Why does Tikun Israel precede Tikun Olam?

I was recently asked at a talk that I gave why I emphasize the need for Tikun Israel to precede Tikun Olam. Here is part of my answer to the question: "Rav Salantar taught - first one fixes his house, then his community, then the world, and so on... I am extremely proud of the work Jewish organizations and movements have committed towards healing the world - Tikun Olam. I'm proud of the American Jewish World Service, the Reform Movement (that has made healing the world their top priority), the Israeli Government (who sends aid relief for disasters taking place around the world), and every other initiative out there focused on healing the word, yet my concern today is the Jewish People, the People of Israel. There is enough information out their reflecting a serious decline in synagogue and communal affiliation, identification with Jewish Peoplehood and responsibility one for the other (Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh B'Zeh - All of Israel is responsible one for the other), the disassociation of young American Jews with Israel (the state) and the disengagement of Israeli Jews from their brethren across the globe. There's more to it, but this is just part of the reason my focus is on healing "my house and then my neighbor's house". For 2,000 years we wondered the earth, kicked out, discriminated against, and of course experienced genocide that led to 6,000,000 of our People murdered, and now that we find ourselves at a place in history where we aren't experiencing what our ancestors and families on sixty five years ago did, a time in history when we have self governance and determination, still we find that our people are bleeding at an alarming rate (whether it is assimilation or disassociation, lack of education or ignorance - take your pick). Sure it is important to help others, it is even more important to help ourselves - first. If we cannot help ourselves how on earth can we fulfill our greatest potential for Tikun Olam? If our numbers continue to decline and the bridges connecting world Jewry are not strengthened there will be no Tikun Olam. I sometimes use that analogy when flying on a plane: "if the oxygen masks are released - put it on yourself first, then assist a passenger traveling with you who may need help".

Too many have forgotten from where they came and as a result do not know where they are going. Tikun Israel has already begun through the efforts of grass roots projects, organizations and major initiatives. It is what birthright Israel, MASA, Independent Minyanim, Study Centers, and countless other initiatives are trying to do. We know the ball's been dropped, we're trying to pick it up - and in the process - are figuring out what we do with it. God willing our children will write that chapter of our narrative.

There is more coming reflecting this movement of self-healing, Tikun Israel, more background information, historical context and vision for moving forward is on its way!

The World As It Should Be?

The world as it should be? Now how you gonna do that? Last week's Torah portion describes Jacob's dream (you know, the one with the ladder): "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of Gd ascending and descending on it. And...the LORD...said: ...The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." (Gen 28:12-19)
Here Jacob gets a picture of the world "as it should be", or perhaps will be. He then wakes up and realizes he's still in the world - as it is! Jacob quickly understands that in order to realize "the world as it should be" he goes ahead and makes a deal with Gd (chutzpah?): "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying: 'If Gd will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then shall the LORD be my Gd." (Gen 28:20-21) "Then shall the LORD be my GD"? For real? Yeah it's for real. You see Jacob is an activist in the purest form. He cuts deals with Gd, wrestles with Gd (Gen.32:25-31), and as a result a bridge builder connecting the world as it is to the world as it should be.
We can't simply imagine a better world and hope it happens. Like Jacob we must be the change. But in order to heal this fractured world we must first heal ourselves. You know the instructions you get when flying a plane: if oxygen masks are released and you are traveling with someone who needs help getting one on - you must first place the oxygen on yourself, you can then go ahead and place it on another. Tikun Israel precedes Tikun Olam and boy does Klal Yisrael need healing. Peace out from Israel.

 

Live Debate: 2 Israelis & 2 Palestinian Gazans (Part 1)

As yesterday's bus bombing in Tel Aviv unfolded, I was asked by a friend who works for Sky News to provide an eyewitness account of the events as they took place. I was then asked to take part in a live debate. The debate included 2 Israelis & 2 Palestinians (living in Gaza). It was interesting, not as lively as I had wanted it to be, but I think we all made our points somewhat clear.  At the end of all this - we are all human beings made in Gd's image. Gd willing these lines of communication will remain open and lead us to continuous dialogue and understanding.

Here is the link to the debate as it took place last night - Gaza Conflict Debate: As It Happened

Love & Light from Israel

להיות או לא להיות? הרשות בידינו!

"רְאֵה נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַיּוֹם, אֶת-הַחַיִּים וְאֶת-הַטּוֹב, וְאֶת-הַמָּוֶת, וְאֶת-הָרָע." (דברים ל:טו) - הרמב"ם בהלכות תשובה פרק ה' הלכה א' מסביר: "הרשות לכל אדם נתונה אם רצה להטות עצמו לדרך טובה ולהיות צדיק הרשות בידו, ואם רצה להטות עצמו לדרך רעה ולהיות רשע הרשות בידו."

בראש השנה עלינו להחליט לאיזה כיוון אנו הולכים? נכון שאנחנו מבקשים סליחות, מתפללים ומקווים שנכתב בספר החיים, אך באיזשהו שליו, ההחלטות אם נכתב או לא נכתב לחיים של ברכות ומצוות - בידיינו. כמו ששאל שקספיר: להיות או לא להיות? תבחרו את החיים, את הטוב! תבחרו להיות... 

 

שנה טובה ומתוקה לכלל ישראל!

ואהבת לרעך כמוך - Love your neighbor as yourself

"ואהבת לרעך כמוך" הוא פסוק בתורה, מצווה ומושג יסוד, לדעת חכמי ישראל לדורותיהם. משמעותו היא שהאדם צריך לאהוב את הזולת כשם שהוא אוהב את עצמו. מכלל זה נגזרים דרכי התנהגויות רבות, שבגללן חכמי המשנה התייחסו אליו כאל כלל מרכזי וחשוב בכל התורה. זה הזמן בחודש אלול לקראת ימי ראש השנה ויום כיפור שעלינו להתייחס אחד אל השני כמשפחה, כבני אדם.

 

Rabbi condemns Ahmadinejad's Israel 'cancer' remark

Rabbi condemns Ahmadinejad's Israel 'cancer' remark

When the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad compares Israel to a cancer, I take it personally.
On Monday, you see, I traveled to Israel to co-officiate at a wedding. And I have cancer.
I’ve been in remission from lymphoma for several years and I visit Israel on average once or twice a year. So, as someone who claims a perverse expertise, permit me to point out three problems with his analogy:
First, cancer is, by definition, spreading. “Growth for growth’s sake is the ideology of the cancer cell” Edward Abbey memorably wrote. Therefore a cancerous nation should, by definition, spread and grow large. Yet Israel(even if it annexed every bit of the West Bank) has given back far more territory than it ever conquered.
The Sinai Peninsula dwarfs the other lands that were captured in a war that Israel did not start. Indeed, the lands Israel returned (over 20,000 square miles) are larger than Israel itself. Israel is around 8,000 square miles, smaller than New Jersey, and Iran, which is 167,618 square miles, is slightly larger than California. Of course, this does not count the other Arab and Muslim nations of the world, of which there are over 40, as opposed to one Jewish state. So on behalf of those who suffer with cancer and poor math skills everywhere, I wish Ahmadinajad would demonstrate a mathematical awareness consistent with his PhD in engineering.
The second problem in the analogy is that healthy cells predate cancerous ones. Cancer is something that afflicts a body after it is formed. Since the state of Israel goes back 3,000 years, and Islam began the 7th century (thus dating 1,500 years). It seems anachronistic, to say the least, to imply that Israel is an alien growth. Here, of course, a trained engineer may be forgiven for his ignorance of biology and history.
Finally, may I say as someone who has gone through two neurosurgeries and chemotherapy, at this stage of cancer treatment we know only how to either cut it out or blast it away? So how does one eliminate a cancerous people? The analogy leads inevitably, inexorably, to the prospect of genocide. When you define a nation as a cancer you imply the solution is mass murder. My cancer was put into remission by a line leading into my vein that dripped life-giving poison. What would the Iranian leadership use as a “cure” for Israel? Radiation, no doubt.
Ahmadinejad’s accusation is neither an idle threat nor overblown rhetoric. Iran eagerly pursues nuclear weapons. And as Abba Eban memorably said, there are things in Jewish history too terrible to be believed, but nothing too terrible not to have happened.
Do you suppose the world community will stir at this outrage? When “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the world’s most notorious anti-Semitic forgery, is available in hotels in Jordan and on TV serials in Egypt, are there rounds of condemnations at the United Nations? Will Ahmadinajad no more be invited to international gatherings and symposia? Will the Muslim nations arise and say as one that we do not speak of people and nations in the manner? Will the world recognize that the Iranian leadership dreams of combining the two great warning signs of history, Hiroshima and Auschwitz?
No, this is what will happen: The furor will abate, the world will persuade itself that he doesn’t really mean it, or he doesn’t really have power. He will be applauded on the streets of Arab capitals, and the nations will swallow some sleeping draught composed of complacency, indifference, foolishness and a pinch of anti-Semitism.
As I walk in Israel, I will see the eyes of a people who have never, not for a single day since the founding of the state, been accepted by their neighbors. I will know that if tomorrow, the military situation were reversed and Israel’s enemies had her firepower and she had theirs, there would not be roadblocks, housing and land disputes and voting discrimination as now exist against Palestinians, but wholesale slaughter. I will remember that whatever one thinks of the settlements, there were unremitting attacks against Israel before a single settlement existed.
In the background I will hear the voice of a malevolent man with power. It is not an unfamiliar voice in Jewish history. Thousands of years have taught us that when evil speaks it is always in earnest. Asked what was the lesson of the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel answered, “That you can get away with it.” Ignore this voice and we will learn that lesson once more.

I am for my beloved & my beloved is for me - אני לדודי ודודי לי

There's a lot riding on this month of Elul as we journey to the Days of Awe; a period of healing, time to reflect on our lives and our relationships - with the expectation that we can return to a clean slate.

In Maimonides' "The Laws of Repentance" (הלכות תשובה) he explains "The principle of freedom of choice is a basic concept and a pillar on which the entire Torah & mitzvot rest, as it is written: 'See, I have set before you today to choose between life and good, death and evil.' (Deut. 30:15)".  In other words we have a choice in the matter, but how in the world can we make such life altering decisions (and if necessary changes) without dedicated time towards such contemplation? If buying a house or car requires time and consideration - all the more so your life.

The month of Elul is an awakening of sorts and a realignment of our priorities beginning with our relationships. The time for reflection is upon us, the choice is yours. 

From Time Immemorial

It is true that many of us were not alive to witness the birth of the modern State of Israel or any of the existential challenges the state and her people faced for that matter  - but does that mean we can't relate to those challenges, find pride in her accomplishments and stand upon the shoulders of those who came before us? It is in fact the memories of our people, from time immemorial, that pushes us to heal and persevere. In the next 72 hrs we will remember the Israeli athletes murdered in the 1972 Munich games followed by the memory of both destructions of the Temple (655 yrs apart) on the 9th of Av over 2000 yrs ago. It is said of Napolean who walked past a synagogue on the 9th of Av, upon hearing the sound of wailing from inside remarked, “A people that remembers to mourn so long the loss of a city and a homeland is sure to regain both.” And so it is... may the memories of our people be for a blessing and for peace.

A Case of Mistaken Identity II

Not quite. It turns out that many Jews regardless of their citizenship identify with the People of Israel/Jewish Peoplehood. For some the relationship is prompted by threats against Jews and the state of Israel generating a tremendous amount of talk-back and interest. The recent attack on Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria, the rise of anti-Semitism and terror attacks on Jews in France, the IOC’s denial of a minute of silence in memory of the murdered Israeli athletes in Munich 1972 –all of these events and others like them raise the ire of Jews worldwide from individuals to communities, from federations to governments. The same goes for all of our great accomplishments: from technological and agricultural innovations, to infrastructural advancements, political accountability, Nobel Prize Awards, and cultural and artistic acclaim. Look at the social network sphere: on on-line Jewish publications and blogs, the “good word” is spreading beyond geographic, social, and denominational lines – everyone knows, or at least they will know.

The modern State of Israel’s great failures and even greater successes moves our people worldwide to react in pride or shame, joy and sorrow.  It’s our reactions that I find interesting, specifically in reaction to internal crisis as we actively seek to protect and to preserve.

What exactly are we protecting? What are we preserving? It is our existence. For most of the organized community the need to preserve our existence tops the list, funded by hundreds of millions of dollars going to innovative programs, creative outreach, annual conferences, and trips to Israel and so on. Sure conferences are fun, meaningful and important (I’ve been to many and will continue to partake in them), innovative programs raise interest and outreach is vital (an area I am all too familiar with), and a trip to Israel can inspire the masses but these are all temporary Band-Aids, remedies that miss the opportunity to heal Israel at its core. Being a member of the People of Israel/Jewish Peoplehood (whatever tag you prefer) has got to be more than bringing the unaffiliated to Israel, or for a social gathering, or thinkers and innovators for a brainstorming session; there must be a deep understanding of why we are who we are and how this all started. All of the above is part of our collective continuum bridging the past and present towards a shared future, nothing can exist on its own.

Far too many of our people have been abandoned with no one explaining who they are and what they are a part of. Our identity does not begin and end with Jewish Peoplehood, ancestors to the tribe of Judah. The essence of our identity is in Israel; not only the modern Nation-State, but Israel as a concept of a People which imparts a philosophy of how to live a positive life in and mark on the world. Tell them that we are the descendants of Jacob later to be called Isra-el and they will get it. It starts with the book of Genesis when Jacob is caught struggling with a mysterious figure: “And he said unto him: 'What is thy name?' And he said: 'Jacob.' And he said: 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Isra-el; for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” (Genesis 32:28-29).

"לֹא יַעֲקֹב יֵאָמֵר עוֹד שִׁמְךָ--כִּי, אִם-יִשְׂרָאֵל: כִּי-שָׂרִיתָ עִם-אֱלֹקים וְעִם-אֲנָשִׁים, וַתּוּכָל."

I believe that this piece of information can help clear up misunderstandings and answer questions throughout one’s exploration of identity and peoplehood, two areas of great concern for us as a people. Our deep desire to persevere and live by our values is because of our ancestors’ experience and our since then. To move forward effectively we must link the present to our past.

We believe that what makes life meaningful is the struggle, a coping with or hitmodedut, as we stand before the great force making the world go round. We do not surrender to the nature of things - of what may seem normal to others - instead we partner with this great force and swim against the tide in hopes that doing so will heal our world. We’ve been doing it throughout history, fighting for the rights of others as fervently as we fight for our own. To be a Jew is to be a descendant of Israel, of those who stand to overcome the challenge – with God and with humanity. If we want to capture the true strength, inspiration and awe of the People of Israel/Jewish Peoplehood, we have to understand that our identity runs much deeper than a Nation State, starting before exile and the advent of organized religion. We are a people all made from the same cloth, from the same desire to struggle towards a more meaningful life. That is why the terrible events in Bulgaria last week, in France over the past year, the IOC’s decision to deny a minute-long memorial service for slain Israeli athletes, and other negative happenings in our world rile us up across geographical, social and denominational lines. It is because these events rock the very core of our fiber - our centuries-old struggle to bring justice to our world, to heal our world.

But if we are to continue this global mission of healing we must heal ourselves too. There can be no mistaken identity, not for us – not for the next generation. We are of those who “…have struggled with God and with humanity and have prevailed” and now we must struggle, cope with, one another. To reach our full potential we must heal Israel; healing ourselves must top our list of priorities - if not now than when? Tikun Israel.

 
Rabbi Leor Sinai, born and raised in the Big Apple now lives in Israel. Tikun Israel is his primary focus.

A case of mistaken identity?

I'm afraid so.

Are we the People/Nation of Israel or the Jewish People? This could explain some of the disconnect we witness taking place among Jews (People of Israel) around the world. If Judaism's ancestry is the tribe of Judah, and Judah was the son of Israel (Jacob), then aren't we all Israelis? The term Israel is not limited to the land or nation-state or the people who are its modern day citizens, it is however who we are - it is our origin; one who forgets where he/she has come from, has a tough time knowing where they are going. Israel is not merely an entry point, as in the case of birthright israel and other experiential-based Israel programs, Israel is our anestoral, religious, cultural, and theological essence in the world. Why didn't birthright israel call itself birthright judaism? Is birthright about connecting young Jews to Israel (not only: "...to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to Jewish history and culture...")? Birthright Israel, as many other Israel-experienced program, hopes their alumni will return to their respective countries and communities energized and perpared to get involved - in a Jewish way. Israel is at the core of Jewish idenity, anything less is mistaken identity. Engage in Tikun Israel

A stiff-necked People?

Exodus describes the Israelites as a “stiff necked people”; I prefer a “Resilient People”. Resilience is an individual's tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state of normal functioning, or using the experience of exposure to adversity to function better than expected. Resilience is most commonly understood as a process and not a trait.

As an individual process we are made to understand that it is up to us to learn and grow from our experiences, the expectation is that anyone can change for the better – the choice is ours. What is true to the individual is true to the collective. Like the individual, collective resilience is reflected in a group’s ability to use the experience of exposure to adversity to function better than expected, commonly understood as a process, perhaps a journey.

Experiencing Exodus and journeying through the Sinai wilderness was then and is today such a process. The People of Israel continue to demonstrate their collective ability to “bounce back” – their resilience from Sinai through Zion. Beginning with slavery in Egypt to the modern State of Israel, exposure to adversity – at times existential – has been internalized, processed, and carefully embedded in Jewish ritual and values. Reenacting the Exodus during Passover re-exposes us to this adversity through ritual and memory – ”slaving” over kashurizing our homes and uttering the words “avadim hayinu” are meant to literally remind us that we were slaves in Egypt and that now we are free.

From slavery to freedom was an exodus of epic proportions which, when internalized through Jewish ritual, value and study, has planted the seeds of mission-hood or "Tikun Olam” - healing the world. Our experience in overcoming adversity then, and since then, propels us to seek justice in the world. We project our resilience onto others who are spiritually or physically enslaved through acts of “hesed” or righteousness, with the hope that the exposure to adversity will lead to the other’s resilience, or their ability to function better in the world.

For many in the Jewish world Tikun Olam has become an obsession. Yet in this blessed mission to make the world a better place we have forgotten ourselves along the way. Before we take on a mission to heal others, we must first look inwards to heal ourselves: “Tikun Israel kadma l’Tikun Olam”, healing Israel precedes healing the world, or as Rav Salantar (founder of the Mussar movement) would say: "First, a person should put his house together, then his town, then the world."in order to help others we must first help ourselves. We see such a shift in organizational agendas, local grassroots initiatives, and government policy all increasing their focus and investment in Jewish identity and Peoplehood. The past decade's push for experiential based programs in Israel (for example MASA, birthright Israel, Jewish National Fund’s Alternative Winter & Spring Break), reimagining Jewish education, and the focus and investment by major Jewish agencies in the area of Peoplehood is in reaction to our need of a collective tikun. It is time to regroup, reclaim, and define our resilience in the 21st century.

I recently took part in the first of a series of “miNYanim” seminars taking place in Eastern Europe, a gathering where individuals opened their hearts and minds to an exploration of self and identity. miNYanim “…is an initiative supported by the UJA Federation of New York, the Jewish Agency, and the Israeli Cultural Institute in Budapest to give young Jews in Europe the tools they need to connect with each other and with their Jewish heritage…” planting the seeds of Jewish reclamation in local communities.

This first gathering, which took place in Warsaw, brought together young Jews from Bulgaria, Hungary, Israel, Poland and Serbia. These select individuals have taken upon themselves the responsibility to explore Jewish life and challenge one another on the one hand, leading to a process of learning and collective growth on the other. The participants navigated through some challenging terrain, personal encounters and differences only to realize that these challenges are often shared in more ways than expected. We left tired and confused, yet inspired for the journey that lies ahead.

The journey of Exodus is a collective process, a continuous revelation of healing, a tikun of Jewish Peoplehood putting the People of Israel back on track. When we retell the story of Exodus to our children during Passover we are the agents of healing. We look to the past for answers in our present only to reveal that not much has changed. Just as it was then, so it is today – Tikun Israel, healing Jewish Peoplehood tops our communal agenda.

Tu B'Shvat in Israel - now I get it, too

Yitro, (Jethro, Moses' father-in-law), a priest of Median "…heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel…" freeing them from slavery and guiding them through the Sinai wilderness (Ex. 18:1). This notion of hearing/knowing all that God has done is magnified here in Israel throughout the Jewish calendar. Since making Aliyah this past summer our experience observing the Sabbaths and holy days have been unlike any other, and here comes Tu B'Shvat. My friend and colleague Esther hit the nail on the head in her Tu B'Shvat email: "…I love that you can always tell what holiday it is here by what's on sale at the supermarket (There are already hamentaschen out for Purim…). The almond trees are beginning to bloom and flowers are popping up everywhere...And the best news is that the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) has risen over 62 centimeters since the beginning of January (@-212.99m, 1cm above the lower red line)… I am always reminded of my childhood on Tu B’Shvat... We received baggies tied with twisties filled with really dried fruit and there was always yucky dried up carob and I never really got it. WHY did we have to eat this and WHAT did it have to do with Israel and WHY did it taste so bad? I think I get it now. And the fruit tastes great here!"
Thank you Esther, I get it now too. I think of my ancestors who dreamt of a return to Zion, who celebrated Tu B'Shvat in the freezing weather as it is in Eastern Europe, or somewhere else in the world. How difficult it must have been to imagine the "Shkedia Porachat", the Almond Tree bloom or flowers blossom, in the dead of winter; and I think to myself - Ein li eretz acheret… I have no other land.
Thank you Yitro, the Median Priest, who reminds us of all that is great and holy in our world – davka this week during Tu B'Shvat as we witness the nature of things – here in Israel. Tu B'Shvat h'giya hag la'ilanot!

Why & how are we?

Jacob was to be known as Isra-el."...כי שרית עם אלוקים ועם אנשים, ותוכל..." (בראשית לב:כט) - 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast struggled with God and with humanity, and hast prevailed.' (Genesis 32:29). Isra-el struggles with God and with humanity. We, the People of Isra-el, maintain that struggle/interaction from time immemorial. Our collective narrative is safeguarded and remains relevant as a result of our interaction with life, generating questions & not accepting things as they are. The People of Israel, worldwide, are attempting to answer these questions through conferences, encounters, projects, books, articles, and so much more tackling Jewish Peoplehood, identity and Israel's religious make-up. Many of us are engaged in Tikun Israel, in confronting and overcoming our challenges – many more must join. Please post your ideas, questions, concerns, articles, and initiatives for all to see and consider getting involved in this movement of reclamation, of Tikun Israel.

שבת שירה

בשבת הקרוב, שבת שירה - אנו מוצאים חיזוק והשראה דרך שתי דמויות מרכזיות: מרים הנביאה ודבורה הנביאה ושופטת. כשחוצים בני ישראל את ים סוף, חוצים את קו העבדות לחירות. זה בעצם תחילת התפתחות בני ישראל --> לעם ישראל, "וַתִּקַּח מִרְיָם הַנְּבִיאָה אֲחוֹת אַהֲרֹן, אֶת-הַתֹּף--בְּיָדָהּ; וַתֵּצֶאןָ כָל-הַנָּשִׁים אַחֲרֶיהָ, בְּתֻפִּים וּבִמְחֹלֹת. כא וַתַּעַן לָהֶם, מִרְיָם: שִׁירוּ לַה'..." (שמות טו:כ-כא). ובדמות השנייה: "ודבורה אישה נביאה...שפטה את ישראל בעת ההיא..." דבורה מצוה את ברק להילחם בסיסרא, והוא עונה לה: "וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלֶיהָ בָּרָק, אִם-תֵּלְכִי עִמִּי וְהָלָכְתִּי; וְאִם-לֹא תֵלְכִי עִמִּי, לֹא אֵלֵךְ..." (שופטים ד:ד-ח) בשני המקרים אנו עדים לנשים חזקות, אשר בקולם בני ישראל עוקבים. זה היה אז, היום אותו אישה חזקה עלולה להידחף לפינה של שתיקה. אוי לנו. ההתמודדות שלנו מול השתיקה מחייבת אותנו להסתכל אחורה ובעצם מעיין בנו. תיקון ישראל מחייבת אותנו לעסוק בחשבון נפש- גם ברמה האישי וגם ברמה הציבורי. יחד נדע מעין בנו ולאן אנחנו הולכים.

שבת שירה - The Sabbath of Song

This Shabbat, Shabbat Shira, we find strength and hope in two strong women: the Prophetess Miriam (sister of Moses and Aharon) and the Prophetess AND Judge Deborah. In the former, upon crossing the Sea of Reeds, "Miriam...took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam sang unto them: Sing ye to the LORD..." (Exodus 15:20-21). In the latter "Deborah, a prophetess,...judged Israel at that time." Commanding Barak to take on Sisera's army, Barak replies:'If thou wilt go with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go.' (Judges 4:4-8). In both instances we find wise, strong women. Women whose voices are heard, whose voices our people followed. That was then; today we find ourselves in a dilema - strong women whose voices are surpressed. Engaging in Tikun Israel requires us to look back and know from where we came, by discovering the values of our ancestors - together we will know where we are headed.

Mourning Ayelet Galena

By Gabrielle Birkner

Ayelet Galena
“With unstoppable tears and broken hearts we regret to announce that last night around 5AM, after hours of fighting and holding on, our precious Ayelet - the heart of our world, the light and strength for so many, could not fight any more.”

With those words, Seth and Hindy Poupko Galena announced the January 31 death of their 2-year-old daughter, Ayelet Yakira. The little girl, suffering from a rare bone marrow disease, had received a transplant 154 days earlier.

Many of the thousands of those mourning Ayelet today knew her only through the Tumblr blog where her parents chronicled, with remarkable compassion, eloquence and humor, the toddler’s courageous fight.

It is, perhaps, no surprise that were able to laugh through their tears; Ayelet’s dad runs the popular “kosher comedy” website Bang It Out.

The Galenas’ posts were accompanied, most days, by a photo of Ayelet. Early photos showed the little girl, dressed in frilly frocks, bouncing in an ExerSaucer and pulling at the pages of her pop-up book. But as the months passed, and Ayelet’s condition grew worse, the images provided an unflinching look at the little girl’s reality: There were myriad tubes and machines connected to Ayelet’s swollen body and bald head (which was always lovingly covered with floral hats and headbands).

Her Modern Orthodox parents wrote about Shabbats celebrated at their daughter’s bedside, at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital, and about reciting the post-bathroom Asher Yatzar blessing, so that Ayelet’s kidneys might again begin working. (“We need a big night of peeing and prayer,” they wrote on January 30.) Their Tumblr journal, which I’d love to see turned into a book, has a thing or two to teach all of us about facing life’s greatest challenges with courage and grace and laughter.

There is another lesson to be gleaned from the Galenas’ story, or specifically, from the communal response to it — as gauged by the comments on Tumblr and and Facebook, where Ayelet had more than 5,200 fans. In our darkest hours, there’s a natural inclination to retreat inward. But this family shows us how powerful doing the opposite can be. In sharing their private pain, they fostered an extended support network that has, in turn, helped sustain them.

“Your likes, your prayers, your comments, your emails, your texts, your challahs. All these, every single one is read/felt/tasted by us,” they wrote on January 24, a week before Ayelet’s death. “We read everything, and they are the single reason we are still standing. “

May they continue to find strength in the community they inspired.

Continuous Revelations - In memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamt that “…this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: …that all men are created equal." Dr. King’s dream extended beyond healing African-American suffering; his vision was meant to impact and heal society as a whole. In 1895 Theodor Herzl shared a similar vision for Jewish emancipation when he stated that “the world will be liberated by our freedom…" (Der Judenstaat, “The Jewish State”).
In both movements the calls for freedom and self-determination for a specific group has had the potential to extend beyond that particular group. But how can we realize that potential when racism still exists and the People of Israel remains beset by it's own set of challenges?
Martin Luther King Day should not be marked simply as a memorial day. It is a day of action; a day that inspires us to imagine and realize the collective dream of a better tomorrow.
It has been nearly half a century since Dr. King shared his dream, and over a century since Herzl shared his. Yet, the passage of time has placed the greater potential of those dreams further from our grasp. Today, sharing in Dr. King and Herzl’s dreams means that we must move from merely longing for what might be in the future and rather focus on what can be in the present. Acting out Dr. King or Herzl’s dream is a continuous journey; a journey whose very purpose is in the present.
Paramount in both dreams is identifying the common denominator that unites a people. For the African-Americans in the 1960s, it was a common struggle against hundreds of years of slavery, oppression, and inequality based on color. For the Jews in Herzl’s time, it was a struggle to put the Jewish collective back on track following 2,000 years of wandering and persecution, through geo-political self-determination. However, for the Jewish People of today, who cannot recall what life was like before the establishment of the state of Israel, the dream as described by Herzl may seem irrelevant. After all, the pogroms of Europe and Czarist Russia and the Shoah are distant in our collective memory. Today we must face the challenges presented by the disintegration of the social fabric of Jewish Peoplehood, in Israel and around the world.
Today’s Zionism is better served by engaging in a “Tikun Israel”, a healing of Israel. It is an old concept, really. Moses engaged in “Tikun Israel” when he convinced the Israelites to leave Egypt for a return to the Promised Land, and Herzl engaged in “Tikun Israel” when he convinced the world that the answer to the Jewish question was a return to Zion. Today, we must continue to push for a return to Zion, a “state” of self-determination in the face of increasing internal challenges.
As supporters of the Civil Rights Movement stand proud in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, continuing to realize his dream, Israel must continue to serve as the collective platform where honest debate leads to effective action - realized dreams. If we do not heal ourselves, how can we heal others?
We stand atop the shoulders of these dreamers to become inspired by the potential of the journey ahead, a journey that started at Exodus, inspiring Dr. King to lead his people to the “Promised Land”, and moved Herzl to declare the founding of the Jewish State fifty years prior to its establishment. This is a journey that will continue to realize its potential for tomorrow so long as we recognize the need for today - “Tikun Israel”, healing Israel. For the sake of our children - we must continue to will it and Zion will never be subject to dreams again.