Lech Lecha and the Elections -- Going Forward From Here

Does it not seem like a long time since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series?  Last Friday night we were all gathered right here in our sanctuary celebrating the historic victory. What has happened to that spirit of joy and solidarity that we all experienced?  What happened?   The   election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States is what happened! In place of feelings of unity, joy and community that we experienced last week, there are feelings of fear, of division and of anxiety. The popular vote was pretty much split down the middle.  Half of the people in our country believe that the country has made a terrible mistake.  That half is worried about the future of our great nation. The other half of the country believes that in electing Donald Trump we have narrowly avoided a disaster. That half is relieved that our great nation is finally on the right path forward. One half of the nation is rejoicing in the election of our new President to be. The other half is dejected and demoralized by that very choice.  As we all know this has been one of the most divisive elections in our history. It has been an election like none in our lifetime, and perhaps like none in American history. We have lived through something unique and historic.

In our parasha for this week, Abraham is told by G-d to leave his home and go to a land that G-d will show him. So, Abraham sets out into the unknown. It is an unknown destination, and an unknown future.  In many ways, regardless of who you voted for, we all feel a little of what Abraham must have felt when he headed into an unknown future. The President of the United States holds the most powerful position in the world. Yet, no newly elected President has any experience whatsoever being the President of the United States. There is no internship for it, no formal training, and no apprenticeship. Only three Presidents of the United States were elected without previous political experience – Zachary Taylor, US Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower. However, they were all leaders of men -- Generals in the United States military.

Protests have already broken out in 25 cities across the United States in reaction to the election. Protesters chanted “Not My President” in demonstrations across the country. A few thousand people demonstrated in Chicago. In Los Angeles, 1500 High School students left class in a non-violent protest against the election.

Of course, they are fundamentally protesting because they are frightened. They are scared of the unknown, scared for themselves and scared for America.

They have reason to be scared. During the campaign, Donald Trump promised to do a lot of things that many considered unwise and some considered dangerous.  He also expressed frightening opinions about different groups of people who are part of the fabric of our nation. We learned alarming things about his behavior, both past and present. Both his rhetoric and his ideas on how to address crucial issues in our country and around the world were deeply disturbing to millions of our fellow Americans as well as many others around the world.

A couple of days after he won the election, I came across a sermon by Rabbi Mitch Wohlberg of Beth Tifiloh Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue in Baltimore. Rabbi Wohberg’s words made me feel a bit more optimistic about the future.  I want to share some of what Rabbi Wohlberg said with you this evening in the hope that, if you are worried about what a Trump Presidency will look like, you may find some comfort as well.

Rabbi Wohlberg quotes Mark Cuban, a Jewish billionaire, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and a severe Trump critic. Mark Cuban tweeted, “We all need to give President-Elect Trump a chance. Support the good. Lobby against what we disagree on. No one is bigger than us all.” I am glad he reminded us of this, as it is the Jewish way. Our tradition tells us to judge people, “lechaf zechut” – giving them the benefit of the doubt. But as Jews and as Americans, we have the responsibility to speak up when we disagree.

Why should we have any hope that President elect Donald Trump will speak and act any differently in the future? Rabbi Wohlberg referred to a Midrash related to this week’s Torah reading that highlights possibility of change. In the beginning of our Parasha G-d tells Avram and Sarai that they will become a great nation and that their name will become great. But years pass, and they have no children. They have no one to carry on after them, and they are in despair. G-d takes Avram and tells him to look into the heavens. G-d tells him that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. On the face of it, G-d is simply reassuring Avram that he and his wife will eventually have children, despite their advanced age. But the rabbis see something deeper. The rabbis say that when Avram is gazing at the stars, he is really reading his horoscope. He sees in his horoscope that he is not destined to have a child with Sarai. G-d tells him that he is correct!  As Avram and Sarai, they are not destined to have a child. However, because of their great faith, G-d is going to change their names. As Avraham and Sarah, they will have a child. Now, says G-d, look at your horoscope again, using the moment of your name change as the moment of your birth.  When Avraham recalculates their horoscopes keeping in mind this new moment of birth he sees that he and Sarah are destined to give birth to a son.

Donald Trump is, in a way, also getting a new name. His name is being changed from Donald Trump to Mr. President. With that new name come new and daunting responsibilities, and a new destiny.  In order to be a successful President, Donald Trump will have to work long and hard to unite the country. In order to be a successful President he has to bring us together. He cannot govern a country successfully where one half of the country is constantly at war with the other half. As President Donald Trump, he needs to slowly build consensus.  Regardless of our positions we all need to help him do just that.

Remember that when Ariel Sharon was Prime Minister of Israel, he oversaw the dismantling of Israeli settlements in the Gaza strip that displaced 8000 people. This was the same Ariel Sharon who was one of the primary architects of the settler movement. When right wing critics and former allies wondered how he could make such an about face, he famously replied, “The view from here is different from the view from there.” Becoming the head of the government, responsible for the welfare of your nation, is different from being the leader of a party or a political candidate. Let’s hope President elect Trump understands that.

These are the words that give me hope that the President-elect will become President for all the people, and not just the people who voted for him. These are the words that give me some hope to believe that a President Trump will temper the words and policies of Candidate Trump. These are the words that lead me to say, “Let’s give him a chance -- let’s withhold our judgement about how he may be as President.” And if that hope does not materialize, we must remember that we are a free people. The fate of our country is in our own hands. Though our country is not without its problems, none of us need surrender to hopelessness, despair or paralysis. We are all co-writers of the story of the United States of America and we should resolutely bear responsibility for that story. This responsibility gives us the opportunity to renew and to build and to strengthen the future of this nation in which we are all the primary authors. Please join me now as we recite the prayer for our country on page 418.

“Sovereign of the universe, mercifully receive our prayer for our land and its government. Let your blessing pour out on this land and on all officials of this country who are occupied, in good faith, with the public needs. Instruct them from your Torah’s laws, enable them to understand your principles of justice, so that peace and tranquility, happiness and freedom, might never turn away from our land. Please, Wise One, God of the lifebreath of all flesh, waken your spirit within all inhabitants of our land, and plant among the peoples of different nationalities and faiths who dwell here, love and brotherhood, peace and friendship. Uproot from their hearts all hatred and enmity, all jealousy and vying for supremacy. Fulfill the yearning of all the people of our country to speak proudly in its honor. Fulfill their desire to see it become a light to all nations.”

Amen, Shabbat Shalom

What Do Noah and Cubs Fans Have in Common?

Hank Greenberg was arguably the greatest Jewish baseball player of all time. Born, Hyman Greenberg, in 1911, he played first base for the Detroit Tigers in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Known also as “Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg and “Hankus Pankus”, Greenberg is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1934, Greenberg, his team in the middle of the American League pennant race, famously refused to play on Yom Kippur. Greenberg wrote in his biography, “The team was fighting for first place, and I was probably the only batter in the lineup who was not in a slump. But in the Jewish religion, it is traditional that one observe the holiday solemnly, with prayer.” His refusal to play on Yom Kippur was immortalized in a poem by Edward Guest which goes as follows:

"Came Yom Kippur — [holy-fast -day] world-wide-over to the Jew,

And Hank Greenberg to his teaching and the old tradition true

Spent the day among his people and he didn't come to play.

Said Murphy to Mulrooney, 'We shall lose the game today!

We shall miss him on the infield and shall miss him at the bat

But he's true to his religion — and I honor him for that!'"

There has always been a special relationship between Jews and baseball. Jewish lore has it that in 1903 when the young Talmudic scholar Louis Ginzberg joined the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary, he was advised by the legendary Chancellor Solomon Schecter to master baseball. “You can’t be a rabbi in America without understanding baseball,” said Schecter to his protégée.  Ginzberg went on to master both the Talmud and baseball! Over a century ago the Yiddish language newspaper The Jewish Daily Forward told its readers, in an advice column entitled Bintel Brief : “Let children play the "wild American game [of baseball]...Don't let your child grow up a stranger in his own country." – A wise exhortation to the millions of European Jewish immigrants arriving to the shores of the United States eager to learn how to become Americans.

The writer Jeffery Tobin identified a more profound reason for the affinity of Jews to the game of baseball. : "Baseball is a game that can break your heart, and to a people whose history has had more than its share of sadness, it was a perfect fit." Do we need to look any further to explain the love Jewish Chicagoans have had for the once hapless Chicago Cubs?

There are other similarities between the sport of Baseball and the Jewish people. At the conclusion of the Passover seder, we say “Next Year in Jerusalem.” And at the conclusion of the Baseball season – or more realistically for Cubs fans at the All Star Break – aren’t we accustomed to saying “There’s always next year!” Then there’s a Chasidic teaching that says that if all Jews in the world kept the Sabbath for only one Shabbat, the Messiah would come. In Chicago it has been widely accepted that if the Cubs ever won the World Series, it would be a sign that the Mashiach would be hard on the heels of the victory!

It seems to me perfectly fitting that the Cubs won the World Series the week that we are reading Parasha Noah. As you know, the Torah tells us that violence has spread across the world and G-d regrets that He created it.  G-d decides to destroy the world, but Noah finds favor in G-d’s eyes. G-d commands Noah to build and ark to save himself, his family, and other flora and fauna in order to begin again following the destruction of the flood. Noah does so. Then the Torah says, “Noah and his wife, and his sons and his daughters-in-law entered the ark because of the rain.” Rashi seizes upon this final clause “because of the rain”. Rashi asks, “Didn’t Noah enter the Ark because G-d commanded him to do so?  What is this “because of the rain?” Rashi concludes that this teaches us that Noah didn’t really believe that G-d would bring a flood to destroy the earth. Despite all the preparations in building the ark and collecting the plants and animals, Noah wasn’t really sure that that G-d would do what G-d said He would do. Sometimes Noah thought it would happen, sometimes he doubted it would happen, but it wasn’t until it started to pour that Noah decided he better get everyone into the ark. He didn’t get into that ark until circumstances forced him to. He was a man, says Rashi, of “mekatnei emunah” – he had little faith. Some say that Noah did not really believe there would be a flood that would destroy the world until he was up to his knees in water. Some say he did not believe it until he was up to his waist in water!  Then it was like, “This looks like it is really going to happen. We better get into that Ark!”

Isn’t that just like us Cubs fans? This past Sunday morning I met with our 8^th through 10^th graders during Sunday school. One student sheepishly asked me a question. Rabbi, do the Cubs still have a chance to win the World Series? This is the morning after the Cubs lost game four and are down 3-1. It was time for THE RABBI to offer some spiritual guidance! Of course they can still win, I said. First, they have to win Sunday night. If they do that, and they win on Tuesday night, there will be a seventh game, and who knows what could happen. To be a Jew is to never give up hope!

Of course, for Cubs fans, with our long, tormented history, we, like Noah, have little faith!  It was hard to believe. Even though they had the best regular season record in baseball, it was hard to believe. Even when they forced a seventh game, it was hard to believe. Even when they were up 5-1 late in the game, it was hard to believe. It was especially hard to believe when the Indians tied it at six in the bottom of the eighth!  It was just as hard to believe when the Cubs went up by two in the top of the tenth. How many Chicagoans were convinced with a certainly surpassing all certainties that the Indians would score three in their half of the inning and win the World Series?  Like Noah needing to be up to his knees in water before he believed it was happening, we didn’t believe the Cubs would or could win until the third out was firmly in the glove of first baseman Rizzo.

The Rabbis teach that there is no happier day on the calendar than Yom Kippur. This is because on Yom Kippur we are finally judged, and, “Ein Simcha Ka-Hatarot Sefeikot – “there is no greater happiness than release from doubt”. Noah was released from doubt when the flood finally came. We, Chicago Cubs fans, are released from doubt now that the drought is finally over. May we find many more reasons for happiness in the years to come. 

Shabbat Shalom