Some Torah to end the week…

This week, I make my debut in the world of online video Torah commentary. I am featured on Israeli journalist Shmuel Rosner’s “Torah Talk” featured on his blog hosted by the Los Angeles Jewish Journal.

See here for the video.

For a more traditional medium, here is my weekly Taste of Torah sent to the KJ Beginners Program. Shabbat Shalom!

"V'hisgir ha-kohen et ha-nega shiv'at yamim - The kohen shall quarantine the affliction for seven days." (Vayikra/Leviticus 13:4)

This week's Torah portion discusses the Jew who is afflicted with tzara’at because of the sin of lashon ha-ra (evil or inappropriate speech). Rabbi Pinchas Menachem of Piltz explores some of the reasons that the sinner is isolated for seven days. One of the intentions is to ensure that the person will experience one Shabbat during his time of atonement. There is an idea in the Kabbalistic "Sefer Yetzira" that "v'karata la-Shabbat oneg - You shall call the Sabbath a delight." The Hebrew word for affliction (nega) has the same Hebrew letters as delight (oneg). Shabbat has the power to change the "nega" to "oneg" and to help the afflicted individual achieve perspective of what has happened.

One of the most important lessons from the discussion of Lashon Ha-ra and the spiritual affliction of tzara’at is to focus on not only on avoiding the evil speech but to learn how to change our perspective from negative to positive.

“This is where I belong because there is a Jew in need.” In tribute to Rabbi Avi Weiss

I had the privilege of attending the Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) dinner on Sunday night honoring Rav Avi and his family. (That’s where I heard Rav Avi’s quote that is in the title of this entry.) I have previously mentioned my admiration and respect for Rav Avi. The dinner was a spirited affair suffused with love.

See here for the video that was shown. It is definitely worth watching. Mamash, a gevalt!

Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky of Los Angeles, a former assistant to Rav Avi, posted the lessons he learned from him. They are well worth learning – whether you’re a rabbi or not.

 (1) No matter what else is going on in the world, in the moment that someone is sharing his or her personal struggles with you, there is nothing else going on in the world. For each person is a world unto himself.

(2) Try your utmost to love everyone. If you can’t, the rabbinate’s probably not for you.

(3) Don’t be afraid to be different. Especially when you are being different in the name of including and embracing those who would otherwise be left out.

(4) A shul is family. And like any family, it has older people, and younger people. Healthy people and sick people. People who are more typically “abled” and people who are in some way disabled (and we are all in some way disabled). People whose Judaic knowledge is strong and people who are just now learning. When you look around shul on a Shabbat morning, it’s got to look like a family.

(5) Not everyone who is ritually observant is religious, and not everyone who is religious is ritually observant. Rabbis need to deeply understand this.

(6) Don’t sit on the bima. That’s not where the Jews are.

(7) It’s (almost) never a bad time for a niggun.

(8) Lifecycle ceremonies are teaching times. They are precious moments when people’s hearts are open in an unusual and wondrous way. Don’t let these moments become mechanical rituals.

(9) It makes no difference whether you’re teaching a class of 3, or giving a sermon in a room of many hundreds. You always give it your all.

(10) Your wife is the most important person in the shul.

Rav Avi: May you be blessed with many more years of good health, together with your family, so Am Yisrael and the entire world can be the beneficiaries of your love and passion.

Whoops! I forgot one more Israel and Purim connection...

While on the subject of Israel and Purim…

See here for a truly inspiring video of IDF soldiers on their way to intercepting the missiles being smuggled by Iran. It was Friday, and our soldiers are singing Shabbat songs. I am not interested in politics. I am not interested in who took the video and maybe it was already Shabbos. These are our soldiers, our heroes. They represent what is glorious about Israel: it is our Jewish state, and it is the place where Judaism and Jewish values meet the real world. That, too, is a message of Purim.

Think about what kind of intelligence was necessary to find out about this missile shipment and intercept. (If the US was involved, great.) It is a story of intrigue, luck, coincidence – kind of like Purim. Of course, the hand of God is in the background here, too.

A story of potential danger to the Jewish people, twists and turns, and Jewish heroes coming to the rescue (singing Jewish songs). I’ll add that to the list of things I celebrate this Sunday.

Happy Purim!

V'nahafoch hu! It's all backwards!

I had been hoping to post more (and I have a few other items in the works), but I wanted to leave you with some Purim thoughts.

Purim is the holiday when the tables turned – v’nahafoch hu, and Haman’s plans were thwarted. The Jews finally/actually caught a break. Having recently attended the AIPAC Policy Conference, I was thinking about how backwards the world is when it comes to Israel. I am not saying Israel is perfect, but take a look around the Middle East. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, and the list goes on. Which other country comes close to Israel when it comes to democracy, freedom of the press, women’s rights, gay rights and others? NONE.

For a few great articles on this double standard, see here for a recent article by Daniel Gordis. A highlight: “To this day, no Palestinian leader will look at their people and say “The Jews, too, are indigenous here. They, too, have a right to a homeland here, so let’s share.’”

See here for what it is like to be a Jew visiting Saudi Arabia.

Wake up world! It’s time for a modern v’nahafoch hu!

Happy Purim!