שירת שלום
Song of Peace
A couple of weeks ago at the eye doctor, a woman tapped Rabbi David on the shoulder. “Are you David Degani?” She had heard the his last name being called. It turns out she is a relative who last saw Rabbi David 50 years ago! Ava became close to Rabbi David during her trips to Israel as a young person in the early 70’s and also spent a year there. They hadn’t stayed in touch but were certainly thrilled to reconnect and plan on staying connected.
We were all excited to get together a week later and I loved hearing all the stories and perspectives they shared of family and those years in Israel. One thing that really struck me was a vivid memory Ava shared of Rabbi David right after the Yom Kippur War in which he had served. He told her that with all the training as a soldier, no one can really be prepared for the horrors of war.
As with so many, Rabbi David and I were at first numb with the news of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7th and felt like zombies for the next three days. I don’t even know how we managed to facilitate a service to send prayers the next day.
These months of hearing and seeing horrors including the rise in anti-semitism have certainly affected all of us. With news of the hostages being shot - murdered last week, I felt as though my heart was once again shattered into pieces.
After Moses broke the first set of the Ten Commandments and received the second set, the Israelites still carried those shattered pieces in the Ark along with the second set of tablets.
And so we honor those pieces of our heart that have been broken as we grieve during these times, continue to pray, take action and keep going. Despite the horrors, nothing can destroy us as the Jewish people for we all carry G-d’s Divine Light within our very cells. It is the Light of Compassion, the Light of Fortitude, the Light of Strength, the Light of Hope, the Light of Peace. Let us shine it together.
Shalom,
Cantor Lee
Here is a picture Ava took of Rabbi David. He was 19 years old.
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In the beginning of October this year, the High Holy Days begin for the Jewish people. It is a time of inner work, purification and forgiveness that lasts for ten days. 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 the Divine has for all of us, that we are in sacred partnership.
As we go through self evaluation during the month of Elul, 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.
Elul begins sundown this year on Sept. 3rd. During our Meditation Circle at that same time, Tuesday, Sept. 3rd, at 7:30 p.m. we will be tapping into the sacred energy of Elul, the month of Love, with the help of AAUriel. Hope you will join us!
Register Here
Shalom, Cantor Lee
This year on August 18th at sundown begins the holiday of Tu B’Av, also known as the Holiday of Love. In the Kabbalistic teachings, it is considered to be the highpoint of the year energetically and spiritually. when we are infused with the Divine Love of G-d. That Love is always available to us, but on Tu B’Av due to the nature of the month’s full moon we are more easily able to forge a connection between the heavenly and lower realms.
Divine Love is a huge theme in Judaism. When we follow the prayer book for Shabbat or weekdays, a whole section is devoted to prayers about Love. The prayer, “V’ahavtah,” “You Shall Love,” is inside our mezuzzahs and is traditionally used as a bedtime prayer for children. The Hebrew word for Love, “A-ha-vah” has much power and is used in Kabbalistic Healing. It isn’t an accident that each syllable has an “Ah” sound which is the universal vowel sound for our hearts. What do we do when we see a baby or a puppy? AAhh……… And our hearts open…
So how can we celebrate Tu B’Av? One beautiful way is to spend some quiet time thinking of someone you love which helps to open your heart. Then ask to connect to the Divine Love of G-D. You may feel a tingling sensation, a feeling of upliftment, joy or peace. You may feel nothing at all but you are still receiving the energy.
As always in our tradition, express gratitude for this gift and decide how you would like to use it whether it is to pray for healing, abundance or changing a situation in your life or in a loved one’s life. For those looking for a love partner, Tu B’Av is especially considered to be an auspicious day to do so!
Rabbi David and I will be spending time connecting to this Divine Love to pray for peace. The power of the energy of Divine Love can heal, transform, shift our entire world!
Happy Tu B'Av!
Love, Cantor Lee
From Cantor Lee: If you have been in my house, specifically in the family room, you probably know there is a door to the right side of the blue couch that leads to another room. It is actually half of our garage which we originally turned into a room many years ago so our son could have a place for his band to meet. Yes, not quite the music we wanted to hear throughout the house! These days the room functions as a playroom for our grandchildren, a meditation/healing room and also where Rabbi David puts on Tefillin.
Growing up in a Reform household, I didn’t really know too much about Tefillin until I was twenty years old and began dating Rabbi David who had just come from Israel after serving in the Yom Kippur War. Always drawn to anything sacred, I was quite fascinated with his ritual of “laying tefillin” which he did everyday except for Shabbat. But it was more than fascination. Just seeing him perform the ritual touched me in a way I couldn’t explain. Throughout the years anytime Rabbi David has taught our students how to put on Tefillin,, it especially touches my heart in the deepest places, never failing to make me cry.
With the passing of the years, Rabbi David hasn’t always put on his Tefillin everyday. But whenever there is special healing needed or of major importance, he returns to his daily practice. As you can imagine, that has been the case this year.
I myself have never put on Tefillin. Traditionally it was meant just for the males, although these days women put on Tefillin as well. But recently I had a chance to experience its amazing power. I was relaxing on the blue couch drifting off, when I began to feel an unusual energy coming from the right side of the room. As someone who is very sensitive to energy I was puzzled by this kind. Usually I feel the Divine Light coming through my crown and going down my body or coming into my heart. This came differently and felt very different. The only way I can explain it is that I was filled with the most profound sense of Peace.
It wasn’t until later after telling Rabbi David of my experience that I learned he was praying with his Tefillin on at the exact same time. I certainly believe in the power of prayer. But if not, I would be a believer after my experience! Rabbi David told me he was praying for peace.
From Rabbi David: To a stranger’s eye, the ritual of putting tefillin on, wrapping the head, arm, hand and finger with a leather strip appears very bizarre. This Jewish custom was commanded in the Torah and is considered to be one of the most important deeds a Jewish person can perform.
There are two sets of straps, one for the head and one for the hand. Each strap is attached to a box so that when the strap is wrapped around the head, the box is placed in the center of the forehead between the eyes. The other box is placed on the inside of the left upper arm close to the heart. Each box contains four biblical chapters which symbolize the principles of the Jewish monotheistic belief that G-D is one and whole, that Israel is a holy nation unto G-D, that the exodus from Egypt is the event that crystalised the Jewish people as a nation and should always be remembered as such.
The Tefillin has an enormous spiritual power. The placing of the boxes with the specific four Torah portions around the head and arm symbolizes the wrapping of the entire Torah around the body, (think of a patriotic person wrapping himself in his country’s flag). Moreover, the way the straps are tied around the fingers and arm creates the word “SHADAI,” one of the names of G-d. This symbolizes the wrapping of the holy name of G-D around the body.
When performing this deed with real Kavanah, pure intention, one can feel a special energy flooding the body. It is interesting to note that the points of placing the two boxes correspond exactly to the Chinese meridian acupressure points both on the head and on the arm which produce a flow of energy throughout the entire body.
Shalom, Cantor Lee and Rabbi David
Our dog, Oreo Cookie, came up in my facebook memories last week. It just doesn’t seem possible that it has been nine years since since he went over the rainbow bridge. Perhaps it is because I feel him around me so much. And also because his legacy lives on, especially with the Shirat Shalom children who learned the power of their Divine Light that amazing day. Of course, now those children are adults.
I had already been having the children in help me with various situations before they helped Oreo Cookie. It was just a part of their education that began in kindergarten, of learning to work with the radiance of the Shabbat Candles that connects us to the Divine Light within us all, of opening their hearts and sending Prayers and Healing Light to those in need.
It wasn’t until the children began helping with the annual baby seal hunt each year that I witnessed the power of their pure hearts coming together in unity. Of course I didn’t give them the details of how the baby seals were killed for their pelts, only that we had to protect them from the hunters, keep them safe with their mothers. Each week when we would meet, we would erect barriers around the baby seals and see the hunters kept at sea.
I would follow the news each day of the hunt. On Wednesdays when the children would work with their Divine Light, the hunters couldn’t reach the seals for various reasons. I didn’t discuss it with anyone but Rabbi David who would also help with the seals. Of course these days, more people understand the power of the Divine Light G-d has placed within each one of us.
Then there was that amazing day in 2010 when the children helped Oreo Cookie. Twelve years old at the time, we were preparing to say goodbye to Oreo after emergency surgery a week earlier. The children were my last hope. My sister, Miss Susan, was staying home with Oreo while I was at school.
It was at 7:10 pm that the children sent him Healing Light. At 7:20 pm, Oreo transformed into his usual self right before my sister’s eyes! He perked up his head, wagged his tail and ate and drank for the first time since his surgery! He was quite excited to visit the children a few weeks later to to say thank you!
Oreo Cookie went on to live for another five years, always overjoyed when he would meet any of the children who helped him that amazing day!
Read further how Oreo helped his students throughout the years: A Master Teacher
It was at the luncheon after our student Sarah’s Bat Mitzvah service that Isadora’s father, a family friend, shared his story with us. He was successful financially at an early age but yet he wasn’t happy within. And so he began his spiritual journey to find the answers, learning how to meditate along with gathering wisdom from various teachers. “We have come to earth to learn to do two things,” he said. “To love and be kind. But that isn’t always so easy.”
He told us about his daughter Isadora, of the agony and despair of having her die in her mother’s arms at the age of 25 from a rare form of cancer. Yet, Isadora’s short life of exemplifying love and kindness, is now helping others. Fulfilling her request, her parents went on to create a charitable foundation that tells Isadora’s story and gives scholarships to aspiring teachers. The recipients are chosen according to their level of kindness.
As we continued speaking, Isadora’s father shared an experience he had at a restaurant. A group he was with was speaking negatively about the waitress who had given poor service. His mentor at the time said, “ We don’t know what she has gone through today. Always look for the good in people.” Isadora’s father said he has been trying to follow that wisdom ever since.
I know the response so many may have. But what about a murderer, or child abuser? Especially now, how about Hamas? How does one find the good there? Our Jewish teachings have answers for us, but they are not easy ones. I still remember during my spiritual journey when I had this deep revelation that by hating the Nazis, I was being just like them and bringing more hatred into the world.
One of our most profound teachings and one that Rabbi David often tells is that when we crossed the Sea of Reeds into freedom, the angels joined us in celebrating. G-d said to them, why are you doing so? The Egyptians are my creations too.
Our sacred teachings remind us that we all contain the Divine spark of G-d. It doesn't mean that when others wish to hurt or destroy us that we don't have boundaries or take action to protect and defend ourselves. It means we live at a higher consciousness, sending Divine Light through our prayers to all sides. This is what it means to be a Light unto the Nations, our mission as the Jewish people.
Perhaps even more difficult is applying this to those in our inner circles that rub us the wrong way. I suppose that is why there are so many divisions in families and thus so much division in our world. For the outer is a reflection of the inner. Yes, being Loving and Kind takes dedication!
What gives me hope though, are the new children coming to earth who carry this understanding. And when they are educated by kind and loving teachers, such as those chosen through Isadora’s scholarships, we truly can create Heaven on Earth - a world of Love and Kindness, a World of Peace.
The Middle East tumult is complicated and confusing to many. We get our information through the eyes of reporters, their editors or other public opinion influencers. As we all know, many times their reporting is not objective. Therefore, the full reality of Israel’s geo-political situation is rarely brought to light.
One of the most overlooked issues is the need to better understand the complexity of Israel’s perpetual threat of a total annihilation. For the sake of illustration, let’s “implant” the state of Israel’s geo-political situation into the US using the size and population ratios between the two countries.
The size of the US is 441 times that of Israel (3,809,525 US sq.miles divided by 8,630 Israel’s sq.miles). The US population is almost 38 times that of Israel. (340 million divided by 9 million.) To its west, Israel was facing on October 6th a well organized Hamas army of 30,000 well trained, fanatic terrorists equipped with at least 20,000 missiles threatening to kill 9 million Israelis.
Using the population ratio between the US and Israel, (1 to 38) it would be like a monster size army of 1,140,000 well trained terrorists living in Mexico, deeply imbedded among the Mexican population, eagerly waiting for an opportunity to attack the US and equipped with an astronomical number of 760,000 missiles. This terrorist army hides its missiles inside Mexican civilian homes everywhere. There are underground tunnels spread over hundreds of miles under many Mexican cities, used to hide terrorists and equipment.
How should the American government respond to this threat?... Welcome to an Israeli reality.
On October 7th, at least 3,000 terrorists and many hundreds of Gaza residents attacked nearby Israeli towns and kibbutzim killing 1200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages.
Using our population comparison ratios, it would be like 136,000 terrorists from Mexico attacking Tijuana, El Paso, Rio Reco, Eagle Pass, San Diego and other border towns killing 45,600 Americans, taking 9,500 American hostages, man woman and children, brutally torturing many, throwing babies to burning fires, raping dozens of woman and girls and mutilating their bodies and for good measure, burning hundreds of buildings to the ground.
What would the American government do in response? Would there be a Mexico left?
On its northern border, Israel is facing a much larger terrorist army. Hezbollah has as many as 50,000 well trained terrorists. It possesses at least 150,000 missiles. They are in the process of upgrading their missile arsenal to make laser guided highly accurate weapons. In our US comparison, say we had Canadian Hezbollah on our northern border. That would mean an army of 1,900,000 fanatic soldiers equipped with 5,700,000 missiles, many of which are already precision laser guided, aiming at every corner of the US.
Sounds crazy? Numbers don’t lie.
Many Israeli towns in the Upper Galilee have been indiscriminately bombarded on a daily basis for many months. Residents of many of these towns were evacuated leaving everything they own behind. Parts of the upper Galilee look like a ghost area.
If we compare the size of the Upper Galilee relative to the size of the entire state of Israel, it would be equal to our theoretical Canadian Hezbollah bombarding the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and NY non stop, causing many of their residents to evacuate to other states.
What would we in the US do if we faced threats like that simultaneously from Canada and Mexico?
The Houthis in Yemen some 200 miles south of Israel are another fanatic terror army of at least 20,000 terrorists, well trained and well equipped. They are estimated to possess about 200 missiles, much of them long range and, possibly, hypersonic as well.
The Houthis are now attacking any merchant ship on its way to Israel. Using our US-Israel population ratio again, this is like an army of 760,000 fanatic terrorists stationed in, say, Cuba attacking with missles any merchant ship carrying essential goods, going to the port of Miami or trying to cross the Panama Canal on the way to the west coast.
Welcome to the Israeli reality. These are realistic scenarios facing Israel nowadays on a regular basis. All these terror armies enjoy an unlimited supply of the most sophisticated weapons from Iran, the terrorist country who gets its billions of dollars by supplying huge amounts of oil to China and Russia.
How long would the US or any other country in the world tolerate these kinds of multiple existential threats?
Welcome to Israeli reality.
Rabbi David
I still remember Gabbie’s Bat Mitzvah project from 8 years ago. She called it “BE” because she wanted to inspire people to be their greatest selves. Since she was 14 at the time, she came up with 14 unique ways she could “BE” her best self and make a difference then and in the future.
Now in college, Gabbie has certainly been exemplifying “BEing” her greatest self. As with so many of our Jewish students, Gabbie has had to face what we have never wanted for our beautiful children.
But Gabbie also knows that BEing her best self can also mean having courage which was one of her original attributes in her mitzvah project. Gabbie used her artistic talents to display her statement.
Some of her various answers to those who harassed her? "This is not political. Everyone should feel safe on campus" "Everyone deserves equal opportunity for education." “Our Community will always be stronger than your hate. Grow up, Do better."
During these times, people often ask me how I can have so much hope. Gabbie and all of our other young people is my answer. For they are exemplifying for the entire world, how to BE.
Make sure to read Gabbie’s other BE’s here: https://shiratshalom.org/Rabbi-and-Cantors-Messages/13361374
In the aftermath of October 7th, I kept thinking of how Holocaust Survivors and their children were being affected. Of course we were all shocked and continue to reel from the horror, but for Survivors especially, I knew the past trauma carried within was being triggered. And so this was confirmed with the calls Rabbi David began receiving.
With the ensuing antisemitism that was already coming to the surface years before the attack and has been displayed at the recent campus protests, our collective Jewish resolve of “Never Again!” has certainly turned to “Never Again is Now!”
We all see the mistruths being spread with social media one factor in creating this narrative. As Rabbi David recently wrote, "This narrative has been relentlessly playing on the emotions of the students. Once emotions take over, hate settles in and the truth becomes irrelevant. At that point there is no desire to have an honest discussion and investigation. "
So what is my role as a lightworker and as a Jewish teacher? Ingrained within us as the Jewish people is that we are to be a Light unto the Nations. I take that seriously knowing that every prayer, thought, word and action I have can work energetically, helping to bring us closer to a world of peace.
Especially with our work with children in our Infinite Light Vision program, I have witnessed firsthand the power of this Light that is just waiting to be awakened within each one of us.
Rabbi David and I will certainly continue to "arm" our Shirat Shalom children with the strength of our beautiful Jewish heritage that also teaches that each one of us has the ability to be a ”Light Unto the Nations” through our own respective religious and cultural paths.
Today as we observe, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, Yom Zikaron La Shoah veh la G'vura- may this Awakened Inner Light bring us together in Unity that Never Again is Now!
With recent events of college campus protests, questions have been asked of Rabbi David about this situation. Here is his answer:
The eruption of Antisemitic, anti-Israel protests in many universities around the country is far from new or spontaneous. Actions against Jews in general and Jewish students in particular has been permeating through colleges for decades. It is spearheaded by well trained organizers who are being paid for their services by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other nations.
The amounts of money flowing to promote “Palestinian causes” is in the billions. For decades this campaign has been very well organized and coordinated nationwide. For its part, Qatar is spending many billions in dozens of the most known and recognized colleges in the US. Its organizers, many of them students themselves, have been spreading blatant historical lies by manufacturing facts about the Arab - Israeli conflict. The Palestinian “activists,” operate under the clear goal of deliberate brainwashing of unsuspecting students on campuses. This is done by pounding the Palestinian issue into the students’ minds with activities and lectures full of many wrong details on a regular basis.
There is a direct correlation between the amount of money from Qatar given to a university and the amount of anti-Jewish anti-Israel activities on its campus. The money involved according to the Department of Justice amounts to many billions. The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, ISGAP, reported that the billions from Qatar are handled in campuses across the nation by “Proxies”- a term used to describe politically correct pro-Palestinian activities organizers on behalf of Qatar. These organizers coordinate their activities among colleges throughout the country.
For many years these well organized, well founded sophisticated activities have been relentless. They are hidden under a mask of legitimacy, factual and research based in order to appeal to unsuspecting, very impressionable young students. For years the Qatari “Proxies” have been identifying pro-Palestinian professors helping them to create “Palestinian studies” courses, symposiums on Israel’s “actions” against the Palestinians, student forums and campus rallies which call for the destruction of Israel through all means possible.
This narrative has been relentlessly playing on the emotions of the students. Once emotions take over, hate settles in and the truth becomes irrelevant. At that point there is no desire to have an honest discussion and investigation. Many pro-Israeli students report that no matter what facts they present, these highly emotionally brainwashed students cannot see the real facts. For them, it is not about the truth, it is about what feels good to their young minds.
With our mission as the Jewish people to be a light unto the nations, still we will forge ahead, living at a higher consciousness and bringing these ideals forward.
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