Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2022

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - The Congressional Caucus For the Advancement of Torah Values was recently inaugurated in Washington, DC by a bi-partisan group of Democrats and Republican congressmen and congresswomen.

Caucus Co-chairs are Congressman Don Bacon (R -Nebraska District 2) and Congressman Henry Cuellar (D - Texas District 28).

Championed by Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, Founder of Dirshu, the largest Torah organization in the world, Members of the US House of Representatives met to support the Caucus launch, and discuss ongoing issues of concern to Jews in the United States, Canada and around the world.

In his address to the Congressmen/Congresswomen, Rabbi Hofstedter who is based in Toronto, Canada, outlined the issues on which the Caucus will focus:

"The rise of anti-Israel bigotry that has led to an increase of antisemitism incidents on college campuses and elsewhere;

The rise of hate crimes against Jews in New York city and elsewhere, where Jews easily identifiable by their garb are targeted;

The uneven-handed lockdown of Synagogues and Yeshivas in New York that was and inconsistent with city and state policy."

Dirshu, is an Orthodox Jewish International organization founded in 1997 in Toronto by Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, the son of Holocaust survivors. It includes 200,000+ supporters dedicated to the study of Jewish texts, sponsoring Torah lectures and offering financial incentives to individuals and groups to learn and master Talmud, Halakha and Mussar texts. Dirshu operates in 26 countries on five continents with its US headquarters in New Jersey.

Congressman and Co-Chair Bacon said, "The purpose of this Caucus is to pledge our friendship to our Jewish friends, our brothers and sisters. We are 100% standing with you against antisemitism in any form. I don't care where it comes from left or right."

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Congressman and Co-Chair Cuellar said, "This Caucus is going to be so important in a bipartisan way. We have to be able to have the strength so we know what's good, what's bad, what's moral and what's not moral."

Speaking in Washington to the Members in attendance, Rabbi Hofstedter said, "Torah values have been under attack for many years basic values such as the deep respect for religion, for human dignity, honesty, integrity, self-sacrifice, charity, compassion and empathy. These values are the foundation of the USA. As Members of Congress, your attendance and participation here demonstrates your personal commitment to supporting Jewish values and to promoting unity. I feel a deep sense of encouragement about what lies ahead and I intend on conveying your messages of encouragement to all members of our organization in your respective districts. We at Dirshu look forward to working together in the months and years to come, to ensure that freedom of religion is never abridged, and that never again, in fact, remains just that Never Again."

The attending Members of Congress were asked "to continue to be more clear and forceful in their condemnation of antisemitic acts especially in light of the increased number of hate crimes against Jews." Congressional districts represented included Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.

Rabbi Hofstedter added, "We appreciate and continue to rely on the support of the United States and the benevolence of its government to protect Jewish people when we have been the subject of persecution and under attack. Let us celebrate the inauguration of this Caucus as we embrace its principles and strive energetically and bravely to ensure freedom of religion and religious education, even in the most challenging of times. Let us battle, together, against antisemitism. Let us fight to restore human dignity and advanced Torah values in America and throughout the world. Doing so, we should always be mindful of the Torah values as embodied in the Declaration of Independence with the firm reliance of the protection of divine providence."

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Celebrating the recent inauguration of the Congressional Caucus for Torah Values in Washington, DC (L-R) Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R- Florida Dist. 3); Caucus Co-Chair Don Bacon (R-Nebraska, Dist. 2); Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, Dirshu Founder; Caucus Co-Chair Henry Cuellar (D-Texas, Dist.28); Congressman Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania, Dist. 9); Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania, Dist.1) Photo Credit: Sruly Saftlas (CNW Group/Dirshu)

Dirshu Logo (CNW Group/Dirshu)

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DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS INAUGURATE THE CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF TORAH VALUES - Yahoo Finance

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

This week, we averted one tragedy, but we experienced another. Thank God, that Colleyville did not end like Pittsburgh. We averted tragedy in that none of the hostages from Congregation Beth Israel of Colleyville were killed and all managed to escape from their eleven-hour nightmare in the synagogue this past Shabbat. At the same time, this latest antisemitic attack in a Jewish house of worship has only reinforced the fact that when we come to a synagogue to pray, whether on Shabbat or not, we are placing ourselves at a certain risk of harm. Some of us may have been lulled with the passage of time to think that we neednt be so cautious anymore when coming to shul. Colleyville was a wake-up call to the ongoing need for security precautions, and we recognize how fortunate we were that this instance of terror did not cost the life of a single worshipper.

However, the tragedy of Colleyville is that it also forces synagogues to revisit a core mission, that of chesed, acts of kindness. Mr. Akram, the terrorist, was allowed into the synagogue as an act of kindness. Rabbi Cytron-Walker, the Rabbi of the synagogue, said that he had let the stranger in before Shabbat services that morning. It was an unusually cold day in North Texas, and the rabbi thought that he was just coming in to get warm. The tragedy of Colleyville is that we may not be able to do that anymore.

I remember that when I was studying in Yeshiva in Israel thirty years ago and I wanted to travel with a friend to France on the way back to the United States, we found a book that contained the names and contact information of families all over the world who were happy to host orthodox Jewish young adults like us for Shabbat. There were no security precautions to get invited for Shabbat. We simply wrote a letter to a family in France and we received a favorable response a few weeks later and we stayed with this family for Shabbat. After all, that is the beauty of the Torah community throughout the world. We all extend ourselves to help the stranger, because he or she is not really a stranger. We all are related to each other. We all are one large family. We all are connected to each other even if we live on opposite corners of the world and even if we have never met.

The Talmud Yerushalmi in Masechet Nedarim develops this idea in explaining how we can fulfill the challenging command of vahavta lreiacha kamocha, of loving our friend like ourselves. Because in fact, doesnt that seem like too high a standard to achieve? The Yerushalmi explains this requirement with the following parable. If someone is holding a knife with his right hand and accidentally cuts his left hand with the knife, will the left hand now pick up a knife and in an act of revenge, cut the right hand? Obviously not. They are part of the same person. That is the basis for the mitzvah of loving our friend. Why should we love our friend? Because kamocha, because he or she is really connected to us. We both are connected to the same entity, which is Am Yisrael, the nation of Israel. As an extension of this concept, we all come from a common ancestor. We care about every individual, imitating the description of God as being rachamav al kol maasav, merciful upon all of His works. The Gemara in Yevamot states that one of the distinguishing marks of the Jew is that he is merciful and another distinguishing mark is that he performs acts of kindness. This is who we are. Kindness is a value that lies right at our core.

But then what do we do if we are too scared to be ourselves anymore and to engage in certain acts of kindness anymore? What if security considerations do not permit us to simply open our doors to a stranger who needs a place to eat, to escape from the cold, or just to find a friendly face. I teach a Mitzvot bein adam lachavero course to high school students and when we studied the topic of the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, of inviting guests, I provided my students with three scenarios and asked what they would do under the circumstances. The first situation is that someone called you in the middle of the week and wanted to spend Shabbat in your community. What would you do? I think in that scenario we easily can ask the person to send references, like the Rabbi of the community where the person davens, if thats possible, so that we can verify that it is safe to host the person. But what if someone calls you on Friday evening right before Shabbat begins and says that she is stuck on the road and your town is the nearest town because she cant make it home for Shabbat. She wants to spend Shabbat in your community and there is no time to get references. What would you do then? We discussed that maybe we cannot host her because we cant verify her credentials but we can direct her to a nearby hotel where she can stay without violating Shabbat and, if need be, provide funding for the hotel if the person cant afford it. But what if someone shows up on Friday night in your community and theres no hotel nearby. Do we offer the person a place to stay? How do we balance the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim with security considerations?

In 2014, Rabbi Akiva Males, then the Rabbi of Harrisburg, Pennsylvanias orthodox shul, wrote an opinion piece in the OUs Jewish Action magazine, when he reflected on this tension. He cited a discussion in the Talmud that resonated with him in this context. The Mishnah in Yoma teaches us that prior to Yom Kippur, the elder Kohanim compelled the Kohen Gadol who would perform the Yom Kippur service to take an oath of allegiance, that he would not deviate from the traditional method of performing the service. The Mishna concludes that after the oath, both the elder Kohanim and the Kohen Gadol would weep. The Talmud explains that the Kohen Gadol would weep for having been suspected of possibly deviating from the Yom Kippur service and the elder Kohanim would weep for having suspected that a potentially innocent person would deviate from the Yom Kippur service.

This is the tension that Rabbi Males faced and this is the tension that we increasingly face in this world where there is a need for heightened security. If a needy individual comes to our synagogue asking for help, must we now ask for references every time before letting the person in? If so, we must cry for suspecting the individual and the needy individual must cry for being suspected. How somber we must be when we realize that practical and legitimate fears for our safety obstruct our ability to actualize our true nature as kind and giving people. Unfortunately, the near tragedy of this past Shabbat will further force us not just to re-evaluate our security for how to protect ourselves, but it will also force us to re-evaluate how we engage in a core value of our mission, which is a mission of chesed. And that is a real tragedy.

Jonathan Muskat is the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Oceanside.

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Tragedy of Colleyville: Remaining a people of kindness in a world that often isn't - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

Rabbi Carnie Shalom RoseJanuary 14, 2022

And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had previously exacted an oath from the children of Israel, saying, God will be sure to take notice of you and when this comes to be, you pledge to carry up my bones from here with you to the Holy Land. Sefer Shemot 13:19

Each and every time I return to the study of Parashat Beshalach, I am struck by the image of a hassled, harried somewhat stressed-out Moshe Rabbeinu making final preparations for the Exodus of the entire Israelite Nation after hundreds of years of Egyptian servitude and bondage. And despite being deeply engaged in what surely must have been a monumental and herculean task, with a long list of last minute responsibilities, Moshe himself engages in the securing of the remains of the patriarch Yosef.

The obvious question is why? Why was it essential for Moses to pause from the important work of preparing the Bnai Yisrael at this critical and liminal moment in Jewish History to locate, secure and arrange for the transport of the mummified remains of a long deceased ancestor?

One possible explanation is alluded to in the Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 13a-13b: All those years that the Israelites were in the desert, those two chests one of the dead (the bones of Josef) and the other of the Shechinah (the Ark of the Covenant) proceeded side by side, and passersby would ask: What is the nature of those two chests? They received the following reply: One is of the dead (Joseph) and the other of the handiwork of the Divine Presence (the Tables of the Ten Commandments). But is it then, the way of the dead to proceed with the revelation of the Divine? They were told, This one (Joseph) fulfilled all that was recorded in the other (the Commandments) [and thus, it makes perfect sense for them to sojourn side-by-side].

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This Talmudic passage underscores a deep truth that we all know well. The most profound lessons that we learn in our lifetimes are those that are at once profoundly transcendent as well as demonstrably attainable. The Ten Commandments were given to the world amidst thunder and lightning in a miraculously supernatural manner. In sharp contrast, Joseph lived a Godly existence in base settings that were remarkably challenging; first as a lowly slave and then as a revered Viceroy of the Egyptian aristocracy. Moshe, our greatest of teachers, understood that the nascent Nation of Israel (and all of humanity!) was in need of both models in the right proportion to ensure that the way of life that the Almighty had intended could be actuated and effectuated.

May we who hear of these two remarkable chests, be inspired this week anew to quest for this balance in our own lives so that we, too, can live lives of transcendent holiness and earthly sanctity, Amen!

Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose, D.Div., is the Rabbi Bernard Lipnick Senior Rabbinic Chair at Congregation Bnai Amoona and a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the dvar Torah for the Jewish Light.

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Torah portion inspires search for balance in life - St. Louis Jewish Light

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, spoke of love and gratitude at a Jan. 17 healing service showing a familiar quality to Ohio rabbis who knew him in his youth, as a rabbinical student and today.

In Texas, Rabbi Daniel Utley told the Cleveland Jewish News Jan. 17 that he and Dallas-area clergy hope to reach out to Cytron-Walker, whom he said is well-respected and has helped build Congregation Beth Israel.

It was really special to see how Rabbi Cytron-Walkers efforts saved lives and defused the situation as best as possible, said Utley, the associate rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, and who grew up in Beachwood. Weve all been very proud to see that. We know what a wonderful man he is and what a wonderful rabbi he is. ... I can imagine his ability as a pastoral caregiver were put to work and his training was put to work throughout the day.

On Jan. 15, Cytron-Walker allowed a man into Congregation Beth Israel prior to the beginning of Shabbat services because it had been a particularly cold day in North Texas and he served him a cup of tea, according to media reports. Services were being livestreamed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The man, Malik Faisal Akram, ended up holding the rabbi and three congregants hostage for more than 10 hours.

One hostage was freed in late afternoon and the others escaped after the hostage-taker told the men to kneel, according to The New York Times. Thats when Cytron-Walker threw a chair at him and the three remaining hostages ran outside to safety.

Cytron-Walker received his rabbinical ordination in 2006 and a masters in Hebrew letters in 2005 from Hebrew Union CollegeJewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. As a student, he served congregations in Ishpeming, Mich., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Cincinnati. During his time at HUC-JIR, he received multiple awards for his service to the community, along with an award for leadership from QESHET: A Network of LGBT Reform rabbis, according to his bio on his synagogues website.

On Jan. 17, Cytron-Walker spoke at the healing service at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas.

There, he thanked all who had reached out to him and to the congregation since the ordeal.

I have led or helped to lead too many of these services; I have mourned at too many vigils for Jews, for Muslims, for Christians and more, so many more, people, he said. And I am so grateful, so unbelievably grateful, that we are tonight unlike every other service like this that I have done tonight we will not be saying our traditional prayer for mourning, that no one will be saying Kaddish Yatom for me or for any of us, the Mourners Kaddish, this evening.

Thank G-d. Thank G-d. It could have been so much worse and I am overflowing, truly overflowing, with gratitude, he said.

Cytron-Walker thanked those in the sanctuary, a sanctuary far larger than the one at his synagogue, he said, and he thanked those who watched online, which numbered 32,000 as of the following day.

Cytron-Walker grew up in Lansing, Mich. Rabbi Robert N. Nosanchuk at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood met Cytron-Walker when Cytron-Walker was a fifth grader. Nosanchuk was his youth group adviser while in college in East Lansing, Mich., and knows Cytron-Walker and his mother, Nosanchuk told his congregation in a Jan. 15 email, in which he expressed prayers for the safety of the hostages. Cytron-Walker graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

At the healing service, Cytron-Walker quoted the Talmud that a person who saves one life, saves a world.

When terrible things happen to me and you feel it, thats empathy, he said. Thats compassion. And thats what enables us to see each other in spite of all our differences. It enables us to see each other as human beings, as infinitely valuable because every person, every world is infinitely valuable.

He also spoke of the importance of reaching across divides to make friends.

Because heres the thing, if we live that value we might have a lot more friends that we disagree with, a lot more friends that we dont see eye to eye with, but well have a lot fewer enemies.

Quoting Martin Luther King Jr. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, he said, Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

He also said viewing each person as of infinite value, Thats on each and every one of us to work on.

Rabbi Rick Kellner, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Tikvah in Worthington, a Columbus suburb, said he met Cytron-Walker when both were first-year rabbinical students at HUC-JIRs Jerusalem campus. Kellner then attended the Los Angeles campus and Cytron-Walker headed to the Cincinnati campus.

Kellner told the CJN Jan. 18 that Cytron-Walker is loving, kind and calm. He said he has seen Cytron-Walker at Central Conference of American Rabbis conventions and that he looks forward to his conversations with him.

He leads with his heart, Kellner said. He leads with his soul.

Kellner said Cytron-Walker is giving and heartfelt and deeply intuitive about the world around us.

At the healing service, Cytron-Walker spoke to his congregation.

To my CBI (Congregation Beth Israel) family, I wish I had a magic wand, he said. I wish I could take away all of our pain and struggle. I know that this violation of our spiritual home was traumatic for each and every one of us, and not just us. And the road ahead, this is going to be a process.

However, he said, Like any journey, we will take the next step.

We will comfort each other, and we will lean on each other, and we will understand that each of us will respond in our own way and we will have patience with each other even when we get on each others nerves I can hope, he said. It will take time, but we will heal together. Together, all of us, we will heal together.

The healing service included readings by past presidents of Congregation Beth Israel and songs led by cantors. It closed with the song, Olam Chesed Yibaneh, written by Rabbi Menachem Creditor. It includes the lyrics, If we build this world from love, then G-d will build this world from love.

Rabbi Josh Brown of Temple Israel in Bath Township, who attended HUC-JIR, said he met Cytron-Walker in Cincinnati because Cytron-Walker had been assigned to help lead orientation for incoming rabbinical students.

I have always known Charlie to be deeply committed to learning, to justice and to smiling a lot, Brown wrote his congregants in a Jan. 16 email. He is best described as a pure mensch. Thank G-d the world will continue to benefit from his shining light and the lives of the other hostages who survived yesterdays attack.

Brown told the CJN Jan. 18, I remember him, I think, much like he presented himself at the vigil last night. ... I remember him as being a very smart, justice-oriented, happy, menschy guy.

He said Cytron-Walker presented himself authentically.

I think what we saw from the leadership at the pulpit these last few days and on the interviews has been very much what I remember of him, Brown said.

Utley said his congregation has a healing service Jan. 21 and that prayers for Congregation Beth Israel and Cytron-Walker will be included in that previously scheduled service.

Were trying to encourage people that the response to these situations is to be prepared, make sure our physical security is upright and ... ready to respond, but also that our spiritual path is strong, he said. If we step out and step forward in the Jewish community and continue building vibrant Jewish lives together, thats our best response to antisemitism, to hatred of all kinds.

Cytron-Walkers first post on Facebook following the situation was one of gratitude: I am thankful and filled with appreciation for / All of the vigils and prayers and love and support, / All of the law enforcement and first responders who cared for us, / All of the security training that helped save us. / I am grateful for my family. / I am grateful for the CBI Community, the Jewish Community, the Human Community. / I am grateful that we made it out. / I am grateful to be alive.

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Rabbi Cytron-Walker described as 'menschy guy' by area rabbis - Cleveland Jewish News

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

By Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks zt"l

In the House of Lords there is a special chamber used as, among other things, the place where new Peers are robed before their introduction into the House. When my predecessor Lord Jakobovits was introduced, the official robing him commented that he was the first Rabbi to be honored in the Upper House.

Lord Jakobovits replied, No, I am the second.

Who was the first? asked the surprised official.

The chamber is known as the Moses Room because of the large painting that dominates the room. It shows Moses bringing the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai. LordJakobovits pointed to this mural, indicating that Moses was the first Rabbi to be honored in the House of Lords.

The Ten Commandments that appear in this weeks parsha, Toldot, have long held a special place not only in Judaism but also within the broader configuration of values we call the Judeo-Christian ethic. In the United States they were often to be found adorning American law courts, though their presence has been challenged, in some states successfully, on the grounds that they breach the First Amendment and the separation of church and state. They remain the supreme expression of the higher law to which all human law is bound.

Within Judaism, too, they have always held a special place. In Second Temple times they were recited in the daily prayers as part of the Shema, which then had four paragraphs rather than three.It was only when sectarians began to claim that only these and not the other 603 commands came directly from G-d that the recitation was brought to an end.

The text retained its hold on the Jewish mind none the less. Even though it was removed from daily communal prayers, it was preserved in the prayer book as a private meditation to be said after the formal service has been concluded. In most congregations, people stand when they are read as part of the Torah reading, despite the fact that Maimonides explicitly ruled against it.

Yet their uniqueness is not straightforward. As moral principles, they were mostly not new. Almost all societies have had laws against murder, robbery and false testimony. There is some originality in the fact that they are apodictic (that is, simple statements of You shall not, as opposed to the casuistic form, If then). But they are only ten among a much larger body of 613 commandments. Nor are they even described by the Torah itself as Ten Commandments. The Torah calls them theasseret ha-devarim, that is, ten utterances. Hence the Greek translation, Decalogue, meaning, ten words.

What makes them special is that they are simple and easy to memorize. That is because in Judaism, law is not intended for judges alone. The covenant at Sinai, in keeping with the profound egalitarianism at the heart of Torah, was made not as other covenants were in the ancient world, between kings. The Sinai covenant was made by G-d with the entire people. Hence the need for a simple statement of basic principles that everyone can remember and recite.

More than this, they establish for all time the parameters the corporate culture, we could almost call it of Jewish existence. To understand how, it is worth reflecting on their basic structure.

There was a fundamental disagreement between Maimonides and Nahmanides on the status of the first sentence: I am theL-rdyour G-d,who brought you outof Egypt,out of the land of slavery. Maimonides, in line with the Talmud, held that this is in itself a command: to believe in G-d. Nahmanides held that it was not a command at all; it was a prologue or preamble to the commands.Modern research on ancient Near Eastern covenant formulae tends to support Nahmanides.

The other fundamental question is how to divide them. Most depictions of the Ten Commandments divide them into two, because of the two tablets of stone(Deut 4:13) on which they were engraved. Roughly speaking, the first five are about the relationship between humans and G-d, the second five about the relationship between humans themselves. There is, however, another way of thinking about numerical structures in the Torah.

The seven days of creation, for example, are structured as two sets of three followed by an all-embracing seventh. During the first three days G-d separated domains: light and dark, upper and lower waters, and sea and dry land. During the second three days He filled each with the appropriate objects and life forms: sun and moon, birds and fish, animals and man. The seventh day was set apart from the others as holy.

Likewise the ten plagues consist of three cycles of three followed by a stand-alone tenth. In each cycle of three, the first two were forewarned while the third struck without warning. In the first of each series, Pharaoh was warned in the morning(Ex. 7:16; 8:17; 9:13), in the second Moses was told to come in before Pharaoh(Ex. 7:26; 9:1; 10:1) in the palace, and so on. The tenth plague, unlike the rest, was announced at the very outset(Ex. 4:23). It was less a plague than a punishment.

Similarly, it seems to me that the Ten Commandments are structured in three groups of three, with a tenth that is set apart from the rest. Thus understood, we can see how they form the basic structure, the depth grammar, of Israel as a society bound by covenant to G-d as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.(Ex. 19:6)

The first three no other G-ds besides Me, no graven images, and no taking of G-ds name in vain define the Jewish people as one nation under G-d. G-d is our ultimate sovereign. Therefore all other earthly rule is subject to the overarching imperatives linking Israel to G-d. Divine sovereignty transcends all other loyalties (no other G-ds besides Me). G-d is a living force, not an abstract power (no graven images). And sovereignty presupposes reverence (Do not take My name in vain).

The first three commands, through which the people declare their obedience and loyalty to G-d above all else, establish the single most important principle of a free society, namelythe moral limits of power. Without this, the danger even in democracy is the tyranny of the majority, against which the best defense against it is the sovereignty of G-d.

The second three commands the Sabbath, honoring parents, and the prohibition of murder are all about the principle ofthe createdness of life. They establish limits to the idea of autonomy, namely that we are free to do whatever we like so long as it does not harm others. Shabbat is the day dedicated to seeing G-d as creator and the universe as His creation. Hence, one day in seven, all human hierarchies are suspended and everyone, master, slave, employer, employee, even domestic animals, are free.

Honoring parents acknowledges our human createdness. It tells us that not everything that matters is the result of our choice, chief of which is the fact that we exist at all. Other peoples choices matter, not just our own.

Thou shall not murder restates the central principle of the universal Noahide covenant that murder is not just a crime against man but a sin against G-d in whose image we are. So commands 4 to 7 form the basic jurisprudential principles of Jewish life; they tell us to remember where we came from if we are to be mindful of how to live.

The third three against adultery, theft and bearing false witness establish the basic institutions on which society depends. Marriage is sacred because it is the human bond closest in approximation to the covenant between us and G-d. Not only is marriage the human institution par excellence that depends on loyalty and fidelity, it is also the matrix of a free society. Alexis de Tocqueville put it best: As long as family feeling is kept alive, the opponent of oppression isnever alone.

The prohibition against theft establishes the integrity of property. Whereas Jefferson defined as inalienable rights those of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, John Locke, closer in spirit to the Hebrew Bible, saw them as life, liberty or possession.Tyrants abuse the property rights of the people, and the assault of slavery against human dignity is that it deprives me of the ownership of the wealth I create.

The prohibition of false testimony is the precondition of justice. A just society needs more than a structure of laws, courts and enforcement agencies. As Judge Learned Hand said, Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.There is no freedom without justice, but there is no justice without each of us accepting individual and collective responsibility for telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Finally comes the stand-alone prohibition against envying your neighbors house, wife, slave, maid, ox, donkey, or anything else belonging to him or her.

This seems odd if we think of the ten words as commands, but not if we think of them as the basic principles of a free society. The greatest challenge of any society is how to contain the universal, inevitable phenomenon of envy: the desire to have what belongs to someone else. Envy lies at the heart of violence.It was envy that led Cain to murder Abel, made Abraham and Isaac fear for their life because they were married to beautiful women, led Josephs brothers to hate him and sell him into slavery. It is envy that leads to adultery, theft and false testimony, and it was envy of their neighbors that led the Israelites time and again to abandon G-d in favor of the pagan practices of the time.

Envy is the failure to understand the principle of creation as set out inGenesis 1, that everything has its place in the scheme of things. Each of us has our own task and our own blessings, and we are each loved and cherished by G-d. Live by these truths and there is order. Abandon them and there is chaos.

Nothing is more pointless and destructive than to let someone elses happiness diminish your own, which is what envy is and does. The antidote to envy is, as Ben Zoma famously said, to rejoice in what we have(MishnahAvot 4:1) and not to worry about what we dont yet have. Consumer societies are built on the creation and intensification of envy, which is why they lead to people having more and enjoying it less.

Thirty-three centuries after they were first given, the Ten Commandments remain the simplest, shortest guide to creation and maintenance of a good society. Many alternatives have been tried, and most have ended in tears. The wise aphorism remains true: When all else fails, read the instructions.

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'Big 10' and the structuring of a good society - The Jewish Star

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

I found out that Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and three others had been taken hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Tex. when many other observant Jews did: after the end of Shabbat.

There was a knock on our door. It was someone from the 10.27 Healing Partnership, a grant-funded organization that provides resources and support to those impacted by the Tree of Life attack.

My spouse, Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, is a leader of New Light Congregation, one of three congregations that shared the Tree of Life space. He was able to hide others and then escape the building himself on Oct. 27, 2018, when our congregants and friends were massacred during Shabbat services. I was fortunate that Jon walked home that day, safe, to inform my daughter and I what had happened to him.

When someone comes to the rabbis house on Shabbat to deliver news directly, it is usually not good news. This week, I was shocked to hear about the then still-unfolding situation in Texas, but appreciative that a kind and professionally- trained person had come to help me process the news. Whenever another antisemitic attack in a synagogue occurs, feelings of trauma, shock, distress, fear and anxiety all flood back quite readily.

Because I had been warned about the images I might see, I did not look at the news until after the hostages had escaped their captors, when Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who had the presence of mind and bravery to make sure the other two worshippers still inside the temple were ready to run, threw a chair at the captor and escaped. Rabbi Cytron-Walkers unsurpassable courage saved his fellow hostages lives as well as his own.

Rabbi Cytron-Walker told a Forward reporter that security workshops had instilled in him the ability to do whatever you have to do to get out. I also believe that part of Cytron-Walkers composure derives from his experience as a rabbi and his knowledge of Jewish wisdom.

In a parable described in the Talmud in Berachot 51a, the Rabbis instruct anyone who encounters the angel of death to flee, whether that requires jumping over a river, taking a different path, or hiding behind a wall. The message is to do anything necessary to elude the angel of deaths evil machinations.

Rabbi Cytron-Walker clearly absorbed the message of this passage and his own teaching for that particular Shabbat morning service must have steeled him as well.

Years of being a rabbis spouse led me to guess, correctly, that Rabbi Cytron-Walker had prepared a source sheet for that days service. I found the source sheet, which the rabbi had uploaded but did not get to use, on Sefaria.org; it detailed his concerns over increasing polarization and hate crimes in this country.

This need for a lifesaving impulse is not new for Jews. Today, as at the time of the events of the Exodus, being a Jew is being vulnerable.

My husband left last night, as he does each evening since his mothers death, to say kaddish for her. The Orthodox synagogue where he prays during the week is always locked; it opens with a combination whose code is made known only to members. The times of services are never posted publicly and are only available through emailed newsletters.

All the synagogues in Squirrel Hill have locks or guards, and all the Jewish institutions have had security evaluations. After the attack, we recommended that other communities do so as well.

Despite the trauma of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack, none of us in our family have had hesitations about attending any synagogue recently, so long as there is appropriate security, and currently, both mask and vaccine requirements. We havent gone back to the building where the attack happened, but the plans for its rehabilitation as a worship space are in place. At our new synagogue home, there are professional security guards, an updated security system and synagogue member greeters alongside guards.

Even so, we are always alert to any unexpected noises and startle when we hear an ambulance or police siren. And yet, all of the survivors of the attack on New Light, as well as family members of the victims, attend regularly.

It is not that I have total faith in the security that keeps me returning week after week, but that we as a family believe attending synagogue is the best embodiment of joining with a community of shared values to pray and study Torah.

It will not be easy for Rabbi Cytron-Walker and his community to recover from the trauma he and the other hostages have experienced. They will need help and support.

After the Tree of Life shooting, four men who had survived a shooting in their mosque in Quebec City drove 12 hours to Pittsburgh each way to speak with those of us from the three Tree of Life congregations. This was only the first of many acts of solidarity we have experienced since the shooting.

To sit in a room with people have the same concerns after an act of violence in their worship space and have them explain to us how they helped their children and community cope with the fear that came from going back to the mosque, when I was also worried about how to help my daughters and community, was powerful and meaningful. The human connection that was made with strangers who cared enough to make a huge effort to travel so far in order to render assistance was immensely healing and therapeutic. I am pleased to see the powerful interfaith solidarity shown for the Colleyville Jewish community after this terrifying antisemitic attack. I hope there will be some form of agency set up in Colleyville to enable those both directly and indirectly impacted by the trauma of this event to heal, and that no one will feel ashamed to ask for help.

Having experienced firsthand this particular type of trauma, I know that healing is possible. The Torah portion not read in Colleyville last Shabbat contains the verse, for I the Lord will heal you (Exodus 15:26). I am hopeful that Rabbi Cytron-Walker will continue to teach many messages of Torah, including this one, over the long years ahead.

To contact the author, email editorial@forward.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

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My husband survived the Tree of Life shooting. The Texas synagogue attack reopened our wounds - Forward

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

The Jewish community in Texas is still reeling from the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue hostage situation, which hit headlines around the world over the weekend and early this week. The identity of the perpetrator has been disclosed by the FBI. British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, 44, from Blackburn in the UK was shot dead after a standoff with police. Two teenagers have been arrested in Manchester in connection with the attack.

While this particular incident has captured the attention of the world, its not even an isolated incident. Just last October, a right-wing extremist, Franklin Barrett Sechriest, set a fire in the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue.

As a Hebrew teacher, I watched the incident unfold with horror. I couldnt help but feel that this incident could have happened at my synagogue in London. As a Muslim, a part of me was also concerned about the anti-Muslim rhetoric that might unfold: how people might generalise about Muslim communities as a result and how Islamophobia might be bolstered by the reports.

A rise in the far-right across Europe and the US means that Jewish and Muslim communities are more under attack than ever before. In the summer of 2017, Darren Osborne drove into Finsbury Park mosque in London, killing one and injuring nine. In April 2019, John T. Earnest carried out a shooting in Poway synagogue, San Diego. Just days before, he had set fire to a mosque in Escondido. Then we had the October 2019 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. The Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand of March 2019 had happened just a few months before.

Right-wing extremism is an overwhelming physical threat to Jewish communities in Europe and the US. However, to discount Muslim antisemitism would be disingenuous. While it is too early to say what the exact motives were, it seems that the perpetrator made links between the structures of power holding Aafia Siddiqui in custody and the Jewish community. The dissemination of right-wing and white supremacist conspiracy theories about Jews ruling the world, or governing the media, unfortunately plagues many Muslim circles. Although only a small number of Muslim extremists will actually carry out terrorist attacks, it remains true that jihadists and Islamist extremists often use antisemitic conspiracy theories to justify their ideology and actions.

My fear as is the fear of many Muslims who watched the news of the synagogue hostage situation with horror is that this latest attack will be used to justify false, Islamophobic narratives about all Muslims. There is precedence for these concerns. In December 2021, Chairman of the Jewish National Fund UK, Samuel Hayek, was interviewed in a Jerusalem Post article headlined Jews do not have a future in England. The article stated that antisemitism has been constantly rising [in the UK] and is only expected to grow, adding, One of the reasons is shifting demographics. The population of individuals who are anti-Jewish and anti-Israel, most significantly Muslim immigrants to the UK, is increasing and their influence on the government is too. It continued: The Muslim population in England has been growing consistently. An article published in the Telegraph in 2017 stated that the Muslim population could triple in the two decades and is likely to number around 13 million by 2050. This piece, which drew a direct correlation between rising levels of antisemitism and the presence of Muslims in the UK, was disappointing to read. The fact that it encouraged Jewish people to leave the country was also deeply saddening.

The Trump administration instituted a Muslim ban not too long ago, and right-wing politicians have been calling for limits on Muslim immigration in Europe for many years now. The anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism that has plagued media and politics in the US, UK and elsewhere since 9/11 and the beginning of the War on Terror is so normalised that a whole community of people are often blamed for the violent actions of a few.

None of this means that antisemitism in Muslim circles should not be called out. It means that the response to what happened cannot be a demonisation of Muslim immigrants and communities. The heartwarming fact that Rabbi Cytron-Walker is a proud supporter and practitioner of interfaith dialogue, and has relations with a number of Muslim communal organisations, shows that Islamophobes and antisemites alike have no leg to stand on. Working together is possible and is incredibly rewarding.

Dealing with antisemitism and Islamophobia has been important for me as a Muslim Hebrew teacher. Having seen and heard conspiracy theories about Jews among fellow Muslims growing up, I began to study Arabic and Hebrew at university to help me better understand things for myself. My year abroad in Jerusalem was incredibly eye-opening for me in a number of ways. It also showed me the ways in which Muslims and Arabs are racialised in Israel to justify an oppressive status quo of violence and occupation against Palestinians. I saw how many diaspora Jews coming to Israel had often internalised these ideas.

When I returned to the UK, I began teaching Hebrew at a Jewish Sunday school, and soon started doing interfaith exchanges between the students of my mosque and my local synagogue. We focused on our shared communal understandings of faith, commonalities between Judaism and Islam, their similar Abrahamic roots and the importance of tackling antisemitism and Islamophobia together.

We urgently need to deal with antisemitism and Islamophobia in both of our communities, and stand firmly together against the right-wing threats that threaten us equally. Watching young people during interfaith exchanges, sharing food and faith, discussing commonalities, and strategising about how to fight prejudice as a united group, has made me realise that interfaith action is a key way forward.

Zain Hussain is a Hebrew teacher and educator who specialises in interfaith dialogue

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As a Muslim Hebrew teacher, the Texas synagogue hostage attack made me anxious and sad - The Independent

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

Temple Ohabei Shalom is the longest enduring Jewish congregation in Massachusetts. Founded in Boston in 1842, the congregationnow in Brooklinewill celebrate its 180th anniversary this year.

The synagogue, which is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism, traces its Reform roots to the latter part of the 19th century. Yet, for the past several decades, its clergy have not trained at a Reform rabbinical seminary. Its current spiritual leader, Rabbi Audrey Marcus Berkman, was ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College while Assistant Rabbi Daniel Schaefer is a graduate of the pluralistic Hebrew College Rabbinical School.

Members include Jews by birth and Jews by choice,interfaith families, and a diverse range ofethnicities, nationalities, and sexual orientations. We are a uniquely diverse and pluralistic congregation with different levels of ritual practice, and the rabbis reflect that, said Berkman. People want to connect to meaning, history, and be part of a larger story.

Today the lines of Jewish religious denominations or movements have blurred, fueled by a combination of factors that affect synagogue affiliation patterns. Experts point to a paradigm shift in the American religious landscape, social and technological disruption, the loosening of social mores and boundaries, intermarriage, and economic considerations. These changes are reflected both in contemporary synagogue life and in rabbinic education.

Young people dont have the patience for people saying there is one right way, whether its religion or gender expression.

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Most people just want something that touches them and connects them to their identity beyond denomination, said Rabbi Rolando Matalon of Congregation Bnai Jeshurun, an 1,800-unit unaffiliated congregation in Manhattan. Founded in 1825, BJ has a storied history as the first Ashkenazi congregation in New York City, evolving from Orthodox to Reform to Conservative to unaffiliated.

In the late 1980s, BJ became unaffiliated after 70 years as a Conservative congregation. Rabbi Marshall Meyer, the spiritual leader at the time, introduced a new vision reflecting the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel on Jewish law and social justice, together with a vibrant neo-Hasidic spiritall which remain today. You dont have to be Orthodox to love Torah, Reform to do tikkun olam and social justice, Conservative to believe in change in Jewish life, or Hasidic to find fervor and devotion of service to God, explained Matalon, who joined BJ in 1986 and has been spiritual leader since 1993.

Temple Ohabei Shalom, Brookline, MassachusettsCourtesy Temple Ohabei Shalom

Current times demand being responsive, not relying on old boundaries of Judaism and becoming pigeonholed, said Rabbi Felicia Sol, who has served at BJ since 2001, and was appointed senior rabbi last year. What BJ did 30 years ago was a foreshadowing of what came to be, she said. Its an amalgamation, taking the best of all different forms and transforming it to something that is meaningful and purposeful. Its how our community is run and how the rabbis lead.

BJ clergy represent a variety of religious traditions (Conservative, Reform, and nondenominational)like its 25-year-old network of rabbinic fellows, learning from each other to enrich Jewish life. As an unaffiliated congregation, BJ has been able to respond quickly to changing community needs, such as embracing LGBTQ Jews two decades before the Conservative movement.

We now have a mixture and blending of Jewish identity and community boundaries themselves, which is forcing institutions to think how to speak when there are no longer Jewish identities with strong boundaries, said Rabbi Irwin Kula, co-president of Clal-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. Whats occurring, he says, relates to the shifting American religious landscape. We have had a dramatic, unprecedented weakening in America of religion. The greatest social transformation in America is the de-institutionalism of the American parishioner.

This phenomenon is particularly pronounced among younger generations. Compared to older Jews, younger Jewish adultsages 18-29include large shares of people with no denominational identity, reports the 2020 Pew Study of Jewish Americans released this past May.

A key factor impacting denominational identification is interfaith marriage, emphasizes Bruce Phillips, a sociologist and professor of Jewish communal service at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. Only 51% of Jews ages 18-29 grew up in homes with two Jewish parents, compared to 85% of those ages 50-64, according to his analysis of Pew research data. Respondents who grew up in interfaith homes are less likely to join a synagogue and identify with an established branch of Judaism than those with two Jewish parents.

Meanwhile, diversity has become a fact of Jewish life. Its the truest expression of the Divine, said Rabbi Adam Zeff, spiritual leader of the Germantown Jewish Center in Philadelphia. He grew up Reform, experimented with Orthodoxy in college, studied at a Reconstructionist seminary, and is a member of the Conservative movements Rabbinical Assembly.

For more than 40 years, the Germantown Jewish Centera 520-family-unit pluralistic and egalitarian synagogue affiliated with the Conservative movementhas been a community of communities, fostering multiple prayer communities, with different perspectives.

Shabbat morning prayer communities within the Germantown Jewish Center include these choices: The Charry Minyan is a rabbi-led service that emphasizes learning, with a shorter Shacharit (morning) prayer service that uses Sim Shalom, the Conservative siddur, and includes an extended study period. Dorshei Derekh is a member-led Reconstructionist minyan egalitarian prayer service that uses Kol Haneshamah, the Reconstructionist siddur, and features lively singing accompanied by rhythm instruments. Minyan Masorti is a member-led, egalitarian minyan incorporating a complete traditional prayer service and full Torah reading. Kol Dmamah is a monthly one-hour volunteer-led service with chanting, meditation, and movement. The bimonthly Rising Song Jewish Music Residency merges traditional nusach (prayer chant) with soulful nigunim (wordless melodies).

These diverse paths encourage people to be open-minded about what Judaism can offer, explained Zeff: In our synagogue and in our structure, there is more than one way to be Jewish, and they are all right and all valuable, he said. Its the sign of the future. Young people dont have the patience for people saying there is one right way, whether its religion or gender expression.

As the American Jewish community has evolved, institutions have shifted accordingly. For instance, Hebrew College was founded in 1921 to train American-born Hebrew school teachers, and preserve Hebrew language and culture in America; classes were taught in Hebrew, reflecting the secular Tarbut Ivrit or Hebrew culture movement ideology inspired by Ahad Haam, the founder of cultural Zionism.

Eighteen years ago, in 2003, the Boston-based institution launched a pluralistic rabbinical school, followed a year later by a cantorial program. The goal was to create a place for different denominations to come together in a vibrant pluralistic setting, as well as for those who didnt find a place within the different denominations, said Hebrew College President Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld: Our vision of rabbinic education is a commitment to pluralism ... People are entering Jewish life through different doorways Communities that can reinvent themselves to the moment are thriving The capacity for reinvention is critical.

Hebrew College Rabbinical School Beit MidrashCollin Howell

This vison is reflected in its planned December 2022 move to a campus shared with other organizations. Its also at the core of the rabbinical school curriculum, where students study traditional Jewish texts with hevruta, or study partners, while searching for the hiddush, or new Torah insight. Young people see themselves as innovators in the rabbinic tradition. We are all part of that ancient and ever-new conversation, said Anisfeld, quoting the Talmudic precept, There is no study hall without innovation (BT: Hagigah 3a: 15-17).

The growth of transdenominational seminaries has created a competitive religious marketplace for clergy leadership.

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Reform and Conservative congregations are beginning to work together, sharing resources, staff, and programs. Today there is an openness about denomination and Jewish community, said Rabbi Dan Judson, dean and chief academic officer of Hebrew College. That speaks to our transdenominational vision.

This deemphasis on denominational identity is not a new phenomenon. Innovative Jewish spiritual communities such as Hadar, Ikar, Nashuva, Romemu, independent minyanim, and dozens of nonaffiliated synagogues have enriched Jewish life across America for years. There have always been small numbers of congregations that are not affiliated with a synagogue denomination, said Ellie Ash, a doctoral student in the religion and society track at Boston University, who has been researching halachic innovation.

Whats significant is how the growth of transdenominational seminaries has created a competitive religious marketplace for clergy leadership. For example, among Hebrew College rabbinical school alumni who serve congregations, 32% work in independent synagogues, 24% in Reform, 34% in Conservative, and 10% in Reconstructionist.

Synagogues can now tap into a wider candidate pool, bypassing movement-placement policies and avoiding movement dues. While it is pleasant to imagine that everything is guided by ideas and theology, dont underestimate the base economic motivations at play, said Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University.

In the 21st century, denominational boundaries have blurred. While some refer to this changing religious landscape as post-denominational Judaism, that may be a misnomer. Denominations remain a vital presence in American Jewish life and their rabbinical schools still produce important scholarship and graduates who contribute creatively to contemporary Jewish life. However, given shrinking membership trends, the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the cost of movement dues, more synagogues may think twice about remaining affiliated.

I see a slow restructuring. It wont be radical because synagogues are so normative, predicted HUCs Phillips. I dont see denominations collapsing. There will be a process of reinvention and rethinking.

In the end, change is the norm. We are in a moment of profound social and economic change, emphasized Kula, the Clal co-president. Training the next iteration of religious leaders to be entrepreneurial and speak beyond their own tribal community is a big job The need for leaders to manage the paradigm shift is essential.

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Beyond Conservative and Reform: The Rise of the Unaffiliated Synagogue - Tablet Magazine

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

But the principal interest of The Book of All Books lies not in its fictional embellishments but in the stories themselves. Most of us have lost the practice of daily Bible reading that characterized earlier generations, just as we have lost the deep dive into ancient Greece that was once a standard part of secondary school education. I think of myself as reasonably familiar with the Bible, and yet I found myself checking again and again to be sure that Calasso was not making it all up: When he climbed up to Bethel a swarm of boys surrounded him, jeering: Climb on up, baldie! Climb on up, baldie! Elisha looked up, sent them a withering look, and cursed them. Then two she-bears came out of the forest and tore apart 42 of the boys. The withering is a tiny invention in Hebrew, as far as I can tell, Elisha just gives them a look but otherwise it is all there in II Kings 2:23-24.

Apart from remarking that not everyone considered him a benefactor, Calasso relates this little story about the prophet Elisha without comment. It appears, along with other anecdotes, to convey both the power and weirdness of the Hebrew prophets. These men, he remarks, shared a certain spitefulness, spoke with great vehemence and as a matter of principle deployed only two registers: condemnation and consolation, vast deserts of condemnation, that is, relieved by rare oases of inconceivable sweetness. Their character traits reach a climax in the weirdest of all the prophets, Ezekiel, and it is with Ezekiels supremely strange visions that Calassos book approaches its end.

Ezekiel brings fully into focus the key principles that, in Calassos view, weave together all the diverse stories that he retells and that define the destiny and the identity of the Jews. (Notably, it is as Jews not as Hebrews or Israelites in their historical and geographical particularity that he identifies the figures in his book.) The first of these principles is separation. Yahweh insists that his people be different, and zealously maintain this difference, from all the surrounding peoples, just as he insists that he, Yahweh, be their only god. All manifestations of the desire to be like others for example, to have kings, the way the surrounding peoples do arouse his blinding wrath.

In a chapter-length digression, Calasso gives an account of Freuds late essay Moses and Monotheism as a tormented attempt to undo this founding separation, Freud argued that Moses was himself a foreigner, an Egyptian marked in the ancient custom of Egypt by circumcision. What had seemed like the defining Abrahamic sign of tribal distinction for all males was in fact a sign of assimilation. Assimilation came before separation, as Calasso sums up Freuds argument, and that separation had been introduced by an Egyptian, hence the Jew had no real nature of his own. But try telling that to Ezekiel.

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Before He Died, the Writer Roberto Calasso Had the Old Testament on His Mind - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

Lloyd Singleton| Director, N.C. Cooperative Extension - New Hanover County Center and Arboretum

In 2022, Tu BiShvator the "birthday of the trees" begins at sundown on Sunday, Jan. 16 and ends at sundown on Monday, Jan. 17. A Jewish holiday, the name is Hebrew for the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat.

In ancient times, Tu BiShvat was merely a date on the calendar that helped Jewish farmers establish exactly when they should bring their produce of fruit from recently planted trees to the Temple as first-fruit offerings. Tu BiShvat later grew to be an opportunity for Jewish people to celebrate their tree-planting efforts to restore the ecology of ancient Israel and symbolic of renewed growth and flowering of the people returning to their ancestral homeland.

In the 16th century, the Kabbalists (mystics) in the Land of Israel created a new ritual to celebrate Tu BiShvatcalled the Feast of Fruits. Modeled on the Passover seder, participants would read selections from the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic literature and would eat local fruits and nuts traditionally: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. Participants in the kabbalistic seder would also drink four cups of wine: white wine (to symbolize winter), white with some red (a harbinger of the coming of spring); red with some white (early spring) and finally all red (spring and summer).

In modern times, Tu BiShvat continues to be an opportunity for planting trees in Israel and elsewhere, wherever Jewish peoplelive. Here in Wilmington to celebrate, the Alliance for Cape Fear Trees is facilitating a ceremonial planting of trees on Wednesday, Jan.19, 4 p.m. at Wallace Park near the bridge where Metts Avenue crosses. Anyone is invited to be present while a Rabbi shares the meaning of the festival and children from the synagogue plant trees.

As mentioned in https://www.myjewishlearning.com/, For environmentalists, Tu BiShvat is an ancient and authentic Jewish connection to contemporary ecological issues. The holiday is viewed as an appropriate occasion to educate Jewish people about their traditions advocacy of responsible stewardship of Gods creation, manifested in ecological activism. Tu BiShvat is an opportunity to raise awareness about and to care for the environment through the teaching of Jewish sources celebrating nature.It is also a day to focus on the environmental sensitivity of the Jewish tradition byplanting treeswherever Jews may live.

The Tu BiShvatt seder has increased in popularity in recent years. Celebrated as a congregational event, the modern Tu BiShvat seder is multi-purpose. While retaining some kabbalistic elements and still very much a ritual that connects participant to the land of Israel the seder today is often imbued with an ecological message as well.

As a self-proclaimed lover of trees, I propose that we all adopt this time as the New Year for Trees and a reconnection with our environment. Winter is a perfect time to plant trees in our coastal North Carolina area, and there are plenty of tree planting and giveaway opportunities in need of volunteers. The Alliance for Cape Fear Trees does a great job of partnering, providing and planting trees to help restore our valuable tree canopy which has been desecrated by storms and development.

Two upcoming giveaways, sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation, Verizon, and SageSure Insurance,will be held at Legion Stadium on Saturdays,Feb. 26 and March 12, 9 a.m. to noon. Several area tree planting events are scheduled as well; please visit https://www.allianceforcapefeartrees.com/ for volunteer opportunities and more information.

Lets kickoff our new year with a celebration of trees and connection to nature!

Lloyd Singleton is the director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension New Hanover County andArboretum. The grounds of the Arboretum are free and open daily from 8 a.m. 5 p.m., located at6206 Oleander Drive in Wilmington.

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Tu BiShvat The New Year for trees - StarNewsOnline.com

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