From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life

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Talmud Class: Is There Any Idea That Can Persuade non-Orthodox American Jews to Take Jewish Law (Halakhah) Seriously? May 27, 2023

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This Shabbat is the second day of Shavuot—a good time to think about our relationship to the Torah as a source of law (halakhah) that is supposed to shape how we live every day.

Problem: For most of us, it doesn’t.

The Torah says: keep kosher. Many of us don’t.

The Torah says: observe Shabbat. For many of us, Saturday is not Shabbat but another weekend day, not particularly distinguishable from Sunday.

The Torah (as the rabbis interpret it) says: we are obligated to pray daily. Many of us don’t. Perhaps we come to shul when we have a Yahrtzeit, or when we are invited to a Bar/Bat Mitzvah or an auf ruf. But few of us actually believe we are required to pray every day. Witness that in our congregation of almost 4,000 souls, we average 20 to 40 people at our daily minyanim.

The Torah we received at Sinai posits a commanding God whose commands we are obligated to observe.

Few, if any of us, believe in that commanding God.

There is a disconnect between the commanding God we are supposed to believe in and the autonomous lives we lead, where we do what we want to do, when we want to do it.

How do we understand this disconnect? Can we solve for it, or at least ameliorate it?

To consider these questions, please read the attached article by Elliot Cosgrove, the rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, “A Choosing People,” published in Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, Spring 2023. In addition, Rabbi Cosgrove was in dialogue with Yehuda Kurtzer in this recent podcast.

Rabbi Cosgrove asserts:

While the language of “obligation” may have run its course, “commandedness” has not. The performance of mitzvot as an expression of service to God remains a powerful driver for Jewish practice.

Can we resuscitate commandedness as a relevant category in our religious lives? If not, do you have an elegant theory that explains why you do what you do as a Jew? What is your personal definition of the word mitzvah?

Shabbat Sermon: Matchmaker, Matchmaker with Rabbi Michelle Robinson May 20, 2023

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May 20, 2023

Talmud Class: A Conversation with Hadassah's Director of Nursing, Rely Alon May 20, 2023

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Shira and I spent the last two weeks of December at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem being with our father. While attending to a loved one in these circumstances is obviously painful, at the same time, we marveled at how day-to-day life at Hadassah Hospital felt not only like Israel at its best, but almost like the fulfillment of prophetic visions of peace, of the lion and lamb dwelling together in harmony.

The patients, doctors, nurses, medical crews, cleaning and maintenance crews, cashiers in the restaurants and cafes, represent the enormous diversity of Israel: Haredi, religious Zionists, secular Israelis, Arab Israelis, Palestinian Israelis, Druse, side by side, in harmony. We were there during Hanukkah. Every night we would go to the community room on our floor and light candles with all the above. Outside of Hadassah, there would have been no connection. Inside of Hadassah, there was no distance. The only Haredi Israelis I have ever talked to were at Hadassah Hospital.

We are so blessed this Shabbat to have with us Hadassah’s head nurse, Rely Alon. Michelle, Elias and Dan will be in dialogue with Rely to ask her: Why do complex human relationships work so well in spite of difference at Hadassah, and not outside Hadassah? What can the rest of Israel and the Jewish people learn from Hadassah?

Brotherhood Shabbat Sermon with Dan Caine May 13, 2023

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Dan is a board member of Repair the World (Jewish engagement through service) and the Friends of the Arava Institute (bringing Arabs and Jews together in Israel to address environmental and climate issues). He is a long-time member of Temple Emanuel and has, over the years, volunteered with other Jewish organizations, including Combined Jewish Philanthropies, JCDS, the Newton Centre Minyan, and Our Generation Speaks.

In his free time, Dan created a software package for calculating income tax, as well as software to help attorneys and individuals with the financial aspects of divorce.

Talmud Class: When It's Mother's Day, and Your Own Mother Has Passed May 13, 2023

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How do we think about Mother’s Day when our own mother has passed away? Even if we are blessed to have our mothers alive, how do we think about lots of joyful moments in the spring season when that joy belongs to other people, but not to us?

How do we dance at somebody else’s adult child’s wedding when our own adult child is still looking?

How do we feel joy for somebody else’s graduations when our own season of graduations is long gone, when young family energy is a distant memory?

How do we attend a brit milah or baby naming for somebody else when there are no babies in our family?

In our parched season, can we truly feel joy for somebody else? This is the question of the prophet Habakkuk in the Haftarah for Shavuot, second day:

Though the fig tree does not bud

And no yield is on the vine,

Though the olive crop has failed

And the fields produce no grain,

Though sheep have vanished from the fold

And no cattle are in the pen,

Yet will I rejoice in the Lord,

Exult in the God who delivers me. (3: 17-18)

I have bolded the word Yet to highlight the question: how, in a down time, do we exult, do we feel joy, do we nevertheless sing?

There is a Hebrew word to the rescue which we will discuss in Talmud tomorrow: firgun, which means to be genuinely happy for somebody else’s happiness. Firgun has been described as the opposite of Schaudenfreude. Firgun is such a spiritual challenge that there is no English equivalent. Can we do it? Are we capable of it? Can we nurture it within our own parched hearts?

Happy Mother’s Day.

Shabbat Sermon: Does Judaism Prize Finishing the Job? with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz May 06, 2023

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If you are a Boston sports fan, two words inspire pathos: Boston Bruins. This past regular season, the Bruins enjoyed not just a successful season, but a historically successful season. The National Hockey League, NHL, is 106 years old. In the long history of the league, this year’s Bruins set the record for most wins in a season. They set the record for most points in a season. Not only did they win lots of games; they usually trounced their opponent. The NHL keeps a record of what is called goal differential: by how many goals did the winning team beat the losing team. Boston’s goal differential ranks second in history. During the regular season the Bruins could not have been more dominant.

Meanwhile, their opponents in the playoffs, the Florida Panthers, could not have been more mediocre. Literally an average team, actually below average. Out of 32 teams, the Panthers had the 17th best record. They just barely made the playoffs.

When the series started, the Bruins took a commanding 3-1 lead in a best of seven series. All they had to do was win one more game, a reasonable expectation for the team with the most points and wins in the history of the league. And yet, remarkably, the Bruins lost three games in a row, including game 7 at the Garden on Sunday night.

In the wake of this historic collapse of this historic team, sports commentators broadly pointed out that the Bruins failed to finish. Failed to close.

How should we think about finishing, about closing out a project?

Talmud Class: The Torah of Rabbi Harold Kushner, Zichrono Livrachah May 06, 2023

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When the history of twentieth-century Jewry is written, I believe that one of the most important, impactful, influential thinkers will be Rabbi Harold Kushner, who was laid to his eternal rest this past Monday. I do not know of a rabbi whose teaching had a broader reach or a bigger

impact.

It is not just that his books sold millions of copies.

Not just that his books were translated into many languages.

Not just that his work was read by Jews and non-Jews alike.

Rabbi Harold Kushner did something else virtually miraculous: he talked about God in a way that landed for ordinary people who do not usually talk about God. What was his secret sauce? How did he make God real and relatable for millions of people, Jews and non-Jews alike? Now that he has passed, how can his Torah on God connect with you?

May Rabbi Harold Kushner rest in peace. May his Torah deepen our relationship with God, with Torah, with mitzvah, and with the very special community we are blessed to have at Temple Emanuel.

Rabbi Michelle Robinson and Jill Ebstein on "Alfred's Journey to be Liked" May 02, 2023

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Join Rabbi Michelle Robinson and Jill Ebstein as they discuss Jill's book, "Alfred's Journey to be Liked".

Find the book here!

Shabbat Sermon: Chips with Rabbi Michelle Robinson Apr 29, 2023

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April 29, 2023

Shabbat Sermon: Palestine 1936 - The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict with Oren Kessler Apr 22, 2023

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Join Oren Kessler as he discusses his book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict.