Bringing Our Light to Those in the Dark (Miketz and Chanukah 5775)

How often do we walk past street performers without even listening to them, let alone looking to really see them?  

Knowing that about ourselves, of the more than one thousand people who walked past a talented violinist playing brilliantly for 45 minutes inside a transit station how many would you guess stopped to listen? How many would you guess actually put money in his violin case?  

Just about eight years ago virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell did that. He played inside a Washington DC Metro station instead of the typical concert hall.  He played beautifully on a violin that cost more than $3 million.  That morning 1,100 people went by as he played.  

Seven stopped to listen and look.  Of those most were children.  One adult actually recognized him as a renowned artist.  She put $20 in his violin case.  From everyone else who heard him -- 1,100 people -- he collected $12.17. [More about this 2007 story as written by Gene Weingarten]   

Either people did not notice him or did not pause long enough to even look at him.  Which brings us to the intersection of this week’s Torah portion and Chanukah.  

Giving Voice by Listening (Vayishlach 5775)

How shy are you?  I used to think of myself as really shy.  I know from reading Susan Cain's enlightening book, "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Cannot Stop Talking," that I might be more introverted than shy.  

Cain writes, for instance, "extroverts are the people who will add life to your dinner party and laugh generously at your jokes.  [They] think out loud [and] prefer talking to listening." (p.11.)  Introverts, on the other hand, "wish they were at home in their pajamas. . . . [They] listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and often feel as if they express themselves better in writing than in conversation" (p.11)  

Cain encourages us to recognize the nuanced differences between shyness and introversion.  Yet one thing that shy people and introverts have in common is quiet. Which often means that those who are shy and introverted are treated as if without voice.  One of the most powerful ways to give them voice is to stop talking and listen -- quiet ourselves to make space for their voice and then authentically listen. 

Many years ago returning to school after Thanksgiving I was in an airport.  It is one of the places that I feel especially shy and introverted.  I often  sit, for example, at a remote, empty gate in order to avoid the commotion at the gate for my flight.  For this flight I picked an especially remote gate because the airport was so crowded and I wanted the quiet.  A woman sat in the chair right next to mine.  Dozens of empty chairs and benches right near by and she sat right next to me.  

Friends For Life (Toledot 5775)

Friendships that are authentic, nurturing, and encouraging are exactly what we need to sustain life’s challenges and setbacks -- to move forward with strength and joy.  Friendship is also a powerful framework for individual learning and growth.  

Friendships not only sustain us as individuals but also authentic friendship -- being in relationship with another whose interests we put on par with our own -- is the essential building block of community.  

The Torah portion this week features a number of negative models of friendship or fractured relationships.  And it’s not just the conflict between the twin brothers Jacob and Esau.  There also is the provisional, utilitarian (and, ultimately, false) friendship between Isaac and the king Avimelech.


When Isaac faces a famine in his homeland he relocates to the kingdom of Avimelech who seems at first to befriend Isaac. Avimelech provides nourishment and shelter for Isaac.  He even protects his new friend Isaac’s wife, Rebecca, from the lust of strangers.

Isaac settles-in and prospers gaining great wealth, a large household, and lots of herds.  Apparently, Avimelech is threatened by Isaac’s prosperity. Avimelech shatters the friendship demanding, “Get away from us, you have gotten way too big for us." (Genesis 26:16) As Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson suggests maybe Avimelech could be friends only with someone dependent on him.  

The Jewish tradition contrasts this negative model of friendship with one that idealizes caring regard and mutual support.  Ecclesiastes wrote, "Two are better than one . . . because if they fall, the one will lift up the other; but woe to one that is alone when falling because there is not another one to help lift him up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10.)  

Loners, Unite! (Chayei Sarah 5775)

The first mention of romantic love in the Torah occurs this week in Chayei Sarah.  As the Torah narrative transitions from Sarah and Abraham to Rebecca and Issac, we are told that when Rebecca and Isaac encounter each other for the first time, their first reaction is one of humility and mutual respect.

Then after a rapid courtship that involves only a single deep encounter they marry.  And only after they marry, in an order that seems inverted, are we told Isaac loves Rebecca. (Genesis 24:65-67).  The ancient lesson seems to be that authentic love blossoms from a real encounter, an authentic relationship between partners. Not the other way around. Love at first sight is for fairy tales.  But real love more often is the product of mutual respect, shared encounter, and authentic relationship. 

In that spirit, a story about the power of loners uniting.  Once upon a time there were two strangers living on opposite sides of the same village.  Isaac was a peddler whose wagon traversed the west side of the village; Rebecca was the peddler on the east side.  They knew of each other but never really met.  One day each Rebecca decided to take her wagon to the neighboring village to expand her sales.  She loaded up her wagon with fabrics and pots and tools of all sorts.  That same day Isaac decided to to the same thing.  He loaded up his wagon with fabrics and pots and tools of all sorts.  

Loners, Unite!

There's Something Bigger Than Phil: A Patriarch's Lesson in Pluralism (Vayeira 5775)

Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner
©Robert Trachtenberg

If you grew up listening to recordings of the fictional Two-Thousand Year Old Man (TYOM), as I did, then you already know the story that sets-up the punchline, "There's something bigger than Phil!"  

The TYOM is the invention of comedians Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.  They imagined what it would be like to interview someone who was over 2,000 years old.  One part of their sketch involves the start of religion.  Reiner playing the interviewer asks Brooks playing the TYOM whether he was alive before people believed in God. "Oh, yeah, a few years before," answered TYOM.  

"Did you believe in anything?  Did you believe in any Superior Being?"  "Yes!  A guy named Phil!" replied TYOM  

"Who was Phil?" "Phillip.  The leader.  The leader of our tribe.  He was very big. Very strong.  A big beard, big chest, big arms.  I mean, he could kill you.  So, we did everything he asked.  He could just walk on you and you could die."

"And you revered him?"  TYOM answered, "We prayed to him.  Would you like to hear one of our prayers to Phillip?" "Yes, we would."

TYOM then recited one of the "ancient" prayers, "Ohhhh, Phillip.  Ohhhh Phillip. Please don't take our eyes out and don't pinch us and don't hurt us.  Ohhh Phillip, don't step on us.  Leave us alone.  Ohhhhhh Phillip.  Aaaaaaamen!" 

"How long was his reign?"  "Oh, not too long.  Because one day Phillip was hit by lightning.  And we looked up, we said . . . 'There's something bigger than Phil!'"

Noah and a Pair of Lions: Its Not What You Think (Noach 5775)

(c) Paul Goldstein as featured in Daily Mail

This summer we took our niece and nephew to the zoo. She was fascinated by a lioness carrying a cub in her mouth. Which brought to mind a folktale about mothers carrying their young.

Once there was a lioness teaching her very young cub how to walk. As the cub builds some muscles, the lion watches over the cub, walks alongside the cub, keeps the cub from falling into gullies or stepping on snakes. "I will teach you how to walk in the world. Stay by me," she said. Wherever they went, the lioness and the cub walked together - side by side.

As the cub grew into the next season it comes time for the pride to cross from one plain to another across a wide river. But the river was too deep and too

From 'Why me?' to 'Why not me?' (Yom Kippur 5775)

This is the season for reflection and transformation. For some of us reflecting on the year that has just ended it is tempting to cry out, "Why me?" The accumulated weight of a year's worth of challenges and disappointments, of sadnesses or tragedies seems too much to bear. "Why me? Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?"  

For some our enduring ability to nurse grievances or "pick-at-the-scab" of hurts blocks our path forward in the coming year.  Our preoccupation with disappointment can be a barrier to transformation at this season.  

This end-of-year dilemma is reflected this year in the end-of-life drama of Moses in the Torah portion we read in the week leading up to Yom Kippur, V'zot Habrachah.  [Note: The portion is read during this week but not on Shabbat because Yom Kippur, which coincides with Shabbat this year, has its own special Torah readings.]

A Season of White Ribbons (Rosh Hashanah 5775)

As we turn the corner from the end of one Jewish year toward the opening of a new one it is a time for seeing and reflecting on our lives with clarity; and for seeking and offering forgiveness.

At the Jewish Community High School of the Bay (JCHS) Shabbaton last weekend, I led a guided meditation about reflection and forgiveness opening with the following story.*   

Link to Photo Credit

A teacher boards a train for an overnight trip.  She takes the first open aisle seat finding herself seated next to a young woman at the window.  The teacher turns to introduce herself to the girl but the girl is looking away. She is intently staring out the window.  She looks tense and anxious.  The teacher wonders to herself, "How old is this girl? Sixteen? Seventeen? And that look on her face -- what is it?  Fear?   Shame?"

As the train moves through the night the girl keeps staring out the window -- seemingly oblivious to anything or anyone in the train.  The teacher sees the girl drop her head against the window as her hands clench the ledge. She quietly begins to cry.  The teacher hands some tissues to the girl.  After a long time the girl turns to the teacher asking, "do you know what time we arrive in Greenville?"

Mind the Gap: Somewhere Between Justice and Mercy (Nitzavim 5774)

The first of this week's two Torah portions includes dire warnings to those who ignore rules of conduct.  In that sense, it is a declaration of strict justice. Yet the parsha also includes seeds of mercy -- of being judged not strictly but rather with kindness and compassion.

For example, we learn here that no matter how large a gap there is between the goals we set for ourselves or no matter how large a gap there is between us and God, or matter how far we stray . . . even from there we will be redeemed, restored, or taken back.  (Deut. 30:4)  

What a powerful message for this time of year -- the end of one year and the beginning of the next.  Sometimes we look back with regret over the gap between our goals and our accomplishments, the gap between our generosity and our selfishness, or the gap between our kindness and our anger, or the gap between justice and mercy.  

These gaps are chronic; they will always be there.  Torah reminds of this when it promises we will be redeemed no matter how big, in effect, the gap becomes. 

The Memory Twins of Cynicism: Blot-Out and Don't-Forget (Ki Teitzei 5774)

As the father of twins, I tend to collect twin stories. One of my favorites is based on a 20th century midrash from Rabbi Y. M. Tukachinsky (Lithuania and Israel). The story involves a pair of twins still in the womb where they are completely nourished and cared for. They have all they need; they lack nothing.

In the secure seclusion of their womb, they begin anticipating the birth that approaches. One of the twins expresses anxiety and worry about the future. The other is excited and hopeful.  

The worried twin imagines the end of this secure time will be a catastrophe; he will be deprived of all he knows and all he needs. He enjoys that the world of the womb is predictable, closed and complete.   

By contrast, the hopeful twin imagines the start of an adventurous new life outside that will create opportunities to learn and grow beyond her wildest dreams. She is excited to

The Journey of a Single Year that Endures a Lifetime (Re'eh 5774)

Today the journey of a new school year began at JCHS (Jewish Community High School of the Bay).  That journey is in harmony with the Torah portion this week about the road ahead.  In Re'eh we are taught: "See, I set before you today blessing and curse."  (Deut. 11:26)  In other words the full range of possibility lies ahead.  As illustrated by the story of Reb Mendel Futerfas below, when you have the vision to see the road ahead you know where to put your feet.  

The spirit of embarking on a journey animated our first day of school beginning with Tefillat Haderech (the “traveler’s prayer”) and its expression of hope for a safe, whole, and complete journey.  The journey of a single year that will endure for a lifetime.  

Think Critically, Act Constructively, Engage Creatively (Ekev 5774)

A friend recently called laughing about his most recent bout of "cyberchondria" -- internet-assisted hypochondria. The internet is such an engaging and seductive tool that it sometimes overrides our reason and judgment. Ironically when so many "facts" are available through Google, we can forget to think when using it.  

Yet thinking and learning at JCHS depend on students being empowered to think critically, act constructively, and engage creatively with the most challenging dilemmas of our time. For these reasons, the JCHS Professional Community (faculty and staff), joined by the JCHS Board of Trustees and the Knesset Executive (student body officers) spent this summer reading " Make It Stick: The Science ofSuccessful Learning," recently published by Harvard University Press.  

The book's authors -- Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel -- reframe traditional thinking about the distinction between facts, critical thinking, and applied creativity. In their words, knowledge is not sufficient but it is necessary.  Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners and teachers -- in high school and beyond.

From Seeking Rescue to Seeking Comfort: Eyal, Gilad, Naftali, Their Families, and Ourselves

Our minds are tossed and our hearts are torn with thoughts of Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali. Tossed from seeking rescue for those held captive to seeking comfort from the Eternal who wipes tears from our faces.  

Concerning them until today we worried about and we prayed for the protection of their bodies and souls -- echoing the traditional language from the morning liturgy:

אַחֵינוּ כָּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, הַנְּתוּנִים בְּצָרָה

Acheinu kol beit yisrael, han'nutunim b'tzara

"As for our siblings from the whole house of Israel who are in distress or captivity, whether on sea or land, may the All-Present have compassion on them and lead them from distress to relief, from darkness to light, and from oppression to freedom -- now, swiftly and soon."

Then with the tragic news today of their murder, we worry and we pray for their souls and our's and for the body of our people  -- echoing the prophet:

וּמָחָה אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה דִּמְעָה מֵעַל כָּל פָּנִים

U'macha Hashem dima me'al kol panim

May the Eternal wipe away tears from off our faces (Isaiah 25:8) - May there be an end to death brought for carrying the name "Jew," an end to sadness and pain.

My mind is tossing . . . 

Looking Back Moving Forward (Bamidbar 5774)

This is a season filled with looking back -- at all we have experienced or accomplished or learned during the school year -- and moving forward -- toward summer and the year ahead.  There is an unusual passage in this week's Torah portion, Bamidbar, that echoes this dynamic as it describes the wilderness journey:  

"The community will make camp with each individual encamped by his troop and each by his own flag." (Numbers 1:52).  At first blush this camping posture seems impossible.  How can one camp in two places at one time - by her troop and by her individual flag?  It seems impossible.

But if we consider our posture at this season -- with one foot, so to speak, set on the path we have taken to arrive at this moment and the other foot on the path of the journey ahead - then we well can imagine standing in two spots at the same time.  

That is looking back and moving forward.

Givers, Takers, and the Impact of Motivation (Bechukotai 5774)

Minneapolis Park Old Fashioned Teeter Totter

In a motivation study of the medical staff at a hospital, Adam Grant put up two versions of a sign to encourage handwashing.  

One sign reminded doctors and nurses that their patients could catch diseases if medical staff was lax about handwashing.  The other sign focused on how doctors or nurses could catch diseases themselves if they were lax about handwashing.  Which sign do you think had the most impact?

I’ll come back to that study soon. First a connection to the Torah portion this week as we wrap-up the book of Leviticus with a parsha that is itself a study in motivation.  The Torah portion, Bechukotai, puts up a similar range of "signs" during the wilderness journey of the ancient Israelites seeking to motivate them.

Loving Your Neighbor: The Rabbi's Gift to a Monastery (Kedoshim 5774)

This week's Torah portion includes one of the most stirring and yet difficult to enact mitzvah in all of Torah:  "You shall love your friend/neighbor as yourself."  (Leviticus 19:18)  I doubt that the Torah focus here is on mere feelings of affection.  Still it is difficult to imagine how one might enact this mitzvah in daily life?  How much more difficult it is if we do not already love and value ourselves.   

The 19th century Haktav v'Hakabbalah (Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi ben Gamliel) offers a list of daily life ways to enact this mitzvah.  He goes beyond treasured friends to include all others with whom we interact.  His list includes: 

• Affection for others should be real not feigned
• Always treat others with respect
• Always seek the best for others
• Give others the benefit of the doubt
• Do not consider yourself better than others

(cited in Artscroll "The Chumash" (Nosson Scherman, ed) p 662.)

He seems to be teaching that the essence of this mitzvah is framing our consideration of others in terms of respect, care, and generosity, then acting on that framework.  That lesson resonates with the popular story called "The Rabbi's Gift."  The setting and tone of this story belie the fact that its earliest source was (only) 1979. There are a number of versions; here is my adaptation based on Francis Dorff's original.  

Connecting Four Dots for Pesach (Acharei Mot 5774)

Preparing for Pesach, which begins next week, the pattern of fours is on many minds -- the Four Questions, the Four Children, the Four Cups of Wine.  The festival even has four different names.  Here's a different list of four -- think a moment about what links them:  

1. Walt Disney
2. A 9 year old from northern California
3. The week's Torah portion
4. Pesach

LisaKristine.com photo that inspired Vivienne

A few words about each of these four dots before we connect them:  

• Walt Disney said, “If you dream it, you can do it.”

• The 9-year old is Vivienne Harr who raised more than $100,000 for a worthy cause selling lemonade.

• The Torah portion identifies a long list of prohibited relationships -- intimate associations we should avoid.  Some are on the list because they are icky or wrong. One prohibition -- against associating with idol worshipers (Leviticus 18:21) -- seems to make the list because Torah fears we might become just like those with whom we hang out.  

• Pesach is a celebration of the struggle for freedom at once ancient and immediate.

Vivienne Harr actually starts to connect the dots for us.  She is the girl who raised more than $100,000 toward ending child slavery.  

The Call to One Boat (Vayakhel 5774)

At the start of each week at school we gather the entire community together for time we call "Hakhel."  It is time to share the empowering nature of our community. The word "hakhel" echoes from the word that begins this week’s Torah portion, Vayakhel -- as it begins "vayakhel Moshe (lit. Moses assembled or called together)" the entire community of Israel. (Ex. 35:1)

"Hakhel” also becomes the penultimate mitzvah in Torah; a once-every-seven-years convening of the entire community for hearing and learning through a reading of the entire Torah. Everyone was to be at that reading. Torah calls out for gathering even strangers who live in the neighborhood and children (Deut. 31:10-15)  The rabbis later interpret this calling together to include scholars steeped in Torah to listen with great concentration (Maimonides, Hilchot Chagigah 3:6) because even they could learn something new in the context of this communal listening.

In other words, “hakhel” is for listening and learning in community. There are even some who link the Hebrew root for assembling a community (קהל - kuph/hey/lamed) with the Hebrew root the human voice (קול - kuph/vav/lamed). We even hear hints of that link in English where "call" as in “calling a community together” is linked to the Hebrew word "kol" or voice. 

So a story to demonstrate the link between the power of community to hear the voice of others.  

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who thought he had grown so wise there was no need for him to listen to others anymore. He would wake early each day and go immediately to his library to continue reading and the learning

Learning From Others: My Father and "Jesús" (Ki Tissa 5774)

My father died at this season 16 years ago. I am so grateful for the many lessons he taught me and the smile and optimism he encouraged in me. Among the many wonderful memories that have 'stuck' one especially comes to mind because of the Torah portion this week, Ki Tissa (lit. ‘when you raise up’). It is a memory that lifts me nearly daily. The memory is about the power of learning from hard work, from experiences that are not anticipated, and from others who are no different from me.

The parsha includes a reiteration and an elaboration on the mitzvah of Shabbat -- of marking each week sacred time set apart for rest/renewal. But beyond the elaboration on Shabbat as sacred -- set apart -- time, there is another mitzvah (or divine exhortation) in the text

It is the mitzvah of work: "For six days shall work be be done." (Ex. 30:15) This echoes to the phrase embedded in the Ten Commandments about Shabbat “for six days you are to work and do all of your labor." (Ex. 20:9) Why are we commanded to work? If Shabbat is so wonderful, why not organize this world so that everyday is a day of rest and renewal?

Integrity: Inside Matching Outside; Aligning Our Ideals and Our Actions (Terumah 5774)

Imagine being in high school and your teacher asks for help solving an ethical problem. The teacher bought a desk from a complete stranger for $150 on Craigslist. He picked up the desk and took it home in his mini-van. A friend helped carry it into the house. Unfortunately the desk was a little too big to get through the door of the room where the teacher wanted to put the desk. 

They tried taking the door off its hinges but still the desk didn’t fit through the doorway. Then they started to take the desk apart, figuring they could move it in pieces better than whole. 

After taking off the top of the desk the teacher noticed a plastic bag stuck behind the desk's file drawers. Inside the bag were some $100 bills. Lots of them. By the time he finished counting all the money in the bag stuck behind drawers in the desk he bought for $150, the teacher had counted up $98.000. Now the teacher asks his students for advice: Should he invest the $98,000 for his four children’s education or give the money to a charity or to his school, or return the money to the woman who sold him the desk?