Dear Friends: This
quarterly message to friends and family about my rabbinic exploits
marks the fortieth such missive and ten years of electronic summaries.
(As always, if you want to opt out of these messages, please just send
me a note to that effect).
The number “forty” has special Jewish
meaning. We recall the forty days that Noah and company were on the
ark and the forty days that Moses was up on Mt. Sinai.There were also
the forty days that the spies were in Israel, and the Israelites heeded
the majority who warned of the dangers of proceeding to the Promised
Land rather than listening to the minority vote of confidence in
Adonai. The resultant punishment, a year for a day, was the forty years
of wandering in the wilderness. More positively, Rabbi Akiva was 40
when he started studying Torah, and according to Maimonides (M.T. Hil.
Avodat Kochavim 1:3) “Abraham was 40 years old when he became aware of
his Creator.”
It is central to my philosophy of Jewish
education that we can approach serious engagement with Judaism even (or
especially) well past the age of Bar or Bat Mitzvah. My own experience
is that not long after becoming Bar Mitzvah, I distanced myself from
Judaism, only to return when, after a decade, I discovered that Judaism
was far more insightful, wise, and profound than what I’d thought as a
child. My primary rabbinic goal is to share this insight with other
adult Jews who have negative connotations based, I think erroneously, on
misunderstandings of our tradition.
To that end, we revived
Saturday morning (Zoom) services this quarter at the Jewish Center of
the Moriches (JCM), and our focus is on a discussion of the Torah
portion, with an eye toward contemporary events. With Zoom, I also was
able to lead Torah discussions with HaMakom in Santa Fe, share a
teaching with Kehillat Beijing on Chanukah, and chant from the Chumash
at Temple Beth El here in Patchogue.
These and other events like
our in-person (outdoors) JCM Sukkot, Simchat Torah, and Chanukah
celebrations and my Zoom talk on the Mitzvah of Voting to Temple Beth
Shalom in Santa Fe hopefully provided adults with the opportunity to
enjoy the beauty and wisdom (and challenges) of Judaism, even for adults
who didn’t experience those pleasures as children. Life cycle
ceremonies are other teaching moments for me, and I was officiant this
past quarter at a wedding, a mezuzah attachment, a headstone dedication,
and a funeral.
Whether you’re looking at age 40 from above or
below, you can still gain an appreciation of Judaism. New studies even
suggest that 70 may be emerging as the new 40. A study conducted by
Oddfellows, a non-profit friendship group, has identified 70 and beyond
as one of the happiest times in our lives. Perhaps they were thinking
about adult Jewish education when they did the study!
B’shalom, Rabbi Jack
Last quarter’s reading list, with highlights denoted by an asterisk*
The Stranger: Immigrant, Migrant, Refugee and Jewish Law – ed. Walter Jacob Apropos of Nothing* – Woody Allen Relational Judaism – Ron Wolfson Pain – Zeruya Shalev The Invitation: Living a Meaningful Death – Miriam Maron and Gershon Winkler Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Genesis – Francis Nataf Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Exodus – Francis Nataf Joseph: Portraits through the Ages – Alan Levenson Mishkan Aveilut: Where Grief Resides – CCAR ed. Eric Weiss Melekh Ravitsh: The Eccentric Outback Quest of an Urbane Yiddish Poet From Poland – Anna Epstein Responsa in a Moment I – David Golinkin The Dairy Restaurant – Ben Katchor Fifty Shades of Talmud – Maggie Anton Scripture Windows: Toward a Practice of Bibliodrama* – Peter Pitzele Ben Hecht: Fighting Words, Moving Pictures* – Adina Hoffman Ernst Toller: Plays Two – tr. Alan Pearlman Lessons from Lucy* – Dave Barry (infused with Jewish lessons though not explicit about it) House on Endless Waters – Emuna Elon In Potiphar’s House: The Interpretive Life of Biblical Texts – James Kugel Robin
Williams: A Singular Portrait – Arthur Grace (while virtually devoid of
Jewish content, a singular comic genius worth examination, IMHO) Pepper, Silk and Ivory: Amazing Stories about Jews in the Far East – Marvin Tokayer and Ellen Rodman Midrash Aleph Beth – Deborah Sawyer Darkness at Noon – Arthur Koestler The
Mystical Study of Ruth: Midrash HaNe’elam of the Zohar to the Book of
Ruth – ed. and trans. Lawrence Englander with Herbert Basser The Aleph Beit of Rebbi Akiva – tr. Yaacov Dovid Shulman (2 vol.) Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro My Wild Garden – Meir Shalev A Passage In the Night – Sholem Asch Prince of the Press – Joshua Teplitsky The Land of Truth: Talmudic Tales, Timeless Teachings* – Jeffrey Rubenstein
