Ask Me No Questions, Sing You No Names (Peter Monk & Phil Lesh- "Passenger")

Our 8th-grade son participates in a very unique program that only a handful of Jewish Day Schools in North America offer. The program is called “Names Not Numbers”. A small group of 8th-grade students is teamed with a Holocaust Survivor. This “team” goes through a process of interviewing the survivor. Each team formulates interview questions, conducts the interview, tapes the interview, edits the interview, and produces a mini-documentary about their assigned survivor. The team also has a writing assignment and presentation that is made in front of fellow classmates. In about a week, the final product will be shown before a gathering of parents, family, the survivors and their families, as well as school administrators and various members of the community. It should prove to be a remarkably moving and inspirational evening. Certainly, our son’s experience has been transformational on several levels. He learned a powerful pedagogical lesson. He understands what it means to be part of a team, working together to accomplish a common goal. Everyone had a job, each member of the group had to rely upon each other in order to generate this multimedia presentation. Second, our son touched history, history spoke to him in the voice of the Holocaust Survivor. Our son didn’t just read about something from a third party. He didn’t encounter a primary document. Along with his team, he created the primary document by recording the words and the story of his assigned Survivor’s life. While it is very easy to get lost in the numbers of the Holocaust and the enormity of it; our son saw a number on the Survivor’s arm and that number was so much more than just a number. That number belongs to a name, a person, a life.

This week, we begin reading the 4th of the 5 books of the Torah, Sefer Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers. This week’s Parsha is the same name Bemidbar. Numbers is aptly named. The book begins with counting, the counting of people, a census. God commands Moshe to take a census, MiBen Esrim Shana V’Mala Kol Yotzei Tzava B’Yisroel – of all males over the age of twenty, everyone who goes out in the Legion of Israel (1:3). Once the number of fighting age males has been established by tribe, each tribe is placed in a specific formation around the Ark. This will become the formation in which Bnai Yisroel is to travel from the foot of Sinai to Eretz Canaan. Finally the Tribe of Levi, the Priests are counted. However because Levi’s only responsibility is the Ark, and the Mishkan; they will not be able to hold land in Eretz Canaan, nor do they fight. Rather they are now counted and assigned specific functions in terms of maintaining the Mishkan. Immediately after Shabbat, the Jewish People celebrate the Chag Shavuot, The Feast of Weeks, the Festival of First Fruits, the holiday that commemorates Matan Torah – The Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.  

God order’s a census of people. However for whom is the counting?  Certainly, God is God and already knows the number of souls that comprise B’nai Yisroel as well as those able to fight. When God wants Moshe and Israel or anyone for that matter to do something for himself the language indicates it. Lech Lecha – Go for yourself God commanded Avraham, and Shelach Lecha send for yourself  God will command Moshe in several Parshiot from now.  Here, God commands Moshe Se’u et Rosh Kol Adat Bnai Yisroel count the heads. Since Lecha- for you does not appear; it would seem that the counting is not for B’nai Yisroel nor Moshe, but rather for God. So, why does God need or want a counting? We have already been told that B’nai Yisroel is Am Segula – a treasured nation, meaning B’nai Yisroel possesses some type of value. Each individual has value and from that, each individual has a purpose. Parshah Bemidbar demonstrates that there is an intrinsic value in the individual.  Halachically, we know this because the Legal Principle of Pikuach Nefesh, Saving a Soul exists. This principle appears in the Babylonian Talmud Tractate Shabbat, “the saving of life supersedes the Sabbath (Shabbat 132a). There is a Midrash in Tractate Sanhedrin which expresses the individual’s importance to God, and therefore God’s desire to count us. “If a person stamps several coins with the same die, they all resemble on another. But the King of kings stamps all human beings from the mold of the first person; and yet not one of them is identical to the other one. Therefore every individual has merit and is obliged to say “for my sake the world was created’”. (San4:5).

We all are given numbers some numbers are branded upon us because of hatred. Some numbers are ways in which government can keep track of its citizens such as Social Insurance cards Social security cards. Some numbers are given to us to keep track of how we spend. Some numbers are assigned us so that we can contact each other. It would seem that it is very easy to lose oneself amid the numbers that are used to identify each of us. However, as our son pointed out, amid each number, amid each survivor there is a story. Each individual, like the giving of the Torah, has his/her own narrative, a code that allows survival. Like the Torah’s survival depends upon study and transmission, the same could be said of the survivors and for each member of the Jewish People. Everyone has a story and a code. As our son explained to us, his connection with the past and any connection he has with the next generation depends upon his ability to receive the transmission of the story, and then transmit and teach that story as well as his story to the next generation.

Peace,

Rav Yitz  

Well They Took Away My Name And Gave Me A Number Instead (The Grateful Dead - "Standing on the Corner")

Our 8^th grade daughter participated in a very unique program in which a handful of Jewish Day Schools in North America offer. The program is called “Names Not Numbers”. A small group of 8^th grade students are teamed with Holocaust Survivor. This “team” goes through process of interviewing the survivor. Each team formulates interview questions, conducts the interview tapes the interview, edits the interview and produces a mini documentary about their assigned survivor. The team also has a writing assignment and presentation that is made in front of fellow classmates. The final product is shown before a gathering of parents, family, the survivors and their families, as well as school administration and various members of the community. It is a remarkably moving and inspirational evening and the experience that our daughter had strikes me as transformational on several levels. First, our daughter learned a powerful pedagogical lesson. She learned what is was to be part of team, working together to accomplish a common goal. Everyone had a job, each member of the group had to rely upon each other in order to generate this multimedia presentation. Second our daughter touched history, history spoke to her in the voice of the Holocaust Survivor. Our daughter didn’t just read about something from a third party. She didn’t encounter a primary document. She, along with her team, created the primary document of her assigned Survivor’s life. While it is very easy to get lost in the numbers of the Holocaust and the enormity of it. Our daughter saw a number on the Survivor’s arm and that number was so much more than just a number. That number belongs to a name, a person, a life.

This week, we begin reading the 4th of the 5 books of the Torah, Sefer Bemidbar, the Book of Numbers. This week’s Parsha is the same name Bemidbar. Numbers is aptly named the book begins with counting, the counting of people, a census. God commands Moshe to take a census, MiBen Esrim Shana V’Mala Kol Yotzei Tzava B’Yisroel – of all males over the age of twenty, everyone who goes out in the Legion of Israel (1:3). Once the number of fighting age males has been established by tribe, each tribe is placed in a specific formation around the Ark. This will be the formation in which Bnai Yisroel is to travel from the foot of Sinai to Eretz Canaan. Finally the Tribe of Levi, the Priests are counted. However because Levi’s only responsibility is the Ark, and the Mishkan; they will not be able to hold land in Eretz Canaan, nor do they fight. Rather they are now counted and assigned specific functions in terms of maintaining the Mishkan.

God order’s a census of people. However for whom is the counting?  Certainly God is God and already knows the number of souls that comprise B’nai Yisroel as well as those able to fight. When God wants Moshe and Israel or anyone for that matter to do something for himself the language indicates it. Lech Lecha – Go for yourself God commanded Avraham; and Shelach Lecha send for yourself  God will command Moshe in several Parshiot from now.  Here, God command Moshe Se’u et Rosh Kol Adat Bnai Yisroel count the heads. Since Lecha- for you does not appear; it would seem that the counting is not for B’nai Yisroel nor Moshe, but rather for God. So, why does God need or want a counting? We have already been told that B’nai Yisroel is Am Segula – a treasured nation, meaning B’nai Yisroel possesses some type of value. Each individual has value and from that, each individual has a purpose. Parshah Bemidbar demonstrates that there is an intrinsic value in the individual.  Halachically, we know this because the Legal Principle of Pikuach Nefesh, Saving a Soul exists. This principle appears in the Babylonian Talmud Tractate Shabbat, “the saving of life supersedes the Sabbath (Shabbat 132a).There is a Midrash in Tractate Sanhedrin which expresses the individual’s importance to God, and therefore God’s desire to count us. “If a human being stamps several coins with the same die, they all resemble on another. But the King of kings stamps all human beings from the mold of the first person; and yet not one of them is identical to the other one. Therefore every individual has merit and is obliged to say “for my sake the world was created’”. (San4:5).

We all are given numbers.   Some numbers are ways in which government can monitor the benefits it provides its citizens like Social Insurance Cards and Social Security Cards. Some numbers are given to us in order to make deposits and withdrawals. . Some numbers are assigned us so that we can contact each other. Sadly, we know that some numbers are branded upon us because of hatred. It would seem that it is very easy to lose oneself amid the numbers that are used to identify each of us. As we watched our daughter make her presentation, as we watched the mini documentary, and as we watch her with the Survivor; those who were present understood the valuable lesson that our daughter and all her classmates learned from these incredibly inspiring people. Each Survivor explained that numbers are assigned by another,  Although that is how these survivors and all those who perished were identified by those who assign the numbers, they did not identify themselves that way. Each survivor movingly made the point that everyone in the Holocaust is more than just a number, they were a person, with a personality and a soul.  The development of that name, the Shem Tov, the good name cannot be assigned in the form of a number by another person. Rather a Shem Tov can only be shaped by the person and God. Hopefully the students who participated in the Names Not Numbers program realized that each of them has an opportunity to make a Shem Tov, a good name for themselves and always be more than a number.

Peace,

Rav Yitz  

And There's Nothing Left To Do But Count The Years (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Black Muddy River")

One of the amazing things about the congregation that I serve is the number of Holocaust survivors. Children of these congregants, now in their fifties and sixties routinely call the area where the synagogue is located “survivor central”.  The synagogue was built by survivors. Its life cycle affairs, whether a Bris, a Baby Naming, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah or a wedding, are large lavish affairs almost symbolically suggesting that not only have they survived but they have thrived.  So when I listed to certain American politicians’ criticism of the Iran Nuclear Deal as the equivalent of marching Israel to the doors of the gas chambers; I want to hang my head in despair. The despair results from the complete disrespect and lack of sensitivity for the numerous survivors of my congregation as well as the numerous family and friends of theirs that, indeed, were marched to the doors of the gas chambers. I look at the elderly congregants who are Holocaust survivors and realize that they have done much more than survive, they have thrived. They are a testament and a symbol of the Jewish People’s ability to survive. As difficult as the situation has been I am reminded of Mark Twain’s opinion of  the Jewish People. “If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also way out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with the sound and splendor, then faded to dream stuff and passed away. The Greek and the roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone. Other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality (Mark Twain, “Concerning the Jews” Harpers Magazine, 1898).

This week’s parsha is V’Etchanan. The Parshah begins with Moshe's recounting his experience of pleading to God to allow him into the Land. Moshe explained to this new generation that because of the previous generation's whining and complaining, he lost patience and failed to adhere to God's command. Moshe explain that this is why he cannot cross into the land as well as Joshua becoming the leader. Moshe then recounts his experience and his generation's experience of revelation at Sinai. However instead of just stating the facts, Moshe adds his own editorial comments. "For the Lord your God is a merciful, He will not abandon you or destroy you, He will not forget the covenant of your forefathers that he swore to them" (Deut. 4:31). Moshe is offering hope, suggesting that no matter what happens to this people, they must always know and believe that we always have the capacity for T'shuvah for return or repentance to God, and that we will always be accepted. Moshe then begins recounting the giving of the Aseret HaDibrot, The Ten Commandments. Moshe again reminds B’nai Yisroel to never participate in Avodah Zarah (idolatry), and avoid it at all costs. He implores us to pass this information, and to teach these traditions and these laws to the next generation.

Throughout this Parsha, the secrets to our survival are revealed in large broad statements as well as the use of certain words. One secret to our survival is the “Aseret Dibrot” -The Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:6-19). Another secret to our survival is perhaps the one theologically dogmatic statement in Torah: Shmah Yisroel Adoshem Elokeinu, Adoshem Echad – Hear O Yisroel O Lord Our God, the Lord is One. (Deut. 6:4). Certainly the “Shmah” contributes to the secret of our survival. Moshe’s re-iteration of God’s nature also contributes to the secret of our success.  Ki Eil Kanah Adoshem Elokecha B’kirbecha pen yechreh af Adoshem Elokecha   bach v’hismidcha mei’al pnei Ha’Adamah- For a jealous God is the Lord your God, among you lest the wrath of the Lord your God will flare against you and He destroy you from upon the face of the earth…(Deut 6:15-19). Certainly these powerful explicit statements of theology, universal moral guidelines, and our fear of retribution contribute to the secret of our survival.

However the essence of our survival is our sense of purpose and our sense of existence. Our purpose is to live according to these laws. “You shall be careful to act as the Lord your God commanded you, you shall not stray to the right or left". B’chol Ha’derech Asher Tzivah Adoshem Elokeichem Etchem Teileichu L’ma’an Tishyun V’Tov Lachem v’haractem Yamim – On the entire way that the Lord your God, commanded you shall you go, so that you shall live and it will be good for you, and you shall prolong your days…(Deut.6:29-30).  We live according to Torah so that our lives will go well, so that our lives will have more meaning, so that the quality of our lives determines length. We learn that living a long life is not about length it is about quality. Our sense of purpose is to achieve this quality. Besides “purpose” we must have a sense of our existence. Our sense of existence is our acceptance of our place. There were generations that came before us and, G-d willing, generations will follow us. Ki Yishalcha vincha Machar Leimor Mah Ha’eidot vHa’chukim v’Hamishpatim Asher Tzivah Adoshem Elokeinu Etchem – If your child asks you tomorrow saying; What are the testimonies and the decrees and the ordinances that the Lord your G-d commanded you V’Amarta L’vincha Avadim Ha’yinu l’Faroh B’Mitzrayim – You shall say to your child, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt…(Deut. 6:20-21). Our sense of purpose is of that of transmitter between the older generation and the younger generation, between the past and the future. As we delve deeper into the Book of Deuteronomy we understand that our survival is dependent upon our ability to transmit this sense of purpose and sense of existence to the next generation. That ability is what makes us a holy nation.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Peace, 

Rav Yitz