Heating Up to Boiling

Yom rishon, 24 Av 5775.

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Ever take the time to watch a pot of water come to a rolling boil? It starts with tiny bubbles at the bottom of the pot, followed by steam rising from the increasingly noisy and active water, until at last the bubbles are climbing over each other violently. If the pot is quite full, the dangerously hot water can boil over. If you are too close, the burns can be devastating.

The news is daily filled with greater tension and uncertainty, not just for Jews in Israel, but for Jews around the world; and non-Jews are in just as much danger, whether they feel affected by it or not. Some "near the top of the pot" may not yet realize how hot it's getting, but those of us nearest the burner are already feeling extreme heat.

The higher than usual atmospheric temperatures have surely not helped the rising tensions.

The horrific incident of a religiously-dressed Jew murdering a Jewish girl at a Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem, in some mistaken belief that he was fulfilling God's desires, scares me to my core. And if this was God's desire -- which I absolutely do not accept -- I would be even more frightened. Whatever God wants from us in this situation, b'zman hazeh, my teaching by excellent and holy rabbis did not lead me to believe that killing a Jew would solve the problem. I prefer the solution of a rabbi in one Hareidi community in Israel who, when asked what should be our response to the first Erev Shabbat Gay Pride parade ever, said, "Stay home and make Shabbat. That is the best protest."

As if this is not enough, we are surely on the brink of another war with the Arabs, this time, inside our borders. I firmly believe that the suspected "Price Tag" attack that resulted in the death of an 18-month-old Arab and his father from a firebomb attack on their home will prove to have been perpetrated by a rival Arab family. But in the meantime, far too many on both sides of the argument assume that this heinous crime was committed by Jews. I don't know how the laws governing the media work here in Israel. But I know in America you're not supposed to publish headlines without "alleged" or "suspected" until the perpetrator is convicted. We are sometimes our own worst enemies.

Speaking of enemies... How's the whole embracing Iran thing going for ya? I have stayed fairly quiet on this subject, as there are many people more coherent and knowledgeable than I saying much. I will let my beloved Rabbi Menachem Goldberger from the Baltimore synagogue Congregation Tiferes Yisroel speak for me, in a letter he wrote to his Baltimore congregation. Thank you, Rabbi, for your strong words. May many more in our former home country speak out as you have done. In time.

Rabbi Goldberger, before we aged him beyond his years.

Dear Kehilla HaKedosha,                       
Erev Shabbos Parshas Ekev 5775     B"H        

Yesterday Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, announced that he will vote against the Iran Nuclear deal.  I encourage you to read his statement which is thoughtful, and very thorough.  It's available on line at Yeshiva World News as well as on other sites.  Representative Eliot Engel of New York, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee announced he will vote against the deal as well.

I want to congratulate these men on their brave and courageous stance, under tremendous political pressure from the White House, for voting their conscience and expressing clearly the danger to the world of a wealthy, nuclear Iran, which this treaty would allow.

President Obama, in his speech at American University a few days ago, reached a new low in comparing the "hard liners" in Iran with the Republicans and stating that they found common cause with each other.  I guess that President Obama forgot overnight that he is the one who just snuggled up to the Iranian hard liners and made a deal with them, that the hard liners are not a fringe group but rather the government of Iran lead by their supreme leader, and that he found common cause with them.  I guess he forgot that the people of Iran who tried to overthrow this wicked regime in 2009 were left to themselves as he sat on the sidelines and gave them no US support.   President Obama found no common cause with them.  When he speaks I feel like I'm reading "1984" by George Orwell. 

May Hashem Yisborach, our true help and strength, have compassion on his precious nation Klal Yisroel and watch over us.  May He guide us on the right path and help us to overcome our enemies.

Good Shabbos, Shalom al Yisroel,

Rabbi Menachem Goldberger 

May this particular pot be calmed, somehow, before it boils over and burns everything around it beyond saving. And may Hashem at last decide that it is time for Mashiach, whether we deserve it or not.

Building-Blocks Made of Kindness

Yom revi'i, 7 Av 5775.

This Tisha b'Av, it will be ten years since Gush Katif. I still remember the spiritual-high hopefulness followed by the excruciating, sucking-chest-wound pain when we heard that the Jewish communities of Gush Katif would not get a stay of execution after all. It took the breath out of us -- and we didn't even live in Israel yet.

One of the many, many reasons I as an Israeli love my former kehilla back in the Old Country is that they, lead by their Rav and Rebbetzin Menachem and Bracha Goldberger, have never given up on Israel, on the dream for as many of us as possible to make aliyah, and on supporting us emotionally and spiritually here at HOME. Now they are doing what they can (as they have many times in the past) to help out financially as well.

Thank you, Holy Kehilla. Thank you, dear Rabbi and Rebbetzin. In the merit of these kindnesses, may this at last be the year of the Geula shelaima.

Dear Kehilla Hakedosha,

This Tisha B’Av marks the 10^th anniversary of the expulsion from Gush Katif.   

For years, the residents of Gush Katif were known for their generosity to the poor of Israel and their extraordinary productivity.  A self-contained bloc of settlements, they were responsible for 15% of the entire country’s agricultural exports. Fully 97% were employed.  The day after the expulsion 85% were instantaneously unemployed.

Sadly, while there was a plan for removing them from their homes, there was no plan for the day after. Overnight, these productive individuals had no jobs and no businesses. Depression, trauma and other emotional, psychological and even health issues ensued.

JobKatif was founded by Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon to help the evacuees become independent, self-supporting individuals once again. To date, JobKatif has helped 2,650 people re-enter the work force.

A worldwide Achdut campaign is now underway to assist many of the remaining unemployed Gush Katif evacuees re-enter the work force.    

While we cannot solve the injustice that was committed to these people, nor right the wrongs of the past, we can unite together during the Three Weeks.

How?

Our shul, along with many others, is trying to take responsibility for just one Gush Katif evacuee. By doing so we can help repair one of the most the painful chapters in modern Jewish history. 

A total of $2,200 will help ensure that a single Gush Katif evacuee currently unemployed can once again enjoy independence, self-pride and dignity.  There remain 330 who still need our help.

This is an historic moment for Klal Yisrael.  Before Tisha B'Av, when we petition Hashem for rachamim for ourselves in the face of imminent danger to Israel's existence, it is imperative that we demonstrate our care and concern for each person from Gush Katif.  We cannot be callous to their pain any longer.  Let us pray that the dignity we pledge to accord them will be a zechut for us all in these perilous times.  

Please take a few moments to listen to Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon.

We would appreciate whatever you can to do help.  You can send your donation with "Job Katif" in the memo line to Shomrei Emunah Israel Fund, 6221 Greenspring Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21209. Mention that the donation came from Congregation Tiferes Yisroel.

If you will be traveling in America for some reason and need a warm and welcoming kehilla in Baltimore, may I recommend Congregation Tiferes Yisroel? The Rabbi and Rebbetzin and the entire kehilla never heard of judging a Jew by his or her head covering, or lack thereof. They understand better than any people I know the sentiments expressed by Rabbi Refael Rubin of Netanya. (This brief video is well worth the less than five minutes of your time. Let me know what you think -- and feel free to share!)



And what are we capable of building with our building-blocks of kindness? May we finally get our act together so that we can share joyful news of the Complete and Total Redemption, speedily and in our days!

"You shall strengthen yourselves and take from the fruit of the land."

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Goldberger in Israel - photo by Ezra Leventhal

Yom revi'i, 13 Sivan 5771.

I always think of my Rav and Rebbetzin when Parashat Shelach rolls around.

There are a few reasons for this; but a primary reason is that Rabbi Menachem and Rebbetzin Bracha Goldberger refuse to fit any stereotypes.  A typical stereotype, for instance, is that American Chasidic rabbis do not traditionally support aliyah to Israel.  And yet, a very large percentage of Rabbi Goldberger's congregation either lives in Israel or is in the process of making aliyah; and a disproportionate number of Congregation Tiferes Yisroel's young people has served in the IDF.  Of course, there are also a number of our young people who have attended yeshiva in Israel for a year or two; but, again, a surprising number of those return and settle in the Holy Land.  This is due in large measure to the unabashed love the Goldbergers have for Eretz Yisrael, a love they share happily with their congregants.

This blog is named for my favorite pasuk in the Chumash, which can be found in this parasha, a pasuk I believe to be a favorite of Rabbi Goldberger's as well:  "!עלה נעלה וירשנו אתה כי-יכול נוכל לה" -- "We shall surely ascend and conquer it, for we can surely do it!" (Bamidbar, 13:30)

There are many beautiful and inspirational p'sukim in the Chumash.  So what is it about Calev's rallying cry to the Jewish people, in the face of the spies who were trying to dissuade them from entering the Promised Land, that resonates for me so much more than all those other bits of Torah wisdom?

Besides the fact that it is all about aliyah to the holiest place in the world, this pasuk also reminds us not to "go along to get along."  If G-d thinks we can accomplish something with His help, who are all of those naysayers to tell us that it is not possible, that there are too many obstacles between us and success?

A Jew must remember that he works for The Front Office.  He doesn't just work for himself; and he certainly doesn't work for all those who tell him he can't succeed.  If G-d tells us (as He seems to, many times throughout the Torah) that He wants His people in His land, why should we let anyone tell us that it is not where we belong?  And why should we believe that surviving here is beyond our poor abilities?  (I mean -- it IS.  But it isn't our project.  Our job, to paraphrase a favorite military expression, is as follows:  "When G-d says jump, we say 'How high?'")

How high, indeed.

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Goldberger have helped us to become ourselves, and not some cookie-cutter version of themselves.  They have helped us to love every kind of Jew, no matter how different from us.  They have taught us such a sense of kehilla-as-family that all "TYers" feel connected, no matter how long it's been since we davened together or how far apart we live on the globe.  They have shared with us their version of Chasidut, which includes the injunction to use the tools G-d gives us to make our own decisions -- and to live by them.

They made it okay to leave their shul to come to live in Israel.  Not easy, but okay.

Thank you, Rabbi and Rebbetzin, for taking us higher.  Rebbetzin, I wish I could be there for your Coffee House Concert.  I know that it will be wonderful, and will inspire the ladies of our community to even greater closeness, and to the fun of being spiritual -- another instance of a stereotype you sidestep.  Thank you both for being our teachers, our friends, our family.


Glossary:
Pasuk, p'sukim: verse, verses
Parasha: chapter
Kehilla: community, especially the tight-knit community in a synagogue or small town
Davened: prayed
Shul: synagogue

Silver Anniversaries. Some are tarnished. Some are golden.

Yom shlishi, 11 Adar aleph 5771.

We are awed by where G-d has brought us in our journey.

Twenty-five years ago, Jonathan Pollard went to prison.  Much argument has ensued over the decades about whether he deserved his fate or not.  But that man has spent 25 years in jail, for a crime that has held no other prisoner in a US jail for so long.

Twenty-five years ago, Natan Sharansky was freed from prison in the Soviet Union.  Like a boulder crashing down a mountain, the next few years changed the fate of Soviet Jewry forever.

Our second-born, shaking hands with Natan Sharansky at a simcha

Twenty-five years ago, our first son was born.  He was going to be a Heisman trophy winner, a great musician, a phenomenal chess champion.  (Okay -- a few years later, it became apparent we were putting too much on one kid; and we decided to ask G-d to give us a sibling for him, to share the burden of our expectations.)  Our eldest child and Natan Sharansky get a lot of credit for starting our spiritual journey.

An early beginning to a promising musical career -- Nachas alert: if you've got a few minutes, scroll down and listen to "City of Dreams" at least.

Big Brother no longer has to carry the entire burden.

Twenty-five years ago, our shul in Baltimore started to spread its loving and accepting brand of Chasidut.

A quarter of a century.  Some of my kids can't even fathom that.  (Joel, Sam, Jason and Josh -- explain it to them, could you?)  Lives change, nations change.  A lot, in twenty-five years.

May we share another twenty-five years...  in peace and harmony and good health.