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Yom Kippur sermonette Embracing Earth – by Miriam Belov

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In the 1st paragraph  of Unetanneh Tokef it is stated

“”Let us now relate the power of this day’s holiness, for it is awesome and frightening. On it Your Kingship will be exalted; Your throne will be firmed with kindness and You will sit upon it in truth. It is true that You alone are the One Who judges, proves, knows, and bears witness; Who writes and seals, Who counts and Who calculates. You will remember all that was forgotten…

…And the great shofar will be sounded and a still, thin voice will be heard. Angels will be frenzied, a trembling and terror will seize them — and they will say, ‘Behold, it is the Day of Judgment, to muster the heavenly host for judgment!’ — for even they are not guiltless in Your eyes in judgment.”

 

In 2014 Rabbi Lord Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the U.K. said about  “A great shofar sounds, and a still small voice is heard.’, here is God Himself, blowing the shofar. He doesn’t scream in your ears; it’s a still small voice. And then it says, ‘The angels tremble.’ That still small voice is what terrifies the angels. Not the big noise. But if God whispers in your ear and tells you you’re an angel, that’s terrifying. You think to yourself, ‘Wow, I could be that big and look how small I am.’” [23]

 

At the end of the 2nd paragraph we read that: But Repentance, Prayer, and Charity annul the severe Decree.”

 

Rosh Hashanah was the birthday of the world, the day that Adam was created.  We now are the stewards of this creation, of our fragile planet.  Sadly, the accelerated effect of various components, especially by our own species, has created unprecedented events.  We can easily see these in the brutal hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria during the hurricane season of 2017. Also during this summer, there was record breaking heat in western Europe and the northwest of America. The global experiences of fracking-induced earthquakes in the US midwest plus the melting of the ice sheet of Greenland as well as the tsunamis of southeast Asia all add up to the results that we are now living: radical shifts in nature.

 

In the NYTimes on September 12, 2017, David Brooks quoted Rabbi Lord Sacks who said that there is no Hebrew word for “obey”.  Instead the verb the Torah uses is shema/lishmoa, “to listen, hear, attend, understand, internalize, respond.”

 

Please allow me to share with you a prayer I recently composed that concerns this Divine physical creation, our world.  It is called “Embracing Earth”and is in memory of The Holocaust and my parents, Kate and Mathew Klein.  As many of you know, my father was a pioneering environmentalist here in NJ.  “Embracing Earth” is in the form of a meditation.  I do hope you will listen to and internalize it.  Below are a few quotes from it – and Anne Frank and Albert Einstein relating to nature.  Perhaps you shall even hear your own small voice while you are being still this Yom Kippur.  Then perhaps our repentance, prayer and charity – and good deeds of environmental sustainability – can annul the severe decree.

 

For it is written in Genesis ix:12, “I have set my rainbow in the cloud.  It shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth.”

Anne Frank wrote: The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be. 

The very centre of each and every cell in your body vibrates with peace, love and health. You are peace.  Your cellular consciousness is released: illuminating your soul, filling your whole being here and now.  It surrounds you in a glow of green light. You are in your circle of power: you emanate loving rejuvenation – for yourself and for the earth..

As your breath helps to relax your body, now it will help you to focus your mind.  Please see the planet earth in your mind’s eye.  Allow your mental distractions to easily float by as gentle clouds in the sky.  When you inhale, focus on the planet by coloring her with the healing green.  As you begin to encircle the globe with this light, may your meditation ascend in prayer empowered by your sincerity – straight from the heart!

Albert Einstein wrote:  Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

Please see this powerful Light, Force and Consciousness flowing in a clockwise direction, encircling the globe: bathing all sentient beings, all of Nature.  Radiating out to all peoples, birds and the sky, horses running wild, the forests of old growth trees, dolphins swimming in big pods, large cats stalking the savannahs as herds of elephants roam.

Also include the creations of the ancients: the Great Wall of  the undulating dragon, the vortex of golden Jerusalem, Stonehenge, Machu Picchu climbing upward to the heavens.

As we embrace earth, both planetary and in each of our bodies –we pray for Peace and for the Divine compassion to stop the ecocide and revitalize the environment.  

Feel with total certitude and joy this happening now! It is the truth of the moment.

Pure water/clean air, blue sky/green grass, rich soil, vibrant health and strength saturating everyone, every species so precious to the ecological web. See this Golden Consciousness flowing around and through our fragile globe, Mother Earth, and your own being—as Matter and Spirit unite, evolving by the Supramental Light.  Embracing earth: be peace. Amen

IS REDEMPTION POSSIBLE? A HASIDIC TALE OF Y.L. PERETZ – Rabbi Len Levin

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IS REDEMPTION POSSIBLE? A HASIDIC TALE OF Y.L. PERETZ

Sermon for Yom Kippur 2017 | Lenny Levin

 

Gemar chatima tova—may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.

On Rosh Hashanah I promised you a story on a prayer in the early part of the service. Today I want to make good on that promise. The prayer is on page 444 of the prayer book. If you want to follow it, find page 444 now and put it away until I get to it.

The story is from the Yiddish writer Yehuda Leib Peretz. But first I want to say who Yehuda Leib Peretz was, who we are, and why I think he is an appropriate guide for us.

Who are we? We are all Jews of modernity, confronting the Jewish tradition from an existential place in the modern world. Whether we call ourselves modern Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, Renewal, secular, just-Jews, or fellow travelers of the Jewish people, we are children of the modern world. When I say, “may you be inscribed for a good year,” you don’t believe there is an actual book in Heaven in which our fates for the next year are inscribed. It is a symbolic figure of speech. The same applies more or less to the greater part of the religious vocabulary we employ. As moderns, we view religious traditions as symbolic structures that speak in coded language about our hopes and aspirations and the values we live by. We live in the real world. Politics is part of that real world. Our religious values have implications for how we will act in that real world. But the religious framework is meta-political. It is midway between heaven and earth, and as such, one step removed from these messy problems. If we are properly grounded with the right values imbibed from that tradition, we will hopefully go down into the real world and achieve change. But the message from the tradition about how to achieve that is indirect. If you want more direct advice from me, look me up on Facebook.

Yehuda Leib Peretz (1852–1915) belonged to the generation that made the transition from the world of traditional Jewish life to the world of modernity. He grew up in the Polish shtetl of Zamośź in the second half of the 19th century, and he died in 1915. He was a younger member of the first generation of modern Yiddish literary writers, who addressed the east-European Jewish community on how to manage that transition into the modern world. He identified as secular-Jewish. He had three political identifications: (1) As a young man, he campaigned for Poland to regain its independence from Russia (which it did not achieve until after his death, in 1919). (2) As a socialist, he campaigned for the advancement of the working classes and a world in which greater economic justice would prevail. And (3) as a Diaspora Jewish nationalist, he advocated for a European regime where small nations like the Jews would be able to maintain their cultures and national identities based on their own languages and cultural traditions. He paid a price for these causes; he lost his job as a lawyer in Zamośź for political activity and later spent three months in jail for his socialist activity.

As a secularist, Peretz did not believe in the literal reality of heaven and hell, of angels and demons, and of a book in which our deeds are written. But he was steeped in the cultural background of Hasidism, which was based on the living faith in these realities. He believed that to be a modern Jew, one could draw on these traditions as speaking symbolically about living a life committed to moral values and the redemption of society in the real world.

As a writer, Peretz used the resources of the modern literary craft to rework the personalities, themes and motifs culled from the Jewish tradition into parables that spoke simply and elegantly to the timeless issues of good and evil, alienation and redemption, for the benefit of an audience with roots in the Jewish people but living in the modern world. Maybe you have come across his most famous story, “Bontshe Shveig,” about a poor man, who eked out a meager living as a porter, until he died in the street. He was greeted in Heaven with the highest pomp and circumstance and told he could have whatever he wanted as a reward for his righteous life on earth. But all that he could think to ask for was a hot roll with butter every morning. I believe that this was Peretz’s plaintive protest against a society so rife with injustice and inequality that it crushed the spirit out of people, and once that happened, no remedy could help.  All the more so, then, that we need to correct the injustice here on earth, so the human spirit can be saved.

The story I am about to tell speaks mostly for itself. But there is one detail that can benefit from some explanation. That is the figure of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was a real personality (1740–1809), a Hasidic rabbi of the second generation of Hasidic leaders, who served as a charismatic leader after the death of the Baal Shem Tov. But he comes across in stories as a unique personality, a trifle bit crazy in a good way, resourceful and inventive of off-the-wall solutions to vexing problems. He is kind of a cross between Elijah the Prophet, Don Quixote, and Chagall’s fiddler on the roof. His hallmarks were compassion, forgiveness, a sense of humor, and chutzpah in dealing with God and human beings alike.

One of my favorite stories about Rabbi Levi Yitzchak tells of when he met a Jew who was smoking on Shabbat on the streets of Berditchev. He said to the Jew, “Reb Yid, perhaps you forgot that it is Shabbos today.”

“No Rebbe, I know that it is Shabbos,” the Jew replied.

“Perhaps you did not realize that you are smoking,” the rebbe asked.

“Rebbe, how could a person not know that he was smoking?”

“Perhaps you forgot, or perhaps you never learned, that it is forbidden to smoke on Shabbos.”

“Of course I know that it is forbidden to smoke on Shabbos,” the Jew said, cutting off the last possible defense.

At that point, Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev turned his gaze upwards and called out, “Ribbono shel Olam, who is like Your people Israel? Even when I gave this Jew every opportunity to lie and mitigate his offense, he refused to do so. Where is such scrupulous honesty to be found? Such a level of honesty is not for this world; it belongs in the World of Truth.”

So now that you have been introduced to Peretz and to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, let me proceed to the main story. It may not provide us with an operative solution to our present problems, but I believe that it offers hope on a deep level. (Story is adapted from Maurice Samuel, Prince of the Ghetto, JPS, 1948, pp. 181–88.)

* * * * * *

It was Rosh Hashana, and the rebbe was leading the congregation in prayer. All day long his voice poured out supplication and praise. As he stood there, serving as messenger between the Jewish people and God’s throne, his voice was like a pathway from earth to heaven.

And then, suddenly, a dreadful pause, a break. He had reached the prayer on page 444, L’eil orekh din — to God who sits in judgment. The words rang out clearly. But those that followed —  He probes all hearts on the day of judgment; he reveals the concealed in judgment — he uttered with hesitancy. And when he came to the verses toward the end — He is aware of all mysteries on the day of judgment, and l’koneh avadav badin (whatever that means) — his voice broke completely, and a frightful silence followed.

Parenthetically, you will see that the translator of this Machzor evades the issue on that last key phrase. “He accepts those who serve Him, in judgment” is a halfhearted translation. L’koneh avadav badin means literally, “To him who buys his slaves in judgment.” God buying slaves! That is what had the rabbi so mystified. What could that possibly mean?

One second, two seconds, three — and every second an eternity. Terror spreads through the congregation; people faint from shock.

And then the Rabbi wakes up. He comes to. A shudder passes through his body, and he resumes joyously, He has mercy for His people on the day of judgment. And he concludes the Shaharit service, up through the Torah reading, with renewed strength.

After the Torah service, before Musaf, during the break, he explained what had happened.

When he got to the words, l’koneh avadav badin, it occurred to him that the words made no sense. “To him who buys his slaves in judgment?” What could it possibly mean? And so he stopped his prayer until he could figure it out.

As you may well imagine, the rabbi’s sudden silence was noted at once up in heaven. Our rabbi’s prayer suspended! Couldn’t happen. Immediately, they decided to reveal to him, in a vision, the meaning of his words, so that he could continue.

And so the rabbi went into a trance, while the heavens opened up. And this is what he saw:

The heavenly courtroom. It is still empty. The prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the judges have not yet arrived. There are five doors: On the extreme right, one with the sign, “Counsel for the Defense”; on the extreme left, “Prosecuting Attorney”; three doors along the back wall; and in front of them, a table with a huge brass scale.

The closed middle door in back bears a plaque, which reads: “The Heavenly Hosts.” The other two back doors are open. Through the right-of-center doorway the rabbi sees paradise. The righteous sit at long tables, their faces radiant, studying Torah. No judgment day for them. Through the left-of-center doorway, the rabbi sees the fires of hell burning, but the souls of the damned have a day off from punishment. The demons, who usually torture them, have a special assignment for the day.

Now the extreme rightmost door opens, and the counsel for the defense enters, carrying under his arm the records of the good deeds of mankind for the past year. Alas, a very small sheaf. It has been a terrible year.

The extreme leftmost door is still closed. An ominous sign. It is taking them too long to collect their records. The harvest of mankind’s misdeeds fills the granaries of hell. The counsel for the defense drops into a seat and closes his eyes sadly.

Finally the extreme leftmost door opens, and two demons enter, staggering under the load of their first bundle. They throw it on the left balance of the scale and one of them says, “That isn’t even a tenth of the harvest. Wait for the rest!”

The defense counsel groans. He feels all alone, forsaken.  Nobody hears his plight — or so it seems. But he is mistaken. One person cares — Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. He hears the groan of anguish from the defense counsel’s lips. He leaves his cozy seat in paradise to join in the action. He has not forgotten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; he remembers that for them, on earth below, there is still a judgment day, and so much is at stake.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak creeps into the courtroom and sizes up the situation. On the right, such a slender sheaf; on the left, heaps upon heaps. It takes him just an instant to decide. He bends down and, straining himself to the utmost, he picks up the bundle of accusing records and flings it through the left-of-center doorway, down into the flames of hell.

Again, two demons enter, bent double under a load of records for the prosecution. The moment they leave, Reb Levi Yitzchak deals with this bundle as he dealt with the first, And so with the third, and the fourth, and all the others.

Finally, it is the Devil himself who enters, a broad grin on his face. What is this? Help! The records! Not a sign of them. He looks around, and sees the last bundle burning in hell. He looks around again, and sees Rabbi Levi Yitzchak sneaking back toward paradise. He runs over, grabs him by the arm, and yells:

“Stop, thief!”

The cry resounds through all the seven heavens. Patriarchs and saints interrupt their studies and rush into the courtroom. The center door at the back opens and the members of the court file in. Counsel for the defense stands up. Pandemonium reigns.

The chief justice calls for order. Suddenly, all is silent.

“Will you please tell us what has happened?”

The Devil declares how he has caught Reb Levi Yitzchak red-handed. He points to the fires of hell where the last bundle is still smoldering.

Truth is truth! Rabbi Levi Yitzchak confesses.

Justice is justice! The Devil is asked what he demands. He quotes Scripture (he would!) “The thief shall be sold for his theft.” Let Reb Levi Yitzchak be sold as a slave, in public auction, to the highest bidder! The Devil will of course join in the bidding. It will be worth his while, no matter how much it costs, to own Rabbi Levi Yitzchak as a slave!

Father Abraham makes his offer, with his merit for brit milah, the covenant of circumcision, and hospitality for wayfarers. Isaac offers his pain and suffering for nearly being sacrificed on the altar.  Jacob weighs in with the long years of labor he endured. The matriarchs register their tza’ar giddul banim, the fortitude and patience they exhibited while raising the whole household of Israel, without which none of us would be here. Row upon row, the merits of the saints pile up on the right side of the huge scale.

But they are bidding against the Devil, and he has treasures beyond measure. He ransacks porcelain vases from China, and gold, silver, and diamonds from the deepest mines, not to mention oil rigs and tanks from the ends of the earth. The left side of the scale sinks lower and lower. Finally, he throws his crown on the bundle to top it off. The scale hits bottom.

A crooked and vindictive grin spreads over Satan’s lips. Oh, what a catch! Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, to be a captive in hell! As the left side of the scale touches the ground, the Devil puts his hand on Reb Levi Yitzchak’s shoulder, points to the left doorway, and says: “This way, please.”

A gasp of horror runs through the ranks of the blessed. What! Reb Levi Yitzchak damned for eternity? It cannot be! But what is to be done?

Finally, a voice thunders from God’s Throne of Glory:

“I buy him. For Mine is the earth and all its fullness, and I give the whole world for Reb Levi Yitzchak.”

The Devil’s face blazes fiery red, and he turns away, defeated.

Gleefully, the Hasid finished the story:

“That’s what the Rabbi told us in the pause between the Torah reading and Musaf. Do you non-Hasidim understand what a tremendous joy that was for us? First, there was the destruction of all our sins, burned to ashes. That’s a good-as-gold guarantee of a happy and prosperous New Year, like money in the bank. Second, Reb Levi Yitzchak saved from the schemes of the Devil. And third, best of all, we all learned the meaning of that baffling text, ‘To Him who buys His slaves on the day of judgment!’ ”

Who could ask for more?

Gemar chatima tova.

Shofarot – by Treasure Cohen

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It may come as a surprise to you, after the many hours you have spent over the years sitting in services for Rosh Hashana, that the Torah proscribes only 2 things you need to do to observe this holy day— 1) you should not work; and 2) you should hear the sounds of the shofar. Sounds like a pretty ideal way to spend the holiday! And In fact, Torah does not refer to this holiday as Rosh Hashana, the head of the year, because it does not occur at the beginning of the Biblical calendar but rather in the 7th month. In the Torah this day is actually called Yom Terua— the day of the sounding of the shofar.

This presents a curious paradox to me. We are the people of the book, people who use words to pray, to teach, to explain, to emote. And yet, the centerpiece of this holiday—the blowing of the shofar —is devoid of words. It is only about sounds—primitive and primal sounds that emanate from a humble ram’s horn. What is our tradition trying to teach us?

Our rabbis and scholars have debated this puzzle for generations. How do we make sense of a ceremony that speaks to us without words?

According to some of our sages, the shofar is a symbol that connects to dramatic moments in our ancient past. We read in Exodus that the blast of the shofar emanating from the thick cloud on Mount Sinai made the Israelites tremble in awe. The shofar was used to announce holidays and the Jubilee year. Joshua used the shofars to make the walls of Jericho come tumbling down and King David put the shofar into his royal orchestra. In Temple days, the shofar was blown on every important occasion. And of course, as we read today about the sacrifice of Isaac, we remember that the shofar caught in the brambles was a source of redemption.

So we can look at the shofar as an instrument that ties us to our past. In fact, another name of this holiday is Yom ha Zikaron, literally a day of memory, when the sounds of the shofar invoke our connection to history.

Other scholars have connected the blowing of the shofar with the coronation of a king. Traditionally, a new king was crowned at the beginning of the year. And of course when a king is crowned, there is a lot of pomp and ceremony, including the heralding of the King with trumpets and horns. Since God is our king, every year we renew our commitment and obedience to God with our own fanfare. With the sound of the shofar, we proclaim God as our king and our only king.

So that may explain the Malchuyot, kingship verses, which we will recite before the first shofar blasts. And it may explain the Zichronot, verses that invoke memory that we say before the next shofar blasts. And at last come the Shofarot, words that connect us to the wordless sounds of the shofar. This is the most challenging of all—for how do you use words to describe and interpret a wordless horn blast. And of course, since this is the most challenging, the Rabbis probably found it the most provocative . So here are some of the interpretations

And of course, since this is the most challenging, the Rabbis probably found it the most provocative . So here are some of the interpretations

  • The shofar is the sound of the voice from the heavens, like thunder and lightning, demonstrating the power of God
  • The shofar is the sound of the humble shepherd’s horn, calling us—the sheep—back home.
  • The sound of the shofar recreates the birthday of the world when every creature is called to judgment before God.
  • The shofar is like the sound of the alarm clock— the wake-up call to repent our sins.
  • The shofar is our collective cry to God— the splintered call of the people Israel, sharing our pain, our love, our dependence.
  • The shofar is God’s answer—telling us that God hears with compassion our collective cries
  • The shofar is the sound of liberation, calling the dispersed of our people and assembling our scattered ones from the farthest ends of the earth
  • And sometimes the shofar is just the sound of raw emotion— reflecting our cries, our groans, our moans, our sighs— a wordless .prayer that transcends our intellect but penetrates our souls .

I am reminded of one of my favorite stories about a little shepherd boy who played a willow flute. He blew it in the morning when he took his sheep to the meadow and he blew it in the evening when he took his flocks back home, But one day, he went home a different way and passed a synagogue. The mystical sounds that he heard from within overpowered and beckoned him and at last could not hold back and he went inside. He witnessed the congregation praying and he was so moved that he wanted to join them, but he did not know the words, so instead he picked up his flute and he played his own spontaneous melody—sweet, plaintive, mournful and beautiful. Suddenly everyone stopped praying—He saw the whole congregation staring at him with great distain and then in unison, they filled the room with a great loud disapproving shhhhh. He was embarrassed, he was ashamed and he tried to disappear—but as he backed toward the door, he heard the Rabbi’s voice calling him back. “Thank you, thank you!” said the Rabbi, “You have taught us all how to pray; we may know the words in the book but you have taught us true prayer— the prayer that comes from our hearts. Perhaps the shepherd boy actually had a shofar, not a flute. And perhaps this story can give us one more insight about the meaning of the shofar. Maybe the wordless sounds of the

Perhaps the shepherd boy actually had a shofar, not a flute. And perhaps this story can give us one more insight about the meaning of the shofar. Maybe the wordless sounds of the shofar represent the voice of humility and remind us that we do not need to know the words to offer our prayer to God, for the most powerful prayers come not from the book or from our intellect, but from our hearts.

— Treasure Cohen September 2017

SEEING GOD’S CREATIVE POWER IN THE ECLIPSE – by Rabbi Len Levin

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SEEING GOD’S CREATIVE POWER IN THE ECLIPSE

Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 2017 | Lenny Levin

Chag sameach.

If we were celebrating Rosh Hashanah in Second Temple or Mishnaic times, 1900 or 2000 years ago, the day for the holiday would have been set by a rabbinic court accepting the testimony of witnesses who had seen the first appearance of the new moon after the moon passed from one side of the sun to the other. In other words, Rosh Hashanah always occurs at the beginning of the lunar month. On rare occasions, as we know, the moon passes directly in front of the sun, causing a solar eclipse. That happened exactly one lunar month ago, on August 21. I find it paradoxical that even though today is the day we celebrate the creation of the world, it was one month ago that we saw direct evidence of God’s creative activity, and some of us on that day recited the blessing, “Who performs the work of creation,” oseh ma’aseh bereshit.

What’s in a blessing? Jews say blessings on many occasions. There are blessings for breaking bread, for drinking wine, for getting up in the morning, for performing various sacred actions such as lighting candles or studying the Torah. There are also blessings for observing the wonders of nature, such as a rainbow or the ocean. The daily and holiday prayers are themselves made up primarily of blessings celebrating God’s relationship to the world and to us.

Blessing God is a quintessentially Jewish gesture. It expresses our gratitude and wonder for existence itself, for our own lives that we experience as a gift, and for all the little things that comprise them.

The rabbis said that whoever eats without blessing God first is guilty of stealing God’s bounty. But once we acknowledge the divine source of the good things that we enjoy, we are permitted to partake of them.

I don’t want to get bogged down into theological quibbling over just how much divine intervention is implied by the act of blessing. If I eat an apple and say borei pri ha-etz, I’m not saying that God took particular care to produce that very apple. I am simply acknowledging gratitude to God for existence in general, of which this apple is a small part. We could say in general that a blessing expresses wonder and gratitude for the gift of being as refracted through a particular experience.

So when we blessed God at the eclipse as oseh ma’aseh bereshit, we are not saying that God took time out of His busy schedule to supervise this eclipse, but rather we are expressing wonder at the regularity of nature as a manifestation of God’s wisdom, a regularity that we can glimpse even in such exceptional events as a solar eclipse.

* * * * * * * * *

That said, there is still something amazing and breathtaking in the sight of an eclipse, for those who were able to see it. Like Moses at the burning bush, we are called to turn aside and wonder: how strange and awesome is this event!

Consider the fact that the apparent size of the moon as viewed from earth is just exactly the right size to conceal the sun completely for a few brief minutes, then pass on and reveal once more the edge of the sun’s surface.  Is this just an obvious given, like 2 + 2 = 4? Or is there something extraordinary in this fact?

Actually, if you consider what the corresponding sight would be if we were on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, or Uranus, when one of their moons passed in front of the sun, they are really quite different. (Jupiter’s larger moons create solar eclipses but they actually appear larger than the sun because the sun is so much more distant from Jupiter. Mars’s moons are tiny in comparison.) The view of a solar eclipse on Earth is unique for our solar system, and probably quite rare for planetary and lunar systems in the universe generally. All the moons of other planets in our own Solar System are much smaller than their respective planets. It is unusual for a small planet like Earth to have a large moon, almost big enough to be a smaller sibling planet. And the fact that we have a large moon has been very important for the development of the Earth as a planet, and for life on Earth.

If truth be told, I am far more concerned about the question of the frequency and distribution of life in the universe than I am about how many planets have large moons. But I was surprised to learn, when reading up on recent astronomical findings during last month’s eclipse, that the two questions are actually related. Large moons paired with small planets are probably rare in the universe. Life is probably rare in the universe. But a large moon paired with a small planet (such as Earth) increases the chances that there will be life.

When I say rare, it is of course relative. To give you some idea, astronomers today estimate that there are about a trillion trillion stars in the observable universe. Let us say that only one in a trillion stars has life. That would still give you a trillion stars with life.

But even if there are a trillion stars with life, that doesn’t mean we should value our planet Earth any the less. It is, after all, our planet. And it still moves me to wonder. I invite you to join me in that feeling!

If I may draw an analogy, there are over a billion women on this planet, but I am married to only one of them. I don’t love her less because there are a billion others. She’s the only one I am married to. And I will make the most of the opportunity I have to make a life together with her. She is special to me. And Earth is special to all of us.

Let me push the analogy yet another step. I am the person I am today because of the relationship I have had with Margie for the many years we have spent together. And believe it or not, the Earth is what it is today because of the four billion year old relationship it has had with its moon.

If you find that hard to believe, just hear me out.

What, then, are the characteristics that make the Earth special?

Most important, it has life. But what characteristics of Earth are important to support life?

First of all, it must keep a stable average temperature in the range where water will be in a liquid state—say, between 32 degrees and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. To be sure, being the right distance from the Sun is a primary cause of this feature. But it’s insufficient (the moon doesn’t maintain moderate temperature, for a variety of reasons—it’s freezing there, let me tell you!).

Second, the Earth must have a moderately rapid rate of rotation or spin, causing frequent alternation of day and night. Incidentally, this is one very helpful factor toward maintaining moderate and stable temperatures on most of its surface.

Third, the axis of rotation must be stable in orientation. In the case of Earth, it is not only stable but moderately tilted at 23½  degrees, which produces the alternation of seasons that we are so fond of—not absolutely required for life, but a stimulus to the evolution of the species.

Fourth, it is very important that the Earth maintain an atmosphere, to provide gases that help support life, and that those gases be in the right proportion to regulate the temperature in the moderate range.

Fifth, we all agree that a combination of land and water zones is very characteristic of Earth, and more specifically, the phenomenon of plate tectonics, whereby continental plates move across the earth’s surface, interacting with the molten lava layer beneath it. The more that geologists study this phenomenon, the more they discover it interacts strongly with the maintenance of the earth’s atmosphere and thermal stability.

Another important feature is the tidal pressure on the oceans. This stimulates oceanic currents and contributes to thermal stability and the evolution of life.

Finally, we must mention the earth’s magnetic field. This is produced by the molten iron core at the center of the earth, in conjunction with the earth’s rotation.

* * * * * * * * *

Amazingly all of these characteristics are at least somewhat dependent on the presence of a large moon as Earth’s mate, or the history of the moon-producing event 4 billion years ago.

If you want the details, I refer you to two books that I have been enjoying since the eclipse: Rare Earth by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee, and Alone in the Universe  by John Gribben.

Just to give you some examples to support these claims:

According to current theory, a little over 4 billion years ago there were two planets that shaped the earth’s orbit. They collided, and the moon was formed from the debris of that collision. The collision set the Earth spinning, thus accounting for the alternation of day and night (a feature that is unusual among the small rocky planets of our Solar System). The collision also tilted the earth’s axis, causing the alternation of the seasons. But the tilt has remained fairly stable over four billion years, due to the moon’s continuing strong gravitational embrace of the Earth. If the Earth had no moon, and its axis came to be tilted 90 degrees horizontally, or if it meandered chaotically, the effects on living beings would be potentially disastrous.

The initial collision also contributed a double portion of iron to the Earth’s core, which (together with the spinning) helps account for the earth’s robust magnetic field.

At the same time, the Earth lost a substantial portion of its outer crust to the moon. The resulting thinness of the remaining crust facilitates abundant volcanic activity and continental drift. Volcanic activity contributes carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, while continental drift facilitates absorption of carbon dioxide by limestone and other rock types; together, they help regulate the level of atmospheric gases, which helps overall to maintain thermal stability.

Finally, the tides maintain a buffer zone between the oceans and land, facilitating the evolution of life and the transitioning of living creatures from one habitat to the other.

* * * * * * * * *

So why am I telling you all this?

I’m sure there are at least some skeptics in this room who will say: So what? If I was trying to prove that all this must have been God’s specific purpose, to bring about the conditions for life by these marvelous mechanisms, the proof is flawed. For all this could have come about by accident. A very improbable set of accidents, but if you throw the dice a trillion trillion times, you’re bound to come up with some winners.

And the skeptics would be right. As a proof, this line of reasoning is inconclusive.

But that’s not my purpose.

My purpose is to deepen the sense of wonder that we already are entitled to have by virtue of just being here, being alive, in a world where the sun shines and the moon passes through its phases, and once in a long while the moon covers up the sun for a brief few minutes. The rest is extra.

I already feel God’s purpose just from being here, alive and with you all. Knowing that the moon made our being here possible is just an added bonus, additional evidence of God’s goodness—and an excuse to say another bracha.

No matter whether we are the only life-bearing planet in the universe or one of a few thousands or millions (or billions), we should treat the rare good fortune of our planet’s life capacity as a precious treasure. It is our planet. That life came forth on it is a miracle, any way you look at it. So many factors had to come together to make it possible. We are the only planet with advanced life in our field of observation, but that isn’t saying much, because we can only really observe effectively within the immediate region of our Milky Way galaxy. Still, it is our planet, and we are responsible for it. It is up to us to maintain its life capacity and not squander it. (We will hear more on this theme in other talks this holiday season.)

But for now, let’s all say shehecheyanu to thank God for giving us life and bringing us to this occasion:

Barukh atta Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, shehecheyanu ve-kiyemanu ve-higiyanu la-zman ha-zeh.

The Shofar – by Natasha Cooper-Benisty

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Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon or Maimononides offers an explanation of why we blow the shofar.  It is interesting that there was a need by the Rabbis to explain this mitzvah since many of the 613 mitzvot are regarded by our sages as commandments not to be interpreted. Rather they are accepted as actions we need to take because they have been commanded by G-d, even if we don’t understand exactly their purpose.  Maimonides stated that even though we know that tekiat shofar or shofar blowing is decreed by our Torah, thus suggesting that we don’t need to try to figure out why it exists, it does contain an important message: Wake up from your sleep, look at your actions, repent for them and remember your Creator.

There are four different sounds of the shofar heard in the service: Tekiah, Shevarim, Truah and Tekiah Gedolah. According to the Zohar, the great text of the Kabbala or Jewish mysticism, the notes of the shofar are but “outer shells that hide an inner meaning”.  Each distinctive sound represents a hidden truth and is rich in symbolic meaning.

Rabbis Milton Friedman and Mendell Lewittes have some interesting explanations for these various sounds.  Rabbi Friedman sees the Tekiah  (the long shofar blast) as an announcement: “Awake those who slumber in selfishness”.  Friedman explains this as self-centeredness, an individual’s concern with family, work and leisure, while forgetting the rest of the world.  He points to routine and amusements that yield diversion, but not contentment, in addition to using one’s social life as an escape from oneself.

Rabbi Lewittes wrote in 1973 that the tekiah sound is an alerting sound, an alarm to make us apprehensive of an alarming situation. At the time Lewittes wrote that if any one of us is under the illusion that all is well with the Jewish people, that our situation has never been as secure as it is today with the establishment of the State of Israel and three victories on the battlefield, that we have no need of worry or concern, this tekiah is sounded in order to wake us up to the dangers which still threaten the safety of our people.  Ironically, although it is now more than 40 years later and one could argue that Israel is as powerful as it ever was, the Jewish people as of late seem to be dealing with a recurrence of global anti-Semitism mostly disguised as anti-Israel sentiment.  Unfortunately American Jews have not escaped this reality and for many of us, this is the first time that we are feeling vulnerable and scared; in particular college students dealing more than ever with BDS on campus.

Rabbi Friedman explains that the sound of Shevarim (the three shofar blasts) is a call to hear the sighs and the laments of the oppressed of the world.  While we live in comfort in our local community, many millions of people are living in slums, misery and poverty.  In fact, we only have to travel a few miles to find many people living in challenging circumstances without enough resources to live decently.  At the Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges, for example, the client base has grown dramatically in recent years as cutbacks to SNAP benefits have dovetailed with the constant increasing expenses of living in New Jersey. It is important for us to pay attention to our neighbors and do what we can to support the pantry and other local charities that can help them.

Rabbi Steinberg writes that the teruah (the many fragmented notes) is a call to battle to fight for social justice declared by our ancesters Moses and Amos, prophets of Israel, to destroy forever the injustice of the world.  It is a war for human equity and liberty. Rabbi Lewittes writes that our sages taught that the teruah sound symbolizes a person’s wailing and that these notes are designed to awaken us to the cry of those who suffer and that list is long and varied from our fellow Jews who suffer from injustices due to their religion, to the world at large which is full of people suffering from poverty, illness, hunger, loss of freedom, economic exploitation and man’s inhumanity to man.

These notes should be a wakeup call for us to look around and see what is going on: climate change due to global warming which continues to lead to unprecedented natural disasters due to unheeded warnings and deniers having too much influence; inequity between people growing larger and larger due to corporate greed and lack of empathy by many of our political leaders, anti-Semitism which has always been there often under the surface, but has of late returned to the forefront, the list goes on and on.

But don’t just sit tight, if you haven’t already, get involved. Blow your shofar – in other words, make a noise to get heard.  Don’t stay complacent when so much is as stake for each of us in every community worldwide.

Finally the Tekiah Gedolah, the lengthly shofar blast is explained by Rabbi Lewittes as the great sounds of prophetic vision and humanity’s hopes, of universal peace and brotherhood of the fulfilment of redemption for our people and for all humankind. At this time of the year, or more importantly at this time in the history of the United States and the world, this idea cannot be more appropriate. We are in desperate need of good people throughout the world to come together to push against the negative forces that try to divide us.  As Lewittes reminds us, we are living in the era of Kibbutz Galuyot, the ingathering of the exiles, as well as the beginning of our redemption.  We have a State of Israel for all Jews and if we can just unite together in the spirit of unity and help those of us who need help, we will hasten the coming of peace and justice for all

To the Jewish community, the shofar seems to be one unique symbol that captivates us as a community at large.  From little children who may either be afraid or fascinated by the sound, to older children who love trying to blow the shofar, to adults who look forward to the sections of the service in which they will have the opportunity to stop and listen and contemplate as the different notes are blown. This year, what will you reflect on?

KOL RINA Presents an Afternoon of Middle Eastern Music!

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Sunday, May 7, 2017 at 3:00PM at Kol Rina

60 Valley Street, South Orange, NJ (behind 7-11, enter from First St.)

Join vocalist and South Orange native Eliana “Hazzanista” Kissner, pianist, Nicki Adams, and Peter Manheim, percussionist, for an afternoon of multicultural Middle Eastern music Space is limited.

For event and payment information and to RSVP please contact coordinator@kolrinanj.org

Minimum Contribution: $50 for adults; $18 for students

Check out Eliana’s newest music here and Nicki’s newest music here.