From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life show

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life

Summary: Bringing weekly Jewish insights into your life. Join Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz, Rabbi Michelle Robinson and Rav-Hazzan Aliza Berger of Temple Emanuel in Newton, MA as they share modern ancient wisdom.

Join Now to Subscribe to this Podcast
  • Visit Website
  • RSS
  • Artist: Temple Emanuel in Newton
  • Copyright: Temple Emanuel in Newton

Podcasts:

 A Sermon in Song with Rav Hazzan Aliza Berger and Cantor Elias Rosemberg | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:14:15

View the sheet music here!

 Talmud Class: The Magic of Sephardic Music | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:40:22

Often, we experience music in a passive way. In a synagogue setting, very few of us know where liturgical melodies come from and rarely do we have the time to consider the effect of any particular melody on our prayer experience. (Even when we do have the time and inclination, we often struggle to find words to articulate the impact of a melody on our emotional or psychospiritual experience.) This class is about tuning in--literally--to the magic of Sephardic music. These melodies are fascinating. They are often rhythmic and upbeat. They play with intervals and motifs which sound exotic to our ears. When paired with prayers, these melodies have a very different effect on our hearts than do the traditional Ashkenazi melodies that sometimes dominate Jewish spaces. During Talmud, Elias sings different Ashkenazi and Sephardic melodies for five different prayers and we as a clergy team are going to be discussing how each melody affects our heart and our internal experience. This class isn't about music theory or musicology. It is about discovery and about opening our hearts to the magic that is in store for us all through the day tomorrow!

 Shabbat Sermon: Pillow Talk with Michelle Robinson | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:13:47
 Talmud Class: The Law of Unanticipated Consequences | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:40:35

The law of unanticipated consequences. As Micah Goodman shares with Danny Gordis in this utterly fascinating conversation about Israel today (35 minutes and well worth it), conservative leaders are chastened and restrained by the law of unanticipated consequences. Since we never actually know what will ensue from our conduct, the wisest course is humility and restraint lest we unintentionally unleash a hurricane that we never saw coming. Micah offers two examples: What is the unanticipated consequence of birth control being readily available in Europe? Answer: Radicalized xenophobic, racist, far-right politics. How? Because of the pill, European families had smaller families, which led to fewer workers, which led to increased immigration to fill those worker slots, which led to Muslim immigration, which led to complexity and navigating cultural difference, which led to a conservative backlash against Muslim immigration, which led to the ascendancy of far-right xenophobic parties in Europe. Unanticipated. What is the unanticipated consequence of the internet, of all that knowledge being a click away on Google? Answer: The undermining of democracy. How? We thought that the internet would result in the profusion of information, which would strengthen the marketplace of ideas, which would strengthen healthy and vigorous debate, which would strengthen democracy. What also happened, that few if any foresaw, was the profusion of dis-information, which led to echo chambers, which led to conspiracy theories, which led to people not debating the merits but re-enforcing their own views, which led to the undermining of democracy. Unanticipated. Micah’s talk with Danny Gordis talks about how the law of unanticipated consequences applies to Israel today. In Talmud class, we talk about how the same law is a revealing lens for our biblical story. Joseph is sold into slavery, but becomes second only to Pharaoh. Unanticipated. Joseph’s family is taken care of during a time of severe famine, given the best land of Goshen, which leads to their becoming slaves for 430 years. Unanticipated. The Israelites are freed in tomorrow’s reading, which leads to their complaining why do you bring us to the wilderness to die, when we used to get leeks, melons and cucumbers for free in Egypt. Unanticipated. How does the law of unanticipated consequences play out in your Jewish life, and in your life? Being aware of this law, do we act any differently?

 Shabbat Sermon: The Best Use of a Secret with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:14:24

The great writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez once observed: “Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life.” I learned of this quote in the forward to a fascinating book about secrets. Written by noted American Jewish author Letty Cottin Pogrebin, the book is entitled Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy. Pogrebin talks about how deeply held, and deeply embarrassing, secrets were part of her family’s culture.

 Talmud Class: Can We Be Any Happier Than Our Body is Healthy? | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:41:55

“Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the Lord. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God…I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…” But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by cruel bondage.” Exodus 6: 6-9. Our reading this week begins with God promising the Israelites, through five famous verbs, that God would save them. The promises all turned out to be true. Every year at our seders, we celebrate these five verbs of redemption through the four cups of wine and the fifth cup for Elijah and Miriam. Famously, however, the Hebrew slaves who were the intended audience for this reassurance could not take it in. Why not? Because of Abraham Maslow. In 1943 Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, wrote a paper entitled “A Theory of Human Motivation” in which he argued that there is a hierarchy of needs. Before we can get to spiritual liberation (the apex of the pyramid), we need to feel safe, secure and protected (the base of the pyramid). All of us have experienced the truth of Maslow’s hierarchy if you have ever attended an outdoor burial in January in New England. It does not matter how much you love the person being laid to their rest, when you are at the graveside, all you want is to conclude the burial as quickly as possible and get back into a warm car. The Israelites could not take in promises of liberation when their reality on the ground was so painful.  What about us? In Hallel, we thank God, but only after we recover from illness or serious threat. What does Maslow’s hierarchy of needs say to us, today? How do we provide spiritual comfort to people whose physical realities remain challenging with no ready solution?

 Shabbat Sermon: Journey | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:12:00
 Talmud Class: What is Your Voice on Israel Now? | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:44:57

How do we think and talk about Israel now as its new government (In Israel, a Hard-Right Agenda Gains Steam. Patrick Kingsley, NY Times, 1/11/23) takes power? Here are five options. Do not think and talk about Israel. It is too upsetting. It is too much. We have our hands full. There are synagogues and rabbis who do not talk about Israel because it is too divisive. Protest and/or boycott members of the governing coalition whose words and policies are anti-democratic and anti-pluralistic. More than 330 American rabbis signed a letter doing just that. Improve your Hebrew so that you can follow contemporary Israeli discourse in Hebrew. As Danny Gordis points out, there is far more nuance, complexity, and movement within Israel than is reported in English newspapers, and we should have humility before giving up on an eternal homeland whose language we do not speak and read fluently. Words matter. Sound the alarm, eschew complacency, for the many red lines that violent words from newly empowered Israeli officials cross. And yet, as Yossi Klein Halevi notes in this thoughtful piece in reflecting on his 40 years in Israel, making Aliyah during the nadir of 1982, one can believe in Israel's capacity to renew and heal. Be always supportive of Israel our eternal homeland, and sharply and loudly critical of this Israeli government when it pursues policies that are antithetical to our values. This week's statement of the Rabbinical Assembly attempts to walk that line. The RA attempts to be humble and convicted at the same time: ----Despite our ongoing and unconditional strong support for the State of Israel, the rhetoric and initial proposals coming from this new government are of concern due to the unusual and extraordinary potential to weaken democracy and religious pluralism. Our need to publicly oppose Israeli government policies in ways that are unprecedented is of concern to us and is not a step we embrace easily. We will be in close consultation with our partners and members. What is your voice on Israel now? That is a complicated question, and it requires a nuanced conversation.

 Shabbat Sermon: Nes Gadol Haya Po with Rabbi Michelle Robinson | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:18:23
 Talmud Class: “A blessing on your head?” Parenting according to Jacob | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:42:56

We all want the best for our children. For many parents, this means affirming our children no matter what they do and normalizing their feelings and reactions in every moment. This school of “gentle parenting” teaches that the world is a tough place, but we as parents can strengthen them with our love and acceptance. Jacob’s parenting philosophy appears to be the opposite. He seems to believe that the more he criticizes and critiques his children, the better off they will be. He takes it upon himself to point out their failures, even with his very last words. Interestingly, when Jacob becomes a grandparent, he changes his ways. He not only affirms and loves his grandchildren, but he also claims them as his own descendants. He blesses them. He lifts them up. If we drop the ball in one generation, is there still time to pick it up?

 Shabbat Sermon: What Went Wrong with the Chili? with Rav Hazzan Aliza Berger | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:15:15

In November, a woman posted the following thread to Twitter: “Several guys moved in next door, students I guess. And I’ve gotten two confused DoorDash drivers for them in the last week, and their trash can was completely overflowing with pizza boxes. I don’t think they cook. I am feeling such a strange motherly urge to feed these boys.” A minute later, she posted that she had decided to bring over a pot of chili when the weather cooled down over the weekend as a kind, neighborly gesture. When I first saw the post, I was touched. In my mind, we all live in these disconnected universes, especially after COVID, and the idea that someone would notice what others were throwing away and would care enough to cook for strangers—I found that to be sweet. But that’s not how others interpreted the post. This kind woman was trolled. Her initial post was retweeted 556 times with acerbic and vitriolic commentary. People accused her of “imposing” her life preferences on others, of being condescending, of being “presumptuous.” One wrote, “IDK how I would feel if a stranger came to my house with a meal I didn’t ask for.” Others took it even farther. In their eyes, she was “coddling,” and encouraging “man-child behavior.” Maybe, they wrote, this was her sick way of assuaging her “White savior” complex. As is the way of the internet, the thread went viral.

 Shabbat Sermon: Focus on the Light with Rav Hazzan Aliza Berger | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:15:50

For the past few years, 5th grade has been my sweet spot teaching religious school.  To be honest, I think 10 is the perfect age.  They're just beginning to think of themselves as individuals, and just beginning to access abstract thought.  Because they’re still kids, they haven’t learned the teenage trick of looking bored and disconnected at all times.  They’ll squeal with delight when you share a cool story, and they are so full of energy and joy. I love teaching 5th grade.  But this year, my class has put me to the test.  Renowned child-psychiatrist, Foster Cline, used to say that any kid worth their salt will test your boundaries.  Let’s just say my class this year is worth a lot of salt. Teaching them feels like playing verbal whack-a-mole

 Shabbat Sermon: ChatGPT and Me with Rabbi Michelle Robinson | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:15:06
 Talmud Class: The Origin Story for the Worst Anti-Semitic Tropes in our History | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:42:21

The Jew. Rich. Powerful. Behind the scenes exerting undue influence. Getting richer and richer while the non-Jews in society get poorer and poorer. Where does that horrific trope—from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to the Mapping Project—begin? What is the origin story for the hateful things that Jew-haters say about us? The origin story is in the Torah. And the tropes are true in the story the Torah tells. How does Joseph. second only to Pharaoh, who ends up enslaving the Egyptians, and giving the fat of the land to his own family, seed hatred against our people, and what do we do about it?

 Shabbat Sermon: The Self-Absorption Paradox | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:14:28

This week a Peter K. Newman of Dayton, Ohio wrote a letter to the editors of the Wall Street Journal in which he tells the following joke: A departing CEO met with his successor, presented him with three numbered envelopes and advised him to open these if he ran into trouble. After sales and profits dropped during the next quarter, the new CEO opened the first envelope. It contained the message: “Blame your predecessor.” The company continued to struggle during the next two quarters, so the new CEO opened the second envelope. It contained the message: “Distract your critics by reorganizing.” Finally, because the company’s year-end results were still disappointing, the new CEO rushed to his office and opened the third envelope. It contained the message: “Prepare three envelopes.” This joke is about the danger of repeating unfortunate patterns that we inherit; and the flip side of the joke is that it invites us to think about how we might transcendthe unfortunate patterns that we inherit. Because the new CEO could not transcend the troubled trends of the old CEO he shared the same fate as the old CEO. When we realize that we have inherited a pattern that is not healthy, how do we transcend it?

Comments

Login or signup comment.