Gevurah, Wise Boundaries: Where Are Our Lines Drawn?

Rabbi Ben Herman , , ,

Today we are going to talk about a challenging topic from a Mussar, or ethical, lens: the Middah, character attribute, of Gevurah, setting wise boundaries.[1] Though difficult, this is necessary for our lives, as if we have no boundaries we stand for nothing. Where are our personal boundaries-the lines we refuse to cross? When I consider this, I think of Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye allowed Tzeitel to marry Mottel and Perchick to marry Hodl. When it came time for Vietka and Chana however, he exclaimed, “There is no other hand!” For Tevye, that was his line. Our line might be different and that is fine; what matters is that we know our limits, our boundaries.

When I served a congregation on Long Island, I was asked at a breakfast following morning minyan, “Where is your line? Are you anything goes?” I shared my boundaries with the minyanaires and said, “This is the line I will not cross. It is very different from your line.” My boundary allowed women to be Gabbaim and lead services; this crossed their line, and it was a disagreement between us.

          As a Jewish leader, I want to be a big tent and inclusive. I also recognize that we need to know our core values and principles and, like Tevye, where for us “there is no other hand.” We need to remember the story of the jester.

          There was once a king who ruled his kingdom with wisdom and compassion. As he approached the end of his days, everyone in the kingdom wondered who would be the next ruler. One of his children? An advisor? A general?

          To keep the contenders from fighting over the throne, the king put his instructions in a letter, which was to be opened only on the day of his death. It named the person who would succeed him on the throne.

When that day arrived, the kingdom mourned its wise and caring leader. And then all eyes turned to the king’s letter to see who would rule in his place. With great ceremony, the prime minister opened the letter and read the instruction. Whom had the king chosen? Not one of his children, nor an adviser, nor a general. The king had chosen the jester. The jester would be called king!

          The jester? Everyone in the kingdom thought this must be a joke. How could a fool be king? But such were the king’s instructions. And so the jester was brought before the royal court. Royal retainers removed his jester costume and cloaked him in the robes of the king. They removed his jester hat and crowned him king. And they sat him on the royal throne.

          At first, the situation was awkward-for the new king as well as his kingdom. But over time it turned out to have been a brilliant choice. The jester was every bit as wise, as compassionate, and as insightful as the old king had been. He listened to everyone with care-advisers, generals, even the commoners of the realm. He treated everyone who came before him with respect and with kindness. He used his powers to bring peace and prosperity to his kingdom. To the amazement of all in the royal court, the jester came to be a superb ruler. And everyone in the royal court-indeed, everyone in the kingdom-came to love him.

          There was a mystery surrounding the jester-king, however. Every so often, he would retreat to a distant room in the palace, a room to which only he had the key. For a few hours he would lock himself in that room. And then he would return to the throne and resume his duties. Most members of the royal court assumed he went to the room to think, to meditate, or perhaps to pray. They accepted the mystery as part of their beloved king’s life.

          Once an ambassador came from a far-off land. The ambassador spent many hours with the king. He grew to appreciate the king’s wisdom and his kindness. It was rare, he thought, for a king to listen as carefully as this king listened. It was unusual for a king to seek advice from everyone who appeared before him. It was remarkable for a king to care as deeply and to work as hard for the good of his subjects as this king did.

          When the ambassador noticed that the king occasionally disappeared into his distant room, he wondered, “What does the king do in that locked room? Why does he go there? What is in that room that helps him rule with such wisdom and kindness?” The ambassador couldn’t let go of the mystery. So one day, when the king retreated from his room, the ambassador secretly followed behind. When the king closed the door, the ambassador crouched down and peered through the keyhole. There he took in the king’s great secret.

          In the privacy of his room, the king took off his crown and his royal robes and put on the costume of a jester. Around and around the room he danced the jester’s dance, making funny faces and singing the silly songs of a jester. Then he stood before a great mirror and recited to himself: “Never forget who you are. You may look and sound and act like the king, but you are only the jester. You are only the jester pretending to be the king. Never forget who you are.”

          Now the ambassador understood it all. He understood the source of the king’s deep wisdom. He understood that the king’s kindness and greatness emanated from his humility. And now he knew the secret of the king’s humility. This knowledge made the ambassador love the king even more deeply. He vowed his everlasting loyalty to the king. And he vowed to keep the king’s secret.

          Over the years, the king and the ambassador grew close. One day when they were alone, the ambassador confessed what he had done and what he had seen. “I promise you on your life that I will never reveal your secret,” he declared. “But there is one thing I have never been able to figure out: Of all the people in the royal court whom the old king could have chosen to succeed him, why did he choose you? Why did he choose the jester?”

          The king smiled at his friend and replied, “And who do you think he was before he became king?”[2]

                The jester never forgot who he was, and a number of Jewish organizations did the same. For the first time, I was a Rabbi in Residence at a Ramah camp. It was wonderful to be there with my older daughter and to be part of a grand Israeli concert and celebration-I highly recommend Ramah. At the same time, I could not avoid thinking of the drama at another Ramah camp this past summer. At Ramah New England, the only other Ramah at which I have worked, Rabbi Ed Gelb would not let an anti-Zionist צוות/staff member return to camp after she wrote on Instagram that Jews ought to oppose the genocide in Gaza. He wrote to the Ramah community, “Camp cares deeply about our alumni and values personal connections to members of the Palmer community, who have contributed greatly over the years, and we welcome direct dialogue to find shared understanding…At the same time, we make a sacred promise to our community that we will faithfully adhere to our public educational goals, including that we are a Zionist camp (unapologetically so).”[3] This, for Rabbi Gelb and Camp Ramah of New England, was an incident for which there was no other hand.

          This is not the only example of a Jewish organization setting boundaries. Earlier this year, there was uproar when a Citizens of the World-East Valley Charter School, which rents space from Congregation Adat Ari-El in Los Angeles, taught lessons on the “genocide of Palestine.”[4] Two teachers were removed from the school and the principal was placed on leave[5] and later removed. The charter school’s principal, Hye-Won Gehring, emailed Rabbi Brian Schuldenfrei about the Israeli flags on campus, asking, “I know that this is a time to hold your community close, and perhaps the flags are intended for that – but do you know how long they will be up?” Rabbi Schuldenfrei expressed that he found the email offensive, asserting, “I told the principal that inquiring when our flags were coming down was like asking someone on September 11 to take down their American flags just a few days later. It is painfully insensitive.”

          Later at that school, a teacher wrote the following: “I did a lesson on the genocide in Palestine today with my first graders who give me hell 90% of every day but were really into this convo and series of activities.” The teacher, who used the class’s math period for the lesson, wrote this on Instagram in a private post that the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) reviewed.

The teacher added, “I started by telling them that we weren’t gonna do math at the usual time because sometimes there are big things in the world that need our attention, and we need to interrupt our usual routines to make space to learn and talk about what’s happening. I asked them what they already knew about what’s happening (they knew a lot and had questions) and I drew a little map of the occupied territories of Palestine.” She continued, “then they organically started coming up with ideas for what could happen (my fav was a kid who was like ‘what if they just give the land back to Palestine and find somewhere else to live?’)” The teacher ended the post with a heart emoji.[6]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Yesterday I spoke about the importance of unity, and connecting with the perspectives of others. However, there needs to be a line. Look at what happened at HaMakom in Los Angeles earlier this summer. HaMakom is the merger of two congregations 1 mile apart. They had an extra building which they leased to the Islamic Society of West Valley, (with whom they had a partnership since 2017), to accommodate the mosque’s overflow crowds, with a possible, future sale. The imam had spoken at one of the synagogues, and that synagogue’s rabbi attended an interfaith iftar (which I have done as well). The first day of the lease was during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. As a gesture to make their tenants feel comfortable, HaMakom’s leadership covered up pictures of the Israeli hostages, and the imam invited a speaker from CAIR, the Community of Arab Islamic Relations, whose national organization has funded Hamas.[7] Comments the speaker made included, “Israel does not have the right to defend itself” and “for 75 years, every single day for the Palestinian people has been October 7.”[8] The lease only lasted that one evening, and the co-presidents of the synagogue resigned.

          It can be painful yet necessary to determine when to set up boundaries that will keep certain people out. Yesterday, I shared with you my vision and aspirational mission statement for Mosaic Law Congregation. It is not a finished project, and I challenge each of us to think about what we want to see Mosaic Law Congregation become-where we can let people in and where we need to set limits. What values are of ultimate importance to us as a congregation and as a Jewish community? Some of us don’t like to think about these things; however we must. As Rabbi Shai Held teaches, “Whatever you push away is going to bounce back at you; it is nature’s law. Whatever you run away from becomes your shadow.”[9]

          I’d like to challenge us in 5785 to not push away tension and conflict, especially as we approach elections in the United States, but rather to think about it honestly and strongly. This is our time to focus in on who we want to be as people and as a community in the coming year and where we draw our boundaries.

[1] Thank you to Rabbi Mark Margolius of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality who taught me Gevurah under this lens.

[2] Ed Feinstein, “The Jester,” in Capturing the Moon (Behrman House, Springfield, NJ, 2008), Pages 34-36

[3]  Why Camp Ramah in New England drew a red line against anti-Zionism among its staff (jewishinsider.com)

[4] LA charter school housed at synagogue tells 1st-graders about ‘genocide of Palestine’ | The Times of Israel

[5] LA charter school ousts teachers who taught 1st graders about ‘genocide of Palestine’ | The Times of Israel

[6] Sick: LA Charter School Teachers Removed After Teaching 1st Graders About ‘Genocide in Palestine’ at School Housed in Synagogue | The Gateway Pundit | by Margaret Flavin

[7] Synagogue members furious with leadership’s gesture to mosque – The Forward

[8] PressReader.com – Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions

[9] Christina Feldman, Compassion: Listening to the Cries of the World (Berkeley: Rodmell, 2005), pg. 28.  In Judaism is About Love, pg. 219.

Humility as an Approach to Teshuva

Rabbi Ben Herman , , , ,

          What is repentance all about? The Hebrew word תשובה (teshuvah) has at least 3 meetings: repentance, return and “the answer.” What is Teshuvah in answer to? The question What does God want from me right now in this very moment?

         That is a question which I won’t propose to answer today. However, I’ll share words from Rabbi Shai Held’s book Judaism is about Love. He writes that teshuvah “is less about castigating ourselves or enumerating our manifold sins than it is about remembering what we are capable of and taking stock of what we still need to do in order to live in a way that reflects God’s love and our worth.”[1] We are aware through teshuvah that we have human agency as well as the ability to bring atonement through our constructive actions.

          There is a Hasidic teaching by Rabbi Simha Bunim that one should have pieces of paper in two different pockets. One should contain the maxim בשבילי נברא העולם, for my sake the world was created. The other should contain the statement, אנכי עפר ואפר, I am but dust an ashes. Rabbi Bunim instructed that when we are in imbalance, leaning more towards one side than the other, we need to open the pocket that will lead us back into balance. Thus, if I feel on top of the world, that nothing can touch me, I need the “I am but dust and ashes.” If, on the other hand, I feel down in the dumps, I need to remember “For my sake, the world was created”-what we celebrated on Rosh Hashanah, the creation of all humanity.

          In balancing ourselves out, we also need to find the areas that we need to work on in our lives. Rabbi Yeruham Levovitz’s student, Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, cited him as stating: “Woe to a person who is unaware of their shortcomings, because they will not know what to work on. But even greater woe to a person who is unaware of their virtues, because they don’t even know what they have to work with.”[2] We must always be aware of the good things that we have in life and utilize them to strengthen ourselves.

As Rabbi Elyakin Krumbein notes in the name of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, “any confession of sin must include, in order to be meaningful, the realization that one is a spiritual being with spiritual achievements.”[3] We are always aspirational, trying to grow in any way we can. In Shabbat Torah Study, I once was asked why do we go through this High Holy Day season year after year? What could possibly be its purpose? My response was that we are G-d willing different people this year than we were last year. We have grown in so many different ways and will continue to grow over the course of the coming year.

As we grow in our knowledge and in our understanding of the world, we recognize that we do not have all the answers. That is where humility comes in. At times we can say, “I don’t know but I can look it up or get back to you,” or “Let me think about that.” In so doing, we acknowledge that we are far from perfect and that each of us is always on a course of growth and development. At the same time, we recognize that we can make a big impact in the world around us.

[1] Rabbi Shai Held, Judaism is about Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2004), pg. 38, footnote 39.

[2] Ibid, pg. 38.

[3] Rabbi Elyakim Krumbein, “on the ‘Humility’ Dilemma and Its Solution, Tradition 39, no. 1 (Spring 2005), pg. 54.

Dor Hadash: Striving to Become a Covenantal Community in 5785

Rabbi Ben Herman , , , ,

Have Cantor sing אחינו

The words in which Cantor beautifully led us are traditionally read after the Monday and Thursday weekly Torah readings and translate as follows: “The House of Israel is one family, including those who are in distress or in captivity, and those who wander over sea or over land. God will have compassion for them and will bring them from narrowness to expanse, and from darkness to light, and from oppression to redemption, speedily, now and in our days.”

What does it mean to be a congregational family? What does it mean at a time when our world is rocked, as it was in 5784 with a situation that many of us had never experienced before?

At times it may cause us to feel weak, like Moses at the battle with Amalek. Two chapters after being saved from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, Moses and the Israelites were surprise attacked from behind.[1] In an attack that was eerily like October 7th, their old and their young murdered by the people of Amalek, Israel was suddenly embroiled in an intense battle. [2] Moses’ hands needed to be raised to fight Amalek so as to give the people of Israel hope. Unfortunately, his hands grew heavy, and he kept lowering them. He needed help from Aaron and Hur to keep his hands raised and help Israel be victorious. The Mishnah says: “Did the hands of Moses make war when he raised them or break war when he lowered them? Rather, the Torah comes to teach that as long as the Jewish people turned their eyes upward and subjected their hearts to their Father in Heaven, they prevailed, but if not, they fell.[3]

Many times in 5784 I felt like I imagine my ancestors felt when they were shocked at being ambushed by Amalek: a deer in the headlights with extra anxiety from being thrown for a loop. At those moments when our burden is too heavy, it is easy to feel powerless and tempting to let go of everything. Hopefully we have people like Aaron and Hur to raise up our hands, to encourage us, and to boost us up at the times we feel discouraged and think of throwing in the towel.

  This is the message of our anthem, Aheinu. Each and every one of us are brothers and sisters, standing together and helping one another through our troubles and difficulties, our trials and tribulations. It is imperative, especially when one does not have family close by, that as a congregational family we be each other’s rocks and help hold one another up through crisis. As a Jewish people, we follow the maxim ,כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה we are all responsible for one another.[4] We need leaders like Moses, a shepherd in his youth, to bring us together and look out for us, especially our young and our old.[5] We also must have faith in ourselves and in our mission and that, with God’s help, we will ultimately be successful.

In Aheinu, we are taken out, from “narrowness to expanse, and from darkness to light, and from oppression to redemption.” What does this mean? The best example comes from our tradition. There has never been a greater leader of our people than Moses. As the psalmist says: “וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לְֽהַשְׁמִ֫ידָ֥ם לוּלֵ֡י מֹ֘שֶׁ֤ה בְחִיר֗וֹ עָמַ֣ד בַּפֶּ֣רֶץ לְפָנָ֑יו לְהָשִׁ֥יב חֲ֝מָת֗וֹ מֵהַשְׁחִֽית׃  God would have destroyed Israel, had not Moses, God’s chosen one, confronted God in the breach to avert God’s destructive wrath. Moses stood in the breach for Israel on that day to prevent God’s destructive anger.”[6] Rabbi David Kimhi, known as the Radak, taught that God set a breach, a separation from Israel so that God could wipe them out, and Moses stepped into the breach.[7] He would not let destruction occur on his watch.

I think of modern heroes who stood in the breach, emulating Moses’ example. Lieutenant-Colonel Eran Masas, whosaved some of the revelers from the Nova festival and who collected the bodies of victims to put them all together so that the terrorists wouldn’t be able to abduct them. I also think of Superintendent Moran Teggi, who commanded operations in Ofakim and who saved the lives of so many. I recall Sergeant Yonatan Ohana who fought in Gaza, was wounded by shrapnel from an RPG and continued to fight through his injuries. [8] These are three of our many Israeli heroes who stood in the breach on October 7th. We also cannot forget our everyday heroes, firefighters, police, security guards and first responders, who risk their lives on a daily basis to protect us.

Our vision as a people must be to follow Moses’ example and stand in the breach. When there is chaos and trouble brewing, we hold our heads high, serve as intermediaries and refuse to let go. Being a people means that we need to watch out for one another, that we are obligated to step into the breach for those within our community, just as Moses did when God wanted to destroy Israel, and as Hur and Aaron helped Moses do against Amalek.

We never know when the next attack from an enemy will come. Look at 2 days ago, when Iran launched 180 missiles at Israel, most of which were shot down with help with the United States and with God protecting us. We never know where the next attack will come from and we need to be prepared. As my teacher Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell said, “You need to build your ark before the flood comes.” We do not have the luxury of being asleep[9] as Israel was when Amalek struck.

 This feels lofty; how does it tie into each and every one of us? I want you to think about why you are here today. Some of us are here for the first time-or the first time since last Yom Kippur. Others started coming regularly over the course of this year or a previous year. I have encountered people who are afraid to go to synagogue, as well as those who felt it’s time they start going. When our people are vulnerable, we need each other so much. I have heard numerous congregants express the importance of being with their families now more than ever-and I have felt this way as well, both with my personal family and with my Mosaic Law family.

How do we become more of a family where people look out for one another as Aaron and Hur did for Moses? A start is looking at what our mission is as a congregation. I see Mosaic Law’s mission as being a place where people experience the joys of Judaism, through prayer, education, social activities and social action. I yearn for us to move from a transactional community towards a covenantal community, in which our relationships with each other are our primary focus.

I aspire to have Mosaic Law Congregation (MLC) be known as THE PLACE where people go and are immediately welcomed in as they are, able to engage with our many offerings according to their interests and able to give of their skills and talents to strengthen our congregation. Our community must bolster us up in difficult times, like Aaron and Hur raising up Moses’ arms. Over the past two years, I have had 1-on-1 or 1-on-2 conversations with many of you about your interests at MLC. These are opportunities to connect in a strong, deep way. If we have not yet connected, please contact me after Rosh Hashanah, and we will set a time to meet. I want us to be each other’s Hur and Aaron.

An initiative I have begun to connect congregants to one another is Dor Hadash, meaning a new generation and referring to the creation of a new generation of Havurot, small groups which rotate gathering at each other’s homes on a monthly or quarterly basis. I am proud that as a synagogue we have so many successful Havurot, many of which were formed decades ago and whose members are there for each other at births, weddings, funerals and college graduations. What are we doing to create this sense of intimate community today? How are we building a culture of belonging, where we appreciate every person for who they are and what they contribute to our congregational family?

The Havurot are not an end unto themselves but rather a means to help us reach a deeper end. My goals in forming this new generation of Havurot through Dor Hadash are to increase congregational engagement, strengthen MLC’s leadership pipeline and foster opportunities for people to become more deeply engaged with daily Jewish living. A community is only as strong as the integration between its members, and we need to help each other achieve this.

Last winter and spring, Karina and I created a pilot Havurah, hosting Hanukkah and Shabbat dinners, a Purim party and a Lag B’Omer event, each of which had Jewish learning components. Since then, other Havurot have formed based on demographics and interests/affinity, hosting events such as blintz tasting and kayaking. My goal is to get every membership unit who wants to not only join a Havurah but more importantly to feel welcome as they are and find a place of comfort within our congregational family. One month ago, we had our Dor Hadash Kickoff/Sukkah Building workshop, where we taught the laws involved in creating a kosher Sukkah, built a Sukkah and introduced congregants to one another (I learned Cantor’s favorite movie is the mockumentary Waiting for Guffman). We set the goal of having Havurot build their own Sukkot this year. We have a ways to go to reach everyone. Please fill out a short survey that will be sent on Monday so that we can include you in our effort to form new Havurot.

This is one of a number of steps we can take to help us feel community. Another we can do right now. Please turn to someone you do not know and wish them a shana tova u’metuka, a happy, healthy, sweet Jewish New Year.  Please continue to extend greetings to others, especially those you do not know, throughout the High Holy Days.

I hope that Mosaic Law Congregation will be a place where each of us will find community with one another and that we will leave services today and always feeling better about ourselves. Over the holidays, please think about and connect with something that makes you feel that Mosaic Law Congregation is your home. The most important thing we can do is to strengthen where we are in this difficult year we’ve had.  Our holy work will ensure that Mosaic Law Congregation is the best version of itself. In so doing, we will be a beacon of light for both the Sacramento Jewish community and the worldwide Jewish community. 

I know that together we will make a difference in the year 5785 and that we can create the Mosaic Law Congregation we want to have. Through being responsible for one another and strengthening each other, being each other’s Aaron and Hur, our synagogue will thrive. To help us unite together I’d like to read the poem “The Unity” by my grandmother, Lucille Frenkel. While she was speaking about the State of Israel, I am reading Israel as referring to the need for unity and familial ties between the people of Israel and have adapted her poem to fit that desire.

The Unity

The lesson which past ages taught

Was lesson each Jew had to learn,

The unity our People wrought

Was unity formed of concern.

All differences which separate

One from another become dispelled.

All differences evaporate

In our concern for Israel.

The lesson which past ages taught

The world still forces us to learn.

The life of Israel is sought,

Born of all Jewry’s concern.[10]

[1] Pointed out by Erica Brown, Zionist Rabbis High Holy Day Seminar, September 4, 2024.

[2] Exodus 17:8-16

[3] Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 3:8

[4] Babylonian Talmud Shavuot 39b

[5] See Exodus 10:9

[6] Psalms 106:23

[7] Radak on Psalms 106:23 ד”ה בפרץ

[8] 12 heroes of October 7 tell their stories in Knesset event – Israel News – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

[9] Song of Songs 5:2

[10] Lucille Frenkel, A Jewish Adventure (Milwaukee, WI: The Eternity Press, 1983), pg. 213.

Works of Progress: Making Ourselves Into Who We Want to Be

Rabbi Ben Herman

How wonderful to see everyone together. Parents reunited with children (as are my parents Bruce and Laurie Herman), siblings reunited with one another (as is my sister, Rachel Herman), cousins, uncles and aunts, grandparents and grandchildren. This is my favorite time of the year-beginning the Jewish New Year together as a congregational family.

For those with whom I have not yet had the chance to meet in person, I look forward to getting to know you over the course of 5784 and I also hope to deepen my connections with those who I had the privilege of meeting previously.

Please consider joining us at three events: the Kever Avot Memorial Service at Home of Peace Cemetery on Sunday at 11:00 am; Tashlich at Guy West Bridge Sunday at 5:00 pm; and at the west steps of the Capitol Monday at 6:00 pm for Memory and Hope One Year Later on October 7th; a candlelit vigil with songs, poetry and a communal Kaddish.

          Today we celebrate the creation of humanity on the 6th day of creation. There’s a great story shared with me by Rabbi Rick Sherwin with which I want to start off my remarks.

After teaching the Biblical account of Creation, the teacher turned to her student and asked: “So tell me, who made you?” The pupil thought for a minute, then answered, “Well to tell you the truth, I am not made yet.”[1]

          Each of us is a work in progress in this imperfect world. We have infinite potential to make a difference and to see our lives from an outlook of growth. Rabbi Jacob Rudin challenges us to be works in progress as we enter a new year. He writes:

          How quickly the Rosh Hashanahs add themselves up. How swiftly, how silently, how relentlessly the years slip by. How lightly we say ‘let us wait until tomorrow.’ And maybe there is no tomorrow.

          Rosh Hashanah is a reminder of this. We are a year older. Are we a year wiser? Wiser in the heart and the spirit?”

          The years have taught me the infinite treasure which children are, the miracle of them, born in love, reared in affection. O, how much we take them from granted: the wonder of change, of growth from baby to child, to youth, to adult. We forget. We give way to thoughtlessness, to lack of patience, a failure to communicate, to understand, or, what is worse, a failure to try to understand.

          I have learned that one of the best sounds in the world is the sound of a child’s voice, a voice clear and innocent and content, a harmony with joy and with love of companionship and devotion of a good home. I have learned that the sound of such voices never disappears. Open all the windows and all the doors. Let the years multiply themselves. Let the children grow up and marry and have homes of their own. The sound of them never fades, the song, the cry, their needs, their questioning. All remain, in the home which nurtured them, in the heart that brought them up. They never fly away.

          How does one make these truths urgent upon the heart? Not to let a single shaft of golden light, lonely upon the earth, go unnoted, the springtime flower, the autumn leaf, the winter’s sky. Not to lose, for a single day, thankfulness for health and well-being.

          The years have taught me that: to cherish every sight of a beloved’s face, to be grateful for beauty, to relish the sound of a child, to appreciate being able to walk from here to there. Such simple things, such lovely things, such precious things! And the years have taught me that people forget them. We learn with such difficulty, O Lord! In the New Year just beginning, let us not take them for granted, ever, for an hour or a day.”[2]

We continue to develop and strengthen ourselves, both remembering that there is always the potential for improvement and, equally if not more important, not to take the present moment for granted. We pray that each of us finds the wisdom inside ourselves and in these services, both the music and the content, to make a difference in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones. To help us do so, I am concluding with a poem from my grandmother, Lucille Frenkel, entitled “New Year Prayer 5734-1973.”

          New Year Prayer 5734-1973

Another New Year

Marking passage of time,

A chance to reflect

And to question how I am

Passing my days

In my journey through time-

Do I value each moment

God sends to be mine?

Do I criticize much

Which I do not approve,

Instead of attempting

Myself to improve?

Another New Year

Marking passage of time

Holds the need to reflect

On my whole life’s design.[3]

[1] Rabbi Rick Sherwin, High Holy Day Stories, Page 23.

[2] Rabbi Jacob Philip Rudin, The Rabbis Speak, in Rabbi Jack Riemer High Holy Day Anthology

[3] Lucille Frenkel, A Jewish Adventure (Milwaukee, WI: The Eternity Press, 1983), pg. 133.

Let Them Go!

Rabbi Ben Herman

This week I’ve felt an immense sadness, pain and anger that I haven’t felt since discovering the murder of Yair Yaakov z”l in February and of course on October 7th. The gut-punch Saturday night, the lack of sleep and seeing Hersh’s funeral early Monday morning. I give this sermon as one who felt the grieving and mourning all too closely, now leaving shiva for shloshim and ready to take the next steps.

We learned a glimpse of each of the hostages during Tuesday night’s vigil. Today I want to focus on something different-resistance. Each of these hostages resisted in their own way in his/her own way. Carmel Gat taught spiritual resistance through meditation exercises and yoga in the tunnels. She helped the others remember to stay calm during a torturous captivity, demonstrating that the one thing that cannot be taken away from you is your sense of self. Alex and Ori physically saved the lives of those they did not know before they were captured, showing their actions of selflessness. Almog tended to his girlfriend, showing the power of love. Eden kept others going through her vibrant spirit.

And then there was Hersh: Hersh Goldberg-Polin- a household name and the face of the hostages. We saw Hersh’s parents speak at major events, including both the Republican and Democratic conventions, travelling the world in order to save him. These past 11 months it felt as though his release along with the 5 with whom he was imprisoned was just around the corner. Painstakingly, it was not meant to be. At Hersh’s funeral, his mother Rachel said “you six lived together, you six died together, and now you will be remembered forever together.” His father Jon reminded us that the name Polin stands for פועלי ישועות, workers of salvation-or as I prefer to see them “miracle workers.” The hostages have become a global symbol for bringing improvement to our world. In remembering Hersh, Jon used the phrase adopted by his friends יהי זכרונו מהפכה -may his memory be a revolution. It is to that revolution that we are called now.

We need to be those miracle workers now. We CANNOT, We MUST NOT lose sight of the 101 remaining hostages in captivity. All steps must be taken towards their rescue. The ultimate value of Judaism is פקוח נפש, the saving of a life. These hostages may be beyond our reach halfway around the world but they are deeply embedded within our hearts. It is my hope and a prayer that a deal can be made to BOTH release the hostages AND keep Israel in control Gaza, badly needed so that Hamas cannot cause an October 7th-like attack again.

Here are the actions you can take to remember these 6 and to pray for the remaining 101 in captivity:

  1. If you are in Los Angeles between now and October 8 and are at least 16 years old, please go to the Nova Exhibition in Culver City, at which 5 of these 6 were taken. My best friend went when it was in New York, and she told me how powerful it is. If you cannot attend like me, commit yourself to learning about Nova-what it is about and why young people came together year after year.
  2. Dedicate yourself to learning at least one story from the captured and missing who were murdered since October 7th. Learn about their lives, their visions, their hopes and their dreams. Keep their memories alive through telling their stories.
  3. Continue to pray not only with words but also with your feet, for those hostages still in captivity, including Keith Siegel and Omer Wenkert, for whom we have chairs. As Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, founder of Zionist Rabbis, persuasively argued,[1] it’s time to change the narrative from “Bring them Home” to “Let Them Go.” I can only imagine what it felt like to say these words in the 1980s campaign to save Soviet Jewry. They might have meant something different then but their power will reverberate today. We say “Let Them Go” to demand that Egypt, Qatar, the United States and the United Nations exert pressure on the pharaoh of our day: The Islamic Republic of Iran, demanding that it pressure its proxy Hamas into releasing the hostages. In so doing, I’d like us to say the words that have impacted us for thousands of years. Please join me…LET THEM GO!!!

[1] StandWithUs Rabbis’ United WhatsApp Group

No Words

Rabbi Ben Herman

My words at a time when there is none. Community Vigil September 3, 2024.

          I first want to thank Rabbis Mona Alfi of B’nai Israel and Steven Chester representing Congregation Beth Shalom as well as the leadership of the Sacramento Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council and Hillel of Davis and Sacramento. Your presence here speaks volumes. We are one community.

I cannot adequately describe what I felt Saturday night in words.  The closest I get is being run over time and time again by a truck. Whenever I hear of another person murdered, our hopes for their return dashed in a moment after hundreds of days in captivity, there’s nothing left to say.

  We are here tonight to come together in grief and mourning while also doing our part to get the remaining 101 hostages released. Each of us here tonight is impacted by so many things. Our feelings are genuine and authentic as they are and should be accepted free of judgment.

Tonight we are gathered in part to remember 6 precious soles: Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, Carmel Gat and Hersh Goldberg-Polin, originally from Berkeley, California. These 6 were among nearly 400 captured or murdered from the Nova Festival in Re’im, dubbed as “a journey of unity and of love.” Our message as a people should always be love, not hate; life, not death and destruction. I still cannot get past the fact that each and every one of those recently murdered were under the age of 40-so much potential and so many hopes and dreams falling by the wayside. The cruelty of their captors taunting the victims’ families through sending post-mortem videos and  threatening to post “last minute videos” of their lives is beyond sickening.

The question is how do we remember them? Not by how they were found Saturday night but rather by how they lived their lives! In Mishnah Avot, Rabbi Shimon said, there are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingship. And the crown of a good name is superior to them all. We will remember the good names of each of these six precious souls followed by an El Malei for all who were murdered since October 7th and the Mourner’s Kaddish.

          Then we will transition to our hope for the release of the remaining 101 hostages. We will sing אחינו, the song showing that each and every one of us is united. We will recite the prayer for those who are captured followed by התקוה, the anthem that has kept our people hopeful for numerous years.

          Today we come together to grieve and to mourn; it is my prayer that tomorrow we will come together to dance and to celebrate the remaining hostages being brought home.

A Congregation Beyond Politics

Rabbi Ben Herman

In two congregational events this past week politics came up-in one case it sounded like a political rally. I have a challenge with this not because I don’t have my own opinions but because assumptions came up that I don’t think one should make. I’ll speak for myself-I don’t fit in a box. Conservative Judaism is the best fit for me but it’s not perfect; similarly, political parties not a perfect fit. I think there’s a lesson we need to have as we head towards November and beyond.

 In Judaism we are loyal to one thing and one thing only-God. Not a particular political party, not a particular ideology, but God. In the blessing after the Haftarah which Rabbi Leider beautifully chanted, she readונאמנים דבריך נאמן אתה הוא ה אלקינו  “You, Adonai our G-d, are loyal, and your words are loyal.” In Parshat Eikev, G-d commands us to observe all of the commandments. Throughout Eikev G-d commands us to remember and take heed of what we are being told. The word זכור, remember, appears 200 times in the Torah. The word שמע, to take heed, not just to listen but to harken-to really take something in-appears 92 times in the book of Deuteronomy alone! Incidents which occurred long ago, such as provoking G-d with the golden calf or testing G-d when there was no water in the desert, are repeated at length here. These are drummed into this new generation, about to enter the Land of Israel so that none of them can say they were not informed of the importance of observing G-d’s commandments as they embark on this new adventure.

In Judaism, we are required to have loyalty to G-d and to be informed of what G-d wants us to do in the Torah; in return G-d will be loyal to us. Whether we like it or not, it is a quid pro quo relationship. We are not commanded to be loyal to anything else, whether a person, institution or political party. When we wanted a human king, the prophet Samuel almost went into mourning and opposed this because he feared that allegiance to a human king would take the peoples attention away from the King of Kings, G-d.[1] We see the foibles and the weaknesses of the kings as you look in the Books of Samuel and Kings.

When the ark was opened before the Torah was taken out, I shared the following words: “I do not put my trust in any mortal, nor upon any angelic being do I rely, but rather on the G-d of Israel who is the G-d of Truth, whose Torah is Truth, whose prophets are prophets of truth and who abounds in deeds of goodness and truth. In   G-d alone do I put my trust and to G-d I utter praises.”[2] The motto on US currency-in God we trust. Of course, it’s easy to forget this-it’s easy to go astray-and of course it’s human nature to feel joy or fear based on what’s going on in the world. What I am saying is we often have short memories and pledge or fealty and loyalty to a certain cause and we don’t often think about what is at stake here.

Two months into my rabbinate here I spoke at a United Farm Workers rally, looking at is as an opportunity to show what Judaism says about how we treat workers. What I was unaware of was that the rally was based off a particular piece of legislation that one of the organizers told me was bad legislation in its current form.[3] What looks like something that everyone would stand behind-treating workers fairly-does not necessarily take into account that there’s more than meets the eye. We have to be aware of that. Not that it should make us paralyzed and afraid to take a stand on anything-that is certainly not the goal! We need to be aware of what it is that we’re standing for and that our ultimate loyalty is to G-d; not to any cause, not to another person, but to G-d alone.

We’re required to read these words over and over again, year after year. Humans by nature have short memories. We need to read and repeat in Mishneh Torah,[4] the repetition of the Torah, until things become second nature, and we develop positive habits. We have in Parshat Eikev words that demonstrate this. In the second paragraph of the Shema, the one which many are afraid to talk about and which some denominations have excised from their liturgy, G-d says to us “impress My words upon your very heart; bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, and teach them to your children-reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up; and inscribe them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates.”[5]

One of the things I love about Judaism is that there’s no dogma or one belief/opinion that one must follow. Sure, there are declarations of faith-Maimonides wrote one of the most famous. But we are encouraged in Judaism to be independent thinkers, to question things, to take what we have and arrive at our own conclusions. We’re given a roadmap for life in the Torah, but we have free will to do with it as we choose. We’re a people where belief is secondary to action, where doing the right thing, Tzedek,[6] that comes first before anything that we may believe. Remember the section of the Talmud “study is important when it leads to action”[7]-thoughtful, informed action.

What makes our community at Mosaic Law Congregation so wonderful is to have multiple opinions and at times vehemently disagree but to come together as a unified community. We’re here for a greater purpose than the latest story on the news, the latest rally. We’re here to come together and be unified as a community-not shying away from what we believe but being thoughtful and careful when we express it, not making assumptions that others think like us.

Everyone here is welcome at Mosaic Law Congregation regardless of what you believe provided that it will not lead to physically or emotionally harming another. If it’s destructive, then we have to have a conversation. We come together as a congregation for the greater good. We’re commanded to remember the shared narrative of our past, and to hearken to what we hear, keeping it near and dear to our hearts. We’re commanded above all else not to be loyal to a cause at the expense of everything else, only to be loyal to the One Above. That’s what we need to hold onto. The danger comes when we think “how could someone else think this way?” True it is fostered in the political environment, when someone says, “How can Jews think _________?” NO, NO. Jews like anyone else and anyone at Mosaic Law Congregation are entitled to their opinion. It doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be given a platform to espouse it, but you need to be treated with kindness and respect. I’m not naïve that stakes are high, but what’s most important to me, the highest value is for everyone to feel comfortable, safe and welcome at our congregation.

That is what we are being reminded in Ekev. Remember the past, remember that our ancestors often disagreed, even on occasion reached the brink of civil war but they ultimately stayed together as a community. They were not always loyal to G-d, but it got drummed into their head that they could not sever from one another, that our core principle of faith in a better future and belief in G-d, the blueprint that is the Torah, which is what stood firm. Before responding at Kiddush, I want each of us to think-not to jump into the fray but to recognize that we are all images of G-d and that here we come together for a higher purpose, connection to G-d and to our community.

[1] 1 Samuel 8

[2] Breich Shmeh D’marei Alma in Torah Service

[3] I am grateful the legislation got amended and adopted a few short months later.

[4] A rabbinic name for Deuteronomy

[5] Deuteronomy 11:13-21

[6] Thanks to Rabbi Mark Margolius for this framing in Institute for Jewish Spirituality Awareness in Action

[7] Talmud Kiddushin 40b

Juneteenth

Rabbi Ben Herman

          Parshat Behaalotecha teaches us that “when you kindle the lamps, towards the face of the Menorah shall the seven lamps cast light.”[1] Each of these lights, whether on the right or the left, faces towards the center. It demonstrates that each light joins together to form a greater light than each can do separately. That is the case with us as well-we need to join together to support one another and demonstrate that what unites us is greater than what divides us.

This week we observe Juneteenth, the commemoration of slaves in Galveston, Texas finding out that they were freed in 1865. We also have a holiday celebrating freedom from slavery-Passover.  In college at UW-Madison, I took a course on Black-Jewish Relations that centered on the community of Brownsville, Brooklyn. It was fascinating to learn about how Black-Jewish relations have changed over time. I also learned firsthand from Jews of Color, being mentored by Rabbi Capers Funnye of the Israelite congregation in Chicago (first time I ever gave a D’var Torah and people shouted “Amen Brother!”), in working with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and in being part of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Racial Justice Committee.

          As we celebrate the abolition of slavery, we need to remember that there remain those adversely affected by slavery even as we approach 160 years since the anniversary of Juneteenth. We must keep this in mind as our state senate passed three reparations bills a number of weeks ago. The senate has agreed to “issue an apology to Black Californians for the state’s role in instituting slave laws and discriminatory practices since its founding.”[2] As we move forward as a society, let us recognize the mistakes made in the past and as such may we work together towards a brighter future.

[1] Numbers 8:1

[2] https://www.foxnews.com/media/california-state-senate-passes-three-reparations-bills-apologizing-slavery-debt-owed

Operation Arnon: A Resounding Success for Israel

Rabbi Ben Herman

I learned with great excitement about the rescue of 4 hostages at the Neseirat camp in Gaza. I learned in the podcast Call Me Back that while the rescue of Noam Argamani went off without a hitch, the rescues of Shlomi Ziv Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov were met with great challenge and needed extra Israeli forces to come in to ensure its success. Thanks to Israeli soldiers who came in when the truck carrying Israeli special units and 3 of the hostages got stuck in order to make the rescue.

I feel for Meir Jan’s father who died of a heart attack just hours before the army arrived to deliver the news of his son’s rescue. At the same time, we saw the pure joy in the embrace of Noa Argamani and her father. Life is bittersweet, and we saw examples of both the bitter and the sweet with last week’s rescue operation.

We also saw secular Israelis enter into synagogues on Shabbat to inform religious Jews of this amazing rescue effort. It was a Fauda-like operation, with Avi Issacharov saying, “This is beyond belief” and if he tried to write this into a scene for Fauda it would have been unbelievable.

Due to the complexity of such an effort, it is unlikely to be repeated. This is because of the challenges of urban warfare, needing to make simulations with models of the buildings, weeks of preparations and strategy sessions and catching Hamas by surprise with a daytime attack, as well as multiple factors needing to line up. We pray for a hostage deal in which all Israeli hostages are released-and if not possible, for Israel to do everything it can to eradiacate Hamas and set the hostages free.

Please check out Rabbi Taff’s article in The Times of Israel about Arnon serving with his nephew https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-806269

Free Speech

Rabbi Ben Herman

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech.” As Jews we laud the principle of free speech as enshrined in the First Ammendment of the United States Constitution. Our people have lived in numerous countries where speech has been censored as well as practice of our religion. Yet too often there are people who hide behind free speech to spew hatred and threatening remarks. Too often people engage lawyers who know where the lines are drawn between free speech, hate speech and incitement and skirt on that line. Should #Hitlerwasright be free speech? How about having “easy access to Zionist journalists?” Do we need to wait for someone to be harmed in order to view speech as crossing a line?

On one hand we need to support free speech because of times when we were unable to speak out against evil and violence. On the other hand we must routinely condemn hate speech whenever we hear it-provided of course that our safety is not impacted in said situation. There is no such thing as an innocent bystander in Judaism. Not only must we condemn this hateful rhetoric but we also need to work with allies at creating a kinder, gentler world. Love will always triumph over hate and goodness will over evil.

Am Yisrael Chai!