"The Help," the Earthquake and Hurricane Irene--ALL THIS SHABBAT @ CBS

Dear Friends,

In an effort to increase Shabbat synagogue attendance, may I present this week's sermon topics:

* Friday night, August 26, 6:30 p.m. What the Torah says about "The Help," and the related Jewish history of Jackson, Mississippi.

* Saturday, August 27, 9:30 a.m., Tuesday's Earthquake & Our visit by Hurricane Irene As Seen Through the Perspective of Parashat Re'eh 

 

Stay relevant, stay informed -- attend Shabbat services this week at Congregation Beth Shalom.

See you in shul!

Rabbi Michael

Blessing for Earthquakes

Rabbi: Is there a prayer for earthquakes?  Of course my child, there is a blessing for EVERYTHING.
 Barukh ata Adonai Eloheynu melekh ha olam oseh ma'asay b'raysheet.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who makes the work of Creation.

(or: May God bless and keep the earthquakes ... far way from us).

Tisha B'Av Revisited

This posting will be broadcast on WDEL located at 1190 on your AM dial this Sunday, August 14 at 9:05 a.m.            

          This past Tuesday, thirteen million Jews all around the world were in total synch with the more than one billion Moslems all around the world.  For more than twelve hours both groups adhered to a solemn fast. During this time the religious among these two peoples neither drank any beverage, nor ate any food.  For Moslems, they were honoring the holy month of Ramadan, a time for reflection and self-improvement.  The fast, this year began on the first day of the Hebrew month of Av, and goes from sunrise to sundown every day for a month.  As the Moslem calendar, like the Jewish calendar, is lunar, Ramadan floats backwards through our solar-based secular calendar.  During the summer, the fast is particularly arduous.  For Jews, our fast lasted a full 25 hours, from sundown  on Monday night to the appearance of three stars on Tuesday night. 

            Our fast day was called Tisha b’Av, literally, the Ninth Day of the Hebrew month, Av.  It is the national day of mourning for the Jewish people.  It usually occurs sometime in August although somewhat like the Moslem calendar,  the date floats from year to year. We have only one other full 24-hour fast day in the Jewish religion: Yom Kippur.  While on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we fast because we are sorry for the bad things we may have done to others, to a large extent, the meaning of fasting on Tisha B’Av is quite different.  Rather than being sorry for the bad things we have done to others, on Tisha B’Av, we fast because we are sorry for the bad things others have done to us, as a Jewish people.

            On this day, the Ninth of Av, in the year 586 BCE, Before the Common Era, the mighty Babylonian King, Nebucadnezzar, destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusualem.  His destruction of the Temple, along with the entire city of Jerusalem, is documented in the biblical Book of Lamentations, called Eicha, in Hebrew.  Its reputed author is the prophet Jeremiah, who experienced, first-hand, the starvation of his people, the rape and murder of women and children by the Babylonian army, and the exile of the survivors to Babylonia – current day Iraq.  On Tisha B’Av, by candle light, sitting on the floor in a sign of mourning, Jews listen to the entire Book of Eicha chanted in a unique, mournful melody to make the Hebrew words come alive to the listener.

            Almost 600 years later, the Second Temple of Jerusalem, rebuilt by the returnees from Babylonian Exile, was again destroyed, this time by the Romans, again on the Ninth of Av, in the year 70 of the common era.  Christians will identify this time as occurring right on the heels of the crucifixion of Jesus.  It was a time of great suffering for not just Jesus, but for all his fellow Jews.  With Roman destruction came the exile of the Jewish people out of their ancient homeland, dispersed to the four corners of the vast Roman Empire – an empire which would become Christian under the rule of Constantine in the fourth century.

            Under Christian Rule, the Ninth Day of Av, continued to be associated with disaster.  In the year 1198, the Jewish community was thrown out of France on the Ninth Day of Av, accused of the false charge of ritual blood letting of Christian children in  order to make matzahs for Passover.  Almost one hundred years later, in the year 1290, the Jewish community was thrown out of England, under similar charges.  A little more than two hundred years later, in 1492, as Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, expelled the remaining Jews from Spain.  I say “remaining Jews,” because so many had already perished or converted to Christianity under duress during the many abuses of the Spanish Inquisition.

            I would like to fast forward to the modern era.  Since the birth of the Modern State of Israel in 1948, some secular Zionists might wonder if it is appropriate to continue a full-day fast given the modern miracle of Israel.  And I would like to conclude this broadcast by sharing a story of Ethiopian Jews, whose Judaism was in tact from the time of King Solomon, when a Temple still stood in Jerusalem.  Now repatriated to Israel, school teacher and then-Israeli army soldier Keren Gottleib shares a story of the true meaning of Tisha B’Av.  She encountered her Ethiopian school children’s parents in an unlikely confrontation before the springtime celebration of Passover:

It was on the first day of Nissan.  One of the adults whose Hebrew was on a higher level, asked me: “Are you our children’s teacher.”   “Yes,” I answered.  “What is the matter, sir?”  “Our children came home yesterday and told us that their teacher taught them that the Temple in Jerusalem no longer exists.  Who would tell them such a thing?”  He looked at me in anger.

            “I told them that.  We were discussing the Temple and I felt that they were a bit confused.  So I explained to them that the Temple had been burned down thousands of years ago and that today, we no longer have a Temple.  That’s all.  What’s all the fuss about?”

            He was incredulous.  “What? What are you talking about?”  I was more confused that ever.  “I don’t understand.  What are you all so angry about? I simply reminded them of the fact that the Temple was destroyed and that it no longer exists today.”   Another uproar – this was louder than before.  The representative quieted the others down, and again turned to me.  “Are you sure?”  “Am I sure the Temple was destroyed?” “Of course I’m sure!” I couldn’t hide my smile.  What a strange scene.

            The man turned to his friends and in a dramatic tone translated what I had told him.  At this point, things seemed to be finally sinking in.  Now, however, a different scene commenced: one woman fell to the ground, a second broke down in tears.  A man standing by them just stared at me in disbelief.  A group of men began quietly talking among themselves, very fast, in confusion and disbelief.  The children stood on the side, looking on in great puzzlement.  Another women suddenly broke in a heart-rending cry.  Her husband came over to her to hug her.

            A few months later it was Tisha B’Av.  I had already been discharged from the army, on my way to college, and my military service seemed as if it had been such a very long time ago.  As I did every year, I went to synagogue.  Everyone was already seated on the floor, as is customary for mourners, and I was waiting to hear the Book of Lamentations.  I had expected, as in previous years, for this to be a time for some daydreaming and hoped I wouldn’t get too hungry.

            The Lamentations megillah reading began, and I started reading the first two verses: “Alas, she sits in solitude, like a widow, she weeps bitterly in the night and her tear is on her cheek.  She has no comforter from all her paramours; all her friends have betrayed her, they have become her enemies.”

            Suddenly that first day of Nissan began replaying in my mind.  The angry looks of those children.  The parents’ screams.  The mother’s crying.  The men’s pitiful silence.  At that moment I understood that this was exactly how we are supposed to mourn the Temple on Tisha B’Av.  We are supposed to cry over the loss of the unity and peace throughout the entire world.  We are supposed to lament the disappearance of the Divine Presence and holiness from our lives…We’re supposed to feel as if something very precious has been taken away from us forever.  Here ends Karen Gottleib’s story.

            Our challenge as peoples of faith, Jewish, Moslem, Christian, is to use our respective religions, and its traditions, as inspiration to bring God back into our daily lives, and to build bridges of understanding between us. And perhaps we can use our fast days to inspire us to give more generously to ease the famine gripping the 12 million hungry living in the Horn of Africa, after all, as Isaiah asks: “what does your fast days mean to Me when My children go begging for food?”

Making your Tisha B'Av Fast More Meaningful

HOW TO MAKE YOUR TISHA B'AV FAST MORE MEANINGFUL

People For Whom Fasting is NOT a Choice

What’s Happening in East Africa and How You Can Help

By Jaron Vogelsang  |  August 5, 2011

There is no denying the severity of the crisis in East Africa right now. We’ve read the headlines and seen horrifying photos of starving children. The situation is getting worse every day. Two days ago, the United Nations declared a famine in three more areas of Somalia. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that nearly 30,000 children under the age of five have died because of the crisis. By September, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) predicts that the whole of Somalia and parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda will be under famine conditions.
We cannot idly stand by when thousands of children are starving to death. Thanks to your support, AJWS has already begun responding to the crisis. We are partnering with a humanitarian aid organization that is working on the frontlines of the crisis, providing emergency medical services and distributing food to refugees in Dadaab Refugee Camp in north eastern Kenya. Our partners are also working with communities in drought-affected areas to distribute water supplies, and build sanitation facilities to stop the spread of deadly diseases like cholera.

Tisha B'Av Services - Tonight @ 9 pm @ Congregation Beth Shalom

A Blessing from Rabbi David Wolpe

Tonight is Tisha B'av when we commemorate the destruction of the Temple, the razing of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jewish people. The Talmud declares it is also the day of the Messiah's birth. Before God inflicts the wound, the Rabbis teach, God sends the salve, the healing. May our sadness be soothed, and may we find the glints of redemption in the dark corners of the world.

RABBIS PLAYING WELL TOGETHER: Undoing the Damage of Tisha B'Av

What happens when the local Wilmington Orthodox rabbi challenges the local JCC for serving meat during the nine days preceding Tisha B'Av -- a time of national mourning, when meat is not served as our expression of grief?  Orthodox Rabbi Steven Saks, of Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth, working cooperatively with Reform Rabbi Yair Robinson, of Congregation Beth Emeth, and me, the local Conservative rabbi, performed a learning piece to both allow the eating of meat, and more important, taught Talmudic sources about baseless hatred as a key reason for the Temple's destruction.  This piece of theatre was supposed to be performed at the Wilmington's Siegel JCC Pool but we got rained out.  However, just hours ago, we performed this piece for the elder segment of the Delaware Jewish community in the Siegel JCC Senior Center, during their weekly Chicken Pre-Shabbat Lunch.  Afterwards seniors, who are members of all three local synagogues, shared how good it did their hearts to see rabbis from the various streams of Judaism working so well together.  Enjoy the play and may we all have a meaningful Tisha B'Av.
________________________________________________________________

Tisha b’Av Theatre at the Pool by Rabbi Michael Beals, Congregation Beth Shalom

Steven:  So it turns out that there is a strongly held custom of NOT eating meat during the last nine days before the great Fast Day of Tisha B’Av, when we mourn the destruction of the Temple in 70 of the common era.

Yair: That was an awfully long time ago Steven.  Maybe you should get over it already.

Steven:  Yair, a tradition is a tradition.  Without our traditions we would not know what God wants of us.  Without our traditions, life would be as shaky as … as shaky as …a Fiddler on the Roof!

Michael:  Steven, this is Wilmington, not Anatevka, and if you are talking about the last nine days before Tisha B’Av,  which starts next Monday night, August 8^th, then today, August 3^rd , is within that nine days time.  Are you telling me that the JCC can’t be serving chicken, hotdogs and hamburgers tonight?

Yair: (Yelling over to the JCC staff):  HEY GUYS!  RABBI SAKS SAYS YOU HAVE TO STOP COOKING THE CHICKEN! HEY SOMEBODY GET SOME WATER FROM THE POOL AND PUT OUT THE FIRE ON THE GRILLS.  HEY GUYS, BREAK IT UP, RABBI SAKS SAYS YOU HAVE TO STOP!

Steven:  Wait a second, Yair, let’s not be too hasty. It is ANOTHER Jewish tradition that if you complete a body of Jewish text you can celebrate with a siyum, a feast.  And in Jewish tradition a feast would not be complete without meat, so the siyum could possibly override the other tradition of not eating meat during the nine days before Tisha B’Av.

Michael:  Good call.  For a moment I thought you were going to give poor Donna Schwartz a kenipshin.

Yair:  NEVER MIND GUYS! GO BACK TO YOUR MEAT EATING! FALSE ALARM! RABBI SAKS SAYS IT’S ALL COOL!!

Michael: Hmm … But what to teach?

Yair: Hmm…. What to teach teach?

Steven: I’ve got it!! We’ll teach the Talmudic Story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza and How we lost the Temple due to baseless hatred.

Michael:   How appropriate.  But they’ll get bored if we just tell them a story.  What we need is to ACT out the story.

Steven: But do we have the skill to act out such a story in front of people in bathing suits who are determined to devour their hamburgers in peace?

Yair:  Of course we have the skill.  Do you know why?

Steven and Michael: Why?

Yair: Because boys, we are ACTORS (say it like that guy on Saturday Night Live, and if you’d rather say Thespians, that’s ok too).

Michael: The scene: big mansion located in the Upper City of Jerusalem.  The month: Av.  The year: 70 of the Common Era.

Steven: (To Yair): Servant, take this invitation to my friend Kamtza.  Tell him I am throwing a feast for everyone who is anyone in Jerusalem.  Tell him, ALL the Rabbis will be there.  Even Akiba.

Yair: Hmm.  Who did he say to invite?  Kamtza.  Say look, there’s Stoney’s Bar.  I think I might get a mead on the way.  Now who did my master say to invite,  Kamtza,  No it must have been BAR Kamtza. (To Michael:) Here Mister Bar Kamtza sir, here is your invitation to the best Wednesday night Chicken Dinner on this side of the Jordan River. (Yair hands Michael the invte)

Michael:  Todah rabbah my good man.  Here is a sheckel for your trouble.

Yair: One kopek.  Last week you gave me two kopeks.

Michael: I had a bad week.

Yair.  If you had a bad week why should I suffer.

Michael:  I cannot believe I scored an invite to this party.  Finally the host has gotten over that problem he had with me.

Steven:  (after Michael arrives).  Bar Kamtza What on earth are YOU doing here?! I hate you.

Michael: But I have an invitation right here, it even has my name on it, Stoney Bar Kamtza.

Steven: (Glaring at Yair).  My servant must have gotten confused.  I mean my friend Kamtza, not you!!

Michael: Since I'm here already, let me stay, and I will pay you for what I eat and drink.' "

Steven: 'No!' "

Michael:  'I will pay for half the cost of the feast.' "

Steven: " 'No!' "

Michael: " 'I will pay the entire cost of the feast!' "

Steven: " 'No!' (seize Michael  and throw him out)

Michael: 'Since the Rabbis were there, saw the whole thing, and did not protest, obviously they had no objection to my embarrassment! I'll go now, and have a little feast-of-slander with the king."

Michael: Oh mighty Caesar, the Jews have rebelled against you!' "

Yair: (As The Caesar) 'Who said so?' "

Michael: See for yourself,  'Send them a sacrifice, and see if they will offer it. If they will not offer it, then you will know they are in open rebellion againt you and all of mighty Rome.

Yair:  I will send you away with a healthy, unblemished ram. I am sure you are mistaken Mr. Bar Kamtza.

Michael: Ha, ha. I will cause a disfigurement in the animal. Perhaps a blemish on the upper lip; others might say that it was a blemish in the eye (perhaps symbolizing the silence of the rabbis, or their witnessing of the event of my disgrace without protest); in any case, a place where for us it is a disqualifying blemish while for the Romans, it is not.

Steven: The Rabbis had in mind to sacrifice it anyway to maintain peaceful relations with the government. But Rabbi Zechariah son of Avkulos objected, 'People will say, 'Animals with blemishes may be sacrificed on the altar!'

Yair: Rabbi Yochanan said, "The excessive carefulness of Rabbi Zechariah son of Avkulos destroyed our Temple, burned our Palace, and exiled us from our Land."

Michael, Yair and Steven: THE END. (bow) NOW GO EAT YOUR MEAT IN PEACE