Update for June 25, 2009
HIGH HOLY DAY CHOIR SEEKS NEW MEMBERS
Rehearsals will begin in August. All voice ranges welcome.
For more information, contact Cantor Meeka: meekantor@templesanjose.org.
FIRST TIME RELIGIOUS SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
If you are planning to enroll your child in our Religious School for the first time in the fall, please send an email to the Religious School office: school@templesanjose.org, or call (408) 292-3223.
EARLY BIRD DEADLINE for school enrollment: July 1, 2009: Bring it in or postmark your Religious School registration packet.
CALLING CHALLAH BAKERS
In an effort to add a touch of home to our Saturday morning Shabbat services starting on July 25, Jonathan Hirshon is coordinating an opportunity to have Emanu-El's 4 finest bakers create challah worthy to be served on this holy day of rest!
If you think you have what it takes and are willing to bake a single 1 pound challah, once per month to share with your Emanu-El friends for Shabbat, contact JH by email - jh@horizonpr.com ! We already have two volunteers - we only need 2 more -- first-come, first-served! Shabbat motzi deserves the best - show us what you've got! :)
IN THIS UPDATE:
Upcoming Events and Services
Save the Dates
In The Community
Jews March for PRIDE, Sunday, June 28, San Francisco
Arclight Theatre Company presents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in San Pedro Square through Saturday, June 27
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (also in Palo Alto)
Torah Portion
SERVICE SCHEDULE and Other Events
Friday, June 26
6:30 PM Sing It Yourself Shabbat
Saturday, June 27
9:00 AM Shabbat Morning Minyan, led by Cantor Meeka Simerly
Friday, July 3
6:30 PM Kabbalat Shabbat Service in Benefactors Room
Saturday, July 4
9:00 AM Shabbat Morning Minyan (led by Aaron Rubin)
Friday, July 10
6:30 PM Kabbalat Shabbat Service: Brotherhood Summer Shabbat
Saturday, July 11
9:00 AM Shabbat Morning Minyan, led by Bob and Maggie Cant
Friday, July 17
6:30 PM Kabbalat Shabbat Service
Shabbat Chaverim: Sabbath of Friendship
Join Temple Emanu-El’s Cantor Meeka Simerly and Congregation Emeth’s Rabbi Debbie Israel for a celebration of friendship, between members of both congregations, the wider South Bay Jewish community and clergy! (Cantor Simerly and Rabbi Israel are both recent graduates of the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles).
Bring your family, bring your friends and Havurah.
Join us in welcoming Shabbat with music and liturgy that reflect the meaning of connection and power of friendship.
For more information, contact the Temple Emanu-El office, (408)292-0939.
OTHER EVENTS:
SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, July 23, 11 AM – 2 PM
SISTERHOOD DONOR LUNCHEON AT MARIANI’S
You don’t need to be a Sisterhood member to attend this delightful annual social event, which is Sisterhood major fundraiser for the year. Send your RSVPs in the envelope provided. Didn’t get your invite? Contact the Temple office.
SAVE THE DATES:
Sunday, August 2: Jewish Heritage Night at the San Jose Giants
Get your tickets from the Temple office, or online at www.jewishgiants.com. $5 admission is half price. Dinner is $10 prepaid (homemade Kosher pastrami sandwich and pickle, chips and soda) or you can get ballpark BBQ. Rabbi Magat will throw the first pitch, and Cantor Meeka will be singing the national anthem! You won’t want to miss this! Check out the invitation at http://www.socializr.com/event/784942868
Sunday, August 9: Pool Party and BBQ at the JCC, sponsored by Sisterhood and Brotherhood. Details available soon.
IN THE COMMUNITY:
SUNDAY, JUNE 28: JEWS MARCH FOR PRIDE
Calling the Jewish Community: March together at the San Francisco Pride Parade. Meet for free breakfast and kippot @ 9:00 AM (Beale St. Bar & Grille (133 Beale @ Mission). March begins at 10:30 AM. Sign up at www.tinyurl.com/Jews4Pride or contact Jacob goldstein, jacobg@sfjcf.org (408-348-6572).. We are all created in God’s image.
ONLY A FEW SHOWS LEFT
ARCLIGHT THEATRE COMPANY presents A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Directed by David Koppel (Arclight's artistic director) and features a talented, multi-ethnic cast from San Jose and various counties throughout the Bay Area. Mexican folk dancer and choreographer Magda Lomas directs the free, outdoor "Green Show" performance, featuring dancers from the cast.
Midsummer performs in the Theatre on San Pedro Square (29 N. San Pedro Street) from June 11th - 27th. Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7pm and Saturday matinees at 2pm. Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for students and seniors (65+) and Thursday performances are "Pay as You Can" only.
Arclight Repertory's Theatre's Shakespeare on the Square Festival production of A Midsummer Night's Dream interprets one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies through the lens of vibrant Central American culture. (SJ Metro)
Reservations and tickets can be made through Brown Paper Tickets (800) 838.3006 or online at www.arclightrep.org. This is the same group which presented “Leaden Skies” here at Temple Emanu-El in April.
SAN FRANCISCO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL July 23 - August 10, 2009
For a full line up of this year festival please check out our website: www.sfjff.org.
Showing in Palo Alto August 1-6, with a free Monday screening in Palo Alto: August 3: 1:15 pm at CineArts@Palo Alto Square.
Two films about little-known anti-Semitic hysteria that gripped Poland in 1967 and 68.
For ticket information call 866-55-tickets (866-558-4253). Box office opens June 23rd.
Other venues include Berkeley Rep, Castro Theatre in San Francisco, the SJ Jewish Community Center and San Rafael. www.sfjff.org.
Torah portion from www.urj.org
Korach, Numbers 16:1−18:32
Shabbat, June 27, 2009 / 5 Tammuz, 5769
D'VAR TORAH
You Can’t Always Get What You Want*
Elyse Frishman
"Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself, along with Dathan and Abiram . . . descendants of Reuben—to rise up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute. They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, 'You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and the Eternal is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the Eternal’s congregation?’ "(Numbers 16:1–3).
Who were Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? All had status of import: Korah was a Levite, and Dathan and Abiram were from the tribe of Reuben, the firstborn.
Each tribe had been given its role, living in formation around the Mishkan toprotect one another from outside attack and be reminded of the centrality of God and Torah. The Levites had special privilege for the porterage of the Mishkan. Each Levite clan had a specific task.
Moses and Aaron themselves were Levites, set apart for their particular roles as Prophet and High Priest. They were Kohathites; their father Amram was a son of Kohath. Amram’s brother was Izhar; so Korah was their first cousin. The Kohathites were given the most prestigious task to care for the Mishkan’s sacred items including the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers 4:1–20). The Kohathites were warned never to look upon these objects, lest they gaze accidentally and be killed. Aaron and his sons covered them before the Kohathites drew near. The role of the Kohathites required great courage and careful dedication to instruction.
As shared a few weeks ago about Parashat B’midbar, Rambam taught that when they carried the Holy Ark, the Kohathites faced inward, away from the outside world, (Hilchot Klei HaMikdash 2:13). The men were to focus entirely upon their task; they were not to be distracted by the outside world, not even on the direction in which they were moving; they were to devote all their attention to the Ark.
For Korah, the mitzvah to carry the Ark was onerous task, not a privilege. He could not appreciate the importance of his own essential role. He yearned for what he could not have—the perceived power of Aaron and Moses—and rationalized their destruction for his gain.
How was Korah able to gather a cohort around him? Moses had just navigated the people through two precipitous events—their betrayal of God in refusing to enter the Promised Land, and the stoning to death of the wood-gatherer who violated Shabbat (Numbers 15:32–36). Hadn’t the people realized that Moses had saved them, negotiating their punishment from immediate death to wandering forty additional years?
Moses was distraught when he learned of Korah’s betrayal. "When Moses heard this, he fell on his face . . . (He said), "Hear me, sons of Levi. Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has set you apart from the community of Israel and given you direct access, to perform the duties of the Eternal’s Tabernacle and to minister to the community and serve them? Now that has advanced you and all your fellow Levites with you, do you seek the priesthood too? Truly, it is against the Eternal that you and all your company have banded together. For who is Aaron that you should rail against him?"(Numbers 16:4, 8–11).
What made Korah think that he deserved the priesthood and that God would support him? Yet he plotted, certain of his righteousness. The midrash notes that Korah had been "controller in Pharaoh’s palace and was in charge of the keys of his treasury. The Holy Blessed One said to him, 'What benefit do you derive from this? You are not master over them’. . . (B’midbar Rabbah 18:15). God perceived earlier Korah’s quest for power. Korah confused privilege with ownership.
The challenge not to confuse privilege with ownership is timeless: to be stewards of the earth and not reckless lords; to manage employees, partners, and children with appreciation; to learn and then fulfill the role that each of us plays in the work of the world, without greed or envy.
Consider this commentary on "The Israelites shall camp each man with his standard, under the banners of their ancestral house; they shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance,"(Numbers 2:2). The Sages focus on the concept of the individual Israelite "each with his standard":
Every Jew must know and think that he is unique in the world, and there was never anyone exactly like him; had there been someone just like him, there would have been no need for him. Indeed, every single person is someone new in this world, and it is his duty to improve all his ways until all Israel have attained perfection.
(Bet Aharon, mentioned in Itturei Torah, vol. 5, compiled by Aharon Yaakov Greenberg [Tel Aviv: Yavneh Publishing House, 1996], pp. 21–22)
We are unique; but that awareness could lead to self-aggrandizement. So the midrash reminds us of the weight of that honor: to improve ourselves—not to improve each other. Indeed, it reminds us to improve ourselves for the sake of one another. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook taught: "Each person is created at a certain time, by God’s plan, to fulfill a certain role in creation. Until a person is created, he is not worthy of being in the world. Unfortunately, each person must confess every year: 'Now that I have been created, it is as if I had not been created’—I was meant to fulfill a certain role, but have not managed to fulfill it, so it is as if I was not created"(Olat Ra’ayah, mentioned in Torah Gems, Itturei Torah, vol. 3, complied by Aharon Yaakov Greenberg [Tel Aviv: Yavneh Publishing House, 1992, pp. 16–17).
Korah illustrates that aspect of ourselves that denies reality because we prefer an alternative one. Discontent with our lot, we seek another, not by looking within to change ourselves but by undermining what is around us. We have an adulterous affair, we abuse substances, we treat those we love with indignation and arrogance, suggesting that our problems or situation are their faults. "Why then do you raise yourselves above the Eternal’s congregation?"(Numbers 16:3). We state falsehood with such certainty that it seems true.
Abraham Joshua Heschel taught: "Even more frustrating than the fact that evil is real, mighty and tempting is the fact that it thrives so well in the disguise of the good, that it can draw its nutriment from the life of the holy. In this world, it seems, the holy and the unholy do not exist apart, but are mixed, interrelated and confounded,"(Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism, [New York: Harper and Row, Publishers,1966], p. 369).
How easy it is to confuse lust with love, greed with need, mere knowledge with wisdom.
Let us understand Aaron’s role in this encounter. Was Aaron known to the people outside of his all-encompassing priestly role? His leadership seemed to be defined by duty rather than vision; in this sense, he was the consummate Levite. Yet, until now, the Israelites had never truly experienced Aaron outside of his very-defined priestly duties.
Five earlier episodes illustrate aspects of Aaron that the Israelites may or may not have witnessed. First, Aaron somehow left Egypt and met Moses on his way back from the Burning Bush, accompanying him back to Pharaoh. Second, confronting Pharaoh with Moses, Aaron performed the first plagues yet took no credit for his efforts. Did the slaves ever learn that it was Aaron, as God’s and Moses’s agent, who turned the waters to blood and brought frogs upon the land? Third, during the attack of the Amalekites, Aaron helped Moses to keep his arms upraised so the people would prevail. Fourth, his building the Golden Calf revealed a hand that was neither deterrent nor evidence of leadership. Finally, his reaction to the death of his sons was hidden and private, happening during the period of ordination that allowed him no formal or public mourning. (Was Korah, a cousin, aware of this tragedy)?
Aaron and Korah were opposites: one the humble embodiment of duty, the other a jealous seeker of power.
". . . Moses said to Aaron, 'Take the fire pan, and put on it fire from the altar. Add incense and take it quickly to the community and make expiation for them. For wrath has gone forth from the Eternal: the plague has begun!’ Aaron took it, as Moses had ordered, and ran to the midst of the congregation, where the plague had begun among the people. He put on the incense and made expiation for the people; he stood between the dead and the living until the plague was checked,"(Numbers 17:11–13).
Aaron went into their midst, whispering words of comfort and consolation, gently swinging the incense, dissipating the ether of death with the soothing fragrance of the Mishkan. Until now he was titular High Priest. Like Moses, his figurehead was frightening and awesome; the human Aaron was unknown to them. But suddenly, his compassion and courage were manifest. The people healed. God’s High Priest became their High Priest.
So, too, the loving people in our lives are willing to walk among those of us who are damaged, trying to heal us, even when their own lives have been deeply wounded by us.
Perhaps his action brought the people an insight about themselves. To be God’s people meant to take risks, to walk among the dying and bring them back to life, to enter the Land even when afraid.
Earlier at Sinai, God named the Israelites an am s’gulah, "a treasured people."It was conditional on Torah observance: "Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,"(Exodus 19:5–6). The Israelites were to be loyal and dutiful. Thus far, they were neither. It’s no surprise then that they could be drawn to another defier, Korah, who, if he had succeeded, would have undermined all divine authority. Aaron’s action said: "I am a Levite whose eyes are never distracted from the truest duties of the Mishkan, to serve God by serving you. I forgive your challenge of me. I love you."And his action became a prayer, averting further destruction.
Thus taught Hillel: "Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing it, loving your fellow creatures and drawing them near to Torah,"(Pirkei Avot 1:12).
* "You Can’t Always Get What You Want,"Let It Bleed, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 1969
Rabbi Elyse Frishman is the spiritual leader of The Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. She is the editor of Mishkan T'filah, A Reform Siddur.
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