V'etchanan -- 5775

“Teach [these instructions] diligently to your children,” the Torah commands us this week, in a verse that’s famous from the V’ahavta (Deuteronomy 6:7).  We are to impress the words of Torah into our children’s very beings.

Most Reform Jews honor the Torah.  We know it’s a rich compendium of ancient wisdom, story, and ethics.  We understand that it stands at the center of our tradition.  But few of us have spent enough time reading the Torah to understand it.  Even fewer have invested enough to allow the Torah to become a frame through which we understand our life experiences. 

During preparation for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony, I study Torah not only with each young person, but also with their parents.  Parents are amazed at how perceptive and eloquent their kids are.  And they are staggered by the beauty they find within the Torah.  “This is really interesting!” they tell me.  “I’d like to do this more!”

I understand why.  The Torah was the lamp that lit my way back to Judaism as an adult.  In Torah study with my rabbi, I found a life of the mind – ideas, ambiguity, complexity – that was missing from my life otherwise.  How I looked forward to our monthly study sessions!

And so I encourage you:  read analyses of Torah like this one, but go to the source as well.  Read the entire parsha, or just a few verses that jump out at you.  You’ll find yourself pondering them as you drive to work or while making dinner –“when you stay at home and when you are away” -- and your life will be richer for it.

If you have children or grandchildren, consider taking it a step further.  Select a paragraph of the actual Torah with them, not watered-down Bible stories for kids.  (I find Genesis and the first half of Exodus are best for younger children because they tell stories.) Ask them questions:  specific ones first, moving into more abstract ones later in the conversation.  Solicit their opinions.  Just like parents of bar and bat mitzvah kids, you’ll be amazed at the conversations you have.

“If you truly wish your children to study Torah, study it yourself in their presence. They will follow your example. Otherwise, they will not themselves study Torah but will simply instruct their children to do so,” Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotzk taught.  And I add:  if you want them to become engaged in Jewish life and thought, to be sophisticated thinkers in their own right, study Torah with them.

Dvarim -- 5775

The end has begun.  This week we read Dvarim, the first parsha in the final book of the Torah.

The Book of Deuteronomy tells the people’s travels and travails.  Moses recounts the story.  He lists the stops they’ve made along the way, and also the battles they’ve fought.  They were victorious over Heshbon and Og.  They were defeated at Hormah, and struck down Zered.

It’s an effective way to tell a story: victories and defeats.

We’ll soon observe Tisha b’Av, the holy day commemorating the falls of the First and Second Temple, as well as the Expulsion from Spain in 1492.  Many Jews fast as a way to remember our defeats.  We seek to understand their causes so as to strengthen ourselves as a people.  We also honor our fallen.

What about your life story?  What have been your victories?  What have been your defeats?

Matot -- 5775

After all this time and so many miles, their destination is in sight.  The Israelites amass on Eastern bank of the Jordan River, ready to cross into the Land.  So too do we readers amass this week at the conclusion of the Book of Numbers, about to cross into Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of the Torah.  The end is about to begin.

But the tribes are not unified.  Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh want to remain in the East.  Moses is outraged as his vision of a unified people in a unified land dissolves before his eyes, and he excoriates them.  Then the eminence grise changes tack, and listens to his fellows.  The Eastern shore is more favorable for our herds, they explain.  Moses pushes back:  “Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here?” (Numbers 32:6).  We need you, he tells them, and you need to have skin in the game.  The tribesmen, for their part, demure:  we will fight alongside you, but want to settle here afterwards.  Moses listens and, satisfied, agrees.  They are all in this together.

This third week of July, 2015 begins a pivotal time for the Land and People of Israel, and indeed the entire Middle East:  the P5 +1 announced a deal on Iran.  Instantly, the experts erupted, more like volcanoes than pundits:  The deal is horrible!  The deal is the solution!  Doom!  Hope!  Negotiation works!  Military option?

As Congress debates the treaty for the next sixty days and beyond, we’ll hear voices from every side of this profoundly complex situation.  We’ll be encouraged to speak out, to contact our Senators and Representatives – and we should.  The outcome is uncertain, but this I know:  we’ll disagree with each other and we’ll upset each other.  That’s what happens when the stakes are high and the matter complicated.

And at the same time, let us remember to listen to each other civilly -- even those with whom we disagree.  We are, in fact, all on the same side.  We will disagree about approach, but when it comes to Iran, we Jews share the same goal.  No one’s loyalty is in question.

And let us further remember that whether we are in the Land of Israel or in Diaspora, we all have skin in this game.  We don’t all have the same exposure, but we are exposed just the same.  Israel’s safety is essential for our families, for our culture, and for our people.  Like twelve tribes comprising one nation, we are all in this together.

Pinchas -- 5775

Moses, Aaron, and Miriam have led the Israelites for forty long years.  Together, the three have guided, sustained, and inspired their wandering people.  Now, as the Promised Land approaches, Aaron and Miriam have died and Moses doesn’t have much longer to live.  The people need new leadership.

God tells Moses:  “Single out Joshua ben Nun, an inspired man … and commission him in sight of [the community].  Invest him with some of your authority” (Numbers 27:18-20).

This week marks a similar transition in the life of Temple Emanuel.  Rabbi Jason Bonder has arrived, moved in, and gotten to work.  He’s consulting with Religious School teachers.  He’s planning High Holy Days.  He’s met with bar mitzvah students, answered questions for families, and taught Torah study while I was on vacation last week.  He’ll lead services with me and Emily for the first time on July 24.

I am no Moses, but I am overjoyed to “commission Rabbi Jason in sight of the community and invest him with some of my authority.”  That’s because Rabbi Jason has earned his own authority through five years of rigorous study and on-the-job training at synagogues, Hillel, religious school and Hebrew High.  Rabbi Jason’s rabbinic voice is good and important and caring, and it will resonate with this community.  He will bring wisdom, insight, enthusiasm, and humor to Temple Emanuel.  Rabbi Jason is my partner in caring for the Jews of the Southeast Valley, in charting the course for Temple Emanuel, and steering us towards our goal(s).  He is indeed an inspired man.

In the two months until the High Holy Days, there will be lots of opportunities to meet him:  havdallahs, learning sessions, onegs, and bowling and pizza parties with our kids.  If your havurah would like to invite him over, please drop him a line.  His email address is RabbiJason@EmanuelofTempe.org – feel free to email him some words of welcome!

Rabbi Jason will be formally installed as Temple Emanuel’s rabbi on August 28.  Please come and take part in the ceremony.

Welcome, Rabbi Jason Bonder.