and commitment to our covenant, our brit, with God.  

One of the Torah's greatest gifts to us is itself:  unlike many other ancient faiths, the knowledge of, engagement with our quintessential sacred text was never reserved for an elite few . . . just weeks ago, as we read the book of Deuteronomy at Shabbat services, we were witness to Moshe commanded that the Torah be read aloud as the entire people were gathered together: men, women and all those old enough to understand.  Every single Jewish soul has a direct connection to our Source . . . to God and to sacred text God has put into our hands.  

This is one of the reasons why Simchat Torah is so powerful:  each of us holds a scroll in our arms . . . we dance and sing and rejoice in our identities as Jewish individuals in a thriving Jewish community . . . . and it is the Torah we embrace that makes us possible.

Every few years (the algorithms of the Hebrew calendar are beyond me), Yom Kippur and Shabbat coincide, as is the case this year.  It's an interesting contrast of themes and dynamics:  Shabbat is supposed to be a day of עונג/oneg/delight.  On Shabbat we are supposed to enjoy the best food of the week, wear the best clothes of the week, sing and relax and, yes, pray with our community.  Yom Kippur is supposed to be a day of עינוי/inu'i/self-affliction.  On Yom Kippur we are supposed to fast, to wear white (the traditional color of mourning), reflect, look past physical pleasures and, yes, pray with our community.

These seem to be mutually exclusive.  So how do we understand this potent day of Shabbat and Yom Kippur together?

I found some inspiration from Ariana Huffington, the editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.  Ms. Huffington is developing an initiative, The Third Metric, which aims to redefine success beyond the first two metrics of money and power to include well-being, wisdom, our ability to wonder and to give back.

Huffington said she personally uses mindfulness and meditation to help achieve those goals.
"Silence is an amazing way to recharge ourselves," she said.
Making time to incorporate this third measure of success can not only change your life, but transform the workplace, Huffington said, by helping people become more creative, productive and connected.
"Olympic athletes get naps. When performance really matters, taking care of yourself is key," she said.

In a speech to more than 800 women at the Women Of Influence luncheon that included Twitter Canada CEO Kirstine Stewart, Huffington stressed that the "hurry-up culture" is not working, and that the whole concept of multitasking is a myth. (Huffington Post, 9/11/13)


On Yom Kippur, the day of the year during which we are given the opportunity to take stock of our priorities, review our relationships with our families and friends and community and God, we should take God as our role model.  God, ultimately, has "rochmones"/mercy on us when we approach life with integrity and good intention.  Why shouldn't we be as kind to ourselves and those we love?  


The underlying thread of the delight of Shabbat flowing under the challenges of Yom Kippur are the best of that Third Metric of Ms. Huffington's.  Breath. Let go of that "hurry-up culture." On this ultimate Day of Awe, give yourself permission to feel that awe.

The Shabbat immediately preceding Passover is referred to, in the Jewish calendar, as Shabbat HaGadol / the Great Shabbat.

With so much time and energy devoted to preparation for Passover, one might wonder why we need a Great Shabbat right now.  What makes this Shabbat so great?

Historically, when the role of the community rabbi was conceived differently, Shabbat HaGadol was one of very few Sabbaths during which the rabbi would give a major D'var Torah, a major sermon.  The subject for this particular Shabbat was meant to be the ins and outs of Passover observance, in order to ensure that there would be no chametz found anywhere within the defined boundaries of the community.

Today, a Great Shabbat might be one in which the rabbi does not give a major D'var Torah!  Sermon or no, I suggest that there is still something Great about this Shabbat.

Many of us are engaged in preparing for Passover.  We're finishing up the crackers and vacuuming behind the couch.  Those of us who are hosting seders are polishing the silver and hunting out last year's hit recipes. 

All of this physical preparation is very absorbing, and it's pretty easy to get fixated on the small details of cleaning, shopping, switching out dishes and cooking.  The huge spiritual gift that is Passover can easily get lost among the kugels.

This is why Shabbat HaGadol is Gadol, this is the greatness of the Great Shabbat:  the essence of Shabbat as a day of rest provides us with a well-deserved hiatus from the shopping and chopping.  Shabbat HaGadol is a day to anticipate the spiritual high of the seder.  Anyone who has planned a wedding or a bat mitzvah or a fiftieth wedding anniversary party knows that the profound simchah at the heart of the celebration can easily get lost as we focus on the logistics.

The simchah of Passover is much too important; Shabbat HaGadol helps us shift our focus back to the reason for all the preparations:  the simchah we celebrate on Passover is the unique, momentous moment of "yitziat mitzrayim."  God, "with an outstretched arm" reached across the borders of the ancient world to scoop us up out of slavery and set us down on the safe side of the Sea of Reeds.  We looked back and, like the young couple in the painting above, we rejoiced.  We sang, we danced, we thanked God for this profound act of love.

When we gather this week at the seder table, amid the shining kiddush cups and the steaming matzah balls, we will, God willing, revel in the love around the table shared with our family and friends . . . and we will, because God willed it, sing and rejoice and remember that the core of our identity as a people is rooted in God's love.

Mardis Gras.   Halloween.  Carnevale de Venezia.  Masquerade.  
And Purim.

It seems everyone loves a chance to dress in costumes.

Purim is such a fascinating and unique moment in the cycle of the Jewish year:  It's our "let loose" moment . . . costumes, songs, raucous audience-participation during the reading of the Megillah (the Scroll of Esther), even some condoned adult tippling.

When we read the Purim story in the Scroll of Esther, however, some engaging, substantive themes emerge:

Women's Leadership
It is in this book of the Hebrew Bible that we encounter a new model of women's leadership.  Vashti, King Ahashuerus's rebellious queen is banished from the throne for her non-compliance.

"Back in the day" active Megillah-listeners would hiss at the sound of Vashti's name.  Today, women are more likely to cheer for the female sovereign who risked her crown to preserve her dignity.

Over the course of the Scroll, we witness Esther's transformation from a shy, self-deprecating beauty to a royal-court-savvy, assertive champion of our people, more successfully risking her crown for principle than her predecessor.

Jewish Identity in the Diaspora
Purim shares a significant distinction with the festival of Shavuot . . . neither festival takes place within the Land of Israel.  What does it mean that we received the Torah (celebrated at Shavuot) and defended the security of our community (at Purim) outside the borders of the Land of Israel?  This may be a question that we here in the United States may see differently than our peers living in Israel.

Too Much Bloodshed?
Whether hyperbole, fantasy or historical fact, the ninth chapter of the book of Esther relates the mechanism by which the Jews of Shushan and the Persian Empire survived.  The King's order to slay the Jews (provoked by Haman) could not be revoked.  There existed no mechanism for revoking a royal decree.  So, the best King Ahashuerus could do was to order a second decree permitting the Jews to defend themselves.  Which they did.  Effectively.  Enthusiastically.  Throughout Shushan and its 127 provinces, over 75,000 enemies were killed by the Jews . . . who did not touch the spoils of war.
I had the opportunity to live in England for a year.  A friend involved in the administration of Great Britain's equivalent of our Reform Movement explained that their tradition was to hold a board meeting the night of Purim in order to demonstrate to their non-Jewish neighbors and friends that this Jewish community would not gather to celebrate the deaths of their non-Jewish enemies.
Clearly the juvenile and family-friendly versions of the Megillah skip this chapter, but here, among adults, we are left to ponder:  is the story of Purim meant to convey to our diaspora neighbors that God will protect us one way or another no matter where we live?  Has the story of Purim generated hostility directed at diaspora Jewish communities over the centuries?  Should we read Chapter 9 and take pride in the fact that our ancestors stood up for themselves instead of allowing themselves to be slaughtered?  Do we cringe a little and wish the text of the book of Esther expressed some regret for the bloodshed?

The Priority of Community
The annual celebration of Esther and Mordechai's triumph over Haman is described in the final verses of the book of Esther.  Purim is to be an occasion for feasting and merrymaking . . . for sending gifts of food to one another and sending donations to support the poor.  The feasting and merrymaking are not unexpected expressions of joy, relief, celebration.  I find the last two elements . . . Mishloach Manot, Sending Portions of Food to neighbors and friends and Matanot l'Evyonim, Sending Gifts to the Needy to add a quality of significance to our celebration.  As we indulge in, perhaps, a little too much rich food and a little too much to drink, we are also equally expected to share our bounty with family and friends and make sure that the vulnerable among us also have cause and the means to celebrate.

Purim is most definitely fun . . . and we here at Torat Yisrael are hoping the snow won't get in the way of our celebration this year.  And, between the snowflakes, we can also pause to consider some of Purim's "meatier" themes.

It's a sticky wicket, this one . . . on the one hand, our tradition teaches us that an integral part of our celebration of Hanukah should be "pirsumei nisa" an Aramaic phrase (most rabbinic literature is written in Aramaic, not Hebrew) which means "publicizing the miracle.
On the other hand, it is the principle of "the separation of religion and state" that has made the United States the multi-faith and multi-cultural haven that it is.
On yet another hand, for all that there is no institution of state religion here in the United States, there is certainly a presumption of a cultural religion . . . let us count the ways this is a Christian country.   

Let's take a look at all the "hands."

Pirsumei Nisa / Publicizing the Miracle
This principle, generated in the Talmud, establishes the practice of lighting the Hanukah menorah in a window, doorway or entrance to a courtyard in order that anyone passing through the public thoroughfare will see the lit menorah and be reminded of the miracle of Hanukah with which God blessed the people of Israel.  Great importance is attached to this practice in the view of the sages of the Talmud:  should one need to make a choice . . . due to limited personal funds . . . between buying wine for Shabbat kiddush or oil for lighting the menorah we are instructed to purchase the oil for the Hanukah menorah because it is a greater mitzvah to publicize God's miracle than to sanctify the day in private!

No Established Religion in the United States
The founding ideologues of The United States embodied their rejection of the status of the Anglican Church in the text of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution: 
 "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."    
This isn't exactly the "separation of church and state" principle that we speak of most frequently, but we do clearly see established in this amendment the principle that there will be no state religion or state church in the United States.  Furthermore, every faith community is guaranteed, through this amendment, the free exercise of their religion.
In the context of the December holidays, then, we could say that the "correction" to lighting a Christmas tree on a City Hall lawn (or a Statehouse Rotunda) would be the lighting of a Hanukah menorah.  If both Christianity and Judaism are acknowledged through official civic celebrations, then there is no transgression of the First Amendment because equal acknowledgement of both faiths means that no one faith is given official precedence.
Of course, Islam, Buddhism, Universalist Unitarian, Hinduism and lots of other religions aren't recognized at all in this dance, but that's another blog for another day.

The United States is culturally a Christian country
So, if there is no official state religion, why do municipalities, state governments and even presidents of the United States light Christmas trees?  (Search the keyword Hanukah on this blog page for my take on the "Holiday Tree" issue).  I think it's because the United States is culturally a Christian country.  Given the choice between not lighting a Christmas tree or lighting a Christmas tree and a Hanukah menorah, the overwhelming majority of American citizens and American elected officials prefer to light both . . . because it would be intolerable to light none.  Even though there is no official state religion in this country.

Back to Pirsumei Nisa
So why object to the lighting of a Hanukah menorah in public places?  Is that not the practice established by the talmudic sages when they discussed Pirsumei Nisa?
I don't think so.
When I place my Hanukah menorah in the window of my livingroom and light my Hanukah candles for anyone on Roger Williams Circle to see, I am declaring that in this house the Hanukah miracle is treasured, is a source of pride, is a meaningful reminder of Jewish identity, is a declaration of the power of God's light during dark days.  That is the intent of Pirsumei Nisa.
When a Hanukah menorah is lit on public property, local, state and government officials are declaring, "We are inclusive here.  We celebrate our minorities."  
A quintessentially Jewish object and act is redefined in civic terms at that moment of public menorah-lighting.  
I prefer the Jewish values associated with the Hanukah menorah in my window.

4:  Genesis/Breishit 11:5-8 -- "And Adonay went down to see the city and the tower that the children of humankind had built.  And Adonay said, "Here, they're one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they've begun to do.  And now there will be no challenge to anything they initiate together.  Come, let's go down and babble their language so they won't understand each other's language.  And Adonay scattered them from there over the face of the earth. . . "  God blesses our diversity, our different approaches to life and expects us to exercise our intellectual and spiritual and creative gifts.  God does not intend for us to be homogenous and of one opinion or one outlook.  (Which is a good thing considering the "two Jews three opinions" principle!)

3:  Genesis/Breishit 15: 9-10, 12-14, 17-18 -- And God said to Avram, "Take a three-year-old heifer and a three-year-old she-goat and a three-year-old ram and a dove and a pigeon for Me.  And he took all of these for God and split
 them in the middle and set each half opposite its other half . . . And the sun was about to set, and a slumber came over Avram . . . and God said to Avram, "You shall know that your seed will be alien in a land that is not theirs, and they will serve them, and they will degrade them four hundred  years.  But I'll judge the nation they will serve, and after that they'll go out with much property. . . . and the sun was setting, and there was darkness, and here was an oven of smoke, and a flame of fire that went between the pieces.  In that day, God made a covenant with Avram, saying, "I've given this land to your seed . . . . "  This takes a little "unpacking."  Scholars of ancient near eastern history tell us that when neighboring local landowners made a treaty, they would take an animal, cut it in half, spread the two halves apart, and then each landowner would walk between the parts of the severed animal.  This was ancient near eastern choreography expressing: "May my fate be like that of this severed animal if I do not keep up my part of our treaty."  With that insight, the flame of fire passing between the pieces becomes a breathtaking divine declaration and commitment to Avram:  May My fate, God is saying, be like that of these animals, if I do not keep My part of this covenant with you and your descendants, Avram."  God is with us for the duration.  

2:  Exodus/Sh'mot 4:25 -- And Zipporah took a flint and cut her son's foreskin.... This is part of one of the most abstruse and puzzling passages in the Torah, but the one clear element of the story is that Zipporah, Moses' wife, took the transmission of the covenant into her own hands by ritually circumcising their infant son.  Women's spiritual insight and religious initiatives are just as much a part of our tradition as are the spiritual insights and religious initiatives of the men of our communities.

1:  Exodus/Sh'mot 24:7 -- And Moses took the scroll of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, "We will do everything that Adonay has spoken, and we will obey/listen."    This is the moment we made the transition from a collection of individuals and extended families to a people, to a community.  In an unprecedented (and yet-to-be-reproduced) moment of consensus, our entire people committed to the covenant offered to us by God at Sinai.  נעשה / na'aseh:  we will do it.  נשמע / nishma: we will hear/internalize the terms of the brit/covenant.  And here we are, three thousand years later, celebrating the eternity of our covenant with God.  Wow.

Ok.  I admit, there are way more than 5 reasons I love Torah . . . maybe I'll share another 5 with you next year in my pre-Simhat Torah blog . . . but there is so much to celebrate in our Torah, and I can't wait to celebrate it with you.  The wisdom, the perspective, the compassion, the eternal values, the roots of community, our very identity . . . it's all in our Torah.

This week's parashah/Torah reading concludes with a review of the liturgical calendar as determined by God and conveyed to the Israelites through Moses.  Shabbat and the three pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot are described.  God declares:  אלה הם מועדי / eileh heim mo'aday / there are My festivals.

Today, we mark the beginning of each of God's festivals with a blessing over wine.  This blessing is called "kiddush" / קידוש which is based on the Hebrew root קדש which is the basis of every form of the word holy.  As we raise the kiddush cup and recite the kiddush blessing for the festival, what are we saying? 

In the course of this blessing, we praise God for sanctifying us through God's mitzvot (v'kidshanu b'mitzvotav / וקדשנו במצותיו).  Holiness is added to our lives as we fulfill the mitzvot, the commandments that are part of our brit, our covenant with God.  Holiness is great . . . but it's a little obscure.  What does it mean to be holy, to seek to integrate holiness into our lives?  A great subject for a future blog!

What are these festivals of God for?  Why has God invited us to God's festivals?  Our kiddush blessing goes on:  Lovingly have You given us the gift of Festivals for joy and holy days for happiness... Here, embodied in the most ancient, enduring holidays of our tradition we are, in essence, invited to party with God!  There are My festivals, says God . . . and I want you to come!  We stand with wine in our hands and acknowledge that these holy days are given to us as days of joy and happiness to share with God.  

Remembering the exodus from Egypt at Passover, reliving the revelation of the Torah at Sinai on Shavuot, revisiting the experience of wandering through the wilderness at Sukkot . . . the kiddush blessing shared by all these festivals reminds us that, as theologically significant as these moments are, these moments are meant to be joyous.  Like anniversaries and birthdays, the festivals give us the opportunity to gather together in community and relive great moments with God:  "remember when?"  Remember how relieved and grateful we were when You released us from slavery behind?  Remember how awed we were to stand together and commit to Your Torah at Sinai?   Remember how You got us through forty years of wandering even when we complained?  Those were the days!  Those days are our heritage!  

It's not a festival, a party, a celebration of great moments for God if we're not there to celebrate, too.  Even God can't party alone.  Our recitation of the festival kiddush is our acceptance of the invitation to rejoice with God.  Amen!

Our next opportunity for celebrate a festival with God is Shavuot, beginning at sundown on Saturday, May 26th.  If you'd like to practice singing the festival kiddush with it's special melody, click here for a special online lesson on our TY website!