BERESHIT 5777
YOU CAN RULE OVER IT
October 27, 2016
25 Tishri 5777
When God began to create heaven and earth … [Genesis 1:1]
There is a basic tension between heaven and earth. The former, viewed as the venue of God's throne of glory; the latter, defined as the setting in which the human drama is played out. Heaven symbolizes our striving for spirituality and a commitment to the highest values; earth is where we strive to satisfy our physical needs and our carnal drives. Heaven challenges us to strengthen our yetzer hatov, our good inclination; earth is where we must confront our yetzer harah, our evil inclination that seeks to hold sway over our thoughts, deeds, and acts.
Leon Uris in Exodus, his classic work on Israel, describes Britain's Foreign Minister's quandary on whether to support the effort to create a Jewish State following the Shoah or to placate the oil rich Arab bloc. The diplomat notes, Only the Kingdom of Heaven runs on righteousness. The Kingdoms of the Earth run on oil. The Arabs have oil!"
At the conclusion of Shabbat Services, I lead a study group for the children in our Congregation. The subject during the recent High Holiday period was the above described tension between heaven and earth. A seven year old sitting at my side commented that the first human being is called Adam, the Hebrew word for man, because he is made from adamah (earth) but his soul comes from God who is in Heaven.
In but a few words this youngster captured the inherent tension with which we all live. Will we be dominated by our earthly drives or by the dictates from heaven? God clearly set the table for us in his charge to Cain who was bereft that his mediocre sacrifice was rejected in favor of the handsome offering brought by his brother, Abel.
To the crestfallen Cain, God said, "why are you upset, why is your face fallen, surely if you do right you will be lifted up, but if you do not do good, sin (i.e. the yetzer harah) crouches at the door, it's urge is toward you. Yet you can rule over it. (Genesis 4: 6}.
God clearly placed a choice before Cain and before every human being: will we succumb to the urge to sin i.e. to respond to our earthly origin, or will we strive to overcome the temptation to give free rein to our yetzer harah. The traditional commentary sums up the task before us: the choice is in on our hands, and by dint of will we can rule over our earthly drives.
Yes we can rule over our drives but our tradition cautions us to come to terms with our earthly needs and seek to modulate them. Sexuality is not inherently sinful, but it is to be fulfilled in appropriate relationships and contexts. Wealth is not sinful if it is honestly acquired and then appropriately shared with those in need, Aristotle's and then Maimonidies' concept of the Golden Mean is a caveat not to fall prey to extremes.
As long as the breath of life is within us the yetzer harah lurks at our door hoping to rule over us. There is truth in the saying that the devil does not sleep until noon. The yetzer harah is an integral part of our being, and it is always operational. Our task is to resist its wiles and rule over it. Is it possible? God assures us we can succeed, but to do so requires an act of will.
Hopefully, the heavenly aspect of our humanity will enable us to rule over the ever-present temptation to sin. May our acts and deeds prove that we could – and – did.
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From the holy city of Jerusalem Rae joins me in wishing you a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach– a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
SHABBAT CHOL HAMO'ED SUCCOT 5777
JEWS AND JERUSALEM – FACTS, FICTION AND POLITICS
October 20, 2016
18 Tishri 5777
Succot together with Pesach and Shavuot comprise the three Pilgrim Festivals when our ancestors were summoned to visit Jerusalem, ascend the Har HaBayit {Temple Mount} where they would offer sacrifices in the Holy Temple. We can imagine the pilgrim's sense of anticipation when approaching the Temple Mount to begin the ascent to our holiest site.
During the course of history both the First and Second Temples were destroyed. The first by the Babylonians in the year 586 BCE; the second. By the Romans in 70 CE. For close to two millennia since the latter's destruction, our tradition retained he memory of the Temple Service in our liturgy as well as in our religious literature e.g. the Talmud. These are historical facts.
It is also a historical fact that despite the loss of hegemony over the Land, Jerusalem was never without a Jewish presence. The memory of the Temples was reinforced by the Western Wall, the only remaining vestige of the structure that surrounded the Temple Mount. The Jewish connection with these holy sites was never severed.
As Christianity and Islam developed, the Mount became important sites in their traditions. Islam, in particular, cherishes the Al Aksa Mosque, built on the Mount in 1033, and it the symbol of the Muslim assertion of hegemony over the Mount that it calls the Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary).
Yassir Arafat was a prime proponent of Temple Denial that claim that there never was a Temple on the Mount. This occurred in 2000 when President Clinton, in the waning days of his administration, invited then Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yassir Arafat to a summit at Camp David.
During those negotiations, Barak made significant compromises in an attempt to accelerate the peace process. Arafat, however, not only rejected the offers, but openly and brazenly denied that theTemple was ever in Jerusalem or that there was ever a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount/. Temple Denial quickly became a mantra in the Arab world, that has now morphed into the current UNESCO vote that omits our historical connection to the Temple Mount.
It's no surprise that the Muslim nations on UNESCO have supported this Palestinian sponsored resolution. What amazes and saddens me is the decision of non-Muslim nations to abstain, thereby making it possible for the resolution to pass without a majority of its members casting an affirmative vote. These governments are well aware of the Jewish historical presence in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount, but these truths were trumped by political calculations.
Merely reflect that the New Testament describes Jesus' last days unfolding in Jerusalem and at the Temple. For centuries Jews suffered from the canard that they were responsible for his crucifixion – in Jerusalem. Would the nations that abstained this week, do the same were there a revolution denying Jesus' last days on the Temple premises and in Jerusalem, thereby denying Christianity's connection to Jerusalem?
The resolution's genesis is in Palestinian efforts to turn back the clock and return to not only to the status quo ante of 1947 before the UN passed resolution 181 (that was to partition Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state} but to the 1917 Balfour Declaration itself. No less absurd then the UNESCO vote is Abbas' demand that /Britain apologize for the Balfour Declaration.
What the times calls for is our proud and firm assertion of Temple Affirmation This is not only supported by our history, but also by the accounts of the nations that destroyed the Temples and by Christianity's sacred texts. We have both a past and a present in Jerusalem, and we are also nourished by a faith in our future in Jerusalem and in the Temple Mount.
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From the holy city of Jerusalem Rae joins me in wishing you a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach – a Shabbat of peace and blessing and a joyful and spiritually rewarding Simchat Torah celebration.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
