Rabbis Rice: In Memorial

As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable." -Albert Einstein

     Throughout history, a common anti-Semitic method of provocation has been to accuse Jews of being unpatriotic. This was often expressed in the accusation that Jews were unwilling to join their country's military. Yet it was in 1654 when one of the original twenty-three Jewish settlers in New Amsterdam, Asher Levy, demanded and secured for himself and fellow Jews the right to stand guard at the stockade. From Colonial time to the present, Jews have played an important role in the defense of the United States of America. On July 31, 1776, Frances Salvador, a plantation owner from South Carolina, was the first Jew killed in the Revolutionary War.

     What concerned Jewish veterans then, and throughout America's history, concerns Jewish veterans today. Jews must still defend themselves against those who continue to declare that Jews have not served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Thousands of Jews have died in combat for our country and thousands more have been wounded. Jews have been awarded combat medals for performing their duty in time of war, and a study of Jewish participation in the military during World War II clearly indicates Jews served in the Armed Forces beyond their numerical proportion to the general population, receiving more than 52,000 awards, including the coveted Congressional Medal of Honor. Jews participated in the Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War, and continue to serve in today's conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

     Any way you look at it, thousands of Jewish men and women have unselfishly and valiantly given of themselves in fighting for and defending our country. And so we, as Jews, can stand tall and proud of our accomplishments as veterans of past service and as current participants in our country's Armed Forces, participating fully in this weekend's activities which honor ALL of those who have paid the greatest price in defending our liberties.

Tzofim Caravan - Coming to Micah June 7!

 

Food Trucks at 7 p.m.

Retro Sno

Smokin Thighs

Your Dish is Our Command

Gay Pride Shabbat

Rabbis Rice: Yom Yerushalayim

     "This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of our holy places, never to part from it again. To our Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour, our hand in peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the sake of other peoples' holy places, and not to interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity."

- Israeli General Moshe Dayan

     Yesterday marked an important day in the history of the modern State of Israel. It was the 46^th time that the country celebrated Yom Yerushalayim or Jerusalem Day, which marks the reunification of Judaism's most sacred city. Between 1948 - 1967, Jews were barred from entering the Old City of Jerusalem and praying at the Western Wall. Under Jordanian control, the local Arab population provided no religious freedom and permitted Jews no access. The UN did not condemn them, and the world again remained silent, while we Jews remained unable to visit our holy places.

     In 1967, facing war with Syria and Egypt, Israel sent a message to Jordan: " Stay out of this war. We don't want to fight you....we will not attack!" Jordan sent a clear message back by choosing to fight, and subsequently attacking Israel. Like the Egyptians and the Syrians, the Jordanians fell in a matter of a few days. What was known as the West Bank of the Jordan river, was conquered. Jews were once again allowed to touch the sacred stones of the Wall. But Israel did not do what the Arabs prior had done. Though they found our holy places desecrated, Israel protected the Arabs. Centuries old Jewish grave stones were turned into bathrooms, smashed and crumbled, and so Israel rebuilt them. Israelis reunited Jerusalem, while also granting Arabs access to their holy places.

     Today, Israel's capital is anything but united. One of the oldest cities in the world, it is a diverse municipality that is home to over 800,000 people. Sacred to Jews for roughly 3,000 years, the 2000 Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem lists 1204 synagogues, 158 churches, and 73 mosques within the city. Yet despite efforts to maintain peaceful religious coexistence, some sites have been a continuous source of friction and controversy. This is in part due to the fact that Jerusalem is a city of overwhelming emotions. It is a city that promises a religious and spiritual experience every time you visit. And it is the city in which we first met. Have you met her? Have you put your hands on her sacred stones? Consider a journey to our homeland in the next year or two, to experience her for yourself!

Rabbis Rice: Edges of the Harvest

    For some of us, Judaism is a religion of holy day observances. We go from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur to Chanukkah celebrations to Passover Seders. Maybe, if we try to tap in, we hear or read somewhere about Tu B'Shevat or Yom Hashoah. And so we often forget to realize that just as life itself is challenging, and our school work and/or careers and our relationships require constant attention, so too being Jewish asks that our spiritual discipline actually be attended to daily, not seasonally. The authors of our Torah sensed this would happen - that people would only consider spiritual matters on given days. And so, in the Torah portion last week, interspersed with the declarations of sacred days on the calendar, they purposely inserted ethical passages. It was as if the authors of Leviticus meant to say: do not forget our holy days. Still, do not imagine that Judaism takes a vacation between them. Being a Jew can be a full time occupation. And not just for rabbis, cantors, and other Jewish professionals.

     In this list of God's holy days, Shabbat is, of course, mentioned. The feast of unleavened bread, Passover is discussed. Shavuot, which we will celebrate shortly is found. Then right before it mentions Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we get this beautiful commandment in the Torah. It says:  "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field. You shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest, for the poor and the stranger you shall leave them..." (Leviticus 23:22)

     How many of us are farmers? On the surface, the Torah is clearly addressing itself to an agricultural based society. Still the import of this passage stretches beyond agricultural concerns. We all plant seeds, nurture new shoots, harvest the results of our labors. Whether we work with soil and seed, paper and pen, numbers, laws, votes, events, homes, animals, people, schoolwork, whatever, we all plant and we all reap. Do we reap all the way to the edges?

     Consider the "field" of your life. Examine whatever it is that occupies your time and space: What are its edges? Because the Torah is advising us not to reap it all. If there is credit to be had at work, do not take it all for yourself. If there are emotions to be stirred at home, leave room for the feelings of others. If there is money to be earned, take care to give some of it to others. Reach and take, says the Jewish Tradition, but not everything! Not the edges! Leave room there for others.

     By not taking it all, Judaism teaches us the way of community over individuality. In the Jewish community the edges are where we meet others, they are not boundaries that keep us apart. We Jews seek not to rule the land, but to nurture it. When we leave the edges for others, when we allow the stranger to partake of the fruits of our labor we enter into a state of belonging, a state of relationship, a state of mind, heart and politic that brings us into relation with others. Especially with others who might be less fortunate than ourselves. So embedded in the Torah portion, is one of the central principles, of the Jewish way of life. We learn that it is a religious obligation, not an act of charity, that we share what we have with others.

     There are many things that we share as a Micah community: a common heritage, a love of music, an appreciation for creativity, and a beautiful place to worship.