שירת שלום
Song of Peace
Jewish people have been celebrating the holiday of Purim for about 2400 years. It is, as we all know, a fun holiday of parties, dressing in costumes eating hamantaschen and enjoying the day. It is a celebration in remembrance of the great salvation of the Jews of Persia who were under a great threat of annihilation only to be saved by the Jewish queen Ester and her Uncle Mordechai.
But the story of Purim has much deeper roots. It involves a very old and bitter political rivalry between two royal families. which goes all the way back to King Saul and King David some 3,100 years ago, way before the events of the story of Purim in Persia.
While all of the 12 tribes that inherited the land of Israel were considered one nation, there was friction between the ten tribes who lived in the center and northern part of Israel, known as the northern region tribes, and the two southern region tribes, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
King Saul, the first king of Israel, came from the tribe of Benjamin of the southern region. This created friction with the northern tribes who wanted the king of Israel to come the northern region. Nevertheless, King Saul in his wisdom was a unifying king who treated all the tribes fairly and therefore all of the tribes of Israel considered him their king.
However, things did not work well for King Saul. G-D explicitly ordered him to totally annihilate the Amalekite nation, men, women and children and completely destroy all of their property. (Indeed, we do have some moral issues in the Bible.) King Saul granted "professional curtsey" to the Amalekite king, Agag, as well as his wife and did not kill them. He also allowed the people to take booty from the Amalekites’ possessions against G-D’s explicit instructions. In order to follow G-D's order, the Amalekite king, Agag, was eventually killed by the prophet Samuel. With King Agag’s death it was thought that this was the end to all living Amalekites.
But that was not the case. Our great sages explain that even prophet Samuel neglected to kill Agag's wife who happened to be pregnant . The Amalekite line therefore continued throughout the generations.
G-D was furious with King Saul. He took away the kingdom from him and gave it to King David who was from the tribe of Judea. The ten tribes considered the anointment of David to be a king as another insult since he too like King Saul came from the southern tribe region.
Unlike King Saul, King David and his son, King Solomon, had an ongoing animosity towards the northern region. They treated the northern tribe very unfairly. Among other things, they imposed heavy taxation, long military service as well as other national duties. That unfair treatment came about probably because the northern tribes refused to accept David as their king for seven years until they finely capitulated.
Fast forward centuries later to Persia where a large Jewish population had formed over centuries of exile.
King Saul's descendents never forgot the humiliation of tearing the kingdom from them and giving it to the house of David. They were hoping to regain back the respect of G-D and maybe even any future kingdom of Israel. At least part of the Jewish population in the Persian Diaspora who centuries earlier belonged to the ten northern tribes probably preferred the house of Saul as well since he was considered a national unifier as opposed to King David and his son King Solomon who held a grudge against them.
The major characters of the story of Purim which took place in Shushan, the capital of Persia, have a direct connection to the story of King David and King Saul. In fact Mordechai who was most likely the leader of the Jewish community in Shushan and Ester, the heroes of the story, were direct descendants of King Saul. It seems that the house of King Saul was still enjoying a leadership position among the Jews.
We know that because the narrative refers to Mordechai as "the son of Kish", referring to Kish, the father of King Saul who was also called "Saul, son of Kish." Obviously the narrative is making sure that we are aware of the connection between Mordechai and King Saul. The narrative refers to Haman as the Aggagite, making sure we understand that Haman is a direct descendent of Aggag the king of the Amalakites.
So now we see the story of Purim clearly. This is the second round of the conflict between the house of King Saul and the house of Agag the Amalekite. Mordechai knows that this time around that all the descendants of the Amalekites must be killed in order to comply with G-D's order as well regaining the honor of the house of Saul. This is about an unfinished business that must be completed.
When Mordechai suggests to Queen Ester that G-D had made her the queen of Persia for a specific reason, this is the reason to which he is most likely referring.
But the story of Purim does have a twist at the end. While Haman and his ten sons were hanged, his wife and possibly daughters were not. So yet again the Amalekite line was not completely annihilated and may have continued through the wife who might have been pregnant at the time or through the daughters.
However it is interesting to note that from this point on Judaism takes a more philosophical approach to the line of the Amalekite. We consider every enemy of Israel who is trying to annihilate the Jewish people as a descendent of the Amalekite king, as Haman was. We certain can see the reference also to Hamas here - there is only one letter difference between Haman and Hamas.
Haman and the rest of the cruel enemies who throughout the generations have tried to destroy us, are considered the manifestation of evil in the world. That evil is what we are trying to eradicate by spreading throughout the world the Light of G-D which dwells within each and every one of us, in order to make our world a better, more peaceful one.
May this holiday of Purim be joyful to all of us.
Rabbi David
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Here is the original article when we first introduced the Infinite Child to our congregation back in 2017. We have since expanded our program for families of all religions, traditions and cultures and have worked with families throughout the world! Join our new program for children, parents and playful adults beginning Jan. 17th!
Introducing the Infinite Child
If you have heard rumors that Rabbi David and Cantor Lee have been putting blindfolds on children, yes, they are true! It is actually part of our new program, the Infinite Child Institute where children are taught focusing and mindfulness techniques. The results of the program thus far are not only interesting but enormously exciting!
Not only are children having an easier time learning and reading Hebrew (as one student put it, “it was magic when I had to practice for my Bat Mitzvah the next day!”) but they are also improving in secular school subjects as well as having transformative changes socially and emotionally.
Just to prepare you, the next sentence may be initially difficult to fathom…With training the children are actually able to see and read while wearing the blindfold as well as perform other activities such as coloring, doing a puzzle or walking around the room! It seems we all have the ability to use our inner eyes, our Infinite Light Vision. It is just that we were never taught or encouraged to use this sacred gift of our inner sight.
As people learn of our work with the Infinite Child program, it has been interesting to observe the gamut of reactions which range from utter amazement to total disbelief! We sometimes think we can in a small way relate to Abraham’s feelings with bringing the idea of monotheism into the world. Not only did he declare that there is only one G-d but this included the difficult perception that this One G-d is invisible!
But Abraham as the first Hebrew (the term Jew wasn’t in use yet) crossed over into a new realm of consciousness, a new way of being. The word Hebrew actually means to “cross over.” For the last 3000 years the Jewish people have crossed over into many new realms of consciousness, bringing to the world revolutionary ideas such as justice for all, caring for the helpless, for animals and for our environment as well as repairing the world through acts of good deeds.
Even Congregation Shirat Shalom when it was first conceived over twenty years ago crossed over from the status quo with our own revolutionary ideas. And one of those ideas was that the main focus would be the children. We somehow understood at the deepest levels that it is our children who will create a world of Peace and Love.
Perhaps they are beginning to create it right now. For as these Infinite Children show us what we perceive as impossible really is possible, we too cross over into a new realm of consciousness. And with this new way of being, of believing our possibilities are unlimited, a world of Peace and Love doesn’t seem too far away!
May it be soon....
Rabbi David and Cantor Lee
In this video a seventh grader has reached the stage of reading blindfolded.
In addition to Yom Kippur, there are other days during the year set aside for reflection and fasting. This month we observe the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tevet, which this year occurs on December 30th. It comes just before our secular New Year, a time many people also use for reflection.
From an historical perspective, the tenth day of Tevet marks the first day the Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem in 588 BCE. That siege ultimately led to the destruction of the majestic Temple of Solomon, our First Temple, and the exile of the Jewish people to Babylon. Out of this great loss emerged a profound spiritual shift. Prayer and connection to the Divine were no longer centered on a physical building or animal sacrifice, but on inner spirituality and direct communication. This marked the beginning of a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Light unto the Nations.
Every Hebrew month also has a Hebrew letter associated with it. The letter Ayin is assigned to Tevet. Ayin means eye and represents our inner divine vision.This inner vision became especially important after the destruction of the Temple, when spiritual connection could no longer rely on a physical place. Instead, the focus shifted to the inner sanctuary—the heart and the soul where the inner vision resides.
The prophets have foretold there will be another great shift which will include deep darkness which we believe we are experiencing right now. But out of that darkness there will arise a new Light bringing a new way of being not only for the Jewish people but the rest of humanity.
We believe that in some small way the teachings we have brought to our Shirat Shalom children throughout the years are a part of this great shift and also includes our Infinite Light Vision program which helps the children connect more deeply to their Inner Divine Light. We have even adapted this program for the secular world which we first began in our Hebrew School over eight years ago and have worked with children and families all over the world!
Here is our original letter to the congregation about this back in 2017!
We are excited we are offering a new program for children and parents (and playful adults) for all faiths and traditions beginning Jan. 17 to connect more deeply to our Divine Light! If you feel called to this, wonderful! Come join us! Find out More Here
Shalom, Rabbi David and Cantor Lee
In a few weeks we will once again celebrate Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. While the holiday celebrates a war victory of a small group of Jews over the mighty Greek empire, the Chanukah celebration itself is over a partial victory. We remember the successes of the Maccabees, Jewish rebels, in chasing the Greek army away from the city of Jerusalem and surrounding area only, not from the entire Judea area. A full victory of freeing the entire Judean territory from the Greek empire came some years later. At that point the Greeks decided that it was not worth it for them to lose so many soldiers during constant battles with the Maccabees. They then withdrew their army from the rest of Judea.
During the initial victory as the Maccabees entered the Jerusalem Temple they cleansed it from Greek statues and pagan religious articles everywhere and lit the seven branched golden menorah in order to bring back the Light of Holiness to the Temple. They then rededicated the temple to the G-D of Israel. Hence the word “Chanukah”, dedication.
This Light is the true spiritual meaning of the celebration. In the absence of Godly light at the temple, G-D’s spirit was absent from the soul of the people. That absence of the Shechina, the spirit of G-D resulted in many Jews becoming Hellenists, Jews who followed the Greek pagan religion and customs. The Maccabees considered the Hellenists to also be enemies of the Jewish people.
During Chanukah today, we also celebrate the power of our own inner sacred Light which dwells in each of our souls. It is the sacred Light of inner peace and love. As we celebrate the holiday of Chanukah we pray that our Light grows stronger and will illuminate the dark parts of the world, that it will shed peace and hope for people under oppression and despair.
We light the ‘Chanukia', the special 8 branched Chanukah menorah every night of the eight nights of the holiday. There is also one extra branch for the “Shamash”, the server branch, used to hold the candle which lights the rest of the menorah. With every night our sacred Light deepens in our souls, gaining more power, strengthening our resolve to hope and work for a better, peaceful world. This is our Light of Peace among ourselves and among all the nations.
May it be so.
Happy Festival of Lights!
Emerging from the High Holy day season ending with Simchat Torah, we enter the second month of the Jewish year, the month of Cheshvan. While there is no major holiday or a date of religious / national importance, it is nonetheless an important part of Jewish life. On the seventh day of Cheshvan, we begin to pray for rain, for the badly needed water in the mostly semi desert state of Israel. Water means much more than a quencher of a very thirsty land of Israel. It is in fact a major part of Jewish practices. It symbolizes the Jewish covenant with and trust in G-D as well as the sanctity of life itself. Jewish people express an appreciation for the creator through religious and spiritual acts involving water.
During the second day of creation G-D brought water under the heavens as a crucial part of life’s creation on Earth. The flood story is about using water to rebuild, restarting life the way G-D intended it to be. Some of the biblical water related stories are highly symbolic. Abraham offers water to the three strangers coming from the desert as a way to “inject” life into them so they can bless Sara with new a future life with baby Isaac.
The symbol of water as a source of life repeats in the Bible many times. Moses brings water from the rock not only to revive exhausted and thirsty Israelites but also to enhance their belief and trust in G-D, the source of life. Gideon, an army leader, chooses only a few hundred soldiers to fight the Midianite army. He chooses only the ones that lay down to drink water from the river and not the ones who kneel to drink. Those who lay down to drink are the ones who refuse to kneel, the act of idol worshippers, exhibiting an absolute trust in G-D. The prophets use water as an allegory to G-D, the source of life.
During this month of Cheshvan, not only do we pray for rain, we also express our appreciation for water, for life and for abundance. Jews consider life, a G-D given present as holy and should be preserved at all cost. It is said in the Talmud that anyone who saves one soul is as if he saved the entire world. This offer of appreciation for life and abundance is expressed through prayers and is a big part of the holiday of Sukkot, the last holiday of the agricultural year.
With Thanksgiving approaching, it is said that the Pilgrims, highly appreciative of surviving the harsh initial time in the new world, used the holiday of Sukkot as an idea to create the holiday of Thanksgiving. It is therefore a good time to adapt the Jewish custom of showing an appreciation of everything around us. The blessing, “Baruch Atah Adonai,” "Blessed are you Adonai,” is the Jewish way of showing an appreciation for our life by blessing and thanking the Creator. The rabbis of the past even declared that one should offer 100 blessings a day as expressed in our prayerbook.
May we all blessed with much for which to be grateful!
Rabbi David's Yom Kippur Sermon
Today we come to the synagogue for different reasons. We come to face both G-D and ourselves, our adversities, our hopes. Some are here to be with fellow Jews, to be inspired by the profound melodies.
Some of us struggle to understand, to make sense of unresolved issues of family concerns. Some struggle to keep the faith in the face of serious adversities or painful personal issues.
For the most part, we carry our pain silently. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov used to say: “Nothing is as whole as a broken heart and nothing shouts louder than silence. “
At times we struggle to carry the weight of uncertainty, of doubts, when our belief, our emuna, becomes questionable, unclear, when we don't see the light at the end of the tunnel,
Welcome to the Jewish faith experience.
Our struggle with doubt in our religious beliefs or with G-D, himself, is not a flaw. It is the heart of Jewish faith. Indeed, Jewish philosophy is unique when it comes to faith. Doubts and questioning cleans the soul. It makes for a stronger faith. It builds it up.
The Torah heroes are not flawless with blind faith. Biblical heroes often struggle with doubts, even questioning faith. Avraham argues with G-D over the city Sodom. He challenges G-D saying, “Shall the Judge of all the earth not act justly?” His faith is the courage to question G-D. He struggles to understand the mysterious ways of G-D’s justice. Will the G-D of mercy destroy an entire city full of people?
Moses, at the age of 75, doubts G-D’s reasoning for sending him to free the slaves: Moses says: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” Moses is filled with uncertainty. Despite being chosen by G-D he struggles with G-D’a decisions. Yet, he does exactly as he istold. For the next 40 years, his doubt turns into an unwavering faith in G-D.
David, cries out: “Why, O Lord, do You stand far away?”—and in the next breath declares: “But I trust in Your kindness.”
Doubting faith in G-D has been a part of our Jewish experience for millennia. It is part of our personal modern world. For Jewish people doubting and questioning G-D is not the opposite of faith. For us doubting and questioning is in the fabric of our faith.
When Jacob wrestles all night with the angelhe is given a new name: Yisrael, “One who struggles with G-D.” That is what our faith is all about. We, the great descendants of Jacob are G-D’s wrestlers as well. For us, to be Jewish is not to have simple answers.
We define our relationship with the All Mighty through life’s uncertainties and challenges. That is what enhances our faith. Our faith, our emuna is not a simple straight line of unwavering trust.
Imagine the path to faith as a stretched line that may go nicely and straight for a while, then turns sideways, then may even go backwards, then another sideways turn, then finally stretches straight again.Imagine seeing the straight line that finally emerges as much brighter and profound. This is faith enhanced
At times some people feel darkness all around with no end in sight. But darkness is not the absence of Light. It is Light hidden.There is a Chassidic saying: “ The light of faith penetrates best through the wounds of the soul.”
Therefore, questioning and struggling with uncertainties soothes the soul and builds a stronger faith.
Moreover, substantive doubts and questioning have always been welcomed in our most sacred literature. Even when our Jewish core beliefs are being challenged.
Talmudic scholars embraced meaningful arguments and uncertainties as a path to a stronger faith. The Talmud itself is about uncertainties. It is based on different valid opinions, sometimes completely opposite points of views for the same legal challenge.
The rabbis preserved all opinions, because they considered every voice as important and mattered, every doubt carried wisdom. They went as far as saying: ”Doubt in faith engages us with holiness and godliness even when our questions get no answers.
This does sound paradoxical. The idea that faith gets stronger with lack of answers, and understanding is indeed strange. The irony is that this paradox is the core, The essence of the Jewish faith.
Nothing demonstrates it clearer than the story of the binding of Isaac. All his life Abraham saw G-D as unique among all the idols and pagan gods around him. Hiis G-D was a true, living, compassionate G-D who cares much about people, and a G-D of justice and love.
As he takes his son Isaac to Mount Moria to slaughter him, his entire body is torn apart from agony, from the shock of what he is about to do to his beloved son. He does not understand any of it. Offering his son as a sacrifice made no sense at all, not for the compassionate G-D he knew all of his life. Somehow, deep in his heart he knew that G-D does not change his ways. He is always compassionate and merciful and therefore there must be some mysterious plan for all this beyond his lack of understanding. Abraham trusted G-D com pletely. That meant having a strong inner feeling that somehow the slaughtering will not happen.
We, like Abraham, understand and realize that we are G-D creatures with human spiritual limitations.
Faith in G-D when it is beyond our ability to comprehend some of our life’s experiences makes for enhanced faith, enough to settle the soul and stir it to a stronger faith
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught: “Faith without questions is no faith at all.”
Rabbi Heshel, a great rabbi of the 20th century said that, “Faith is uncertainty, it is the courage to live with doubts, with unanswered challenges, with what we cannot comprehend.”
In modern times the Holocaust is considered the ultimate challenge for the Jewish faith. For many Jews the Holocaust created the greatest doubt in religion. Where was God? How can we believe after such darkness?Some, like Elie Wiesel, spoke of silence, of the greatest doubt. Yet he and his fellow prisoners kept the Jewish tradition as much as they could. They never stopped praying. Elie Wiesel explained that keeping whatever traditions they could despite all the death and atrocities around them, gave them hope and spiritual strength.
Jewish faith has never been about easy answers. It has always been about holding onto G-D even when the questions are overwhelming.So on this Yom Kippur, let us gather all our doubts, all uncertainties, all personal adversities and merge them all into a strong unwavering faith. My prayer is that our faith will give all of us, G-D wrestlers, our brothers and sisters wherever they are a neverending hope and strength.G’mar Chatimah Tovah—may we all be sealed for life, blessings, and peace.
The biblical account of the creation of the universe seems mysterious. Using the relationship between cause and effect, G-D is the ultimate cause, creating the entire universe from nothingness. No black holes, no big explosion, just nothingness.
In the biblical narrative of creation there was no physical work, chemical interaction or any kind of building blocks for the universe. G-D created the entire universe simply by commanding it to happen.
However, the only thing that was created differently in the entire universe, were human beings. G-D actually physically sculpted the shape of a human from the dirt of planet Earth and when he was satisfied with his prototype, he then blew his Godly living spirit into him. Therefore, the phrase “In the Image of G-D” does not refer to the physical shape of Adam, since G-D has no physical image. It actually refers to G-D’s spirit which was blown into him.
Evidently, Adam and Eve were perfect human beings in every way. However, after the fruit of the tree of knowledge fiasco, when Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit of knowledge, they suddenly had enhanced intelligence and sophistication way beyond their original creation. This became imparted to all the generations that followed.
But with all those smarts, Adam and Eve also acquired some bad tendencies and emotions which made them less than perfect. As a result, Adam and all generations that followed became creatures with the spirit of G-D inside but also imperfect.
Jewish tradition says that there is a constant daily conflict between godliness and negative feelings and emotions as we go about our modern daily lives.
Later on, as the biblical events folded, starting with Cain murdering his own brother, Abel, the biblical narrative talks about generations of mankind with negative tendencies and even cruelties. This is a time when the spirit of G-D has begun to fade. G-D then realizes that something has to be done to try to control human flaws to save mankind from itself.
In the Book of Exodus, G-D designates the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the great G-D believers as the guardians of G-D’s spirit among people. This was done to prevent the spirit of G-D from completely fading from the hearts and minds of humanity.
That means that we, the Jewish people, are entrusted with preserving the divine spirit of G-D, among people, to make the world a better place by shining G-D’s light among mankind.
We all know it as “repairing the world,” Tikun Olam through acts of kindness and good deeds.
In order to make our world a better place, our soul yearns to be in constant contact with its creator for strength and encouragement, like a lamb constantly searching for his mom.
The Rambam, Maimonides, explains that we pray to our creator, so that our soul reunites with its creator in order to draw strength and holiness.
The Chasidic philosophy, while not taking away the importance of actual praying, stresses the value of meditating as a way to help bring the soul close to its creator. Meditating is awakening the inner feelings of closeness to G-D and a sense of holiness.
We become better human beings, performing acts of kindness and pursuing justice. This is the essence of Tikun Olam, making the world a better place. In turn, this makes our world a better place for all. We repair the world through our prayers and deeds.
Prayers do not need to be perfect, not in text, not in hymns. It is the intention, or "kavana" in our meditative state that elevates our soul close to our Creator. Judaism maintains that such a meditative state makes our prayers rise to heaven and opens the gates of heaven.
The following is a Chasidic story that demonstrates the power of kavanah, intention.
It was the Kol Nidrei night; the synagogue was very crowded, all waiting patiently for the rebbe to begin davening Kol Nidrei. But the rebbe was quiet and just stood there as if he was waiting for something.
People around him quietly and respectfully urged him to start but he just stood silently. Minutes went by and nothing happened. Then, suddenly, a wide smile appeared on his face and he started a powerful ”Kol Nidrei…
Later he explained, “I heard a child from the back of the synagogue talking to the old mighty saying, I cannot read to say the prayers but I know the alef bet. As he recited the letters, they went straight to heaven as a powerful prayer. The rebbe, known as the Baal Shem Tov, explained, “I waited until the child’s holy prayer was finished and accepted in the heavens before I began.”
The great rabbis of the Talmud taught that it is ok to ask for our needs and even our wants because even personal requests of both wants and needs, strengthens the bond between us and the Creator, drawing our souls closer to him.
May our prayers for ourselves, for our families and friends, for all souls who are hurting in silence, may we all be a shofar to their sorrow. May our prayers for all who suffer, for a more peaceful and tranquil world be accepted in heaven for a Happy New Year.
Shana Tova,
Even though I was only a child, after all these years, the memory is still etched into my mind, into my very essence…
I was four years old at the time, living in Yonkers, NY, where I attended our Temple’s nursery school. It was the time of Sukkot but the sukkah was in the sanctuary on the bimah. I still wonder today, why it wasn’t built outside but I suppose that is just how things were done there.
Our teacher had us line up in front of the side stairs going up to the bimah. One by one we each had a turn to stand inside the sukkah. When it was my turn, as I looked above to see the hanging fruits, I was embraced and experienced a Joy and Love that I still can’t put into words to this day. In my child’s mind, it was the invisible, magical lady of the sukkah who hugged me.
When our son was three years old and came home from his pre-school saying his friend’s daddy built a sukkah, that was all Rabbi David needed to hear. And so began our yearly tradition of building a sukkah in our backyard. In those days, living up north in New Jersey, the Autumn weather was beautiful and we would host a yearly party for which we became famous.
But each night I would sit quietly inside the sukkah and again experience the Sacred Presence that embraced me as a child. It would renew me, fill me with peace and joy! It is a tradition that I still follow after all these years.
I suppose the rabbis knew what they were doing when they instituted that it is a mitzvah to have people visit a sukkah one builds. For they too can be infused with the Healing, the Renewal, the Joy that being underneath the sukkah can bring. What a beautiful gift after the intense inner work of the High Holy Days!
Love, Cantor Lee
Cantor Lee: What would the High Holy Days be without an account of Rabbi David's yearly meeting with the Heavenly Beings. Shana Tova!
Rabbi David: Once again, as the summer draws to an end and the High Holy Days are in the air, as my yearly rabbinical custom demands, I used my Divine facebook account to send a message to the Heavenly Department for Jewish and Kosher Affairs, alerting them that I am filing an application for the World’s Jewish Status Review. I used the appropriate heavenly mandatory form titled “Rabbinical Request for Complaints Hearing and Jewish Review”
Much to my surprise, a few days later, UPS left me a small package from an undisclosed sender. Inside was a letter and a map. The letter notified me that Angel Shmuel Rabinowitz, my long loyal contact, will not handle my case this year since he was reassigned to a different detail in Washington DC. Go figure.
My case will be handled by Superior Angel, Mottel Berkovitch. Angel Mottel presides over a special non-partisan angelic commission for rabbinical complaints. My case will be heard at that kosher bagel and cream cheese store in the wilderness of West Boca Raton. I was asked to bring to the hearing all supporting documentation including maps, graphs, videos and written testimonies from Jewish people around the world. All the presented material will be evaluated in an orderly fashion during the heavenly hearing.
A date was set. I was busy gathering all the supporting documents. On the date of the hearing I got up early, got dressed, put on my favorite “Am Yisrael Chai” shirt, nice pair of pants and tie, ate an abbreviated breakfast and got ready to leave quietly so as not to disturb my beloved wife, Lee Ellen, who was still sleeping.
It course, nothing slips past my beloved wife. She rushed downstairs to perform her regular daily husband clothing checking. Upon hearing where and why I was going, she rolled her eyes and murmured ”another mishegas”. As usual I was made to change my pants, shirt, socks and shoes because she detected a microscopic unseen spot at the bottom of my pants. The tie passed and could stay.
I finally got to the bagel place. The commission was already sitting around a long table. They had already finished their breakfast and were drinking their Turkish coffee. There were four lady angels and four gentlemen angels, all looking very angelic and serious. Superior Angel Mottel Berkovich was presiding. With him was his heavenly edition apple laptop and a large screen.
I pulled the documents from my briefcase and handed them to Angel Mottel. He scanned them and displayed them on the screen. He was also streaming the procedure in real time for the big guy, the Higher Authority to see.
“Go ahead dear, we are listening, we are all human ears”, one of the lady angels was saying with a heavenly smile.
The supporting documents were now flashing on the screen. All the testimonies of hostilities against Jews around the world including Israel’s struggle in the last two years were there. I started my presentation: “As you can see for yourselves your honorable angels, the Jewish world is experiencing a dangerous rise in physical and verbal hostility. In many countries. Jews are living in fear for their lives. Our beloved Israel is struggling in a never ending war for survival against extremely ruthless enemies. They are exhausted physically and mentally. The hostages that were dragged to Gaza two years ago are still held in despicable inhumane conditions. "
The commission was quietly watching the testimonial, pictures and videos on the screen. I continued, "We in the US and other places around the world are experiencing a dangerous rise in Antisemitism on our campuses, on our streets and social media. Lies about the Jewish people and State of Israel have proliferated everywhere. We, the Jewish people, have suffered enough. It is time for some changes. It is time to improve human moral standards and eliminate Jewish persecution once and for all. "
One of the angels raised what appeared to be a hand and got permission to talk. “Rabbi, he said, “we have been dealing with bigotry and antisemitism for many, many centuries. Our almighty boss has closets full of documents like these. He had to build additional heavenly closets to store them all. As you know, Rabbi, the Jewish people have been traumatized by war and bigotry since Moses’ time. Angel Mottel took over, “Rabbi, just as we have been saying for centuries, do not despair. The Jewish people are an evergreen nation, forever alive. They are here as long as the world turns. You see, said the good Angel Mottel Berkovich, the Jewish people are blessed with Divine Light and nothing can destroy it. They are a giant tree with roots so deep in the ground, no hurricane can possibly topple it, not even category five. Be not afraid. G-D almighty, my boss, has your back. Keep the faith.
Another nice angel said: you must trust that what is good and decent will always prevail, trust that the good and decent will always defeat the darkness and evil. However,” he continued, ”Our Boss, the big guy, is watching these proceedings in real time. He is aware of everything. Trust in him and pray to him. With his help things will get better."
With this the Angelic commission officially wished all of us a great new Jewish year, a year of peace and tranquility all over the world. The meeting ended.
I was left there with my carefully chosen clean shirt and pants and my nice new kippah. I trust that the angels of the special angelic commission were right, talking about the Jewish secret of survival and that our eternal Hope for a Peaceful world will never fade and will become a reality.
May we all be blessed with a Happy and Healthy New Year, a year of peace. Shanah Tova,
In just a few weeks, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Sept. 22nd. As we all know, it is a time of inner work, purification and forgiveness that lasts for ten days though Yom Kippur. This work is so important that preparation actually begins 30 days beforehand during the Hebrew month of Elul, which is known as the Month of Love. The Hebrew letters are an acronym for the famous phrase, "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" taken from Song of Solomon, 6:3 in the Bible. This phrase is commonly used at weddings but it is really about the Love that G-d has for all of us, that we are in sacred partnership, co-creators.
As we go through self evaluation during the month of Elul which began Aug. 23rd at sundown, we do so with this Divine Love. It helps us discern what we would like to keep in our lives and what we would like to discard. The daily process of inner reflection which is to be done without guilt is meant to also help us become more aware of our emotions and perceptions, allowing us to eventually have control over them rather than having the emotions and perceptions control us.
One of the best ways to go through this process is with kavanah which means, intention. It is one of our most powerful practices. Even before praying we set the intention that our prayers are connecting us to G-d. Therefore, with kavanah, set the intention that insights will come with inner reflection that will help you grow spiritually. Cantor Lee keeps a journal to help with this process. If you would like to follow the practice of inner reflection during Elul, please let us know know how it goes!
May we all be blessed with awareness, discernment, peace and joy during this most special time!
Love, Rabbi David and Cantor Lee
Phone: 561.488.8079 P.O. Box 971142, Boca Raton, FL, 33497-1142
