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Cornerstone Choir and Orchestra, the Christians United for Israel Singers. This is Pastor John Hagee's congregational choir. Hagee is the founder and National Chairman of the Christian-Zionist organization, Christians United for Israel. Our friends in the Christian world sing their love for Israel.

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A FEW THOUGHTS BY ART SAMANSKY

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Much has been written and aired in the media and blogs over recent months about the lack of civility, and the increasing coarseness in our discourse, across the political spectrum, and in many of our non-political activities, from award ceremonies to sporting events. Even in our individual day-to-day dealings there often is increased coarseness and lack of a civil tone. All of it is manifested in foul language and all manner of rudeness.

Lack of civility and an increase in coarseness isn’t new to America: we’ve had other such periods in our history when the rude and ill-mannered, the yellers and name-callers, and others easily placed among that ilk, took center stage and got their brief “moment.” The same is true in many other societies.

But, as we take the first steps into 5770 perhaps it’s time to stop remonstrating others and take action and responsibility ourselves to change the climate.

When we recited the Yom Kippur Amidah, we atoned for the lack of civility and coarseness six different ways: (1) for the sin we committed against thee by idle talk; (2) for the sin we committed against thee by offensive speech; (3) for the sin we committed in thy sight by unclean lips; (4) for the sin we committed against thee by foolish talk; (5) for the sin we committed against thee by slander; and, (6) for the sin we committed in thy sight by our manner of speech. And, then, for good measure, we concluded: “My God, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking falsehood. May my soul be silent to those who insult me.” As these phrases suggest, lack of civility and coarseness stretch back centuries.

But, when we recited the lines of the Amidah this time, did we mean it, or did we just recite some words we thought we had to say, or even said merely by rote or tradition? Were we even paying attention, or were we just reading words as fast as possible, trying to stay even with the rest of the congregation and not be the last person standing?

Are we going to arrive at the closing of the gates of 5771 and ask to be forgiven for the same sins still again?

God, as is said often in prayers, is patient and waits for repentance, but simultaneously He has given us, as human beings, the ability to have a role in our destiny.

With that in mind, let’s take a pledge, each of us, silently to ourselves, or publicly to our families, to do what we can do individually, to change the tone everywhere we go. And, let’s ask our families to join us in the pledge.

Our individual actions could spread from Midway Jewish Center to who knows where. But without a first step, good intentions not implemented are meaningless.

Let’s agree not to use words or hand signals, regardless of circumstances, that we wouldn’t use if talking directly to our mothers; or mumble curses aloud, or under our breath, about a co-worker who has erred; or make rude sotto voce remarks in a business meeting. Let’s ask co-workers to do likewise. Let’s avoid letting loose on the customer service representative who “just doesn’t get it.” Let’s agree not to yell and wag our fingers at those with whom we disagree, or who just cut us off in traffic. Let’s limit our email replies to lowercase, rather than shift into uppercase. And, let’s leave out the exclamation points.

All in all, let’s just take it all down a notch or two, or more if necessary.

And, how about each time we slip, we fine ourselves a pre-determined amount, toss it into a jar, and, at the end of the year, take whatever is in the jar, double it, and give it to a charity.

That’s not to say let’s drop our principles or our strongly held views, or not to make them known widely. But we can state them politely and quietly.

There is a case to be made that if you really want someone’s attention, whisper. We needn’t go that far either.

But when we aren’t yelling, cursing, or generally being rude, perhaps we will hear the other person. Maybe we will find we misunderstood a point, didn’t know a fact, hadn’t considered a scenario, or that we really aren’t so far apart after all. If we are far apart, so be it: let’s calmly agree to disagree until we can gather information that persuades in a civil way.

The squeaky wheel may get attention, but the obnoxious yeller or the person using gutter-language usually is ignored in the long-term--even if he or she gets a few seconds or minutes of “notoriety.”

And, finally, who knows if, when we are sealed in the Book of Life, there isn’t a little asterisk next to our name that says she or he “tried.”

It can’t hurt.

CyberShul Is Pleased to Send You
Rabbi Rank’s Rosh Hashanah Sermon

BECOMING A BA’AL SHEM TOV
By Rabbi Rafi Rank
Rosh Hashanah, 5770—September 19-20, 2009

Shanah Tovah, everyone. It is great to see you all on this New Year 5770. Let this year be a year of healing for the sick, food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, health care for the vulnerable, safety for our soldiers—American and Israeli—throughout the word, and peace for a war-torn world. And may all of us be privileged to in someway contribute to the solutions that will bring needed repairs to the world in which we live.

I want to begin by saying how touched and moved Ellen and I were by your letters, e-mails, phone calls, contributions, and food platters following my mother’s death this past summer. Mom would have qvelled over all the attention both she and her children received. Minnesota is far from New York, but I felt as if Midway was right there with the family, and it was an exceedingly supportive feeling. So what can I say? You’re the best.

Really, a thank you must be given to my mother who somehow managed her exit of the olam hazeh, this world, to coincide precisely with my vacation, so I didn’t miss a Bar Mitzvah or a wedding. She was abundantly considerate. All I had to do was find a minyan at a shul other than Midway and this led to some interesting shul hopping. You know, I don’t get around to too many shuls to daven because usually when they have services so do we, but this sorrow compelled me to find other shuls where I could say kaddish, morning and evening, and that led to some interesting visits. If you think we move at a quick rate at our service, I recommend you attend some Orthodox synagogues where the speed limit in davening approaches a NASCAR race. And, as you can well imagine, at that speed, some compromises in Hebrew pronunciation are inevitable. For example, in a number of shuls I attended, one often heard the word—SCHMO!—shouted repeatedly. It’s not exactly the kind of word you want hear shouted at you or anyone else, especially during a period of worship. I actually went to the dictionary to see if “schmo” was a real word and it is. The first thing I discovered, much to my dismay, was that I was misspelling it, and in case you actually need this word in your next legal brief, year end report, of local spelling-bee contest, the proper spelling is s-c-h-m-o and it means a foolish, boring or stupid person. The horror of it all is in the context of prayer, “schmo” is really a corruption of a very beautiful four word praising of God. Under certain circumstances, when you hear the hazzan or the shaliah tzibbur, the one leading services say, Barukh atah Adonai, your response should be “Barukh Hu,” (May God be blessed) “uvarukh shemo” (and may His name be blessed). However, when praying at 160 miles per hour, this very beautiful response may just become, “Schmo.”

Now the Hebrew word “shemo” is really a conflation of two words, one of which you probably know and that is the Hebrew word for “name” which is “shem.” You might know this word in the context of a very common way to address God which is “HaShem.” “HaShem” means “The Name” and it refers to the fact that God’s very special name, the name that is composed of four letters, yud-hei-vav-hei is so holy, so sacred, and so powerful, that it is never to cross our lips. It doesn’t now and it didn’t in ancient times except by one person, the High Priest, in one spot, the Holy Temple, and on one day, Yom Kippur. That is the day when the people heard the actually name of God pronounced, but on every other occasion during the year, you had to find some other way of referring to God and one such common way which developed over time was simply to say, HaShem.” When we want to thank God for some particular good, we might say, “Barukh HaShem,” which literally means, “Praise the Name” or “Praise God.”

So there was this minister whose teenage son was on the verge of graduating high school and preparing to go to college, but the minister had some very troubling concerns about his boy’s future. He was a good boy, smart, polite, deferential, but—no ambition. He was, in the minister’s opinion, lazy, and the minister had great fears for what was to become of him. And so he subjected the young man to a simple test. While his son was out, the minister placed a Bible on the young man’s desk, along with a ten dollar bill, a bottle of whiskey and a racy magazine. He reasoned that if the young man enters the room and picks up the Bible, he would become a minister like his father. But if he picks up the ten dollar bill, he would become a business man—not too shabby. But if he picks up the bottle, he’d lead the life of a drunkard. And if he picks up the racy magazine, he would lead the dissolute life of a worthless bum chasing women all day long. The minister hides behind a book case and waits for his son to return home. The son returns, enters his bedroom and Glory Halleluyah—he picks up the Bible and with a grand smile holds it high. But then catching sight of the ten dollar bill, he picks that up too, and pockets it. Then seeing the whisky, he removes the cork and takes a swig, sits down, grabs the magazine and begins to page through it. And the minister thinks to himself, “Oh my God—he’s got a future in Washington DC.”

When I first heard that joke I laughed, and we all laugh because politicians don’t have a very good name, deserved or not. If you’re keeping score of scandals, Washington DC gets high marks, and it is clear that no one political party holds a monopoly on ethical lapses or poor behavior. But forget about the politicians for a moment. What happens to us as a community when the scandals rest among people whom you trust most or of whom you were taught to revere the most.

In July, federal agents busted some 44 people involved in an international money laundering scheme. Among the 44 were two mayors, an assistant mayor, a state assemblyman, and as if that was not sufficiently upsetting, the arrests also included five rabbis. And another member of the tribe was charged with brokering kidney transplants, harvesting kidneys from impoverished donors who were paid $10,000 and selling the vital organ for as much as $160,000 to those in need. Most of the details of the story are well-known to us, but there is even more disturbing news.

At the heart of this sting is a man by the name of Solomon Dwek who cooperated with the FBI to secure the arrests of people whom we would otherwise honor. He’s himself no saint—he was charged two years ago with trying to defraud a bank of $50 million dollars. He nevertheless cooperated with federal agents to target corruption that has been going on for years, beneath the radar, not only within the Jewish community, but within sacred walls found within the Jewish community, that is to say, within yeshivot and synagogues. One might imagine that Dwek’s decision to cooperate with authorities, whatever his intentions might have been, could have earned him a modicum of praise within his own community. Identifying and then cleansing a community of its legal failings and moral filth is a prime goal of this sacred season. However, in Dwek’s father, a leading rabbi in Deal, NJ, essentially disowned his son for acting as a moser, which is Hebrew for “informant.”

Just a little tangent into the history of informants and the Jewish community— We actually say a prayer, three times a day, asking God to render futile the efforts of those who work against the Jewish community.

O God, frustrate the hopes of those who would malign us (Daily Amidah)

And there was such a time in Jewish history, and sadly it exists even today, when we have those who would happily and maliciously distort the truth or invent lies in order to damage Jews as a community, or Israel as a nation. So frankly, I like to ask God to frustrate the hopes of those who would malign us. I would rather God take care of these people than intervene myself. And if we read Moses Maimonides, the Rambam, in his great legal code the Mishne Torah, we read:

It is forbidden to betray a Jew to the gentiles physically or financially, even if he is a rasha [a wicked person]; and he who does so has no portion in the future world. It is permitted to kill the moser in any place, even in these days when there is no capital punishment, and it is permitted to kill him before he betrays, when he says he is going to do it...he [by admission of his own evil intentions] forfeits himself to death.
(Rambam, Hilkhot Hovel umazik, perek 8, halakhah 9)

And so, Rabbi Isaac Dwek ends up disowning his son, for cooperating with the non-Jewish authorities, in a sting that ends in the arrests of Jews, and he does so on what he believes to be solid Jewish legal ground, that is to say, based on solid Halakhah. But the problem, you see, is Moses Maimonides wrote the above law in the 13th century, under a judicial system that rendered Jews second class citizens (if that), and under a political system that was essentially a dictatorship.

The next time someone is critical of the Conservative Movement or tells you that we’re dying, you might want to bring up the above cited example of piety. As long as so-called pious Jews can launder money, or engage in human trafficking, and as long as those who dare cooperate with the authorities in exposing such corruption are themselves banished from those pious institutions, you can be sure that there remains a future for us. Because you and I look at this and immediately understand that corruption has no place in the Jewish community, and those who would dare rid the Jewish community of that corruption deserve, in the very least, a thank you. And if so-called pious people come along and charge us with being untrue to Jewish law, charge us with being indifferent to words of the masters like Maimonides, you can ask them if they truly believe Jewish law to be frozen in 13th century Egypt. Is that how a living law works? Rambam was a rationalist. If he were alive today, he would be as outraged as you or I when we hear what people do to our good name as Jews or the good name of Jewish tradition.

Let’s go back a few months to a US district court in New York, where a man with silvery hair stood before Judge Denny Chin who is about to sentence this man for the crimes he has committed. And the judge refers to these crimes as “extraordinarily evil,” and notes that in the course of this man’s business dealings, “the breach of trust was massive.” The convicted man was Bernie Madoff. The judge spoke of a letter he received from a woman who visited the Madoff two weeks after her husband died and the man put his arm around the woman and said, “You’re money is safe with me.” But the money wasn’t safe. Madoff was going to use that money for his own purposes. The judge slammed Madoff with the maximum penalty: 150 years in prison. Madoff had a chance to speak at the sentencing. He said, “I live in a tormented state for all the pain and suffering I created. I left a legacy of shame. It is something I will live with for the rest of my life.”

His statement was incomplete. The shame that he created is not only something that he has to live with for the rest of his life, but it is a shame that other members of his family, members whose last name is Madoff, will also have to carry for the rest of their lives. Look at what he did to his name and the name of his grandchildren. There are reports that some family members are looking into legally changing their names; they are having difficulty conceiving how they can go on with the rest of their lives, bearing a name like Madoff.

Envy no one their riches; covet not their growing possessions
In death we take nothing with us; wealth cannot enter the world to come.
(Psalm 49:17-18)

It’s a tough psalm, Psalm 49, and I don’t even like to read it, but its truth is undeniable. Everyone should be given an opportunity to make a living. And let’s go even further: we should prosper in all of our worthy and honorable endeavors. But don’t think the dollars themselves will earn you the respect you crave. To the contrary, they may just be your undoing.

A colleague, Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg, tells a story of his youth when he and his brothers decided to go to Macy’s to buy a tie. Being observant Jews, they wore their kippot, not as common back then as it is today, but that is how they grew up. The salesman taking care of them was very accommodating and noted that he, too, has a kippah, but he doesn’t keep it on his head. Rather, he continued, “I keep it somewhere much more important.” He then opened the cash register and took out the kippah and said, “I deal with other people’s money all day. This kippah reminds me to behave.”
During the middle Ages, there were members of the Jewish community who were known as Ba’alei Shem. A Ba’al Shem was a Name Master, the “name,” in this case, referring to God’s name. These people purportedly knew how to utilize God’s name in such a way that God’s sacred name itself could heal the sick or exorcise evil spirits. The Ba’alei Shem tended to be charismatic and enjoyed great popularity.

You know one of them, though perhaps you never identified him as such. He was the most famous of the Ba’alei Shem and he was known as the Ba’al Shem Tov, otherwise known as Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (1698-1760), credited as the founder of modern day Hasidism. The Ba’al Shem Tov was not a man of profound learning but rather a man of profound faith. He sought to live his life by doing for others, healing them and assisting them in all the challenges they faced.

There is a story told of his visit to Constantinople, present day Istanbul, on his way to Eretz Yisrael. And there in Constantinople he was welcomed with great kindness by a childless couple. The Ba’al Shem Tov was so touched wit their hospitality, that he assured them the birth of a child soon via the use of God’s sacred name. Now I’m no expert on the rules revolving around God’s sacred name, but apparently using God’s name in such a way was a violation of those rules, and as soon as he uttered God’s sacred name, a voice from the heavens informed him that he will be punished for his indiscretion and the punishment is loss of his helek, of his share in the world to come. That’s a stiff punishment and, I would imagine, most pious Jews having hear that might break down and weep over the severity of such a penalty. But not the Ba’al Shem Tov. To the contrary, he greeted the announcement with tremendous joy for he would now be able to serve God without expectation of any future reward. The response took even Heaven by surprise, and the punishment was eventually rescinded and the Ba’al Shem Tov rests secure in heaven today.

Why tell a story like this? There’s no proof it ever happened. Do we really believe that the manipulation of a sacred name can turn a childless couple into happy parents? If we take the story literally, we are going to run into the stark truths of reality. But the point of this story is in the response of the Ba’al Shem Tov to the loss of reward. He had committed his life to do good, not in order to earn a pay check, not in order to receive a thank you, not in order to gain entry into heaven, but just because it is the right thing to do, just because it is the good thing to do. Because he used God’s name to do good, he earned for himself a shem tov, a good name. The Ba’al Shem died in his early sixties—not an old man by any means—but his was a life well lived!
In the play, Rent, there is a song that is very much a Rosh Hashanah song. It’s called Seasons of Love. It goes like this—

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.
Five hundred twenty five thousand moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.
How do you measure— measure a year.

In daylights, in sunsets,
In midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love.
Seasons of love.
Seasons of love.

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.
Five hundred twenty five thousand journeys to plan.
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.
How do you measure the life of a woman or a man.

How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love.
Seasons of love.
Seasons of love

It is a really great song, and it asks a really great question: How do you measure the life of a woman or a man? What is the metric to be used in measuring a life?

This was a very difficult year. This was an extraordinarily tough year for our congregation. We suffered the loss of several young people who left us way too soon—two young adults, a teenager, and a baby. I would be surprised if anyone in this room didn’t know of at least one of these families or someone who knows one of the families. It’s just been a tough year.

Part of what makes these deaths so tragic is the metric we typically use in assessing our own lives. We count our years and thus measure our lives. Some people live into their eighties and some into their nineties. Some people never make it to their forties or their thirties. It all seems so unfair and it’s true—the comparisons are painful. But a year is only way to measure a life and in some respects, it may be the least important way. There is another metric and it is the depth or the intensity or the worth of your shem tov—your good name. Do you have a shem tov? Do your friends, do your family regard your name as a shem tov? Your shem tov may be the most important way to measure a life. Every time you do for someone else, you earn for yourself a shem tov. Every time you attend to someone else, listen to their concerns, assist in some transition, offer solicited guidance, grant a gift with no expectation of anything in return you are creating for yourself a shem tov, a good name.

Zelda Schneersohn Mishkovsky, one of Israel’s early poets and popularly known simply as Zelda, wrote a beautiful poem entitled, Lekhol Ish Yesh Shem, “Every Man has a Name.” It goes like this:

Every man has a name
Given him by God
And given by his father and his mother
Every man has a name
Given him by his stature and his way of smiling,
And given him by his clothes.
Every man has a name
Given him by the mountains
And given him by his walls
Every man has a name
Given him by the planets
And given him by his neighbors
Every man has a name
Given him by his sins
And given him by his longing
Every man has a name
Given him by those who hate him
And given him by his love
Every man has a name
Given him by his holidays
And given him by his handiwork
Every man has a name
Given him by the seasons of the year
And given him by his blindness
Every man has a name
Given him by the sea
And given him
By his death.

One way to move others to treat us with greater kindness is if we move ourselves to treat others with greater kindness. Our friends and neighbors and family, over time, learn our true names and not merely the ones that our parents granted us. God knows our true names. And we should never despair to think that we have no control over these names, we do, precisely because we have control over how we are going to interact with the world. The Ba’al Shem Tov’s example teaches us that we are all capable of becoming Ba’alei Shem Tov, masters of a Good Name. We should let God’s power, God’s Torah, God’s name guide us in all of our actions. We can, through the power of that name, heal family conflicts, patch up friendships that have gone sour, and know when to let go of grudges and resentments and anger that we hold on to month after month, year after year, and sometimes, sadly, decade after decade.

This has not been the best year for the name of the Jewish people. We’ve been hurt by too many shmos—foolish, stupid people who have pursued the all holy dollar to the detriment of their own name and the name of the Jewish people. What were they thinking? The good name of the Jewish people and of Judaism does not rest with any one group. It isn’t safe simply because you wear a tallit or you keep kosher or you observe Shabbat. It rests with the people who see all these rituals as tools in creating a life of moral and spiritual integrity. What that means is that the good name of the Jewish people and of Judaism rests with everyone in this room because I know the disappointment that this community felt with each of these scandals, and that’s good—we don’t defend criminals simply because they are Jewish and we don’t disown family when they move to diminish crime, even crimes committed by Jews. We’re all above that. More importantly, I think we understand intuitively, that the measure of our lives is more intimately tied to the good we create, not the dollars we acquire, or the years that we live.

I have challenged you in the past, and I will challenge you again this year, to think of one more mitzvah that you can do, one more ritual or ma’ase tov, good deed, that you can incorporate into your life, that will enrich your life as a serious Jew. I know I’m being a nudge, but I have to be because according to Isaac Newton, in his first law of motion, an object at rest or in uniform motion remains at rest or in uniform motion unless nudged but some external force. I am the nudging external force. According to Newton, if I don’t nudge, you don’t move. It’s physics. And I’m telling you that the Jewish world needs more Jews, like you, who intuitively understand the indispensability of ethical behavior who also make kiddush on Shabbat, who also make hamotzi over bread, who also put on a kippah or tallit a few more times during the week, who also take time off from work on the holidays, or who also spend time in the study of Torah on a regular basis. We need to change the image of Jewish piety and I think that this group is perfect to do just that and so I challenge you, and let’s work on restoring our shem tov, our good name individually, and our shem tov, our good name, communally. We have to work on our shem, and minimize the schmos. We are all capable of becoming Ba’alei Shem Tov—Masters of a Good Name

Ketivah vehatimah tovah—we should all be inscribed into the Book of Life for a good and engaging New Year. Amen

Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sukkot Same’ah—Have a Great and Happy Sukkot!

Rabbi Rafi Rank
CyberRav

Shabbat Shalom Everyone!!

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