Does the IRS have a Soul?

I will let you be the judge of that question. Take a look and tell me if you think that there is a real connection between paying taxes, religion, spirituality and public service to the community.
http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/04/14/2462530/faith-in-action-parsonage-tax.html#storylink=misearch

Do we still need a God who can send forth bolts of lightning? Torah Portion Leviticus 9-10 Sh'mini

Parashat Sh’mini

Parashat Sh’mini is known most notably for the tragic and dramatic moment when Aaron’s sons Nadav and Abihu take it upon themselves to offer sacrifices contrary to the proper procedure that God sets forth in this week’s Torah portion. Taking the risk of doing so ultimately led them to suffer the most serious of consequences when God sends a fire from heaven to kill them. The text of the Torah leaves us stunned at such a harsh decree. Their father, the high priest Aaron, is speechless. “Vayidom Aharon and Aaron was silent.”

Next Aaron turns to his next two sons Itamar and Elazar to take on the role as heir apparent to Aaron. We learn how important it is to follow the rules that God sets down in this priestly ritual and that deviating from the proscribed procedures will bring the ultimate consequences. The rest of the story portrays Moses irritated with Aaron for the next set of sons who do not follow the rules of eating the sacrifices inside the Holy Tabernacle. Apparently the two youth took the food outside and ate when they should have waited and consumed their assigned portion of the sacrificial offerings in the presence of the Holy One.

This time Aaron is not silent and he appeals to Moses knowing full well of what could happen to them. He even pleads with Moses basically saying, ‘Give me a break.’  He convinces Moses that they really did not break the rules and ultimately Moses concedes and saying that he himself was incorrect in his interpretation of the new laws. In other words Moses admits he made a mistake this time.

 From the lens of modern times it may be difficult to find relevant meaning. But the truth is that there is always a lesson for us in Torah if we dig deep enough through the ancient texts. The problem begins with us imagining a God who uses power in such a violent way towards his own clergy ordained to serve the Eternal. How can we reconcile that kind of God like behavior with what we imagine God-like behavior today? And finally is there something inside us, deeply imbedded within us that is part of our human DNA that still needs to have a notion of a God that judges us and has power over us in our most vulnerable moments?

Let’s not forget that Reform Judaism abandoned any interest in or affiliation with the priestly hierarchy. We distanced ourselves a century ago from the institution of the priesthood and the Temple cult in Jerusalem. Yet if we step back we might be able to draw an analogy today and better understand the world that created this kind of mindset that would enable God to bring forth such punishments and in the same story show Moses reversing himself from his initial judgment of his nephews.

In our world today we want to encourage everyone to participate in the liturgy and in the rituals of our tradition. We do not have a priestly hierarchy anymore. We are all on the same equal playing field before God. We treat our rituals and ritual objects with reverence but we do not threaten punishments for infractions as to how we handle ritual acts in case we make a mistake in the middle of a worship service.

There is no doubt that we are much more casual today in how we understand our relationship to worship and to God as well. We don’t usually think of God as willing or capable of striking us with a bolt of lightning for incorrectly reciting a prayer or saying something in a sermon that might sound somewhat irreverent or humorous. Our atmosphere in public worship is about creating warmth and engagement as compared to the traditional feeling of awe and fear that surrounded the synagogue ritual for centuries let alone the sacrificial rituals in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. And yet despite all of our modern thinking is there a nerve inside us that harbors that instinctual fear of God or a need to fear God at moments that can only be described as events hinging on moments of life transition?

I have told this story before but it bears telling again when I once officiated at a Bat Mitzvah and the family opened the ark. Suddenly there was huge gasp that went throughout the congregation when the mother and the daughter both reached for the Torah and accidentally dropped it. Trust me when I say this that the entire congregation was stunned into silence. I could see the fear in people’s eyes and in the eyes of the humiliated and mortified Bat Mitzvah and her family.  They knew that this was a serious situation beyond the embarrassment that both mother and daughter were experiencing.  This was the closest I ever came to the feeling of God striking us all in that selfsame moment.

And so I explained to the congregation what Jewish law proscribed for this kind of an unintentional act. The Halachah states that the entire congregation must fast for thirty days from morning to evening. The other option to exempt us from that harsh decree was to read from the Mishnah a tractate. When I explained the teaching, the mother motioned to me and said, “Rabbi, please read from the Mishnah. Pleased read it.” In fact everyone else was said the same thing so I went to my study, retrieved a copy of the Mishnah and read a portion which took about fifteen minutes. I pronounced a blessing and said a special kaddish d’rabbanan to conclude this ritual and we went on with the service. We finished a bit late but it was fine given the situation. I saw in the experience that despite our modern sensibilities there was a vestige of something of the old time fear and reverence for the Torah and for God and maybe a bit of hedging our bets too by reading from the Mishnah as if we were expiating our communal sin.

We think of ourselves as modern and rational people. Intellectually we enjoy deconstructing God and religion in general. Yet there are moments, I discovered, where we still have deep inside us that ancient feeling of the same emotion of fear that stems from the power of the Eternal One- the one we call the Almighty. It is certainly not the notion of God we chose to emphasize today. But it still exists. I saw that primal emotion in the eyes of the parents that day on the bimah. I have seen it in the eyes of mourners. I have sensed it in the hearts of a parent praying to God over their child in a hospital bed. Yes, there are certain moments we all hope to avoid where we pray to God hoping that God will intervene on our side just because the circumstances are matters of life and death. Intellectual ideas of God melt away and we are left with a raw theology that takes over.

Perhaps there should be a balance between the acknowledging the basic instincts of human kind some of which are suppressed by the confidence we have by living in a basically secular world and the enlightened spirit we cherish that raises us to more loving and less fearful relationship with God and with ritual as well. Do we need both to enable religion to reach the core of our being which means affirming our self esteem and our revealing our most sensitive vulnerabilities too?

The story of Nadav and Abihu focuses on the underlying role of God as power. It is not about God’s power in nature but about God’s power to judge humankind and intervene in the moral affairs of Israel.  It appears that today we are looking for a God who appears more like a muse and a counselor who comforts us and guides us gently and compassionately rather than the old time version of a God who exercises unrestrained will upon human beings regardless of the consequences based upon their actions. At the same time it is my contention that deeply hidden inside people in general and Jews in particular we see inside ourselves that despite our rational thinking and our modern sensibilities that there is still a part of our beliefs maybe it’s in our subconscious that we do possess an instinct to fear god when we are standing between life and death.

Paradoxically, we may want to give up those traditional hierarchical notions of a God of Power because they don’t fit into our vision of the world and how God today is defined. And yet a spark of awe and fear never really leaves our inner core especially in those critical moments of a lifetime. I wonder if the committee fashioning the forthcoming Reform High Holy Day Mahzor will accept that nuance about how Jewish theology really works. The effectiveness of the future High Holy Day Prayerbook project may depend upon it.

Passover Message

I am writing to you with a few hours to go before we begin this year’s Passover. I want to say that this is a truly communal experience on many levels. Think about all the families who are hosting Passover Seders and have been preparing for them for weeks. I especially wan to express my appreciation this congregation’s Sisterhood for organizing the community Seder tomorrow evening. God bless them for their devotion and their efforts. Then there are those of us who have contributed to these individual Seder meals and are invited guests. They all help to create the proper festive mood for Pesach.

Of course we have done our best to clean our houses of hametz. The test is not to eat matzah for eight days. Remember the mitzvah is to eat matzah on the first night of Passover. The real mitzvah is to abstain from eating any hametz or leavened products for eight days. The idea behind this is that we are supposed to cleanse ourselves of the spiritual leaven that impedes our ability to rise to the best of ourselves in life.  In addition the tradition tries to help us enter the time machine to feel and imagine that we too were slaves in Egypt. Some of us who came from lands less hospitable to Jews have experienced that condition before we immigrated to America. Yet most of us have never experienced living in a country where being a Jew was a liability, a danger to life and limb. So we must find other ways of identifying with our ancestors. Servitude to the Pharaoh is likened to slavery to the things that too often seem to define our lives. What this year’s Passover could be about for us is to take a good look at what we need versus what we want in life. The choice is up to us to reevaluate the hametz or the leaven inside ourselves of what is fluff versus what is truly essential to our meaningful existence.

There is also another aspect of Passover I want to emphasize to you in this message which is to remember that this holy day does define us as a people and it also highlights our values as a people  whose ethics do not abandon our obligation to others not of our faith. The Torah tells us that along with Israel an “erev rav” a mixed multitude came up with us out of Egypt. I would like to believe that we were hospitable to the strangers and took them in as if they were our own.  How often did that value resonate through Jewish history that we would take in the stranger even when in too many episodes in Jewish history others cast us out into the darkness? It is our highest moment to welcome the stranger in our midst at our Seder tables and to practice what we preach that we are a welcoming and compassionate people.

Finally, let’s talk about what the phrase “Next Year in Jerusalem” means?  The haggadah narrative starts with “Avadim Hayinu” We were slaves in Egypt and it concludes with L’shana HaBaah Byerushalayim. We begin with the degradation of slavery and complete the Seder singing for the hope of the redemption of the Jewish people. It is God that guides our steps and it is the belief in God who has sustained our memory and our passion to remember the journey that we the Jewish people still travel after all these years.

I know that we will delight in the Passover culinary delights and the discussion of the recipes that made for the most delicious Seder meals. May I respectfully suggest that we reserve some segment of our Seder experience to discuss the timely and timeless matters of the soul and the moral conscience that each of us as individuals and that we as a Temple community are bound to as we embark upon this Passover journey.
I hope to see you at morning services Tuesday at 10am and on April 1^st at 10 am for Yizkor.

On behalf of Linda, Leah and myself, I wish you a Zisen Pesach, a joyful and insightful experience.

Rabbi Brad Bloom

Is the Pope coming to my home for Passover Seder?

http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/03/21/2430706/faith-in-action-imagine-breaking.html#storylink=misearch

I wrote this column and it appeared yesterday in the newspaper. I have not yet heard from the Vatican officials if Pope Francis is coming to our home. So I am not going to worry about it.
But I do think there is a message there for us for Passover and for Catholics and the Pope as well. Although I am not counting on him reading the column. One never knows because the Eternal works in mysterious ways.
May you have a joyous Passover.
And for those who are of the Christian faith that read this blog I wish you for you meaningful Easter.
Shalom,
Brad

Technology and Religion: What does it do and what does it mean?

http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/03/15/2422025/faith-in-action-amid-ever-changing.html#storylink=misearch

Hi everyone,
I am catching up on  few newspaper articles I wrote recently in my column. Enjoy the read and Happy Passover.
Brad

Azkarah- In remembrance to Rabbi Johanthan Plaut

Azkara - In Remembrance For Jonathan Plaut

I am at the CCAR convention in Long Beach, Ca and today we prayed the morning (Shachrit) services. At the end of the service right before reciting the kaddish, there was a big screen where there appeared the names of the colleagues and spouses of colleagues who died over the passed year. Rabbi Lewis Barth of Hebrew Union College arose to speak in general terms of remembrance about our colleagues and their spouses. At first it reminded me of the same practice that we see today at the Academy Awards but there is no Barbara Streisand coming out to sing "Memories" as she did in this most recent televised performance. Furthermore in the old days of the CCAR there was the custom to write small but oh so intimate and respectful vignettes of those colleagues published in the yearbook. Some were longer than others but there was a record about the rabbis who lived and breathed the rabbinate and passed away and their memories were inscribed in the pages of our communal record-the CCAR Yearbook. Alas, the changes time has wrought and that technology has brought for us. Now we are just a minute or two on a screen and then we are gone. Sounds like a Psalm.
I shall remember one man on this year's list a little more than a mention on a large auditorium size screen. Jonathan Plaut buried his father the famous and revered Rabbi Gunther Plaut and several months later died due to Lou Gehrig's disease. It was tragic and profoundly sad to lose this man at a young age and especially so close after he delivered the eulogy at his own father's funeral.
It must not have been easy for Johnathan to grow up with such a giant in the rabbinate as his father. I always admired how he protected his father's interests and cared for him in his later years in so many ways. He exemplified the miitzvah of "honor thy father and thy mother."
Jonathan was a wonderful rabbi and a great guy. He taught me a lot about being a rabbi and he knew well the practical side and especially the business side of the rabbinate. He was fiercely loyal to his friends. He was a congregational rabbi and had a powerful presence. I loved his laugh and his humor. He could be boisterous in one moment and incredibly sensitive and attentive in another. I have many fun loving memories about him. He was blessed by his wife Carol who is an amazing woman and his son and daughter as well as grandchildren.  I have all the respect in the world for Carol who supported him, steadied him and counseled me as well as my wife when I was an assistant rabbi in Palo Alto just beginning my Rabbinate. Jonathan installed me two times; in Champaign, Illinois and Naples, Florida. I am honored that he came to my help on several occasions and introduced me to a man named George Lane who is now  a life long friend. George and I will always cherish Johnathan, each in our own way and I am so glad we can share our memories of him together. It is comforting for me.
Johnathan Plaut deserves to be honored in the CCAR for having served honorably and been a mentor to colleagues like me and for bringing joy and humor to life. A year has gone by since his passing and I am still saddened and still think about him regularly.

I could not leave this Convention without having written this piece in utmost respect to my colleague and friend and pray that all who read this blog and tribute to him will remember that Johnathan Plaut served the God of Israel with complete faith and dedication. He loved his family and his people. He was a scholar with an earned Doctorate from HUC and embodied the qualities rabbis should all value and aspire to in their lives. Y'chi Zichro Baruch May His Memory be Blessed

Monday Blog at the CCAR Convention

Monday Blog at the CCAR Convention

First let me begin by confirming my suspicion that hotel convention dinners are bad. Nothing has changed.
Monday morning we had the worship service and just imagine 450 Rabbis gathered together. Men and women. Kippot, Talitot Tephillin are all part of the prayer garb that one would see at our services. Also one would see many using their Ipads which have the reform siddur MIshkan Tephillah. There we are in the 21st century in California with rabbis praying using their Ipads in hand. Technology!
The main part of the service was the installation of new CCAR president Rabbi Rick Block from Tifferet Israel in Cleveland, Ohio. I have known Rick for almost 30 years. He is most capable and delivered a stirring and pragmatic speech about the challenges rabbis face today. They are not only theological challenges in terms of what we and our congregants believe. But there are real issues that rabbis face that are professional concerns which deal with economics as well as employment and gender especially for women rabbis. He also spoke about the importance of our being involved in Israel. He urged us all to continue to lead our congregations to Israel and advocate for Israel with our national and state wide leaders to do our part to protect Israel's security.

I must say that it is a delightful change to be part of a large group of rabbis, just part of the crowd, praying or davening to the sounds of rabbis leading us in prayer. We are not on display trying our best to inspire the congregants. We are simply praying to God. We are praying with friends, old classmates, seminary teachers and spouses of colleagues. It is a refreshing sense of renewal and connectedness that only a convention can provide.
The large screens next to the stage had the hebrew text of the Siddur and beautiful imagery behind the words to enhance our singing. This is a new phenomena that congregations are starting to experiment with in communal worship. Maybe we should give it at try at Bet Yam?
 After services concluded there was a program called Rabbis organizing Rabbis. This was sponsored by the CCAR Justice and Peace Committee. The main theme was Immigration. Noting that the US Senate is taking up and will be voting on legislation for an Immigration Bill, this session was a kick off to jump start a new movement to inspire Reform Rabbis to get involved and show the moral leadership again in pursuing the prophetic values that distinguished Reform Judaism in its history. Immigration Reform is a hot topic today and we heard from a 23 year old undocumented college speaker who told her story about coming to the US at age five. She shared some of the typical stories that these 11 million people go through every day.  She definitely captured the hearts, souls and the conscience of the rabbis to get involved and find a fair solution to this perennial problem.

The next bit of information I learned concerns the future publication of a new High Holy Day Prayer Book (Mahzor). It is planned to be published for 2015. This will have a great impact upon all of us and we will have more to learn about this new development in the future. Tonight the program will focus  on the High Holy Day Prayerbook where the panel will discuss how to find the right kinds of metaphors that will fit for a high holy day prayerbook in our time and for the future. Rest assured this will not be an easy task.

Oh by the way I stopped by the technology bar again today and am picking up new information, and today Jewish resources for my Ipad, that I can share with you my congregation in many way both on and off the bimah.
 I think that is enough for now.
God bless you my congregation.
Rabbi Bloom