May 19, 2023
Holy Head Count
This week we return to reading Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers. The book begins with a commandment to take a census of all men capable of bearing arms. The numbers that each tribe tallies are duly reported so Moses and others in positions of authority can have an accurate sense of the people’s fighting strength. Counting people is a serious task. Neither an entity as big as a nation nor as small as a synagogue can budget, plan or allocate resources responsibly without knowing how many people they have. Counting people takes organization, communication and diligence. It is an undertaking deserving of proper attention and respect. But counting people is only part of what a responsive organization needs to do. With computers and calculators, we can readily assess the accuracy of how well we are counting people. A far more difficult task is making people feel like they count. It is one thing to preach to people about values and another to value people.
Numbers provides us with an important degree of precision, but even precision needs perspective. This pivotal book of the Torah reminds us not only to take care of business but to busy ourselves with caretaking. If others are to feel like their participation makes a difference, then our interactions with them must demonstrate that their thoughts and feelings, insight and input actually count. If people are to walk back to their cars after every service, Religious School session, program or event feeling valued, then we have to engage with one another in ways that go beyond numbers.
There is no lack of commandments deserving of emphasis, but few mitzvot are more pressing than making people feel like they matter. Torah commands the military census, and other head counts like it, not only to document how many people we have on hand but to demand greater attention to people themselves. May the opening mitzvah of Bamidar remind us that every number is attached to a human being, a human story and a human soul. And may we enrich every head count we take with the holiness that comes from letting people know they honor us with their presence.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
May 5, 2023
What We Leave: A Prayer for Parshat Emor
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Adonai your God.”
God of harvest and hunger, feast and famine, surplus and scarcity,
Help us to leave something for the poor and the stranger.
We who are not farmers.
We who garden when we can and do not count on what we grow.
Bless those who tend our Mitzvah Garden.
And bless those who receive its produce.
Bless those who water the world’s fields, sow the seeds, till the soil, pull the weeds and thorns, and reap its crops.
And bless those of us who count on them to do this work.
We would not eat without the work of these laborers we do not know.
Help us to show gratitude and devotion by what we leave for others.
May we leave the homeless and hungry with something more than thoughts and prayers.
May we leave donations that demonstrate commitment, and contribute time is ways that show we care.
May we leave the poor feeling a little less helpless,
And leave the stranger feeling less hopeless.
May we leave something more than what we no longer want, need or have use for.
Let us leave the needy with what they need.
Let us leave the stranger with the promise of welcome.
Let us leave this place better than we found it.
May this be our blessing and let us say:
Amen.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
April 28, 2023
A Prayer for Sisterhood Shaabbat
God of our mothers and grandmothers, as we gather for this year’s celebration of Sisterhood Shabbat, we pause to reflect on all the women who have given so much to our families, our congregation, our community and our world. Our biblical matriarchs and more recent role models remind us that we don’t have to be perfect to make a difference.
Sarah could be fearful and cruel.
Yet she courageously raised questions no one else dared to ask and laughed at things she found absurd.
Rebecca could play favorites and resort to deceit.
Yet she boldly fought for what she believed in and protected those she loved.
Leah and Rachel competed as much as they cooperated.
Yet they bravely gave up safety and comfort to secure the future of our people.
Help us, O God, to avoid the pitfalls of perfectionism, the pursuit of expectations that no one can fulfill.
Remind us, O Source of Love, that our task is not to be flawless but rather to be faithful to the best qualities within our truest selves.
Bless us, our families, our friends and this imperfect world of ours with happiness, holiness and peace. May this be our blessing, and let us say:
Amen
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
April 21, 2023
Familiar Faces, Different Context: Yom HaShoah Service on Sunday
By now, one would hope that most of you are familiar with Dr. Karen Petrone and Lauren Hill. Both sing in Shir Adat, and both have stepped up to direct Zoom services throughout the pandemic. Karen, a history professor at UK, has spoken several times on Friday evenings, most recently regarding the war in Ukraine. Lauren, a language Arts teacher at Leestown Middle School, has taught 7-10th grades at TAI’s Religious School.
The context you might not know is that these outstanding educators are part of the University of Kentucky and Jewish Heritage Fund Holocaust Education Initiative, supporting teachers to do Holocaust education throughout the state. State law requires that all students must experience Holocaust education during middle and high school. Also taking part in the endeavor are TAI member Dr. Trey Conatser, director of UK’s Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, and Leslie Davis, who grew up here at TAI and now teaches language arts at Lafayette High School.
Please join us Sunday at 2 p.m. at our annual communitywide commemoration of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), when we will have the opportunity to learn more about this remarkable project and express our appreciation to participants connected to our congregation and broader Jewish community for their leadership, dedication and effort. Their example serves as a reminder that Holocaust education is a mitzvah. Like any mitzvah, it is not going to happen by itself or remain sustainable without substantial effort and constant care. At a time when antisemitism is on the rise and knowledge of the Holocaust on the decline, it is particularly important to ensure that our young people are learning about this brutal chapter in world history. Let this Sabbath before our observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day inspire us to defy fascism, brutality and hate with wisdom, compassion and love.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
April 14, 2023
Cautious With Our Criticism
The frustrated observation that “everyone’s a critic” has been with us for as long as people have been in the criticism business, which is to say since time immemorial. This week’s haftorah (a selection from the Prophets) is a case in point. Michal, daughter of the late King Saul and wife of King David, thinks her husband has gotten way out of hand with his overexuberant dancing as he accompanies the Ark of the Tabernacle to Jerusalem. He has made a spectacle of himself in front of commoners, embarrassed the monarchy, and acted like a buffoon (II Samuel 6:14-16, 20). Did he touch anyone inappropriately? Not in this story. Did he offend anyone other than Michal? There is no mention of it. Did his exuberance endanger the safe transferal of the Ark? The text does not say so.
As we celebrate the last family Shabbat service of the school year, as we approach graduation season and wedding season, we are reminded how quickly time flies. When we criticize our family and friends for being too silly, too exuberant or just too much, we run the risk of making the same mistake as Michal. Looking back at more than two decades as a parent, rabbi and teacher, and many more years as a family member and friend, there is a lot of criticism I wish I had withheld. I don’t regret trying to maintain boundaries, safety and focus. But were there times when comments had more to do with a misguided notion of appearances and desire for greater control than preserving these things? I’m embarrassed to admit the answer to that one is yes. All of us feel compelled to criticize at one time or another in one way or another. Turning Michal into the archetype of negative comments runs the risk of misogyny and misguided assertions. There are instances when we need to restrain our instinct to urge greater restraint. Times when we need to lighten up, take a step back and ask ourselves what it is about the behavior we don’t approve of that creates a serious problem for others.
May the misfortunate argument between David and Michal remind us to approach criticism with caution and keep negativity in context. Life is too short and moments of joy too few to spend them trying to control one another’s every move and censure each other’s every word. Better to dance a bit too enthusiastically than to be cowed into not dancing at all for fear of what others might say. Better to a bit too loud and slightly offkey than to treat services as if only those on the pulpit should be allowed to open their mouths. Better to appreciate each other’s different levels of enthusiasm than to act as if the only appropriate level of it is that which we designate as such. May we learn to be less critical and judgmental that we may come to be more grateful and joyful.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
April 7, 2023
From Holy to Holy: Shabbat After Seders
My daughter, Emanuelle, recently wrote a poem, Separation Rituals, that draws on the Havdalah service as a way to come to terms with the death of her maternal grandmother, Roni Sippy. She points out that when we go from Shabbat into a festival, the wording is different than going from Shabbat to the work week. Rather than blessing God for distinguishing between the holy and the mundane, as we normally do, the transition between Shabbat and festival blesses God for distinguishing between the holy and the holy. Emanuelle sees a similar transition between life and death. Rather than thinking about them as opposites, like sacred and mundane, we should consider these two things to be like the havdalah between Shabbat and a festival, going from holy to holy. Our departed can influence us, enrich our existence, inspire us to live lives of righteousness long after they are gone.
In a similar vein, this year’s seders are followed by Shabbat. We go from the holy to the holy. Passover does not end when we pack up the haggadahs and put away the leftovers. Pesach is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. This year. our running of the marathon is enriched by Shabbat coming on day three. The placement poetically reinforces a truth that applies to every year. Among other things, Shabbat is a weekly celebration of the Exodus. Shabbat and Passover are inherently linked. Our Shabbat Kiddush (blessing over the wine) includes the words “this is a remembrance for being brought out of Egypt.” The medieval seder song Dayenu, “It would have been enough,” includes Shabbat in its litany of what God has done for us. The relationship between this yearly festival and the weekly day of rest runs deep. Just as those who have died continue to impact the living, Shabbat and Passover influence each other whether we are in the midst of observing them or not.
By making an extra effort to attend tonight’s service, either virtually or in person, we demonstrate that Passover is more than the seders and that Shabbat is about more than taking a break. The ideal of freedom never takes a day off. The sabbath is the perfect carryover into the rest of the festival, connecting the feast of matzah, the fun of the first two days, with the fast of matza, the discipline that it takes to keep Passover going for the duration. Tonight’s Torah commentary will be given by Sarah Lowe, who always challenges her listeners by bringing sharp questions and new insights. On this Sabbath of Pesach, may her words help us to go from the holy to the holy.
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
March 31, 2023
Yachatz: A Blessing for Brokenness
It has been a difficult week. Demonstrations over proposed legislation detrimental to democracy reached historical heights in Israel. Another mass shooting at a school has left families reeling in Nashville. Fires took the lives of detainees in Mexico and ferry passengers in the Philippines. A landslide in Ecuador left death and destruction in its wake. Here in Kentucky, the collision of two helicopters from Fort Campbell resulted in the deaths of nine people who bravely serve in our military. Many of us are feeling broken now.
As we approach Passover on this Shabbat Ha’Gadol, we are reminded how the seder begins with brokenness. Among the early rituals of the evening is yachatz, the breaking of the middle matzo. Part is hidden as afikomen, and part remains on our seder plate. Notice that this action takes place before blessing the matzo, eating the matzo, and dipping matzo in maror and charoset. We remind ourselves of matzo’s fragility before we take advantage of its functionality. The yachatz ritual comes in the form of an announcement, “I now break the middle matzo,” rather than that of a blessing. So, too, there no bracha for shattering a plate at an engagement party or smashing a glass at weddings. Our tradition teaches us that brokenness is something to be lived with rather than loathed. Finding the sacred, even in brokenness, is part of what we do, yet the rabbis did not go so far as to assign a blessing to the rituals requiring us to shatter something. But perhaps it’s time we tried.
God of broken dreams, broken promises, broken homes, and broken hearts.
We come before you on this great sabbath fully aware that we live in a mess of our own making.
Despite the destruction we have wrought, we implore you to turn our cynicism to hope, sadness to joy, and brokenness to recovery.
Help us find that which we have hidden from ourselves.
Prompt us to pick up broken pieces, mend broken hearts and restore broken spirits.
Just as our ancestors carried the shattered tablets along with the unbroken ones, help us walk humbly with the record of our failures and proudly with the ideals we hope to achieve.
This Passover we gather in brokenness and pain; next year may we gather in wholeness and peace.
Blessed Are You, O God, Who redeems the lost and repairs the broken.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Passover,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
March 24, 2023
What We Have to Offer: Climate Change and the Levitical Call to Action
The first portion of the Book of Leviticus, which we begin this week, begins by detailing the particulars of three offerings, the burnt offering, the offering of well-being and the sin offering. Reading through the portion reminds one of a line from a famous Winston Churchill speech during the perilous days of World War II when he declared, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” Both our Torah portion and the prime minister’s phrase raise common questions. What do we have to offer? What are we willing to give? What are we prepared to part with to preserve what we cherish or reach the objectives we proclaim?
This week, for instance, has brought with it a renewed focus on the environment. On the international level, the U.N. released its report on climate change. In a column for The Washington Post, Sarah Kaplan summed up the report, saying: “The world is likely to pass a dangerous temperature threshold within the next 10 years, pushing the planet past the point of catastrophic warming — unless nations drastically transform their economies and immediately transition away from fossil fuels.” On the local level, our community hosted this year’s Moosnick Lectureship’s scholar in residence Mara Benjamin, Ph.D., an environmental theologian whose brilliant talks at Transylvania University and here at Temple Adath Israel called for religious communities to take serious and sustained action to confront the crisis. So, what we prepared to offer? What are we willing to give? And what are we prepared to part with so we can make the kind of progress the situation requires of us?
Churchill understood that defeating the international menace of genocidal fascism would require more than stirring speeches and good intentions. History is unlikely to give us an “A” for sincerely caring about a crisis. Offering blood, sweat and tears demonstrates doing well, not just meaning well. The sustainability of this planet as a viable home for our children and grandchildren is at stake. The progressive Jewish community must lead by example. What we have to offer is religious principle, moral will, political pressure, the power of influence and the resources to enable real change. Dire warnings, whether from the past prophets of Torah or the principled leaders of today, are only as useful as our willingness to listen to them. May the emphasis Leviticus places on offerings remind us of what we truly have to offer and how essential such offerings are to any chance of real change.
Please consider a donation to the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life in honor of Professor Benjamin’s presentations and the U.N. Climate Change Report.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
March 17, 2023
NOTE: This week’s message is a joint statement from our Rabbi and TAI’s Executive Committee.
Statement Decrying State Legislature’s Hostility to LGBTQ+ Kentuckians
Temple Adath Israel of Lexington, in concert with the policies and values of the Union for Reform Judaism, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Central Conference of American Rabbis, decries the impact of dehumanizing and dangerous bills introduced in the Kentucky House of Representatives and Senate within the past two months. The legislation approved Thursday (Senate Bill 150) is actively harmful to our LGBTQ+ students, their families and community members, and threatens transgender, non-binary and queer lives and livelihoods. We stand in opposition to this legislation, recognize trans rights are human rights, and express our support for all LGBTQ+ people throughout our state, nation and the world.
It should be pointed out that some of the same legislators who have joked about “Jewing people down,” who made bizarre remarks about the sex lives of Jewish women and who have compared abortion to the Holocaust, slavery and decimation of Indigenous people are among those who voted for this bill. We also note that this legislation is particularly insensitive in light of the tragic death of LGBTQ+ activist, Henry Berg-Brosseau, son of state Sen. Karen Berg of Louisville, the only Jewish member of the Kentucky Senate. Connections between Kentucky Jews run deep. Our young people at TAI attend the same summer camp and belong to the same regional youth group that Henry Berg-Brosseau did. Henry’s grandfather created the mosaic that hangs in our social hall.
Please join us in continuing to stop such destructive measures by letting our legislature know the harm they will do. You can send an email to state senators by clicking here and to state representatives by clicking here. You also can leave messages for them at 1-800-372-7181. It is widely expected that Gov. Andy Beshear will veto SB 150. So please keep up the pressure no matter what. Unfortunately, supportors of this measure have the votes to override such a veto, but we owe it to history and to our LGBTQ+ families, friends and community members to keep up the fight. Let it not be said that this extreme and intolerant legislation met with no resistance.
We join with the entire Berg-Brosseau family, including Henry’s sister, Rabbi Rachel Pass, and LGBTQ+ people everywhere in declaring our unwavering commitment to a world in which all God’s children are valued for being created in the Divine image, and no one feels demeaned or degraded for identifying as they do.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
and the Executive Committee of Temple Adath Israel
March 10, 2023
Purim and the Joy of Coming Home
Tonight celebrates our kindergarten/first grade Family Shabbat service and also marks my return to the pulpit after being on sabbatical since mid-November. It’s great to be back with all of you, and a family service is the perfect time to get back on the bimah. This Sunday we will be having our Purim assembly, including a mini-megillah reading, and Purim carnival. Returning to work during the week of Purim has been a reminder of the things I love to do and missed the most. Its was wonderful to partner with our friends at OZS for a communitywide Purim celebration on Monday night that included JFB and PJ Library. Getting back into the classroom with our eighth/ninth-grade students reminded me of what I love about being with young people. Their curiosity, their questions, their responses to the material felt magical after missing them for so long. Even last Sunday’s brief assembly was a delightful reminder of the sweetness of our students and dedication of our faculty.
Thank you for affording me this time away. It allowed me to begin a writing project I’ve wanted to work on for a long time, and I look forward to sharing it with you. It enabled me to think about what I’ve done during 25 five years of rabbinic service and what I’d like to do differently. And it encouraged me to reflect on the things we have accomplished together since I arrived in Lexington eight years ago and start to identify key aspects of the work that lies before us.
The death of Shana’s mother, Roni Sippy, made the end of sabbatical a sad one. Returning to our community in time for Purim has alleviated that sadness with the comfort that only being with one’s own family, with your own community can bring. It’s an honor to be your rabbi, and it’s good to be home.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
November 11, 2022
A Prayer for Shabbat After Election Day
God of victory and defeat, elation and dejection, joy and sorrow.
For many months we have followed races for public office and campaigns on amendments.
Shabbat provides us with an ideal moment to turn from competing to cooperating.
A chance to go from debate to dialogue, to go from magnifying our differences to appreciating what we share.
Our differences do not end when an election is over, but we can choose to move past the past election.
Though we vote for different parties, we share the same roads, the same schools, the same neighborhoods.
Democracy extends well beyond Election Day. It compels us to do things other than vote.
It asks us to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Just as Abraham, Isaac and Sarah did not allow the worst of their trials to determine their lives, we cannot allow anger and resentment toward those with whom we disagree to define us.
Let us celebrate victories graciously and accept defeats responsibly.
Let us practice civility, promote charity and pursue peace.
May this be our blessing, and let us say: Amen.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
November 4, 2022
Be Blameless: Promise Keeping in the Promised Land
When Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk in My ways and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous. This is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fertile. I will maintain My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring to come, as an everlasting covenant throughout the ages, to be God to you and to your offspring to come. I assign the land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come. I will be their God. You and your offspring to come throughout the ages shall keep My covenant. (Genesis 17:1-2, 4, 6-10.)
This week’s Torah portion provides timely perspective on this week’s election in Israel. The promise of the promised land is not given unconditionally. To be eligible for the blessings of fertility, prosperity, longevity and security, Abraham must “walk in God’s ways and be blameless.” The Torah presents the Promised Land the way states present driver’s licenses: not as a right but as a privilege. Abraham’s nation must merit blessings by being blameless. No nation has ever or will ever be perfect. No person or party has ever or will ever be blameless. Blamelessness, however, is something people and nations can strive for in everything that they do.
I am a Zionist. I believe that painful lessons of world history provide a compelling case for a Jewish state. I believe, as did the signers of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, that with the blessing of statehood comes the responsibility of striving for justice and equality for all.
People who display a picture of Baruch Goldstein, a mass murderer of Muslims, in their homes are not striving to be blameless. People who chant “death to Arabs” are not striving to be blameless. People who advocate mass deportation and seek to silence human rights activists are not striving to be blameless. We can accept a result in which political parties whose vision we support did not win. What neither we nor anyone should accept is political leaders and a growing segment of the electorate that embraces words and deeds antithetical to Jewish values. Politics are an inherently messy business, and the Middle East has long been a troubled place, but neither of these realities can be exploited to justify extremism. Extemism has been the historic enemy of our people. The fact that we have been its victim far more often than its practitioner is no defense for its alarming acceptance in the Jewish state.
This month, which marks the anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the hands of a nationalist extremist, should be a reminder to resist extremism. After Baruch Goldstien committed his murderous rampage, Rabin conveyed his repudiation in no uncertain terms, saying of the terrorist and his sympathizers, “Zionism chews you up and spits you out.” Today, we confront the fact that a man who diplayed a portrait of Goldstein in his home and who once attacked Rabin’s motorcade will be a member of the Israeli parliament. Such a person attaining a position of power and influence does not bode well for the Jewish state, for Judaism or for Jews.
I urge you to support the efforts of the Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Association of Reform Zionists of America in insisting that Israel’s new government honor a sacred aspect of the covenant and keep a promise essential to maintaining the Promised Land: a commitment to strive for blamelessness rather than recklessly pursuing someone to blame.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
October 28, 2022
Building Projects
God of construction and destruction;
As we go from the story of Creation to the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel,
we are reminded of the potential for making and demolishing things.
May we build not to “make a name for ourselves”* but to fulfill the needs of fellow human beings.
Let us build housing for those who have lost their homes.
And let us build homes who for those who have no one to house them.
Let us build schools for those who need a place to learn,
And build a love of learning within our schools.
Let us build hospitals for those in need of healing,
And build dedication to healing within our hospitals.
Let us build awe inspiring spaces where people can pray,
And pray to be moved to action by awe inspiring spaces.
May we build beautiful communities where all people can flourish,
And if we are communities that are blessed to flourish, help us build a better world.
Let us undertake projects worthy of building and carefully consider what our buildings project.
May this be our blessing and let us say: Amen.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
*Reason given by the people of Babel for undertaking the tower.
October 21, 2022
A Moment of Beginnings
It is poetically fitting that the return of Family Shabbat with dinner coincides with returning to the beginning of the Torah. Public school and Religious School have been back in session for awhile now but our first grade-level family service of academic 2022-23 takes place tonight with our eighth- and ninth-graders leading worship from our illustrated prayerbook accessible for all ages. Everyone is welcome to attend. The more the merrier.
Restarting the cycle of Torah reading is a meaningful moment every year. It reminds our young people and ourselves that there is always something new to be found in Torah. That repetition is not necessarily redundant. The more we practice and study something, the more our understanding and appreciation of it grow.
Speaking of new beginnings, autumn also is a perfect time to consider joining or rejoining Shir Adat or Junior Choir (contact information below). Both ensembles are looking for people who love to sing. No knowledge of Hebrew or musical training is required. Our Saturday morning study sessions also would welcome new participants. The 9 a.m. session is a miscellany of topics from history, current events, philosophy, theology, etc. The 11 a.m. session is focused on the Torah portion of the week. Again, no knowledge of Hebrew or background in Jewish texts is required. All you need is an open mind and a love of active conversation.
May this moment of beginning Torah anew inspire us to try something new.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
October 14, 2022
Ushpizin: Valued Guests for Sukkot
In many Jewish circles, the holiday of Sukkot includes the ritual of Ushpizin, welcoming biblical ancestors into our booths to celebrate the fall festival with us. For some communities, this begins with the matriarchs and patriarchs we recognize in many of our prayers and continues through kings and queens of ancient Israel. Sometimes the custom is extended to family members who have died but remain with us in spirit.
As we draw closer to the election on Nov. 8, I want to encourage you to add to your honorary guest. Tonight, as we focus on the theme of courage, invite someone who is part of your family lineage or a historical figure you admire to be your guest at Shabbat dinner, at your sukkah or both. If you are joining Shana and me at our home tonight, please have the names of these people ready to share when we observe Ushpizin this evening.
Saturday evening’s theme is resilience. Pick someone in your family’s past or a historical figure you admire who demonstrated the ability to overcome defeat and disappointment. For Sunday, focus on the value of empathy. Pick people from your personal life or those you have studied who had a special capacity for caring. For Monday, the last day of Sukkot and night of Simchat Torah, select those who emphasized the importance of inclusion, a trait attributed by tradition to the first couple of Ushpizin, Abraham and Sarah, who kept their tent open to all who needed food and water on their journey.
May the values of courage, resilience, empathy and inclusion inspire us to emulate our ancestors and all those we revere. May we celebrate these values throughout these final four days of Sukkot and remember them when we go to cast our votes in a few weeks. May the example set by our Ushpizin move us to make the most of our blessings and remember what matters most.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Wirtschafter
NOTE: To learn more about the custom and background of Ushpizin go to Jewish Virtual Library or My Jewish Learning. An Israeli film by the same name is available online on several streaming platforms.
September 30, 2022
Shabbat Shuva: A Sabbath of Renewal
Please join us for services this evening as we celebrate couples who have been married for 50 years or longer. Two years of pandemic-related cancellations and postponements have left me awaiting this annual delight even more than usual. Whether tonight’s participants are attending in person or virtually, our entire congregation wishes them a hearty mazel tov and many more years together.
At this time of year when we renew our commitment to being the best possible version of ourselves, these couples who have been together for half a century or more have much to teach us about forgiveness, devotion and affection. May we be moved by their example and blessed to share in their good fortune. May this Sabbath of Repentance also be a Sabbath of Renewal. May the accomplishments of these couples inspire us to renew our love of those we love with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our might.
Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
September 23, 2022
Concealment Closed Down: The Hard Reality
of Hiding the Truth
“Concealed acts concern the Eternal our God,” but with overt acts, it is for us and our children to apply all provisions of this teaching.” (Deuteronomy 29:28)
No matter how early you get up in the morning, you cannot pull one over on The One Who Never Sleeps. Having an omniscient God has its advantages. There is nothing God does not know. Then again, it has its disadvantages. There is nothing God does not know — including that which we conceal from others. Overt acts, the misdeeds people see us do, can be dealt with by them. If we are caught in the act, we can expect consequences. But what about misdeeds seen only by the offender?
We teach our preschoolers that God is omnipresent and omniscient, yet biblical personas of far more advanced years keep acting as if this was never conveyed to them. Asked where they are after eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, the first couple replies, “We were hiding.” If being driven from Eden were not so sad, their answer might be funny. In the Haftorah portion for the afternoon of Yom Kippur, the Prophet Jonah, who really ought to know better, futilely attempts to conceal himself from God by boarding a boat to Tarshish instead of going to Nineveh, going directly to Nineveh, not passing Go, and not collecting $200. It takes a life-threatening storm to convince the prophet that hoping God might not notice his disobedience was not a good plan. In both tales of evasion, the lesson is presented in plain sight. Hiding or sneaking away from God is a fantasy destined to be defeated by the reality that it cannot be done.
There are two entities that know all things about us: whether we are telling the truth when we say: “I tried my best,” whether we knowingly shirked a responsibility or just forgot, and whether we hurt someone accidentally or purposefully. One is God and the other is us. We can try concealing the truth from ourselves if we want to. Ultimately, however, the effort is bound to fail. Moreover, the attempt to conceal things from God falls somewhere between arrogance and absurdity.
Our Deuteronomic verse about concealment, taken from this week’s Torah portion, helps to set an appropriate tone as we approach the High Holy Days. Avenues of concealment are closing down. Accountability season has arrived. The bill is due, the deadline is now; there is no farther we may kick the can down the road. Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth is tightening around our torsos. All attempts to dissemble, deny or delay are destined to be detected. The moment of truth is upon us. The time to be fully honest with ourselves is now.
May efforts at concealment turn to a reawakening of conscience. Let us ask forgiveness of people from whom we have hidden the truth and beg pardon of God from whom nothing can be hidden.
Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
September 16, 2022
Selichot: Repentance, Remembrance and Renewal
After two years of virtual attendance, tomorrow night’s observance of Selichot ushers in the return to in-person High Holy Days worship. Selichot, a service of beseeching forgiveness, includes familiar elements of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, such as Avinu Malkaynu, Ashamnu and blowing the shofar. As has become our custom, this service is a communitywide effort with multiple sponsors, hosted by OZS. In prior years, we have read a short story, viewed an episode of “The Crown,” and partaken in an interfaith dialogue, all with the common theme of forgiveness and reconciliation. This year, with the leadership of Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, the program before the service will center on reflections of this summer’s Hope, History and Healing trip to civil rights sites in Alabama. Participants from the tour will focus on pivotal moments, such as the Rosa Parks Museum, 16th Street Baptist Church and the Equal Justice Initiative Center.
Confronting our painful history as a nation requires the same spiritual resources needed to address our failings as individuals: repentance, remembrance and renewal. Forgiveness is not free. Among the teachings for Yom Kippur is: “Do not say ‘I will sin and repent. Sin and repent.’” Repentance is not a revolving door akin to the silly stars on/stars off machine in “Sneetches on the Beaches” by Dr. Seuss. Forgiveness requires not just confession but repentance. We cannot merely say we are sorry; we must show it. We cannot have personal or societal reconciliation without the arduous work of repentance. It isn’t easy. Nothing worth doing is. Repenting means remembering what we have done wrong as individuals and as a nation, and working to redress these wrongs in a way that addresses the needs of those we have hurt. Recent efforts in our country to discourage the teaching of past abuses run counter to the ethic of remembrance and repentance. We cannot honestly say we regret slavery and systemic racism in the same breath as removing those topics from history curriculums. We humans are filled with contradictions, but such a contradiction undermines our credibility as penitents and people of good will.
We like to speak of the High Holy Days as “a season of renewal.” For God to “renew our days,” for us to renew our relationships and obligations, we must recognize our failings and recommit ourselves to being better people. We cannot sincerely ask for renewal while reverting to the same practices that injured others. The goal of renewal in unattainable without the work of repentance and remembrance.
Please make a special effort to join us for Selichot in person or virtually via OZS’s livestream. I look forward to seeing you there.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
September 9, 2022
An Injunction Against Indifference
“If you see someone’s ox or sheep is lost, do not ignore it; you must return it to them. … You shall do the same with that person’s donkey; you shall do the same with that person’s garment; and so, too, shall you do with anything that someone loses and you find: you must not remain indifferent.” Deuteronomy (22:1,3)
God of people, places, and things: Help us to extend the message of this week’s Torah portion to every aspect of life.
If we are forbidden to ignore lost livestock how can we ignore lost homes, lost limbs, and lost lives?
If we are required to return lost items, ] are we not required to return safe roads, clean water, peaceful streets and good schools to communities who have lost them?
If we are commanded not to be indifferent toward anything, are we likewise commanded not to be indifferent toward anyone?
Before we can think wisely or act righteously, we have to care deeply.
Teach us to resist the temptation of taking the easy way out. To pay attention rather than turn away. To be invested rather than indifferent. To involve ourselves in the lives and losses of others rather than ignoring them.
May this be our blessing and let us say: Amen.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
September 2, 2022
From Deuteronomy to Donbass: Maintaining Environmental Ethics Amidst Military Conflict
“When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human to withdraw before you into the besieged city? Only trees that you know do not yield food may be destroyed; you may cut them down for constructing siegeworks against the city that is waging war on you, until it has been reduced.” (Deuteronomy 20:19-20)
As the war in Ukraine drags on, this ancient commandment from our weekly Torah portion feels as if it could have been written yesterday. Armed conflict presents us with any number of contradictions. Among them is the question of how to destroy the enemy’s position in the least destructive way possible. Some have asked if the effort is attainable. Union Gen. Tecumseh Sherman’s famous words, “war is hell,” seem to suggest that the attempt to set limits on armed conflict is doomed to fail. Deuteronomy would have us think differently. Even during war, it tells us, it is essential to maintain a moral compass. The rhetorical question in Deuteronomy 20:19 reminds us that trees are innocent bystanders. Unarmed civilians can run. Trees cannot.
The dangers of a resource being misused in wartime are heightened alarmingly in our nuclear age. Like the trees of the field, a nuclear reactor is neither better nor worse than the people who determine its use. Like the trees of the field, it cannot pick up and retreat from the battle zone. The risks of a nuclear meltdown or explosion resulting from this war should compel opposing forces to think more carefully about their shared concerns in this conflict.
The political status of “enemy” does not negate the moral status of “human.” Whether the thing in question is a tree or a nuclear power plant, these resources are vital reminders that we have connections and obligations as human beings that run deeper and stretch wider than war. May we live to fulfill the vision of the prophets: “Everyone shall sit beneath their vine and fig tree, and none shall make them afraid.” (Micah 4:4)
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
August 26, 2022
Indebted
“Every seventh year you shall practice remission from all debts … for the remission proclaimed is God’s.” (Deuteronomy 15:1-2)
This week’s Torah portion provides a visionary approach to economic stability. Sabbatical laws are not limited to the land or to money; they include our most valuable resource: people. Indebtedness is not supposed to be limited to the literal payments that poorer parties pay to richer ones. At its best, indebtedness is an outlook on all of life.
When we talk about being indebted to others, we typically mean it in the metaphorical sense of debts that can never be repaid. On the financial level, Torah is trying to prevent extreme discrepancies between a debtor and creditor class, but the wisdom of the mitzvah goes beyond that. There is an arrogance, a dangerous sense of overentitlement, that takes place when we treat people from the vantage point that they owe us something. Deuteronomy admonishes us to avoid this approach. Sweet talking creditors and hounding debtors might help pay the bills, but it comes with a cost to truth, compassion and trust.
All of us stand as creditors before the Creator. We are indebted to God and to one another is ways we cannot begin to measure. When we stop treating people from the perspective that they owe us something, we free them and ourselves from assumptions of power that distort relationships and resist change. By embracing indebtedness over entitlement, we can enrich our lives and liberate our souls.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
August 19, 2022
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
August 12, 2022
July 29, 2022
July 22, 2022
July 15, 2022
July 8, 2022
June 17, 2022
As we continue to see peaks and valleys in COVID, trials and tribulations in our city, state, nation and world, let us be mindful of the commandment in this week’s portion to sound off about the good things in life. Mazel tov to this year’s graduates and their families, and best of luck on your future studies and endeavors. Please remember that no matter where you go or what field you pursue, we will always be your congregation and look forward to trumpeting the great things you accomplish on life’s journey.
June 3, 2022
Pride and Joy
May 27, 2022
May 25, 2022
19 More Murdered Children
19 more murdered children will not celebrate the last day of class.
19 more murdered children will get no summer vacation.
19 more murdered children will never reach middle school.
19 more murdered children will never learn to drive to a car.
19 more murdered children will never again splash in the pool, the ocean, the lake, the river, or the creek.
19 more murdered children will never again be scolded for talking back, messing up or chewing with their mouths full.
19 more murdered children will never again skin their knees, lose a tooth, slam their doors, or break a glass.
19 more murdered children will never again eat dinner with their families or lunch with their friends.
19 more murdered children will never again watch t.v., listen to the radio, or read a book.
19 more murdered children will never again dash around the playground, jump rope, or throw a ball.
19 more murdered children will never again daydream in class, goof around all day or stay up too late at night.
19 more murdered children’s drawings are on the fridge.
19 more murdered children’s pictures are on the wall.
19 more murdered children’s names have been added to the list.
19 more murdered children’s beds are empty.
19 more murdered children’s hands are cold.
19 more murdered children’s eyes are shut.
19 more murdered children do not say their bedtime prayers.
19 more murdered children do not dream sweet dreams.
19 more murdered children do not rest in peace. They have no peace, and they get no rest.
-Rabbi David Wirtschafter
May 20, 2022
May 13, 2022
April 29, 2022
April 22, 2022
A Prophet’s Promise of Peace: Isaiah’s Animal Allegory and the Human Potential for Change
During a week that has witnessed the continuing horrors of war in the Ukraine and the 23rd anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., we gather this Sabbath on the final days of Passover to pray for peace. The Haftorah (reading from the Prophets) our sages selected for the last day of the festival is taken from the Book of Isaiah. The prophet’s dream of a world physically and spiritually transformed can be a source of hope, encouraging us to hold on to a beautiful vision of peace amid the ugly sights of war.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard lie down with the kid;
The calf, the beast of prey and the fatling together,
With a little child to herd them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
Their young shall lie down together;
And the lion, like the ox, shall eat straw.
A babe shall play
Over a viper’s hole,
And the hand of an infant pass
Over an adder’s den.
In all of My sacred mount
Nothing evil or vile shall be done;
For the land shall be filled with devotion to God
As water covers the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)
Isaiah’s verse dares to envision a world that no longer is divided between predator and prey, strong and weak, victim and victimizer. The instinct that leads to aggression and attack will no longer exist. Nothing and no one need know it or fear it. Behavior will change because minds have changed. Four-legged beasts won’t fight, and serpents will not sting. Far from being hardwired, the urge will be utterly foreign to them.
Of course, Isaiah is not really speaking about animals but of humans. Yet his use of allegory poses a question. If animals could learn to banish aggressive impulses, why can’t we? What is really holding us back from the pursuit of peace? A deep-seated desire to do violence or the lack of moral courage and political will to create safer and more sustainable ways of life? Scientifically speaking, we have more intellectual capacity than animals. From the pain and destruction we bring one another, however, we don’t act like it. The prophet is reminding us that among our greatest gifts is our potential for change. Our capacity to reconsider, reimagine and reorient can be transformative if we dare to draw upon it.
May the feast and fast of Passover remind us that things will get harder before they get easier, that nothing good comes from giving up and that a better life is possible if we are prepared to confront the powers that be.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Pesach,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
April 15, 2022
March 18, 2022
March 11, 2022
March 4, 2022
February 25, 2022
February 18, 2022
February 11, 2022
February 4, 2022
January 28, 2022
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January 14, 2022
January 7, 2022
December 17, 2021
December 10, 2021
December 3, 2021
November 26, 2021
Meriting a Modern Miracle: Holding Onto Hope as Another Hanukkah Amidst Pandemic Approaches
The Hanukkah prayer Al Hanissim (“For the Miracles”) gives thanks to God for wonderous things the Eternal did “for our ancestors in those days at this time.” On the surface, there appears to be a contradiction. It cannot actually be at this time because there is no time exactly the same as any other. There is only one Nov. 19, 2021, only one 22nd of Kislev 5782. Yet holidays, like the anniversaries of death, births, weddings and b’nai mitzvah, connect a past event to the present moment by sanctifying a common day on different years.
We do not live in the era of the Maccabees, but we remember the stories about them that took place in this same month all those Kislevs ago. Hypothetically, we could study the legends of Hanukkah at any point, but when we remember them now, at this particular moment, we build a bridge across time itself, connecting our ancestors’ days with our own. Our circumstances are different, our knowledge and skill sets are different, but the deep desire for miracles remains the same. We are not living under the cruel oppression of the Seleucid (Greek Assyrian) dynasty, but this pandemic proves that we do know something about the curtailing of freedoms, the pain of division and what it’s like to wonder when things will return to how they were before. We moderns might not believe in miracles, but that doesn’t mean we don’t wish for them.
Science already has provided us a miracle in the form of vaccines. Yet science alone cannot cure social ills. Only societies, working as a whole, can do that. Science has done its job, faster than ever before, at a truly miraculous speed. The next miracle, that of healing broken societies, is up to us. The pain caused by disinformation, hatred, violence and selfishness can be overcome only by reason, love, compassion and generosity. May we merit the modern miracle of this pandemic finally coming to an end. May our dedication, like that our ancestors long ago, inspire us at this time of year to never lose hope, never give up and never accept the notion that nothing is ever going to change. May the lights of Hanukkah renew our strength, rekindle our hopes, and reignite our courage.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Hanukkah Sameach,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
November 19, 2021
November 12, 2021
NOTE: Ginny Ramsey, director and co-founder of the Catholic Action Center, will speak at next week’s Shabbat service.
Take the Challenge: What is your Homelessness Awareness IQ???
The Catholic Action Center and CKHHI invite you to take the Homelessness Awareness IQ Quiz: 15 questions with multiple choice answers designed to enlighten about the reality of unsheltered homelessness in Lexington. It does not address the situations that have caused these folks to be unsheltered. It does not offer solutions to homelessness. It is simply 15 actual scenarios with often surprising answers. Only you will know your score. Please share the quiz with organizations, colleagues, family and friends.
#homelessnessawarenessquiz
https://caclex20006976.survey.fm/what-is-your-homelessness-awareness-iq
November 5, 2021
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October 1, 2021
September 24, 2021
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September 10, 2021
Faith Amid the Flames: A Prayer for 9/11
God of Hope and Healing, on this Shabbat on the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we come to You with painful memories and prayers for peace.
We mourn the deaths of those who perished.
We grieve with those who lost family and friends.
We weep when we recall the images that day brings to mind.
We remember what it felt like to see our nation attacked.
We feel outrage at the disregard for human life, the evil and cruelty of the attackers.
We honor the courage of the firefighters and police officers who risked their lives to save others, and commemorate the bravery of those who laid down their lives so others might live.
We give thanks for the doctors and nurses, ambulance drivers and paramedics who tended to the wounded, the maimed and the traumatized.
We take pride in the millions of people who remembered the teaching not to follow a mob to do evil.1
And we are pained by the bitter fact that a handful of brutes committed acts of violence and vengeance against those who professed no love for the attackers and took no part in the attacks.
Let us rededicate ourselves to practicing the noble ideals we preach.
Let us remind one another what we have always stood for and that which can never be allowed to stand.
May we be ever mindful that 9/11 means no more and no less than what we make of it,
That it must not be misused to justify injustice or rationalize the irrational.
May the memory of this dreadful day move us to build a better tomorrow.
For our sake and for the sake of our children may we maintain “faith without fanaticism.”2
May we profess patriotism that brooks no hatred of fellow human beings.3
Let us defeat extremism without resorting to extremes.
May we triumph over terrorists and vanquish terrorism. Let us seek peace and pursue it.4
Let us all lay down sword and shield soon, and work for a world that studies war no more.5
God of Hope and Healing, strengthen our capacity to heal and renew our capacity for hope.
May our talent for love overcome the temptation to hate. Let us rescue faith from amidst the flames.
May this be our blessing, and let us say:
Amen.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
__________________
1Exodus 23:2
2Mishkan Tfilah: A Reform Prayer Book, p.257, adapted by Eugene Picket.
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, “You Don’t Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right”: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism.
3Letter from President George Washington to the Touro Synagogue, Newport, RI.
4Psalm 34:14
5Isaiah 2:4
September 3, 2021
August 27, 2021
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All: Another V’ahavta for COVID-19
This week’s Torah portion, Va’etchanan, includes the V’ahavta, the powerful passage telling us to love God “with all your heart, with all our soul and with all your might.”1 How are we to understand and fulfill these words after another week of infection rates going up when they ought to be going down? The words below are my most recent attempt at articulating a V’Ahavta that reconciles the lofty ideals of Torah with the painful realities of the pandemic. Please consider writing a V’ahavata for COVID-19 of your own and sharing it with others.
__________________________
Help us to love You with all our hearts, O God,
Even when our hearts are divided between the duty to remain compassionate and the desire to lash out.
Teach us to love You with all our soul,
even when our souls are torn between the responsibility to do what is required and the temptation to revert to what is easy.
Show us how to love You with all our might,
even when we are mightily pulled in multiple directions.
All has never felt like so much.
Not all who should are vaccinated. Less than all we could has been invested. Far fewer than all are as patient as we ought to be.
Forgive Your divided creatures for doing less than our all. Give us all the strength You can.
No matter the circumstances, we will take to heart the commandments You have given us.
We will keep on teaching them to our children.
We will continue to speak of them in our homes and on our way.
Come what may, we will keep them near at hand,
From the moment we put on our masks to the minute we take them off.
Forever may they remain inscribed on the doorpost of our house.
We will not forget them when we walk through our gates.
Thus, we will remember to cherish Your commandments and remain holy unto You.
Now and always, You are the Eternal our God.
You brought us through times of suffering in the past;
Grant us the strength to overcome the suffering surrounding us now.
You are the Eternal Our God.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
_____________
1 Deuteronomy 6:5
Happiness on Tisha B’Ave?
It is in keeping with the ironies of the COVID-19 era that the first opportunity to return to our sanctuary for services other than Shabbat will be Tisha B’Av. This solemn service commemorates the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem in 586 BCE and 70 CE, respectively, both according to tradition on the 9th day of the month of Av. Until last month, our only in-person services since the Hadassah Shabbat in March 2020 were b’nai mitzvah and confirmation for families only. Now, after a month of joyful “in-person” Shabbat worship, we are opening our doors for one of the most solemn of days. A year ago, we had to hold this service about being driven from our sacred spaces entirely via Zoom. Instead of being forcibly exiled by Babylonia or Rome, we were forced out by a pandemic. Now it is on Tisha B’Av, beginning here at TAI at 10 tomorrow night, that we gathering with our friends from Ohavay Zion Synagogue in one of our sanctuaries for the first time since the pandemic began.
One is not supposed to be joyous on Tisha B’Av. It is a fast day with essentially the same restrictions as Yom Kippur. We will chant the Book of Lamentations, recite dirges and dim the lights as we rely on candles and flashlights while we sit on the floor and listen to the reading. According to some authorities, we are not even supposed to offer one another a cheerful greeting or engage in casual conversation once the service is over.
Yet, to tell the truth, there is reason to be happy this Tisha B’Av, or at least happier than we were a year ago. Thanks to vaccinations we can be together. People who have been relegated to our screens will be physically present. Moreover, we can be joyful for the opportunity to meet OZS’s new rabbi, Shani Abramowitz. So while it is sad that the first service we will be holding together since the pandemic is for Tisha B’Av, we can be happy about sharing our sanctuary with OZS again and welcoming Rabbi Abramowitz to our community. An essential part of progressive Judaism is our capacity to make exceptions. In this exceptional year it seems appropriate to allow for a bit of happiness on a day normally reserved for sorrow. Please join us for services in person or by Zoom. NOTE: Registration is required. To reserve a seat in the sanctuary (seating is limited), click here; to register for the Zoom link, click here.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
Sisterhood Shabbat, the Sotah and a Time of Reckoning
One year from now we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Rabbi Sally J. Priesand becoming the first woman to be publicly ordained by the Reform movement in the United States. So much change has occurred since then, yet things have not changed anywhere near enough. The fact remains that far too many female colleagues have been subjected to physical and verbal harassment in rabbinical school and in the settings in which they serve. At this time, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Central Synagogue in New York have retained professional investigators to explore how a male colleague with a record of serious misbehavior toward women could become president of our rabbinical school. Rabbi Mary Zamore, executive director of The Women’s Network, has put it powerfully: “No one should be expected to view harassment, abuse and assault as the price they need to pay to be ordained, to serve in congregations or Jewish organizations, and to be members of the Jewish community.”
As we gather tonight for Sisterhood Shabbat, we face a double irony and injustice. One is the abuses of the past; the other is the failures of the present. This week’s Torah portion is a sad example of how our sacred texts contain abusive acts. Numbers 5:11-31 details the process by which a jealous husband can make his wife undergo a trial by ordeal based on suspicion alone. Neither he nor anyone else needs claim to have witnessed something. The accused wife must drink a potion, which will make her sick if she is guilty but have no effect if she is innocent. She must listen to the prayer of the priest, who asks God to make the potion work, and say “Amen.” Neither this Torah portion nor any other contains a parallel or commensurate ritual for the suspect husband.
For too long we have allowed the indignities and injustice of the past to persist. We have failed to protect women – rabbis and congregants alike – from brutish and boundaryless behavior. Like the suspect wife, the Sotah, of Numbers, we have compelled women to drink the foul waters of sexism and sexual harassment under the false pretense of holiness. We have waited for too long to say “Time is up” on these abuses. Many have called this a moment of reckoning for our movement. Let us of our own free will, unlike the Sotah who was forced to convey “agreement,” say “Amen.” In the coming year we will be marking the historic 50th anniversary with lectures, sermons, prayers and actions focusing on justice and equality for women not only in Reform Judaism but throughout our nation and world. It is with tremendous gratitude that we welcome tonight’s speaker, Mindy Haas, executive director of Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass. Let me take this opportunity to encourage the remarkable women of this congregation to maintain our practice of women giving the Torah commentary/remarks on the first Friday of the month and to thank the women of this congregation, particularly Sisterhood, for all you do to make our congregation a place where everyone is treated with dignity and no one is degraded.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
A Second Time Around: Considering the ‘Twos’ of Passover and the Pandemic
We tend to associate Passover with the number 4. There are four opening questions, four personality types assigned to the four children, four cups of wine each and four blessings to be recited over the food we are required to eat. But this year is different from all other years. This year the number on our minds is 2.
It is not as though we Jews haven’t had our share of 2’s. There are two tablets for the Ten Commandments. In the ultimate example of doubling down they are bestowed not just once but twice. There are two Talmuds, the Babylonian and Palestinian, the second of which has a second name, the Yerushalmi (the Talmud of Jerusalem). We light two candles on Shabbat, the Festivals and the High Holy Days. And, as the Noah’s Ark song reminds us, “The animals, they came on by two-sies, two-sies.” But, as we prepare for this year’s seders, the “two” we cannot stop thinking about is that we are doing this for the second time.
The Haggadah has long held a place of holiness for 2’s. There are two sets of questions. It contains a first and second hand-washing ritual. We dip our parsley twice in salt water and provide a symbolic cup for Elijah and for Miriam. The most poetic pairing for our moment, however, might be that of putting two things, maror and charoset, on our matzo. The Haggadah not only requires us to eat the “Hillel sandwich,” it also tells us why. Though today we are free, we recall the suffering of our past and the pain of oppression that still plagues others. So, too, even in times of suffering, we take hope in the promise of redemption. The two ideas are not oppositional but complementary.
Passover 2021/5781 marks the first festival we are holding for second go-round during this pandemic. We have two intertwined responses to this reality. On the one hand there is exhaustion. We are sick and tired of living this way. On the second hand there is gratitude. In a year defined by a devastating amount of death, we know we should be appreciative to be alive. The one impulse need not negate the other. There is room enough in our minds, hearts and at our seder tables for the two of them. Our initial response is that that we really don’t want to be doing this a second time yet, on second thought, we know it beats the matzo farfel out of the alternative.
We do not have to act as if we are happy about a second Passover during pandemic. But we are not free to pretend this crisis is over or refuse to make the best of our options until it is. Last year I simply was not ready to hold a Temple seder via Zoom. A year later I have come to appreciate the difference between seeing one another digitally and not seeing one another at all. If you do not already have plans for second-night seder, please register for Sunday evening’s program. You can stop by the office by 4 p.m. Friday to pick up a hard copy of the Haggadah we will be using, request a pdf when you register or download it on our website. Last year’s Seder video playlist with Lorne Dechtenberg and I using the Hagaddah developed by Rabbi Kline is on YouTube and is highly recommended to everyone who does not have a Seder plan for Saturday night. The text for this service is also available at Temple, and you can find the pdf here.
For those who might welcome a respite from the usual seriousness of rabbinic remarks, tonight’s message will be in the form a somewhat sillier rhyming story about The Ten Plagues. In the spirit of trying to keep things as interactive as possible, the congregation will be invited to chime in on the final word of each couplet or type it in the chat. Please remember that we are co-hosting Passover services with OZS and Havurah on the Sunday mornings of March 28 and April 4 at 10 a.m. You’ll find the Zoom link here. Dianne Bazell will be chanting Torah and I will be giving the commentary on the 28th. Diane Arnson Svarlien and Emanuelle Wirtschafter Sippy will be chanting Torah on the 4th.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Passover,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
God of the hurting and heartbroken.
God of the powerful and the impoverished.
God of those blessed with abundance and those abandoned to abuse.
On this week where we read about the severe consequences for the Sin of the Golden Calf, we are reminded of how prone to error we truly are.
The same people who burst into professions of faith at the parting of the waters, succumb to panic when they cannot find Moses, and thank something they took from the furnace a minute ago for freeing them Egypt.
Moses cannot explain their actions, but he still pleads their cause. To expect consistency and rationality from those who have endured centuries of trauma, whose only priority has been survival is to expect too much.
On this week when our State Senate has received a bill that would ban the death penalty for those with severe mentally illness, we ask our legislators to remember that there are those among us who do not have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, whose culpability should be mitigated by their limited capacity, and whose lack of understanding should protect them from ultimate punishment. We cannot explain the fatal actions of those with severe mental illness, but we can still plead their cause.
Moses does not argue that the people who worship the Golden Calf are innocent. Rather, he convinces God that to destroy them is to break a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to compromise God’s own commitment to the covenant. So too we mourn the pain that those with severe mental illness have caused. We do not profess their innocence nor argue that they should go unpunished. What we do maintain is that to take their lives is to take compromise our love of mercy, our commitment to compassion, and our covenant with conscience.
It is true that Reform Judaism opposes the death penalty under all circumstances, but abolishing capital punishment is not in this bill or even remotely on the table in our state right now. The question is if people who cannot fully comprehend the consequences of their actions can be held to full account. Science and reason, compassion and mercy compel us to reply that the answer to that question is no. Just as God and Moses withheld death from some participants in the Sin of the Golden Calf, we ask that our State Senators withhold the death penalty from those with severe mental illness. Like the destructive deeds of the former slaves who went forth out of Egypt, we cannot explain the fatal crimes committed by those with severe mental illness. We are not called upon to comprehend them. What we are called on to do is to demand justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.
May this be out blessing and let us say: Amen.
Please reach out to our State Senators by phone, mail and social media encouraging them to support this legislation.
February 26, 2021
February 19, 2021
February 12, 2021
February 5, 2021
February 5, 2021
January 29, 2021
Deliverance
God of Marvels and Miracles,
On this Shabbat when we hear the story of how You delivered our people at the Sea of Reeds, we pray to be delivered from this pandemic.
Our ancestors fled from Pharaoh. Now we are racing from a virus, hoping that enough of us can be vaccinated before it closes in on us.
We thank You, God, for our frontline workers, who waded into dangerous waters with no guarantee of safety, who put the survival of others before their own.
Like Nachshon1, 2, they refused to allow fear to keep them from moving forward.
We remember Moses’ and Miriam’s words resounding over the waters.
We, too, wish to sing songs of rescue and rejoicing, deliverance and delight.
Our ancestors feared they would die in the desert.
We fear for the lives of family and friends.
Help us, O God, to cross safely to the other side of this crisis.
Bless us with patience and persistence, resilience and resolve.
As you rescued those who came before us, rescue us.
Then the words of Miriam and Moses will be ours, too.
Ozi V’Zimrat Yah, v’ay’hi li lishua.
“God is my strength and my might and has become my deliverer.”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
_______________________________
1According to Midrash (Rabbinic folklore), Nachshon Ben Amindab waded into the sea even before Moses stretched his staff over the waters.
2 Exodus 15:2
January 22, 2021
Cherished Duties: Liberation, Inauguration and the Holiness of Long Hard Work
The rabbis of the midrash were puzzled by a detail of the liberation story we read this week. Devastated by the death of the firstborn and the nine preceding plagues, Pharaoh finally allows the Israelites to depart. Indeed, having held them in slavery for more than 400 years, Pharaoh wants the Hebrews gone so desperately that he refuses to grant them time to pack. Many are familiar with the verse about the bread dough rising on the former slaves’ backs, but our sages draw our attention to a related element of the story. “Why did the Israelites, though they had cattle, carry their kneading bowls on their shoulders (Ex. 12:34)? Because they cherished their duties.”1
As President Biden and Vice President Harris shoulder the burden of leadership this week, this commentary reminds us that there are duties we should cherish. A kneading bowl might not seem to be a precious object that needs to be positioned on one’s person, but the behavior of our ancestors shows us otherwise. Sustaining one another, providing for one another, breaking bread with one another is a holy act rendering the kneading bowl a holy vessel to be carried by oneself. Leading us out of a pandemic is an urgent necessity and a holy task. It will not be pretty, romantic or glamorous. Like making bread, it will take hard work, mindfulness, patience and attention to detail.
If the last few months have reminded us of nothing else, it is that democracy is demanding work. We often talk about the rights, freedoms and liberties we cherish. We are not quite so quick to pair the word “cherish” with “duty.” Yet the perpetuation of liberty rests on duty’s shoulders. We can no more enjoy the fruits of democracy without the effort of elections than we can feast on fresh bread without someone kneading the dough first. Even with all the anxiety, turmoil and ugliness this election and its aftermath have produced, we must be mindful that the work of democracy is a duty to cherished.
Wearing an “I voted” sticker is not about bragging. It is about saying, “Democracy is important to me.” We thank poll workers and volunteers because without their dedication to duty there would be no democracy to wax philosophical about. The work of voting; counting; recounting; and texting, calling and knocking on doors to get out the vote is over for a while. Just as a dazzling autumn must cede the stage to a long hard winter, the dramatic season of competition must give way to one of disciplined cooperation. It is time to stop running for office and start (or restart) fulfilling its duties. We ask our elected and appointed leaders to approach their tasks like the cherished duties they are. And may we, the citizens whom they are sworn to serve, commit ourselves to doing our work in the same spirit.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
_______________________________________
1Plaut Commentary First Edition, 1981 pages 367, 1714
January 15, 2021
Hold Fast to Hope: Proclaiming King’s Message
Amidst a Pandemic
We gather this evening still shaken by the events in Washington last week and increasingly concerned about the prospects of a safe inauguration and peaceful transition of power. Every Shabbat when we cannot gather together in our sanctuary is a loss, but being unable to gather these past two Friday evenings feels particularly so. Moreover, given that the heart of his message was unity, there is something painfully ironic about being apart from each other on Martin Luther King Shabbat. We pray that this is the only time a pandemic will relegate this service, which we look forward to each year, to a virtual gathering.
We already have dealt with virtual Purim, Passover, High Holy Days, Sukkot and Hanukkah. As we approach the one-year anniversary of the pandemic we have run out of things we are missing out on for the first time, yet we refuse to give in to defeatism and despair. The scholar James Washington aptly titled his anthology of the essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King “A Testament to Hope.” Dr. King’s life and leadership were just that. In spite of every reason to give up, he persevered. If we want to live up to his legacy, we too must “hold fast to dreams”1 even in the face of dispiriting realties.
As we study the 10 plagues in this week’s and next week’s Torah portions, we can see ourselves in the nightmarish society that tragically chooses to continue to suffer the consequences of injustice rather than discontinue its cruel practices of oppression. Tonight’s speaker, the Rev. Nathl Moore, pastor of Lexington’s First African Baptist Church, will address at least two painful issues plaguing our society in this difficult moment. First, why is it that Black people have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic of COVID-19? Why have more of them been infected, become seriously ill and died at higher rates than their white neighbors, and what are the lessons of health care inequality that must be learned from this devastating failure? Second, in light of last week’s assault on the Capitol fueled by white supremacists and snti-Semites, how can we, as Black and Jewish communities, demand accountability for those who encouraged, enabled and participated in an attempt to violently overturn the certification of a presidential election? How can we work collaboratively to address the hate, misinformation and violence that have stifled our nation’s efforts to realize King’s vision of “the beloved community.”
Please make a special effort to attend tonight’s service and think about what you can do to mitigate the plagues of systemic racism by alleviating hunger, homelessness and health care inequality in Lexington and throughout the country. We hope you will consider a contribution to the Lexington Chapter of the NAACP in honor of MLK Day and Reverend Moore’s message. Click here to donate or send contributions to Lexington-Fayette NAACP, P.O. Box 13655. Lexington, KY 40583.
You also are encouraged to check out the website of the Religious Action Center for ways in which we can address chronic disparities inconsistent with Jewish and democratic values by urging Congress to support an equitable public health and economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
P.S.: Thank you to Rev. Moore for filling in on short notice for our scheduled speaker, the Rev. James Thurman, who was forced to cancel his appearance because of health issues. We wish him a refuah shelaymah, a full and speedy recovery, and look forward to having him address our congregation when he is able to do so.
_______________________
1 “Dreams” by Langston Hughes, 1922
January 8, 2021
January 1, 2021
December 25, 2020
December 18, 2020
December 11, 2020
December 4, 2020
November 27, 2020
November 20, 2020
November 13, 2020
Tonight, thank goodness, represents a breath of fresh air, something of a return to normal at a time that has been anything but. For the first time since the pandemic, we will have a family service led in part by the students themselves. Not seeing kids in the building is one of the saddest things of this entire crisis. The hallways and classrooms are eerily quiet without children. Yet, just as we tell adults that “our building is closed but our congregation remains open,” so, too, we tell our students that “school is in session even if our classrooms are closed.”
May this week’s reports of a promising vaccine renew our faith and optimism. Let us practice the virtue of being hopeful, both for the sake of our children and ourselves. We are nowhere near “breathing easy,” yet but we can breathe a little easier when we stop to appreciate that the education of tomorrow’s Jewish leaders is in good hands.
November 6, 2020
Waiting
Wondering when we will have definitive results in this election has brought back memories of other waiting stories. Perhaps you have experienced similar thoughts, associations and reflections during this difficult week. More than 20 years ago, my rabbinical school classmates and I anxiously awaited the placement process phone calls informing us of which prospective congregations would invite us to on-site interviews and eventually job offers. One of our professors, Dr. Stanley Nash, gave us the following piece of wisdom: “Waiting is part of life.” He did not expand on the point. Like the loving rabbi and professor he is, he left the interpretation up to us. With gratitude for his teaching, I offer this prayer:
____________________________
Waiting is part of life.
Let us consider what the way we wait says about us.
Waiting is part of life.
Let us use our wait time wisely.
Waiting is part of life.
Let us make certain not to keep our state of waiting from paying attention to everything else.
Waiting is part of life.
Let us ask ourselves what is it that we are waiting for.
Waiting is part of life.
Let us discipline ourselves to wait cautiously.
Waiting is part of life.
May we practice the virtue of waiting peacefully.
Waiting is a part of life.
May we take heart by waiting hopefully.
Waiting is part of life.
May we cherish the value of waiting patiently.
As the Psalm for Elul, the gateway to the High Holy Days tells us:
Strengthen your heart with courage, and have hope in The Eternal.1
As Abraham and Sarah waited for the gift of children.
As Jonah waited in the belly of the whale.
As Elijah waited in a cave.
As Moses and the People waited for Miriam to recover.
As our ancestors in Egypt waited for freedom.
As the inmates of death and concentration camps waited for release.
So, too, may we proffer the prayer of those who came before us:
“We wait the morrow with hope made stronger by the vision of Your dominion, a world where poverty and war are banished, where injustice and hate are gone.
Teach us more and more to respond to share the pain of others, to heed Your call to justice, to pursue the blessing of peace.
Help us, O God, to gain victory over evil, to bring nearer the day when all the world shall be one.”2
May this be our blessing, and let us say: Amen.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
______________
1 Psalm 27
2 Aleinu, Version IV from Gates of Prayer 1975.
October 30, 2020
October 27, 2020
October 23, 2020
Nameless No More: The Legacy of Naamah on the Eve of an Important Election
I once read a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt containing an adage from her mother that the longest-serving first lady and human rights advocate wisely refused to follow: “A lady’s name should appear in the newspaper three times. When she is born, when she is married, and when she dies.” This week’s Torah portion, Noah, presents us with a similar problem. The Bible itself does not provide the namea of Noah’s wife or the wives of his sons. It is worth noting that we are not the first generation to be concerned about the omission. Rabbinic folklore and commentary from Genesis Rabba (circa 300-500 CE) and Rashi (1040-1105) tells us that the name of Noah’s wife was Naamah
Just as Noah is acknowledged for saving pairs of each animal, a modern midrash by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso credits Naamah with “collecting every seed and bulb so that the plants of the earth will also be saved from the flood.” Rabbi Jill Hammer celebrates Naamah as a woman who “endures while the world is destroyed and rebuilt around her. She preserves life and enters a new world to raise future generations. She holds the tools of life. She is the netzach in netzach, the deepest urge to endure. We are most like Naamah when we endure through the storm, prepared to create the future.”1
As we approach the centenary of women taking part in presidential elections, Rabbi Hammer’s words take on renewed importance. This coming week is a celebration of women who carry on Naamah and Roosevelt’s refusal to remain unnamed, unheard, unseen and unacknowledged. Our lineup of female Jewish scholars includes local and out-of-state talent focusing on the legal, historical and social implications of this pivotal moment for our nation. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 27 and 28, we will hear from this year’s Moosnick scholar-in-residence, Dr. Melissa R. Klapper. Her topic will be “Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women and First-Wave Feminism.” While we wish we could bring her to Lexington to speak, we are fortunate she will be engaging with us via Zoom. (For the link, click here.) At services next Friday, Oct. 30, we will have the privilege of listening to Dr. Karen Petrone, a TAI congregant and history professor at UK. She will share her perspective on women’s suffrage and what the struggle to gain the ballot can teach us today as progressive Jews seeking to meet the challenges posed by the #MeToo movement and the disproportionate socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 on women and minorities. Our study sessions on Saturday, Oct. 31, will feature two more female scholars from our community. UK law professor and former TAI president and Religious School director Jane Grise will lead the 9 a.m. session. She will discuss how our courageous ancestors used lawsuits, protests and other avenues to achieve social change, and what we can learn from them. The 11 a.m. session will be led by Dianne Bazell, Ph.D., a former TAI treasurer, past president of Lexington Hadassah and, like Karen, a member of Shir Adat.
At a time when we are deluged by the destructive power of this pandemic and the divisiveness of political discourse, may the endurance of Naamah and Jewish women who played vital roles in the battle for suffrage inspire us to continue working for the day when no one will be deprived of equal rights and opportunities based on gender or treated like a second-class citizen because of their sex. May we put to good use the tools that Naamah and the suffragettes who followed in her footsteps gave us. Let us honor their legacy by enduring the storms surrounding us and preparing to create a more peaceful and progressive future. May the women of this world who bless our lives in countless ways be nameless no more.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
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1 Ritualwell.org “Omer Calendar of Biblical Women,” Rabbi Jill Hammer.
October 16, 2020
As we start the process of rereading the Torah this week with Bereshit, the first portion of Genesis, we are reminded of how beautiful and baffling beginnings can be. The Talmud endeavors to help us manage our expectations when starting new things. Kol chacholot kashot it tells us: “All beginnings are difficult.”1 We have read and reread the opening chapters of Genesis any number of times. What makes this year’s reading different is that, in our lifetimes, we have never begun a Torah cycle during a pandemic. What does creation and being creative mean during a time of such mass devastation? How do we maintain a difference between light and darkness as the days get shorter, the nights get longer, and the virus refuses to call it quits?
Our scope of creative freedom has been curtailed by COVID-19; not so the creative instinct. The impulse to create is still within us. The new Hebrew year is an invitation to try new things. Why not challenge ourselves to learn something new, to try a creative undertaking we have resisted? We do not have to become experts at it. We call them “creative pursuits” for a reason. It is the pursuit, not the proficiency, that counts. According to the Midrash (rabbinic legend), the opening words of the opening portion are meant to teach us that not even God is happy with the outcome of all creative endeavors. Why does Torah say: When God began creating heaven and earth? In answer to their own question, the sages reply that there were numerous attempts, discarded drafts, underwhelming outtakes of Creation with which God simply was not satisfied.2 Fortunately for us, God didn’t quit — and neither should we.
Frustration, aggravation and disappointment are part of the creative process. We cannot have creation without the creative process. If creation is holy, then the creative process is holy. It doesn’t matter how many pictures we delete, cookie batches we burn or drafts we throw in the recycle bin. What matters is that we honor our Creator by being creative. We bring holiness to this chaotic world when we counter the destructive impulse with the creative one. We have to begin somewhere, so why not here? We have to begin sometime, so why not now? May we find delight in new beginnings, no matter how difficult they might be.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter
_____________________________
1 Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 10b
2 Genesis Rabbah 3:8
October 9, 2020
October 2, 2020
September 25, 2020
September 18, 2020
September 11, 2020
September 4, 2020
for Parshat Ki Tavo
August 28, 2020
August 21, 2020
August 14, 2020
in a Time of Rapid Change
August 7, 2020
of What We Cannot Do
for Parshat Naso
on Shavuot at a Time of Pandemic
May 8, 2020May 1, 2020a Summer of Limited Options
For tips from ReformJudaism.org on how to talk to your children about canceled summer plans, click here.
April 24, 2020Before Israel Independence Day
April 17, 2020To allow members of our communities to follow along with the livestream of our services, URJ has created:
April 10, 2020
April 3, 2020
March 27, 2020 March 20, 2020 March 13, 2020
March 6, 2020Thoughts for Hadassah Shabbat
February 28, 2020to bring me gifts; you shall accept gifts for me from every person
whose heart is so moved.” (Exodus 25:1)
February 21, 2020As we gather in the comfort of our sanctuary and the warmth of our homes, we are confronted with the painful reality that thousands of internally displaced people in Syria have nearly nothing to cover them from the wind and cold. They have been rendered homeless by a civil war now approaching its ninth year. They will die if they return to their homes, and they will perish if they remain where they are. There is no roof over their heads. Their improvised tents are made from blankets.
Right now, our fellow humans, with little cover between the elements and their skin, are crying out while world leaders leave them exposed to starvation, exhaustion and bitter cold. Perhaps we moderns don’t fear personal retribution from the Divine. Maybe God won’t judge us harshly. But make no mistake: If our leaders refuse to act, history will judge us harshly, and deservedly so. Here at Temple Adath Israel, our Shabbat evening announcements always end with these words. “As we leave, may we take the joy of each other’s company.” Instead of taking the warmth and joy of this place and of our homes for granted, we should share it with others. There are people in our country and around the world who need. No one should be left with nothing to cover them from the cold.
February 14, 2020(2) Deuteronomy 6:5
February 7, 2020Voting for World Zionist Congress
January 31, 2019 January 24, 2019 January 17, 2019 Attica Scott and the Women of Exodus
January 10, 2019 We readers have known for a while that Joseph is safely in the palace. But according to a particular midrash (rabbinic folklore), Joseph’s brothers fear that he ended up selling himself on the streets of Egypt.[1] Sex slavery also asserts itself earlier in the biblical narrative, when Judah, one of Joseph’s older brothers, takes responsibility for his widowed daughter-in-law only after she “plays the harlot” for him.[2] Disguising herself as a prostitute was not something Tamar wanted to do; it was the only ploy she could think of to prevent actually becoming one. Clearly, “human trafficking,” though a relatively new term, is anything but a novel concept, as we as a people are well aware, having experienced poverty and persecution from slavery in Egypt, and Nazi concentration/extermination camps.
Turning fellow humans into slaves, including sex slaves, has been with us throughout our history. Forcing anyone into prostitution is cruel and abusive. To target refugees, the undocumented, and those fleeing poverty and violence is even more disturbing. Over and over, Torah teaches us not to oppress strangers, foreigners, widows and orphans because we ourselves were oppressed in Egypt.
Tonight’s Shabbat speaker is here to help us better understand the extent to which human trafficking has become a crisis not only in our community and our country, but throughout the world. More importantly, she is here to tell us what we can do about it. Jacob and his children were far from perfect. So, too, are we. But we don’t have to be perfect to demand an end to human trafficking. Slavery, including sexual slavery, an act of gross inhumanity, can be alleviated only if we have the humanity to combat it. In this year that marks the 400th anniversary of bringing enslaved Africans to this continent, let us confront slavery in all its forms, no matter the victim, no matter the victimizer, no matter the type of force or coercion involved. As we turn from the grand aspirations of Genesis to the brutal suffering of Exodus, the time for The Well’s message is now.
January 3, 2019 A Test of Compassion at a Time of Crisis
December 6, 2019 THE INTEGRITY OF “I DON’T KNOW”:
Jacob’s Admission and the Journey of Humility
December 2019 Bulletin Article
What Hanukkah teaches about making
things happen
According to the Talmud, when the Maccabees reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem, they found a cruse of oil thought to contain only enough fluid to burn for one day, but miraculously it lasted for eight. The tale is intriguing on so many levels. What does it teach about sacred space, use of resources and what we leave behind? To some degree the story is reminiscent of how the Prophet Elisha feeds the masses with loaves and fishes that could only serve a few. The lesson seems to be that the question before us is not one of resources but of faith. If God sees that our needs are legitimate and our intentions are good, then what seems insufficient will suffice. The issue is not scarcity of material but our readiness to believe in miracles.
If only it were so. Rather, it seems that people prefer to rely on miracles than to formulate plans. For better or worse, real life is not like the Torah or Talmud. Coaches, instructors, teachers, mentors and friends impart different articulations of the following lesson: The best we can expect at game time, performance time or test time is that what we do then will be as good as our best practice, rehearsal or preparation exercise. Expecting that we will somehow be better, perform better or do better is wishful thinking. There is nothing wrong in wishing or praying for a miracle. What is wrong is to mistake hoping for a miracle with making a plan. Moreover, it is irresponsible to rely on a miracle when people are counting on us to meet our obligations.
The miracle of the cruse of oil teaches us that people are relying on what we leave behind. What story would there be if those who fled the Temple had not secreted away any oil at all? Someone had the composure and foresight to think about what the redeemers of the Temple might need one day. Someone had to have faith that despite the military unlikelihood of it, the Temple would be ours again, and oil would be needed. Faith is not a license to forgo responsibility to the future. Faith requires the commitment to a better future even in the face of present circumstances and demands.
We cannot relegate the responsibility of leaving a sustainable congregation, community, nation or planet to hopes and prayers. Leaving behind insufficient resources and utter messes for future generations is to break faith with those who provided for us and rightfully expected us to do the same for those to come. We cannot justify leaving only enough breathable air and drinkable water to last a few years because we are counting on science and technology to make it last for centuries. “Maybe they will find solutions we cannot even imagine” is not a plan; it’s a cop-out.
The story about the cruse of oil still has the power to inspire. Finding something useful amidst disaster is a theme worth employing to rekindle our efforts when morale is low. But the only practical way to leave enough oil for eight days is to provide enough oil for eight days. Future generations, faced with the challenges of managing congregations, communities and indeed the world itself, will receive little comfort from the knowledge that we fervently prayed for a miracle. What is required of us is to take the difficult measures and make the necessary sacrifices for our descendants to have an existence as good as, if not better than, ours. The Maccabees did not rely on a miracle to save them. Through remarkable efforts they achieved a result we call miraculous.
Happy Hanukkah!
Rabbi David
November 22, 2019
November 15, 2019of Terrorist Attacks in Louisville and Pittsburgh
November 8, 2019November 1, 2019The Great Flood and Our Great Challenge
The offenses compelling God to wipe out the entire earth in this week’s Torah portion, Noach, are rather short on details. The Creator’s blanket indictment that the world is full of “corruption and violence” is lacking in who, what, when, where, and why. God wipes out everyone and everything except Noah’s family and one male and one female of every species, hence the “twosies twosies” lyric in the Sunday School classic “Rise and Shine.” All joking aside this is the ultimate reminder that it’s not our earth, it’s God earth. Or if you prefer a secular articulation of the same assertion; It’s not for any one of us to treat the earth as if it were ours alone or to be inhumane to fellow human beings. This planet belongs to all humankind and all humankind should relate to it and one another accordingly.
We are alarmed at the way God expresses displeasure in this story, yet the narrative seems more and more relatable to our present-day reality. How many times can we have two five hundred-year floods within five years of each other and continue to act as if we should just keep on declaring state of emergencies without doing anything to prevent them? Isn’t “corrupt” a fitting term to describe a society that would
rather appease wealthy polluters than protect vulnerable people? This does not mean that the frequency and intensity of floods are God’s way of punishing us for our sins. What is does mean is that we need to take these things more seriously and act with a greater sense of urgency. To think about and relate to the environment as our responsibility and not someone else’s. That there is a social and moraldimension to how we treat the earth. That there are lessons to be learned from what is happening, particularly when the same things keep happening.
Whether you are a member of TAI or visiting us from another house of worship, please consider attending the “Single Use Plastics Summit for Faith Communities” Tuesday, November 19, 6-7:30 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church, donating to your favorite environmental charity, and improving your current recycling and composting efforts. The least we can do to cherish the beautiful world God has given us is not to take it or one
another for granted.
October 31, 2019
A year ago tonight religious leaders, elected officials, public safety workers, and neighbors of all faiths filled Nordsworthy auditorium to show their support after the fatal terrorist hate crimes in Louisville and Pittsburgh left us grief stricken. We will never forget this act of kindness and solidarity. Thank you especially to the FCPS main office for providing a space that could accommodate the overwhelming turnout. Our congregation will commemorate the anniversary of the violence on the Hebrew date, but it seems only fitting to thank our neighbors according to the calendar we share with you.
May love and reason yet triumph over fear and hate. May our country become a place where civility and decency are practiced by all of us, no matter our religion, race, class, gender, sexual orientation or nation of origin. May the words we heard and things we witnessed a year ago tonight inspire us to lead lives of goodness everyday of our lives.
To our fellow Lexingtonians we say Todah Rabah. Thank you for the message your presence sent to us a year ago. To watch that auditorium fill up with friends was an act of love we will never forget. As the psalm teaches: “Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.” In the Jewish world when we depart from a house of mourning we say “Next time on a simcha, (a happy occasion). May we soon gather together in the hundreds to celebrate the defeat of racism, sexism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, xenophobia, bigotry, bullying, violence, selfishness, greed and deceit.
As Rev Mark Johnson of Central Baptist teaches: “It’s not OK but it’s going to be OK.”
A day of truth is coming. A day of justice is coming. A day of freedom is coming. A day of love is coming. A day of healing is coming. A day of joy is coming. And although it can’t come soon enough the time is coming soon. May all of us live to dance and sing on that great day. And let us work to make it so.
October 25, 2019
October 11, 2019
October 4, 2019
celebration for Sukkot and Passover. The Sabbatical laws include the commandment that every seven years farmers are to let their fields lie fallow. But of greatest relevance for tonight’s celebration is that the second half of the Jewish wedding service contains the unit known as the seven blessings. In fact, some people use the words sheva brachot (seven blessings) as another term for a wedding ceremony. So, in honor of the seven couples gracing us with their presence, here are seven blessings for reaching the 50-plus milestone:Just as you have blessed and inspired us with your love
for one another, tonight we share this blessing with you.
May the Source of Love bless you with abounding affection.
May the Source of Strength bless you with patience,
persistence and perseverance.
May the Source of Compassion bless you with kindness
and gentleness.
May the Source of Wisdom bless you with discernment, judgment and insight.
May the Source of Courage nurture your resolve to face challenges with hope and optimism.
May the Source of Joy bless you with happiness and
holiness, lots of laughter and long life.
May the Source of Peace bless you, your families, and all who love you with the wholeness and oneness that only peace can provide. And let us say together: Amen.
September 27, 2019
and 2 More Communitywide Opportunities
September 13, 2019
September 6, 2019
Judges
This week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, (meaning judges) begins with three interrelated commandments. First the community must appoint judges and magistrates. Second these individuals must be impartial and free from corruption. Thirdly the people must pursue justice if they hope to thrive in the promised land (Deuteronomy 16:18-20). Peace and progress are not unconditional guarantees. They are contingent on a society dedicated to justice. Judges can not maintain justice in a vacuum.
Ironically, it was just yesterday that we rabbis who have had the good fortune to travel to Guatemala with American Jewish World Service received word that any number of judges in that nation are now afraid for their lives. Judges who maintained the rule of law, sent corrupt officials and war criminals to jail, and refused to be intimidated by government threats are now terrified about the potential fall out of anti-corruption laws being overturned and those who violated them released. Human rights advocates lauded these judges as Guatemala’s fire wall against things becoming even worse. That fire wall has now become imperiled by approaching flame. We sometimes forgot how dangerous being a judge can be, especially in dictatorships, failed states and countries coping with extreme poverty and violence. I can’t hear about foreign journalists being imprisoned, kidnapped or killed without thinking about my brother Jacob. Nor can I learn about judges anywhere being threatened without thinking about my brother Benjamin, a Superior Court Judge in California. No righteous judge anywhere in the world should be faced with threats of retaliation for fulfilling their obligations to justice. There can be no just society when judges are coerced or corrupted by injustice.
On this Sabbath named for judges may we be mindful of the role they play, grateful for the integrity it requires, and watchful so that no nation can intimidate its judges with impunity.
August 30, 2019
August 23, 2019
August 16, 2019
July 19, 2019
July 12, 2019
We cannot continue to hold them captive, certainly not under the conditions that have been verified by multiple agencies.
and will not free all captives under any and all circumstances. The voice of idealism maintains that if we cannot even wish or pray for the freedom of children in captivity, if we do not acknowledge to God and to one another that the current situation is unacceptable, then how can we even begin the work of demanding their release? On this day after Independence Day, a day celebrating our freedom from being governed in a way our founding fathers deemed unjust, let us demand immediate changes to conditions in detention centers that we know to be unjust. If we cannot safely and speedily set these children free, we must at the very least
implement radical reform of the places in which they are being held captive. Baruch Atah Adonai matir asurim. Blessed are You, O God, who frees the captive.
June 28, 2019
Just as the River Jordan parted for Joshua and the people on their way to the Promised Land,* would that the waters of the Rio Grande have parted this week for Oscar Ramirez and his young daughter, Valeria, fleeing poverty in Central America.
May the drowning of Oscar and Valeria Ramirez move us to action as well as tears. May their deaths help us to see that no democracy can continue to drive imperiled people to such desperate acts. Let’s go down to the river to pray and to repent. Because teshuvah (repentance) is called for now. Repentance for enabling circumstances contributing to such fatal outcomes. From now until the crisis stops, let us approach all rivers in the spirit of repentance.
June 21, 2019
June 14, 2019
June 7, 2019
May 31, 2019
May 24, 2019
May 17, 2019
May 10, 2019
May 3, 2019
April 26, 2019
April 19,2019
April 12, 2019
Congratulations and Concerns
April 5, 2019
“I Am Not a Leper!”
Rescuing Humanity from Humiliating Afflictions