I’m at the Jewish LGBT movement buiding retreat, a program put together for representatives of most of the LGBT Jewish organizations and programs out there (in the US) to explore the movement that is, and that could be.

I’m here representing GayGevalt.com of course, but also Congregation Beth Simchat Torah (cbst.org) and the LGBT Religious Archives Network (lgbtran.org).

And for the first time, I’ll be blogging about the retreat at The Jewish Daily Forward! (blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze) As well as tweeting at our brand spanking new (we don’t even have any followers yet) twitter account (twitter.com/gaygevalt). Go follow us there!

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This was just made public. Read the press release for details:

Media Contacts:
Gregg Drinkwater, Executive Director, Jewish Mosaic, 303-691-3562
Idit Klein, Executive Director, Keshet, 617-524-9227

New organization will advance movement for GLBT inclusive Jewish community

(Boston, MA; Denver, CO) In a move that will create America’s largest organization working for a more open, accessible, and inclusive Jewish community for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) Jews and their family, friends, and allies, Keshet and Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity have agreed to merge.

Keshet, headquartered in Boston, is a leader in education, training, and grassroots organizing for GLBT inclusion in the Jewish community. Keshet is also well known for its groundbreaking documentary film, Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School, called a “terrific teaching tool” by Variety Magazine. Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, a managed project of Jewish Funds for Justice, is a leader in Jewish institutional change, community-based research, and resources on GLBT Jews. The Denver- and San Francisco-based Jewish Mosaic recently released Torah Queeries:Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible (NYU Press, 2009), an innovative examination of Biblical texts described as a “must for the Jewish bookshelf” in the Jerusalem Post.

Both organizations have repeatedly been recognized as among the “most creative and effective Jewish organizations” in North America by Slingshot: A Resource for Jewish Innovation. The two organizations have worked closely together and are currently partnering with Nehirim, another GLBT Jewish nonprofit, on a major national convening of Jewish GLBT leaders.

Over the past year, Keshet and Jewish Mosaic had been in discussions about how they could be more effective and have the greatest impact in the Jewish community. “Our organizations share a vision of a Jewish community that lives up to its highest values, and with our complementary skills and methodologies, together we can get there,” noted Idit Klein, Executive Director of Keshet. “By joining forces, we become a stronger voice for inclusive communities than we could ever be working alone,” said Gregg Drinkwater, Executive Director of Jewish Mosaic.

The combined organization will retain the name Keshet pending a comprehensive strategic review to enhance the impact of its integrated research, education,organizing, and advocacy efforts. Klein will be the Executive Director; Drinkwater will become Deputy Director and oversee the new Research and Publications Department. The headquarters of the organization will be in Boston, with an additional office in Denver and a staff presence in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The combined organization also will retain Keshet’s corporate identity and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The Chair of the Board of Directors will be current Keshet board chair Stuart S. Kurlander. Dr. David Shneer, who co-founded Jewish Mosaic with Dr. Caryn Aviv in 2003, will be Vice Chair of the Board. Over the next few months, the organizations will further integrate their lay leadership and elect additional Board members. “Bringing these two important and strong organizations together will significantly advance the movement for GLBT inclusion in the Jewish community,” said Kurlander.

The new Keshet will put Jewish values and learning in service of the transformation of the entire Jewish community. “To paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., the destiny and freedom of all Jews is bound up in the destiny and freedom of GLBT Jews; the dignity of one is the dignity of all,” said Jewish Mosaic Advisory Board Chair Shawn Landres, who will also be joining the Keshet Board.

“We are proud to support the merger of Keshet and Jewish Mosaic,” said Lisa Eisen, National Director of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. “By joining forces, these two leading Jewish LGBT organizations will create a more effective and efficient structure, enabling them to continue expanding their reach and impact. We see in the new Keshet a force capable of sparking a unified Jewish LGBT movement and fostering a more welcoming, diverse and inclusive Jewish community.”

Support for the merger has been provided through grants from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and The Natan Fund. Dr. Michela M. Perrone of MMP Associates provided strategic consulting.

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This week’s parashah/portion is Korakh (Numbers/Be’midbar 16:1-18:32). The parashah contains within it the revolt against Moses’s leadership led by his cousin Korakh, along with Datan and Abiram.   These three, and their followers, challenge Moses and Aaron claiming that everyone is holy.  Unfortunately, their revolt was led by ego and hubris rather than by any belief in egalitarianism, and so the earth swallowed as a punishment.

On the following day, Moses is told to take a staff from the leaders of all the tribes, with Aaron representing the tribe of Levi, and to place them in the ground inside the Mishkan/Tabernacle.  On the next day they return and Aaron’s staff that has sprouted blossoms and almonds to symbolize his and his descendants chosen stature as High Priest.

These images form the basis of this poetic commentary on the parashah.

blossoming from darkness to light

I am here

in darkness

why

what have I done

I hear voices

screaming

pleading

seeing only darkness

impenetrable

I am in the ground

swallowed whole

I am not dead

or perhaps I am

why did I do it

why didn’t I run

why was I afraid of them

they were so persuasive

all are holy

we are holy

who is Aaron

who is Moses

we are all priests

all can serve God

Yes

we are all holy

yet all have different tasks

all can see God

each in their own way

I didn’t want to be high priest

above others

over the community

I don’t know

what I wanted

and so

I heard

their voices

becoming my voice

proclaiming

we are holy

you have too much

we have not enough

you shall see

they said

now I can see only darkness

I saw firepans

smelled incense

seared

burning

I knew

what was happening

what might happen

I had seen

God’s power before

moments of glory

moments of terror

deliverance at the sea

plague and death in the desert

I knew

the possibilities

yet

I ignored my heart

I did not pay attention

to its words

my words

I heard only his words

their words

Korakh Dathan Abiram

I became them

they were in me

they became

my unconscious conscience

voice of unreason

smoldering

incense

transformed

becoming

burning earth

opening up

swallowing us

filling my

mouth ears nose soul

with dark smoke

oblivion

now I am here

forever beneath the surface

while above

I do not know

what exists

what is real

remaining still

listening     waiting

an eternity

I try

reaching out    up

my hand moves

slightly

suddenly

breaking through the earth

shattering the shell encasing me

freeing me

from living death

I feel

air      on my hand

body remaining    underground

submerged

my soul      my heart

remaining shrouded  in darkness

uncertainty

again I reach     out

I grasp something

it pulls me up from the earth

the darkness pulls me down

wanting me to remain caught

torn        in between

eternal liminality

where do I belong

under here

up there

with them

with others

I simply do not know

suddenly I feel

the force pulling

upward

powerful

unstoppable

leading me to my unknown destiny

I emerge

dirt falling  off my clothing

the light

the sun

the shimmering

fire and cloud

Divinity

blinding me still

unable to see

I hear a voice calling out a name

Aaron

is that me   I am bewildered

then I remember

that is he

the one pulling me up from the ground

telling me that I have been saved

I have a mission

dazed and puzzled

I look around me

I see the people     my people

surrounding staring frightened wondering

why did I survive

in that moment I know

I must show them

we are all one

the people

I am not

alone

special

holy

chosen

we all are

special

holy

chosen

then I notice I feel

what saved me

what I had grasped before

my destiny

still in my hands

shielding my eyes

from burning light

I begin to feel

the warmth of the Divine

in my heart and soul

I look in my hand

I see a staff blossoming

I smell sweetness of almond blossoms

awakening     telling me

who I am

what I must do

how I must show

those remaining

the truth

we are One

we are holy

I have been saved to help them

to help me

to see  to know    the truth

the others could not

that is why

they are underground

devoured by their gods

that had blinded them to the truth

ego  hubris pride greed jealousy

I am here

where I belong

not knowing why I was chosen

to do my part

open my heart

to God

to holiness

for all to see

we shall all join together

opening our hearts

as One

creating

moment by moment

soul by soul

holy community

holy life

blossoming for God

exquisitely delicate

divine humanity

human divinity

so all will see

all will know

the truth

the beauty

of the One

of all

–

Posted By Rabbi Steven Nathan to Mindful Torah

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This just in from our friends at Nehirim:

As we promised in our June newsletter, we have some exciting news to share with you:  Nehirim and NUJLS, the National Union of Jewish LGBT Students, are merging!  NUJLS will become a project of Nehirim beginning today, and Sasha T. Goldberg will be getting a promotion to Nehirim’s “Associate Director and Director of Student Programs.”  This merger is a reflection of our longtime collaboration with NUJLS (Sasha is currently its board president, and NUJLS has been a cosponsor of the Queer Shabbaton New York since its inception), Nehirim’s longtime student programming, and our commitment to providing programming and community to LGBT Jews (plus partners and allies) throughout the country.

This is exciting news, and a sign of more collaboration and coordination to come in the LGBT Jewish world.  Below is the official press release announcing the merger, and a copy of the letter Sasha is sending today to the NUJLS mailing list.  I look forward to seeing many of you at Nehirim East this weekend, and to working with the NUJLS student programming advisory board and NUJLS student leadership.  Mazal tov to all of us!

– Jay Michaelson, Executive Director, Nehirim

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nehirim and NUJLS, Two of the Largest National LGBT Jewish Organizations, To Merge

Move unites largest provider of national programming for LGBT Jewish community with vibrant student organization

(New York), (NY), (June 1, 2010) —  Two of the largest organizations serving the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Jewish community have today merged into one.  Nehirim, which runs retreats and other programs for GLBT Jews, and NUJLS, the National Union of Jewish LGBTIQQ Students, will combine operations effective June 1.  Nehirim is the largest national provider of community programming for GLBT Jews, and NUJLS was one of the first national GLBT Jewish organizations, founded in 1997.

“This is a natural combination of two strong organizations,” said Jay Michaelson, the executive director of Nehirim who was recently recognized on the ‘Forward 50’ list of the fifty most influential Jewish leaders in America.  “NUJLS is the leader in programming for GLBT Jewish students, and Nehirim is the leader in programming for GLBT Jews in general.”

As a result of the merger, Sasha T. Goldberg, Nehirim’s Assistant Director since 2007 and the current Board President of NUJLS, will become Nehirim’s Associate Director and Director of Student Programming.  A new “Student Programming Advisory Board” will be created, with representatives from NUJLS’s former board of directors and student activists.  Nehirim will run the popular NUJLS student conference, together with student leaders.

Said Goldberg, “Building on the strength and history of NUJLS and the incredible NUJLS students, I am greatly looking forward to growing the student programming at Nehirim to provide a national, cohesive, and vibrant hub of Jewish life for each Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Jewish student.”

For the first year of the merger, the NUJLS name will be retained, but as “NUJLS, a project of Nehirim.”  The organizations will combine their programmatic, leadership, administrative, and financial operations.

David Levy, a NUJLS board member, said “This merger enables NUJLS to better fulfill its mission, and to develop the next generation of Jewish LGBT student leaders.  We are excited to be part of Nehirim!”

Founded in 2003, Nehirim is a pluralistic, independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and is supported by the Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, and the Jewish Community Foundation of San Francisco, as well as a network of individual supporters. For more information, please visit our website www.nehirim.org.

For questions or excerpt and interview requests, please contact:

Marlene Rachelle, Communications Manager

(917) 968-4595

marlene@nehirim.org

www.nehirim.org

June 1, 2010

Dear Students, Friends, and Colleagues—

I’m writing to you with some very exciting news.  Nehirim and NUJLS, the National Union of Jewish LGBT Students, are merging! This merger is a reflection of Nehirim’s longtime collaboration with NUJLS, and our shared commitment to providing programming and community to LGBT Jews (plus partners and allies) throughout the country.  I am writing this letter to share my joy and excitement with you, as well as to share a little bit about my vision—and to ask for yours in return.

This month I celebrate my third year of working as the Assistant Director of Nehirim: GLBT Jewish Culture and Spirituality–and there is a lot to celebrate. I am proud to say that the past three years at Nehirim have been packed with innovation and growth; we have had a 200% expansion on programming and reach since 2007, and today we expand again by merging with NUJLS, the National Organization for LGBTQQI Jewish Students. This also marks an expansion for me, personally: I will step into the position of the Associate Director at Nehirim, and also into the position of Director of Student Programming.

As many of you already know, this merger and my new position at Nehirim arrive after having spent the past eleven months serving as the NUJLS Board President while Vanessa “Vinny” Prell continued her last year as the Executive Director. This has been a privilege and a pleasure both personally and professionally—having come out at fourteen and founded the first GSA at my own high school, LGBT student issues have always been near and dear to my heart—and having the opportunity to provide professional leadership and commitment to an organization for which I care deeply has proved rewarding and inspiring. Both personally and professionally, I am honored to serve as the Director of Student Programming in this new merger.

It is my ultimate vision that the Nehirim-NUJLS merger will continue in this theme of expansion: Building on the strength and history of NUJLS and the incredible NUJLS students, I am greatly looking forward to growing the student programming at Nehirim to provide a national, cohesive, and vibrant hub of Jewish life for each Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Jewish student.

Can I count on your help in this vision? I hope that you will be excited to help foster the opportunity for the next generation of LGBT Jewish students to be engaged leaders with a rich, proud history of Jewish and LGBT lives and identities. Perhaps it’s been a while since you have been involved with Nehirim or NUJLS, perhaps you are hearing about Nehirim or NUJLS for the first time, or perhaps you have been a regular to both organizations—either way, I invite you to re-engage and share your vision with me, as well. In the coming weeks and months, I hope to speak with many of you about your ideas and about how you might like to be involved with LGBT Jewish Students and LGBT Jewish Student programming.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the many inspired and inspiring LGBT Jewish Students who have already been involved with NUJLS, many of whom I have been fortunate enough to meet–and who will continue to provide the centermost heart and vision of Jewish LGBT Student life. To the students, particularly: I look forward to more! Thank you also to Vinny, who is both a colleague and a trusted friend, for her years of hard work and for building a beautiful foundation. Last but not least, thank you also to the Board for all of your thoughtful consideration in these many months of transition.

Happy Pride Month to each you—I look forward to connecting and working together as we usher in a new decade of LGBT Jewish Student life.

All my very best,

Sasha T. Goldberg

Associate Director of Nehirim, Director of Student Programming

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Last week, a retired guidance counselor at a Jewish community day school told me about her seventh grade student who wanted to kill himself because he was gay. This didn’t happen years ago in a small town. This happened last year in a major metropolitan area with a liberal Jewish community.

What would it take for this gay student and so many other gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer Jews to feel proud and affirmed instead of isolated and ashamed?

This Shabbat, May 22, marks the first annual Harvey Milk Day.

Imagine Jewish communities across the country honoring the memory of this extraordinary activist, a gay Jew who knew how to transform despair into hope. Imagine rabbis dedicating their divrei Torah this week to Harvey Milk’s message of pride in identity. Imagine that seventh grade student walking into his classroom and seeing a poster of Harvey Milk on the wall along with the usual posters of Jerusalem and Jewish baseball players. The poster would present Harvey as an American Jewish hero and provide biographical information about his life.By this time next year, posters of Harvey Milk will, in fact, be on the walls of day school and Hebrew school classrooms around the country.

Keshet has partnered with our friends at Jewish Mosaic to produce a series of educational posters about famous GLBT Jews - of yesterday and today - who have transformed our world. Over the next several months, we’ll be sharing more about our GLBT Jewish poster series and how you can bring these posters to your community. If you or someone you know wants to be part of this project, we’re looking for some savvy researchers to help out over the summer.

May Harvey Milk’s memory be for a blessing, and may we continue heeding Harvey’s call that “All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.” Ken yehi ratzon. So may it be for us.

B’shalom,

Idit Klein
Executive Director, Keshet

A Few Great Ways to Honor Harvey Milk
A big thanks to our friends at The LGBT Alliance at The Jewish Community Federation and California Faith for Equality for this great compilation of ways to honor Harvey Milk and keep his vision alive.

• Read a brief history of Harvey Milk’s life
• See the text of Harvey Milk’s famous speech on hope
• Use a inspiring quotes from Harvey Milk to in a drash
• Say a prayer for Harvey Milk Day
• Learn the history of the Harvey Milk Day Bill
• Harvey Milk Day of Action is taking place nationally. Check out what is going on in your area.
• Explore educational and media based resources to help discuss hope, tikkun olam & diversity including this wonderful two minute animated version of Harvey’s famous “You Gotta Give Them Hope Speech.”
• If you haven’t yet seen the incredible documentary The Times of Harvey Milk, now is a perfect time. You can purchase the film or watch it online.

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This week we finish reading from the book of Vayikra/Leviticus with the double parashah/portion Behar-Behukotai (Leviticus 25:1- 27:34). Parshat Behar begins with the laws regulating the sabbatical year and the jubilee year.

After six years of growing crops and living off the land, the people are instructed that the seventh year is to be a Sabbath for the land, during which it is to be given a complete rest. They may eat whatever the uncultivated land happens to produce during that year, but they may not  plant, sow or harvest crops. In addition to the Sabbatical/Shemitah year, they are to count seven cycles of seven years and then in the fiftieth year they are to proclaim a yovel/jubilee year. This year is to begin on Yom Kippur with the sounding of the Shofar. In this year of release all Israelites were to take possession of the original lands given to their ancestors at the time of Joshua. Laws are also given concerning the freeing of Israelite slaves  during the yovel.  These were mostly Israelites who had indentured themselves in order to pay off debts or because of poverty .

In Parshat Behukotai, God promises that the Israelites will flourish in the land if they obey God’s mitzvot/commandments. However, if they do not, they will suffer terribly, as will their children. Repeatedly, God tells them “if you still do not obey me” they will suffer seven-fold punishments for their sins. The ultimate punishment, if the people continue to disobey God’s commands, is that they will lose everything they have and “the land shall be forsaken of them, making up for its Sabbath years by being desolate of them, while they atone for their iniquity; for the abundant reason that they rejected My rules and spurned My laws …” (26:43).  In spite of this, God still proclaims that in the end “I will remember in their favor the covenant with the ancients, whom I freed from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God, the Eternal” (26:45).

When reading these texts, I would find this series of curses to be theologically problematic if I literally believed them to be the word of God. However, since I view them as our ancestors’ attempt to portray their understanding of God I must instead try to find the lesson to be learned, even though I still find them to be troublesome.

In viewing Behar and Behukotai as one unit, there are two clear links that I see. The first is the connection between the laws of the sabbatical for the land in Behar and God’s promise that the land will make up for it’s neglected sabbaticals in Behukotai. The second is that God states numerous times in Behar that the reason Israelites are not to be enslaved eternally, nor treated as slaves, is that God brought them out of Egypt to serve God – and no one else. This connects with the verse in Behukotai in which God proclaims that, even after all punishments and curses have been meted out, God will not forget the people because God freed them from the land of Egypt.

In examining the first connection, one must first realize the importance of the concept of a Sabbath. The idea that both we and the land are meant to rest in the last phase of each cycle of seven (whether seven days or seven years) points to the importance of letting go. As “God’s people” we are commanded to let go of any notion that we are in control of the world around us or that the creative forces in the world are in any way our domain. We do this by resting from all forms of seemingly creative activity each Shabbat day. On that day our inaction allows us to be mindful of the fact that the world continues to exist and creation continues without any action on our part. Beyond that, every seventh year, refraining from working the land reminds us that even if we cease to work for an entire year (at least on the land)  creation  continues and food will be provided. We are not in control. We are merely the caretakers of God’s earth. Of this we must be mindful from year to year, month to month, week to week, day to day and moment to moment.

When we neglect to remember that we are not in control, then we are in fact neglecting the reality of the Divine Presence that is the source of all. In doing so we place our personal selves, our egos and our sense of importance, above the Self of the Universe, which we call God. This is one way of understanding the concept of disobeying God’s mitzvot. Though translated most commonly as commandments, I choose instead to understand mitzvot as behaviors that serve to remind us that the Divine Presence is within all creation. Whether we are literally observing the 613 mitzvot that tradition claims exist within the Torah or not, if we live a life based on mitzvot we treat each human being and everything within creation as part of the Divine. As Jews, we do this using a uniquely Jewish language and tradition as our basis, but living a life of mitzvot is simply the way our Jewish language describes a universal process.

In Behukotai we read that each time we ignore the mitzvot we will be punished. Each time we ignore the mitzvot concerning the treatment of our earth, the animals upon it and/or our fellow human beings we are to be punished seven-fold. Though this number is meant to represent an excessive punishment, I believe the use of the term seven-fold was quite deliberate. As seven represents the cycle of creation and of rest, it is as if the Torah is saying: “ignore the wisdom that teaches you to rest and acknowledge your powerlessness at the end of each cycle of seven, and that cycle of seven will wreak havoc on you.” In a way this is the Torah’s version of a karmic response. Or, in the vernacular, what goes around will inevitably come around!

The final warning in the parashah brings all of this to a conclusion: If we continually neglect humanity and all of God’s world we are doomed. If we continually ignore the divinity within all creation and act as if I am master of all that I see, then all of God’s created world will teach us a lesson. For all the times we ignored the Truth and simply kept working the land …or human beings … or ourselves … without taking rest … we will be forced to rest. The land will not yield its fruits, we will not yield our fruits, God will not sustain us and we will be left alone and destitute. When this happens we will be forced to face the reality that all is God and God is all. We will be forced to stop our striving after wind. We will be forced to realize that ultimately we are not in control. How will this occur? It would be best if by a simple realization on our part. However, in many cases it is fear that ultimately forces us to wake up to these realities.

In Behukotai we read that during that time of ultimate punishment, human beings will be afraid of “the sound of a driven leaf.” In other words, ultimately we will reach the point where we are afraid of even the slightest sound. As individuals, we all have probably experienced this kind of fear. It is the sense that the world around us is such a dangerous and frightening place, that the slightest movement – or the slightest thought within our minds – will cause fear to arise. This is a fear that we cannot easily escape, for it comes from within us.

When we reach this place, our urge is to run. But how can we run from something that is inside us? Rather than try to do this, we must instead recognize and acknowledge the fear for what it is. For only by acknowledging it can we then let it go. And when we let it go we can then see the reality that we have been avoiding all along, that we are not in control. This realization may well cause the fear to arise yet again, but if we keep acknowledging it each time it arises, and then acknowledge that it is based on a reality of powerlessness, then our fear will decrease seven-fold. Once we have acknowledged our fear and  allowed it to run its course, we can then see clearly again the reality of our world. Only then can we see that  all things and all people are part of God and that it is our obligation/mitzvah to behave in  a manner that acknowledges this.

When we do this, we have learned the lesson of Shabbat and our period of punishment and fear will have ended. When we do this, we bring ourselves to the acknowledgement of what is stated in both Behar and Behukotai: that we have been freed from enslavement in order to serve God and no one or nothing else.

This means something different to each of us. However, ultimately it means that we are to act in each moment in a way that acknowledges our interconnection and our responsibility to the world and all that is in it - whether human, animal, vegetable or mineral. When we act from this place of knowledge then we are no longer enslaved to any other person, nor are we enslaved to the self, which is what happens when we believe that we really are in control!

When we come to this place, then we can truly experience a Shabbat for our soul and for our world. If only we could learn these lessons without causing ourselves so much suffering we could unite our world in the oneness of God soon and in our time.  But, after all, we are only human!

Shabbat Shalom

–

Posted By Rabbi Steven Nathan to Mindful Torah at 5/07/2010 12:49:00 PM

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This week’s torah portion is Tzav (Vayikra/Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36). In it the detailed descriptions of the various sacrifices to be offered continues. I would like to focus on one particular sacrifice and what we might learn from it today.

The final sacrifice mentioned in the parashah is the zevakh shelamim. This is usually translated as the “peace offering” or “good-will offering.” The word shelamim comes from the same root as shalom/peace and shalem/whole. One contemporary understanding of this sacrifice is as an offering of greeting. According to Baruch Levine and other scholars, it was a meal shared between the priests, the people who brought the offering and God. In other words, through sharing a sacred meal there was a connection being made between the people, the priests and the Divine. Not only was this a meal of greeting, but the sharing of the sacrificial animal could also bring a sense of peace and wholeness that was a direct result of feeling connected to God and community (as represented be the priests). The sharing of this sacrifice allowed the participants to experience, in a visceral way, the connection that exists between all human beings and remind us of the shelaimut/wholeness and achdut/oneness of existence.  And when the final portion of the sacrifice was offered on the altar to God, it was as if God was partaking of the sacrifice along with the priest and the worshipper.

I could not help but beginning comparing this to the Christian ritual of the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. In this ritual, the worshipper partakes of the wafer and the wine that have been consecrated by the priest, minister or Officiant. In the Roman Catholic Church, the doctrine of transubstantiation states that the wine and wafer actually ‘become’ the body and blood of Jesus  (I.e., ‘the sacrifice’) when the priest consecrates it. In most other churches, they a representation of his body and blood. In either case, this is a ritual whereby a human being ingests divinity, or its representation.

I must admit that this ritual has always simultaneously intrigued and repelled me. I feel repelled because it seems anathema to the Jewish way of worship. I don’t think I can ever understand it’s true meaning for our Christian brothers and sisters. On the other hand, since in Judaism the actual sacrifice and the concomitant meal have been replaced with the more abstract concept of “prayer as sacrifice,” the idea of this physical ritual has always intrigued me as well.

In my understanding of the ritual of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church (that with which I am most familiar) the sacred meal is also connected to achieving forgiveness for sin as well as connecting to the Divine. This occurs by believing that one is actually ingesting divinity into one’s body (I realize that I am not doing justice to the complexity of Christian theology, and I ask forgiveness from my Christian friends and colleagues for this).

However, in the ancient Israelite sacrificial system the idea of ingesting God, or even a representation of God, was indeed anathema. For our ancestors, the sacred meal consisted simply of the priest and the worshipper eating a meal together and symbolically sharing it with God. This meal consisted of ordinary meat from an ordinary, although unblemished, animal.  The meat was not made sacred or divine through any kind of blessing or ritual.  Rather, what made this ordinary meal extraordinary, was not the fact that it was “perfect” or that it was slaughtered, prepared and cooked by the priest.  Rather, what made this meal extraordinary was that it was being shared with God.  It was a reminder that, even though the priests had a different status in their society, and that God was beyond being human, all three entities shared something. That something, represented by the sacrificial meal, is Oneness. Oneness in this case means that ultimately there is no separation or duality in existence. Oneness is at the heart of Kedushah/holiness that plays such a central role in Va’yikra/Leviticus and the entire Torah.

Eating a sacred meal does not make one any more or less holy, nor does the slaughter of the sacrifice by the priest (akin to the consecration of the wafer and wine by Christian clergy today) make the sacrifice holy. Rather, what makes the act and all the participants holy is the recognition of the deeper meaning, that we are all part of God. God is within us all, for we are all One within God.

Just as a fetus floating in a sea of amniotic fluid in a mother’s womb is part of the mother while still a distinct entity, so too are we floating in the sea of Godliness a part of God, yet distinct individuals. Of course, there is a major difference, since in Judaism the fetus is not viewed as an actual life, whereas we are human beings with personalities, character traits and, for better or worse, egos.

Yet, perhaps the sacrifice and the sacred meal are meant to remind us that in reality this is actually an illusion. Perhaps we are not complete on our own? We may believe (or our ego may trick us into believing) that we are self-sufficient. However, the necessity of eating the sacred meal – which is commanded – tells us something different. It tells us that without God we are not complete. Our independence is merely an illusion. This applies to all of us, including the priests. We do not need to ingest God in order to know this, for God is already within us for we are within God. Instead, in sharing the zevakh shelamim, the sacrifice of wholeness and completeness, we arer eminded that the connection to the Divine is our essence.  Without acknowledging that, we are like a fetus without the umbilical cord. We are surrounded and filled with God, and yet, unable to connect, we are unable, spiritually, to survive.

However, we must also be cognizant of the fact that, while our ancestors were experiencing this through the sacred meal, God was also ‘partaking’ of the meal in the form of accepting the smoke of the sacrifice.  Can the message beneath this part of the ritual be that God is also incomplete without human beings? If we say this, aren’t we exhibiting the exact type of egotistical hubris that we are supposed to be letting go of through this ritual? Perhaps.

God is Ehad/One, then God is whole and complete. Yet some, such as R. Abraham Joshua Heschel, z”l (may his memory be a blessing) might say that God needs us as well. as we need God.  However, as my friend and colleague R. Ethan Franzel pointed out to me, that is a concept that has been created by human beings. Perhaps we want to believe that God needs to be needed, just as we need to be needed. This is an idea that we find pleasing and comforting. Perhaps that is why, in the Torah, the authors refered to the aroma of the sacrifices as a rei’akh nikho’ah, or pleasing odor.

When all is said and one, the sacrificial meal and its replacement, the prayer service, are not meant to make God complete. Nor are they meant to make human beings complete. Rather, they are meant to remind human beings of the unity, wholeness and completeness that already exists. Oneness is the essence of existence. Through sacrifice in the past and prayer today, we are reminded of the truth that ‘God is One’ means that all is one withi God. We are all a part of the Divine flow of energy that sustains our universe.

Perhaps the need to have a physical reminder of this Oneness lay behind the development of the Eucharist as a central ritual in Christianity? I have not studied this enough to know. However, I do believe that within Judaism we have tried throughout the centuries to create an experience akin to sacrifice through which we can sense the Oneness at the heart of existence. Prayer as “sacrifice of the heart” as the early rabbis called it, was meant to be a spontaneous, passionate way of experience unity and wholeness.

The Kabbalists (mystics) and Hassidim tried to revive this sense of cleaving to the oneness of divinity through prayer, meditation, deeds of kindness and other “spiritual practices.” Today, we must take all that our tradition has provided for us and determine what works best for us so we can achieve the same goals. However, we also need to remember that the critera must not be objective, ego-centered ones such as “it feels good to me.” Rather, the main criterion is whether a particular practice enables us to experience the reality of Oneness, completeness and wholeness that we imagine our ancient ancestors felt as they shared a meal with God. This is not easy. Yet, if we simply let go and allow it ti happen, it is much simpler than we imagine. That is the truth.

Shabbat Shalom.

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Posted By Rabbi Steven Nathan to Mindful Torah

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This week’s parashah is Tetzaveh (Shemot/Exodus 27:20-30:10). The parashah begins with God commanding Moses “And as for you, you shall instruct the Israelites to bring you pure olive oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling the Eternal Lamp (v. 20).” At first glance it does not appear that there is anything unusual or extraordinary about this verse. God is simply giving Moses another instruction concerning the Mishkan (Tabernacle), just as God instructed him in the last parashah on how he was to build it. However, it is precisely because God’s instructions to Moses had been at the center of the preceding narrative that commentators have questioned why the verse begins “and as for you, you shall command” rather than simply “command” or “you shall command.” After all, “and as for you” would seem to imply that the previous verses had been addressed or referred to someone else.

In her exploration of this strange wording Aviva Zornberg points out that there are two other instances where God’s instructions begin “and as for you.” These other commands are “bring forth your brother Aaron, with his sons, from among the Israelites to serve me as priests (28:1)” and “speak[ing] to all who are wise of heart … to make Aaron’s vestments for consecrating him to serve Me as priest (28:3).” In all of these cases, preparing the oil for the Menorah, bring Aaron and his sons forward to be made priests, and instructing others how to make the priestly vestment, God is instructing Moses concerning aspects of the priesthood, the realm that is to be his brother’s and not his.

In a midrash we read that during each of the seven days when Moses was at the burning bush he pleaded with God to send someone else. In the end of the midrash, God informs Moses that, because of his unwillingness to take on the mantle of leadership during those seven days, he will not be permitted to ascend to the priesthood. Rather, it will be Aaron and his descendants who are to become the priests. However, God tells Moses, during the seven days when the mishkan is to be dedicated, Moses will be allowed to perform the priestly functions. After that, they belong to Aaron and his sons.

Moses’s reaction to what some might perceive as a punishment is to rejoice over the good fortune of his elder brother Aaron. After all, we read in another midrash, one reason why Moses was reluctant to take on the leadership role was his fear that Aaron would be jealous that his younger brother was to become the leader of the people. However, God informs him that Aaron will rejoice at Moses’s return and upon hearing that he is to lead the mission to Pharaoh. This is exactly what Aaron does and for that he is rewarded by God: let “that same heart that rejoiced in the greatness of his brother [have] precious stones (the priestly breastplate) set upon it.”

Aaron rejoices at God’s choice of Moses as leader and Moses rejoices at the choice of Aaron as High Priest. Nevertheless, according to yet another midrash, after Moses is given the instructions on how to build the mishkan he tells God that he is ready and able to serve as priest. How can this be so if had not only been informed at the burning bush that Aaron was to serve
as priest, but he had actually rejoiced over hearing this news?

Zornberg likens this phenomenon to the Freudian theory that our memories are often forgotten so that we can then proceed in the “remaking of something [that] to all intents and purposes never existed; [for] memory is [in part] a way of inventing the past.” (Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture, p. 360). We all know of times in our lives when we “conveniently” forget something and then are stunned when we later “discover” it. Still, when Moses “learns” that Aaron is to become priest and that he is to be “demoted” to the status of a ‘mere’ Levite (as will his sons) he does not react negatively. Rather, he rejoices, just as Aaron rejoiced in Moses’ choice earlier on.

The choice of Aaron, the elder brother, as priest now means that the rejection of the elder in favor of the younger that runs through the entire book of Bereshit/Genesis has been “set right.” Moses, the younger, may indeed be the leader, but his sons will not inherit his position, and they are all but forgotten in our narrative and our tradition. It is Aaron, the elder, who is given the religious leadership position that will then be inherited by his descendants.

The rejection of Moses and his sons and the reversal of the ancient patterns could easily have been viewed by Moses with anger or disdain. And yet it was not. The relationship between Moses and Aaron is one that involves both loss and gain for each, as well as the altruistic love of
each brother for the other that is symbolized by their reactions when the other is chosen.

In the Torah we are told that Moses’ primary attributes were that of greatness and humility. In reality it is his humility that is at the heart of his greatness. Though Aaron is appointed High Priest, Moses’s humility allows him to rejoice, much as his humility caused him to reject God’s initial call for fear that Aaron would be hurt. This is the meaning underlying the seemingly innocuous “and as for you” that begins the command for Moses to prepare the oil, decorate the courtyard of the mishkan and instruct others to prepare Aaron’s garments. In this way the
“and as for you” is not viewed as further punishment for Moses’ initial reticence (i.e., “And as for you… if you’re going to hesitate to follow my orders I going to take away the priesthood!) Instead, it becomes an acknowledgement of Moses’ humility and his ability to rejoice for his
brother (i.e., “And as for you … you have shown your greatness through your humility and your concern for your brother, and so you shall have the pleasure of preparing all that he needs to begin his priestly service”)

However, there is a danger in humility as well. This danger is that humility itself has the potential to become as much a tool of the ego’s machinations as does hubris. For if the ego is that within us that tries to convince us that everything is about “me” and keeping “me” in
control, then even humility can serve the ego’s purpose. For if one makes too much of one’s humility the result could be that others will then begin to focus on and praise him/her for that humility. Moreover, since the ego seeks praise, comfort, security and dominance, the ego can easily learn that it can catch as many – if not more – flies with the sweetness of humility than it can with the bitterness of hubris.

However, Moses does not seem to get caught up in this ego’s game in this parashah or in it’s various midrashic interpretations. So perhaps we need to think of this verse not so much in terms of humility, but as evidence that Moses, as well as Aaron, was able to see the reality of the “big picture” at that moment.

At first when God chose Moses, he fought against the reality of the moment and what God was showing him. For seven days, an entire period of creation, his ego struggled with God. Perhaps it was ego in the guise of humility saying “I’m not worthy” and looking for the strokes it might get from God: “of course you’re worthy,” “you’re the best man around,” “you’re going to be an amazing leader!” On the other hand, perhaps it was the ego’s desire for comfort, stasis and
certainty telling Moses “don’t do it! You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into! Just keep moving in the other direction!”

Whatever the tactics of the ego, it did not succeed during this seven-day period of creation of Moses as leader at the Burning Bush. Rather, it seems clear that Moses was able to drop the stories of which the ego was trying to convince him and focus on the reality of the moment.
Moses was able to rid himself of his ego and it’s messages. He was able instead to see and hear the reality of what God was saying to him. At that moment, God let him know his role, as well as that of his brother. In addition, from this broadened perspective he was able to accept both his and his brother’s role with joy.

Therefore, “and as for you, you shall command” can be interpreted as God saying, “I am
commanding you, Moses, to do this. I am not speaking to your ego; I am not speaking to your brother. I am speaking to you directly. We are here face-to-face. There is nothing between
us.” So, it is from this place of egoless connection with the Divine that Moses is able to continue his journey as a leader meant to bring all the people to understand that ultimately there is nothing between us and God, for all is God and God is all.

This is something that we all need to remember in those moments when our ego gets in the way or when we separate ourselves from others and from God. Letting go of the ego and its stories, we can each feel commanded by the voice of God within to be present in the moment and to prepare ourselves for the next step of our journey together.

Shabbat Shalom,

Steven

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Posted By Rabbi Steven Nathan to Mindful Torah at 2/19/2010 03:17:00 PM

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This week’s parashah, Bo (Shemot/Exodus 10:1-13:16), begins “Then God said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his courtiers, in order that I may display these My signs among them, and that you may recount in the hearing of your children and your children’s children how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed My signs among them – in order that you may know that I am God.’” (10:1-2). This is then followed by the onset of the eighth plague of locusts. The parashah continues with the continued hardening of Pharaoh’s heart after the eighth and ninth plagues and then the last plague, the death of the firstborn. The parashah concludes with the commandments to dedicate the first-born of the Israelites to God and to observe Pesakh/Passover.

At the end of last week’s parashah, Va’era, the land of Egypt/Mitzrayim was almost completely decimated by the plague of hail. Mitzrayim, which is connected with the Hebrew for “narrow, constricted,” has been laid waste. The place that was known for its glory and grandeur has been brought low. Yet, in spite of this, Pharaoh retains his hubris. Living in his palace, separated from his people, he is able to maintain his sense of superiority and his belief that nothing could ever destroy him or his power.

After the conclusion of the seventh plague, it must have seemed to the people that they and their land could suffer no more. Yet, with the coming of the locusts we are told that what little vegetation had been left after the previous plague was now totally consumed. If the people thought the land was bare after the hail, they now knew what barrenness really looked like. However, even that could not prepare them for what was to come. For we read that in the ninth plague, they experienced a darkness that they could actually feel. This darkness touched the core of their being. They were totally and utterly engulfed by it. This palpable darkness can represent not simply depression, uncertainty or fear, but the people’s realization that everything upon which they had built their hopes and dreams had ceased to exist. All that they believed to be real was an illusion. They could no longer experience anything but nothingness.

We get little sense of how the common Egyptians felt after each plague ended, but one can only imagine that they were relieved to see again when this plague ended. Yet, what were they able to see? If they had truly come to the realization that everything they knew before was an illusion then what did their eyes perceive in the light?

What they saw was a land that was totally barren. The palaces and cities of Pharaoh meant nothing to them, for they realized that they were simply empty monuments. They were able to see the reality that they had moments ago felt with their entire being. The only thing that did exist for them at that moment was the realization that nothing existed. One could imagine that they even doubted their own existence after all they had experienced. For how could anyone be certain of anything after experiencing the deepest darkness? As they tried to comprehend this while continuing their lives, darkness came again. However, this time it was the “normal” darkness accompanied by the light of the full moon. Perhaps they could trust this darkness. Perhaps they again began to feel more secure, like life was going to once again be what it was before. Then, the final plague struck and they felt as if they were plunged back into the deep darkness once again. For within hours, the entire first born of Egypt lay dead. The first born, the ones upon whom the hopes and dreams of the people’s future rested, were no more. If there was any doubt that nothing would ever be the same, it had now been eradicated. The rug had been pulled out from underneath the entire nation. The future no longer existed. Rather, the future seemed at that moment to be as uncertain as anything could be. That is how the parashah ends for the Egyptians.

Though we usually identify with the Israelites, I believe, just as when interpreting dreams, we can find ourselves in all of the characters in the Torah. Therefore, we are also the Egyptians … the Mitzrim … the constricted ones. We are the ones who have been oppressed by a power that we believed to be greater than us. We may not have been slaves to Pharaoh, but we were under his control nevertheless. We have worshipped him as a man/god who controlled our lives. We have looked at his grand edifices and identified with the power and glory that they represented. Surely, any person – any nation – that could create such splendor would last forever. Surely, anyone who was a subject of this person was also guaranteed the benefits that come along with the package. Yet, with each plague things became less and less certain. With each plague the ground beneath us began to shift and tremble. With each plague, our certainty began to diminish. Now, after the last two plagues we realize that it is all an illusion and that our future is gone. Though our eyes can see, it is as if we have been plunged back into that deepest darkness of the ninth plague yet again. However, this time we don’t know if we will ever emerge again into the light.

Then, we suddenly come to a realization that awakens us. It even makes us laugh a bit. This grand revelation is , simply put, ‘this is life.’ This is what it’s about. Existence is not about certainty, glory, or any of the things represented by palaces and the external trappings of Pharaoh and his court. Life is about not knowing what the next moment will bring. Life is about simply acknowledging and living in the present. Some of us come to this realization easily and early. However, for most of us it takes being plunged into darkness and ends with the death of the dreams and fantasies of the future upon which we have obsessed and built our lives. Only then do we come to the realization (if we do at all). Yet, once we realize this truth, we are actually relieved. Once we realize the truth, we can stop being Mitzrim – constricted ones – and instead become Israelites … B’nai Yisrael, those content to struggle with forces Divine and human.

And what are the Israelites doing while all of this is happening to the Egyptians? We are not certain from the text what they are doing during most of the plagues, but we can imagine that they might have just been sitting, waiting, and watching, while realizing that all of this was out of their control. However, we know that during the tenth plague they were sitting in their homes observing the first Pesakh seder. They were enacting a ritual commanded to them by Moses, on God’s behalf, by which their descendants would commemorate this night in perpetuity. They may have had their sandals on and their staffs at their side so that they could leave when the time came, but they also realized that the coming of that time was out of their control. Therefore, they sat, they ate, and they waited. Though we tend to emphasize the fact that the people left in haste, and so had no time to let the dough rise, the Torah tells us even before the meal takes place that they are to eat unleavened bread. The people were commanded to eat no leaven – which according to many represents “puffed up” human pride and hubris – even before they leave in haste.

One can imagine that Israelites simply sat where they were, ate what was before them and praised God from a place of humility. While all around them death and destruction engulfed the Egyptians. Then Pharaoh lets out a cry that the Torah tells us “reached all of Egypt” when his first-born dies. The future that he had built and planned for is no more. Even then, the Israelites remain seated in their homes celebrating the Passover. They remain where they are acknowledging and celebrating the present, knowing that the future is simply an unknown. All they have is the present. If there is to be a future, it is in God’s hands and they will know it only when it becomes the present.

When the final plague ends, the moment arrives when the future becomes the present. God makes them aware that it is time to move from their place. Yet, before that, God commands them that from now on their first-born will always be consecrated to the Divine. This is an instruction to them to remember that the future, represented by the first-born, is in God’s hands – however one chooses to understand that term.

We cannot control the future. We cannot control anything, any more than could the Egyptians. All we can do is experience the present. We can attend to and feel within our souls what is happening in the moment, no matter how painful or difficult it may be, just as the Egyptians did during the plagues of locust and darkness. We can sit wherever we are and recognize the chaos that is ensuing all around us, as well as the uncertainty within us, as the Israelites did during the final plague.

Our other choice is to take the path of Pharaoh, always believing that we are in control, that we know what the future brings and that our world is in our command. If we choose this path then, when everything comes crumbling down around us, as it inevitably will, we will be unable to feel the darkness of that moment or sit there in the midst of the chaos. Rather, we will only be able to do as Pharaoh did and let out a scream that could reach all the corners of Egypt, and all the corners within ourselves, as everything that we thought we had created and controlled dies around us, and we die along with it.

Still, once again, this provides us with an opportunity. At that moment when we feel all that we can do is scream and sink to our knees, we can also choose. We can either accept the impermanence and uncertainty of life or we can once again begin to build our illusions of permanence and control of the future. Each moment provides us with choice. Each moment provides us with an opportunity. Each moment is all we have. Now we simply need to decide.

Shabbat Shalom.

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The LGBT Religious Archives Network (LGBT-RAN) honors Shaun Jacob Halper with the 2009-10 LGBTReligious History Award. Halper’s paper, “Fashioning Gay Jewish Identity in Interwar Prague: The Case of Jií Langer (1894-1944),” was selected by the review jury to receive the award.

Halper is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at University of California Berkeley doing pioneering work in Jewish gay and lesbian history. His paper takes up the long-neglected life and work of a gay Hasid in interwar Prague, Jií Langer, who wrote on the problem of Judaism and homosexuality and articulated, as Shaun has argued, what may be one of the earliest cultural articulations of homosexual-Jewish consciousness and identity in the historical record.

The award will be presented to Halper at LGBT-RAN’s annual dinner on Saturday, May 8, 2010, at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. You can read the full announcement about Halper and the LGBT Religious History Award here.

Halper’s paper was selected by the jury from among eight papers submitted in this fifth year of the LGBT Religious History Award.  Click here for info about past honorees and guidelines for submissions for the 2010-11 Award.

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