A Little Gratitude

Nov 11, 2010 at 11:39 AM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

My paternal grandfather (pictured at left) served during WWII in the South Pacific in the Army's searchlight and radar units. My maternal grandfather served in the Army in the Pacific during the Korean War.

My Dad also served our country as a Navy Seabee during the Vietnam War.

Monique's maternal grandfather escaped Nazi Germany, joined the U.S. Army, and returned to Europe where he served in Army Intelligence during WWII, and helped liberate Dachau. Her paternal grandfather served as a midshipman in the Navy on the Battleship New Mexico.

From our families to yours, we wish you and all the vets out there a very Happy Veteran's Day!



Posted In | 2 comments |

Kristallnacht

Nov 9, 2010 at 2:57 PM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua


Tonight, November 9-10, marks the 72nd anniversary of Kristallnacht - the Night of Broken Glass.

It is called the "Night of Broken Glass" because on this night, in 1938, thousands of rioters stormed Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues causing enormous amounts of damage throughout Germany and Austria.

Just before midnight on November 9, the Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller sent a telegram to all police units informing them:

"In shortest order, actions against Jews and especially their synagogues will take place in all of Germany. These are not to be interfered with."

Instead of arresting the perpetrators of these events, police began rounding up and arresting the victims – Jews all over German occupied territories. Fire companies stood by synagogues in flames with explicit instructions to let the buildings burn. They were to intervene only if a fire threatened adjacent “Aryan” properties.

In two days and nights, more than 1,000 synagogues were burned or damaged, over 7,500 Jewish businesses were looted and ransacked, and at least 91 Jews were killed. Rioters also vandalized Jewish hospitals, homes, schools, and cemeteries. The attackers were often neighbors.

Some 30,000 Jewish males between 16 - 60 were arrested, and deported to concentration camps. Kristallnacht marked the beginning of the Holocaust.

72 years later we still remember, and will never forget!


Posted In , , , , , | 3 comments |

A Global Day of Jewish Learning

Nov 7, 2010 at 11:09 PM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

Today Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz completed his monumental translation of the Talmud into Modern Hebrew - a feat begun 45 years ago. Nearly 400 communities around the world joined together today for a global day of Jewish Learning to mark this tremendous achievement.

The author of over 60 books and hundreds of articles, Rav Steinsaltz has opened up the world of the Talmud and Jewish learning to new generations of Jews, and has established a network of Jewish learning institutions across Israel and the former Soviet Union.

Today I attended two tremendous events worth sharing about. The first was at the historic 6th & I synagogue in Washington, DC where we were joined by a live broadcast from Jerusalem to hear from Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu, other figures, and of course Rav Steinsaltz, who read from the last few lines of his final volume, Masechet Ta'anit, gave a small d'rash, and recited the special brachot upon completing such a monumental task. This was followed by learning sessions with local rabbis and a special message on Jewish learning from Meet the Press's, David Gregory.

Panel: Orthodoxy at a Turning Point, a National Conversation: Women and the Future of Judaism

This evening I was at Kesher Israel, "the Georgetown shul," for a panel discussion on the topic of: Orthodoxy at a Turning Point, a National Conversation: Women and the Future of Judaism. The highly-esteemed panel included Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Frimer, Rabbanit Chana Henkin, Rabbi Dr. Daniel Sperber, and Rabba Sara Hurwitz - whose recent ordination has created quite a stir within the Orthodox community. The panel was moderated by Rebbetzin Sharon Freundel.

I have long been interested in the discussion of women's roles within Orthodoxy. The roles of women within the Orthodox community, especially in regard to the possible role as a rabbi, must be guided by halachah. As such, women rabbis do not function entirely in the same ways as their counterparts within the wider Jewish community. For example, Orthodox interpretation of halachah forbids women to make-up a minyan, serve on a Beit Din, act as a posek (a religious judge), or as a halachic witness. As such, women rabbis within Orthodoxy would not be able to participate in these particular roles. However, advocates point out that there is much more to being a rabbi than just those few roles.

Many halachic authorities, both who support or may not support outright s'micha for women, acknowledge that many of these other roles are not forbidden to women. As such, as Rabba Hurwitz argued in a recent article in Moment Magazine: "I don’t think there’s a 90 percent overlap [between a rabbi’s role and what women can do] ... There is a 100 percent overlap. The rabbi’s job isn’t to make the minyan. It’s to make sure there is a minyan.” She added that women can also serve in roles not open to men, such as accompanying a woman to the mikveh.

Many halachic authorities recognize the need for greater roles for women ... but the question is: Should they necessarily be called 'rabbis?'

Judaism is a dynamic community - constantly evolving and wrestling with its identity. But it begins with a deep knowledge and love of Jewish learning. I echo the voices of those around the world encouraging active participation with our faith and texts. The point, as I have pointed out before, is not about always agreeing or disagreeing with everything. It is about participating in the conversation!!!

So what are you waiting for??? Get more involved in your own spirituality, and begin engaging in greater learning opportunities! (Some practical how-to's will come in my next post!)


Posted In , , , | 1 comments |

Choosing to be G-d Conscious

Nov 4, 2010 at 9:36 PM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

Parashat Toldot

What does this week’s Torah portion teach us about personal choices?

"Esau said to Jacob, ‘Pour some of that red stuff for me now, for I am exhausted. Jacob said, ‘Sell, as this day, your birthright to me.’ And Esau said, ‘Look, I am going to die, so of what use to me is a birthright?’ … Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, he ate and drank, got up and left; and thus, Esau spurned the birthright (Genesis 25:27-34)."

Esau was faced with a choice, soup or a birthright? When offered the opportunity for spiritual blessings and rewards, the only thing that mattered to him was his own immediate physical needs. Esau ended up selling his birthright to Jacob, for he had no regard for the spiritual. So why does he still end up hating and wanting to kill Jacob? (Genesis 27:41)

Just like Esau, we too often make irrational decisions in the spur of the moment, and end up hating ourselves and others as a result. We often cast off spiritual values in an attempt to satisfy an immediate need. Yet in the end it is futile. The thing we once cast off ends up becoming the thing we most desperately desire. And when we cannot have it, we end up hating those who do have it, resulting in a vicious cycle.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to G-d (Philippians 4:6).”

Instead of living by our own irrationality, like Esau, we must become like Jacob. We should never by too anxious to make a decision. But rather, we need to be “G-d conscious.” We need to constantly be reminded of a greater spiritual reality.

Yehudah HaNasi states, “Consider three things and you will not fall into the power of transgression: Know what is above you – a seeing eye, a hearing ear, and all your deeds are written in a book (Pirkei Avot 2.2).”

Being “G-d conscious” requires being in tune with spiritual values. It also requires us to train our minds to think about consequences for our actions. We must make ourselves aware to make choices for good. 1 Corinthians 10:5 encourages that we must “take every thought captive to the obedience of Mashiach.”

We all make choices. Sometimes, we may not even make the best ones. However, I challenge each one of us to begin to train our minds to be “G-d conscious” in every way. So when the challenge arises to place our needs above the highest (and holiest) needs, we will be able to make the right decisions. May we, like our ancestor Jacob, receive the blessing to make choices of blessings and shalom, and in the end merit the righteous birthright of our Messiah Yeshua!


Posted In , , | 6 comments |

Complexity in Early Jewish Messianism

Nov 2, 2010 at 10:54 AM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

The Messiah is the fullness of the G-d of Israel manifested in a physical form. This concept is readily evident throughout the Biblical text and extra-biblical writings. In Hebrew, the word אחד echad helps to explain this oneness that exists between HaShem, the Messiah, and the Spirit as the word echad means one, but not always in the singular. Rather, it is better used to describe a “complex unity.”


There is a popular misconception that Judaism has never believed in a Divine Messiah. However, the concept of Messiah in Jewish thought was far more complex before the destruction of the Second Temple, in 70 C.E., than after. Dietmar Neufeld, of the University of British Columbia, confirms that, “a heavenly, transcendent Messiah was not a unique invention of the Christian community but the outgrowth of reflection that had its roots in Judaism."

This perspective that, somehow, the messiah would be more than human, goes back to the last centuries B.C.E., and continued through the first centuries C.E. Already by this time, Biblical passages were attributed with messianic significance. We see messianic commentaries that include sections from Daniel, Zechariah, and others.


The Dead Sea Scrolls reflect this development. Certain texts describe an exalted figure that would suffer, even die, only to be resurrected. This particular messianic understanding has been brought to the forefront of scholarly debate with the recently published inscription known as “Gabriel’s Revelation.” This apocalyptic inscription, written on stone, dates to the late first century B.C.E., or the early first century C.E. Although some of the text is badly worn and difficult to read, Israel Knohl, of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem contends the text refers to a suffering Messiah who is to be resurrected within three days. This idea seems quite different from commonly held assumptions.


According to Knohl, “The new inscription, ‘Gabriel’s Revelation,’ suggests that this different kind of Messiah was evolving at the turn of the era – different from the Messiah son of David. Instead of a militant Messiah, it envisions a Messiah who suffered, died, and rose.”


There are a number of additional allusions and similarities to phrases and concepts in the New Testament. According to Hershel Shanks, of the Biblical Archaeology Society:


"By Jesus’ time...the concept of the mashiach had developed beyond that of an earthly messiah who would restore the glory of the kingdom of David. It also came to mean a divinely sent figure who would return as G-d’s agent and usher in the world to come. The Dead Sea Scrolls reflect this development…thus…the messiah was already freighted with eschatological content."


Craig C. Broyles, of Trinity Western University, claims, “The messianism that is attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls did not arise in isolation from the Scriptures of Israel or from the larger context of Judaism in late antiquity.”


The soil for messianism and complex unity in relation to G-d were already firmly established within the Jewish world of the Second Temple period. The earliest Jewish followers of Yeshua were absolutely convinced that Yeshua was indeed a divinely incarnated Messiah, and their perspective was based on various Jewish understandings and interpretations of the time.



*This is an an excerpt of an article I wrote that recently appeared in Kesher Journal. You can read the entire article here.



Posted In , , , , , , , , , , | 0 comments |

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)