Midway Jewish Center
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THE CYBERSHUL

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This Week’s Torah Reading

Nitzavim

Moses notes that the entire people have been gathered to enter into a brit (covenant) with God. The brit exists for all future generations as well. The people must remain faithful to God lest they risk suffering all the horrible sanctions recorded in the Torah. Should future generations wonder why the Lord treated this people so harshly, the answer would be because in spite of God’s kindness in rescuing them from Egyptian slavery, they turned to other gods. Nevertheless, repentance will soften God and a loving relationship can be restored almost immediately. The end of exile, the return of prosperity, the promise of children will all be realized. The teachings of Torah are very accessible to all. The people would do well to follow Torah and choose life.

A Shabbat Thought

Sometimes you earn more doing the jobs that pay nothing.

~~ Todd Ruthman  ~~

WEB OF THE WEEK

http://www.jtsa.edu/prebuilt/holiday_ecard/newcard.html

A wonderful holiday card from the Jewish Theological Seminary, Still training Conservative Jewish educators, cantors, academics and Rabbis for over 100 years!

LBJ—A BIGGER FRIEND OF ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE THAN WE EVER COULD IMAGINE!!

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1220802296358&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

A FASCINATING READ ON LBJ’S VALIANT EFFORTS AT SAVING JESS DURING THE HOLOCCUAST AND ARMING ISRAEL AT CRITICAL POINTS

FEDERATIONS CAN STILL HELP HURRICANE-HIT COMMUNITIES

Since Hurricane Ike ravaged the Gulf Coast of Texas and beyond, staff and volunteer members of UJC’s Emergency Committee have remained in daily contact with the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston to monitor emerging and continued needs.

UJC’s Emergency Committee has been assessing the storm’s impact with Lee Wunsch, president and chief executive officer of the Houston federation, and the federation’s emergency response team, as well as with Network community leaders. UJC and federation officials have been coordinating the disaster relief with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, national, state and local relief agencies, and national Jewish groups and religious movements.

Though UJC and the federations have helped a great deal, through storm preparation and response planning and through initial fundraising across the system, much work remains to be done in the Jewish community and beyond. Synagogues and entire neighborhoods suffered physical damage to buildings and more than 30 percent of the Houston area remains without power. Many people need aid for basic needs such as food and housing, and kosher food is needed for Shabbat and upcoming holidays.

UJC urges North America's 157 Jewish federations and 400 Network communities to participate in the UJC Hurricane Relief fund or to open their own relief efforts for the disaster and forward those funds to the continental relief effort. As with the UJC/Federation response to Hurricane Katrina, which raised nearly $30 million, 100 percent of the new funds will help support both the Jewish and general communities. To donate to the UJC Hurricane Relief Fund, please click here. 

AURAL TORAH

Preparing for Rosh Hashanah

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A PRAYER FOR SOMEONE I DON’T REALLY KNOW… 

Dear CyberRav,

I know that when we make a mi shebeirakh, one says the person's name and the mother's name. But is it possible to make a mi shebeirakh without a name? I am going for a cornea transplant after Rosh Hashanah and before Yom Kippur. I would like to have a mi shebeirakh said for me and for the unknown grieving donor family.

I'm going out-of-state as that's where one of the transplant mavens has his practice. I have reconciled that the cornea, or partial for me, comes from a cadaver. Someone had to die. I know the religious position that it is a mitzvah to grant someone else the advent of improved vision. I am grateful for the family that made this mitzvah possible.

Thank you

CYBER RAV ANSWERS

Dear Looking For Some Insight,

First of all, good luck to you with the operation. Send me your Jewish name; I would like to say a mi shebeirakh for you as well.

A couple of thoughts--

This is a transition in your life for which you are feeling deep gratitude. Moments of deep gratitude are always opportunities for prayer. In this case, you want to thank God as well as that anonymous person, whom you have never met, for the gift of a cornea that you will soon bear. Is it possible to thank God and that person without knowing that person's name? And the answer must certainly be yes for even if you do not know the person's name, God does.

You can think of it in this way. Reality exists independent of human beings. For centuries, we may not have known of a force called gravity, but gravity existed all the same. In this case, you may not know the name of the person whose cornea you will have, but that person existed and if we needed to, we could probably ascertain his/her identity. I don't know if that is either possible or even desirable, but it is irrelevant for our purposes. God, as the repository of all truth, knows who the donor is and will make sure that the prayer gets to where it needs to be.

Mi shebeirakh are prayers recited for the living. An El malei or memorial prayer is recited for the dead. You probably want to recite the El malei in memory of your donor (not a mi shebeirakh) and as I indicated, God will make sure that the prayer gets to the right address! And, while you’re at it, I’m sure that a few words to God about bringing solace to the grieving family would be most appropriate. Though I bet the knowledge that their loved one has helped others, such as yourself, is already a deep source of comfort to them.

Good luck and L'shanah Tovah Tikateivu—May we all be written into the Book of Life for a healthy New Year, filled with opportunities to bring healing and repair to a world that needs both!

Rabbi Rafi Rank
CyberRav

Shabbat Shalom Everyone!!

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