Weekly Parsha- Shemot

Weekly Parashah-Shemot

This week we begin the 2nd Book of Torah, Shemot (Exodus). The English name denotes what happens in this book to the People Israel. The Hebrew name denotes the spiritual nature of this Book. In light of yesterday’s insurrection and seditious actions, I believe this opening Parashah has much to teach us. 

The Israelites were “too numerous and mighty” according to the new Pharaoh. Decent, hardworking people of all colors were too numerous for many right-wing outlets that only want ratings and money. “Let us deal slyly with them” says the Pharaoh and the next thing we know is that the Israelites are building pyramids, cities, etc. “I can shoot someone on 5th Ave in broad daylight and still be elected/get away with it” says Donald Trump. Both the Pharaoh and Trump were correct. Trump has debased our country and for which we stand. He has dealt slyly with a public willing to hold onto resentments of Racism, Anti-Semitism, Religious Bigotry, fear, etc. He has made this the “art of the deal” for himself and the people around him. 

We have allowed Trump, McConnell, Pence, Ron Johnson, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, et.al become our taskmasters. We have allowed them to force us to build ‘cities’ for them and their business cronies. The people who have been the courtiers to Trump and Pence have made anyone who disagrees with them the enemy and subject to harsh treatment while extolling the criminals in their circle. We have allowed Pharaoh Trump and his minions to place harsh burdens upon our country which yesterday was one of the results of. It is time for us to remember that we are descendants/adherents to Madisonian Democracy, as imperfect as it is. It is up to us to stand up and “make a more perfect union”. 

God has sent messengers to us along the way and we have not followed them. Many former Republicans have been sounding the alarms and we did not answer them because we, like the Israelites in this Parashah, have been so assaulted and inundated with lies that we are exhausted. While it is understandable, it is also not acceptable. 

The speakers yesterday at the rally before they stormed our Capital, like Trump, Guiliani, Don Jr. etc should be prosecuted for inciting people to riot. This is not free speech, this is yelling fire in a crowded theater. 

We, the People, have to not succumb to the lies of the Republicans and the fantasy of the Progressives. We, the People, have to find ways to meet each other as human beings away from the extremes and demand truthful paths to ‘make a more perfect union’. We can do this, we must do this. Just as our ancestors went to war to keep us safe and secure, we have to go to war against the lies and harshness of these elected officials. 

We have a new President being inaugurated in 12 days. Joe Biden can be like Moses and lead us out of the wilderness of hatred, racism, deception and authoritarianism. He is qualified to do this because he is a man of compassion, truth-seeking, caring for the widow, the orphan, the poor and the stranger. He has lived this way his entire adult life. He did not want to seek the Presidency this time, he was called to after Charlottesville. After Trump spoke glowingly of the good people who promoted racist and anti-semitic hatred. Yet, the Republican party stood by and supported him, just like Pharaoh’s courtiers supported Pharaoh. Joe Biden is someone who listens to advisors and asks for help. He is not a know-it-all, he is a learner. He wants VP Harris as the last person in the room and he listens to his wife. He will heed the call of Reverend Barber, et.al to lead us with justice and compassion.

How will you add to making the US a more perfect union in the days, weeks, years to come? How will you not allow yourself to become slaves to lies and deception? Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Daily Prophets- a daily take on the Prophets of Israel to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 4

In light of yesterday’s events, hearing the words of the Prophets seems all the more important. We are engaged in a Spiritual and Moral war with charlatans who say that God is on their side, yet their vision of God is that God is the Lion. King David was great because he took what he wanted. They are certainly missing the words of the Prophets and the fact that truth is a principle that God is totally invested in. We say Adonai Emet, God is Truth, not man, just God. To those who encouraged this violence, to President Trump, the Senators who joined him in spreading the lie of a “stolen election”, to the Republicans who have gone along with his lies and grifting because of their own needs being met, I say in the name of the Prophet Elijah: “The  Lord alone is God, The Lord alone is God”. 

Elijah is sent away by God for his own protection. God sends him to a widow’s house who will care for him. The widow thought she did not have enough to feed him and her kindness was rewarded with her flour jar never being empty and her jug of oil never running out. This story is one that stands out to and for me. I think about how often it is that the poorest people among us are the most generous. Poor people, people who have suffered hardships they are generous because they know what it is like to be in need. Growing up, we were poor and my father made sure that we always gave charity when we went to Hebrew school. I asked him once why he was so insistent on this and he said that Tzedakah was God’s money that we get to return to God. I have never forgotten this. My grandparents on both sides kept a Pushke and put change in it every Shabbos Reading this 17th Chapter of 1Kings brought me back to these memories.

We get to give back to God what God has given us. Every act of kindness is not something that we do out of benevolence it is a return to and/or a repayment back to God for all the kindness we have been shown. It is never a burden to return to God a kindness by helping another human being. Yet, today as in the days of the Prophets, people in power see kindness as weakness. Mitch McConnell is proud to be the Grim Reaper, Ted Cruz is overjoyed to be Trump’s lackey, Mike Pence is the Trump Bobblehead always praising and agreeing with “Mr. President” under whose watch Covid-19 has raged without any coordination from the Federal Government. Business people who are proud of ‘making a killing’ and crushing their competitors. 

As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel says in his book The Prophets, “To the prophets even a minor injustice assumes cosmic proportions.” When I have railed against the injustice and cruelty of this administration I was told how great Trump was/is for Israel. How he helped the rich and the corporations with his tax cut and how his policies have helped people add to their wealth, etc. I was told to stay out of politics by Board Members and Congregants alike. I explained that I was not being political, I was being moral. When people “agreed with my views” I was extolled, when I screamed about the assault on our dignity, I was expelled. Rabbi Heschel took on the mantle of the Prophet by speaking truth to power and by following his conscience and God’s call no matter what. 

The Widow who helped Elijah needed more help as her son fell ill and she accused him of “recalling/remembering her sin and causing the death of her son” (1Kings 17:18). Elijah then took the boy, gave him some type of CPR all the while calling on God to “let this child’s life return to his body” (1Kings 17:21). Elijah was willing to call God to task so the boy did not die. God heard Elijah’s plea and the boy was saved. Elijah was not willing to do nothing and say it was up to God. I have no part in this problem. Elijah was even so dedicated to repay the kindness the widow had shown him that he was willing to call God to task.

I call all of us to task today and everyday. As Harriet Rossetto says: “You don’t have to be an addict to be in recovery!” We have become addicted to hate and injustice. We have all become addicted to power and prestige, either having it or wanting it. We have all stood by while people have been abused, shunned and their dignity assaulted. It has to STOP NOW. I was sick to my stomach that the Capital Police and the Federal Law Enforcement apparatus allowed these criminals to invade our House. Then, they were just nicely asked to leave. Yet, if it was a BLM march, a march for true justice, the riot gear would have met the people before any of yesterday’s tragedy could have happened. 

We the people must stop this here and now. Write to Congress, recall the senators and representitives that gave aid and comfort our enemies and failed to fulfill their basic oath to protect us from all enemies, foreign and domestic. 

We may not be prophets, we are descendants of the prophets, as Rabbi Heschel teaches, and it is time for us to live up to our heritage. God Bless, Rabbi Mark

Daily Prophets- a daily take on the Prophets of Israel to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 3

Today, I am beginning to look at Elijah. Elijah is introduced to me during the reign of Ahab. Ahab marries Jezebel and brings the worship of Baal to the Palace and to the land. Elijah was incensed. He let Ahab know that for his actions, “As God lives, the Lord of Israel who I stand with/who stands with me, there will be no dew or rain unless I my lips say so.” Elijah’s pronouncement is so bold. He, like Natan is so moved by God that he risks his life to deliver the words that God has put in his mouth.

Elijah is referring to himself as standing with God/who God stands with. What Chutzpah! I love it. The images that this bring up for me is loyalty, love and fidelity. Elijah is telling us whom to stand with, not mortals who corrupt and pollute the world through Idolatry, stand with God who stands with and for decency, love, faithfulness, truth, kindness and justice. My reading of the verse is that there is a reciprocity between us and God. We stand with God as a response to God standing with us.

While most of us have not brought Baal into our homes we are idolators in so many other ways. I think of how I made an idol of myself by trying to be perfect. Perfection is God’s realm, not mine as a human. Yet we worship perfection all the time, perfect looks, job, home, bank account, spouse, kids, etc. The College Entrance Scandal is about perfection and idolatry. We worship power instead of using our power to worship and fulfill God’s Will. Like Ahab and Jezebel, we do injustice in God’s name making it right because “the one with the Gold Rules” according to many. 

I am writing this and becoming agitated with myself for all the times I was too blind to see how I was not standing with God and only standing with and for me. It is a sad realization and one that elates me. A real both/and because I can repair some of the damage, I can change and I don’t have to continue to see life through my lens, rather I can see and live life through God’s lens as I stand with God each day. Also, I see how God has stood with me throughout the good and bad, when I hit the mark and when I missed the mark. These past 9 months have been difficult as I transition from Senior Rabbi of Beit T’Shuvah to consultant. I am realizing how God stood for and with me throughout this time, even when I did not realize it. While I could have enacted this transition with a little more grace and Beit T’Shuvah could have shown me a little more respect, I am aware right now of how God stood with me and how God is standing with me now. I also realize how I stood with God, speaking Truth to power because I had to in order to honor my relationship with God and the people in power. I know I am standing with God because I have no resentments and/or anger toward this chapter of life. Here are some questions to ponder: How have you stood with God? How has God stood with you?  How are you standing with God? How is God standing with you? 

More on Elijah tomorrow, he is a trip of a guy:) 

Daily Prophets- a daily take on the Prophets of Israel to enhance our daily living

Again from the Prophet Nathan, probably the best known story about him, is when he was so enraged with David over the injustice of David killing Uriah the Hittite. The Bible says: “ this thing that David had done was evil in the eyes of God. God sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said, “there were two men in the same city, one rich and one poor. The rich man had very large flocks and herds, but the poor man had only one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He tended it and it grew up together with him and his children: it used to share his morsel fo bread, drink from his cup and nestle in his bosom; it was like a daughter to him. One day, a traveler came to the rich man, but he was loath to take anything from his own flocks or herds to prepare a meal for the guest who had come to him; so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him (2Sam. 11:27-12:4). We know that David flew into a rage against such injustice until Nathan said, “That man is you!” (2Sam. 12:7). 

What is so amazing is the courage of Nathan to be more concerned about the injustice of David than his own personal well-being. I am in awe and stand guilty of not always following this example. Nathan is sent by God and adds his outrage into the mix. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel describes a prophet as a man with a “deep love, painful rebuke, powerful dissent and unwavering hope.” Nathan is delivering the most painful rebuke to David on behalf of God, of course, and he is also the voice of Uriah the Hittite and all of the Uriah’s in the land. He also is adding his own disgust in the mix. I understand Nathan’s rage, I have been and continue to be both Nathan and David. At times, I want what I want when I want it, this is my greed and my Davidic heritage speaking. Most often, I am relieved to say, I am in the Nathan role, railing against injustice, standing for the poor, the widow, the stranger and the orphan. 

How sad and angry Nathan must be, he has been advising David, giving him the word of God often and helping him to do the next right thing and David acts on his own impulse and urge to have what is not his. God and Nathan are bewildered that David had to take more and more by force, by dishonesty, by murder. I think about al of the dishonesty we see today and know that we have not learned from the Prophet Nathan nor from David. Immersing ourselves into the text and the life of the Prophets allows us to take their words and teachings to heart. How many of us are willing to stand against injustice with our lives? 

Nathan is showing us that living life on God’s Terms is more important than his own safety. He leads us by his example to realize that every time we give into Power, to Injustice by others and/or ourselves we are killing ourselves anyway. We think we are dodging a bullet when we ‘go along to get along’ and actually we are shooting ourselves. I know this first hand. Every time I have done this in my life, I have been wounded and assaulted beyond description. It is a wound to my core caused by my refusing to stand up against the bullying and greediness of people who I erroneously believe have power over me. It is painful when the bullets wound us to our core and yet it is only this pain that begins healing. Life, the Prophet Nathan is telling us here, is precious and we have to respect it and not cause unnecessary harm to another in order to satisfy a momentary urge/impulse! 

The message of the Prophets, that Rabbi Heschel was worried about  being lost over 48 years ago, has to be front and center to all of us. Many Rabbis are uncomfortable with the Hyperbole of the Prophets and we need this passion and Truth in all of our affairs because it is the Passion and Truth of God. Nathan is teaching us to put God’s Will before ours. 

How are you standing up to the abuse of Power? How do you give in to the power of your desires and/or someone else’s? Where in your life do stand against injustice and where do you participate in doing injustice either actively or passively? God Bless, Rabbi Mark

Daily Prophets- a daily take on the Prophets of Israel to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day One

Prophets were the first Spiritual Counselors in the Bible. They were employed by God to speak to the Kings and the People Israel in ways that they could hear. God knows that God’s voice would be too strong, powerful and fearful for most people to hear. God also knows that people in power (for that matter all of us) think we know better and get blinded by our power/thoughts so God sends Prophets/Spiritual Counselors to help them/us see and hear Truth. The Prophets spoke in strong and sweet voices depending on the way the King and/or the People Israel could hear. It is a fantastic model for Spiritual Counselors and for people who want to grow spiritually each and every day. They speak in God’s name for the betterment of Israel, not themselves. They did not profit from their work and they truly were servants of God and advocates for the souls of the Kings and the People Israel. Each day I am going to take a section from one of the Prophets and speak to how it impacts me and, hopefully, you. 

When David wanted to build a House for God and the Ark of the Covenant, God came to the Prophet Nathan and said to him: 

“Go and say to My servant David: Thus said the Lord: Are you the one to build a house for me to dwell in. From the day that I brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to this day I have not dwelt in house, but have moved about in Tent and Tabernacle. As I moved about wherever the Israelites went, did I ever reproach any of tribal leaders whom I appointed to care for my people Israel: why have you not built Me a house of cedar?” (II Samuel 7:5-7)

I am struck by God’s words to Nathan. God is instructing Nathan to remind King David that not all is in his hands to decide. God is telling David, through Nathan, not to take too much on. It is a reminder to and for all of us to ‘stay in our lane’ and do not take on too much. I think God is telling all of us to stop being greedy. God is also saying that the people who came before David did God’s biding. God goes on to remind David that God took David from the pasture “to be ruler of My people Israel”. David’s job is to establish a home for God’s people so they can be secure and “shall tremble no more”. (Ibid.8-10).

I could say that Nathan has great courage to tell King David that he is doing the wrong thing. He stands up to King David for the sake of God and the People Israel. I do not think it is courage that motivates him, however. Yes, it is a courageous act to stand up to power! Yes, it is a courageous act to say No to the King. Yet, it wasn’t courage that motivated Nathan, I believe. As we will see with all of the Prophets, it is the deepest sense of loyalty to God, loyalty to morality, loyalty to following the call in and of their own soul that motivates Nathan and the other Prophets. No one asks for this job, to be a Prophet. Rabbi Heschel says, in his book The Prophets (pg xiv) “He is endowed with a mission, with the power of a word not his own that account for his greatness-but also with temperament , concern, character and individuality… He speaks from the perspective of God as perceived from the perspective of his own situation.” 

What the Prophet teaches us is to stand up for God no matter what. Do it in our own particular manner of being and do it. Nathan does this in these verses. As we begin this year of 2021, I hear the call of the Prophet Nathan to all of us: Stay in your lane. Stop trying to be someone else, stop trying to do too much, seek too much and not be greedy. We can help establish a home, a city, a state and a country where all people can be secure and “tremble no more”. You have your unique way as I have mine. Lets make a Covenant with God and those around us to  live in a grain of sand more each day of 2021. God Bless, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha - VaY'Chi

Weekly Parashah- VaY’Chi VaY’Chi is the last portion of the book of Genesis. It translates to ‘and he lived’ giving us a hint that the Parashah will be about death. Here, we learn that Jacob is about to die and by the end of the Parashah, the generation of the sons will also have died. It is a Parashah of reconciliation in many ways and is one of many questions for me.

Rashi, who I almost never quote, gives an interesting explanation of why this Parashah begins in the middle of a paragraph. He says that once Jacob died, “the eyes and hearts of Israel were blocked up by the distress of the enslavement they began to undergo.” WOW, I saw this earlier in my study of the Parashah this week and in past years and at this moment, I finally understand the brothers’ concern at the end of the Parashah. They were aware that Israel was and/or was going to be enslaved in Egypt by the Egyptians and maybe Joseph was too blind, arrogant to see what was coming. I understand both the brothers’ concerns/fears and Joseph’s blindness. Joseph was sure that the Pharaoh would protect him and he would be grateful to Joseph for saving Egypt and making him richer. He thought he had enough Spiritual Capital and Emotional Capital in the bank to protect him and his brothers. Many of us who do good things, create/build companies and organizations that are innovative and helpful believe we build up enough Spiritual and Emotional Capital to overcome the blips of our own errors and the jealousies and pettiness of others. WRONG! All we have to do is look at Steve Jobs being fired from Apple to know this. I have seen it happen in the Rabbinate many times. I am also guilty of this type of thinking myself. I became enslaved to a way of being that made me both blind and arrogant. I believed the good will I had built up from good works would protect me from my own errors. I believed that since everyone knew me for me, I would not become a relic in my own place. I was blind to the changes in the organization, I was blind to the enemies I had created, I was blind to the stress I was under, I was blind to the assault on my dignity. I was blind to my own emotional and spiritual volcano that was about to erupt. I was blind to my needing to move to the next chapter and the organization needing/wanting me to move on also. I was already enslaved and did not fully recognize it, the Board of the organization did and didn’t know how to talk to me about it and I put bullets in everyone else’s guns, believing those that knew me would “have my back” and they probably believe they have. I was blind and arrogant to believe this and I see this now, through the eyes of Rashi, Jacob and Torah. Another example of how Torah is a living document, dynamic, wise and gives great guidance!

Jacob reconciles with Joseph at the beginning of this Parashah through a request and an oath. I have always believed, and still do, that the oath was because Jacob did not fully trust that Joseph did not harbor anger towards Jacob for sending him to check on his brothers which led to where they all were now. I also see how Jacob was reconciling with Joseph by saying your word is trustworthy to me. Your word to me is your bond and I am entrusting my end of life decisions to you. In some ways, this is the first Advance Directive we hear about in Torah. It also is a time for Joseph to give his father some peace of mind and spirit which he does. This is how Joseph reconciles with Jacob also.

The brothers’ tell Joseph a story, which may or may not be true, about their father’s concern regarding retribution. Here, Joseph reassures them that God caused this whole experience and they were just agents of God. He also asks them to take an oath to bring his bones up to Israel when they leave Egypt. He believes them when they give him their pledge. This is how each of them reconcile with each other. This is an important aspect of reconciliation. In recovery part of the 9th step amends is to lay out a plan not to repeat the harm we are making amends for. In T’Shuvah, we also have a plan not to go back down the path that leads us to harm another person. In both cases, there is an aspect of a pledge. As a newly released convict and person in recovery, I remember making these T’Shuvot and oaths to Heather, my daughter; my brothers and sister, Stuart, Neal and Sheri; my mother Millie and to the other people I had harmed. My sincerity and their openness allowed for the reconciliation that helped me leave the slavery of my addictions and the slavery of blindness and arrogance to this day. Of course my wife Harriet helps me with blindness and arrogance each and every day as well. What are you still blind to and arrogant about? Whom do you still need to reconcile with and how are you honoring your past reconciliations? As we head into 2021, what oaths do you need to rescind, what oaths do you need to renew and what oaths do you need to make? Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha- VaYigash

Weekly Parashah-VaYigash

VaYigash translates to ‘draw near, and/or ‘approached’. Sir Walter Scott called this opening of our Parashah the most beautiful prose he had ever read. Judah approaches and draws near to Joseph to let him know, in my opinion, that he, Judah, realizes the set up that Joseph did. He begins by speaking into Joseph’s ears so the words can reach his soul, not his brain. He recounts their meetings and says that he cannot abide by Joseph’s trickery and he will not break his word to his father. I believe Judah was ready to kill Joseph if necessary to save Benjamin. This is the outcome of Judah’s transformation from his T’Shuvah with Tamar. I am always in awe of his courage and his leadership. He made a pledge and he does not want to go back on this pledge. He is honoring his father, knowing that his father is more connected to Rachel’s children than he is to the rest of his brothers. How painful for him and, yet, he is able to leave any and all resentments so he can still honor his father and take the next right action. I am in awe of Judah and his transformation. I know how hard it is to transform and then grow from the “new” person one becomes after T’Shuvah. I realize how far I have come and so many people I know have come and accept my imperfections as well as theirs. I see how society is ready to pounce on the imperfections and flaws of me and other people in recovery (and out of recovery) if it suits their purpose. I have erred in areas that I erred previously, not as bad usually and the same is true for most of us. I believe we have to cease and desist from allowing others to use our foibles against us, Dr. M. Scott Peck calls this evil. Judah was not going to let Joseph use the vulnerabilities of he and his brothers against them and against their father. He stood up and approached Joseph with such passion, power and truth that Joseph could not keep the ruse up. This is the power of approaching and speaking to the soul of another. And, as we all know it doesn’t work all the time. We are living in a moment where the people in power want to keep their power, wield their power and enslave others. This is not just in the political realm, this is in business, for profit and non-profit, in families, at country clubs and even in medicine. I have heard stories about people with wealth trying to buy their way into the top tier to get the Covid-19 vaccine! We all need to be Judah, we need to say NO, in a forceful, spiritual, and truthful manner. We need to say YES to freedom, obligation, and kindness. Judah is leading the way this week. Will people of faith follow? I pray we will. I am recommitting to this way of being and staying grounded in it. 

After Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and they get over the shock, and he sets it up for them to get their father and bring the families to live in Egypt for the duration of the famine, he says to them: “Don’t quarrel on the way” (Gen.45:24). What a direction! I read this over 3 or 4 times this year, I don’t remember being taken by this phrase before. The verb used means: be agitated, quiver, quake, perturbed, be excited. So what is Torah teaching us? When we get good news and/or bad news don’t respond from a place of agitation, etc. I know this is hard and I have not mastered this by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, when we are present for a miracle, like finding a long lost brother, being immersed in it is excitement enough, we don’t have to cause more because of our agitation, fear, etc. When we ‘ragez’ appropriately, we are in awe and appreciation. When we are not appropriate in our ‘ragez’, we are in anger, fear and blame. I think of the miracles I have witnessed and the awe and appreciation I have experienced. I also know that bad news has made me agitated more often than not. I see that I have become less agitated in certain areas, yet I know that my agitation comes from my own being unsettled in myself, my own need for perfection. I also know that the agitation comes from righteous indignation that is prophetic in nature. I hear the agitation in the words and teachings of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel as a call to our souls and to our prophetic natures. I also know that, like many, I sometimes mix up the agitation I am experiencing as one or the other. I am agitated now, I can’t stop quarreling with others when life is on the line. I can’t stop quarreling with others when democracy is on the line. I can’t stop quarreling with others when our humanity is on the line. I can’t stop quarreling with others when my family is on the line (like Judah). I can and commit to stop quarreling with others when it is about my ego. I can and commit to stop quarreling with others when it is about my need to be right. What principles are you going to quarrel for? What quarrels are you going to let go of? Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha-Miketz

Weekly Parashah- Miketz

This week I celebrate 32 years of Recovery and I am so grateful to all of you for participating in and supporting my recovery. 

The story of Joseph continues in this story as does the story of his brothers and father. Joseph rises to the top of the hierarchy in Egypt, becoming Pharaoh’s number 2 person. Having had a Spiritual Awakening in last week’s Parashah and continuing it at the beginning of this week’s Parashah-knowing that God is the interpreter of dreams and Joseph just speaks God’s words he is humble enough to advise Pharaoh and speak to him in a way that Pharaoh can understand. This is a very important principle/value/concept in our tradition. Proverbs teaches: “train each child according to their understanding”. Living this value forces me to be connected to you and pay attention to ensure that you are understanding me. If not, I have to find a different way to speak to you. Over the years, I have found this to be a useful tool in order to make and keep connections with people. My brother said to me, when I was newly sober, let's have a dialogue with each other rather than a monologue or talking at each other. I loved the idea then and have practiced this in my recovery and in my Rabbinate. Some days more than others:) Doing this means I don’t have to be right and I am not in competition to show how smart I am. It does not diminish my worth, my position and/or my path/way of seeing life. On the contrary, it helps me grow in every area of my living because I am in a state of being a learner. 

To paraphrase Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, from his interview with Carl Stern in 1972, a day without learning is not worth living. We all learn something new each day and, in our Parashah, Pharaoh takes note of the learning and puts it into practice. I am realizing how I have done this and when/how I haven’t. In fact, as I reflect back, every time I have gotten myself ‘into trouble’ is because of my arrogance to take what I have learned and put it into practice. While I am not interested in perfection, I do realize in this reflection, most of my troubles in my life come from not putting the learning I have done into practice. Pharaoh was able to discern the earnestness and wisdom of Joseph as well as his ability to be loyal to Pharaoh. I think back and see how often I  learned whom to trust and not trust and, again, in my arrogance, thought “they won’t do that to me”. How foolish and tragic on my part, I hurt me, those around me and the person that I foolishly trusted. As a person I have helped says, “when someone tells you who they are, believe them.” Pharaoh had the ability to get a message from God and hear the truthful interpretation and then discern the character of the person in front of him. Torah is telling us, I believe, that we all have this ability and our challenge is to use it wisely and in service of a greater good not just our own good. The power of T’Shuvah is to see how to learn from our past, fail forward and not repeat the same exact behavior. Yes, I will always be a little louder than the next person, I get upset over what I see as evil behaviors and I will still erupt at times, this is my nature and my refusal to give into the evil that I gave into and participated in prior to my recovery. I know this as do others. Yet, the strengths of this behavior have become outweighed by the weakness and, I didn’t use the learning that people will use your vulnerabilities against you when it suits them because winning is all that matters. This being in direct conflict to what my brother said to me in my early recovery. We see this same behaviors in our Political discourse today. Who do you want to be, the Pharaoh of Joseph or the Pharaoh of Exodus? Do you want to be Jacob who makes deals with God or Joseph who surrenders to God? Both have their plusses and minus’. I testify and am a witness that being the Pharaoh of Joseph and being the Joseph who surrenders is much better for your soul and the people around you. 

This is both an improbable story and a story of spiritual uplift. How badly did Pharaoh want his dream interpreted is powerful. We have people today who help another interpret their dreams,, hopefully for the sake of the person and not for their own financial gain. I am a person who rarely remembers his dreams and when I do, I search for meaning and God’s direction from the dream. In our Parashah, the likelihood of a lowly Hebrew prisoner becoming Pharaoh’s 2nd in command is very improbable and could have happened. We tend to dismiss things because we think they are improbable or impossible and in doing so, we miss so many beautiful experiences. IVF was improbable and impossible years ago and today, there are many beautiful souls making the world better because science believed in the worth of the idea and kept learning how to make the idea a reality. Donald Trump and Joe Biden being elected President in 2016 and 2020 respectively, was both improbable and impossible to many, yet it has happened because a lot of people believed it could and worked to make it happen. The Jewish people surviving Antiquity ( the only group to survive intact) was improbable and impossible, enemies have been trying to kill us off forever, and here we are, adding to the knowledge of the world, helping move life forward in service of God. Recovery from addictions and people changing was/is considered impossible and improbable, yet it happens each and every day. Recovery has lifted many of us from the pits of despair to the heights of ecstasy. It has given short shrift to “leopards don’t change their spots” and proven that the only constant is change. Recovery has given individuals and families new leases on life and created community, empathy, compassion and forgiveness. These are all proofs that show improbable leads to great spiritual uplift. I have had this experience many times in my recovery and I pray that you recognize the times you have and take notice of the ones to come. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha - VaYeishev

This week’s Parashah is VaYeshev, which means to sit, settle, dwell. It is always a surprise to me that this word is used to describe Jacob. Nothing in Jacob’s life is settling, he really doesn’t dwell in one place and he is never at peace. I wondered why for a long time and this year I see the ways that his history shaped him and how he was unable to leave the past in the past and see himself differently. Like his parents, he had a favorite child and made it known to everyone that Joseph was his favorite. He sets up a sibling rivalry between his sons and never teaches Joseph about humility and brotherly love. Granted, he saw Joseph’s talents and abilities, he just does not teach him how to use them to serve others, he lets Joseph use his gifts for himself. I believe that because he could not bring himself to reconcile with Esau when Esau stretched out to him, he was unable to teach Joseph and his other sons how to be a family together, rather he promoted the rivalry between them.

How sad and yet, I see how difficult it has always been to rise above the family systems we are raised in. In my personal and professional life I have been a witness and a participant in both being stuck in the past system and being a partner in a new system. I was also like Joseph in that I used my ability to belittle my brothers and outdo them with my parents. I wanted to be “the favorite” and it hurt me, my brothers and my parents. My father, z”l, tried hard to show me differently and I learned many of his lessons, I just didn’t apply them to living until later in my life. My mother, z”l, always wanted us to get along and be a family and she had favorites among my brothers and my sister. My sister, Sheri, being the youngest and the only girl, had it made. In fact, all of us brothers took pride in her and promoted her well-being. There was no rivalry between us regarding Sheri, everything else was up for grabs. At dinner, when my father would give us Math problems to solve, I always tried to be first and when giving a talk, I would show my brother Neal how to deliver his words. I helped my brother Stuart sell more and all of these things, which I did to help them also, were feathers in my cap, so to speak. Like Jacob, I was never settled because I could not live in my own skin. I was too hung up on what others thought about me and to busy showing you what I wanted you to see rather than the scared kid I was. I see myself in Jacob in this way, he could not rise above his past errors and change his way.

This is where I diverted from Jacob’s path. I read this Parashah seriously for the first time in 1987 and saw why we are call Jews and Judaism. In this Parashah, Judah ‘turns away’ from his family, begins one of his own and becomes his own person. We learn that he is in need of cheering up after the death of his wife so he goes to the Sheep Shearing festival which is an occasion of merriment and sex, drugs and rock and roll:) He finds a prostitute, has sex, gives her a pledge to pay her later. He sends his friend to find her and pay her. His friend, Hirah, asked where the Kdasha is. He calls her a Holy Woman, while the translation calls her a harlot. Judah learns that the woman he thought a prostitute was actually his daughter-in-law who was waiting for Judah to give her his 3rd son in marriage. Upon realizing his error, he says that she, Tamar, “is more righteous than I”. Had Judah been trapped by his family of origin system, he would have blamed her, had her put to death and ignored his own error. He did, however, rise above his history to make a new way of being for his future descendants.

We are his descendants! I knew then that I was not trapped by my past. What a relief! This made me hopeful for a new beginning.

This is so important for all of us in this moment. We are not trapped by our past, family system, past actions, etc. We have the power and the spirit to change if we are willing to do the work of change. The new beginning is continuing. I nor you have arrived anywhere yet, we are still works in progress and still able to change our past and enhance our future. To my brother, Rabbi Neal Borovitz, I am sorry for the ways I treated you when we were kids. I am grateful for our relationship as adults and Mom did like you best:) To my sister, Sheri Borovitz-Linda, you still are everyone’s favorite and I am grateful for the ways we interact with love and humor. My siblings and I are a family that fights together (and with each other) and sees each other as allies, never enemies. I pray this is the same for you. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha - VaYishlach

Parashah VaYishlach changed my life in 1987. I realized the power of change and the possibility of change. I realized that forgiveness was possible and asking for it is necessary for re-connection to happen. 

One of the first teachings is in the beginning of the Parashah, “Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother…” Jacob knows that he harmed his brother and he doesn’t want to just show up and say “I’m here brother” so he sends messengers, which in the text is the same word for angels. This teaches me that when I am going to send a message, I have to see the messenger as an Angel, which means that I have to be in my higher place and I am seeing the person I am sending the messenger to as a Divine Spirit. In other words, my God-Image is speaking to your (another) Divine Image. Torah is teaching us to think about the message we want to send, the words we use have to be in the language of the recipient, and accept that the person has a right to refuse to see you. I think that Jacob’s message did not really address Esau’s wound. Rather, he was telling him that he was wealthy in his own right. Maybe he was trying to tell Esau that he didn’t want anything from him, yet, he did not address his own errors. He did not ask for a meeting or anything, just a by the by message. When I sent a message to my brothers, I told them that I wanted to see them and talk to them. They both accepted my invitation and they were able to forgive me and we reconnected stronger than before. My oldest brother, Stuart,z”l,  was just happy to see me again and told me what he was angry with me about and we worked it out. My middle brother, Neal, had begun a discussion while I was in prison and when we met, we were able to talk, reconcile, reconnect and study together. We found our common bonds again, besides just being brothers, and we have stayed connected and grown our relationship to where he is my confidant and advisor and friend. While I did not send messengers, I sent a message that spoke to both of them in ways they could hear and did not shirk my responsibility for our rift. All of us are able to be the angel/messenger for ourselves and for others, we just have to make that decision and be in acceptance of the response without trying to control the results. Whatever the circumstances that make sending a message are, we always have the opportunity to come from our highest place and reach the highest place of another. 

Jacob’s response to the message from the messengers is fear. They do not tell him what Esau said, only that he was coming with 400 men to meet him. Jacob goes to fear rather than joy. The Hebrew word is Yirah- which means awe and fear. I believe that Jacob goes to fear because he is still holding on to what happened when he left his home because Esau wanted to kill him. For Jacob, there is no thought that Esau could be coming to greet him and escort him home with joy and dignity because he is still guilty and not able to believe that Esau is leaving the past in the past. I am sure that many of us can relate to this. When we have wronged someone or been wronged by someone, we hold onto that wound and believe the other person does also. I did not believe that I was accepted nor could be accepted when I was doing the wrong thing and living an addicted life. When I got into recovery, I believed forgiveness was possible and achievable. I realize that Jacob was living in the past and that was coloring everything he saw and did. This teaching was/is a cornerstone of my recovery and growth. Living in today takes a lot of work, it means that I have to see today as different than yesterday. I can’t say ‘same shit, different day’, I can’t say ‘if I do today what I did yesterday, I will be okay’. I have to be in wonder each and every day. I need to realize that holding on to the past keeps me stuck and keeps me stale. Rabbi Heschel says “there is nothing stale under the sun except human beings that become stale.” Being fresh is wearing a “new pair of glasses” as Chuck C writes in his book of the same name. When I am afraid because of past experiences, I have to wake myself up and realize that this moment is different and if I treat it as past moments, I can never have a different experience. 

I believe that Esau was coming to welcome Jacob with honor and dignity and safety. Esau had moved past the old hurts, Jacob could not. I know that living as Jacob does in the beginning of this Parashah is sad and lonely. Esau embraces, kisses and weeps when he sees Jacob because he is in the moment, Jacob is still scared. How sad! 

I believe we all have the opportunity to let go of past hurts and still protect ourselves. We don’t have to be doormats and we can be open to new experiences. Reaching out our hand to those we have harmed by asking for forgiveness and forgiving others when they ask is central to our faith. Letting go of resentments even when another person does not ask for forgiveness allows us to see their humanity and have Divine Pathos and compassion towards them so we don’t “hate our kinsman in our hearts” as Leviticus teaches us. I am committed to letting go and being more present and open to change this week and this year and I hope you are also. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Parashah VaYishlach changed my life in 1987. I realized the power of change and the possibility of change. I realized that forgiveness was possible and asking for it is necessary for re-connection to happen. 

One of the first teachings is in the beginning of the Parashah, “Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother…” Jacob knows that he harmed his brother and he doesn’t want to just show up and say “I’m here brother” so he sends messengers, which in the text is the same word for angels. This teaches me that when I am going to send a message, I have to see the messenger as an Angel, which means that I have to be in my higher place and I am seeing the person I am sending the messenger to as a Divine Spirit. In other words, my God-Image is speaking to your (another) Divine Image. Torah is teaching us to think about the message we want to send, the words we use have to be in the language of the recipient, and accept that the person has a right to refuse to see you. I think that Jacob’s message did not really address Esau’s wound. Rather, he was telling him that he was wealthy in his own right. Maybe he was trying to tell Esau that he didn’t want anything from him, yet, he did not address his own errors. He did not ask for a meeting or anything, just a by the by message. When I sent a message to my brothers, I told them that I wanted to see them and talk to them. They both accepted my invitation and they were able to forgive me and we reconnected stronger than before. My oldest brother, Stuart,z”l,  was just happy to see me again and told me what he was angry with me about and we worked it out. My middle brother, Neal, had begun a discussion while I was in prison and when we met, we were able to talk, reconcile, reconnect and study together. We found our common bonds again, besides just being brothers, and we have stayed connected and grown our relationship to where he is my confidant and advisor and friend. While I did not send messengers, I sent a message that spoke to both of them in ways they could hear and did not shirk my responsibility for our rift. All of us are able to be the angel/messenger for ourselves and for others, we just have to make that decision and be in acceptance of the response without trying to control the results. Whatever the circumstances that make sending a message are, we always have the opportunity to come from our highest place and reach the highest place of another. 

Jacob’s response to the message from the messengers is fear. They do not tell him what Esau said, only that he was coming with 400 men to meet him. Jacob goes to fear rather than joy. The Hebrew word is Yirah- which means awe and fear. I believe that Jacob goes to fear because he is still holding on to what happened when he left his home because Esau wanted to kill him. For Jacob, there is no thought that Esau could be coming to greet him and escort him home with joy and dignity because he is still guilty and not able to believe that Esau is leaving the past in the past. I am sure that many of us can relate to this. When we have wronged someone or been wronged by someone, we hold onto that wound and believe the other person does also. I did not believe that I was accepted nor could be accepted when I was doing the wrong thing and living an addicted life. When I got into recovery, I believed forgiveness was possible and achievable. I realize that Jacob was living in the past and that was coloring everything he saw and did. This teaching was/is a cornerstone of my recovery and growth. Living in today takes a lot of work, it means that I have to see today as different than yesterday. I can’t say ‘same shit, different day’, I can’t say ‘if I do today what I did yesterday, I will be okay’. I have to be in wonder each and every day. I need to realize that holding on to the past keeps me stuck and keeps me stale. Rabbi Heschel says “there is nothing stale under the sun except human beings that become stale.” Being fresh is wearing a “new pair of glasses” as Chuck C writes in his book of the same name. When I am afraid because of past experiences, I have to wake myself up and realize that this moment is different and if I treat it as past moments, I can never have a different experience. 

I believe that Esau was coming to welcome Jacob with honor and dignity and safety. Esau had moved past the old hurts, Jacob could not. I know that living as Jacob does in the beginning of this Parashah is sad and lonely. Esau embraces, kisses and weeps when he sees Jacob because he is in the moment, Jacob is still scared. How sad! 

I believe we all have the opportunity to let go of past hurts and still protect ourselves. We don’t have to be doormats and we can be open to new experiences. Reaching out our hand to those we have harmed by asking for forgiveness and forgiving others when they ask is central to our faith. Letting go of resentments even when another person does not ask for forgiveness allows us to see their humanity and have Divine Pathos and compassion towards them so we don’t “hate our kinsman in our hearts” as Leviticus teaches us. I am committed to letting go and being more present and open to change this week and this year and I hope you are also. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Parashah VaYishlach changed my life in 1987. I realized the power of change and the possibility of change. I realized that forgiveness was possible and asking for it is necessary for re-connection to happen.


One of the first teachings is in the beginning of the Parashah, “Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother…” Jacob knows that he harmed his brother and he doesn’t want to just show up and say “I’m here brother” so he sends messengers, which in the text is the same word for angels. This teaches me that when I am going to send a message, I have to see the messenger as an Angel, which means that I have to be in my higher place and I am seeing the person I am sending the messenger to as a Divine Spirit. In other words, my God-Image is speaking to your (another) Divine Image. Torah is teaching us to think about the message we want to send, the words we use have to be in the language of the recipient, and accept that the person has a right to refuse to see you. I think that Jacob’s message did not really address Esau’s wound. Rather, he was telling him that he was wealthy in his own right. Maybe he was trying to tell Esau that he didn’t want anything from him, yet, he did not address his own errors. He did not ask for a meeting or anything, just a by the by message. When I sent a message to my brothers, I told them that I wanted to see them and talk to them. They both accepted my invitation and they were able to forgive me and we reconnected stronger than before. My oldest brother, Stuart,z”l, was just happy to see me again and told me what he was angry with me about and we worked it out. My middle brother, Neal, had begun a discussion while I was in prison and when we met, we were able to talk, reconcile, reconnect and study together. We found our common bonds again, besides just being brothers, and we have stayed connected and grown our relationship to where he is my confidant and advisor and friend. While I did not send messengers, I sent a message that spoke to both of them in ways they could hear and did not shirk my responsibility for our rift. All of us are able to be the angel/messenger for ourselves and for others, we just have to make that decision and be in acceptance of the response without trying to control the results. Whatever the circumstances that make sending a message are, we always have the opportunity to come from our highest place and reach the highest place of another.

Jacob’s response to the message from the messengers is fear. They do not tell him what Esau said, only that he was coming with 400 men to meet him. Jacob goes to fear rather than joy. The Hebrew word is Yirah- which means awe and fear. I believe that Jacob goes to fear because he is still holding on to what happened when he left his home because Esau wanted to kill him. For Jacob, there is no thought that Esau could be coming to greet him and escort him home with joy and dignity because he is still guilty and not able to believe that Esau is leaving the past in the past. I am sure that many of us can relate to this. When we have wronged someone or been wronged by someone, we hold onto that wound and believe the other person does also. I did not believe that I was accepted nor could be accepted when I was doing the wrong thing and living an addicted life. When I got into recovery, I believed forgiveness was possible and achievable. I realize that Jacob was living in the past and that was coloring everything he saw and did. This teaching was/is a cornerstone of my recovery and growth. Living in today takes a lot of work, it means that I have to see today as different than yesterday. I can’t say ‘same shit, different day’, I can’t say ‘if I do today what I did yesterday, I will be okay’. I have to be in wonder each and every day. I need to realize that holding on to the past keeps me stuck and keeps me stale. Rabbi Heschel says “there is nothing stale under the sun except human beings that become stale.” Being fresh is wearing a “new pair of glasses” as Chuck C writes in his book of the same name. When I am afraid because of past experiences, I have to wake myself up and realize that this moment is different and if I treat it as past moments, I can never have a different experience.

I believe that Esau was coming to welcome Jacob with honor and dignity and safety. Esau had moved past the old hurts, Jacob could not. I know that living as Jacob does in the beginning of this Parashah is sad and lonely. Esau embraces, kisses and weeps when he sees Jacob because he is in the moment, Jacob is still scared. How sad!

I believe we all have the opportunity to let go of past hurts and still protect ourselves. We don’t have to be doormats and we can be open to new experiences. Reaching out our hand to those we have harmed by asking for forgiveness and forgiving others when they ask is central to our faith. Letting go of resentments even when another person does not ask for forgiveness allows us to see their humanity and have Divine Pathos and compassion towards them so we don’t “hate our kinsman in our hearts” as Leviticus teaches us. I am committed to letting go and being more present and open to change this week and this year and I hope you are also. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha - Va-Yetzei

Weekly Parsha-Va-Yetzei

This week’s Parsha “Paga’s” me. I write this because it is the word used in the beginning of Va-Yetzei. There are many translations for it and the one I understand it to be this year is “strike”. In the verse Gen.28:11, the text reads “he came upon a certain place”. It could also read “he encountered a certain place.” I prefer this year to read it as “God struck him in a certain place”. I am reading it this way because many years ago, when I was studying this Parsha with Avi Reichental, he translated it as wounded. I have played with this way of understanding this verse ever since. Thank you Avi.

The Hebrew is “Va-Yifgah B’Makom”. “Makom” is another name for God as well as place. I was studying this verse with Rabbi Brandon Bernstein this week and we discussed this verse in relation to a Spiritual Awakening. Even as I am writing this, I am bombarded by different ways to understand the text.

Jacob is stuck in a certain place by God. The certain place could be a foreshadowing to next week’s Parsha. It could be another physical wound that is not permanent, causing the need for a permanent wound in next week’s Parsha. It also could be understood as “God struck him (Jacob) in God’s Place, ie the soul. After all, a spiritual awakening begins in the soul and comes up to the mind. God tried to get Jacob to begin to think and act from his soul and create “soul to soul” relationships, as my wife, Harriet Rossetto, teaches us to do. Jacob was so far out of control: lying to his father, stealing from his brother, colluding with his mother only worrying about punishment-not that what he was doing was wrong; that he needed to be struck in his soul to remind him that he had one! As a recovering Alcoholic, I know that I needed to be soul struck by God in order to change. Most people in recovery know the moment of that spiritual awakening and can recite it from memory with precision. I had many other spiritual awakenings prior to December of 1986, yet none of them stuck. In reading this week’s Parsha, I realize why they didn’t. I did not allow my soul to be struck by the words of God, family, friends, etc. Much like Jacob in this opening chapter, my soul was struck and, in the words of Rabbi Heschel, they were “like shooting stars, passing and unremembered.” Jacob has his dream and when he wakes up, he says “There is God in this place and I, I did not know.” Rabbi Lawrence Kushner wrote a book based on this verse that everyone should read. I understand the reason for two forms of I to remind us we have an earthly I (self-centered and protective) and a divine I (joined with God to live life on God’s terms).

A spiritual awakening is when the divine I (soul/spirit) is awakened and we are reminded of our partnership with God and that we are not God. This is what Jacob realizes in verses 16-19 of Chapter 28. By verse 20, he is making a deal with God wanting God to give him things and then he will believe and donate 10% of what he has. Still a trickster and we can all understand him. How many times I would agree to something in order to get the heat off. How many times have I and you had an insight that we did not follow through with because we forgot and/or we thought we could get away without acting on the insight. The most important part of a spiritual awakening is what we do with it. Jacob did not follow through on being struck by God in God’s place, his soul. Instead, he met Rachel, found Laban, and went on a journey of being conned and deceived and betrayed by everyone in his life in Haran. Jacob gets mad at Laban for deceiving him, yet he doesn’t blame Rachel at all. For the deception to have worked, she had to be a part of it, as was Leah. Yet, Jacob cannot bring himself to see this about Rachel, he certainly took out his anger on Leah by withholding his love from her. And, Jacob cannot see how he did the same betrayal to his father, Isaac and his brother, Esau! Talk about denial! How often have any of us wanted to make someone we love, care about, need, etc. out to be good even though they have participated in a betrayal of us? How often have we made it okay and try to convince ourselves and others that it wasn’t “personal, just business”. How often have we denied our own betrayals of others, ourselves and God so that we can continue to wrap ourselves in self-righteousness?

Leah also has a spiritual awakening in this Parsha and doesn’t follow through with it. When she names her fourth son, Yehudah, she is grateful and gives thanks to God for bearing children realizing “Praise the Lord” is more important than trying to get her husband to love her like he loves her sister, Rachel. Leah is struck in her soul and knows it-for a minute. Soon afterward, Leah gets back into competition with Rachel over giving birth and giving maid-servants to Jacob, etc. Her “Praise the Lord” moment was fleeting and her internal pain and suffering come back with a vengeance. Here is another lesson I am learning this year from this Parsha. When God has struck our soul and we stay “loyal to the event and loyal to our response” as Rabbi Heschel teaches, the hurts and betrayals by others don’t change us in our core. They serve as reminders of how blessed we are to say “Praise the Lord”. In fact, I realize the custom of saying this, in Hebrew and in English is to remind us that with God, with a spiritual awakening that we follow through with/on and keep growing we can and will weather all storms and grow from each encounter. As I look back over the past 34 years, I know that my resolve to not revert to old ways of being and to not need to ‘get even’ has diminished so greatly and I now ‘go to war with a heart of peace’ as I learned in a book, Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institute.

As we leave this Parsha this year, I hope all of us will look back on the ways God has struck you in your soul and consider how you have followed through with the insight you were given. I also want to do T’Shuvah to my family, living and deceased, friends and others who, over the years reached out to me and were Divine Instruments to strike my soul and whom I ignored for all those years. I am so sorry and my commitment is to continue to grow the spiritual awakening I had 34 years ago. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha- Toldot

This week’s Parashah is Toldot. We learn the lineage of Isaac in this week’s Torah Portion. I love this Parashah because when I read it in Prison, in 1986, I found hope that I was not the only con, liar, thief and cheat in Jewish History:) Of course I knew this, yet reading about Jacob’s trickery gave me hope that I could change and I saw a good life as possible and doable. This revelation has sustained me throughout these 34 years of changing.

As I was studying this Parashah with my friend and teacher, Rabbi Brandon Bernstein, he pointed out to me the 2nd Chapter of this Parashah and we studied it together. As with Abraham, there is a famine in the land and Isaac leaves Canaan to go to Gerar. “Appeared to him, Adonai, and Adonai saying Do not go down to Egypt, dwell in the land which I tell you. Reside in this land and I will bless you… Isaac dwelt in Gerar”. (Gen. 26:2-3, 6) We spoke about the use of the word, appear, this is the same word used in the Parashah VaYera from 2 weeks ago. Isaac had a different relationship with Adonai than Abraham as Isaac prayed for his wife to conceive and she did. Here, Adonai is, I believe, fearful for Isaac to be subjected to the evil of Egypt and wants him to stay in a safe place. I am realizing that God appears to all of us in different ways and counsels us as to where our place is and where we should dwell/visit. Yet, we often don’t hear the call and/or understand the message. I think of all the places and times Adonai warned me, through the call of my soul, through the call of others and I disregarded it. I was unable to hear and follow. It is still a challenge for me. Isaac shows us, in these verses what surrender is. He listens! Then he doesn’t. After Adonai appears to him, he then ‘sees’ that he has to lie about who Rebecca is- just like his father did! I understand his fear and don’t understand his fear overriding the connection, promises and words from Adonai.

OH, maybe I do. How often have any of us heard the call, surrendered only to allow our fears and/or desires override the connection, promise and words from Adonai, a trusted advisor, friend, etc.? I have done this and most likely will do this again. What I am learning here is that I don’t have to give in to the fear, I can choose to keep the connection, faith and believe the promise instead of choosing to follow the fear. Abimelech also ‘sees’ and he does heed the call of Adonai. He is angry with Isaac because he and his people could have had guilt on them if they had taken Rebecca to be their wife. What a statement! While one could see this as blaming, I see this as a plea-why do something wrong and entice us to do something wrong because of your lack of faith in us. Isaac, again, did not ‘see’ who the men of Gerar and their King really were. He did not ‘see’ the goodness of the people of Gerar nor did he ‘see’ the wisdom and protection of God. I am writing this in the middle of a new surge of Covid-19 and wonder why so many people choose not to ‘see’ the wisdom of the scientists that comes from Adonai and engage in reckless behaviors. I understand the choice, I am just bewildered by the amount of people making this choice. We are more likely to believe the lie than the truth, as Rabbi Heschel teaches, self-deception is a major disease. I am doing my own inventory of how I have and continue to deceive myself. I ask you to do the same.

Sight plays a major role in the story of Jacob stealing the birthright. Isaac is old and his eyesight is dimming the text teaches us. Is he really unable to see and discern the difference between Jacob and Esau? He knows something is up and he allows himself to be blind to the subtrefuge of Rebecca and Jacob. Isaac’s blindness, real or faked, is the cause of much distress. Isaac not seeing causes Esau such pain. I know that Hazal makes Jacob out to be good and Esau out to be bad and I disagree. “When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried a great and bitter cry” (Gen. 27:34). I am trembling again at the sound of Esau’s cry. He was the son who went out each day and hunted and gathered for the family. He cared for his father deeply and without reserve. He was a man of passion and kindness and he got screwed over by his brother, his mother and his father. It reverberates through me as the cry of a wounded animal who is wounded by his/her owner after years of service. It is the cry of Bilaam’s ass later in the Torah. It is the cry of all of us when we realize we have been betrayed and stolen from by one we trust. It is a cry from deep in Esau’s soul which I can relate to. I have cried that cry and been the one who has caused that cry in another. My brother, Rabbi Neal Borovitz, cried that cry when I betrayed him over and over. My sister cried that cry when I left her in Cleveland and moved to Los Angeles. My daughter cried that cry when I kept going to jail and prison. I have cried that cry when people I trust betray me and the principles I thought we had in common. I am heartbroken for Esau and all the rest of us that have cried that cry.

Esau wants to be blessed by his father. “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (Gen. 27:36). How sad that we can’t bless everyone. How sad that we make good guys and bad girls. How sad that we have to be reminded, cajoled, forced into blessing those we have harmed. While Isaac puts it off on Jacob, he is also responsible. As Rabbi Heschel teaches: “In a free society, some are guilty all are responsible.” I understand this as another piece of self-deception. Isaac deceived himself and this led to the deception of Esau. I see how my self-deception led to my betrayal of others. I see how my self-deception led to allowing myself to be betrayed by others.

This week, this year lets all try and ‘see’ better. Let’s leave the life of self-deception and bask in Adonai’s truth. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha - VaYera

Weekly Parashah - VaYera

This week’s Parashah is VaYera, which translates to God appeared. It also can mean that God caused Godself to appear to Abraham. A third way of understanding is that Abraham had to be in a passive state to experience the appearance of God. I was studying this with Rabbi Brandon Bernstein and Rabbi Joseph Shamash this week and I am so grateful to learn with both of these bright young Rabbis.

What is the big deal about this word, you might ask? I will tell you-first of all it is the name of the Parashah and the names of the Parashah usually points to something-at least for me:) Secondly, the way we translate impacts the meaning of the verse and, possibly, how we see the context of the entire Parashah. Thirdly, to immerse myself in the text as Rabbi Heschel teaches us to do, I get to see more and more of the depth of the text through understanding the different ways the words can be and are used. I want to look at this experience through the rest of the Parashah as well.

God appeared to Abraham takes nothing on Abraham’s part. He is sitting in the doorway of his tent and, poof, God appears. It is so uneventful that Abraham looks up and sees three men approaching. Yes, these three men are Angels sent by God so one could say that this is the way God appeared and Abraham responded appropriately. I see this in a different light this year. God appears to Abraham and he is not even aware of God being there! How often has this happened to any of us. I am thinking about all the times God has appeared to me and I have been unaware of this experience. Writing this sentence makes me sad and wanting to cry. I am seeing how “busy” I was, too “busy” to notice the appearance of God and I am trembling. As I think of Rabbi Heschel’s exhortations to experience another Human Being as a Divine Reminder and I think of how many times I have seen some humans as enemies that have to be conquered and defeated. I am realizing how my stubbornness helped many and hurt some. It is so hard to be aware of all the appearances God makes in our life! This unawareness, however, causes us to stay stuck wherever we are, rather than grow and use the appearance of God to better our lives and the lives of others. Again, this is not about perfection, it is about finding ways to be more aware. This is why I take so many pictures of nature here in the Desert. I am staying aware of God’s appearance through nature. It is why I keep praying to build up my internal awareness meter of what is-not continuing to see only what I want life to be. The three men in this scenario of mine represent God’s successful attempt to get Abraham’s attention. This unawareness plays out throughout the Parashah, however. Abraham is unaware of how his wife, Sarah, feels or will be treated when he gives her to Abimelech! This is his second time, pimping his wife to save his own life. Abimelech is more attuned to God’s appearance and acts on it than Abraham is. Yes, earlier Abraham argued for Sodom and Gemorrah, mainly because his nephew and family were there I believe, yet even that encounter could not impact him enough to save his wife this shame nor hear the cry of his second wife Hagar and his first son Ishmael and fight with them. He could argue with God for strangers in Sodom (and his nephew), yet not for his first born son and Sarah’s son, Isaac? This is what happens when we don’t allow the appearance of God to impact our being-ness. How are you allowing the appearance of God to impact your living today and tomorrows?

In the second understanding of VaYera, God caused Godself to appear to Abraham, I see God as an active participant in this relationship. More active that the first because there is no doubt that Abraham is going to have the experience of God’s appearance. This is, in my experience, God’s concern for humans. While my friend and teacher, Rabbi Igael Gurin-Malous believes that God doesn’t “give a shit” in his words, I believe that God cares deeply about humans. Understanding the text in this way is an experience that I have had and changed my life forever. I had it when I was arrested 34 years ago and did not want to get bailed out of jail for the first time in my life. God put words in my mouth and caused me to follow through with them and, 34 years later, I am so grateful and, I believe that the impact of God’s causing Godself to appear to me changed my corner of the world and me for profoundly. I get to take this experience with me in all of my affairs. The experience was so real and strong, so enlightening and illuminating, and gave me a hunger and thirst for learning and living that has not ceased. The impact of this forceful intervention was and is my desire to keep growing along spiritual lines as the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says. It also made me seek out teachers and guides that I still do today. They, in turn, have helped me have more recognition of when God is forcing God’s appearance to me and be more active in my life. It also gives me pause to look at the message that God is giving me and how much God cares for me and for everyone. I become overwhelmed with gratitude and joy and responsibility. An example of God doing this was, of course, when God appeared to Abraham and spoke about Sodom. Abraham stood up for humanity and to God. WOW, what a moment. Yet, he was unable to with Ishmael and Isaac. He even was unable to hear the cry of his first wife Sarah. He did not allow the forcefulness of God’s appearance to connect with Sarah after Hagar left. How sad! I think of how many times God forcing Godself to appear to me I have blown off and/or did not cultivate through my actions. This is what walking in God’s ways means to me today. After this forceful appearance, I Covenant with God to continue to walk in God’s ways a little more often and a little deeper.

Finally, for this year, in studying with Rabbi Joseph this week, I realized that I have to be in a passive, open state to truly experience God’s appearance. I am in this state every morning when we go walking and I am so aware of nature. Passive here is not dong nothing or bowing down or meditating for me-rather it is the state of openness to learning, taking in new experiences and Radical Amazement/wonder. I can be in action when doing this, I just can’t be sure of that I know. I am able to learn when I am open to it, and to be open to it. I have to be in a state of being okay with myself as I am, I have to be in a state of welcoming what is and be immersed in the experience rather than trying to make an experience or trying to control the experience God has created for me. I am recommitting to these three responses to God’s appearing to me and I commit to hear others’ experience of God appearing to them with more openness and excitement. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha - Lech L'Cha

Lech L’Cha

These words, Lech L’Cha, spoken to Abram (Abraham) in Chapter 12 of the Book of Genesis, were the first words of my Torah Portion for my Bar Mitzvah, 56 years ago. As I celebrate my 69th Birthday, I am reminded of how appropriate these words are for and to me. This is the beginning of Abram’s journey in his second career and what a journey it is/was. I can relate to life being a journey and I can testify to how interesting a journey life can be:)

“GO FOR YOU/GO TO YOU”, I capitalize them because this is a command from God to Abram. I am thinking about these words and what God meant by them and how I/we interpret and use this command. Living life on God’s terms, as God asks us to do, means that the selfish way of interpreting and using this command is not what God meant. I have been a person who lived a false interpretation of this command. I went only to and for myself. Everyone else was secondary to me getting what I wanted and believed I was entitled to. I played a lot of games in my earlier days to get what I wanted/desired and it left me lonely, bereft and unsatisfied. We see many people today going for and to themselves only and thinking that everyone else should serve them as well. I have found this to be true in my personal and professional life and, truth be told, I have committed this ‘sin’ myself- even in my recovery. None of us are perfect and we all need to look at the ways we have bastardized this command to Abram and the rest of us. We see it in our leaders, their followers and yet, there are many people unwilling to call bullshit, bullshit and buy into the lies of self-centeredness and narcissism of others so they don’t have to look at their own. This week and this year, let us all let go of our self-centeredness a little more (or a lot depending) and begin to live for and with other people. Let us recognize that all people are important and help those in need rather than exploit them for our own gain- the “just because we can” way of living.

GO FOR YOU/GO TO YOU according to how I understand living life on God’s terms, is about taking the scariest journey we will ever embark on- the path to our soul and our inner life. God does not want Abram the rich man, the phony, the scared man and/or the man of blind faith- in my reading of this Parashah this year. God is looking for the real Abram and the only way to truly have a relationship that is soul-to-soul is for Abram to “go for himself and go to himself”. Yet, even today, after millennia of reading these words, the Rabbis who teach it, the leaders of our synagogues and institutions, many of us are still stubbornly refusing to take this sacred journey. Yes, it is scary- I have seen things that I am still in horror about- and it is sacred- I have found passion and purpose, learning and teaching, growth and atrophy, hitting the mark and missing the mark. I have, most of all, become very excited about being friends with my inner being and living from my soul much more often than not. GO FOR YOU/GO TO YOU is not a one and done either. It is a constant journey, each step we take to know our soul and our inner life leads to another that is waiting to be taken. Just as in recovery and life, we never arrive. God does not promise arrival, just the journey.

GO FOR YOU/GO TO YOU is the path to higher living and greater connection. Taking this journey allows me to know, no matter what anyone else may say or think, I am not a phony. What you see is what you get. The higher living is living in wonder and radical amazement. This journey has given me the vision to see others for who they are and believe in their better angels/higher selves. It has hurt greatly when I am disappointed by another’s bastardization of what I believe is an authentic connection- as I am sure others have been disappointed in me. Living in wonder, radical amazement allows me to give others the benefit of the doubt and see each person, interaction and event as new. This, I believe is the path to greater connection also. The more I am me, the more I live from my soul and inner life, the more rooted I am in my connections. When another, like my wife Harriet Rossetto, is on this path (and a little farther along than I) then the deeper and stronger our bond is. The connection of my soul and inner life with Harriet’s has given us the strength, love, wonder, awe and joy to weather all sorts of storms that have split other couples. Yet, we are better and stronger, more loving and caring for each other than we have ever been and it grows each day. The same is true with other family members and friends. There is still within me the voice that says ‘let me get mine” and I have learned to go deeper into my soul and inner life to respond to it. Yes- it is a struggle and the “prize” is so great- being able to live with me a little bit more calmly each day and being able to grow more into me a little bit more each day.

I have more thoughts on this Parashah and I was not planning on sticking with just these two words- yet this is where God sent me and I am grateful. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha- Noach

Weekly Parashah- Noach/Noah

“The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness. When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth…” Gen. 6:11 &12.

I have read this Parsha for 34 years and I am still in awe of it. I am struck by the story, the lawlessness/violence of mankind that caused the flood. I am left to question: where are we/I today? Given our current state of affairs, one could say that this Pandemic has come to remind us of how much we are NOT in control of everything. It could remind us of the consequences of lawlessness or selfishness. So, I have to ask myself and you- how are we on the continuum of lawlessness and lawful? We are never in one or the other, this continuum is an ebb/flow constantly. I find myself being the subject of lawlessness and, at times, the perpetrator of same. Every human being is a both/and. There are no perfect people here and, rather than justify our lawlessness, it is important to acknowledge it and grow from it. When I yell/get passionate:) some people feel like violence is thrust upon them while others are propelled to action through my energy. Both are true and, rather than hate me for my passion, either absent yourself from me altogether, absent yourself when I am being passionate/yelling, or accept me for me and take what you can/need and leave the rest. Any and all of these options are valid.

Another way to understand these verses is that earth was going to ruin and God couldn’t stand to see God’s “partner” ruin God’s creation. Anyone who has created something can identify with God’s horror and sorrow. I know a parent who had to call the Police on her own daughter so she could be arrested rather than die on the street from being a junkie. I realize what it was like for my family when my life was going to ruin. What many of us don’t realize is that it is not just our live’s that are going to ruin, it is also the lives of all those around us, especially the ones we love and that love us. In addiction, the addict’s family is profoundly impacted and the addict doesn’t realize it. The same is true in families that are missatuned to each other. It is true in work places, religious institutions, classrooms, and in government also. I see the ruin that I bring to my daughter and my wife when I am not hearing them, when I am stuck in yesterday or tomorrow. I see how my going to ruin impacts my community, friends, etc. I really understand what Torah is warning us about. We have choice, God trusts us with Free Will and, rather than take it for granted or as an entitlement, we have to be responsible for it and to it as well as to all the people we interact with. We will never get it right all the time, this is another reason that God put T’Shuvah into the world. It is so important for us to not just look at the ways others are ruining life for themselves and us, we have to look at how we are also guilty so we can repair and change our path and connect with the hope that God gives us.

“…since the devisings of man’s mind are evil (negative) from his youth nor will I ever again destroy every living being as I have done. (Gen.8:21) I will establish My covenant with you…. I have set My bow in the clouds and is shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. (Gen.9:12,13)

Here is God’s T’Shuvah to Noah. God realizes God was wrong in destroying everything and God makes his T’Shuvah with a new plan and covenant. What I learn from this is that negativity/evil is not something we are born with. We are born with the Yetzer HaRa, which Rabbi Harold Kushner taught me means Earthly Inclination, and we need it. It is not something to be killed off or thrown away. It is a part of us. The first verse here is teaching us that we have choice as to how to use it. In our youth, either we learn how to use the Yetzer HaRa or it will use us. This is why our religious institutions have to change what they teach, how they teach and when they teach. Transforming and using the Yetzer HaRa to benefit ourselves and society is crucial to living well and most of us don’t learn this. Left to our own devices, we will start to use our Yetzer HaRa to ‘win’ and live in a ‘zero-sum’/either-or world rather than live in a ‘win-win, both-and’ world. It is a choice that God gives us, just as parents have to give their children the ability to make conchs. Torah is teaching us how to prepare children to make good choices that will help them live well: Learn Torah! Learning Torah from a young age will give us the foundation to make good choices and learning Torah means to live the principles and values. When we learn the Spiritual Values of Judaism, we are able to put them into practice. When we don’t learn them early, we form other values as I stated above. Winning is not the end/all be/all. In fact, winning at all costs is what this verse is speaking of, I believe. I think about all the times I allowed the negativity inside of me to rule me and how awful things turned out. Allowing the Yetzer HaRa to rule us (we can have this happen even though we do good deeds) begins in our youth/adolescence. This is why learning is so important. We cannot revere life if we don’t learn how to live well. Even though I had great role models and I went to Hebrew School, etc. I didn’t learn the spiritual values necessary to put their teachings into a good practice. I see this now in a way I never did. Was I taught them, certainly. Was I taught them in a way I could understand, relate to and live, not so much. Torah is teaching us to learn the values needed to rule our Yetzer HaRa and transform the energy to bring joy, goodness, creativity and love to everything we are engaged in. This is the reason I study each day and work hard to live Rabbi Heschel’s teaching more and more as well as Torah more and more each day. What are you studying to help you rule your Yetzer HaRa?

The last verse I chose is a reminder for me that God is on my side! Not like the Bob Dylan song says, not the way people use God’s name to justify their thoughts and ways, rather as God meant it to be. We have a Covenant and God knows we will violate it because we will forget it and we will let our Yetzer HaRa rule us. God is not going anywhere. I know many people speak of God being in TzimTzum, hiding, I just don’t agree with them. God is not going to intervene, otherwise how would we have free will? God knows we form negative paths in our youth, yet God is staying faithful to God’s Covenant. Our questions don’t need to be about God’s faithfulness, rather our own! How are we staying faithful to our Covenant with God? How are we/I remembering that God created the Earth, destroyed it once to show us what our lawlessness, our grab for absolute power does to us and others and gave us another opportunity. When I see all the opportunities that God has given me, I am in awe, and I am in debt. I have a way to repay the debt of my life, live well! How are you repaying the debt of life by living well? The Rainbow is, in my opinion, not for God to remember- it is for us to remember God’s Covenant and faithfulness to us. Each time I se the rainbow, I am relieved, in awe and owe a debt of gratitude that is repaid every time I do the next right thing. Every time I see the rainbow, I am reminded that there is something good I can do to repay God for all the bounty that I have in my life. This Shabbos, let us all look for ways to remind ourselves of the debt of decency, love, faithfulness, compassion and kindness we owe to God and practice these on/with other people. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

Bereshit

 “In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth, the Earth being chaotic and empty”.

These two verses that being the Torah/Bible point to the rest of the story of Torah, Bible, Judaism, Religions and life. All beginnings emanate from God/Higher Power/Higher Consciousness/etc. All beginnings have within them higher purpose, utilitarian purpose and the possibility of being exploited for one person/one group’s gain. In immersing myself in these words of Torah, I am overcome with excitement, fear and trembling awe as well as Radical Amazement.

When do I notice new beginnings in my own life? This is coming to remind me and teach me to realize that each day is a new beginning and I get to choose which parts of me, Divine or Earthly, are in charge and most useful in this moment and accept that both my Divine and Earthly attributes are needed and can work together. This realization has kept me fresh for the past 32 years and now, it is reminding me to cultivate new beginnings and not be afraid of what was before and will never be again. I am realizing that much of my time lately has been in looking backward and trying to recapture something that just isn’t anymore. I am knowing that I have to protect myself against all enemies “inner and outer,” knowing that some people will protect themselves at my expense if they have to - not for sport as enemies will- for their own survival some people will ‘throw me under the bus’ - “Rabbi, it is just business” they say to themselves and me. I get it. Yet, if I let that permeate my today- then I am not beginning anew, I am stuck in old/yesterday. This year, this beginning has to start now. Each morning as I recite the Modeh Ani prayer, I will commit to a new beginning this day!

The second verse, “the Earth being Chaotic and empty” is so reassuring to me. The Chaos and emptiness that I and many others feel right now, in the midst of this Pandemic, is also part of beginnings. I/we keep forgetting that every beginning is difficult. Every beginning comes from the pain, chaos and emptiness of what was before it. Whether it is the creation stories as told here in the Bible, other creation stories from other traditions, the big bang theory, etc. all beginnings have pain, chaos and emptiness at their core. Nowhere in the Bible/Torah are we told that the Chaos and emptiness go away!! Our challenge is to live with the chaos and emptiness so that we can use them to enhance the new beginning, rather than sideline us from making a new beginning! According to Rashi, as we learned on Simchat Torah from Rabbi Igael Gurin Malous, ToHu also means astonishment. What a wonderful way of seeing chaos, unformedness, it is astonishing, not just empty. What is most astonishing to me is that God fills the chaos/unformed with nature, nurture, and all of us.

I would suggest that all true rebellions, rebellions toward something Divine and Earthly rather than just against something already established, rise out of the chaos and emptiness that is happening prior to these true rebellions. I believe in using the chaos and emptiness to enhance living rather than allow them to bring me down to a place of despair and paralyzing fear. This year, I commit to using Chaos and emptiness to enhance my living by helping me stay fresh, aware and anew.

“It is not good for Adam to be alone”.

This phrase that God speaks is the antithesis to the ideal of the “rugged American”, the “self-sufficient human”, etc. I am struck by how true it is and how much we all try to deny this truth. Again, as Rabbi Heschel says, “self-deception is a major disease”. I keep seeing myself in this phrase and wonder how I have deceived myself in this regard. I spent a long time looking for someone(s) to be with. In fact I gave up parts of me, values I held/hold to be with another(s) and I, once again, realize that it was all for naught. The first separation I/we experience is separation from God, our souls are part of the creative life-force in the universe. Acknowledging our need for connection doesn’t have to make us codependent and/or weak. Rather, it comes to help us strengthen our spiritual corpus colosseum. We are able to be in truth about our needs and desires as well as know that we can’t do it all and we are a part of the world and not the entire world.

So many people roam the world alone out of fear of being weak, being needy, being seen as lamb. In today’s climate, caring for the stranger, poor, orphan and widow is for suckers- ask Donald J Trump and his minions. Being connected means that life is no longer a zero-sum game, it is no longer a blame game, it is a way of being that enhances my soul and yours. It is a way of being that honors the dignity of everyone and everything. It is our way of connecting to God through connecting to others. We are not created to be alone, so lets connect more through love, laughter, study and zoom (for now anyway).

“Sin (negativity) couches at your door and it desires you much, you can be a master/leader of it.”

These words spoken to Cain are so relevant at this moment. All of us ‘give in’ to the sin/negativity that couches at our doors- the doors of our homes, the doors of our hearts, the doors of our soul, the doors of our relationships. It is hard to not be taken in by the desire that it has for us. We see this in our Political arena, in our communities, in our synagogues and institutions. We see this in our families and friendships. I/we am forgetful of the last part of the verse: “you can be a master/leader of it” at times. What Torah is saying to me, this year, is that I can use the power of the negativity/sin to do something good and great. I can use the power of all negativity to turn away from the desire and turn towards the desire to do good. I/we can use this power to stop being a victim and own my place in the world, community, family, etc. I/we can use this power to turn to God and to being one grain of sand better today than yesterday. We/I can use this power to stop hating and engaging in ‘zero-sum living’ and turn to both/and living, win-win, and finding ways to disagree with dignity. Cain, of course, could not do this, he had to kill his brother, Abel. We/I don’t have to follow his example, rather we can learn from it and turn to using our power to heal, help and care.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Mark

March 26, 2020

“Prayer may not save us. But prayer may make us worthy of being saved. Prayer is not requesting. There is a partnership of God and man. God needs our help. I would define man as a divine need. God is in need of man.” This excerpt from Rabbi A J Heschel’s interview with Carl Stern in 1972 and in the book, “Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity” reminds us all of how much each of us matters! We have the opportunity to show ourselves and each other that we care for ourselves and others by social distancing, not listening to our LIAR IN CHIEF President and do what we can to help others. Prayer, as I understand prayer from Rabbi Heschel, causes us to take an action, to praise God for our ability to serve God and another human being. Prayer makes us worthy of being saved by the actions we take in response to the call of the prayers we recite.

Each and every prayer has a call to action to it, will you join me in the action of the Barchu- blessing God through our actions and being a worthy partner? Will you join me in the action of the Shema- hearing and understanding the call of our soul, the souls of another humans and being part of the Oneness that is God? I hope so, I pray so.

March 25, 2020

In his book, “Insecurity of Freedom”, Rabbi Heschel teaches: “ 

This, indeed, is the purpose of our religious traditions: to keep alive the higher Yes as well as the power of man to say, “Here I am”; to teach our minds to understand the true demand and to teach our conscience to be present. Too often we misunderstand the demand; too often the call goes forth, and history records our conscience as absent.”

Our religious traditions are not concerned with “packing the churches for Easter”, or Temples for Shabbat or Passover. What is the higher Yes today? It is to serve by following the advice/wisdom of the experts/Doctors. It is helping those around us by being kinder and less resentful. It is to say Yes to our powerless over Coronavirus and Yes to our ability to control our panic, our fear, saying Here I am by shopping for those who can’t get out of their homes, calling the people we know, Skyping, FaceTiming, Zooming, Google Hangouts, etc., thanking the workers who show up to work so we can get what we need, the healthcare workers who keep showing up to help others. 

Maybe the silver lining here is our renewed awareness of the power and necessity of kindness and our shared humanity. No one is an island and all the money in the world is not a protection against this pandemic. Like addiction, pandemics know no boundaries. We do, however, have the ability to draw a boundary around our arrogance, our anger and our self-centeredness. We also can extend our boundaries of love, care, kindness, compassion, truth and love. Will you join me in say YES and Here I Am?

March 24, 2020

“ I am afraid of people who are never embarrassed at their own pettiness, prejudices, envy and conceit...” These words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel from his lecture/book “Who Is Man” are ringing in my soul and making me angry, reflective, and concerned. I am angry at a President who is NEVER embarrassed by his own actions nor the actions of those around him- who has made a career and fortune from extolling his own pettiness, prejudices, envy and conceit! I reflect on myself and see how embarrassed I have been when I have acted in these ways and vow to act these ways a lot less. I am concerned for all of us who are and are not embarrassed by these ways of being. For those who are, I hope you can see how you do it less each day. For those of you who are not embarrassed by these ways of being I am concerned for your souls and send you Divine Pathos, Divine concern to help you realize your errors and together we can move forward from this crisis and into a better state of beingness.

March 24, 2020

The birds are wondering where are all the crazy humans- they were making a lot of noise because they miss us?:)