Rabbi Zev Wolf of Zbarazh, Complicity, Representation, and Justice

Martin Buber's wonderful book Tales of the Hasidim may have slipped out of fashion but it deserves to be widely read and become popular once again. It matters much less to me that the stories may be incomplete or more the product of Buber's expansive mind than taken in full measure from the Hasidim or the Hasidic communities. Reading Buber's stories today we want to interrupt with good and necessary questions about Hasidic prejudices, racism, and misogyny. But we also have to let many of the stories speak gently for themselves and take what is best in them into our hearts. The strength of many of these stories is their ability to touch the heart, open its doors, and move in. 

There is one story from Buber's collection that recently came to mind. The story concerns Rabbi Zev Wolf of Zbarazh, his wife (whose name we are not given), and a young servant (also nameless) employed in their home. Rabbi Wolf's wife had a quarrel with her servant over a broken dish. She wanted the servant to pay for the dish, the servant refused, and the argument became rather heated. The rebbetzin decided to take the problem to the court of arbitration of the Torah. She quickly dressed in order to meet with the rav of the town, the rabbi who could competently decide between her and the servant. Rabbi Wolf saw his wife preparing to go to the court and also dressed in his sabbath clothes. 

The rebbetzin protested that it was not fitting for him to go to court and that she knew what to say and how to make her best case without him present. Rabbi Wolf responded, "You know it very well, but the poor orphan, your servant, in whose behalf I am coming, does not know it, and who except me is there to defend her cause?"

This story came to mind because I discovered that a local institution that I take part in uses a law firm that helps evict people, defends corporate clients against charges of sexual harassment, and opposes unions even as that institution tries to help the houseless population and is good on civil rights issues. On the advice of this law firm the institution has moved to contracting with people to provide certain services and will no longer have these individuals on the institution's payroll. A local leader in that institution grew up in a hard-pressed union family and knows something of the dynamics of class struggle.

If you read this blog regularly you will know that my values run very much against what this law firm supports. I'm struggling with how complicit the institution that I take part in is with this firm's terrible work and how complicit I am in all of this. Am I contributing to an institution that works, directly or indirectly, against my own values? If I am, how do I respond?

We can take these issues one by one and argue over them. Maybe there are somewhere terrible tenants who refuse to pay rent and wreck their apartments, maybe someone somewhere has filed sexual harassment charges out of malice, and I know that some people would rather be contractors than direct hires. Unions sometimes drop the ball, and not all union staff and leadership are fully competent all of the time. The exceptions should not make the rules, but those are other matters to take up elsewhere. My guiding point here is that people of faith should consider Rabbi Wolf's example. Defend everyone, even the guilty, against those in positions of power, take dramatic action when necessary, and contradict or shame those in positions of power for the sake of the weak ones and the oppressed. Take the long view and go to the roots of the problems at hand with liberation and salvation in mind.

Rabbi Sari Laufer: Sharing the Miracle of Jewish Joy

Rabbi Sari Laufer has an especially strong teaching on Hanukkah and Jewish joy at ReformJudaism.org. The following paragraphs from that teaching essay stand out for me:

The rabbis understand the obligation of lighting the hanukkiyah to be twofold. We are enjoined to bring light into our lives, to celebrate the miracle that happened in these days, at that time. We light the candles for all reasons that we may have learned as children - because the Maccabees defeated the Greeks, because the oil lasted for eight days, because we need light in the darkest seasons. But even more than our own celebration, we are meant to publicize the miracle - to tell the world our story, our survival, and our strength. Placed in the window, the hanukkiyah is more than a candelabra. It is a statement of identity, a reminder to ourselves and to the world that we are still here, still strong, and still celebrating.

To light the lights of Hanukkah is, whether we think of it that way or not, an act and a statement of faith and of hope. To light the lights of Hanukkah is to tell the world that we refuse to sit in the darkness. It is to share the miracle - not of the Maccabees or the oil - but of Jewish life and, more importantly, Jewish joy in 2022.

Please read the entire teaching essay here.

Introducing Torah study through Haiku

Rebecca Tullman has a brilliant post up at ReformJudaism.org about Torah study with Haiku. That piece leads to other posts that taker readers deeper still. She begins with the following:

Parashat B'reishit Haiku

in the beginning
Oneness breathed us into life
we are unity

Parashat Noach Haiku

at Babel we learn
build up your community
not silly towers

Parashat Lech-Lecha Haiku

covenant begins
binding us to the Divine
move towards holiness

Parashat Vayeira Haiku

all we need is here
if we assist each other
to open our eyes

Please don't pass on this opportunity to learn in a new way. Rabbi Emily Langowitz contributed to the basics of Torah study with a very useful and concise tour of the Torah as well.  

Faith and Belief---A meditation by Rabbi Stacy Rigler on Genesis 41:1−44:17 and a Chanukah greeting from Rabbi Lindsey Danziger

I enjoy reading and posting Rabbi Rigler's reflections that I find at ReformJudaism.org and I hope that readers of this blog enjoy them as well. In a recent blog post Rabbi Rigler takes on what "religious" means and takes us to talking about "stories of faith, leadership, miracles, and self-advocacy all around us" starting with Genesis 41:1−44:17.

Rabbi Rigler says in part

When I shared with friends that I wanted to be a rabbi, they all had the same reaction: "I didn't know you were that religious." I wondered, what does "religious" look like? They knew I spent time at my synagogue and went away for weekends with my youth group. Most of the time, religion was not discussed. When it was, my beliefs focused on social welfare and public policy than doctrine or ritual.

Descriptions of religion often focus on belief, miracles, and observance. I have always wondered more about the connection between religion and self-confidence or inner faith. This week's Torah portion, Mikeitz, relies on the faith of multiple characters and reminds us of the importance of our inner voice.

Once again, we find Joseph, believing in his abilities, his own leadership, and the power of his dreams. In Mikeitz, he interprets Pharaoh's dreams and implements a 14-year food sustainability plan for Egypt and the surrounding region. The story is told without questions, concerns, or doubt. Joseph's father, Jacob, sends his 10 brothers to Egypt to get food. When Joseph is reunited with his brothers, he devises a plan to learn if they have grown or changed. The brothers, too, believe in this new leader and rely on him to save them, even though they do not recognize their own brother. Every piece of this story reminds us of the power and courage that leadership requires. Every character demonstrates the faith needed to believe in oneself and others to be a leader.

Please read the rest here.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Lindsey Danziger sent out the following e-mail

Chag sameach and wishing you a Happy Chanukah! As we approach the darkest time of the year, our festival of light comes to remind us to have faith and to persevere.

Chanukah is a story of miracles: of one night’s supply of oil lasting for eight days; of a grassroots uprising persevering over a powerful and oppressive military force. It is a story of God’s awesome grace. But Chanukah is also a tale of what can be accomplished when we are brave enough to put ourselves out there and try to achieve the unachievable. When we work alongside God to bring light and justice to the world, that is when miracles are possible.

To those who are celebrating Chanukah, and to those who are not, may you find the audacity to bring light into the dark winter months and maybe even to bring some miracles into your lives and your communities.

Rabbi Lindsey Danziger (she/her)
Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism

A friend of mine makes a statement. Please hear what is being said.

Ten Minutes of Torah---Dinah's Legacy by Rabbi Stacy Rigler

I hope that some readers of this blog are paying attention to my suggestion that Christians humbly engage with ReformJudaism.org and consider the Ten Minutes of Torah study that can be found there. Rabbi Stacy Rigler has a study of the story of Dinah (Genesis 32:4−36:43) that shows a good method for understanding theology and building bridges from the ancient past to today.

Rabbi Rigler writes

As a young rabbinic student, I thought that it was silence that perpetrated violence against women. I imagined if more people understood the prevalence of abuse, they would be more likely to act. In the past 20 years, as stories of abuse against women, trans and non-binary people, and children emerge in every arena, I wonder if the problem might be that these topics are so difficult, we avoid them all together. The story of the rape of Dinah in the middle of Genesis reminds us that sexual violence is part of every society and cannot be ignored . As I re-examined her story this year, I learned that Dinah was likely younger than 13 years old when she was raped.

It has been 20 years since I gave my first sermon on the rape of Dinah. In that time, the rates of reported sexual assault have declined and awareness of sexual violence has increased. There is so much more work to be done. Dinah's name means "justice." Together, this week and every week, let us continue to work towards justice to prevent the prevalence of sexual abuse in every arena... Reading the parashah this week we are reminded that sexual violence is part of our society, both in the past, and in our current day. How will you learn more, do more, listen more, to honor her legacy this week?

The Rabbi provides a helpful list of things that can be done to stop sexual abuse, sexual assault, and the victimization of children that speaks to circumstances within Jewish communities. We need Christians to step towards the work being done by Rabbi Rigler and adapt that for Christian communities.

ReformJudaism.org, Amy-Jill Levine, Gender Identity, And Voting

I have posted from ReformJudaism.org occasionally without comment from readers. I believe that their Torah study and commentary are important contributions to how we understand monotheism and ethics and creation itself, but I also understand that many Christians reject this or are firm in their beliefs that Christianity supersedes and replaces Judaism or that Christians have been "grafted" onto Judaism and monotheism and that they (Christians) are freed from Jewish law and practices. In my mind, Christian Zionism is one of the great errors of the day, but I have to admit that it is a powerful cultural and political force. All of this and busy schedules and the demands of daily life means that decisive numbers of Christians are not going to engage with Judaism. And ReformJudaism.org is not put together with Christians in mind.

I have recommended in the past that Christians engage with Amy-Jill Levine and her interesting work. She attends and Orthodox synagogue and is not, so far as I know, part of the Reform movement. It's not that I agree with her on everything, but that her methodology and scholarship are closer to what we need than closed minds and dead traditions. It would be helpful if more Christians read her work or watched her videos and discussed her lessons. She's smarter than the average bear and she lives in Tennessee, which are good recommendations, though she isn't all that into talking about the Tennessee Volunteers football program. Someone must have said a good prayer for the Volunteers when they took down Alabama recently, but it must not have been Amy-Jill Levine. Amplify Media has many of her books and is within the comfort zones of many Christians, so readers can start there.

The following essay by Jacob Kraus-Preminger appeared at ReformJudaism.org before the elections. I'm lifting it without permission and only giving part of the article with a link for you to follow up with. This is a good example of how faith works and how faith and works inform one another. Please read 'til the end because there is mention of other important articles and link as well added on.

I still remember when I was 13 years old and decided that I wanted to learn to play guitar. It did not come easily to me: I have always struggled with coordination and am left-handed; most guitars are made for right-handed people. Practicing guitar was the first thing that I truly committed myself to. What kept me going was not a desire to be the next great guitarist, but a love I had discovered in synagogue and at summer camp for singing as a community. When I was finally able to lead communities in song myself, I was grateful both for my newfound skills and for what I had learned from the experience of acquiring those skills: namely, how deep commitment and ongoing practice could enable me to do something I did not think was possible.

I am mindful that democracy also takes commitment and practice. Democracy takes practice because it still is not accessible to all. The democracy we live in today was established by people who restricted political power to white, Christian men. Over the centuries, people and movements have pushed these boundaries and pursued a democracy that better reflects all who call this country home. Nevertheless, voter suppression laws still intentionally keep Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) from voting, as well as poor people, people with disabilities, and young people.

Democracy takes practice because it is messy. It requires that people who will not always agree come together and make collective decisions.

Democracy takes practice because it is at risk. People who gain power by spreading division and fear are challenging the very foundations of free and fair elections.

Go here to read the rest.

Now, the Union for Reform Judaism is doing some great work of affirming and embracing children of all genders and helping families and communities support their transgender youth. This isn't something to turn away from or refuse to engage with, and it should help many Christians to know that Jews are doing this in ways that are Scripturally and ethically sound. No one is rewriting God's Holy Word to suit current fashion, please Nancy Pelosi, keep Biden in the White House, and destroy America. Really. There are great videos here and here to check in with.

Does everything that we do matter?

The other day I read a reflection by a Christian church that would probably describe themselves as Preterist. Preterism is a major issue in my world just now. I won't take the space here to try to explain it or argue it one way or the other. but the reflection troubled me because it made the point that when Christians study the Hebrew Bible (The "Old Testament" or "Old Covenant") something is lost and taken from our study of the Christian Bible (The "New Testament" or "New Covenant"). This view derives from a "spiritualized" understanding of both texts. For my part, I find the Hebrew Bible important both for how it stands on its own and how it relates to other texts, and for the many calls to social justice within it. If we "spiritualize" the entire text and believe that God's Kingdom will be spiritual then we lose the social justice inherent and the role of historical development in faith that is carried in the text, I think. There is plenty of time for mysticism, and any good Jewish commentary will give you an introduction to that, but we're going to miss the mark by only living with the spiritual and mystical in any text.

This reading of the Torah and the reflection that goes with it by Rabbi Stacy Rigler is not intended to take up the matters that I'm raising, nor should they, but we will all be in a better place if we try to approach texts through the eyes of the people who crafted them long before we found them. The ReformJudaism.org is one of many websites that helps with this, although it also carries its own dear weight and messages. Rabbi Rigler writes:

The only measurement that we ought to take when trying to decide if our actions can help repair the world is to ask - will this bring me closer to another living being? This was the assurance that God gave to Noah, that during hopelessness, chaos, and distribution he would not be alone on the ark. Noah would not be there just with his family, Noah would be there with animals, each of whom contain the spirit of life. Each of us has the opportunity to seek out encounters that have the potential to remind us of this spirit, the chance to engage in tikkun olam.

The Rev. Shyrl Hinnant-Uzzell did an excellent sermon on Nehemiah last Sunday that better expresses my thoughts on how we should engage with the Hebrew Bible. That sermon comes from Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, NC and represents the kind of advanced theology being done in the Black Church. If you're serious about Bible study, or if you're trying to figure out how social justice and our daily lives fit into understanding the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible right now, please give Rev. Uzzell your attention.

The question that is at the heart of everything here is whether everything we do matters or not.

"Roe v. Wade v. God"---A thoughtful clip from National Public Radio

The "Today Explained" National Public Radio show did a thoughtful piece on how Judaism and Islam view abortion and what some Jews and Muslims are doing in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling. This is a scripturally-based and tradition-based discussion that you can listen to in less than 25 minutes. Do you think that you know what these traditions have to say about abortion and how they arrived at those points? Listen in---you may be surprised.

The link is here.    

"The Wandering Chew" & The Workers Circle: Jewish food, history, and social justice being served up on Monday, May 9, 2022

 From the Workers Circle, an old and reliably progressive Jewish working-class organization that has maintained its interest in social justice:

We are showing our members how much we love them with a spring sweet treat! Join us for an online cooking workshop – free for members – with Workers Circle CEO Ann Toback and Kat Romanow, a Jewish food historian and co-founder of The Wandering Chew, an organization with a mission to tell the diversity of Jewish stories through food.

During this workshop, Kat will teach you how to make Jewish-Iraqi Massafan cookies that are perfumed with cardamom and rose water. You will also learn about the variety of culinary influences in Iraqi-Jewish cuisine and the story of Evette Mashaal, an Iraqi-Jewish woman who grew up in Baghdad and moved to Montreal with her family when she was thirteen.

This May, the first Workers Circle Member Appreciation Month, we celebrate our members who support our work to help us to a shenere un besere velt far ale — a better and more beautiful world for all. As such, we are offering this program for free to all Workers Circle members. If you are not yet a member, you can sign up today at www.circle.org/join.

 Please consider joining the Workers' Circle!

Israel and Palestine---What's religion got to do with it?

 

Chag Pesach Sameach!

 

--From the Chicago Teachers Union

Chag Pesach Sameach---Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael and Keshet

From Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael and Keshet

Whether you are Jewish or not, I want to reach out to wish you a Chag Pesach Sameach - a joyful Passover holiday! I’m Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael, the Director of Education and Training at Keshet, an organization which focuses on equipping Jewish communal organizations to build LGBTQ-affirming communities, create spaces in which all queer Jewish youth feel seen and valued and advance LGBTQ rights nationwide. I’m happy to be partnering with Faith in Public Life in this season of liberation.

In Passover, we celebrate God’s liberation of the Jewish people. We retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, share symbolic foods, ask questions, and share inspiration for the work ahead. One line of the Haggadah, the retelling of the story, states that “in every generation, a person must see themselves as if they personally were freed from Egypt.” One famous commentator taught that we should understand this line to mean that in every generation there is ongoing oppression that must be met with ongoing work for liberation. I am excited to share Keshet’s Passover resources with you. Feel free to use them as haggadah inserts during your Seder, or to adapt them to the observances that you are celebrating this season to reflect on and commit to the work for LGBTQ+ liberation.

Four Cups for Liberation
Next Year in Gender Liberation! Towards Trans Justice and Joy

Whether you are celebrating Passover this week or one of the many other holidays that are all coinciding these months, I pray that your observance may be an opportunity to remember liberation and an opportunity to commit to the liberation of others. We are together, made stronger by the diversity of faiths, racial identities, genders, sexual orientations, abilities and disabilities, and multitudes of identities that make us each who we are. Together we support each other and, together, we build the multi-faith and multiracial democracy that we need so that we all can thrive.

Chag Samech - a joyous holiday season to you and yours,

Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael (he/him or they/them)
Director of Education and Training, Keshet

Top ten signs you might be at a Republican Seder:

Top ten signs you might be at a Republican Seder:


10. They refuse to answer the four questions without a subpoena.


9. They demand a recount of the ten plagues.


8. They defend not increasing the minimum wage on the grounds that according to Chad Gadya it still costs only two zuzzim to buy a goat.


7. The afikomen is hidden in the Cayman Islands.


6. They refuse to open the door for Elijah until they see his immigration papers.


5. They attack Moses for negotiating a deal with Pharaoh because why would we negotiate with our enemies?


4. They don't understand why the Egyptians didn’t cure the plagues with hydroxychloroquine.


3. They omit the parts about slavery from the Haggadah because it reminds them of Critical Race Theory.


2. They keep saying “when do we get to the miracle of the Jewish space lasers?”


And the number one sign that you might be at a Republican Seder:


1. They end the Seder by singing "Next year in Mar-a-Lago."


Chag Pesach

The Bedtime Shema---Beautiful!---Congregation Gates of Prayer

 

This is beautiful! I'm sorry that I don't know who is singing/praying/teaching.

See here for more.

It would be good for all of us to remember the following:

Master of the Universe, behold I forgive & pardon anyone who angered me, or antagonized me or who sinned against me, whether relating to my body, or my money, or my honor, or anything that belongs to me, whether done accidentally, or willingly, unintentionally or intentionally, or whether with words, whether with actions, whether in this present incarnation, whether in another incarnation - any person of Israel. And may no person be punished because of me. May it be Your will, My G·d, & G·d of my forefathers, that I will not sin again. And that that I did sin erase with Your abundant mercies, however, not through suffering or bad illnesses. May the expressions of my mouth & the thoughts of my heart find favor before You, G·d, my Rock & my Redeemer. (Taken from here.)

The Bedtime Shema--text, links, and a video.

Well, friends, I can't lie---today was a hard one. But it's about time to turn in.

Here is the opening of the Bedtime Shema in English taken from My Jewish Learning. The entire text is here. See down below for a video with music. Please say a prayer or prayers when you turn in tonight. God willing, we'll see one another tomorrow.

Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings sleep to my eyes, slumber to my eyelids. May it be Your will, Lord my God and God of my ancestors, that I lie down in peace and that I arise in peace. Let my sleep be undisturbed by troubling thoughts, bad dreams, and wicked schemes. May I have a night of tranquil slumber. May I awaken to the light of a new day, that my eyes may behold the splendor of Your light. Praised are You, Lord whose glory gives light to the entire world.

God is a faithful King.

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

Praised be His glorious sovereignty throughout all time.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. And these words which I command you this day you shall take to heart. You shall diligently teach them to your children. You shall recite them at home and away, morning and night. You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, they shall be a symbol above your eyes, and you shall inscribe them upon the doorposts of your homes and upon your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

Help us, our Father, to lie down in peace; and awaken us to life again, our King. Spread over us Your shelter of peace, guide us with Your good counsel. Save us because of Your mercy. Shield us from enemies and pestilence, from starvation, sword and sorrow. Remove the evil forces that surround us, shelter us in the shadow of Your wings. You, O God, guard us and deliver us. You are a gracious and merciful King. Guard our coming and our going, grant us life and peace, now and always.

Praised is the Lord by day and praised by night, praised when we lie down and praised when we rise up. In Your hand are the souls of the living and the dead, the life of every creature, the breath of all flesh. Into Your hand I entrust my spirit: You will redeem me, Lord God of truth. Our God in Heaven, assert the unity of Your rule; affirm Your sovereignty, and reign over us forever.

May our eyes behold, our hearts rejoice in, and our souls be glad in our sure deliverance, when it shall be said to Zion: Your god is King. The Lord is King, the Lord was King, the Lord shall be King throughout all time. All sovereignty is Yours; unto all eternity only You reign in glory, only You are King. Praised are You, Lord and glorious King, eternal Ruler over us, and over all creation.

According to the Youtube post this was adapted from the Sh'ma for Bedtime in the Siddur, the Jewish Prayer Book, this composition was written in Jerusalem for the URJ Eisner Camp of Great Barrington, MA. It was adapted and composed by Jordan Franzel & Lisa Silverstein. It was published in the Shireinu series, the songbook for the Reform Movement.

Mistranslations of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles?

I read in the letters to the editor section in the Feb. 18-March 3 edition of the National Catholic Reporter that a writer believes that Pope Francis has said that Genesis 1:26 has been mistranslated. The common translation is as follows:

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

The writer claims (I think) that the Pope is saying that a correct or better translation would be:

...to protect the earth and ensure its fruitfulness for coming generations.

I also recently trad in Keith Giles' book Jesus Unbound that he thinks that 1 Corinthians:34-35 has been mistranslated. Our common translation reads:

34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

Giles says that the translation should be something more like:

Women should remain silent...it is a disgrace for a woman to speak in church.

WHAT?! So, did the word of God originate with you? Are you the only ones who can hear His voice? If you think you're a prophet or gifted by the Spirit then admit what I've written to you in this letter is the Lord's command. 

I don't know if these writers are correct or not, or if Pope Francis said what has been attributed to him or not. I hope that these are correct, but I don't know if they are or aren't.

But, correct or not, it's worth examining how different our lives would be if we had grown up with the newer translations instead of the old ones.

"The family of God is a scandalous one..."