*Be the Change You Want to See In the World

Video-Vort Vayigash 5772

 

Video-Vort Miketz 5772

 

Miketz 5772

In this week’s Torah portion, the famine foreseen in Pharaoh’s dreams comes to fruition. As a prophylactic to the scarcity of food, the newly appointed second-in-command, Joseph, collects and stores the abundance of produce that is the result of the previous years of plenty. When the famine strikes Egypt, the stored foodstuffs are enough to carry Egypt – indeed the region – through the food crisis. Strange, or not so strange, how modernity mimics yesteryear. Throughout Africa, millions of people are starving and malnourished. In every major Western city there are children who go to sleep hungry. And yet, on a daily basis restaurants and hotels and catering halls and supermarkets throw out enough food to feed all of the world’s hungry. Hal David’s lyrics to Burt Bacharach’s music composition of the 1960’s song says it best: Lord, we don't need another meadow; There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow… Oh listen,Lord, if you want to know: What the world needs now is love, sweet love – It's the only thing that there's just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love; No, not just for some but for everyone.

Video-Vort Vayeishev 5772

 

Vayeishev 5772

וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם רְאוּבֵן אַל תִּשְׁפְּכוּ דָם הַשְׁלִיכוּ אֹתוֹ אֶל הַבּוֹר הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בַּמִּדְבָּר וְיָד אַל תִּשְׁלְחוּ בוֹ לְמַעַן הַצִּיל אֹתוֹ מִיָּדָם לַהֲשִׁיבוֹ אֶל אָבִיו: – And Reuben said to them: 'Shed no blood; cast him [Joseph] into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him'--that he might save him from their hand, to restore him to his father. (Genesis 37:22)

It is not a secret that institutions throughout the Jewish world have been built by philanthropic dollars; indeed, there are nameplates in almost every synagogue attesting to this fact. And yet, there remains debate and misunderstanding about the appropriateness of such forms of recognition of tzedakah. The great code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Arukh (Y.D. 149:13), teaches that in no fashion should a person be boastful about her philanthropy and that should she act in such a way not only does she forego whatever heavenly reward was due her for her tzedakah, but the community may even punish her as a result of such a display. However, with reference to this Torah verse whereby Reuven's reason for action is cited – that he might save him – this same code of law does say that it is not only permitted but even appropriate to attach one's own name to such gifts for the purposes of remembrance.

 

Video-Vort Vayishlach 5772

 

Vayishlach 5772

This week’s parsha has Yaakov wrestling with an angel of Gd. According to tradition, the angel is Micha'el – paradoxically the angel designated as the guardian of Israel. Toward the end of the night’s bout, Yaakov demands that the angel bless him. The angel asks what his name is. “Yaakov,” he replies and Micha'el’s response is that his new name will be “Yisrael” (ישראל) for he has struggled (שרית) with Gd (אלקים) and prevailed. However, there is a different, midrashic definition that claims that the name means “the Upright of Gd” – that is, the straight and honest (ישר) of Gd. The Ba’al Yeshuat Yaakov teaches that the two names – Yaakov and Yisrael – both speak of the Jewish people as being a chosen nation. He claims the chosen nature of the Jewish people is that, though we do not always behave with honor and valor, in relation to the surrounding culture we always behave at a higher moral level (Yaakov). When we meet our potential and act with unquestioned righteousness we meet the definition of Yisrael – the Upright of Gd.

 

Video-Vort Vayetze 2011