My nametag in English, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian.
Preparing for a very special visit.
Please support the people in need by giving to these or other humanitarian aid groups.
The JCC in Krakow will be our base of operations when we arrive.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04/06/world/ukraine-russia-war-news/jewish-center-krakow
The preparation continues. Many of us bring duffle bags. It is a beautiful way to deliver needed supplies and an excellent way for a community to come together and help others.
However, please donate money to the humanitarian organizations on the ground. Then they can leverage your money to get more supplies over there. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but buying wholesale works!
And there are domestic ways to help. Rabbi Shmuley Yaklowitz is assisting refugees in Arizona, and HIAS is helping people too. So, find a way for you to connect meaningfully, and please give.
Thank you for everything so far!
Leon Sher takes the simple prayer of Moses on behalf of his sister Miriam and creates a moment we all need heading into this Shabbat. Shireinu Choir of Long Island offers this gift to us.
Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom- a Shabbat of Peace, wholeness, and healing.
One Day
Something amazing happened in Haifa a couple of years ago. Three thousand people gathered to sing a song- Matisyahu’s song One Day. Words in Hebrew, Arabic, and English combined into a single voice of love and hope.
Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom!
You can make a difference! Go to World Central Kitchen to learn how to advocate in Congress and to support chef Jose Andres’ incredible work at World Central Kitchen
This stunning rendition of Batya Levine’s “We Rise” comes to us through the artistry of Cantor Harold Messinger, of Beth Am Israel Penn Valley, in collaboration with the talented James Pollard Jr., of Zion Baptist Church of Ardmore.
This Juneteenth, we commemorate and wish Shabbat Shalom!
June 19th is celebrated in American history as the date when the slaves were freed (it actually was the day when Union Troops entered Texas to enforce the final ending of slavery on June 19, 1865, three years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of Sept 22, 1862). Juneteenth, as it is known, remains an aspiration. Today, in this special moment in time we find so much of America is still unfulfilled; Ideals yet to be achieved, dreams yet to realized. America was the Promised Land for so many, but the promise is a work in progress, a distant goal for far too many.
On this Juneteenth let us affirm our commitment to make this special place one that extends ideals of equal justice, liberty, and equality to everyone. It is a long road ahead, but it is a journey worth traveling.
Find a group that promotes our sacred values such as the ADL, the ACLU, the Innocence Project, Repairers of the Breach, and support them. Learn how to help create the changes to make our society juster and fairer for all. Celebrate Freedom on Juneteenth and every day thereafter.
Behar-Bechukotai
Have you ever taken a vacation?
Usually, it is for one of two reasons:
To see or experience something new, or to Rest and relax (and of course some of us combine these). Both are ways to recharge to have a reset, time away from the normal and challenging tasks of work to engage in shavat v’yinafash, resting and refreshing both the body and the soul.
This week׳s Torah Portion Parsha Behar-Bechukotai talks about a reset- The Shmita -a reset of the land. Every seven years we are supposed to stop tilling the soil to let the fields recharge and all people regardless of stature; resident, worker, and slave alike, even the animals, get to partake equally in what is there.
We let things lie dormant so they can be rejuvenated.
The land is recharged and also not uncoincidentally those who do the hard physical labor of farming are given a respite as well. We do this for seven cycles of seven years and then in the 50th year is the Jubilee. “And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and proclaim freedom for slaves throughout the land for all who live on it. It shall be a Jubilee for you, and you shall return each man to his property, and you shall return each man to his family.”(Lev 25:10)
What might we learn from such a giant reset?
Our tradition recognizes that there are imbalances in the system- imbalances inherent in all systems. Some people are more successful in acquiring things, in working skillfully or even artfully, some possess better business acumen, some are particularly adept in choosing the right parents perhaps. And then, there are those not so skilled. The Talmud extensively discusses the issue that “Batar Anya Azla Aniyuta,” or “poverty follows the poor” or that Poverty actually increases from being impoverished.
All societies naturally tend towards these proclivities, and it is up to us, those who can make a difference, to make a change. To reset society to align with our values and principles. Another example of such a reset is commemorated at this time in our calendar.
As we mark the 34th day of our trek to Sinai the story of Shimon Bar Yochai is also worth noting. A disciple of Rabbi Akiva, he and his son, Eleazar, fled to escape the Romans, living in a cave for 12 years. He emerged but instead of re-joining his community, he was disgusted by a perceived lack of piety by the people. Shimon’s eyes burned everything they saw to a cinder, field and man, alike. God’s messenger, The Bat Kol, sent him back to the cave for another year and he emerged an enlightened man dedicated to righteous living and scholarship, redeeming Tiberias and possibly laying the groundwork for writing the seminal book of Jewish Mysticism, the Zohar.
This is the charge of this week’s Parsha- for each of us individually to rededicate ourselves to serving the needs of our people compassionately and deliberately, fully committed to the sacred cause of living Jewishly if we are willing to take up the challenge.
When this health emergency is past, will you emerge hardened from the cave? Or will you emerge from this quarantine open and deeper in touch with the values that are there to guide you? Or, will you figuratively burn what you see to the ground by turning a blind eye towards the deep injustices and needs that exist, or instead, will you choose to engage in pursuing righteousness and Jewish values, treating the people with Tzedek and compassion?
Which path will you choose?
May you choose to walk the Jewish path
Cain Yehi Ratzon,