TEMPLE TORAT YISRAEL
  • Home
    • Become A Member
    • Members' Pages >
      • Gabbai Group
      • Yahrzeit Form
      • How to be part of shivah...
      • High Holiday Participation
    • Support Us!
  • About Us
    • Heroes in our Midst Blog
    • President's Page
    • Rabbi Aaron's Blog
    • Professional Staff
    • Lay Leadership
    • Social Action
    • Newsletter/Hadashot
    • Links
    • Hours & Directions
  • Events
    • Community Events
    • Shabbat and Holiday Services
    • RSVP Forms
    • Calendar
    • Flyers
  • Education
    • Cohen School >
      • School Registration Form
    • Torah Sprouts
    • Adult Learning
    • Audio Tutorials
    • Bar and Bat Mitzvah preparation

Beshallach 5773:  Still Wandering Toward the Promised Land

1/25/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
The photograph on the left is of a street sign in Jerusalem.  As is the standard in that holy city, every street sign bears the name of the street in Israel's three official languages:  Hebrew, Arabic and English.  

Only in the Hebrew does there appear a short explanation of the street name, or a short description of the person for whom the street has been named.  In the case of Martin Luther King Street in Jerusalem, the epitaph appears:  An American Leader.  A warrior for equal rights in the United States.


This past Monday, people all over the United States, and, indeed, people all over the world, came together in celebration and remembrance . . . and appreciated the confluence of . . . President Obama's second inauguration and the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King.  There is no question that Reverend King would have been bursting with pride had he survived to enjoy the sight of Barak Obama taking the oath of office of President of the United States.  The fact that President Obama's hand rested on Reverend King's bible . . . and Abraham Lincoln's bible . . . acknowledged with humility that President Lincoln and Reverend King made it possible for his hand to rest on their bibles.

I think, though, that Reverend King would also have acknowledged that, although we have come a long way from slavery, we have not yet reached the Promised Land.  For Reverend King, visionary that he was, looking into the Promised Land in which race will be a non-issue, was also a clear-eyed leader, engaged in the real-world struggles that shackled innocent people of integrity.  

For Reverend King, this week's Torah reading, Beshallach, was profoundly resonant:  the people may have left slavery behind, but there is a long way to go before we reach the Promised Land.  There are milestones along the way:  manna and water, civil rights legislation and a black President of the United States, the attack of the Amalekites and the inordinate percentage of people of color living in poverty . . . .  We are still wandering.

The Jerusalem street sign standing at the corner of Emek Refa'im and Martin Luther King Street is a banner of tribute to a man of courage who drew inspiration from the text originally written in the Hebrew of the street sign, and the Jerusalem street.  That Jerusalem street sign, proclaiming Martin Luther King street, in the city at the heart of the Promised Land, also stands as a warning against complacence:  Jewish sovereignty over the State of Israel does not mean that the journey is over.  The inequities within Israeli society:  economic, ethnic, educational must also be resolved before we can declare that the journey is over.
0 Comments

The President, The Professor, The Policeman, The Vice-President and This Week's Haftarah!

7/31/2009

0 Comments

 
Parashat Va'et'hanan                   Torah Reading:  Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11
Shabbat Nachamu

I have not been alone in my fascination this week with the aftermath of the arrest of Harvard Professor Gates.  Yesterday's conference during which the four gentlemen mentioned above each imbibed his favorite American brew was a brilliant move in terms of leadership, of walking the talk, of role-modeling conflict resolution on a human scale and a lot more.

But it was also a very Jewish moment, impressive considering that there weren't actually any Jews at the table!

This past week, we observed the fast of the 9th of Av (Tisha B'Av) which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem centuries apart but on the same date.  One rabbinic response to this calamity which appears in the Talmud is an admonishment to Israel:  the Temple was destroyed because Israel forgot God's values and principles by indulging in bias and senseless hatred . . . or, in a parallel text, by indulging in libelous and destructive speech.

Some human foibles, apparently, never go away.

This Shabbat we read the very moving passage from Isaiah "Nachamu, nachamu ami" / "be comforted, be comforted My people."  The healing process begins after the wounds have been opened up by prejudice and slander.

I don't know if life imitates art . . . but this week, life is imitating Torah. 

How does this kind of healing take place?  By reversing the forces of hatred and bigotry and replacing them with openness, courage and respect.  The New York Times reported on the White House "beer summit", emphasizing that the press was not allowed within earshot of the table under the magnolia tree.  But Professor Gates reported on a "pre-summit" exchange that, to my mind, reflects those healing characteristics:

"The two men [Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley] and their families first encountered each other in the White House library while each group was on individual tours of the White House on Thursday afternoon.
'Nobody knew what to do," Professor Gates said. "So I walked over, stuck out my hand and said, 'It's a pleasure to meet you.' That broke the awkwardness.'"

Nachamu, nachamu ami . . . that's how it's done.
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Rabbi Amy Levin

    Rabbi Amy Levin

    has been Torat Yisrael's rabbi since the summer of 2004 and serves as President of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island.  
    Rabbi Levin lived in Israel for 20 years and was the second woman to be ordained by the Masorti/Conservative Movement in Israel.

    Categories

    All
    Aaron / Kohanim
    Abraham
    Adin Steinsaltz
    Anti-Semitism
    At Times Of Tragedy
    Bar / Bat Mitzvah
    Bin Laden
    Blessings
    Bring Back Our Boys
    Community / Kehillah
    Conservative Movement
    Covenant / Brit
    Deborah
    Democracy/Independence
    Deuteronomy / Dvarim
    Dina
    Diversity
    Environment
    Esau
    Exodus / Shmot
    Exodus / Shmot
    Family
    Festivals
    Genesis / Breishit
    Genetic Diseases
    God
    Gun Control
    Haftarah
    Haiti Earthquake
    Halachah / Jewish Law
    Hanukah
    Harold Kushner
    Holiness / Kedushah
    Holocaust / Shoah
    Humility
    Immigration
    Interfaith Relations
    Interfaith Relations
    Isaiah / Yeshayahu
    Israel
    Israel And Jewish Observance
    Jacob
    Jesus/Christianity
    Jewish Fast Days
    Jewish Holidays
    Jewish Identity
    Joseph
    Kashrut
    Kiddush Hashem / Sanctifying God
    Korban / Sacrifice
    Kvod Habriyot
    Labor Day
    Leadership
    Leviticus / Vayikra
    Light
    Masorti: Israeli Conservative Movement
    Memorial Day / Yom Hazikaron
    Micah
    Miracles
    Miriam
    Mitzvah / Commandment
    Month Of Sivan
    Moses
    Mourning / Aveilut
    Nachamu
    Names
    Natural Disaster
    Nelson Mandela
    Noah
    Numbers / Bamidbar
    Passover / Pesach
    Pete Seeger
    Pidyon Shevuyim / Redemption Of Captives
    Poverty
    Power Of Speech
    President Obama
    Privacy And Security
    Psalm 100
    Psalm 104
    Psalm 121
    Psalm 144
    Purim
    Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
    Rabbi Avraham Soltes
    Rabbi Brad Artson
    Rabbi Laura Geller
    Rabbinical Assembly
    Rabbinic Judaism
    Revelation
    Reverend Martin Luther King
    Sarah
    Seder
    Shabbat
    Shavuot
    Shekalim
    Shifra Alon
    Sinai
    Slavery
    Song Of Songs / Shir Hashirim
    Tabernacle / Temple
    Terrorism
    Thanksgiving
    Tikkun Olam
    Tikkun Olam
    Tisha Bav
    Torah
    Veterans Day
    Western Wall / Old City Of Jerusalem
    Women
    Yael
    Yom Kippur
    Zachor

    Archives

    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
    • Become A Member
    • Members' Pages >
      • Gabbai Group
      • Yahrzeit Form
      • How to be part of shivah...
      • High Holiday Participation
    • Support Us!
  • About Us
    • Heroes in our Midst Blog
    • President's Page
    • Rabbi Aaron's Blog
    • Professional Staff
    • Lay Leadership
    • Social Action
    • Newsletter/Hadashot
    • Links
    • Hours & Directions
  • Events
    • Community Events
    • Shabbat and Holiday Services
    • RSVP Forms
    • Calendar
    • Flyers
  • Education
    • Cohen School >
      • School Registration Form
    • Torah Sprouts
    • Adult Learning
    • Audio Tutorials
    • Bar and Bat Mitzvah preparation