Yom Hazikaron

One of my most powerful memories from my first time in Israel for my Junior year of college in 1972-3 was Yom Hazikaron, Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day. It is the day before Israel Independence Day (Yom Haatzmaut). I remember being in a cafe near Kikar Tzion in the middle of Jerusalem, unaware what was to happen. The siren sounded and the commercial center of Jerusalem (and the country) stopped. The waiters stopped. Everyone stopped.
Israel is such a small country - not only physically, but also in population. As many people experience, it's like extended family. I believe there is no one who does not know someone who was wounded or died defending the State of Israel. When everything stopped it was clear on the faces that everyone was thinking about friends and loved ones.
Through the years I've been to Arlington National Cemetery, to many communal Memorial Day services, and lead many prayers in synagogues on Memorial Weekend remembering those who defended the USA. But I have never experienced a moment like my first Yom Hazikaron - it is etched in the sacred recesses of my memory as a pure and holy moment of remembrance and tribute and hope for peace.

Birkat Hachama - Blessing of the Sun

I finished my studies and materials this morning to teach Massechet Hachama this Wednesday morning as part of Siyyum Bechorim - the Fast of the First Born. A couple of my colleagues created some wonderful source materials related to this short ceremony and various teachings from the tradition about the sun. We'll study this for a few minutes around 7 am and then take 5-10 minutes to do the ceremony, before we eat hametz for the last time until after Passover.
The last time this benediction was recited was during my last year of Rabbinical School. After davening that morning - we went over to Riverside Park, recited the Psalms, prayers and the blessing for God's Wondrous Creative Power. It was a sublime moment then and again this year.

This blessing, according to the tradition, celebrates the return of the sun to the exact place it was when it was created on the Fourth Day of Creation. Whether this is factually true or not, it is spiritually significant that we pause and appreciate the miracle of the sun. It is the source of life in our solar system. It is the primary source of energy for our planet. It impacts our lives every day in ways which we are not even aware. It's a chance to acknowledge some of the gifts we take for granted. And it occurs formally, Jewishly only once every 28 years.

My colleague Mark Greenspan summarized five truths about this rite:
1) God is our creator even if we can't discern the process
2) The sun is a gift which gives us life each day - life is impossible without it
3) We have a responsibility to celebrate these gifts and ALSO to be their custodians
4) God's gifts belong to everyone and we must learn to share them
5) Because something is always there - doesn't make it less of a miracle

So whether you join us in shul this Wednesday morning after early minyan (6:30 am) or just go outside anytime after sunrise until around 9 am - your can just recite the blessing ( ... oseh maaseh brayshit - ... who makes the work of creation) or check on-line for any of the fuller ceremonies - think about our world, its dependence and interconnection with the sun, and experience the wonder and maybe even God's Presence in the star that gives us life.

Rethinking Song of Songs as Passover approaches

Had a great class yesterday at the Washington Board of Rabbis with Dr. Erica Brown (Director of Adult Education at the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning), looking in a new way at Shir Hashirim. We know that the underlying affect of Passover and the Seder is God's love for Israel. Considering Song of Songs as an allegory is the rabbinic answer to including this incredible eroticism in the Biblical Scripture.
Using a couple of artists renderings of a few verses from the Song, the first powerful insight which I had not fully realized in the love poem is the degree of tension between whoever the lovers are in the poem. There is the repeated theme of distancing, of approach and disappearance, a kind of back and forth of passion and presence. It appears that characters in the underlying story are sometimes on different wave lengths, that not everyone is ready for the consummating, peak moment at the same time. (I'll return to this in a moment)
Dr. Brown then connected this with art in general and teaching. When we approach a painting or a piece of literature or a sacred text, we first experience the words. There's this initial interaction, visual ... which can be positive, makes us feel good, or sometimes negative. Then we start to really look at the object of inquiry and experience it's nuances - words, colors, characters, language, symbols, ideas. But to stay in this experience, we then need to bring information and cognition to greater appreciate the painting or the text. When we combine the activity/observation with the emotional reaction, and then combine that with our knowledge and past experience - we are fully, spiritually immersed in the moment. This is a kind of deep, spiritual experience which we seek and too often miss. But in truth, so often: We're not fully present to experience art or prayer or Jewish learning even when the opportunity is present.
Part of this is the responsibility of the teacher. Providing opportunities for this kind of learning is crucial. But as I think of my own sublime moments, it was often the case that months of learning suddenly made sense in a particular time and place. Some of the highs of my life - were experienced only by me - although there were dozens of others present. When I climbed Jebel Musa - "The Mountain of Moses" in the Sinai many years ago, and looked out to the Mediterranean, the Suez, and the Red Sea - wow! Maybe Moses really was here! This is the place where the Ten Commandments were given! Some us of felt this, some just felt the geography, others only felt exhaustion of the climb.
If there is anything that I am beginning to understand in recent years about the Jewish way - it is that all our learning and behaviors - create an awareness, a mindfulness of life. We don't take life for granted. We pause to reflect on our life journey frequently several times a day. We study to add meaning, connection and perspective on living life fully. We structure moments to be aware of doing the right thing and to feel the holiness of life constantly. If it took Ten Plagues before our ancestors had the self awareness to be redeemed from Egypt - then maybe for us too, it requires the investment of time and experiences to be ready for the sacred moments of love and the miraculous in our lives.