A Modern Midrash

This Shabbat I will be away from the synagogue on a Family Retreat with members of Congregation Beth Shalom. We will be spending the weekend at Camp Shai in Wisconsin, just below the North Pole, by my reckoning. This week I am sharing a dvar Torah that I gave on January 17th, 2014, but did not post. 

I often share midrash from the pulpit and in my teaching, but I rarely take the time to explain exactly what midrash is. Tonight I will do just that. Midrash is the name we use to describe the interpretive activity of the Bible as practiced by the Rabbis of the Land of Israel in the first five centuries of the common era. It comes from the root d-r-sh, which means “to inquire” or “to seek after”. There were, according to the rabbis, deeper meanings to the Biblical text than met the eye. These could be discovered by exploring the inconsistencies of the Biblical text, as well as parts of the text that virtually beg us to ask questions.  Midrash is divided by scholars into two types – that concerning legal matters is called Midrash Halacha, and that concerning stories and legends is called Midrash Aggadah.  This latter Midrash, the Midrash Aggadah, often reflected the interests and concerns of the common people who frequented the synagogues of late antiquity. Rabbis used Midrash Aggadah to make the Bible relevant and interesting to non-scholarly audiences who heard the Torah read in their synagogues.  

The creation of midrash, however, did not end with the rabbis of the fifth century. I want to share with you this evening two midrashes – the first, a classic midrash from the early rabbis, and second, a modern midrash by a contemporary Jewish writer.

First, the classic midrash: In the Book of Numbers, the princes of the tribes of Israel bring gifts to dedicate the Mishkan—the portable desert sanctuary.  The Torah tells us that the first prince to bring a gift is named Nachshon ben Aminadav of the tribe of Judah. Now, to be chosen to bring the very first gift to the dedication ceremony of the Mishkan is a great honor. What, the rabbi’s ask, might Nachshon have done to merit such distinction? Since the Torah does not tell us, the answer is given in the form of a midrash. According to the rabbis, when the Israelites were being pursued by the Egyptians, Nachshon ben Aminadav was the first person to jump into the sea, almost drowning before the sea miraculously parts to allow the people to cross on dry land. In reward for this display of faith, both Nachshon and the tribe of Judah are rewarded with a place of honor among Israel.

Now, the Torah tells us that Nachshon has a sister, named Elisheva. You have probably never heard of her, because she is only mentioned one time in the Torah. Earlier in the Book of Exodus, the Torah tells us “Aaron took to wife Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.” That is the last we ever hear of her in the Torah. She is the wife of Aaron the High Priest, the sister in law of Moses, the mother of the Priests of the Tabernacle, the sister of the Prince of Judah.  She must have lived a pretty interesting life, being a part of such a distinguished family, but we know nothing more about her!  Are we not curious? The contemporary poet Danny Siegel was.  He creates a modern midrash about her that fills in some of the blanks of her life.  This evening, I want to share Danny Siegel’s midrash with you.

Danny Siegel says that Elisheva started out as Nachshon’s little sister.  She was a few years younger than he was, and so, like all big brothers, he watched out for her, got annoyed with her, played with her and laughed with her.  Elisheva and her brother Nachshon were very close.

The years went by and Nachshon and Elisheva grew up.  Elisheva had become a young woman, who was smart, and mature, and able to take care of herself!

Then came the day when the people of Israel stood in front of the Red Sea. The Egyptians were chasing after them, and the sea was in front of them, and they were trapped in between.  The midrash tells us that the people were divided as to what to do. Some simply prayed to G-d for help. Some wanted to surrender to the Egyptians and return to Egypt.  Some wanted to fight the Egyptians.  Moses didn’t know what to do, so he prayed to G-d for guidance.

Nachshon hesitated and looked at his sister. She knew exactly what he was thinking. “You can do it,” she said to him, and she squeezed his hand.  “You can lead us to freedom.” At that moment Nachshon jumped into the sea. He waded out further and further, until he was up to his neck.  Seeing the brave Nachshon about to drown, G-d said to Moses, “Stop praying to me and tell the people to go!  Raise up your hand toward the sea.” Moses did so, and the sea parted. Nachshon was saved. The Jewish people followed him to freedom. 

If it wasn’t for his sister Elisheva, Nachshon would not have had the confidence to follow through on his instincts to act. She knew that someone had to make the first move to freedom, and she knew that her brother was the one to do it. Who knows, were it not for Elisheva’s encouragement, perhaps we would still be slaves in Egypt!

This midrash got me to think about the people in my life who encouraged me, who showed confidence in me, who said the words, “You can do it” when I needed it.  If we are fortunate, we all have had people in our lives whose words gave us the push we needed to do what we did not think we could do. This evening, in honor of Elishava, let us bring to mind and give thanks to those people who told us “You could do it” at important junctures in our lives. Let’s share some of our stories with one another at the oneg – I myself would love to hear about people in your lives who said, like Elisheva, “You could!”

Shabbat Shalom

Inspired by a sermon by Rabbi Jack Reimer

Chicago Rabbinic Action Committee Mission -- 2014

Rome and Jerusalem

Last week I spoke about The Rabbinic Action Committee trip to Rome.  I showed slides of the Jewish Catacombs of Rome, the Fosse Ardeantine memorial, ancient Jewish manuscripts of the Vatican library, our visit to the Ostia-Antica synagogue – the oldest remains of a synagogue outside of the Land of Israel. I also showed some slides of Tempio Maggiore – Rome’s Great Synagogue – where we spoke with Rome’s Chief Rabbi, Ricardo de Segni.  As you remember from last Shabbat, we were also special guests of Pope Francis at his weekly audience at the Vatican. We also visited the Renzo Levi School, just across the street from the synagogue. This is a school of 1000 students for children from elementary through High School. Italian Jews enroll their children in this school because it provides a high quality of education, and provides a safe, Jewish environment in which to study. We visited two classrooms – the first a Hebrew language class, the second a class in Art Appreciation conducted in English. About 80% of the students studying there are on scholarships. Other highlights included our meeting with Zion Evrony, Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, our meeting with Naor Gilon, Israel’s ambassador to Italy, and our meeting with Cardinal Kurt Koch, who heads the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.

 We broached a sensitive subject in our meeting with the Cardinal. We asked him about the opening of the Vatican archives to scholars wanting to examine the wartime record of Pope Pius XII. You might remember that Pope Pius XII’s actions during the Holocaust have been a source of controversy. Consequently, the Vatican’s moves toward conferring  sainthood upon Pius XII has angered Jewish groups who claim that he did not do enough to intervene to save Jews during World War II.  Jewish groups also argue that the Vatican helped many former Nazis escape to South America after World War II, and they wonder about Pope Pius’ role in this. The only way to put to rest the serious questions about Pius’ behavior during the Shoah would be to open the archives to independent scholars. Cardinal Koch replied that he had no objection to opening the archives. In fact, some years ago the Vatican agreed to make the archives available to researchers. However, he said, the thousands upon thousands of documents that constitute the archives would need to be put in order so that they can be productively researched by scholars – and this has not yet happened! 

After four full days in Rome, we flew to Israel. Friday morning we met with Akiva Tor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  He summarized for us the issues and challenges that Israel faces with her neighbors – Iran, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.  He also spoke of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Israel. Although it will last only 28 hours – Israeli leaders had hoped he would stay for three days – the Pope will visit Yad Vashem, The Western Wall and meet with Israeli political and religious leaders. Our speaker contrasted Pope Francis’ upcoming visit with Pope Paul VI’s visit to Israel in 1964. That visit lasted only 11 hours, and Pope Paul VI never once mentioned Israel by name. He went out of his way to avoid using the word “Jew”, avoided all sites of Jewish significance including Yad Vashem – Israel’s Holocaust memorial. He even took the occasion to praise Pope Pius XII and defend his silence during the Holocaust. Pope Paul VI dedicated his visit to “Christian Unity” rather than interfaith understanding. He refused to set foot in West Jerusalem – although he celebrated Mass in East Jerusalem, then under Jordanian rule.  Clearly the relationship between the Vatican and Israel has changed significantly for the better since that papal visit in 1964!

On a personal note, a major highlight was meeting our niece, Esty, in Jerusalem for Shabbat. Esty is my sister Audrey’s daughter. She graduated from Dartmouth last June and is in Israel on a Fellowship for a year. She works at the Israeli National Wildlife Animal Hospital, which is nestled right in the heart of the Tel Aviv Zoo!  She charmed us and my colleagues with her tales of her experiences as a veterinary assistant treating injured exotic wild animals that are brought in to the hospital --  like ibex’s, eagle owls, fruit bats, flamingos, jackals, hyenas, hoopoe birds, and Egyptian mongoose – mongeese? -- to name a few. She also has participated in editing and publishing scholarly articles on innovative forms of treatment for these animals that come out of the work at the hospital. Our 6^th grade class and I were discussing the various categories of mitzvahs that one can perform, such as “Keeping Shabbat” and “Honoring your parents and teachers.” One category we discussed is called “Tzaar Ba-alei Chayim” – kindness to animals. I told them about Esty’s work at the animal hospital and next Tuesday I will show them slides of Esty with some of the animals that she treats.

On Shabbat afternoon Esty took me on a walk through the Arab quarter to a place called the Austrian Hospice. The roof of the Austrian Hospice afforded us a unique view of the Old City and the Dome of the Rock. Middy stayed back at the hotel taking her Shabbas snooze.

Sunday morning began with a study session with Professor Avigdor Shinan of the Hebrew University. We studied Rabbinic texts related to rabbinic attitudes toward Rome. Given that Rome burned down the Second Temple in 70 CE, plowed under the ruins of Jerusalem and built a Roman colony there in its stead called Aelia Capitolina, and destroyed the remainder of the country in the course of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, you might guess that the attitude of the rabbis of the time was not all that positive toward Rome. Take this charming story, for example, related in the Talmud. “Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Yosi and Rabbi Shimon were sitting together. Rabbi Yehudah said, “How wonderful the Romans have been to us here in Israel! They’ve established marketplaces, they’ve constructed bridges, and they’ve built bath-houses.” Rabbi Yosi was quiet. Rabbi Shimon said, “Everything they have done here, they have done for their own benefit, not ours! They established marketplaces to sell their harlots, bath-houses to give themselves pleasure, and bridges to collect tolls from us.” Word of their conversation got back to the Roman authorities. The Roman authorities decreed – “Rabbi Judah – you who exalted Rome will yourself be exalted”, and they honored him. “Rabbi Yosi – you who were quiet are exiled. Rabbi Shimon – you who denigrated Rome will receive the death penalty.”

Later that Sunday morning we visited the Joint Distribution Committee’s building in Jerusalem to learn about a program that is helping to integrate Israel’s ultra-Orthodox men into the Israeli army and after the army, into the work force. The problem of ultra-Orthodox poverty and dependence is huge in Israel – the Yeshivah education that the men receive does not prepare them for the workforce, they have been exempt from military service, they have huge families, they study Torah all day and subsist on welfare. The program is called Shakhar Chadash – New Dawn.  We met with its director, Israel Hoffrichter. The program enlists Ultra-Orthodox volunteers into the Israel Defense Forces, and offers them training in the military that will lead to employment after their army service. The program also provides glatt kosher food, and time for one hour of Torah study a day. Starting with 30 men in 2007, the program has now grown to serve 3000 men.  The program aims allow Ultra-Orthodox men to serve in the army and at the same time maintain their traditional way of life. Part of that way of life, however, involves strict separation of men and women, as well as the maintaining of traditional gender roles. This elicited some discussion among our group after the meeting. Although the program is promoted as a way of making Israeli society more inclusive, does that inclusivity come at the expense of women?

There was much more, including our meeting with Dr. Khalil Shikaki, Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, and Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, and Dr. Shlomo Avineri, Political Science Professor at Hebrew University and frequent contributor to the Israeli newspaper Ha-Aretz. Next week I will be away at our family retreat at Camp Shai in Wisconsin, but the following week I will continue with an account of our Mission to Rome and Jerusalem.

Shabbat Shalom

New Year's Day Message

Embracing our Differences

On January 1 I participated in a panel at Wentz Concert Hall for the ninth annual World Peace Day Interfaith Prayer Service.  The theme of the day was “Embracing Differences in Our Changing Communities”.  My first thought was, “Who better than a rabbi to speak about the consequences of failing to embrace differences in a community?”  The Jewish experience testifies to the suffering and injustice that occurs when a minority that is different is not only not embraced, but actively persecuted. This has been part of the Jewish narrative ever since Pharaoh decided, as we read in the Torah this week, that he would not tolerate a free Jewish presence in his land. One lesson the Exodus story teaches is that everyone in a society suffers when intolerance reigns. Is it any wonder that Jews have been at the forefront of movements to tolerate and embrace those who are seen as “different” in our country – whether they be racial minorities, the immigrant, women, gays, lesbians and transgendered people, the physically challenged, the politically outspoken?  This evening I want to share with you what I said on New Year’s Day at the World Peace Day Service:

Look around! We are of different skin colors, ethnicities, religions, cultures, and sexual orientations. We speak different languages, have different accents, and have different talents. We are of different ages, different genders and have different physical capacities.  Yet, at the same time, we are all remarkably alike.  In the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, “First and foremost we meet as human beings who have so much in common : a heart, a face, a voice, the presence of a soul, fears, hope, the ability to trust, a capacity for compassion and understanding, the kinship of being human.”[1]

 The Talmud says that G-d created human diversity on purpose, to proclaim the greatness of the Creator. “For,” say the sages, “If a man strikes many coins from one die, they all resemble one another – in fact, they are all exactly alike!  But though the King of Kings, the Holy Blessed One, created every single human being out of the die of the first one, not a single person is like his fellow.”  Thus, in the Jewish view, G-d created a world full of diversity in order to testify to the magnificence of G-d’s glory and power. 

Recent history shows the consequences of trying to undo and even to eradicate that divinely planned diversity. In the twentieth century, the government of the Soviet Union sought to erase all differences among peoples.  This rested on the ideology that all human beings are equal, and, in their view, equality meant that there are no differences. They understood that everyone should be” the same”. The Communist authorities of the last century held that, “Ethnicity, class, religion and national characteristics belong to an old and decaying world. The time for such distinctions had passed,” they proclaimed.  They saw human diversity as a hindrance to human progress. 

 Natan Sharansky, one of the moral giants of the 20^th century, opposed this ideology with all of his heart, soul, and strength.  Sharansky lived in the Soviet Union and was arrested by Soviet authorities in 1977. He spent the next nine years in a Soviet Prison Camp in the Siberian gulag. His crime -- he wanted to affirm his Jewish identity by emigrating to Israel.  His arrest and imprisonment became a world- wide symbol for human rights in general and for the right of Soviet Jews in particular. He was the first political prisoner to be released by Mikhael Gorbachev due to intense pressure from President Reagan and the United States.  He wrote an account of his ordeal in an inspiring book entitled Fear No Evil. He writes of the corrosive effects on the individual by those who seek to erase all differences among human beings.

That Soviet government, he writes, wanted to create a new type of man – homo sovieticus. In a fanatical pursuit of this goal, it became illegal for Jews to gather for prayer, to teach their children about the Jewish religion, to have Jewish books, to learn the Hebrew language, and to follow the news about Israel.  If one was caught doing any of these things, one could be denied acceptance to a University, fired from a job, or thrown into prison.  The efforts to erase difference succeeded beyond imagination.  Sharansky writes that he grew up knowing that he was Jewish, but knowing nothing about Jewish history, language, culture or religion. “Like all Soviet Jews of my generation,” he writes, “I grew up rootless, unconnected, without identity.”

Sharansky found the courage to fight for human rights in the Soviet Union by embracing his particular Jewish identity.  Through affirming his right to be different, he found the strength to fight for his own personal liberation and the liberation of all citizens of the Soviet Union.  “Slashing off their roots did not create a new, strong, free man,” as Soviet ideology had believed it would, he writes.  “Instead, it trampled human dignity and turned the individual into a slave a chattel….. Only a person who is connected to his past, to his people, and to his roots can be free, and only a free person has the strength to act for the benefit of the rest of humanity.” Only when we support each other’s right to be who we truly are, are we truly free.

Each morning a Jew recites the following in his or her prayers “How varied and multifarious are your creatures, O Lord, you made each of them with wisdom, you have filled the world with your creation.”   May this New Year see a renewal of our efforts to create a community that respects and embraces our differences, that finds strength and creativity in our uniqueness, and that sees in our diversity a reflection of divine glory.  Amen.

 

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[1] “No Religion is an Island” in Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity edited by Susannah Heschel 1997