Shabbat Parasha Chukat

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

A couple of new Jews arrived in town from Boston this year, and they hold the promise to make winners out of Chicagoland's professional baseball teams.  The first of course is Theo Nathan Epstein, formerly of the Boston Red Sox and now of the beloved Chicago Cubs.  Theo's father, Leslie Epstein, is a well known novelist. In 1979 the senior Epstein wrote a critically acclaimed novel about the Holocaust called "King of the Jews." It is about the liquidation of a fictional ghetto in Poland and the terrible moral choices that confronted the leadership of the community.  Theo Epstein's grandfather, Philip Epstein, and his great uncle, Julius Epstein, were Hollywood writers who won an Academy Award for the screenplay Casablanca!  We all know the success that Theo had in Boston as GM of the Red Sox. Cubs fans are hoping he can bring that franchise its first World Series victory since 1908.

The other Jewish person who came to town came last week, also from Boston. Kevin Youkliss, a third baseman, was traded from the Red Sox to the White Sox, and was greeted with much enthusiasm.  He joins a surprising White Sox team that is in first place in their division.  Youkliss's great-great-great grandfather fled Romania to Greece to avoid forced conscription by the anti-semitic Cossacks.  In Greece he abandoned his surname, "Weiner" and adopted the Greek sounding name "Youkliss". The family immigrated to America in the thirties and settled in Cincinnati.  Kevin Youkliss' father was a jewelry wholesaler.  His mother converted to Judaism, and Kevin was raised in a Conservative Jewish household. Youkliss credits Judaism with having instilled in him an appreciation of the importance of discipline, both on and off the field. He has a charity called "Hits for Kids".  He attributes his philanthropic pursuits to his Judaism. "In the Jewish religion," he says, "one of the biggest things that I learned is that giving is a mitzvah."[1] Kevin has two World Series rings with the Red Sox and hopes to help the White Sox to the World Series Championships this year.  

We can only hope that these two additions to the Jewish community will meet with the success of one of baseball's forgotten Jewish heroes.  Jonah Kline was born in Kansas City in 1875.  Before coming to the Chicago Cubs in 1901 he changed his name to Johnny Kling.  The first season, he alternated with catcher Frank Chance, who later switched to first base to become part of the famous "Tinker to Evers to Chance" combo.  He was the first catcher in the major leagues to throw runners out from a crouching position.  At that time, catchers used to stand some distance away from the batter unless the batter had two strikes on him – Kline, or Kling, was the first catcher to crouch directly behind the batter at all times.  With Kling as their catcher, the Cubs won the NL pennant in 1906 and 1910 and the World Series in 1907 and in 1908.  He was called the "guiding spirit" of the Cub championship teams by the media of the time. 

Kling was the dominant defensive catcher during the first ten years of the twentieth century. From 1902 through 1908 he led the National League in fielding percentage four times, putouts six, assists twice and double plays once.  Honus Wagner rated him the best catcher ever.  Walter Johnson chose two best catchers of all time: Johnny Kling or Bill Dickey. In a June, 1907 game he threw out all four Cardinal runners who tried to steal second, and in the World Series he gunned down 7 of 14 Tiger runners, holding base stealing champion Ty Cobb to no stolen bases.[2] He was good with the bat too. He had a career batting average of .272.

Unlike many ball-players of this era, Kling was a mentsch off the field.  He did not smoke, drink, or chew tobacco.  He planned carefully, as well, for a career after baseball.  When he retired from the game, he returned to Kansas City and became very successful in real estate.  He was remembered by his grandchildren as a family man who had a compassionate side and who was quick to make out a check to a friend in need.  In 1933 he bought the Kansas City Blues Baseball Team and promptly eliminated segregated seating at the Blue's stadium. 

Johnny Kling, however, is not in the Hall of Fame.  Anti-semitism may have had some role in keeping him out. His wife, Lillian, was Jewish. However, after his death, Lillian, perhaps in an attempt to help his candidacy for the Hall of Fame, claimed that he had been a Christian. Once, she claimed he was a Baptist, and years later she claimed he was a Lutheran. [3] Kling's grandson, however, also named John Kling, recently stated that his grandfather was definitely Jewish.  Membership records at Bnai Yehuda Temple in Kansas City Missouri, of close family members support this claim. 

May the memory of Johnny Kling/Jonah Kline, be a blessing. And may the latest additions to the Chicagoland Jewish Community bring as much success to their respective teams, and as much pride to our Jewish community, as Johnny Kling did to his.

Shabbat Shalom

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[1] Slater, Robert  Great Jews in Sports Jonathan David Publishers, 2010  pp 288-290

[2] Bogen, Gil and David Anderson "Johnny Kling" http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/b647d3a9

[3] The Best Team Ever, a Novel of America, Chicago and the 1907 Cubs  at http://www.1907cubs.com/johnny-kling.php

Parasha Shlach Lecha

The Power of Money

In this week's Torah reading, Moses instructs twelve spies, one for each of Israel's tribes, to investigate the characteristics of the land the people are about to enter.  The Torah describes these twelve men as "notables" and "all leaders of the people".  The spies travel throughout the land of Israel during the course of forty days, and they return to the camp bearing an enormous load of the fruit of the land.

Yet when they return, their testimony is contradictory.  On the one hand, they assert that the land is one which "flows with milk and honey," a land bounteous and fertile.  On the other hand, they also insist that the people in the land are giants--nefillim--who cause the hearts of those who see them to collapse.

Based on the perceived strength of the inhabitants, ten of the spies urge Israel not to try to conquer the land, despite the assurances of God and of Moses that they would do so successfully.

Alone among the spies, Caleb and Joshua assert, with complete faith, that Israel should enter and take the land immediately.[1]

Our rabbis were perplexed, to say the least, about the behavior of the ten spies who urged the people not to try to enter the land.  Their description of the obstacles in front of the Israelites sent the people into a panic.  The people completely rebelled against Moses and threatened to kill Caleb and Joshua, who had delivered the minority report.  Our rabbis were perplexed, because these ten spies were described as leaders of the people and as men of renown.  They were chosen because they were trustworthy. How could they turn so completely against Moses, against G-d, and against the mission of the Jewish people?

Two possibilities presented themselves to our rabbis.  According to the Maharal of Praugue, circa 1600, it was the people who pushed for the mission to spy out the land.  Because they were filled with doubt about the veracity of Moshe's reports of the goodness of the Land of Israel, these people initiated the mission with the hopes that the report would come back negative.  While the men on the mission were initially righteous, their sponsors were not.  When the spies agreed to represent the tribes who sent them, they became transformed into their sponsors and looked for reasons for their mission to fail.[2] In other words, they were good men, corrupted by money. 

Another theory, put forth by the RamBAN  (13^th century Spain) is that the ten spies, who were leaders of great stature in the desert community, became concerned about what their status would be when the people settled in the Land of Canaan.  Upon settling in the Land of Caanan, the people would be transformed from a desert, nomadic society to a settled, agriculture one.  With this change would come great economic and social upheavals.  The spies, according to this theory, were concerned about losing their exalted places in this new society. Therefore, they campaigned tent to tent throughout the camp of Israel to convince people that they should refuse to enter the land.  Thus, by sowing doubt into the minds of the Israelites, they protected the status quo and their own special interests.

This being both the 40^th anniversary of the Watergate break-ins and an election year, it is interesting to consider these two theories, articulated 400 and 800 years ago and what they can teach us of our own times.  Some things don't change, do they?  The chief lesson of Watergate was this: "Of all the corrupting influences in politics, none takes a back seat to unlimited and unaccountable money[3]."  Yet, that is exactly what we have today.  How can big money, given anonymously, as is possible today, influence otherwise good men and women.  Do our leaders truly represent us, or do they represent the interests of their sponsors – sponsors who are unknown to us.  Conversely, how do we know when our leaders are putting their best interests above the interests of the country as a whole?  I certainly have no answers.  We would all be wise, however, to ponder the question this election year. 

 

 

 

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[1] Rabbi Bradley Artson "The Power of Perception"  sermon 5764

[2] Rabbi Ed Davis  "Torah Dialogue"  Shelach  5772

[3] "Watergate Lesson Lost" by Jules Witcover, Chicago Tribune, June 15, 2012

To Err is Human

All of us acknowledge that to err is human.  Yet, most of us go through life assuming that we are right about almost everything – from the big things, like global warming or whether there should be a death penalty, to the little things, like how to load a dishwasher or how to make a left hand turn in Naperville.  The journalist Kathryn Schulz published a book[1] two years ago exploring why, if we acknowledge that being wrong is so natural and frequent, we find it so maddening to be mistaken ourselves. Our insistence on being right and our reluctance to admit we are wrong can corrode relationships between family members, colleagues, neighbors and even nations.

We are able to recognize our past mistakes, but in the moment, even if later we will admit we were wrong, we are convinced of our rightness.  "Indeed, the whole reason it is possible to be wrong is that, while it is happening, you are oblivious to it," she writes. When you are simply going about your business in a state you will later decide was delusional, you have no idea of it whatsoever."  Realizing that we are wrong can elicit a variety of feelings -- shock, confusion, embarrassment, and even pleasure.  But "being wrong" only elicits one kind of feeling – the same exact feeling we have when we feel we are right! 

This subject has relevance for us this week, as the Torah speaks of the ordeal of the Sotah. You may remember that the ordeal was a regular form of trial in the Middle Ages in Europe.  An ordeal is a legal custom whereby an accused person was required to perform a test, the outcome of which decided the person's guilt or innocence. In the Torah, almost all matters of guilt and innocence are determined by witnesses and judges.  The ordeal of the Sotah is the only instance of an ordeal that is found in the Hebrew Scriptures. The ordeal is mandated when a jealous husband accuses his wife of committing adultery.  She appears before the priest in the Temple and drinks a mixture of bitter water, dust from the sanctuary floor, and a charcoal curse containing God's name which is dissolved into the water potion. After drinking the water, if her body begins to deteriorate, she is considered guilty of adultery by the court and the entire people of adultery.  But, as is much more likely, if nothing happens -- after all, the only thing she did was to drink some dirty water -- her innocence is established beyond doubt.

We can understand why the Torah resorts to an ordeal in the case of a jealous husband and his wife.  Jealousy is like a sickness.  A jealous man is convinced that he is justified in his suspicions. He has lost his capacity to reason, by definition.  He is overcome by his emotions, convinced of his rightness and the wrongness of his wife's behavior.  The only way that he can possibly be convinced that he is wrong about his wife's behavior is if G-d himself, G-d who knows all, from whom there are no secrets, can give him a sign.  Otherwise, husband and wife are frozen in their positions – he, knowing that he is right, his wife, insisting that he is wrong. 

Of course, this is a rather extreme example of a conflict between and husband and a wife. But many conflicts are like this. They start when a husband sees things one way, and the wife sees them another. They try to convince one another that they are right and the other is wrong.  Neither wants to budge. Each is convinced of their own rightness. Pride and ego get in the way. Neither wants to back down.  Each party feels aggrieved, and hurt.  And each party says, "If I back down, if I give in, I will appear to be weak. And therefore, I don't care who started this fight. I don't care who is right or wrong. I am not going to back down, no matter what!"

The writer Richard Carlson[2] points out the utter folly of this dynamic.  "Think about it," he writes, "Have you ever been corrected by someone and said to the person who was trying to be right 'Thank you so much for showing me that I'm wrong and you're right. Now I see it. Boy, you're great.'….. Of course not. We all want our positions to be respected and understood by others. Being listened to and heard is one of the greatest desires of the human heart. And those who learn to listen are the most loved and respected….."

In our Thursday morning class we were discussing the concepts of "sin" and "being wrong".  One of the members asked me what I thought the difference was.  I thought about that after the class, and came up with an answer.  "To sin is always wrong. But being wrong is no sin." Being wrong is simply part of the human experience.  We should try to carry around a mantra when we get into disagreements with others, especially those we love.  That mantra would be "Maybe I'm wrong."

Rabbi Jack Riemer writes that when he is called upon to do marital counseling, he firsts asks the couple to recite a prayer with him. That prayer reads: 

Dear God,

May there be no winner and no loser in this dispute. For if there is a winner, there will be a loser, and if that happens, we will both lose. Instead, give us the wisdom to find a way in which to compromise, so that we may safeguard each other's honor, so that we may protect each other's dignity, and so that we may understand each other's feelings.  Amen.

 [1] Kathryn Schulz, "Being Wrong, Adventures in the Margin of Error",  HarperCollins 2010

  [2] Richard Carlson, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, And It's All Small Stuff"  Hyperion, NY 1997 pp 33-34

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

In a proclamation dated 5^th of May, 1868, General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, declared that the 30^th of May, 1868 would be the nations official memorial day. On that day in 1868 flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.  By 1890, Memorial Day was honored in all of the states in the North. The states of the South refused to honor Memorial Day until after WWI, preferring to honor Confederate dead on separate days.  After WWI the Southern states began to honor Memorial Day after the meaning of the day was changed from honoring the dead of the Civil War to honoring the dead of all American wars.

The observance of Memorial Day, which used to be a sacred day on the American Calendar, has declined in recent years.  Some place responsibility on Congress, which in 1971 moved Memorial Day from May 30^th to the final Monday in May, thus creating a three day weekend every year and thus undermining the very meaning of the day.  But it is likely as well that the creation of an all-volunteer army has also had something to do with the change in Memorial Day observance.  Today, the burdens of military service fall on a small proportion of the population.  This makes it easier, perhaps, for Presidents to start wars, and continue them, because the sacrifice for these wars is not shared by a broad cross section of the American people.  We finance these wars through debt, so that the taxpayer does not have to sacrifice even financially for the enormous costs of the wars.  Indeed, it has been easy for most of us here to live our lives for the past 12 years completely unaffected by the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya that we have engaged in.  It is easy to forget that over 5700 American servicemen and women have died in these wars, and tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of Americans have been wounded.  Many of these wounded have had their lives changed forever by the nature of their injuries.

Today, when we think of Jews who serve in the military, we are most likely to think of Jewish soldiers in the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces. In fact, there are 650 American Jews holding dual American-Israeli citizenship who are serving today in the Israeli military.  People are sometimes surprised to learn that Jews serve in the American military because they think that a Jew interested in military service would do that service in Israel.  That is what Beverly Wolfer-Nerenberg, discovered when her brother, Stuart, was killed in Bagdad. "I think that people overlook the fact that Jews living in this country are patriotic and do have a sense of duty and gratitude and are grateful for what this country has given to us over the years," she said."[1]

It is important to remember that American Jews have also served proudly in the American military these past twelve years.  As of 2011, 1500 Jews were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, making up about 1% of the total American deployment.  Thirty eight Jewish men and women have died in Iraq and in Afghanistan since the United States since the war began in Afghanistan in 2001.

One of them is Airman First Class Mathew Ryan Seidler.  Mathew was 24 years old when he was killed in Helmand province in Afghanistan.  He was buried last January 17 at Arlington Memorial Cemetery.  According to his Bronze Star citation, Seidler and his team, charged with clearing a safe path for a 21-vehicle convoy in Helmand, had neutralized two roadside bombs when a third exploded. Seidler and two others were killed.

"Matt followed his dream," his father said. Defusing the improvised explosive devices that have been the signature weapon of the enemy in Afghanistan "was his calling." 

"The Explosive Ordinance Disposal units make up 1 percent of the Air Force," noted Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro at Mathew's funeral, "but accounts for 25 percent of the casualties."

"Matt knew this, and yet he still did it," Rabbi Shapiro said. "That's who Matt Seidler was. He was strong-willed. He was full of conviction for his values and stood up for what he believed in. … He wanted to give as much as he possibly could to help his country."

Airman First Class Mathew Ryan Seidler, may his memory be a blessing, is just one of the thousands of Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country these past 11 years.  Just as we remember those Israeli soldiers who die for the defense of Israel, we must not forget the many Jews who serve with the U.S. military, just as bravely and with just as much at stake.  Indeed, we must not forget any of the Americans who fought and died to make this country the shining beacon of freedom that it is today. 

Memorial Day Prayer

"A Prayer for Memorial Day"

Based upon a prayer written by Rabbi Matt Friedman

 

Eloheinu v'Elohei avoteinu v'imoteinu -- Our God and God of our ancestors,

 As we approach Memorial Day, may we honor and remember those who died that we might live in freedom.

We remember our departed loved ones gone on before.

Those that we honor will be a part of our lives forever.

 Watch over those who defend our nation.

Shield them from harm and guide them in all their pursuits.

Grant their commanders wisdom and discernment

in their time of preparation and on the battlefield.

Should battle erupt may their victory be swift and complete.

May the loss of life for any of your creations be avoided.

Grant healing to those who are wounded

and safe redemption to those who fall into enemy hands.

For those who have lost their lives, grant consolation

and Your presence to those who were close to them.

We also ask that you stand with our President and all our military leaders.

Guide them in their decision making

so that Your will is implanted within their minds.

May it be Your will that world hostilities come to a rapid end

And that those in service are returned safely to their families.

We pray that freedom will dawn for the oppressed and

Fervently we hope that the vision of Your prophet will come to be,

"Let nation not lift up sword against nation nor learn war anymore." 

May this vision come to pass speedily and in our day,

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] : http://forward.com/articles/135333/our-fallen/#ixzz1vttZZYAg