Monthly Archives: April 2015

Two Major Anniversaries

Dear Chevra,

This month of May marks two outstanding accomplishments and features of Jewish history: Israel and the giving of Torah at Sinai. Frankly, my love of Israel (both state and people) and my love of Judaism have been pillars of strength every day of my life. And both, Torah and Israel, are miracles outside the logic of history and ideas.

On Thursday 14 May, the secular date, we celebrate the 67th anniversary of Israel as a modern nation state. No state was ever established by any people after a 2000-year hiatus of dreams and hopes. In 1948, when Israel was founded, the population was approximately 660,000. Today it is a state of more than eight million.

In 1948, six Arab armies attacked Israel, vowing to destroy the fledgling nation state – just three years after the liberation of Auschwitz. With one tank and a completely volunteer army, Israel defeated its attackers and has sought security and recognition ever since.

In 1948, Jerusalem was divided into two sections, separated by barbed wire, and the ancient Jewish Quarter evacuated. Despite guarantees of Jerusalem’s international status and the protection of religious sites, all synagogues were destroyed and cemeteries desecrated. Until the miraculous restoration of 1967, Jews – and not just Israelis – could not even visit our most sacred sites.

And when Israel’s place among nations, alongside a new Arab state, was approved by the United Nations on 29 November 1947, the Arab nations rejected the very idea. In consequence, 650,000 Arabs became refugees, a situation still unresolved. We all know that as long as the goal of Israel’s neighbours is its destruction, there will be no peace.

One day there will be security and room for both peoples. One day Israel will not have to spend 18% of its hard-earned GNP on defence. Children on both sides will grow up in peace and with respect for each other. Hatikvah – that is our hope on Israel’s 67th birthday.

And then there is the miracle of Torah, celebrated this year from the evening of Saturday 23 May right through to Monday 25 May, the holiday of Shavuot, Matan Torateinu, the gift of receiving the Torah at Sinai. On that day, 6 Sivan, in approximately the year 1290 BCE, our people received a Law, a Scripture, an ethic, a theology, a constitution that revolutionised humanity. The dignity of all human life was emblazoned into the hearts of our people to share with the rest of humanity.

I measure my own success as a rabbi not only by the numerous services and life cycle events that I officiate at, but in large part to the students I teach. In fact, every service, every sermon is a learning opportunity to my mind. And there is nothing more precious than delving into Talmud Torah, the study of Judaism, with full resources and depth.

So after the 6.45pm evening service on Saturday 23 May, and a break for refreshments, our Tikkun Leyl Shavuot sessions will begin with the first of our five distinguished speakers. This year’s theme is ethics and the role of justice. Please join us. This is an enormously popular part of our annual schedule and an enriching experience for us all. There will be plenty of coffee and scrumptious dairy desserts and delights.

My thanks to our Shavuot Tikkun chair, Alasdair Nisbet, as well as to Claire Walford, organiser of our thriving Adult Discussion Group. They are gifts to our community, helping to perpetuate our most important agenda – Jewish learning.

So to us all, in celebration of two miracles: the birth of the state of Israel in 1948 and the gift of the Torah, around 1290 BCE. We should never forget who we are and the glory of what our people have given to the world.

I wish all of you and your loved ones a delicious, meaningful and blessed Shavuot, filled with Jewish learning and celebration.

Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

Freedom and Election Issues

Dear Chevra,

Spring is in the air. It is Passover, the celebration not only of the change of seasons but also the commemoration of our liberation from bondage to freedom, the beginnings of the Jewish people.

Of course, Passover is a uniquely Jewish holiday, steeped in ethics and memories of our own experience. But it is a holiday whose message has resonated in the souls of many peoples and nations, in the quest for freedom.

Freedom, in order to be preserved, requires responsibility to the poor, to the disenfranchised, to the unliberated and the oppressed all over the world. The Jewish soul cannot rest until all are free.

“Let my people go so that they may worship me.” The latter part of this famous cry for freedom in the Book of Exodus is often left out. The purpose of freedom is to better the world; we call it “to worship” or “to serve” God in making this world a kingdom of God on earth.

I am writing this message a few weeks before Pesach but I think that this year’s Passover is a reminder in a world often dominated by terror, autocrats and oppression, that we in a few selected countries enjoy the privilege to vote and choose our elected leaders. The Pharaohs of the world are not chosen.

We might complain about our elected officials, but we have the freedom – and responsibility – to choose them from among many. Freedom in the coming election for this nation’s future in May; freedom exercised in Israel – Israel’s democracy is often chaotic and volatile but the people have chosen their next government in a swarm of nations surrounding her that know nothing of democratic choice; and in my country, the USA, next year will see another round of debates, primaries and the final vote in November 2016 for the next President. Cheers to all three nations!

Passover also allows us to ponder why God created our people and to ask what has been the uniqueness of Judaism, our message, since our liberation from Egypt in approximately 1290 BCE. I suggest the following possible answers for what we have taught the world:

  • Freedom must lead to education and learning. Literacy and knowledge leads to the right behaviour among us: Talmud Torah k’neged kulam, the study of Torah is equal to all other Commandments.
  • Freedom involves passionate and sincere debate. Many points of view, many paths of discovery and respect for the differences among us lie at the heart of religious faith.
  • It is OK to ask questions about everything: faith, religion, politics, social values, history, literature, freedom, justice. A society that suppresses the right to ask questions is a society of Pharaohs. In too many other places in the world, people still do not have the right to challenge what they have been taught and to question whether it is true.
  • Absolutism, fundamentalism, certainty of belief is the kiss of doom to freedom. Freedom means that we continue to search for the truth. It never teaches us that all truth is revealed and known. Fundamentalism of the type the West is struggling against today leads to violence and intolerance, as was the case in the former Soviet Union, today’s Iran and other terrorist-based entities.
  • The chiddush, that which is new, is to be cherished. Religion is not just to preserve the past but is meant to stimulate our search for new solutions, a more just society, a more moral society.
  • Seeking the “good”, morality, is the heart of true freedom, the basis of the Ten Commandments. Ours is a God who “brought us out of the land of Egypt”, not a distant God who created the universe but a God who cares the most about the way we treat other people – the heart of all religious life.
  • Making this world a place where God can truly dwell, a kingdom of peace on earth, is our most important quest and vision. It is our behaviour that counts the most, not what we believe. To seek each day a path that can lead us toward making this world into what it ought to be tomorrow should be the essence of every human being on earth.

Some day … some day … Adonai Echad u’shmo Echad – The Lord is One and His Name will be One.

My wishes to you and your loved ones for a blessed, rich, tasty, freedom-filled Passover with family and community.

Chag Pesach sameach to all.
Rabbi Stuart Altshuler