Tonight I Would Be Thankful Lord, For Any Dreams At All (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Mission In The Rain")

           One of the most important days of the year growing up in my Western Upstate New York home was Thanksgiving. As a child, and later a college student, my family, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin would always gather at my parents’ home. My mother would make a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, corn muffins, coleslaw.  We would watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade, take a walk or play catch with my father, and if the weather was unusually warm (more than 10 degrees) we would go play nine holes of golf. When we finally sat down to dinner, my mother insisted that we go around the table sharing the one thing that we were most thankful for in the past year. Even while living in Toronto, our children always insist on driving to their grandparents for Thanksgiving. Whether we are there for only the day or for the long weekend, our children are always thankful for sharing that time with their grandparents.  This year will be a very different Thanksgiving. Yes, we will have the same food. However, only two of our children will be with us. My parents will remain in upstate New York. My mother-in-law will remain in California. There will be no Macy’s thanksgiving day parade.  One daughter will be in Israel, and one daughter will be with a college roommate sharing Thanksgiving dinner in New Jersey (she will arrive home on Sunday).  The pandemic has forced us to adjust our Thanksgiving expectations. So in response, we will take some time prior to eating our traditional Thanksgiving feast; we will gather on Zoom, and yes, my mother will insist that we do around sharing the one thing for which we are thankful in 2020, in this year of a pandemic, in this year of so much pain and suffering for so many.

          This week we read from Parsha VaYeitze. This week we read from Parshat VaYeitze. The focus of the narrative is upon Yaakov. Yaakov will grow up before our very eyes. He will leave home. Find a girl, get married. Actually, he will have several wives. He will get a job. He will have children, he will continue to work for his father in law and take on all the trappings of raising a family and living a middle-class life. Eventually, he will grow restless enough and realize that it is time to return home to his parents, and home to his covenantal land. 

          While we learn about Yaakov, we will also learn something about his wives: Rachel and Leah, his children, and many of the family dynamics. Yaakov is ready to become a father. Sadly his beloved Rachel is unable to conceive. However, Leah is able to conceive and gives Yaakov children even if Yaakov does not love her as he loves Rachel. VaYar Hashem Ki Snuah Leah Va’Yiftach et Rachma, V’Rachel  Akara - and Hashem saw that Leah was unloved, so he opened her womb, but Rachel remained barren. (29:31) For the next three Psukim (29:32-34), we read that Leah conceives and gives birth to sons. Leah names each son in succession and offers a reason for their name. She named the first Reuven because Hashem Ra’u- saw that she was unloved compared to Rachel. She names the second Shimon because Hashem Shama - heard that she was unloved. She named the third Levi because after three sons Yaakov will become YiLVeh - attached to her. After three sons, clearly, nothing had changed. She continued to feel unloved compared to her sister, and her husband wasn’t any more attached to her because she had given birth to these three sons. However in the fourth verse, 29:34, she conceives and gives birth to a fourth son. This time something is very different. VaTahar Od Va Teiled Ben VaTomer  Ha’PaAm Odeh et Hashem Al Kein Kra’ah Shmo Yehuda V Ta’amod Miledet - Again she conceived, and bore a son, and declared, ‘This time let me gratefully praise Hashem’ therefore she called his name Yehuda (Judah) then she stopped giving birth (29:35) Yehudah received his name because Leah understood gratitude. There was no ulterior motive, no agenda. Instead, a woman gave birth and was able to appreciate the blessing she just received: a happy healthy baby. Rashi explains that Leah understood that each of the wives was supposed to bear three sons. When Leah conceived and gave birth to a fourth son, she realized that she had received more than her share. Because she received more than her fair share she could appreciate her blessing and feel gratitude. The Talmudic Sages (ChaZaL) explains that this was the first time that anyone had demonstrated any type of gratitude towards God (Brachot 7b). Certainly, God had provided blessings and miracles prior to Leah’s giving birth a fourth time. Yet, only now she is capable of gratitude?  For Leah, according to the commentaries, gratitude is a result of a sense that one has received something beyond a fair share, beyond one’s “portion”.  This attitude contradicts the Sages who teach in Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot 4:1) that a rich person is someone who is happy with their portion. Underlying the Sages' understanding of being “rich” and of being “happy” is the idea that the person has gratitude for his/her portion. 

          Leah was blessed to have not one but four sons in those four Psukim. However, she didn’t feel blessed, she didn’t feel “rich”, or “happy” until she was able to express her gratitude by naming the fourth son Yehuda. The irony wasn’t lost on her sister, Rachel. She would have been thankful to give birth to one son, let alone four. Leah needed to give birth four times before she could get past her pain, and appreciate what she did have. Indeed, there has been discomfort, and pain during this past year. Our picture of Thanksgiving, of a multigenerational family gathering together to share a meal and giving thanks, had to be altered. This year, the thankfulness is distilled into the simplest level of gratitude. We are all thankful for health, for being able to share even this moment, even if it’s remote, with our loved ones. Sometimes having gratitude for even the smallest stuff gives us a bit of perspective in terms of what is most important.

Peace,

Rav Yitz 

What I Want To Know Is, Are You Kind (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Uncle John's Band")

There are some life lessons that recur so frequently that it seems almost impossible to learn from them. Yet, for some, it is impossible to learn. As a husband, a parent, a child, as a friend, as an educator, as a Rabbi or a community leader one of the most vital and recurring lessons of Presence. Sometimes, the Lesson of Presence is a phone call, a tweet, or an email. Sometimes the Lesson of Presence is a formal statement. Sometimes it is physically showing up. The fires out west have been horrific, lives lost. My wife’s family lives in both northern and southern California. We call them because we are concerned, but we also call them to let them know that we are thinking of them, that we are present. With a daughter in learning in Jerusalem and friends throughout Israel, when we say “stay safe”, it reminds them that we care and that we are sensitive what has been happening in Israel with hundreds of rockets being fired from Gaza.  With a daughter who has finished an election cycle and was driving alone from Florida to Washington DC; I spoke to her several times so she shouldn’t feel so alone (it probably drove her a bit crazy but she should know that she wasn’t alone).  As Jews, we pay a Shiva visit to a mourner, we do Bikur Cholim- we visit the sick. On a Yartzeit, (the anniversary of a person’s death), the loved one might visit the grave.  To be “Present” is among the most basic and simplest acts that one person can demonstrate to another. Sometimes it may require words or a hug. Sometimes it can be done in silence. For a leader of a Nation, the Power of Presence is about the easiest thing to do.  On one hand, it is incredibly symbolic, it creates a sense of good will, and it goes a long way in reminding the person or the group that feels alone and abandoned that they are not.  

This week we read from Parsha VaYeitze. This week we read from Parshat VaYeitze. The focus of the narrative is upon Yaakov. For the first time, Yaakov will find out what it means to be alone in the world.  He has left his mother, Rivkah, and his father Yitzchak, for the first time. In fleeing his brother Esav, Yaakov now embarks on a new phase of his life. For the first time, but certainly not the last time, he will have to face being alone. Yes, Yaakov will meet his future wives, his cousins Leah and Rachel. He will work for his father in- law, Lavan, and he will have children. The narrative will focus upon Yaakov life from young adulthood to becoming a responsible father, earning a living and all the trials, tribulation, and tensions of career and family. As Yaakov makes his way in life, hopefully, he will learn more about himself. With each event, with each adventure, Yaakov has an opportunity to become better connected, better connected to himself, and better connected to a covenant that his father bequeathed to him. Yet throughout the narrative he will come to understand the Lesson of Presence.  At the beginning of the narrative, he feels alone but will quickly sense God’s presence. He will learn the importance of Presence when his wife begs for a child, when a son helps his mother, and when a family prepares to finally leave an untenable situation.

Yaakov acknowledges his loneliness at the beginning of the Parsha. He doesn’t even feel connected to God. First God speaks to Yaakov in the dream: Ani Adoshem Elohei Avraham Avicha, V’Elohei Yitzchak HaAretz Asher Atah Shocheiv Aleha Lecha Etnenah U’LeZarecha – I am Hashem, God of Abraham your father and God of Isaac; the ground upon which you are lying, to you will I give it and to your descendants (28:13). In the dream, God offers Yaakov protection wherever Yaakov goes. In a sense, God volunteers to be Yaakov’s God as well.  When Yaakov wakes up from the dream he still does not feel reassured: Im Yiheyeh Elohim Imadi Ushmarani Baderech Hazeh Asher Anochi Holech v’Natan Li Lechem L’echol Uveged Lilbosh, vShavti b’Shalom el Bet Avi v’Hayah Hashem Li Le’lohim.  If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.  Im Yiheyeh Elohim Imadi Ushmarani Baderech Hazeh Asher Anochi Holech v’Natan Li Lechem L’echol Uveged Lilbosh, vShavti b’Shalom el Bet Avi v’Hayah Hashem Li Le’lohim.  If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.   Yaakov equates the feeling of abandonment or a lack of presence with a lack of demonstrable kindness.  It will take nearly two decades, but as Yaakov is able to act selflessly, demonstrate kindness, he will feel less alone, and less of a sense of abandonment. As Yaakov is more present in others’ lives, he will sense God’s presence in his life.

In the first chapter of Genesis, we learned that humankind was created in God’s image. That is to say, human beings have the capacity to emulate Godly qualities. The Talmudic Tractate Sota 14 a explains that clothing the needy is a Godly quality because God clothed Adam and Chava; visiting the sick is a Godly quality because God visited Avraham while Avaraham was healing from circumcision (the beginning of Parsha VaYeirah); comforting the mourner is a Godly quality because God comforted Isaac (end of Parsha Chayei Sarah) and burying the dead because God buried Moses (end of Deuteronomy 34:6). Emulating God requires us to act selflessly, to remove the self from the equation and to do for the other. Fundamental to each of these Godly actions, these acts of kindness is the notion of being present. Every act of kindness is an expression of God’s Presence. Perhaps it is the simplest activity for a person to do – be present, empathize, and in doing so, God’s presence is self-evident.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Wildflower Seed On The Sand And Stone; May The Four Winds Blow You Safely Home (Robert Hunter, Bill Kreutzman,& Jerry Garcia - "Franklin's Tower")

Well, it’s Thanksgiving in the United States. Families return home in an attempt to share a few days together, a sumptuous Holiday meal together, and of course family dysfunction together. Obviously, in order for the children to return home for what winds up being dysfunctional family reunions, they must first leave home. So, in our home, we are going through the long difficult process of preparing for our 17-year-old to leave home. As the very common process continues to unfold in our home; I had one of those Sit-Com father moments this week. You know the moment. The wise-cracking, know it all, teenage daughter looks at her father as if he is the most dim-witted, short-sighted, fool on the planet. There I was, in the kitchen, eating my dinner, minding my own business. Our seventeen year old daughter, who firmly believes that neither her mother nor I could possibly understand what she goes through because after all, we were never seventeen, never seniors in high school, never had burning desire to leave home with mixed with the trepidation of leaving home, and never thought that our own parents were as clueless and out of touch as our daughter thinks we are. So after our daughter expressed her aggravation with her mother; I committed the sin of looking up and smiling because she sounded like a typical 17-year-old, with typical 17-year-old anxiety about the questions concerning her gap year and her four years at college/university. Boy did she let me have it! She looked incredulously, sneered and told me that I was annoying and she “couldn’t wait to get out of this house.” I suppose if I was the saintly good father, I would have let it pass or made a comment about how much we will miss her when she does finally leave. However, I am not such a saintly father. So I looked up from my dinner, I smiled and said that “I can’t wait either!”. Needless to say, my comment, which I thought was particularly poignant and thoughtful, didn’t go over very well with daughter or mother. Yet, as part of our daughter’s continued spiritual, emotional and intellectual development, it is important that she leaves home. It is important that the values that we instilled in her, become her values, the code with which we raised her becomes her code, and the rules that we instituted to govern her life becomes the rules by which she governs her own life.

This week we read from Parshat VaYeitzeh- a Parsha that is replete with the Holiday Themes of Thanksgiving and “Home for the Holidays”. The focus of the narrative is upon Yaakov. He has left his mother, Rivkah, and his father Yitzchak, for the first time. In fleeing his brother Esav, Yaakov now embarks on a new phase of his life. Yaakov will meet his future wives, his cousins Leah and Rachel. He will work for his father in- law, Lavan, and he will have children. The narrative focuses on Yaakov life from young adulthood to becoming a responsible father, earning a living and all the trials, tribulation, and tensions of career and family. As Yaakov makes his way in life, hopefully, he will learn more about himself. With each event, with each adventure, Yaakov has an opportunity to become better connected, better connected to himself, and better connected to a covenant that his father bequeathed to him.

Yaakov needs to have his own experiences, and live his own life before he is capable of truly offering thanks and being thankful. After Yaakov dreams of the ladder, he has a revelatory experience. V’hinei Adonai Nitzav Alav, Vayomer: Ani Adonai Elohei Avraham Avicha v’Elohei Yitzchak – and behold Hashem stood above it and said: I am Hashem the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Yitzchak (Gen.28:13). However, God does not introduce himself as “your God” but rather the God of his Avraham and Yitzchak. God appreciates the fact that any sense of a relationship that exists between Yaakov and God is merely a function of Yaakov’s father and grandfather. Although he received a blessing upon fleeing from his home, Yaakov has not experienced his own narrative. He doesn’t share a common narrative with his father or grandfather. Yaakov does not yet have his own connection to God and the covenant. Rather he must develop his connection. Va’yidar Yaakov Neder Leimor: Im Yiheyeh Elohim Imadi, v’Shamrani b’Derech Hazeh Asher Anochi Holeich, v’Natan Li Lechem Le’Echol v’Beged Lilbosh, V’Shavti B’shalom El Beit Avi, V’hayah HaShem Li Leilohim – And Yaakov vowed a vow saying: if the God will stand with me, and guard me on this way that I go, and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and returns me in peace to my father’s home, then Hashem will be my God. (Gen 28:20-21).  Yaakov has now laid out the conditions by which Yaakov and God will have their own unique connection, based upon a common narrative that he shares with his father and grandfather. Like his grandfather Avraham who left home (Parsha Lech Lecha) and  developed his own relationship with God, and like his father Yitzchak who had the ties to home severed (see the Akedah/Binding of Isaac); Yaakov innately understands that he needs to leave home and he needs to have the tools and strength to be able to return home. Only after experiencing exile and returning home does Yaakov share enough common experiences with his father and grandfather that he would feel connected to the Covenant and to his family.

Part of the Thanksgiving experience is the idea that Americans return “home” for Thanksgiving. As we sit down to our family’s Thanksgiving meal, we all understand that future Thanksgivings will be different. It was different for my parents when I left home, only to return, first as a single man, then as a married man, then as a father. It will be different for me and my wife. Yes, our eldest has been returning home for Thanksgiving for ten years, but now, our next child will also be returning home for all future Thanksgivings. So yes, “I can’t wait either” for her to leave, not because I won’t miss her, not because she is an annoying teenager, but because I know that she needs to have her own covenant. I know that she needs to take ownership of the values, code, and rules which we tried to instill.  Maybe when she returns home next year she won’t think I’m such a dim-witted clueless father.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

All I Leave Behind Me Is Only What I Found ( Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "China Doll")

Now that the December Holiday season is upon us, one cannot turn on the television without a Christmas special on one channel or a Christmas movie on another channel. Perhaps the most beloved holiday movie in our home is Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life”. In fact the first time the movie was on this year occurred earlier this week. With our children on the computer, the phone or the IPod, I happened to turn the movie on. I notified my children that “It’s a Wonderful Life” was on. I have never seen them stop doing whatever it is they were doing. Within a few seconds, our kids were on the sofa watching the movie. We have watched this movie dozens and dozens of times as a family. Often times our kids will ask us questions about the movie, it’s setting, and if life was really the way it is portrayed in the movie. For the first time, our kids picked up on something that I never really noticed. Until Jimmy Stewart’s character George Bailey gets married, his greatest desire is to leave home, go away to school, and make a life for himself in some other place besides Bedford Falls. This unfulfilled desire gnaws away at him and contributes to his sense of failure as an adult, as a husband, and a father.  They wondered aloud why it is so important for George Bailey to have left home, and why is it such a source of frustration in his life? I explained that leaving home is important because it is vital to become an independent and confident person. I explained that we could talk more after the movie.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha VaYeitze. The focus of the narrative is upon Yaakov. For the first time, Yaakov will find out what it means to be alone in the world.  He has left his mother, Rivkah, and his father Yitzchak, for the first time. In fleeing his brother Esav, Yaakov now embarks on a new phase of his life. For the first time, but certainly not the last time, he will have to face being alone. He will learn to be an independent individual. Yes, Yaakov will meet his future wives, his cousins Leah and Rachel. He will work for his father in- law, Lavan, and he will have children. The narrative will focus upon Yaakov’s life from young adulthood to becoming a responsible father, earning a living and all the trials, tribulation, and tensions of career and family. As Yaakov makes his way in life, hopefully he will learn more about himself. With each event, with each adventure, Yaakov has an opportunity to become better connected, better connected to himself, and better connected to a covenant that his father bequeathed to him. Yet throughout the narrative he will learn to be alone, he will learn to become independent, he will learn, through trial and error, to whom he should spiritually cling: from Esav, to his parents, Lavan, his wives, and ultimately God.

At the conclusion of the previous Parsha, Parsha Toldot, we read that Yitzchak and Rivkah instructed Yaakov to go to Padan- Aram, to the house of Bethuel (Rivkah’s father’s home) and take a wife from there. We would expect Parsha VaYeitze to begin with Yaakov heading to Padan- Aram. Instead, VaYeitze begins: VaYeitze Yaakov M’Beer Sheva VaYeilech Charana – Yaakov departed from Beer Sheva and went toward Charan. Why doesn’t VaYeitze, say that Yaakov departed and went to Padan Aram? Why do we need to be told that he went to Charan what’s in Charan? Keeping in mind that Yaakov has never been away from home and although he is heading toward is mother’s family; even Rivkah knew enough to leave her family of origin. Now Yaakov, in order to preserve his life, must leave his family of origin. In Toldot, Yaakov was described as Ish Tam  Yoshev Ohalim – a simple man of faith who dwells in tents (Gen. 19;27) The Talmudic Sages explain that Yaakov’s dwelling in the tents meant that he spent time in his parent’s tents studying and learning. However no learning would prepare him for what he would contend with when dealing with Rivka’s family and particularly her brother Lavan.  Rabbi Kamenetsky, (1891-1986), explained that prior to arriving in Paddan Aram, Yaakov stopped in Charan to learn from Shem and Eber. Shem was Noah’s son, and Eber from the generation of the Tower of Bavel. Both were considered righteous and wise men who lived in unsavory environments and managed to retain their sense of righteousness. Yaakov sought their practical wisdom prior to his encounter with Lavan and dealing with becoming independent in an unsavory environment.  He will also need the wisdom of Shem and Eber to help him eventually return home. As a result of Yaakov’s detour, Yaakov understands that he must maintain a relationship to God, and he understands that he will need to find his way home when the time is right.

As we watched the movie, I suggested that George’s he wished that he never had been born, symbolized his leaving home and all the lives he touched when he left only to return when he returns to real life. For Yaakov, he needed to leave his physical home, but clearly he took with him the values and the learning that he acquired from his family. He took God with him as well as the sense of the land. He took with him a desire to return home. I reminded our children that part of becoming independent is knowing what to bring and what to leave, what wisdom is helpful and which superstitions are foolish. For both Yaakov and George Baily, part of the independence that they achieve is deriving their own faith based upon not only what they learn from their families but from their own experiences. Hopefully, our children, as they strive for their own sense of independence will make stops along the way in order to learn, test, and discover faith for themselves. Of course when they are all finished, hopefully they will come home every so often to visit.

Peace

Rav Yitz.

The Darkness Never Goes From Some Men's Eyes (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Throwing Stones")

Last Friday night in Paris, a concert hall, and cafes, and outside a soccer stadium – six locations in all, terrorist acting on orders for ISIS, killed more than 120 people. The last time that many Parisians were killed occurred during WWII.  Dozens were wounded, Paris went into immediate lockdown. Its museums closed, the Eiffel Tower closed, yet people continue to venture out where impromptu memorial sights sprung up.  Something else happened throughout the rest of the world. Various iconic landmarks were lit with the Red White and Blue of the French Flag. Those iconic sights included the Empire State Building, The CN Tower and even The Kotel (Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem. When the Naval Academy ran out onto the football field to play Southern Methodist University, they ran out with the Naval Academy flag as well as the French flag. The symbolism was quite evident. France was not alone and won’t have to face the evil perpetrated against it alone. The world would support France during this awful trauma. As I have watched the news from Paris and the rest of the world and this story continues to unfold, my children noticed that Israel offered to share any intelligence it may have as French authorities continue to pursue the terrorist at large. My children saw how quick the rest of the world offered its symbolic support of France. They asked a simple question. While this heinous attack occurred, Israel has been dealing with and continues to deal with the madness of stabbings and attempted stabbings upon its citizenry. Yet so much of the world, according to my children, remains silent about what Israel deals with on a daily basis and as a result Israel is almost alone its fight against terrorism.

This week we read from Parsha VaYeitze. This week we read from Parshat VaYeitze. The focus of the narrative is upon Yaakov. For the first time, Yaakov will find out what it means to be alone in the world.  He has left his mother, Rivkah, and his father Yitzchak, for the first time. In fleeing his brother Esav, Yaakov now embarks on a new phase of his life. For the first time, but certainly not the last time, he will have to face being alone. Yes, Yaakov will meet his future wives, his cousins Leah and Rachel. He will work for his father in- law, Lavan, and he will have children. The narrative will focus upon Yaakov life from young adulthood to becoming a responsible father, earning a living and all the trials, tribulation, and tensions of career and family. As Yaakov makes his way in life, hopefully he will learn more about himself. With each event, with each adventure, Yaakov has an opportunity to become better connected, better connected to himself, and better connected to a covenant that his father bequeathed to him. Yet throughout the narrative he will have to understand what it means to truly be alone. At the beginning of the narrative he feels alone. By the end of the narrative, he has formed a key relationship and as a result, will never feel alone or abandoned again.

Yaakov acknowledges his loneliness at the beginning of the Parsha. He doesn’t even feel connected to God. First God speaks to Yaakov in the dream: Ani Adoshem Elohei Avraham Avicha, V’Elohei Yitzchak HaAretz Asher Atah Shocheiv Aleha Lecha Etnenah U’LeZarecha – I am Hashem, God of Abraham your father and God of Isaac; the ground upon which you are lying, to you will I give it and to your descendants (28:13). In the dream, God offers Yaakov protection wherever Yaakov goes. In a sense God volunteers to be Yaakov’s God as well.  When Yaakov wakes up from the dream he still does not feel reassured: Im Yiheyeh Elohim Imadi Ushmarani Baderech Hazeh Asher Anochi Holech v’Natan Li Lechem L’echol Uveged Lilbosh, vShavti b’Shalom el Bet Avi v’Hayah Hashem Li Le’lohim.  If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.  Im Yiheyeh Elohim Imadi Ushmarani Baderech Hazeh Asher Anochi Holech v’Natan Li Lechem L’echol Uveged Lilbosh, vShavti b’Shalom el Bet Avi v’Hayah Hashem Li Le’lohim.  If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.   For Yaakov, being alone is a function of not have what to eat, what to wear and mostly; being alone is feeling exiled from his parents.  After nearly twenty years, as Yaakov has matured, is married, has children, and property, he wonders if it is time to leave Lavan and his exile.  VaYomer Adoshem el Yaakov Shuv el Eretz Avotecha Ulmoladtecha V’Eheyeh Imach – And Hashem said to Yaakov: “Return to the land of your fathers and to your native land, and I will be with you (31:3). It took nearly two decades for Yaakov to understand that even when he thought he was alone, he wasn’t truly alone. The miracles of his life, his wives, his children, his economic success indicated that God was involved and his God as well as Yaakov’s father’s God.

Yes, it may seem that Israel stands alone. Though politicians and citizens who are the victims of such terrorist attacks can now see things more through Israel’s eyes; there are those who still celebrate when Israelis are murdered, and Israel is bombed. Yet Israel is not alone. Even when it seems that other countries, other regions are still unable to link their experience as a victim of terrorism with Israel’s experience, Israel is not alone.  As ISIS continues to lash out against nations that stand in the way of their achieving its stated goals, and celebrate the loss of innocent lives as a necessary step in realizing those goals; hopefully the world will eventually see which country, which people are the embodiment of B’nai Yaakov, and which people are the embodiment of B’nai Esav, and B’nai Lavan, the children of Esau and the children of Lavan.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Oh My God, Am I Here All Alone? (Bob Dylan - Ballad of a Thin Man)

Last week, while a small group of Jews in the Har Nof section of Jerusalem were conducting their weekday morning prayers, two Palestinian attacked them and four Rabbis were murdered. An Israeli policemen was killed as the Police tried to capture the terrorists. Many were wounded and the scenes of blood upon the floor, upon the table where people prayed, upon the prayer books and prayer shawls reminded me of scenes from pogroms of 19^th and 20^th century Europe. Our children heard about it in school and we all watched the news that afternoon and evening.  As difficult as it was to see the destruction and blood in the Har Nof synagogue; it was even more difficult to watch scenes of Palestinians celebrating the attack and dancing in the streets.  Our kids were horrified and disgusted. I told them that the last time I saw that was on 9/11 when Palestinians danced in the streets and celebrated the destruction of the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and thousands of people dying.  As we continued to watch the news; I became more dismayed with the response from the President whom I have now voted for twice. Yes he said what he was supposed to say; he urged calm and condemned the attacks. Yet as a Jew, I felt alone. It was the same feeling I had started to have when the 9/11 attacks happened.  Then, as an American I felt alone as I watched Palestinians celebrate. Then Israel, and Israel’s leadership said that she understood, that America was not alone, that Israel and Israelis understand what is it is to suffer from a terrorist attack and watch as people celebrate. Surely, the President, or some White House spokesman could have offered a more empathetic statement and told Israel that she is not alone; that America understand what is like to suffer from a terrorist attack and watch Palestinians celebrate. However no such empathetic statement was made. As a Jew, as someone who loves Israel, I felt alone. It seemed that Israel truly stands alone.

This week we read from Parsha VaYeitze. This week we read from Parshat VaYeitze. The focus of the narrative is upon Yaakov. For the first time, Yaakov will find out what it means to be alone in the world.  He has left his mother, Rivkah, and his father Yitzchak, for the first time. In fleeing his brother Esav, Yaakov now embarks on a new phase of his life. For the first time, but certainly not the last time, he will have to face being alone. Yes, Yaakov will meet his future wives, his cousins Leah and Rachel. He will work for his father in- law, Lavan, and he will have children. The narrative will focus upon Yaakov life from young adulthood to becoming a responsible father, earning a living and all the trials, tribulation, and tensions of career and family. As Yaakov makes his way in life, hopefully he will learn more about himself. With each event, with each adventure, Yaakov has an opportunity to become better connected, better connected to himself, and better connected to a covenant that his father bequeathed to him. Yet throughout the narrative he will have to understand what it means to truly be alone. At the beginning of the narrative he feels alone. By the end of the narrative, he has formed a key relationship and as a result, will never feel alone or abandoned again.

Yaakov acknowledges his loneliness at the beginning of the Parsha. He doesn’t even feel connected to God. First God speaks to Yaakov in the dream: Ani Adoshem Elohei Avraham Avicha, V’Elohei Yitzchak HaAretz Asher Atah Shocheiv Aleha Lecha Etnenah U’LeZarecha – I am Hashem, God of Abraham your father and God of Isaac; the ground upon which you are lying, to you will I give it and to your descendants (28:13). In the dream, God offers Yaakov protection wherever Yaakov goes. In a sense God volunteers to be Yaakov’s God as well.  When Yaakov wakes up from the dream he still does not feel reassured: Im Yiheyeh Elohim Imadi Ushmarani Baderech Hazeh Asher Anochi Holech v’Natan Li Lechem L’echol Uveged Lilbosh, vShavti b’Shalom el Bet Avi v’Hayah Hashem Li Le’lohim.  If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.  Im Yiheyeh Elohim Imadi Ushmarani Baderech Hazeh Asher Anochi Holech v’Natan Li Lechem L’echol Uveged Lilbosh, vShavti b’Shalom el Bet Avi v’Hayah Hashem Li Le’lohim.  If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.   For Yaakov, being alone is a function of not have what to eat, what to wear and mostly; being alone is feeling exiled from his parents.  After nearly twenty years, as Yaakov has matured, is married, has children, and property, he wonders if it is time to leave Lavan and his exile.  VaYomer Adoshem el Yaakov Shuv el Eretz Avotecha Ulmoladtecha V’Eheyeh Imach – And Hashem said to Yaakov: “Return to the land of your fathers and to your native land, and I will be with you (31:3). It took nearly two decades for Yaakov to understand that even when he thought he was alone, he wasn’t truly alone. The miracles of his life, his wives, his children, his economic success indicated that God was involved and his God as well as Yaakov’s father’s God.

Yes, it may seem that Israel stands alone. Even when Palestinians dance at other terrorist attacks and those countries fail to offer empathy to Israel when Palestinians dance and celebrate terrorist attacks upon Israel; Israel is not alone. As Palestinians continue to dance and celebrate the loss of life in Israel and in other countries, the world will eventually see which country, which people are the embodiment of B’nai Yaakov, the children of Jacob, and which people are the embodiment of B’nai Esav, and B’nai Lavan, the children of Esau and the children of Lavan.

Peace,

           Rav Yitz