Drashot

We live in a time of contention and strife. Perhaps human beings always have, but these days our conflicts seem intractable, without the possibility of resolution, a zero sum game where if one side wins the other loses completely. This is a worldview based on fear and scarcity. There are times when conflict and strife may be necessary, but there are also times when we must find a way of reconciliation and peace. Water is the source of life for nomadic desert peoples. Without it they will die. What could be more essential or a greater source of conflict? 

In this week’s Torah portion, Isaac and his servants reopen the wells that his father Abraham had dug and they find a spring of fresh water. But the shepherds of Gerar, their neighbors, claim it as their own. So Isaac names the well Esek, which means “contention.” Then they dig another well and the shepherds of Gerar dispute with them over that one too, so Isaac calls it Sitnah, meaning “harassment.” After these two conflicts Isaac moved farther away from Gerar,  “and dug yet another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth, saying, “Now at last the LORD has granted us ample space to increase in the land.” (Genesis 26:22). 

The word rehoboth is connected to the Hebrew verb, l’harhiv, to expand, broaden or amplify. Rather than fight with his neighbors over the precious resource of water, Isaac broadened his view and increased the amount of water available, eliminating the source of the conflict. 

May we all learn to be like Isaac. To grow our resources, be generous, find ways for all to share in the bounty of God’s earth, and reject the view that there can only be winners and losers. Perhaps then we find a way out of conflict.

~Rabbi Dean Kertesz

What does it mean to own something? What gives us the right of possession? Sarah dies in Kiryat Arba (the City of the Four) and Abraham seeks an appropriate site to bury her. He approaches Ephron the Hittite to purchase the Cave of Machpelah which is nearby. Ephron is willing to give it to Abraham, but Abraham insists that he will pay for it. He will not accept it as a gift. 

God has promised Abraham the Land of Israel and descendents as numerous as the stars, but at this point in his life Abraham owns no land and has only two children, Ishmael who he banished to the desert so only Yitzhak remains to inherit his mission. It seems that God’s promises will not be fulfilled. 

Commenting on this verse Rabbi Robert Orkand, (contemporary America) writes, “ The covenant with Abraham—indeed with the Jewish people—is not that God will act to bring it about. Rather, God lays out the promise, but Abraham and his children must do the hard work to bring about the desired outcome…  We are challenged by God to fulfill the covenant and our future will depend on our meeting that challenge.” 

If we want to bring about the Divine vision of a world made right, where all human beings can live together in dignity, then we must work to make it real, just as Abraham worked to make the Cave of Machpelah his. 

~Rabbi Dean Kertesz

Last week Abraham was described as a man who walked before God and was blameless. (Genesis 17:1) What merits this description of Abraham? What makes him the epitome of righteousness? 

Our Torah portion begins with Abraham providing three strangers with hospitality, a place to rest, drink and a feast. Next we see him argue with God to save the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, which have been marked for destruction because of their cruel treatment of strangers who enter their cities. 

Clearly, the Torah is setting up a moral contrast. A righteous person welcomes strangers and treats them with respect. An evil person hates the stranger and persecutes them. 

With this in mind, we must admit that our country acts more like the Sodomites than like Abraham. We keep refugees and migrants in squalid camps on our border. We separate children from their parents. We refuse to provide a path to citizenship. How will history judge us: as a people who walk before God or as immoral and cruel like the Sodomites? 

If we don’t like the judgment, what are we willing to do to change it? The choice is ours. ~Rabbi Dean Kertesz

Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
One of the goals of a spiritual life is to keep our eyes open to the wonder of existence; to maintain a “beginner’s mind,” that sees everything as fresh and new. But this is a challenging task, for we are creatures of habit: habits of mind and habits of the heart. Habits are essential; in many ways, they make us who we are and they enable us to live efficiently.
Imagine what life would be like if we had to learn everything new each day. On the other hand, it is easy to become dulled to the wonders of existence by the habituation of life, to see the world as routine rather than as special and magnificent. How do we rouse ourselves from our comfortable habits and cultivate a mind that is open to the wonder of existence?
In this week’s Torah portion, God commands Abraham to get up and go, to leave the life he knows behind and journey to a new, unknown place, that God will show him, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)
The Hebrew for “Go forth” is, Lech-lecha (לך לך). Even if you can’t read Hebrew you can see that when written out in Hebrew the two words, though pronounced differently, look identical. Lech is the second person, masculine imperative (or command) form “go” while the second word lecha has a number of meanings. It can mean to yourself or by yourself. Additionally, the doubling of a verb is a grammatical device in biblical Hebrew to give greater emphasis. The English translation might be, “You must really go,” or “You must go immediately.” In other words it creates a sense of urgency.
All of these meanings direct our attention to the idea that we need to rouse ourselves from our routines, the things that we know, and bring ourselves to a place of newness and urgency.
In this way, like Abraham, we can continue our life journey with a sense of wonder and openness. Our Torah portion thus reminds us that life is short and we must savor it.

~Rabbi Dean Kertesz

Every time we look at a Torah portion it teaches us something new; Torah doesn’t change but we do. This week we read about Noah, the Ark, and the Flood. It is a story about surviving a cataclysm. For forty days and forty nights Noah rides out the flood with his family and the animals he has brought aboard. Then they emerge from the Ark and face a world that has completely changed.

For the past year and a half we too have been riding out a cataclysm, not of water but of disease. We have been tested, as individuals and as a community. I have often wondered why Noah didn’t invite other people to come onto the Ark. I thought that he was selfish, thinking only of himself.

But these days I wonder if I was wrong. Through the hard work of science we have been given an Ark, vaccines. Unlike the Noah story, the vaccines were available to everyone, but not everyone has chosen to climb aboard. A simple, life saving technology is being refused by millions of our fellow citizens who are putting their own lives at risk, and ours, when they don’t have to. Where does this desire for self-destruction come from? At the beginning of this week’s portion we read, “The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness.” Perhaps when people put their own freedom to make bad choices above the best interests of the community and their neighbors’ health, they bring corruption and lawlessness into the world.

Our actions have consequences, for good or ill. Our choices matter.

~Rabbi Dean Kertesz

Everything is new again. We begin a new year, 5782, and a shmita year (a year where agricultural land in the Land of Israel lies fallow) and we begin our cycle of Torah reading once more, with the story of the Creation. 

Rashi (12th C. Germany) asked, “Why does the Torah begin with the account of the Creation? Rabbi Yitzhak said: The Torah which is the Law book of Israel should have started with the verse (Exodus 12:2) “This month shall be unto you the first of the months” which is the first commandment given to Israel.” Rashi gives three reasons. First, to show that God is the creator of all and therefore the rightful owner of all. In other words, that God’s dominion is not just on the Jewish People, but all humanity and all created things. Second, that the order of creation as described in Genesis is not chronological. Third, that God created the world first with the qualities of Divine mercy allied with Divine justice. 

As we begin this new year, let us remember that the message of the Jewish people as expressed in Torah is a universal message for all people, as God is the God of all people. Second, that the Torah, like all holy texts, is open to interpretation, not a literal description of reality and third, that like God, we should temper our judgments of others with mercy before judging. May we all have a sweet and good new year, one filled with more hope, health, kindness, justice and peace.  ~Rabbi Dean Kertesz

Sukkot is called moadim l’simcha, the season of our joy. For seven days we are commanded to dwell in temporary shelters or booths, called Sukkot in Hebrew, from which the holiday gets its name. In ancient Israel, until the expulsion by the Romans of the Jewish population, Sukkot was a celebration of the fall harvest. After the destruction of the Temple Sukkot became one of the many ways Jews maintained their connection to the Land of Israel by sustaining our connection to the agricultural cycle. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva argued over the symbolism of the sukkah. Rabbi Akiva said the sukkah represents the booths the Israelites lived in while wandering in the desert (sukkot mamash). Rabbi Eliezer said the sukkah represents the clouds of glory with which God sheltered the Israelites (ananei ha Kavod). Perhaps there is no contradiction. The sukkah provides real physical shelter and reminds us that our lives are in- complete without spiritual sustenance. Hag Sameach.

   ~Rabbi Dean Kertesz

Yom Kippur is just past and Sukkot begins next week. Yom Kippur is like an intake of breath, a pause to reflect before we step into the New Year and Sukkot is like an exhale of breath, a blessing and a hope for a year of abundance and joy. We exist poised between the two, hoping for the best and wondering what this new year will bring. We hope for an end to the pandemic, greater openness, more health, more coming together. Many of us also hope for a new beginning, a chance to reset, to begin anew and create a society that is more resilient and more equitable. 

In this week’s Torah portion, Moses leaves the Israelites with a challenge before he goes off to his death on Mt. Nebo, “Take to heart all the words with which I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children, that they may observe faithfully all the terms of this Teaching. For this is not a trifling thing for you: it is your very life; through it you shall long endure on the land that you are to possess” (Deuteronomy 32:46-47) 

We have spent the last 10 days, from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur immersed in words, of prayer and of Torah. We have had the opportunity to reflect on who we are and how we have acted. Now we have the opportunity to bring those insights into the new year and act on them to grow as individuals and to grow as a society. Let’s not squander this opportunity, it is no trifling thing, it is our very lives. 

Shannah tovah, may we all have a good year.

   ~Rabbi Dean Kertesz

This Shabbat, falling between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is called Shabbat Shuvah the Sabbath of Return. We are deep into the High Holy Days, the time that human beings draw closest to God, according to our tradition. 

In this week’s Torah portion Moses instructs the Israelites to come together every seventh year to reread the Torah and recommit to the covenant, “Gather the people—men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities—that they may hear and so learn to revere the LORD your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching.” (Deuteronomy 31:12) 

In last week’s Torah portion, Nitzavim, we read that all Israel stood at Sinai, including those not yet born, so why do the Israelites need to recommit to the covenant every seven years? 

For a tradition to live, we must turn to it with our needs and the problems of our times. It is not enough to hear it once; we must continue to reinvigorate with a new commitment and this is what we can do during the High Holy Days. To recommit ourselves to living authentic Jewish lives and acting as Jews to help build the world that God imagined during creation, but left incomplete. 

See you on Kol Nidre. May we all be inscribed for a good year.

On this, our last Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah we read these words from Parashat Nitzavim: “See, I set before you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity.” (Deuteronomy 30:15)

Commenting on this verse, Rashi (12th Century Germany) writes, “if you do good there is life for you, and if you do evil there is death for you.”  In other words, the choices we make to do good or ill in the world impact our lives. Who do we want to be? This is the fundamental question of the High Holy Days.

In his comments on this verse, Ramban (Moses ben Maimon, 14th Century Spain) writes, “it is in their power to walk in whichever they desire, and there is no power below or above that will withhold them or stop them.”

Our sages believed that we have free will. It is up to us to shape our lives, for good or ill. Over the next ten days we have the opportunity to examine who we are, what we do, and the choices we make. Our Torah reminds us what’s at stake.

Let’s make these High Holy Days count.

   ~Rabbi Dean Kertesz