“He spoke up and said, ”Is it not so that whatever God puts in my mouth,

I must take heed to speak?” (Numbers 23:12)

Parashat Balak is a good example of distinguishing between the Torah’s message and the Torah’s method.  The parasha (portion) tells the story of the Moabite king Balak’s fear of the Israelites.  Balak hires Bilam, a known prophet, to curse the Israelites. Bilam blesses the Israelites instead, thwarting Balak’s plan and leaving us with some beautiful Biblical poetry that is included in the daily liturgy as the Ma Tovu prayer.  The story highlights God’s supremacy and does so in a most artful way.

A central element in the story is the exchange between Bilam and his donkey, as he attempts to ride to Moab to meet with Balak.  Jacob Milgrom (1923–2010; a prominent American rabbi and Biblical scholar)

notes that Bilam, who is a seer, is blind to the angel positioned in the road.  Bilam, who is supposed to use his words to curse the Israelites, can’t even control his donkey with a stick.  Bilam, who claims God puts words into his mouth, can’t get the better of his donkey in a debate.  Bilam, who claims “his knowledge is from the most high” (Num.22:38) is forced to admit he didn’t know (Num. 22:34).  Bilam, who is supposedly the wisest of the wise, loses a debate to a donkey, the dumbest of animals.

This episode, however, is central only with regard to literary technique, because it is independent of the larger plot (cursing/blessing the Israelites).  It uses irony to humiliate Bilam and to show how powerless he is to influence history:  only God can do that.  The message of God’s power is consistent throughout the Torah. What changes is how the Torah delivers that message.

Gut Shabbos/Shabbat Shalom

Parashat Chukat contains a most fateful episode.  The Israelites complain there is no water (as usual).  Moses consults with God (as usual).  God instructs Moses (as usual).  And then unusual happens:  Moses apparently doesn’t follow God’s instructions.  Instead of speaking to the rock to bring forth water, he hits it twice.  Moses is condemned to die in the wilderness along with the rest of the Israelites (Num.  20:12), even though the precipitating act is not identified.

While the classic commentators all have their own opinion as to exactly what Moses’ sin is, Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903–94; an Israeli intellectual known for his outspoken opinions on Judaism, ethics, religion and politics) makes an interesting observation.   Three times in the Torah Moses asks God to annul the decree (that he will not enter the land), but does not ask forgiveness.  And since we read in Psalms, “…and Moses suffered because of them,” (Ps. 106:32), Leibowitz infers Moses himself actually did not sin.  Rather Moses is punished for the sins of the people.  If that’s true, why?

The story of Moses hitting the rock usually is read as a lesson in self-control, anger, and faith.  Leibowitz highlights a more general, yet more central truth about Jewish approaches to leadership: the leader’s destiny is bound up in the fate of the people.  Moses may be innocent personally, but he is responsible by virtue of his office.  It is improper for Moses to reach the land if no one else can, for their sins were committed “on his watch.”   Moses’ story raises a striking question: if no one following, are you really leading?

Gut Shabbos/Shabbat Shalom

As the director of JCC Association’s teen travel program JCC Maccabi Israel (JMI), I am acutely aware of the need to encourage Jewish teens to visit and spend time in Israel. I am happy to report that we are actually seeing a substantial increase in our JCC Maccabi Israel numbers in contrast to the gloomy picture depicted in the April 17 JTA article, “The Birthright Israel flip side: Fewer high school students traveling to Israel”. In 2014, we are planning a JMI March of the Living trip, which will provide another Israel experience to teens.

How have we done it? By building community support. JMI can talk about how important Israel travel is for teens until we turn blue in the face, but the truth is that the community must decide this is a priority. The communities (summer camps or JCCs) are the face of the program to the families and teens, and they are the ones that sell the trip, its value and importance. Our role is to help communities ask all the right questions and supply all the answers. We help them with the message, with recruitment efforts and logistics, but most important, we engage communities in a conversation to determine where Israel travel stands in their list of priorities, and we continue the conversation to lead to a teen trip, if they don’t already have one.

That is not to say that the promise of a free Taglit: Birthright Israel trip down the road does not cause many parents and communal professionals to be hesitant about sending their younger teens to Israel. That is the most common reason we hear for not organizing a trip, far more than security concerns.

It seems we are caught with an abundance of riches: on one hand, Birthright offers an incredible opportunity to young Jewish adults who never traveled to Israel and perhaps never had the opportunity to do so. The fact that they can go on a free 10-day trip is amazing. On the other hand, we have teens in synagogues, youth movements, JCCs and camps who should be traveling to Israel as an integral part of their Jewish education and identity, and for longer periods than 10 days. What better time than the formative teenage years to give them the gift of experiencing Israel with their peers? These teens will start making meaningful Jewish decisions at a younger age. The impact of a longer trip is incredible and long lasting.

Rather than leaving thousands of teens waiting for a “free” trip sometime in the future, funds should be allocated to teen travel by the Israeli government as Gideon Shavit and others propose, or North American communities should organize locally and fundraise to make this happen. It is a long-term investment in our Jewish future and and in the health and future of North American Jewish communities.

that they present to the Lord-I give to you.”  (Numbers 18:12)

Parashat Korach is a “mashup” of four separate rebellions:  the Levites against Aaron; Datan and Aviram against Moses; the tribal chieftains against Aaron, and; the entire community against Moses and Aaron.  Korach, the archtypic Jewish villain in rabbinic literature, is associated with all four, so he gets top billing.  On the surface, the rebellions are about power (Who put you in charge?).   Read more closely, they are parables about access to God and k’dusha, or sanctity.  This idea is foreshadowed by a verse at the end of Sh’lach L’cha, last week’s parasha (portion).

Sh’lach L’cha closes with the admonition (with regard to tzitzit, or tassels), “Thus shall you be reminded to observe all My commandments and to be holy to your God.” (Num.  15:40). Korach feels  k’dusha is an entitlement and that tzitzit are badges of holiness.  That’s why he challenges Moses by saying, “For all the community is holy, all of them…” (Num. 16:3)  Korach sees no reason for him not to have the same access to God as Moses (or Aaron).  But tzitzit are supposed to be reminders of k’dusha.  Holiness is not granted to us (as Korach thinks).  Rather, it is a goal to achieve through the decisions we make.  Korach learns his decisions are wrong the hard way; he and all his fellow rebels are swallowed up and killed in an earthquake.

Robert Alter, (1935-; Professor of Hebrew language and comparative literature at UC Berkeley, notes the skill with which the Torah weaves together the separate rebellions, which, according to him, are likely to have been completely separate events.  The Torah does this to highlight the story’s spiritual truth, which is more important than its historical truth.

Gut Shabbos/Shabbat Shalom

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The conference is divided into two sessions: the first day is strictly for JCC professionals and includes discussions and presentations on how company health insurance is affected by the Affordable Care Act, as well as on strategies to interview and train new employees. The second day will be a joint session with AWP and UJA, focusing on advancing women professionals in the Jewish communal world. This second day includes discussions of achieving a balance between career advancement and family life, a significant conflict in the lives of many women professionals. The conference is being generously subsidized by JCC Association and UJA, with attendees only being charged the cost of food.

Joy Brand-Richardson, associate vice-president/director of training and professional leadership, hopes that the conference will equip HR staff to recognize talented employees who can replace retiring baby boomer professionals. The process of finding capable individuals to fill these positions, referred to as talent management, is a topic of discussion on the second day of the conference. “[Human resources is] the front line to knowing who all the staff is,” Brand-Richardson explains. “If we can help determine who our future leaders are, we can help train them…[and] help staff in JCCs grow into these positions.”

Approximately 110 individuals work in HR in continental JCCs, and 24 are attending the full conference. Although not all HR professionals in local JCCs are able to attend, the organization and planning of this conference signals an increased focus on the significant role HR plays, particularly as JCCs continue to grow, hire, and retain more employees. Tory Holland, coordinator for professional and lay leadership training programs, says she is “glad we are doing it. HR is a growing need for JCCs, and until now we haven’t been able to bring [HR staff] to professional conferences.”

commandments and to be holy to your God.”  (Numbers 15:40)

Sh’lach L’cha is a fateful parasha (portion).  Moses sends twelve men to scout the land of Canaan.  When they bring back positive reports, but fear they cannot conquer the land (only two disagree), the people despair and God condemns the entire Egyptian-born generation to die in the wilderness.  While the scouts are sent with a mandate to seek out the physical aspects of the land, the story is really a parable about the inner journey to faith.   This is emphasized in a deliciously subtle way in the closing verses, which describe the mitzvah, or commandment, of tzitzit.

The Torah commands us to wear tzitzit, or tassels, on the fringes of our clothes (including women; Babylonian Talmud Menachot 43a), and to look at them and be reminded of the commandments.  Specifically, the Torah admonishes us, “V’lo taturu….asher atem zonim achareihem, “ …so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge.” (Num. 15:39)  The two verb forms, v’lo taturu, do not follow, and zonim, lusting, are the same as in Moses’ charge to the scouts in the beginning of the parasha (Num. 13:1) and when God punishes the people for their lack of faith (Num. 14:33).

By linking the commandment of tzitzit to the spies’ (and people’s) lack of faith, the message of tzitzit is transformed from a simple behavioral reminder (Do commandments!) to the much more complicated affirmation of faith (Believe!).  The Torah says a lot about what to do, but it says a lot more about what to believe.

Shabbat shalom!

May your enemies be scattered, and may your foes flee before you!’ (Numbers 10:35)

Parashat B’ha-alot’cha records how the Israelites leave Sinai on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year since the Exodus (Num. 10:11).  It describes the final preparations: the purification of the Levites, the order of the tribes, and the trumpet calls to signal the people.  Then it presents a brief, puzzling interlude:  Moses asks Chovav (who may either be Moses’ father-in-law, brother-in-law, or son-in-law) to accompany the Israelites, since…”You know where we should camp in the wilderness and can be our guide.” (Num. 10:31)  B’ha-alot’cha doesn’t record Chovav’s reply.

Why does Moses need a guide?  After all, the parasha (portion) includes a description of God’s fire-cloud and its function as a guide:  “And whenever the cloud lifted from the Tent, the Israelites would set out accordingly; and at the spot where the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp.” (Num. 9:17)  Moses should know you can’t get a better GPS than that!

Jacob Milgrom (1923–2010; a prominent American rabbi and Biblical scholar), reflecting upon earlier generations of Jewish commentary, posits the text conflates two wilderness narrative traditions:  the physical journey and the spiritual journey.  Each requires guidance, but of a different nature.  The two guiding mechanisms are often juxtaposed:  in the story of Jericho, scouts search out the weaknesses of the walls (Josh. 2), which then crumble at the sound of trumpets alone (Josh. 6).

The wilderness story describes moving from one place to another physically.  But those external moves are merely the backdrop for the internal shift taking place within the Israelites: acquiring faith in God.

Gut Shabbos/Shabbat Shalom

The Torah is a way of life for many, partly because it reflects all aspects of life, including the painful, less comfortable ones. The Torah teaches us how to deal with the poor, the orphan, the war prisoner, the foreigner, etc.  But above all, the Torah leads by example: The Torah was given to the Israelites from God, by his messenger, Moses. the greatest Jewish leader of all times. Moses was disabled; he was a stutterer.  How terrible it is to lead, when one is not comfortable using the leader’s most important tool, words.  Moses questioned his ability to approach Pharaoh, and God’s response was Aaron. Moses’ brother would speak his words. The Torah teaches us that being disabled is part of life, and there are ways to overcome limitations.

Before Moses was able to deliver the Torah to the Israelites in Sinai, he had to lead them out of Egypt, where they were slaves. The Israelites had 50 days between Pesach and Shavuot to recover from slavery and become a nation worthy of receiving the Torah.

It was almost 50 days ago, on the eve of Pesach, that I was invited by our board member Jerome Spitzer and his wife Linda to attend the opening of a beautiful walking trail at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. The accessible trail was dedicated to the blessed memory of Jerome’s mother, Raisa Cohen Spitzer, born in Minsk in 1913. Raisa loved flowers, which she always saw as symbols of rebirth.  Raisa’s husband, Jerome’s father, had a stroke in 1991 after leaving Jerusalem. Although the Spitzers lived near the Bronx Botanical Garden they were unable to enjoy the beauty, as Jerome’s father’s wheel chair made it impossible for them to visit. The Spitzer family decided to help other people in wheelchairs enjoy the trail in Jerusalem.

Israel is becoming more and more accessible to people with different types of abilities. The Spitzer garden is one of many projects that aim both to educate the entire community to be more aware and understanding toward people with special needs, and to provide those with special needs and abilities opportunities to enjoy what life has to offer.

The rabbis of the Talmudic period created the blessing “Who has fashioned people in various forms,” which really means acknowledging that people are different, but are all sacred creatures of God.

We are bound as a community to be compassionate, understanding and to facilitate the needs of all members of our community. Shabbat shalom!

Leah Garber, Vice President, JCC Association Israel Office

leah@jcca.org