Attention as an Essential Ingredient to Gratitude Each year, in late summer, we are told by the Rambam that the Shofar is there to wake us up. It is as if the Shofar tells us: Sleepers arise from your slumber, and those who are dozing, awake from your lethargy. And this year, in this late fall, this Thanksgiving, after reading an essay on gratitude by David Whyte, I realize that this call to wake up and to pay attention requires a constant reminder. David Whyte, in his masterpiece book, Consolations, writes: “Gratitude is not a passive response to something we have been given, gratitude arises from paying attention…Gratitude is not necessarily something that is shown after the event, is the deep, a priori state of attention that shows we understand and are equal to the gifted nature of life. (Consolations, p.89) We live in a world that is constantly trying to grab our attention. And it is the area of attention where we need to focus on most this Thanksgiving. As Jews, ...
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Kohelet., Amichai and Wisdom for this Simchat Torah
As soon as the shofar is blown after Neilah, there’s one thing I’m typically thinking about (in addition to my break-fast meal): Sukkot. After an intense month of selichot, teshuva, and literally praying for our lives, I look forward to the lighter holiday of Sukkot and Simchat Torah, which symbolize fall, family, feasting, and fun. But this year, like countless other people, I’m conflicted. How do we celebrate Sukkot — zman simchateinu — the holiday that is synonymous with unadulterated joy, when it is now connected to perhaps the darkest day in Israel’s history? It can be no coincidence that we find some guidance in the very megillah we read on Shabbat Chol Hamoed Sukkot, Kohelet, attributed to Shlomo HaMelech. Chapter 3 famously opens with: לַכֹּ֖ל זְמָ֑ן וְעֵ֥ת לְכׇל־חֵ֖פֶץ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּׁמָֽיִם עֵ֤ת לִבְכּוֹת֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂח֔וֹק עֵ֥ת סְפ֖וֹד וְעֵ֥ת רְקֽוֹד׃ עֵ֤ת לֶֽאֱהֹב֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂנֹ֔א עֵ֥ת מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְעֵ֥ת שָׁלֽוֹם׃ There is a time and a season for...
Disorienting Tears: A Biblical Trio and the Shofar in 5784 (2024) For months, I have been dreading Rosh Chodesh Elul. Up until now, each year, I eagerly awaited this day. As crisp fall air would gradually make its presence felt in the early mornings, Elul would be a time to cue up my special Playlist on Spotify, take out my Yamim Noraim sefarim and await the first sounds of the Shofar. Yet, this year, the thought of those first sounds fills me with angst. While the shofar’s first blasts have always brought me to tears, the tears of this Elul, Elul 5784, will be painfully and dramatically different. These will be tears of loss, of heaviness and of a world that seems stuck in sadness. . I was not sure I could be ready for this shofar moment until I thought of the lives of three Biblical figures, Noach, Daniel and Iyyov, and realized that if they could face catastrophe, so must we. The Torah mentions Noach three times in one pasuk (Bereshit 6:9) נח ו, ט: אֵ֚לֶּה תּֽוֹלְדֹ֣ת נֹ...
A Pshat Tisha B'Av Companion: 25 Psukim in Eicha that Speak for Themselves Every year, we all have our traditions that we turn to as Av arrives. And, for me, turning to Midrash Eicha Rabba to hear how Chazal related to the text has always resonated. But this year, as I opened Eicha, there was no need to read midrash and no need to read interpretations. The psukim, one after the other, jumped off the page. They are descriptive of today’s events and emotions and, to put it clearly and simply, the texts need no interpretation and commentary. They describe the day of destruction, the tears, the displaced, the murdered and ripped-apart souls. Attached here are 25 psukim that stood out for me in studying Eicha this year. While in learning groups and classrooms the psukim could be accompanied by stories, snapshots or videos, in the end, those feelings and images should be left to the reader. The psukim speak for themselves. They evoke images to our minds an...
Perek of Prayer for Our People: Beginning our Third Cycle with Zechut Avot and Imahot Tomorrow, we will conclude the second round of learning Tehilim in the hopes of peace in Israel, safety on our borders, protection for our soldiers and a return of our hostages. When this project began, it was on day 74 of this crisis, in December of last year. In those days, it was not imaginable that we would be heading to day 300, but here we are. I have been thinking a lot about beginning the next round of learning and different ways to frame it. In this search, I have been heavily influenced by R. Shimshon Raphael Hirsch’s commentary on Tehilim and, most recently, Walter Brueggerman’s Spirituality of the Psalms. However, in this coming round, I want to call upon the zchut Avot or more accurately zchut Imahot. This term literally means “the merit of our ancestors”, the idea that the positive actions of those who came before us can have influence on our lives and our destiny. Hashem refers to ...
The Blessings of 24-Graduation Speech Ramaz Upper School Bzchut Rabbi Lookstein, Mr Cannon, Members of the Board, Faculty, Parents, Friends, and of course, the Class of 2024! Before I begin I want to acknowledge the administration,faculty and staff of the Upper School. Our entire school community is blessed to have your guidance and support each day. Thank you. I would also like to extend our appreciation to our Senior Management Team and all teachers and staff, from nursery to elementary and middle school. This graduation is a tribute to each and every one of you who have impacted this special class. Mark Twain said that there are two most important days in someone’s life. The first is the day they are born and the second is the day they figure out why. While 2024 may or may not be the year you figure out why, it will certainly be significant in how you count time. 2024 will mark the beginning of your journey into adulthood — leaving home and beginning a new cha...
When We Feel LIke We’ve Been Counting Forever: The Chinuch, Rav Mirsky and the Omer in 2024 This year, we don’t have to remember to keep counting. Because it seems like we have never stopped. For 31 plus weeks, with tears, frustration and broken hearts, we have taken out our sharpies and taped on a number representing the days since the dreadful day that changed us forever. During this time after Pesach, we have always asked ourselves questions about the Omer. And yet, just like everything else since October 7, these questions look different for our people as we see things through a different lens.(1) Why count days and weeks? The Torah points out two mitzvot related to the counting of the Omer. We are told to count days and also count weeks(2) : הַכָּתוּב אָמַר תִּסְפְּרוּ חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם וְאָמַר גַּם כֵּן שִׁבְעָה שָׁבֻעֹת תִּסְפָּר לָך The Sefer HaChinuch quotes the Rambam who points out that one may think that these are two separate mitzvot. However, as we kn...
We Are All One Human Embroidery: Message for Yom HaZikaron Aaron Frank-Ramaz Upper School 2024 When I die, something of mine will die in you כשאמות, משהו ממני, משהו ממני ימות בך. כשתמות, משהו ממך בי, משהו ממך בי ימות איתך, ימות איתך. When you’ll die, something of yours in me, will die with you כי כולנו, כן כולנו כולנו רקמה אנושית אחת חיה For we all are one living human embroidery, one human tissue. These words from the song by Moti Hammer and made famous by Chava Alberstein resonate now more than ever. People in this room have lost friends, relatives, and each year they cry, and each year they connect with that soul and remember. And they also connect with the part of them that died along with their loved ones. This year, when we are all commemorating an unimaginatively, painful Yom HaZikaron we are all sort of lost. We are all numb a bit. And this year more than ever, maybe more than any Yom HaZikaron in history, we need each other, that huge human connection of which we a...
Elie Weisel and the Never of Today: A Meditation for Yom HaShoah v'HaGevurah Each year, we have always used Nevers. Our entire lives. Never forget. Never again. Elie Weisel, zichrono l’vracha in his famous work, Night, said it well, using Never so poetically and painfully. Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith for ever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.* Today we are part of the legacy of Nevers–and it’s strange as we are told to never forget something we did not see. And to never again with something we d...
Chamisha Asar Ani Yodeah: Dayeinu and the Most Central Number in the Pesach Experience I never understood why Echad Mi Yodea stops at just 13. Yes, the hour is getting later around our Seder tables, but there are so many more significant numbers, and wouldn’t it be great to get to Chai and end at 18 to celebrate life as we conclude the evening? We can definitely count 14 as 14 are the books of Rambam’s Yad Chazakah, the Mishneh Torah. And that would take us to 15. At 15, we would have a whole host of choices on how to best answer the question of chamisha asar mi yodeah? R. Eli Sadan, head of the mechina Bnei David, discusses Dayeinu in his Hagadat Kamah Maalot. He tells us that Dayeinu has 15 lines and he takes the opportunity to tell us many concepts that are significant to the number 15, elements that teach us so many lessons needed for Pesach and beyond. Fifteen is the Story of our National and Religious Journey R. Sadan begins by telling us that...
Day 150: When the Perek Will End and Start Anew As the conflict rages on, our brothers and sisters continue to fight and be in the evil hands of our enemy. Each day is a new opportunity for us to look within ourselves, to reflect, to act, and to pray. Since that horrific day, so many of us have recited Tehillim. And as I have been in many shuls and schools, I would say 90% of the time at 90% of the minyanim , the deep and moving Prakim 121 and 130 have filled our lips. We look to the mountains, we cry from the depths. Prakim of eternal pain and prayer are ones that are fixed upon our lips. For me, and a small group of us, we have used these terrible times to challenge ourselves to expand our muscles of prayer and learn a new Perek of Tehlim each day. The daily learning in prayer began on Day 78 where, after countless days of reciting the same chapters again and again, we expanded to learn the chapter of Tehillim that corresponded to the day of the crisis. On that day,...