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December
2003
1. By tradition, the eight Chanukah candles are lit
from the left to the right. Don’t be disturbed if you forget,
as there have been various candle lighting practices over the years.
According to the “Jewish Book of Why”, the current one evolved
to give equal weight to the right and left sides, to show that God’s
presence is everywhere. The candles are inserted from right to left
(like Hebrew is written), then lit from left to right. Thus the last
or newest candle, “tonight’s candle”, is always the
first one lit. The very useful ninth candle, which lights all the other
candles, is called the Shamash, meaning “servant” or “helper”.
2.
We can’t be completely sure of the why the two books of the Maccabees
were not accepted in the Biblical canon. Many scholars believe it was
because these books were written very late relative to the other books
and also were not written originally in Hebrew, but in Greek. When the
accepted books of the Bible were finally fixed around the first century
C.E., only a few hundred years had passed since the rededication of
the Jerusalem Temple in 165 B.C.E. This was very recent compared to
the other events described in the books that actually formed today’s
Bible. It is also widely speculated that the Rabbis did not want to
circulate an account in which the Jewish population rose up in arms
against the civil rulers of their time, so as not to offend the Roman
rulers of their day. In fact, it is probably due to this reason that
the legend of the miracle of the oil became the main focus of the holiday
in the Talmud. There is no mention of this miracle in the books of the
Maccabees; it was added in the Talmud and became the best-known Chanukah
tradition, thus avoiding the focus on the military victory. The Maccabees
and other excluded books are collectively referred to as the Apocrypha.
3.
On November 2nd 1917, the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration.
Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour wrote that “His Majesty’s
Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national
home for the Jewish people…”. Towards the close of World
War I, the British and French were then closing in to finish off the
once-great Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans were German allies in this war
and had ruled Turkey, parts of the Balkans, and much of the Middle East
for over five hundred years. What was then called Palestine (today’s
Jordan and Israel) fell under the British sphere of influence, so British
recognition of Jewish national aspirations was crucial. Within weeks
of this declaration, the British General Allenby marched victoriously
into Jerusalem, on the first day of Chanukah! This is but one of many
significant moments in the creation of Israel. Your rabbi can explain
much, much more
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November
2003
1. The previous Congregation Beth Elohim building
had 8,644 square feet of floor space. This structure dates from the
1988 expansion of the original building. The 2001-2 expansion added
13,056 square feet for a total of 21,700 square feet of floor space.
Unlike the prior expansion, however, the current building is essentially
all new construction. The old shell was gutted and completely renovated.
There are now 150 parking spaces available in the 3 lots.
2. In this building project, Marty Krasnick learned
enough about plumbing, heating, foundations, ventilation, landscaping,
security systems, lighting, sprinkler systems, et. al. to last a lifetime.
But Marty’s special love is the audio system. He wired it himself,
resulting in a considerable cost reduction. The subsystems are all coming
off their one year warranty and shakedown periods, and Marty can no
longer be asked to do it all. So the current maintenance plan is to
have small teams adopt and monitor each of the different subsystems.
Marty will be the head of the audio group, even as he trains other teams
in the intricacies of the HVAC, electrical system, plumbing and so on.
At completion, we hope to have many small skilled teams, one for each
subsystem. These teams will collectively constitute a large, versatile
maintenance committee. And all of the committee will no doubt be called
upon to meet the challenge of changing our first light bulb… So
if you can change a light bulb, or can provide support or supervision
to those who do, or help in any other way, please contact Marty or me
(Bob Ferrara).
3. The recent Exile phase from Beth Elohim produced no Book of Lamentations,
as did the Babylonian Exile over two millennia before. The reason was
that we simply did not have it that bad this time around. In fact, our
neighbors here in Acton really spoiled us. The congregation of St. Mathew’s
Methodist church on Central Street could not have been more welcoming,
making us feel right at home for services in Campbell Hall. Acton-Boxborough
Regional High School proved to be a very nice Hebrew School venue during
the construction diaspora. The high school auditorium served us well
during the High Holydays. And finally, half way between St. Matthew’s
and the High School, the administrative offices found a comfortable
home away from home at 3 Windsor Avenue in West Acton.
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October
2003
1. “Jewish Wisdom”, another of Rabbi Joseph
Telushkin’s wonderful works on Judaism, opens with an explanation
of the four probing questions from the Talmud’s tractate Shabbat.
These are the four that are to be asked each of us when we go before the
heavenly court for judgment. The first and most important question is
“Did you conduct your affairs honestly?”. The Talmud clearly
asserts the primacy of ethics and fairness here. In another passage, it
is written “If one is honest in business dealings and people esteem
him, it is accounted to him as though he had fulfilled the whole Torah”.
The next question should be no surprise - “Did you set aside regular
time for Torah study?”. Next is “Did you work at having children?”.
And finally, “Did you look forward to the world’s redemption?”.
2. Fred Kogos’s charming little book, “1001 Yiddish Proverbs”,
contains Yiddish sayings that deal with all aspects of life, from homely
happenings and wry humorous observations, to the deepest human insights
and aspirations. With some knowledge of Hebrew and German and some reasoned
guesses, it just might be possible to match the Yiddish and English
in each of columns. Here are the proverbs translated:
Fil meloches, vainik broches. Jack of all trades, master of none.
Oib der shuch past, kenst im trogen. If the shoe fits, wear it.
Ehrez iz fil tei’erer far gelt. Honor is much dearer than money.
Itlecher mentshhot zich zein shigoyen. Every person has a madness of
his own.
Az me zogt meshugeh, zol men gloiben. When people say someone is crazy,
believe it.
3. The Jewish year –like the civil year – has twelve months,
but the Jewish months are lunar months, always beginning on a new moon.
But twelve lunar months are shorter by several days than a solar year,
so a “duplicate” month – second Adar – in inserted
periodically (in seven out of every nineteen years) to keep the seasons
from wandering. With this adjustment, the Jewish and civil calendars
progress through the years quite harmoniously. And we can look at the
moon to fix the most important holidays. Rosh Hashanah occurs on the
first of Tishri when the moon is new, as small as it can get. Ten days
later, on the tenth when Yom Kippur falls, it is still getting larger
each night; it’s swelling or waxing. And the fifteenth of Tishri,
Sukkot, will always occur when the moon is at its fulfillment –
the full moon - the best time to sleep outside with the abundant moonlight.
And as the moon of Tishri wanes, there is the holiday Simchat Torah,
marking the beginning of the rainy season in Israel and the new Torah
reading cycle everywhere, on the twenty-third day of the month. So for
holiday time, don’t look at your watch but at the moon on a clear
night!
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September
2003
1. Israel means “God wrestler”. The name Israel, or Yisrael,
was given to the patriarch Jacob in Genesis 32:29. This occurs just
after Jacob wrestled with an angel, who had attacked him on his way
to his reunion with Esau. Though badly hurt himself, Jacob refused to
yield and free the angel until he received a blessing. The angel responds
by renaming him Israel, “for you have wrestled with God and men
and have prevailed”. In his wonderful work Jewish Literacy, Rabbi
Joseph Telushkin notes that Israel, the name for a people and now a
state, “implies neither submission to God nor pure faith but means
wrestling with God (and with men).” In other words, the mission
is to struggle for justice and truth, and there may be no easy answers.
2. The Babylonian Talmud was composed in what is now
Iraq in the fifth through seventh centuries of the Common Era. Also
called Talmud Bavli, it is the more authoritative of the two versions
of the Talmud. This work was for untold generations the highest legal
authority for Jews throughout the world. Though it was not created in
the city itself, the spread of Talmud emanated from Baghdad for many
centuries thereafter. The writer Eliezer Segal notes that by the 10th
century all the major Babylonian Jewish institutions, including the
great Talmudic yeshivas of Sura and Pumbedita, had all relocated to
Baghdad, at that time the most powerful capital in the western world.
The city remained an important (if not the most important) center of
Jewish life and learning until the Mongol invasions of the early 13th
century of the Common Era.
3. For Rosh Hashanah, the only positive commandment is that the shofar
be blown. The first verse of Numbers 29 repeats the injunction of Leviticus
23:24-25 against normal work on this day, and then commands “you
shall observe it as a day when the horn is sounded”. Thank you
to all the shofar blowers here and around the world for this mitzvah.
But there is one important exception; shofar blowing is not performed
when Rosh Hashanah occurs on a Sabbath.
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June
2003
1. Besides being just plain fun, the Maccabiah Games
are a showcase for all that the Hebrew School students are learning
about Jewish history and the practice of our religion. An adult team
might not stack up very well against these youngsters. How many of us
could readily name the three periods when Jews ruled themselves in Israel.
Don't feel bad if you cannot, but just ask our Vav scholars and they
will explain that during the First Temple period, the time of David
and his successors, the Jews were free. Then came the Babylonian exile
and Persian rule, during which the Second Temple was built. The Jews
then rose up against the Greeks and had a second period of freedom under
the Macabees. This was followed by an era of domination by Rome and
host of other foreign powers, lasting up to the twentieth century of
Ottoman and British rule. Since 1948, the State of Israel is enjoying
the third period of Jewish self-rule in the Biblical lands.
2. A mitzvah is a commandment or obligation (not a "good deed")
found in the Torah. The mitzvot are not enumerated in the Bible but
the Talmud gives the number as 613. Many are simply not applicable to
us today. The agricultural commandments apply only within the borders
of the Biblical Land of Israel, for example. Also, we will have a hard
time following any mitzvot dealing with the treatment of slaves or sacrifices
at the Temple in Jerusalem. Modern sages have proposed that somewhere
less than 300 seem appropriate to our circumstances. Of the 613 mitzvot,
365 are prohibitions - a very easy remembered item. And the remaining
248 are positive ("do") commandments, such as the requirement
to pay a day laborer "before the sun sets".
3. The first part of Chapter 18 in Genesis
describes Abraham's kindness to three strangers who are traveling by
his tent near Hebron. He offers water, bread, and meat to this group,
whom he has never even met. Such hospitality was not unusual in desert
cultures. In this case, it is especially touching because the sages
tell us these three were angels, and one predicts that the aged Sarah
will give birth to a son. Showing kindness and fairness to strangers
is a critically important mitzvah in the Torah. It is mentioned thirty
six times, far more than other mitzvah.
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May
2003
1. The term Tanakh is an anagram of the initial letters of the three
sections of the Bible. The first section is the Torah, the five books
of Moses. Next is the Nevi’im, which means "prophets"
in Hebrew. This section consists of twenty one books, from Joshua and
Judges all the way through to the books of the twelve so-called minor
prophets. The third section is the Kethuvim, or Writings, composed of
thirteen books on varied topics, from Psalms to II Chronicles.
2. The character of Moses pervades the Bible. He is the vehicle through
which Judaism received so much of its sacred texts, its mitzvot, and
its practices. The Torah and our tradition remind us that, though he
talked to God, he was just a man - not a Greek demigod - and thus had
a family like the rest of us. His mother was Jochabed, who hid the baby
Moses in the reeds and was later summoned to care for him by Pharaoh's
daughter. His musically talented sister was Miriam, who danced with
timbrels after the fleeing Israelites crossed the Sea of Reeds. Exodus
also relates the story of how an exiled Moses met his wife Zipporah,
one of the seven daughters of a Midianite priest. Moses had to leave
his homeland of Egypt and of his adopted grandfather, the Pharaoh, when
news spread of his killing of an Egyptian overseer for beating Hebrew
slaves. It's hard to think of Moses as an Egyptian. But the very name
of Moses is not Hebrew but Egyptian, drawn from the same semantic root
as a likely contemporary, the great Pharaoh Rameses II (Re-Moses) whom
most scholars believe is the pharaoh of the Exodus story.
3. "Echad mee yoday'ah" is a fun to sing and the verses -
with their familiar numeric associations - come readily to mind. If
"One is God and God alone…two are Sinai's tablets…three
are the patriarch fathers…", then "four are the mothers
of Israel" (Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel) and "eight are
the days 'til Brit Milah", the time between the birth and the circumcision
rite of baby boy. And "six are the Orders of the Mishna";
these are the major divisions of the great Jewish religious law code.
Of course "twelve are tribes of Israel", but fewer will recall
that "thirteen are the divine attributes", which we recite
during Selichot to invoke God's mercy.
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April
2003
1. Passover is indeed the oldest of the festivals in the Jewish religion.
As described in Chapter 12 of Exodus, Moses and the Israelites celebrate
the very first one while still in the land of Egypt. But in II Kings
23:21-23, we find that the reforming king Josiah ordered a proper celebration
of Passover as “had not been offered in that manner in the days
of the chieftains who ruled Israel, or during the days of the kings
of Israel and the kings of Judah”. Depending on the chronology,
this could cover a period of 600 years or more since the time of Moses.
The passage states that Josiah did this in the eighteenth year of his
reign. Josiah became king at the age of eight in 640 B.C.E. when his
father was assassinated. He must have had regents who nurtured the moral
and religious spirit which led to his proclamation of Passover renewal
in 622 B.C.E. Unfortunately, Josiah was killed in battle by an Egyptian
arrow in 609 B.C.E., ending Judah’s last period of greatness in
the First Temple era.
2. The term Palestine derives from the Philistines of the Bible, the
same ones whom King David served as a mercenary and later absorbed.
Although the Philistines occupied only five great cities near the coast,
Roman designation of Palestine was subsequently was applied of the whole
land of Israel. The British revived the term under their mandate over
this area earlier in this century. The Philistines were most likely
a Greek-speaking people who invaded Canaan about 1100 B.C.E. They were
part of a general migration of “Sea Peoples” (in Greek,
pelasgoi) about this time. There is circumstantial evidence that points
to an Aegean origin, possibly from the island of Crete. They brought
their mastery of iron with them, a capability that allowed them to dominate
their new neighbors for a time.
3. The roots of Yiddish are in medieval Germany. Although it is written
using the Hebrew alphabet, the grammar and phonetics are German. Starting
in the 1100 and 1200’s many Jews emigrated eastward to Poland
from Germany, taking their language with them. Poland at that time had
a very stratified society - the nobility, the clergy, and the peasants.
The Jews came at the invitation of the nobility to become the middle
class, serving as civil servants, managers, and traders. Their German
language, written in Hebrew, formed the core of the language that spread
eastward with them to Lithuania, Russia, and the Ukraine. From the native
tongues of these lands as well as from Hebrew, Yiddish acquired many
loan words and the mixture that resulted gives the language its uniquely
expressive character. Our former Me’ah teacher Eliyana Adler profoundly
loves this language and notes that the eastern variants of Yiddish absorbed
not only words from the surrounding Slavic languages but also phrases
and even syntax. She also adds that all Yiddish dialects contain elements
from Hebrew and Aramaic, especially in ritual contexts.
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March
2003
1. Five of the books of Ketuvim (the Writings) share with the Five
Books of Moses (the Torah) the distinction of being read completely
during the synagogue service each year. These books are traditionally
called the five scrolls (megillot) since each is written on its own
scroll. Thus we hear "the whole megilla" on the customary
holiday for each. The Book of Esther is read on Purim. The Song of Songs,
with its sensuous love poems, is recited on Passover, followed by the
Book of Ruth, the story of the first Jewish convert, on Shavu'ot. The
Book of Lamentations is read on Tisha b'Av, when we lament the destruction
of the Temple in Jerusalem. And on Sukkot, the melancholic Book of Ecclesiastes
complete the cycle of the megillot.
2. The Jewish social groups of Medieval times answered the then current
religious requirement that certain objects must be "owned"
by those participating in a ceremony. A bride had to be married in "her
own" dress and had to be given a ring the groom had "purchased".
Likewise for a proper circumcision rite, rabbinic interpretation required
that the mohel have his own instruments. In the poor Azhkenazic communities,
most families did not have the resources to comply, so they "bought"
- albeit on temporary basis - the items to fulfill these requirements.
Later on the group conveniently bought them back. This system obviously
worked well when items were needed neither continuously (e.g. a burial
shawl) nor simultaneously by all members of the community (e.g. Passover
dishes). More recently, it is worth noting that the design of Boston's
largest private umbrella social service agency, the United Way, was
strongly influenced by the formation of the first independent federation
of Jewish agencies, established in Boston in 1895. We should remember
these charitable traditions in these difficult times.
3. Moe Berg was a backup catcher for most of his fifteen year major
league career. From the mid-1920s through 1939, he played with the Chicago
White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, and - in the final
four years - Tom Yawkey's Boston Red Sox. Though his baseball achievements
were quite modest, his intellectual and professional achievements were
not. He was a 1923 Princeton graduate, received a second degree from
Columbia Law School, and also studied at the Sorbonne in France. Though
he was a first-rate linguist and attorney, Moe is most renowned for
his role as a spy. Berg went to Japan in the early 1930s with the likes
of Ruth and Gehrig on an all-star traveling team. In fact, Berg was
assigned to take espionage photos. During WWII, he became one of America's
most important atomic spies, gathering vital information on top German
scientists. He had a great talent for languages and it was claimed that
he learned Japanese in two weeks. However, the baseball pundits countered
that "He can speak 12 languages but can't hit in any of them".
True, his lifetime average was a paltry .243, but he excelled in other
aspects of the game. Senator's Manager Clark Griffith called him "the
best handler of pitchers in the league" and he was a fine defensive
catcher, breaking an American League record with 117 consecutive full
games without an error in the 1932-33 seasons.
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February
2003
1. Am HaSefer translates literally as "People of the Book".
Am means nation or people. Sefer is "book" and the "ha"
prefix is the definite article "the". With the Bible, and
later the Talmud, at the core of their cultural and religious life,
Jews became known as "the People of the Book" to their Christian
and Moslem neighbors. One very important byproduct of this emphasis
is that Jews throughout history have been a literate people. During
the festival of Am HaSefer, we quite properly celebrate this heritage
of literacy and devotion to books.
2. The Beth Elohim library is now located in a much more accessible
location in the new synagogue. No one is sure exactly how many volumes
we have, but most guesses come in around 1500 books, every one relating
to some aspect Jewish history, religion or culture. This collection
has already grown considerably since the Library moved from the modest
quarters of the old building. Even with the generous contributions of
our congregants and friends, there is no possibility of surpassing the
collection of the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem.
This is the central library of Hebrew University's Jerusalem campus
as well as the national library of the State of Israel. Its vast collections
include over 3 million volumes, and thousand of manuscripts, many of
them priceless. The Library has material in all the Jewish languages
-- Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, etc. -- of every place and period. Today
its collections of Hebraica and Judaica are the largest in the world.
3. The Five Books of Moses, the Torah, are at the center of the Jewish
faith, so naturally the names of these Books have been a center of attention
throughout the ages. The English names are familiar enough, but not
- at least to most of us - the original Hebrew names. As noted in the
initial question, the Hebrew name is usually taken from the first significant
word in the text of that Book. Genesis begins with the word B'reishit,
which is its Hebrew name meaning "in the beginning". Exodus
opens with a listing of the names of Jacob's sons, and so is known as
Sh'mot, Hebrew for 'the names' as in its initial passage "These
are the names of the sons of Israel…". The Hebrew name of
the priestly Book of Leviticus is its first word, Va-yikra, or 'he called'.
In the initial verse of this book, the Lord calls to Moses giving him
instructions on proper sacrifice. The Book of Numbers is a chronicle
of Israel's journey through the desert. Its Hebrew name, B'midbar, means
"in the wilderness, the deserts of Judea and Sinai. In the opening
passages, the Lord speaks to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, telling
him to take a census (i.e. determine the 'numbers') of the whole Israelite
community. The Book of Deuteronomy is one long speech by Moses just
before his death. The Hebrew name D'varim, meaning "these are the
words", comes directly from the first lines, "These are the
words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan…".
A rose by any other name may indeed smell as sweet, but it's hard to
conceive of the Torah without these names.
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January 2003
1. Jewish people should be honored that the stirring words of the prophet
Isaiah were chosen for the engraving on the cornerstone of the UN. The
passage is from early in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 2, Verse 4. The
prophet's vision of the ultimate reign of God, when the lion shall lie
down with the lamb and the sword will be beaten into a plowshare, has
inspired many in the western world. His messages of comfort are read
as the prophetical portions in the synagogue in the weeks following
the fast of Tu B’Shvat in January. Interestingly, the same passage
also appears in Chapter 4 Verse 3 of the Book of Micah. The prophet
Micah preached about the same time as the better known Isaiah.
2. Because of his great stature as the leader - and in a doctrinal
sense the very embodiment – of the world’s largest religion,
every deed and word of the Pope is magnified. And far more than any
of his predecessors, John Pope II has made entreaties to the Jewish
people and to address the Church’s role in the suffering of centuries.
He has done many things that have moved scholars and common people alike.
The one that most moved James Carroll, however, was not the most publicized.
It occurred when the Pope “stood in devotion before that remnant
of the Temple” and offered at a simple prayer at the Western Wall,
following the sacred custom of Jews for ages. The Pope thus honored
Jews at home in Israel. Because of the importance he attaches to mending
the historic breach and ending persecution, Carroll found the Pope’s
gesture the “single most momentous act of his papacy”. Carroll’s
own work is also an important step in building bridges between the two
faiths. But there is more to do. As encouraged as he is by the Pope’s
efforts, Carroll believes the Pope’s and Church’s work is
still far from completed. He closes “Constantine’s Sword”
with a call to his fellow Christians for reform in several critical
areas.
3. One of the first things you notice about Everett Fox’s Five
Books of Moses is that it scans more like a poem. Each line is printed
separately, and there are no blocks of prose as in a normal book. He
will point out that the Torah was meant to recited aloud, not silently
read as we often do. In fact, it was to be recited to a particular melody,
called Torah trope. And the notation marks which assist in keeping the
proper melody are called trope marks, special symbols which appear above
the Hebrew text. The trope marks do not appear in the Torah scrolls
themselves, but have been added in liturgical copies. They can be traced
to at least the ninth century C.E., though probably they were in use
long before that. This musical augmentation no doubt helped previous
generations memorize the Bible. |