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December and January 2015 and 2016 the jewish cDoecemnbenr 20e15 -c Jantuiaory 20n 16 Issue Number 55 Bulletin of the Upper Valley Jewish Community • 5 Occom Ridge • Hanover, NH 03755 (think Samson). knowledge and their ability. This is a hard road, and there are Knowledge of the minutest aspects The Rabbi times when I neither fully comprehend had to be preserved because to the all the arguments, nor appreciate all Sages, the words were sacred because and the Daf the issues at hand. Still, I struggle on in they represented the will of God, a will By Rabbi Edward S. Boraz tribute to my Rabbi. The thought of so to which they dedicated their lives to One of Judaism’s great contribu - many of these pages never seeing the discover, preserve and practice. They tions to Western Civilization is its em - light of day is simply too much for me had to teach the people how to cope phasis on life-long learning. The Torah to bear. Like an acquired taste, I actu - with all foreseen circumstances. and our tradition ally enjoy the time I devote to study, For example, imagine a Nazarite teach that a good even if some of the discussions involve who had to be ritually pure (kasher) for Jew must study such things as the prohibition of drink - 30 days. What if during those 30 days, Torah every day, ing wine or hard liquor, what happens he was forced to engage in the mitzvah as much as she or if the Nazir becomes ritually defiled, of burial upon finding a corpse along he is able. But, and the types of sacrifices the Nazir his way, therefore having to prepare the there never seems must bring at the end of the 30-day pe - corpse for burial [and thus becoming to be enough riod during which he vowed to accept tamei (impure)] simply because no one time to do so. these restrictions, and others, the most else knew how to perform the task he I often have famous of which is to refrain from cut - accomplished. Would the Nazarite thus stared at the Vilna ting one’s hair (remember Samson have violated his/her oath to be a Nazir Shas folios that remain on the shelf of now?). (an oath taken pursuant to Torah in the my rabbinic library.** The majority of I imagine this discipline doesn’t name of God!) for the sake of perform - the 20 volumes have never been sound all that hard to the average ing the other crucial mitzvah related to opened. The set was a gift from my reader, but I am already 5 pages behind burial? Rabbi Ben Zion Wacholder, z’l, the where I should be had I studied one If this seems complicated, it’s be - Solomon Freehoff Chair of Talmud at page each day. At some point, I know cause it is. Many such discussions are Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. I that I will read or study something that never resolved in the Talmud. More - had just recovered from a minor surgi - will have a closer relationship to over, I find that I am unable to explore cal procedure when I made a decision: modernity, though that most likely will the daf in depth; I barely scratch the To honor Rabbi Wacholder’s memory, I not be until after I finish not only this surface of each page. was going to begin daf yomi (lit. “the tractate of Nazir, but also Sotah, which I am left with the sense that, unlike daily daf”). involves “the spouse” who is suspected in science where new discoveries are A daf is a page (both front and of being unfaithful. Eventually, I will deemed advancements, when it comes back) of Talmud. This study program is study laws relating to establishing to knowledge of Judaism and Torah, like a Jewish intellectual Appalachian courts of justice, rules of evidence, civil the teachers who preceded me were far trail. The idea is to study one daf every law, criminal law, and on and on. superior in knowledge, holiness, and day for seven years, so that by the end, I wonder what possessed our Sages total commitment in order to pursue if you never miss a day (including to write such a comprehensive treatise the knowledge that the Torah sets Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, on Jewish law, even when the topic no forth, but still must be learned, re - etc.), you will have read the entire Tal - longer had any bearing in their world, learned and expounded upon until the mud in seven years. such as laws pertaining to sacrifices, end of time. Such is the art of Jewish So on August 11, 2015, I began. laws relating to the Temple, and laws learning. The world-wide program had already about other topics which in their world finished a number of volumes, but that (Babylonia and other places) long had **[Editor’s note from Wikipedia: The didn’t really matter. So what if I started been destroyed (at least 300 years ear - Vilna Edition of the Talmud, printed in in the middle? I’d just go on until I fin - lier)? Perhaps it was the assumption Vilna (now Vilnius), Lithuania, is by far the ished. I began at the end of a tractate that because God had given the Torah most common printed edition of the Tal - called Nidarim which deals with vows; to the Children of Israel, come what mud still in use today as the basic text for we are now completing Nazir, which may, every last detail was to be studied Torah study in yeshivas and by all scholars deals with the laws of the Nazarite and practiced to the best of their of Judaism.] ~ 1 ~ UVJC VOLUNTEER BOARD OF TRUSTEES President’s Message OFFICERS Deborah Kaplan November 1, 2015 [email protected] to October 31, 2016 PRESIDENT This afternoon, I attended the 4th Annual Micah Awards Ceremony, Deb Kaplan [email protected] an event sponsored by the United Valley Interfaith Project (UVIP). The (H) 802-649-8808 Micah Award refers to the call by the prophet Micah to consider what it means to live up to God’s expectations for us, and give us guidance on PAST-PRESIDENT Richard Abel how to live up to those expectations: And what does the Lord require of [email protected] you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (H) 603-448-5831 The Upper Valley Jewish Community (UVJC) is proud to recognize VICE-PRESIDENT Harold (Hal) and Karen Manning and their son Ben as our 2015 Micah Rusty Sachs heroes. Working through the Village2Village project, the Mannings have [email protected] provided impoverished Ugandan children, many of whom lost parents (H) 802-649-2956 to AIDS or the Ugandan civil war, with education, medical care, and, es - VICE-PRESIDENT pecially, compassionate friendship and hope for the future. Laura Rosenthal [email protected] Karen Manning taught the entire UVJC Hebrew School the meaning (H) 603-277-9828 of Tikkun Olam – the repairing of the world – by creating personal links VICE-PRESIDENT between Hebrew School students and Ugandan children. All of us were Rachel Kleinbaum touched to see an entire classroom of beaming Ugandan children proudly [email protected] wearing new t-shirts, each individually decorated by a UVJC Hebrew (H) 603-277-9358 School student. Karen also organized a purchase of desks for the children TREASURER in V2V using contributions from Hebrew school children and their fam - Bill Brown ilies. [email protected] 603-643-6639 Hal Manning, a physician, has volunteered in a hospital in Kampala, Uganda. In 2012, Ben, then a high school student, independently organ - SECRETARY ized a fundraising campaign for Village2Village, travelling to Uganda Robyn Jacobs [email protected] with suitcases full of donated goods, to spend a month doing construction (H) 603-643-0189 work, helping children with their schoolwork, and teaching them soccer • skills. ROTH CENTER OFFICES The Mannings’ deep and evident personal ties with the Ugandan vil - lage and presentations that they have organized have influenced many RABBI families here in the Upper Valley to sponsor the education of Ugandan Edward Boraz [email protected] children. The Mannings’ love and dedication have profoundly affected 603-646-0410 the lives of many Ugandan children and has also enriched the lives of RABBI’S ASSISTANT those in the Upper Valley who have been inspired by their example. Claudia Palmer The United Valley Interfaith Project is a coalition of 16 faith commu - [email protected] nities working to bring people together with common values to build 603-646-0410 grassroots power and create long-lasting systemic change. Their current UVJC OFFICE campaigns include Aging with Dignity, and Economic Justice. ADMINISTRATOR For the past two years the UVIP has asked local seniors, “What does Carole Clarke [email protected] it mean to age with dignity?” UVIP interviewed more than 400 seniors 603-646-0460 in an anecdotal fashion. As news of their efforts spread throughout the Community, UVIP was contacted by public officials, agencies, and hospi - DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION Maggie Duford tals eager to learn of their findings. As a result, the UVIP is continuing to [email protected] gather data from seniors, but now more formally: they are partnering (W) 603-646-3887 continued page 3: PRESIDENT ~ 2 ~ Cold Days, Warm Hearts OTHER UVJC TRUSTEES By Education Director Maggie Duford & COMMITTEE CHAIRS The landscape has changed since last I shared Susan Berg with you all that is happening in our school. Where [email protected] the magnificence of fall once blazed, there lies ahead (H) 603-863-7327 of us another long New England winter to complain Felixa Eskey about! Despite the inevitability of winter, we remain [email protected] and weather it: the children arrive on Sunday mornings, bundled as if (H) 603-643-5350 for a walk on the moon.
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