Category: Rabbinic Thoughts (Page 3 of 30)

Judaism from A to Z—”Afterlife”

January 30, 2020 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

Judaism from A to Z—”Afterlife”
The afterlife (Olam haBa) is rarely discussed in Jewish life, be it among Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox Jews. This is in marked contrast to the religious traditions of the people among whom the Jews have lived. The afterlife has always played a critical role in Islamic and Christian teachings, for example. Jewish teachings on the subject of the afterlife are sparse: Our Torah has no clear reference to the afterlife at all.

Since Judaism does believe in the “next world,” how does one account for the Torah’s silence? I suspect there is a correlation between its nondiscussion of the afterlife and the fact that the Torah was revealed just after the long Jewish sojourn in Egypt. The Egyptian society from which the Hebrew slaves emerged was obsessed with death and the afterlife. The holiest Egyptian literary work was called The Book of the Dead, while the major achievement of many Pharaohs was the erection of the giant tombs called pyramids. In contrast, the Torah is obsessed with this world, so much so that it even forbids its priests from coming into contact with dead bodies. The Torah, therefore, might have been silent about the afterlife out of a desire to ensure that Judaism not evolve in the direction of the death obsessed Egyptian religion.

In Judaism the belief in the afterlife is less a leap of faith than a logical outgrowth of other Jewish beliefs. If one believes in a God who is all-powerful and all-just, one cannot believe that this world, in which evil far too often triumphs, is the only arena in which human life exists. For if this existence is the final word, and God permits evil to win, then it cannot be that God is good.

According to Judaism, what happens in the next world? As noted, on this subject there is little material. Some of the suggestions about afterlife in Jewish writings and folklore are even humorous. One story teaches, Moses sits in heaven and teaches Torah all day long. For the righteous people (the tzaddikim), this is heaven; for the evil people, it is hell. Another folktale teaches that in both heaven and hell, human beings cannot bend their elbows. In hell people are perpetually starved; in heaven each person feeds his neighbour.

All attempts to describe heaven and hell are, of course, speculative. Because Judaism believes that God is good, it believes that God rewards good people; it does not believe that Adolf Hitler and his victims share the same fate. Beyond that, it is hard to assume much more. We are asked to leave the afterlife in God’s hands.

Rabbi Adrian M Schell
(Source: Joseph Telushkin. Jewish Literacy )

What in God’s Name is God’s Name?

January 23, 2020 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

This is one of the more profound theological questions. To be able to name something or someone is to have a specific relationship to it or them, even a form of control. One can call out not just “Hey, You!” but “Hey, David!” or whatever, and expect some form of response. By using a name one potentially opens a dialogue. It is, therefore, no coincidence that most prayers begin with “Baruch Atah – Something.” “Blessed are You…”and then a Name.

The problem is: The Name. What is the name, what can we use to address God, what does it mean?

In Exodus 3:14, God has refused to answer Moses directly, saying simply, “Ehyeh asher Ehyeh”, “I am Who I Am”—or even “I Will Be whom I Will Be”. So, no name for God, or……..?

We have the Four-Letter Name, the ‘Tetragrammaton’ which is used in many places in the Torah for God’s name. Traditionally, one reads “Adonai” instead of the consonants ‘YHVH’ – but this is only a tradition because we have to say something. The fact is that No-one actually knows. Which makes it theology, not physics.

At the outset of this parashah (Ex. 6:3) God simply tells Moses, “I am the same God who appeared under a different name to your ancestors”. That’s a bit of a relief, because we can learn from here that God has not only one name and that there are many ways to encounter God. And it opens up a range of other possibilities when God appears but is described as something or someone else; it leaves the gender issue open; it allowed the rabbis to determine whether different names indicated different qualities—such as justice or mercy. It allows modern theologians to discuss whether ‘God’ and ‘Allah’ are the same, it allows archaeologists to place bits of inscription with ‘Shaddai’, and it allows translators to find alternative words like ‘Lord’ or ‘The Eternal’ or ‘The Creator’, and so on. But being honest, No-One knows, God’s name remains a secret from us.

In the end, I suppose what is important is that we pray, that we say ‘Baruch Atah’, Blessed are you – that we open a dialogue regularly—and that God knows who God is, and will listen, and may respond.

– Rabbi Adrian M Schell

(Source: Rabbi W Rothschild on Vaera)

Shemot: A story, which can challenge our assumptions

January 16, 2020 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

At the beginning of 2011, while protests were happening in Egypt against the regime of Hosni Mubarak, a joke did the rounds, which claimed that the Jews had warned the Egyptians that they would refuse to rebuild the pyramids if they got destroyed by the violent protests which swept through the country. This joke may be related back to this week’s
Torah portion in which we read that as the Israelites became numerous Pharaoh began to persecute them, and ‘they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses’.

This week we begin the book of Shemot, also known as Exodus, and the first of half of the Book as a whole focuses on the persecution of the Israelites by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, with their eventual escape from slavery to freedom. Pharaoh and the Egyptians are the bad guys at the start of this book. Pharaoh worried that if the Israelites continued to multiply one day they could be a fifth column joining their enemies in a future war. And so he responded by making ‘their lives bitter with hard slavery, in mortar, and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field; all their service, which they made them serve, was with rigour’.

And yet almost at the beginning of the book we get a short little story, which can challenge our assumptions about the Egyptians. Having failed to check the growth of the Israelites through hard labour, we read that ‘the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, and the name of one was Shifrah, and the name of the other Puah’. Pharaoh told them that when they were helping the Israelite women during their labour if they gave birth to ‘a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live’. The ultimate ruler of Egypt, a man considered to be a god, gave Shifrah and Puah a direct instruction and yet we then read: ‘the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive’. They even lied to Pharaoh to defend their actions.

In studying this story, the commentators have been primarily concerned by the identity of Shifra and Puah; were they Israelites or were they Egyptians who served the Hebrew community? In reading the text it seems unlikely that they were members of the Israelite community. For one, it is hard to believe that Pharaoh expected Israelites to kill members of their own people. But in terms of the text the statement that ‘the midwives feared God’ seems superfluous if they were members of the Hebrew community, but highly relevant if they were Egyptians rebelling against their Pharaoh.

Shifrah and Puah provide us with the first example of civil disobedience, but more importantly, they demonstrate that not all of the Egyptians were necessarily evil and wicked. As we read the first half of the book of Shemot it is easy to negatively characterise all of the Egyptian people, but Shifrah and Puah show that this was not true of everyone, they call on us to be more nuanced in our view of the Egyptians. And they set a secondary example as the first righteous gentiles, risking their own lives to save others.

Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Adrian M Schell (Source: Rabbi Danny Burkeman)

CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=383344

Lehitra’ot Rabbi Avidan

January 16, 2020 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

Desmond Sweke’s Farewell Address and Presentation to Rabbi and Ruth Avidan

Shabbat Vayechi 11 January 2020

On this very special occasion, it is a great honour to share the bimah with Rabbi Hillel Avidan and Ruth.

Ashley and I have been members of Bet David for 33 years. For most of that time, Hillel was either the Rabbi or Rabbi Emeritus of Bet David and, for all that time, they have been our close friends. Rabbi Avidan prepared our sons for, and officiated at, their B’nei Mitzvah, while Ruth was the force behind the Religion School, also working tirelessly with the Sisterhood. We share with our congregation, fond memories and a deep appreciation for all that you both have done for us. All those years ago, when Hillel left Bet David, he said that he was retiring. I did not believe it then and I don’t believe it now! Rabbi Avidan had already retired when I became chairman and the task of finding a new Rabbi was made very difficult for those involved, as we needed to find a Rabbi to fill Hillel’s shoes.

As an aside, it seems appropriate that we are now standing above The Middleton, as the development of the original hall was largely Hillel’s “baby”! Furthermore, in his sermon today, Rabbi Avidan spoke of Avraham and Sara. I would like to point out that the roof of this synagogue was designed to resemble the tent of Avraham and Sara and, just as their tent was open on all four sides to welcome travellers approaching from all directions, our synagogue has also been designed to open on all sides to be welcoming to everyone.

Today is a special moment in time which we wish to mark by presenting Hillel and Ruth with certificates and a special challah cover embroidered with the Bet David logo, today’s date and a note of appreciation.

On behalf of Rabbi Schell, the Management Committee, our congregation and all gathered here, we wish Rabbi Avidan and Ruth much joy in the new chapter of their lives, as we say thank you and Lehitra’ot.

Have no fear – be Strong!

January 10, 2020 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

The Torah portion Va’yechi is the concluding parasha of the first book of Torah, B’reishit. It ends the narrative of the founding mothers and fathers of our folk and faith, and also concludes the complex and compelling story of Joseph. As such, it has many aspects of endings, including Jacob’s death-bed blessings given to his sons and grandsons plus explicit instructions regarding his burial. The parasha also contains a poignant exchange between Joseph and his brothers which echoes old duplicities but results in peace among them. Finally, the parasha tells of Joseph’s death and his final request, “When God has taken notice of you (i.e. the people of Israel), you shall carry my bones from here.”, fore-shadowing the events that will unfold in the next book of the Torah.

Despite all these endings, how this parasha begins is truly unique. All other por-tions in a Torah scroll start at the beginning of a line of text, and/or after an open space that indicates the start of a new block of text. Vayechi, meaning “and he lived”, starts right in the middle of a line. There is no clear indication where the previous portion ended and this one begins. The very structure of the Torah text impresses upon us the unavoidable continuity that characterises our lives. Past events influence future happenings. Present conditions cast new light on previ-ous circumstances. Future considerations determine present actions.

This Torah portion is a perfect match for the beginning of a new (secular) year that comes with so many uncertainties. The rise of anti-Semitism world wide, the horrible fires in Australia, and the possibility of a war in the Near East are only three of the many horrors that have cast their shadows on our future.

“Have no fear!” is Joseph’s answer to his brothers, when they are in fear of their future. Friends, we don’t know what 2020 will bring. We are somewhere in the middle of something, not able to see what is coming next. However fear cannot be our answer. Instead, I invite you to take the following words to your heart, which we recite when we end a book of the Torah, as we do this Shabbat:

Chazak, Chazak, V’nitchazeik
Be strong, be strong, and we will strengthen one another

Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Adrian M Schell
(Source: Rabbi Jack Luxemburg)

Chanukah Oy Chanukah – Come light the menorah

December 20, 2019 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

Celebrate Chanukah with us on Friday 27 December with a festive service. Bring your own Chanukiah to the service and 7 candles to join in lighting the Chanukah lights.

Chanukah Oy Chanukah (23. – 30. December 2019)

Chanukah begins this year on the evening of Sunday, 22nd December.

Chanukah (alternately spelled Hanukkah), meaning “dedication” in Hebrew, refers to the joyous eight-day celebration during which Jews commemorate the victory of the Maccabees over the armies of Syria in 165 B.C.E. and the subsequent liberation and “rededication” of the Temple in Jerusalem. The modern home celebration of Chanukah centers around the lighting of the chanukiah, a special menorah for Chanukah; foods prepared in oil including latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts); and special songs and games.

Candles are lit on each of the eight nights of Chanukah, one the first night, two the second, and an additional candle on each subsequent night. The candle for the first night is placed at the far right of the chanukiah; on each subsequent night, another candle is added to the left. An extra candle, designated as the shamash, is lit first, then used to light the others after the blessings are recited. Each night the candles are lit from left to right, starting with the new candle. The last blessing (Shehechiyanu) is recited only on the first night. The last candle is lit on Sunday night, the 29th December.

What is a dreidel? The word dreidel derives from a German word meaning “spinning top,” and is the toy used in a Chanukah game adapted from an old German gambling game. Chanukah was one of the few times of the year when rabbis permitted games of chance. The four sides of the top bear four Hebrew letters: nun, gimmel, hey, and shin. Players begin by putting into a central pot or “kitty” a certain number of coins, chocolate money known as gelt, nuts, buttons or other small objects. Each player in turn spins the dreidel and proceeds as follows: nun – take nothing; gimmel – take everything; hey – take half; shin – put one in. Over time, the letters on the dreidel were reinterpreted to stand for the first letter of each word in the Hebrew statement “Neis gadol hayah sham,” which means “A great miracle happened there” and refers to the defeat of the Syrian army and the re-dedication of the Temple. In Israel, one letter on the dreidel differs from those used in the rest of the world. The shin has been replaced with a pey, transforming the Hebrew statement into Neis gadol hayah po, which means “A great miracle happened here.”

Blessings for Chanukah

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּנוּ לְהַדְלִיק נֵר שֶׁל חַנֻכָה.

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu l’hadlik ner shel Chanukah.
Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of all, who hallows us with Mitzvot, commanding us to kindle the Chanukah lights.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁעָשָׂה נִסִּים לָאבוֹתֵינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהם בַּזִּמַן הַזֶּה.

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, she-asah nisim laavoteinu v’imoteinu bayamim hahaeim baz’man hazeh.
Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of all, who performed wonders for our ancestors in days of old at this season.

Add every night: We kindle these lights because of the wondrous deliverance You performed for our ancestors. During these eight days of Chanukah, these lights are scared; we are not to use them but only to behold them, so that their glow may rouse us to give thanks for Your wondrous acts of deliverance.

First night only:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הַעוֹלָם שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, shehecheyanu v’kiy’manu v’higianu laz’man hazeh.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this season.

See also Mishkan T’filah page 572 and 668.

Chag Chanukah Samei’ach ~ חנוכה שׁמח חג

A joyous Chanukah to all

More about Chanukah can be found here: http://www.reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/hanukkah

Heaven and earth touched each other

December 5, 2019 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

This week’s Torah portion, Vayetzei, describes the first part of the journey of the biblical Jacob. Fleeing the wrath of his brother, whose birthright he purchased and whose blessing he stole, Jacob is “heading for the exits (Vayetzei).” As the now iconic story unfolds, Jacob stops for the night and has his famous dream of a ladder with angels going up and down between heaven and earth. God appears to Jacob in the midst of his dream and repeats the covenantal promise to Jacob as promised to Abraham
before.

It is remarkable that this didn’t happen in a safe environment, in a tent, or a regular place of worship. It happened in the ‘nowhere‘, a place where
literally heaven and earth touched each other.

Last Shabbat, we went out to have Shabbat together in the Botanical
Gardens, and while I doubt that this was a moment comparable to Jacob‘s, it was still special and it brought together family, friends and people we had never met before. It was a wonderful way to confirm our covenant with the Eternal and to open ourselves to new ways and new encounters.

I hope we have more of those special services in the future.

Shabbat Shalom –

Rabbi Adrian M Schell

Toledot: It is about seeing—and not seeing.

November 28, 2019 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

Our parasha reports how Isaac was tricked by Jacob, taking advantage of his father‘s blindness, into giving him the blessing of the firstborn. But was Isaac really blind? Was he really not able to notice that it was Jacob and not Esau who stood before him? History is sometimes made by averting our eyes. Many people think that miracles are about God working magic. But according to Genesis miracles are about lifting up the eyes. They are about opening the eyes and seeing what is already there. So miracles are more about us seeing things rather than God’s magic. Miracles are about noticing the extraordinary in the ordinary.

So how do we understand Isaac’s not seeing? If he is blinded by choice because it is too painful to verbalise what one son is doing to another or how his wife is conspiring against him or how he is favouring one son over another, then what might the miracle be that he is unable to see?

The miracle is in the sequel. It is in next week’s portion. That miracle is the dream of a ladder going to heaven. This miracles occurs because Jacob is now running from Esau. Such is the history that is created by Isaac
choosing not to see.

We can’t see everything and some things are too painful to see clearly. The truth must sometimes be concealed and that we must, as a matter of faith, veil our eyes. Our rabbis teach us that we learn from Isaac how to lead a life of faith. We can look at the world and all its pain. We can look at our own lives with all the difficulties and say, there is no God; there are no
miracles. Or, you can see Nature in all its wonderful colours, and say, “I believe!” Faith is a matter of averting our eyes from our daily pains and seeing instead the sometimes less frequent joys and blessings. It is about seeing—and not seeing.

Shabbat Shalom – Rabbi Adrian M Schell

Knowing that We Are Blessed

November 20, 2019 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

As Abraham reached the twilight of his years, our Torah portion informs us that “the Eternal had blessed Abraham in every way” (Genesis 24:1).

The Rabbis were perplexed by such an assertion. No surprise! Do you know anyone on earth who is blessed with everything? Some people may give the impression that they “have everything.” But when you scratch the surface you will find that we all carry burdens- physical, emotional, and
financial. We live with disappointment, with pain, with hopes not realised and goals never achieved.

So what about Abraham? As Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Nachmanides) suggests, Abraham was blessed with riches, possessions, honour, and
longevity (Ramban on Genesis 24:1). What for me is missing in this list is love, family and friendship.

Last weekend, when we were sitting around the tables that were so richly filled with cakes and sweets for the High Tea, and also on Shabbat at the brocha, after the service, I felt that we are a blessed congregation. Not so much because of the food, which was lovely, but because of being a real community, where friendship and togetherness are not only nice terms on paper, but a lived reality.

When the Torah says that the Eternal had blessed Abraham in every way, perhaps it not only meant the many blessings Abrahm enjoyed in his life-time, but also anticipated the many blessings Abraham‘s children—us—would some days enjoy: a rich tradition, friendship and community.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Adrian M Schell

Keeping Shabbat the Progressive Way

November 14, 2019 / RabbiAdrian / 0 Comments

Once a year, usually mid-November, a special Shabbat is announced. The so called Shabbat Project should inspire Jews around the globe to keep Shabbat. But what does it mean “to keep Shabbat“?

Technically, the laws of Shabbat can seem draconian. There are thirty-nine official “dont‘s,” and they each have subcategories that add hundreds more. One cannot mow the lawn, hunt for food, light a fire, plant a seed, cook food, boil water, sew on a button, erect a tent, use a hammer, bake a cake, or gather kindling.

Derived from these ancient laws, a host of modern restrictions has been added by scholars, so now it is forbidden [according to Orthodox interpretation of the law] to turn on a computer, drive a car, flick on a light switch, talk on the phone, replace a battery, or watch television. The list is a long one. Conservative rabbis [in the US] prohibit many of these same activities, but the level of observance among the Conservative Jews is not as widespread as it is among the Orthodox.

Progressive rabbis, for the most part, say that these ancient restrictions are no longer binding or enjoy the same priority as ethical laws that may stand in conflict with the traditional Shabbat restrictions (such as visiting or calling family members or friends). However, Progressive Judaism doesn‘t deny that one can find meaning in the restrictions and should try to incorporate them into one‘s religious lives.

But how? And which? And why?

Join Brett Steingo for a conversation
this Shabbat after the brocha @ 11.45 for 12.00