Volume 46, Issue 3 November 2020 Temple Talk Rabbi’s Corner - Abraham as Civic Role Model and Student of Communal Justice By: Rabbi David Finkelstein Mishnah Avot 3:2 Parashat Vayera , the second half of Abraham “Pray for the welfare of the government, for and Sarah’s story. There, Abraham cries out for without fear of it [we] would swallow each justice from God: “Will You really wipe out the other alive.” innocent with the guilty?... Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do As I write this article, Election Day has not yet justice?” (Genesis 18:23-25). come. By the time you read this, Election Day This text has inspired many to claim Abraham will have passed, but we may not yet have a as a role model who stands up for justice, a president-elect. In the midst of this historical political hero who brings his complaint to the moment, packed as it is with hope and fear, highest authorities (God, in this case) and holds excitement and uncertainty, the Torah them accountable. God has seen the sins of teaches timeless lessons that feel custom- the people of Sdom. Chief among them are made for this moment. During the week of violent in hospitality to strangers and extreme Election Day, our weekly Torah portion is self-centeredness. God informs Abraham of (Continued on page 3) Mark’s Remarks– A Daily Prayer to Keep us Going By: Mark Frydenberg Inside this issue: Just before Aleinu in the weekday morning service is a prayer Uva LeTzion (A redeemer will come to Zion) containing many verses from Prophets and other Biblical sources. Mixed in Rabbi’s Corner 1, 3, 4 with the Hebrew verses are paraphrases in Aramaic. (See page 156 of Siddur Sim Shalom). I often read through these verses quickly on those mornings when services run long, and in this article, offer a closer look at the special promise that this prayer offers. Mark’s Remarks 1, 2 After promising a redeemer to Zion, the liturgical author references this covenant between Library 4 God and with the House of Jacob: Rabbi’s Discussion 5 Groups *NEW* Adonai has said: This is my covenant with them: My spirit will remain with you and your descendants. Social Justice Report 6 My words shall be upon your lips and upon the lips of your children and your children's children now and forever. Zoom Links 8 (Isaiah 59:21) Shabbat Dinner 9 Yahrzeits 10 (Continued on page 2) Donations 11 Temple Beth Israel | 25 Harvard Street | Waltham, MA 02453 | 781-894-5146 | www.tbiwaltham.org Page 2 Mark’s Remarks– A Prayer to Keep Us Going By: Mark Frydenberg Temple Beth Israel (Continued from page 1) Rabbi: David Finkelstein The prayer combines the idea of returning to God with returning to Zion, and suggests Phone: 781-786-8679 that the pathway to both is teshuvah (repentance). God’s covenant with the Jewish Email: [email protected] people will sustain us during this time of exile. OfCce Hours: Tuesdays 1:00 –2:00 pm on ZOOM My spirit will remain with you refers to the spirit of the prophets—and speciCcally Elijah and by appointment the prophet, who visits us at a covenanting ceremony for a newborn, at the end of each Shabbat and Passover seder, and whose name we invoke (“ harachaman hu yishlach Of8cers lanu et eiliyahu hanavi ”) with each grace after meals—May the merciful one send us President: Mark Frydenberg Elijah the Prophet to bring us good wishes of salvation and comfort. I understand the Vice President: Dina Baker phrase My words shall be on your lips to mean that we must continue to learn and Secretary: Susan Baron speak Torah,/Truth just as God placed the words of Moses’ Torah on our lips, Speaking Treasurer / Finance: George Isaac and studying Torah are the way of being for the Jewish people that has kept the Jewish people together until today. The lesson is clear: God’s Spirit, God’s words, and God’s Board Members and Committees Presence in our lives will keep us going throughout the day. Cemetery : Jim Baron Chesed / Caring: Devin Shmueli The prayer follows with several verses of holiness in Hebrew from Prophets followed by Development: Howard Trachtman interpretations in Aramaic. This collection of verses parallels the Kedusha (holiness House: Merrill Griff section) of the weekday Amidah, recited earlier, with the words Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh , Catherine Cantrell followed by three verses about holiness in Aramaic, and the response Baruch K'vod Program: Ben Nudelman Adonai Mimkomo (Blessed is God’s Glory from the place of God’s presence). Ritual: Phyllis Werlin Social Justice: Linda Ungerleider As we are about to take leave of our service, we read this covenant with Zion and these At Large: Julie Gagnon verses of holiness to help carry us through our day. God's Presence promises to be with Bruce Trager us in two ways: through God's spirit and through God's words. We will never be lost as long as we speak and learn and study Torah. Then we are truly serving God, as a later Special Interests passage in this prayer suggests: Inclusion: Howard Trachtman Brotherhood: Paul Smith Blessed is our God, who has created us for God's glory, and separated us from those who do wrong, Stay in Touch who has given us the Torah, which is Truth, and has planted in us eternal life. Of8ce Manager: Andrea Baron May God open our hearts to God's Torah, Phone: 781-894-5146 and place in our hearts to love and revere God, Email: [email protected] to do God's will and serve God with a perfect heart." OfCce Hours: Monday - Friday 9:30 am - 12:30 pm This collection of verses came to be known as Kedushah d'Sidra , literally, an arrangement of verses about holiness. Some say that our sages established reciting Address: 25 Harvard Street Kedushah d’Sidra when hostile rulers decreed upon Israel not to recite Kedushah, and Waltham, MA 02453 persecutors would stand guard at the prayer services until after the Amidah. After the guards left, the minyan would recite Kedushah d’Sidra . Even after the decree was Web: www.tbiwaltham.org abolished, the custom continued to recite these verses before Aleinu and Mourner’s Facebook : facebook.com/tbiwaltham Kaddish, adding yet another prayer before services are over.. Twitter: @tbiwaltham Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/ Please join us at our minyan on Zoom on Thursday mornings at 8 am, A few minutes company/tbiwaltham before we end, watch for this prayer. Read its verses and take this promise with you, that God's spirit and God's words will be with you throughout your day. Page 3 Rabbi’s Corner - Abraham as Civic Role Model and Student of Communal Justice By: Rabbi David Finkelstein (Continued from page 1) God’s plan to destroy all the people of Sdom in ;re, and Abraham responds by advocating for the innocent : “Will You really wipe out the place and not spare it for the sake of the ;fty innocent within it?” (18:24). Although there was no democracy in Abraham’s time, yet this story conveys the importance of each individual’s voice. It may be on us, the Abrahams of the world, to raise our voices in protest and demand that all votes are counted, that this election is fair. This reading of chapter 18 frames Abraham positively as a model of moral and civic righteousness. But, as is so often the case with the Torah, there is another message here. After all, God does end up destroying Sdom. Abraham’s bargaining does not change God’s mind. God rains down ;re on Sdom, so the sinful city is not spared. Lot survives, but has Abraham’s petition changed anything? Maybe it has, only not in the way we imagined. The ;rst thing to notice is that the story does not end as we expect it to. Abraham starts by asking for God’s commitment that Sdom will not be destroyed if there are ;fty righteous people in it. God agrees not to destroy if there are ;fty. Gradually, Abraham lowers the number of righteous people from ;fty to ten, and each time God agrees not to destroy if that number of righteous people live in Sdom. But why does Abraham stop at ten? We expect that Abraham will lower the number to one so that God will save Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Why doesn’t Abraham ask God to save the city for one righteous person and his family? The answer, I believe, is that after God agrees to save the city for ten righteous people, Abraham has a realization about the difference between individual justice and communal justice. This realization may be the reason why God initiates this dialogue with Abraham in the ;rst place. In individual justice - as when one person takes another to court - the guilty are made to pay and the innocent party is protected. In individual justice, there is potential for absolute fairness. Not so with communal justice. When a community of people does wrong or is wronged, justice always leads to the suffering of some number of innocents. On a communal, city-wide, or nationwide scale, there is no such thing as complete fairness. Try as the courts and the government must, they cannot avoid causing suffering to some people who do not deserve it. God delivers this message about political justice to Abraham after Isaac’s birth is foretold, but before Isaac is born, because when Isaac is born Abraham becomes the founder of the Jewish people.