Dear Friends,

            This year, June holds within it the festival of Shavuot, which celebrates the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.  So, this is Torah month!  As with all biblical imagery, it is important for us to see the event at Sinai as a metaphor.  Still, that is not enough.  We need to ask ourselves, “For what is the giving of the Torah a metaphor?  Why was the Torah given on a mountain?  Why in the desert?  What is ‘Torah’ anyway?”

            All good questions!  Come to a special Post-Shavuot Torah Study on Saturday June 14th at 8:15 AM for more!  In the meantime I offer what follows as forshpice (an appetizer).

In rabbinic tradition, “Torah” and “Wisdom” are often interchangeable.  A beautiful midrash (not merely an “interpretation” but more an expansion – a story about a story) says that when the creation of the world as we know it began, Torah/Wisdom was by God’s side as a infant (a metaphor within a metaphor!) and that Torah/Wisdom was brought up and reared by God.  The Midrash also says that the word for “infant” used in the referenced biblical passage could also mean “tutor,” although it is a bit unclear as to who was tutoring whom!  The Midrash definitely articulates that God was educating Torah/Wisdom, but it also contains the image that God was “merely” the builder of the Creation while Torah/Wisdom served as the architect! 

            The metaphor is so beautiful and one to which we can certainly relate.  Whether as parents, god-parents, aunts and uncles or members of a multi-generational community like Beth Shir Sholom, we all know that our relationships with the children among us are precious and valuable for many reasons – not the least of which is that we seem to learn as much from them as we might be teaching them!  Who tutors whom?  Being with children makes us better adults.  Being with children helps us delineate what components of our adulthood are only the trappings of a conformist society and what components are truly parts of the strength of our own continued growth. 

I learned a long time ago that we can’t tell children to do anything unless we are prepared to tell them “why” (that question is coming anyway, so we might as well put the reasoning out there from the very start).  That t-shirt that we’ve all seen around that says, “Because I’m the mom, that’s why!” is, from rabbinic tradition’s perspective, off the mark because it belittles how much we can learn, indeed, must learn from the children around us.

           Torah is everywhere.  Especially in children, everyone’s children!

© Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels
June 2008

The Annual “Take Judaism on the Road” Mitzvot of the Summer

This summer as you go wherever it is you may be going, don’t forget to take Judaism along.  The three-fold way it is expressed by Rabbi Shimon the Righteous in Pirkei Avot is:  “The world stands upon three things:  Reality, self-emptying prayer and meditation and acts of love and kindness.” (Avot: 1:2) (Translation:  Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro).  I know we’ll experience new “realities” wherever we may go this summer and we’ll all do acts of love and kindness (not of the “random” sort, but, rather, purposeful!).  As to “self emptying prayer and meditation, how about a few moments of Shabbat to frame your Friday evening through Saturday “on the road?”

For Shabbat:

• Throw some small, unbreakable candle sticks in your suitcase or some re-usable tea candles and holders.
• A kid’s box of grape juice will work fine for Kiddush (be sure to wash out the box and save it for the special recycling it needs).
• A box of flat bread will work fine for Motzi.

For Havdalah:

• We have Havdalah candles in our gift shop.
• If you forget to buy one, buy three, thin tapers wherever you are and put them in the sun for a few minutes and braid them together.
• Gather some sweet spices and put them in a baggy.
• Another kid’s box of juice will be fine again, but this time, in order to extinguish the candle, you’ll need some sort of a cup that will survive a candle coming close!

In case you need them, here are your basic prayers for Shabbat and Havdalah:

Friday night

Blessing with Candles

Ba-ruch ata Adonai Eloheynu Me-lech ha-olam a-sher kid'sha-nu b'mitz-vo-tav v'tzi-va-nu l'had-lik neyr shel Shabbat.

(We are filled with awe before You, Sovereign of All with whom we have become distinctive and holy through the mitzvot, the pathways of our life.  We express our covenant with the Light of lights as we kindle the candles for Shabbat.)

KIDDUSH

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheynu Melech ha-olam

bo-rey p'ri ha-ga-fen.

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheynu Melech ha-olam,

A-sher kid-sha-nu b'mitz-vo-tav v'ra-tza va-nu. 

V'Shabbat kod-sho 

b'a-ha-va uv'ra-tzon hin-chi-la-nu; 

Zi-ka-ron l'ma'a-sey v'rey-sheet. 

Ki hu yom t'chi-lah

l'mik-ra-ey ko-desh

zey-cher l'tzi-at Mitz-ra-yim. 

Ki va-nu va-char-ta

v'o-ta-nu ki-dash-ta

mi-kol ha-a-mim. 

V'Shabbat kod-sh'cha

b'a-ha-va uv'ra-tzon

hin-chal-ta-nu.

Baruch Ata Adonai, M'ka-deysh ha-Shabbat. 

(Completed now were heaven and earth with all of their array.  On the seventh day God completed the work that was done; the Soul-of-Everything resting on the seventh day from all the work that was done.  In awe of the seventh day and perceiving its holiness, the Soul-of-Everything paused from all the creating work of God.)

 [Gen.2:1-3]

We are filled with awe before the Eternal Oneness of Everything, Creative Energy of the fruit of the vine We are filled with awe before the Eternal Oneness of Everything, within that Oneness we have become distinctive and holy through the Mitzvot, the athways-of-our-life, the mindfulness-of-our-life.  With love and purpose we receive  this unique day of Shabbat:  A reminder of the works of creation.  It is first among our sacred days, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt.  Through choosing Mitzvot we have become distinctive.  With love and purpose we receive this unique day of Shabbat. We are filled with awe before the Eternal Oneness of Everything, who’s center is Shabbat.)

HAMOTZI                                               

Ba-ruch Ata Adonai Eloheynu Melech ha-olam, Ha-mo-tzi le-chem min ha-a-retz.

(Blessed are you, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.)

For Havdalah (tHE END OF sHABBAT)

The more we learn of our world, the more our knowledge feeds our fears.  Yet the more we learn of ourselves, the more we know that our potential to build is at least as great as our potential to destroy.  Somewhere between those two urges lies the Divine Choice in which redemption can be found.

Redemption lays waiting in the wells of trust and friendship. 

Redemption lays waiting in our ability to bring light and joy, gladness and honor where there are impotence and despair. 

As this Shabbat draws to a close, we commit ourselves to dip the cup of hope deep into the wells of our own potential.  When the cup emerges, may we drink deeply of confidence and peace.

This cup of juice from the fruit of the vine helps us acknowledge the bounty of the Creation in which we live; giving us the security of knowing that the thread of Divine energy courses through the veins of the earth even when our human resources seem to fail us.  With this nectar we give honor to this Shabbat now ending and set our inner vision toward the week to come.

Baruch Ata Adonai Eyloheynu Melech ha-olam

bo-rey p'ri ha-ga-fen.

(We are in awe and in wonder before and within the Oneness-of-All.  We rejoice with the fruit of the vine.)

Sip from the cup.

This spice box contains different kinds of sweet smelling herbs and spices.  Its pleasant aroma is a reminder of the ancient Jewish hope for the day when the world will be made sweet and fragrant because we, of the human family, will have achieved unity by focusing on peace, liberty, and justice.  Behold how good and pleasant it will be when we all dwell together as one.

Baruch Ata Adonai Eyloheynu Melech ha-olam

bo-rey mi-ney b’sa-mim.

(We are in awe and in wonder before and within the Oneness-of-All. We rejoice with varied spices.)

Take a sniff of the spices.

May we who have spent this Shabbat together become intertwined like the wicks of the Havdalah candle.  May we who have gathered here take the essence of this moment into the coming week and share its light of understanding with everyone who is touched by our lives.

Baruch Ata Adonai Eyloheynu Melech ha-olam

bo-rey m’o-rey ha-eysh.

(We are in awe and in wonder before and within the Oneness-of-All. We rejoice with the light of fire.)

With your hands stretched toward the candle, curl your fingers up to make a shadow in your palm, thus “using” the first light of the new week.

We acknowledge The-Unity-of-All for the capacity to elevate the mundane into the holy, to distinguish between the light of understanding and the darkness of superstition, between holy days of peace and the days of contention.  We acknowledge The-Unity-of-All for the possibility of the sanctified life as distinguished from the unprincipled existence.

Baruch Ata Adonai Eyloheynu Melech ha-olam

ha-mav-dil beyn ko-desh l’chol

beyn or l’cho-shech

beyn yom ha-sh’vi-i l’shey-shet y’mey ha-ma-a-se.

Baruch Ata Adonai ha-mav-dil beyn ko-desh l’chol.

Extinguish the candle in the wine or juice.

© Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels
June 2008