This Shabbat we read more commandments, laws and rules that are in any other parsha. It is one that has some very famous commandments. 

Friday night, as part of our series on Love in February, we talked about the reason for rules. In both Ahavat Olam and Ahavah Rabbah we praise for giving us the Toah, filled with mitzvah, hukki and as the title of this week’s portion calls the mishpatim. They are a sign that G-d loves us. Yes, G-d loves us. And as we discussed, while we may rile against rules, loving parents provide rules as a structure, as a limit, to keep us safe. 

The Sh’ma, the watchword of our faith, the proclamation that G-d is one, is blanketed by love. The prayer Ahavah Rabbah is called the great love. Deep is G-d’s love for us. We know this because G-d gave us Torah. After the Sh’ma, we chant the V’ahavta, commanding us to love G-d with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might or being. I often say with all our everything. But the mental health professionals tell us that we can’t legislate an emotion. So how can the Torah tell us that we have to love love G-d, that we are obligated to, that it is a commandment? What if the text that follows is a recipe for love? How we demonstrate love. We teach our children diligently. We talk about these very words at home and away. Yes, that means even when you are driving carpool and swinging through a fast food drive through. We inscribe them on the doorposts of our house—those mezuzot—and they are wrapped on our arms and a sign before our eyes.  

The Torah text when the 10 Commandments are given is interesting. We are told that the Israelites said that “na’aseh v’nishma, we will do and we will hear.” How is that possible? How can they do the commandments before they hear them. Maybe it is like this? Maybe we do before we love. 

In any case, my class on meditating on these very words, when I rise up and when I lie down, has been very informative. I would say that I am still not a good mediator. I do much better with walking meditations. However, this class on Receiving and Extending Love has enriched my life and my understanding of these three prayers in profound and unexpected ways. 

Today’s portion has one particular law that I want to expound upon: 

When [two or more] parties fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact, the payment to be based on reckoning But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. 

As Tevy would say, “Very good. That way the whole world will be blind and toothless.” (Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof) 

We are all familiar with the concept of an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth. In some cultures, this is still how justice is enacted.  

But maybe not in classical Jewish thought. Rabbi Jonathan Kligler reminds us that as early as the Talmud, which codified both written and oral Toah, that Judaism saw this mandate as specifying not capital punishment but financial restitution. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/eye-for-an-eye/  

There is a difference between Torah law and rabbinic law, but the reality is that we are all rabbinic Jews. We talk about Written Law (the Torah) and Oral Law, those things handed down from G-d to Moses at Sinai, then passed to Joshua, the prophets, the (men) of the Great Assembly, Sandhedrin and the rabbis.  That for thousands of years, rabbis have interpreted and changed Torah precepts and made Judaism what it is today. Judaism did not get stuck with just the pronouncements on the mountain—or Moses’s words Deuteronomy. No, rather, Judaism evolved and continued to evolve.  

Kligler says that he thinks it is “necessary to continue to remind us of this fact because of the durable stereotype that much Christian thought foists upon the Jews: Judaism is the religion of law, while Christianity is the religion of love. In that telling, when Christianity emerged, Judaism somehow became frozen in time, rejecting the New Testament, forever stranded in the obsolete ancient paradigm of harsh justice that Christianity was here to transcend. 

That means that Judaism IS a religion of love. It is not just Christianity. And we see it clearly in how Judaism mitigated the harsh rule of an eye for an eye.  

In cases of capital law, the dispute concerning such a prohibition is with regard to the issue that is the subject of the dispute between Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and the Rabbis, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says with regard to that which is written: “If men struggle and they hurt a pregnant woman…and if there shall be a tragedy you shall give a life for a life” (Exodus 21:22–23), the reference is to a monetary payment for the life that he took. The tragedy referenced is the unintentional killing of the mother. (Sandhedrin 87b-10) 

Similarly, we learn in the passage in Mishnah Makkot 1:10: “A Sanhedrin that puts a man to death once in seven years is called a murderous one. R. Eleazar ben Azariah says ‘Or even once in 70 years.’ R. Tarfon and R. Akiva said, ‘If we had been in the Sanhedrin no death sentence would ever have been passed’; Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel said: ‘If so, they would have multiplied murderers in Israel.'” 

Maimonides, the Rambam, continued this line of thinking:  

“How do we know that the intent of the Torah‘s statement with regard to the loss of a limb, “an eye for an eye,” is financial restitution? That same verse continues “a blow for a blow.” And with regard to the penalty for giving a colleague a blow, it is explicitly stated: “When a man strikes his colleague with a stone or a fist . . . he should pay for his being idled and for his medical expenses.”5 Thus, we learn that the word tachat (תחת) mentioned with regard to a blow indicates the necessity for financial restitution, and so one can conclude that the meaning of the same word with regard to an eye or another limb is also financial restitution. Although these interpretations are obvious from the study of the Written Law, and they are explicitly mentioned in the Oral Tradition transmitted by Moses from Mount Sinai, they are all regarded as halachot from Moses (i.e. oral tradition going back to Sinai). This is what our ancestors saw in the court of Joshua and in the court of Samuel of Ramah, and in every single Jewish court that has functioned from the days of Moses our teacher until the present age 

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/capital-punishment  

This weekend is known nationally in the Jewish community as “Repro Shabbat,” sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women. Congregations all over the United States are studying these very texts, precisely because of the verses we just looked at. 

There are a number of directions we could go. The first would be the rules and interpretations around the topic of miscarriage and abortion.  

Let me be clear, I have studied these carefully for years. This topic, however, may not be the most relevent to those of us gathered here today. It may be of supreme importance to your children or grandchildren.  However, if you or your daughters or granddaughter, need an abortion and are having a hard time finding access to one under the current laws emerging across the Untied States, I will sit with you, I will hold your hand and I will help you find access to one that is safe. Period. And if you are struggling with infertility or have had miscarriages, I will sit with you. I will hold your hand. I will cry with you. And I will help you find access to quality medical care. 

What I really want to talk about is access. It is not just abortion or contraception—which the way we are restricting it is a violation of one of the Unted States founding principles of separation of church and state and freedom of religion.  

As Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg has said, As Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg has said so eloquently: 

“Our access to reproductive health care is guaranteed not only by the Fourteenth Amendment ━ the right to equality and privacy ━ but also by the First Amendment’s guarantee that no one religion or religious interpretation will be enshrined in law or regulation. The fact that the Supreme Court does not currently recognize this does not change the fact that we are entitled to these rights under law.” She provides all the classical texts here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/234926.19?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en 

In addition, as our nation restricts access to abortion, we are restricting access to medical care and reducing maternal health. This is particulaly true for people of color!  

The statistics are overwhelming. And I have them!  

In 2020, the latest available data, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women was 55.3 per 100,000 live births. The national average is 23. 23 and 55 may not sound high until you realize that the next highest country is New Zealand with only 12 and the Netherlands had 0. Our rates in this country are higher than any other industrialized nation. There is no reason that women need to tie in order to give birth. This is about access.  

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2020/maternal-mortality-rates-2020.htm  

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/us-maternal-mortality-crisis-continues-worsen-international-comparison 

Yet it is not just maternal health we need to worry about. It is all women’s heath care. 

How many of you have been to a doctor and been told,” it is just stress” or “you should just lose weight? How many of you have thought your concerns were not taken seriously, that you were not listened to? 

One big area is around heart disease. Appropriate for sure this weekend where we wrap up our series on love and heart. There is a reason we are hosting CPR this weekend. First it is the yahrzeit of a member’s father who died at a synagogue from a heart attack because there was not an AED and no one was trained. We have an AED because of a grant from the City of Elgin and now all of our teachers will be trained. Don’t stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds. 

When I run on the elliptical, I sing a Hebrew song from the Amidah. “V’tahar libeinu l’avdecha b’emet, Cleanse our hearts that we might serve You in truth.” Itsrhythm is just right for me and keeps my legs and my arms pounding. Exercise and activity are good for our hearts, right?  

Yet heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. And according to the CDC, cardiovascular disease in women remains under diagnosed and undertreated in part because of a belief that it just affects men. However, one in five American women deaths are caused by heart disease.  

We need to learn the symptoms of heart disease in women. These include: 

Although some women have no symptoms, others may have5 

• Some women have no symptoms or they may experience: 
• Angina (dull and heavy or sharp chest pain or discomfort) 
• Pain in the neck, jaw, or throat 
• Pain in the upper abdomen or back 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6206467/ 

Access to quality health care is not just a problem for women and gifls in the US. It is a worldwide problem.  

The World Economic Forum makes these recommendations of what we can learn about health care for women coming out of the pandemic so that women and girls are not left behind: 

• Give a voice to women and girls: policymakers and stakeholders must include women and girls at the centre of recovery processes and listen to their needs, challenges and solutions. Empowering women and girls has proven to increase the health and well-being of the entire family and community. 

• The right to sexual and reproductive health: recognize and normalize women’s health services as essential health services during outbreaks and crises, and support the World Health Organization’s operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak.
   
• Shift mindsets and embrace positive changes: women and girls from developed and developing countries are facing inequalities and neglect and it’s everyone’s task to wake up, recognize the hard reality and become an active actor in the solution process.
   
• Bring girls and young women back to school: seize the opportunity to transform the education system by promoting distance learning programmes for everyone including the most marginalized, and integrate new teaching methods addressing girls and young women’s unique needs for safety, health and well-being 

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/lessons-must-be-learned-from-covid-19-s-impact-on-women-s-health-and-rights 

Many of us in this room are privileged, lucky even. We have access to health care when we need it. We will continue to have access, even as costs go higher and higher. That is not true for everyone, especially women and especially women of color. I am proud to serve with Michael Isaacson on the Kane County Health Board and the Saint Joseph Leadership board to make sure that women, all women have access to quality health care.  

As we enter Adar, the month of Purim, I am reminded of what Mordecai said to Esther.  

if you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come from another quarter. And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.” 

This week we read Mishpatim as the portion from the Torah. After the high of receiving the 10 Commandments, we now receive a bunch of laws, rules and commandments that help us set up a just and righteous society. It is time to get down to brass tacks.  

This weekend is also Presidents’ Day Weekend. This got me thinking about how these two portions and our own democratic institutions intersect, if in fact, they do.  

In Pirke Avot warns us: “Be careful about the government, as they approach a man only when they need him. They seem like good friends in good times, but they don’t stay for him in time of his trouble.” (Pirke Avot 2 ; 3) And yet since Jeremiah’s day we have prayed for our government wherever we have been. 

J. Liebling’s has said that the “Freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one” . . .

Our portion opens with a description of the rules for holding Hebrew slaves. Yes, despite having been slaves in the land of Egypt, Israelites were still permitted to have slaves. And despite being told over and over again that we should have one law for citizen and sojourner alike, there seems to be a different rule here for Hebrew slaves and non-Hebrew slaves. (Exodus 21:2-6)  

Many are surprised that Israelites owned slaves. Or that someone might want to be a slave for life. Yet it is these very verses that leaders in the southern United States used to justify continuing slavery before and during the Civil War. That kind of proof texting can be dangerous. It still is.  

This week is also Shabbat Shekalim, one of four special Sabbaths leading up to Passover which this year is in April. And, public confession. I had part of it correct on the weekly Torah sheets that guide those on the bimah as to what to read and that we announce page numbers from so that people can follow along. The correct haftarah for Shabbat Shekalim is  

However, on Shabbat I announced the wrong one. While others were reading about a census and how we count because each person gives a half-shekel, I read the haftarah that goes with Mishpatim, about the liberation of slaves, chapter 34 of Jeremiah. It is very clear. “that everyone should proclaim a release among them—that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female and that on one should keep his fellow Judean enslaved.” Then G-d gets angry, because the Israelites don’t fulfill their end of the bargain, their end of the covenant by freeing their slaves. And yet, the haftarah portion then does something remarkable. It goes backwards and we read Chapter 33 of Jeremiah which promises that G-d will restore Israelite fortunes and take them back in love. Full stop. 

How then does this relate to Presidents’ Day? We had American presidents who had slaves. Washington, Jefferson, Madison. The first seven presidents. Some knew that the institution of slavery was wrong. Some argued against it. When we get to President John Quincy Adams the history gets more complicated.  

In Massachusetts he apparently did not own slaves. In Washington, as president he did. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-enslaved-household-of-john-quincy-adams  

We know a lot about President Washington. We know what he ate. We know he had dentures. We know he owned slaves. We know that he wrote a powerful letter to the Jewish community of Newport, RI promising that the government of the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance” https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-06-02-0135 The guarantee of freedom of religion and no establishment of a state religion was ratified in the Bill of Rights in 1791.  

We know the story of his chopping down the cherry tree and Washington’s declaration that “I cannot tell a lie.” It is part of our American mythology. It is not unlike our midrash about Abraham. Abraham who invented monotheism, the believe in one God, is said to have told his father that the largest idol in Terah’s idol shop smashed the other idols. Our patriarchs (and our matriarchs), were not perfect people. Our presidents and leaders were and are not perfect people. Far from it. And we can continue to learn from them and from history.  

We need to teach that history. All of that history. We need to teach that Thomas Jefferson had slaves. That he even raped slaves. That he founded a great university but that he had had great debt. That he gave much of his library to settle some debts and others didn’t want to accept it because some of those books should not be read at all and maybe should be burned. https://www.americanheritage.com/jefferson-and-book-burners .  

There has been lots written about cancel culture, rewriting history, teaching it differently, taking down statues, putting others up. There has been lots written about banning books. About rewriting Roald Dahl, how to present a book like Are You There, God, It’s Me Margaret. 

It is important to understand history. It is important to continue to learn about history. Even if the stories as they were presented in elementary school seem to have changed as our knowledge increases. 

I am really clear on these points. I am against book banning and book burning. I am against re-editing books to shield students from uncomfortable truths. Books like To Kill a Mockingbird and Huck Finn are perpetually on banned book lists. Why? Often because it uses the N-word. I am for more knowledge and more understanding of history—and the context that goes with it. Owning slaves, while permissible in Exodus, was not OK in Jeremiah’s day. Owning slaves in Colonial America was wrong. Using the Bible to justify it was wrong. Instituting Jim Crow laws was wrong. But all of that happened. Racism still exists. Books like the 1619 Project and Caste and White Fragility make it abundantly clear. Conversations with friends make it even more poignant and real. Erasing it doesn’t make it not true. 

On this President’s Day we need to be really careful, really, really careful how we treat history. How we teach history. Biblical ‘history” which evolved over time. And American history. And yes, let’s eat a piece of cherry pie. Not because Washington did. Just because it is fun and it gives us an opportunity to have this very discussion. Over pie and maybe hot chocolate.  

Part Two of our Series on Love for February. Delivered Feb 11, 2023

Today is the day we read the 10 Commandments. In Hebrew they are called the Aseret Dibrrot, the 10 Sayings.  

In truth, there are 613 commandments in the Torah, and that can seem overwhelming.  

Are some of them more important than others? Are there any that are missing?  

If you are feeling overwhelmed, it helps to know that some of 613 commandments we no longer have to do. Since the destruction of the Temple, we are not obligated to the commandments that have to do with offerings in the Temple.  

The Talmud describes the commandments this way: 

“R. Simlai said that Moses was instructed to give 613 injunctions to the people. 365 precepts of omission, corresponding to the days of the solar year, and 248 precepts of commission, corresponding to the bones of the human body. David reduced them all to eleven in the fifteenth Psalm: ‘Lord, who shall abide in Your tabernacle, and who shall dwell on Your holy hill? He that walks uprightly,’ etc. The prophet Isaiah reduced them to six (Isa 33:15): ‘He that walks righteously,’ etc. The prophet Micah reduced them to three (Mic 6:8): What does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?’ Isaiah, once more, reduced them to two (Isa 56:1): ‘Keep your judgment and do justice.’ Amos reduced them all to one (Am 5:4): ‘Seek you me, and you shall live.’ But lest it might be supposed from this that God could be found in the fulfilment of God’s whole law only, Habakkuk said (Hab 2:4): ‘The just shall live by his faith. (Makkot 23b) 

Of course, we are familiar with the story of Rabbi Shamai and Rabbi Hillel. 

Once there was a gentile who came before Shammai and said to Shammai: Convert me on condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot. Shammai pushed him away with the builder’s cubit in his hand. The same gentile came before Hillel. He converted him and said to him: That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study. (Shabbat 31a) 

Rabbi Akiva said it slightly differently: 

Rabbi Tanchuma said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Menachem in the name of Rav said… Ben Azzai said: “These are the generations of Adam” is a great principle in the Torah. Rabbi Akiva said: This is a great principle of the Torah: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). Thus, one should not say, “Since I am scorned, I should scorn my fellow as well; since I have been cursed, I will curse my fellow as well.” Rabbi Tanchumah said, if you act thus, realize who it is that you are willing to have humiliated – “the one who was made in the likeness of God.” (Bereshit Rabbah 24:7) 

This quote from Leviticus maybe the missing 10 Commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself. This February we have been looking extensively at three commandments about love. Love the stranger. Love your neighbor. Love G-d. It seems simple, no? 

This week’s focus is on “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We say it every week at the beginning of Shabbat morning services. As Rabbi David Paskin says, it is a kavanah before prayer.  

“I hereby accept upon myself the commandment of The Creator, “To love my neighbor as myself, v’ahavta l’rayecha kamocha.!” 

First, we need to understand the word “raya”. It is most frequently translated as neighbor but can also mean fellow or kin. Some think it only refers to our Israelite neighbor. However, Nehama Leibowitz refutes this. When the Israelites are about to flee Egypt, the Torah teaches, “Let every man ask of רעהו his neighbor and every woman of רעותה her neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold…” (Exodus 11:2) where it clearly refers to the Egyptians. Therefore, the Hebrew word re’a is a neutral and comprehensive term – fellow.  (New Studies in VaYikra (Leviticus), WZO, 1995, pp. 366-367.) 

Does this discussion change our understanding of this pivotal verse found at the very center of the Torah? If we love our neighbor, our fellow our kin, is that how we become holy, because the Lord our G-d is holy? 

It reminds me of the teaching of Hillel in Pirke Avot, “If I am not for myself who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” (Pirke Avot 1:14) 

The second thing and maybe the more important one is we need to love our fellow AS we love ourselves. LIKE we love ourselves. Yes, we are all created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d, with the spark of the divine in us, but we need to love ourselves.  

How do we do this? How do we love our fellow? How do we love ourselves? I believe that the commandments, the 10 we read today and the 613 of the full Torah are a way to demonstrate our love our fellow. It is a recipe of love. Especially the Holiness Code.  

In Hebrew there are two words for love. Ahava, as in V’ahavta and Ahavat Olam and Ahava Rabbah. And Chesed, a word that is difficult to translate, perhaps best as lovingkindness. We are told that the world stand on three things, On Torah, on service and on deeds of lovingkindness. Gemilut chasadim. We know that G-d is full of lovingkindness in the 13 Attributes of the Divine.  

G-d is full of love. Let that sink in. G-d is full of love so we should be full of love.  

“As God clothed the naked, as it is written, ‘And the Adonai G-d made for Adam and his wife cloaks of leather, and he clothed them (Genesis 3:21);’ so you, too clothe the naked. The Blessed Holy One visited the sick, as it is written, ‘And God appeared in Ailonei Mamrei [while Abraam was in pain] (Genesis 18:1);’ so you, too, visit the sick. The Blessed Holy One comforted mourners, as it is written, ‘And it was, after the death of Abraham, and G-d blessed his son Isaac (Genesis 25:11);’ so you, too, comfort mourners. The Blessed Holy One buried the dead, as it is written, ‘And [God] buried [Moses] in the valley (Deuteronomy 34:6);’ so you, too, bury the dead.” (Sotah 14a) 

“These are the obligations without measure, whose reward, too, is without measure: To honor father and mother; to perform acts of love and kindness; to attend the house of study daily; to welcome the stranger; to visit the sick; to rejoice with bride and groom; to console the bereaved; to pray with sincerity; to make peace where there is strife…and the study of Torah is equal to them all, because it leads to them all.” (Talmud, translation from Mishkan Tefilah) 

Both of these are part of Shacharit, the morning service. And they are both a good list as we build our recipe of love. And as Rabbi Harold Kushner has said, “When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel.” 

A more modern list that our Torah School kids came up with might include shoveling your neighbor’s driveway or taking them a basket of goodies you know they would enjoy or walking a dog. Or as one said, just getting to know them and showing them respect.  

But how do we love ourselves? According to Rabbi Harold Kushner, “One of the basic needs of every human being is the need to be loved, to have our wishes and feelings taken seriously, to be validated as people who matter.” 

It seems we cannot begin to love others until we love ourselves. For some that is really hard to do. Loving ourselves and prioritizing our own needs can be challenging. Some of us may not have received the love we deserved as children, and this sets up the stage for difficulty loving ourselves. We may have grown up feeling unlovable, damaged, inadequate or unworthy. We may feel a constant need to prove ourselves. We may suffer and overcompensate with perfectionism, people-pleasing or over-working (Sound like anyone you know?) 

These techniques are rarely effective because love and acceptance have to come from within. It is hard to accept love from others if we don’t feel it ourselves. Unconditional love from others, or G-d, can feel phony and uncomfortable because if we don’t feel loveable, it is hard to believe that others genuinely love us.  

This could be the point where I argue that in this country, we most certainly need better access to mental health services. We do. The news of this week and the very long waiting lists for providers, especially for adolescents would attest to that.  

In the meantime, our commandment urges us to find ways to love ourselves.  

Some steps that might be helpful: 

1. Know yourself. 

1. Say no when you need to. Boundaries are an important part of self care.  

1. Don’t compare yourself to others. You are unique. Others aren’t better or worse. You have value just as you are.  

1. Be truly present and practice mindfulness. There is a reason I begin the Saturday morning service with allowing space for quiet reflection and a reminder that you are a beloved child of G-d. G-d created you and breathed your soul into you. You count. You matter. Just the way you ware.  

1. Practice good self-talk. Did your mom every say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”? Talking nicely about yourself to yourself is important.  

1. Practice gratitude. Modah Ani. I am thankful that I am here. I am thankful that YOU are here. Find three things a day that you are grateful for. 

1. Learn to forgive yourself. For the little day to day things and perhaps the big ones. Kusher says, “But at the end, if we are brave enough to love, if we are strong enough to forgive, if we are generous enough to rejoice in another’s happiness, and if we are wise enough to know that there is enough love to go around for all all, then we can achieve a fullfilment that no other living creature will ever know, we can reenter paradise.” 

V’ahavta l’rayacha kamocha. Love your neighbor as yourself.  

In the category of not taught in rabbinical school. Imagine my surprise when the Executive Assistance to the Superintendent for Board Matters reached out to me. She was in the process of putting together a celebration for Dr. Tony Sanders, the Superintendent of U46 Schools, the second largest school system in the State of Illinois, and headquartered a blook from my office. Tony, everybody calls him Tony, even the 36,000 students, many of whom take to social media to demand a snow day, was recently named as the new Sate Superintendent of Schools. When he was awarded his PhD, I gave him a wall sized poster to color that says, Dream Big. Being State Superintendent and following in his father’s footsteps was apparently his Big Dream. 

What follows are my remarks:

We are here today to bid farewell to a friend, to a tireless worker, to someone who really cares about kids and education. 

Thank you, each of you, for attending, whether you are an elected official, a community leader, a U46 student, parent, or employee, you chose to be here tonight. It means a lot. 

Tony, many times I am called on to write a eulogy. This is not that. You get to hear all the wonderful things people are about to say about you. That is a great thing. 

Recently, before this event was planned, you sent me a list of your accomplishments. We were working on something else entirely. There are many in your nine years. Don’t worry. We are not going to go over the 7 pages. But I wrote back to you and said that you missed one that may be amongst your greatest. Unusual for you, you didn’t answer my email. You might be just a tad busy right now. 

Evelyn helped me find the actual numbers. And in your typical style, as you often do, you credited the people who did the real work: 

“Since the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Food and Nutrition Services Department mobilized to serve more than 7.3 million meals outdoors at school and community sites in snow, sleet, rain and heat between March 2020 and August 2021” 

It is basic Maslow’s pyramid. If you don’t feed hungry kids, they can’t learn.  

And while you were not out there cooking, serving, distributing those meals, leadership begins at the top. If you hadn’t insisted that this was important, critical for everyone in the district during what we call an “unpresented time” our kids and their families would be even further behind. If you hadn’t argued for better school funding and budgeting, the district would be even further behind. If you hadn’t arranged for better internet access and technology, the families would be even further behind. Last week I heard the President of the United States in his State of the Union address promise essentially the same thing.  

“Look, we’re making sure — we’re making sure that every community, every community in America, has access to affordable, high-speed internet. No parent should have to drive by a McDonald’s parking lot to help them do their homework online with their kids, which many thousands were doing across the country.” I smiled when I heard that because I know that you made that possible here in U46.  

You exude joy and warmth, pride in your kids’–and teachers and staff accomplishments—just read his latest post about Bartlet High Speech Competition as an example. Kids want to learn and excel in part because you make it so.  

You have made a lasting difference, a legacy if you will. 

A story that is part of my tradition and is especially apt at this season near Tu B’shevat, the New Year of the Trees. Once Honi was walking and he came across a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked him when the tree would bear fruit. The man answered in seventy years. Honi was not happy with the answer. Like many teachers, parents, administrators, elected officials, he wanted results sooner. The man said simply, much as my ancestors planted for me, so I plant for my children and grandchildren.  

Part of the legacy you leave is with me personally. You have been an important leader, a mentor and a friend. CKI could always count on you. We have discussed educational philosophy. How students, all students learn best. Foreign language acquisition. Diversity. Welcoming Jewish students. Anti-semitism. Racism. Holocaust. Bathrooms for all. Social media. Being accessible and transparent. School safety and security. Books we are reading. Our own life long learning and professional development. When I was announced as the Martin Luther King, jr humanitarian award, it was YOU who led the standing ovation. That took my breath away. We have laughed together and we have cried together. We have worried about individual students and fulfilling the U 46 mission as a whole.  I can see your office from mine. Knowing you were there. Always there. Was a comfort. 

The U 46 Mission states that U46 is “to be a great place for all students to learn, all teachers to teach, and all employees to work. All means all.” 

All means all. Let that sink in. In my tradition we talk about people being created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d. Each person has a spark of the divine. Each student. Each teacher. Each employee, Each parent. All means all. You have lived that.  

And there were any number of Saturday nights when I would message you. You see the policy of CKI is that if U46 is closed, we are closed. That works well during the school week but what about Sunday mornings? What would Tony do? You would graciously answer me, your crazy neighbor, interested in the safety of my students, parents and staff. Until one day my adult daughter said, “Stop bothering Tony. U46 is always closed on Sunday so if your policy is if U46 is closed, CKI is closed, well then…snow day!” So, what about tomorrow? I’ve seen the forecast and people are already cancelling meetings with me. On behalf of your 36,000 students, do you want to call it now? Snow day? (He said no!) 

One of my good friends is a retired elementary school principal and was the “Coordinator of Language Arts & Reading” in Haverhill, a suburb of Boston, a town not unlike Elgin. She served on the State Task Force to improve teaching and learning in Massachusetts. And she is responsible for me having a Masters in Education. (So, a reminder, if the rabbinate doesn’t work out, Tony has always been my back up plan!) She talks about how the principal sets the culture for the school. It is true for the superintendent as well. When my then pre-kindergartener went to visit her school, she introduced her to the school janitor. I can’t run my school without Mr. So and So. You make it clear that every person in U46 counts. The bus drivers, the office workers, the food service people, and yes, the janitors. That is the culture you have set. It is a culture of excellence. And making a difference. She tells the story of the starfish frequently.  

A young girl is walking on the beach with her grandfather. She stoops down, picks up a starfish and throws it back into the sea. The grandfather asks, “what are you doing. You can’t save them all.” She picks up another starfish, throws it back into the ocean and says, “It makes a difference to this one.”   

Tony, you have made a difference to many, many starfish. You have planted for all of our children and grandchildren. All means all.  

There is an old business saying, “Hitch your wagon to a star.” I didn’t know the source. It turns out to be a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of my favorite authors. My lifelong learning for the day. We have been fortunate to hitch our wagon to your star. We all shine more brightly because of you. 

I am excited for you as you move on to be state superintendent of schools. I’m excited for Illinois. The state and our kids will be better because of you. Part of your legacy is the quest for excellence for all. I am delighted that the Board has chosen Dr. Suzanne Johnson to be the interim superintendent. Dr. Johnson, Suzanne, while, you have big shoes to fill, know that my office and my parking lot is always open to you.  

It is my honor to introduce Dr. Ken Arendt as our next speaker.  

This is the month of love. You may think that Valentine’s Day is not a Jewish holiday. It’s not. But the concept that Saint Valentine’s Day enshrines is actually very Jewish. Much of Valentine’s Day is shrouded in myth and legend. There are even at least two saints who were named Valentine. One Vallentine was a priest who continued to perform marriages after Emperor Claudius outlawed marriage because single men made better soldiers. Helping brides and grooms to rejoice in marriage is considered a big mitzvah and is enshrined in the Talmud.  

“These are the obligations without measure, whose reward, too, is without measure: To honor father and mother; to perform acts of love and kindness; to attend the house of study daily; to welcome the stranger; to visit the sick; to rejoice with bride and groom; to console the bereaved; to pray with sincerity; to make peace where there is strife…and the study of Torah is equal to them all, because it leads to them all.” 

~Talmud 

We will look at these texts more next week. Tonight we are starting a three part series on love. I recently took a class on Receiving and Extending Love offered by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. It was about meditating on Ahavah Rabbah, the Great Love prayer, the Sh’ma, G-d’s Oneness and the V’ahavta.  

On this very cold night, I want to address these three prayers. I often see the Sh’ma as the central prayer of Judaism, blanketed, tucked in, surrounded by love. G-d’s love for us by giving us Torah, and our love of G-d with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our everything. 

One day while meditating, my mind wandered, apparently that is quite common, and I remembered that there are three great commandments about love in Judaism. Love the stranger, which on this Refugee Shabbat we will address tonight. Love your neighbor as yourself which we will address next week, and Love G-d, the prayer we know as the V’ahavta. 

The Torah ends with the letter “Lamed” and begins with the letter “Bet” together, they spell Lev, heart. It is part of why we read the Torah every year, so we can go deeper and deeper into this heart. So we can experience love more deeply.  

Tonight, then, we begin to understand more fully the obligation, the commandment to love the stranger, the sojourner, more fully. 36 times according to the Talmud it exhorts us to take care of the widow, the orphan and the stranger. I think precisely because of this week’s Torah portion that reminds us that we need to keep telling the story when we were slaves in the land of Egypt, we were strangers there. We need to remember what that felt like and not do that to others. 

In my own family, this is a commandment that really resonates. Simon’s brothers are both attorneys in Tucson. His brother Fred is an immigration lawyer who spoke with us one year on this very topic. Fred and Trish adopted my nephew Henry after he escaped the killing fields in Cambodia. Fred has worked for HIAS, the Catholic Church, the Epsicopal Church and the Jewish Federation of Tucson all on immigration issues. He is now a judge. Trish has worked with the Catholic Church bringing people to bus stations in Tucson from the southern border. Simon’s mother sponsored any number of immigrants, all of whom attended her funeral in 2009. And I worked for Refugee Immigration Ministry. If you were to ask Fred why he does what he does, it would be a simple answer. Because our borders here in the US were not open during the holocaust. Then you would get a lecture about SS St. Louis being turned away. For him it is a clear mandate.  

It is therefore, my great honor to introduce to you, really to re-introduce Dianha Oretega-Eherth, the executive director of Centro de Informacion, a non-profit agency in Elgin, celebrating its 50th year of working with our Hispanic and Latino immigrants. She was born in Mexico CIty and she herself immigrated to North Dakota as a young child knowing no English. She has served on any number of non-profit agencies and boards, including Elgin Youth Leadership Academy, the Literacy Connection and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission for the City of Elgin. She is a member at Zion Lutheran Church where she teaches Sunday School (and I have taught with her) and now Centro. She says her favorite books are the Red Tent by Anita Diamant. She took such good pictures when Anita was here at the library. and Like Water for Chocolate. I’m sure she would also like On the Chocolate Trail by Rabbi Deborah Prinz.  

From Dianha Ortega-Ehreth, executive director of Centro de Informacion in Elgin, IL 

It is an honor to be here tonight. Thank you to Rabbi Frisch Klein for the invitation. She is an incredible blessing to this community. 

Refugee Shabbat = Prayer for the Refugee … will stick close to the concept of prayer, but will wander around the concept of refugee. 

It’s cold here in Chicagoland, but it is nothing compared to North Dakota. A good day in February in North Dakota means it’s above zero. Once when I was about eight years old, schools actually closed because it was colder than normal – around 30 degrees below zero but with wind chill it was around 80 degrees below zero. My grandmother lived in a house a few blocks away, about a quarter mile drive away from where my mom and I lived. My mom bundled me up in my snowsuit and sent me walking to take some food to my grandmother’s house. Upon arrival to my grandmother’s house, she called my mom and scolded her for sending me out into the cold. My grandmother kept me at her house for three days while school was closed and these were some of the best three days of my childhood. I got to stay inside playing games with my grandmother and getting spoiled by her for three days straight. 

Now imagine being a refugee with no housing, even in El Paso which was really, really cold earlier this year.  

I know how to run a non-profit organization, but I lack legal expertise. So, I am taking an overview of immigration law course right now. 

I am remembering what it’s like to be a student again. The pressure of keeping up with your reading, completing the quizzes, taking notes to reference for my final exam, which I hope to pass. Oh, and stress eating. But I digress. 

A good amount of this course is about legal definitions. 

Refugees and asylum seekers fall into humanitarian protections in this country. Their refugee or asylum status is grated to protect a person who has been persecuted or someone who fears persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, and / or membership in a particular social group or political opinion. 

You may seek refugee status only if you’re outside of the US. 

Asylum seekers meet the definition of a refugee, but are already in the US. 

Both are immigrants. 

And the immigration process – at least, how it functions today – is where immigration court and criminal courts meet. 

If we understand refugees and asylum seekers to be the strangers amongst us, then we know – these are people who God calls us to welcome and accompany. 

But before I talk about how we can do that, I want thank Rabbi Frisch Klein for the list of 36 references in the Torah about welcoming the stranger. (P.S. I’m a Lutheran, and have additional scriptures that emphasize these exact same points, but I haven’t counted them.) 

It struck me, in particular, that many of these references mention the law. “There shall be one law for you AND for the stranger among you.” – Numbers 9:14, Leviticus 24:22, Exodus 12:49, Ezekiel 47:21-22, and more. 

Well, the reason we have immigration lawyers and organizations like Centro today is because …. There are SEPARATE laws for “strangers” than there are for “non-strangers.” MANY laws. Complicated laws. And they CHANGE. And sometimes they repeat themselves ….as Rabbi reminded me that the borders were not open during the holocaust. 

So … if this crazy “same law for you and the stranger” idea was to be actually followed, this country would put a lot of people out of work.government agency employees, immigration lawyers and me. And I’ve always believed that non-profit organizations anyway should be in the business of putting themselves out of work. After all, many non-profits exist – in no small part – because the world is broken. 

Back to how we welcome and accompany. This is Centro’s business. We welcome, we serve, in our mission statement we use the verb “to empower.” 

It takes awhile to do this work. It takes awhile – often years – for “the stranger” to not feel like or be treated like “a stranger” anymore. Many of our clients have been living here for years, many are NOT new arrivals, and yet, they struggle. They struggle with paying for rent or for food. They can’t afford lawyer fees, and guess what, some of the more complicated cases, they require a lawyer. Some clients don’t have health insurance. They are learning English….. and English is HARD, especially for adults. They all want to work. Some of not permitted to work. Like any human, they have childhood memories from where they came. Many of them miss their families, they miss feeling secure about their futures. These struggles chip away at a person’s sense of personal power. 

Empowering them means giving them food, letting them they are eligible for a financial benefit and helping them apply for it. Empowering them means giving them information, navigating them through various systems so that they can …. Live long, life happily. Centro has thousands of “closed cases” …. People who were helped in a time of crisis or people who have completed the long road to citizenship. But we have many continuing and new “open cases.” 

There are many organizations, individuals and faith groups in this community to help do this kind of work. It takes ALL of us. 

Centro has been around more than 50 years, and I take credit for none of it. Right now, I am learning how to better equip my team, how to help the helpers. The helpers at Centro welcome more helpers. I welcome your help, and your prayers and your advocacy efforts on behalf of all strangers – old and new. 

So – because this is SHABBAT, I offer this prayer: 

May we empower the strangers amongst us, may we encourage an equal application of the law, may we move towards closing more crisis cases until we don’t need organizations like Centro anymore. Amen.  

“Feed the birds, tuppence a bag
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag
Feed the birds,” tuppence a bag
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag.”–Mary Poppins 

This is the Shabbat where we are commanded to feed the birds. It is Shabbat Shirah, the Sabbath of Song. The Shabbat where we read, really sing, two songs, the Song at the Sea and the Song of Deborah.
Both are known as two of the oldest pieces of Scripture. Song helps us to remember the important message.  

In terms of the Song at the Sea. We are to see ourselves as if we went forth from Egypt, out of the narrow places, out of slavery itself, into the Promised Land. We, then walked through the Sea of Reeds. We all stood at Sinai. Not just our ancestors, but we ourselves. And our children yet unborn. 

Walking through the Sea took courage. We remember the story of Nachson ben Aminadav who stuck his toe into the Sea and waded up to his nostrils before the sea parted.  

When we got to the other side, to the Shores of the Sea, we had a mixture of emotions. Fear, relief, amazement, awe, thanksgiving and gratitude. We broke into jubilant song. The introduction in our siddur says, “Anu shirah b’simcha rabah, We sang this song with great joy.” The song includes: “Ozi v’zimrat ya. G-d is my might and my strength and my song. G-d is my deliverer. This is my G-d. Who is like you amongst all the gods that are worshipped. Who is like You, doing wonders.”  

The answer to that question, “Who is like You,” is at the beginning of the Torah service. “Ain Kamocha, No one is like You. G-d reigned. G-d reigns and G-d will reign forever and ever. “  

In every generation, people write new music for our liturgy. The psalms even tell us to Sing unto G-d a new song. (Psalm 96, Psalm, 98) Debbie Friedman, z”l even set that to music. (Sing here, Sing Unto God – Debbie Friedman & the Highland Park Senior High Camerata (1973) 

In every adult study class this week I asked two things. Favorite ice cream flavor since it is National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day and works with the Birthday Kiddush. It turns out to be Neapolitan for those of you who can’t make up your mind, which goes with the idea of freedom. You are free to pick your ice cream. Second question: your favorite Mi Chamocha which might be the High Holy Day one, The nusach for the High Holy Days is designed to be regal, to coronate the King, the Ruler, the Sovereign, the One who will rule forever and ever. It fits the emotion that the Israelites must have felt when they reached the other side of the sea. It echoes for all eternity just like G-d. 

My favorite one is probably the Debbie Friedman one that goes with her composition “Miriam’s Song”. And the women dancing with their timbrals. Mi chamocha b’aleim Adonai.” Mi Chamocha (Friedman) 

Make no mistake, the woman celebrated their freedom. They knew enough to bring their tofim, their timbrals, their drums. They sang. They danced. Their voices were heard. As were Shifrah and Puah who rescued the baby Israelite boys. As was Deborah who commanded the well to spring up. Debbie Friedman set that to music too. And Hannah, who prayed for a child, even though her mouth was not moving, and Eli thought she was drunk. As was Ruth and Esther. So, when people say, here in the United States or in Israel, that women’s voices should not be heard I cringe. And feel compelled to speak out. Which is definitely a subtext of Mary Poppins and the mother’s role as a suffragette.  

For those of you who look for how we relate the text to our lives today, this is one critical way.  

Another way is in how we respond to freedom. Rabbi Shoshana Perry, who supervised my internship at Congregation Shalom, used to say that with freedom comes responsibility. She didn’t like the upbeat Mi Chamocha tunes. It didn’t carry the gravitas that comes with freedom and responsibility. 

We know that from these very verses that we do have responsibilities. We are to praise G-d. To remind people that there is no one like G-d. We are to tell people that. Like Chanukah, we are to publicize the miracle.  

Some other favaorites:

Mi Chamocha- Hebrew Song- A capella 

 https://www.google.com/search?q=mi+chamocha&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS912US927&sxsrf=AJOqlzWzkdh4U-b1-r_pdRHEfohDMlwkYg:1675516162731&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpvceN-Pv8AhWNjIkEHR1wCMAQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1630&bih=834&dpr=1.6#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:e9146ef0,vid:WWmlM4Cm968  

Mi Chamocha 

 https://www.tisrael.org/mi-chamocha/  

And we are to remember. We are to remember that we were slaves in Egypt. That we were strangers in a strange land. And with that, as we studied last night, 36 times in Torah we are exhorted, commanded to love the stranger, the sojourner. 

There is to be one law for Israelite and Ger, alike. We are to leave the corners of our field for the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the most marginalized amongst us, the ones who cannot provide for themselves. We are to offer hospitality, like Abraham and Sarah did with their tent open on all four sides.  

Do not ill-treat a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in Egypt. Exodus 22:20-21: 

Leviticus 19: 34: “When a stranger lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” 

This is a lot of responsibility. I wonder sometimes why it tells us over and over again to take care of the stranger. The talmud actually argues with itself. Of course. It has been taught: R. Eliezer the Great said: Why did the Torah warn against the wronging of a stranger in thirty-six or as others say, in forty-six places? Because he has a strong inclination to evil. (Bava Metzia 59b) 

Is it 36 or 46? Surprisingly, while the Talmud is really good at giving us the textual contexts, the original footnotes, it does not here. So as part of my internship with Refugee Immigration Ministry, I built a list. That’s what Dianha Ortega Ereth, executive director of Centro de Informacion was referring to last night when speaking for Refugee Shabbat. We have a responsibility to welcome the stranger, to love the stranger, precisely because we were strangers in the land of Egypt!

Why 36? Not, I believe, because it is a nice Jewish number representing double chai, life times two. No rather, because this is a difficult commandment that the Israelites struggled with and needed to be reminded of over and over and over again. (Maybe like ground hog day!?) Don’t eat pork? No problem! It only needs to tell us twice. Take care of others? 36 or 46 times! It’s like we have to be hit over the head to remember this.  

When the Israelites finally left Egypt, they left as a mixed multitude, an erev rav. Who were these people that chose to flee Egypt with the Israelites. There are several interpretations. Maybe they were slaves, exclusively Egyptian or the result of mixed marriages. Perhaps they were mercenaries that had intermarried with the Israelites and thus provided the arms suggested in Exodus13:18. In any case, we are told that 600,000 men over 20 left Egypt. The estimate is that the total number was closer to two million. Men, women, children and those part of the mixed multitude.  

But what about those birds. Why are we commanded to feed them today? Because they chirp most at dawn and remind us of G-d’s ongoing miracles. The sun really did come up this morning.  

There are five classic texts. (See below for full references.)  

Freedom. Responsibility. Take the first step. Speak out. Remember we were slaves, strangers in the land of Egypt. Love the sojourner. And yes,,,feed the birds. But not bread. Not good for them. 

 References for feeding the birds for further study:

1) R. Rafael Meizlish (18th century) and R. Yehiel Michal Epstein (1829-1908), in their defense of the custom, say that there is a popular saying among the masses that the birds sang at the Sea and we are therefore grateful to them. Thus, the purpose of feeding them is to remember the joy of Shirat Hayam and therefore we have no halakhic objection to feeding the birds. In other words, we feed the birds in order to thank them for singing at the Sea. 

2) Another explanation says that we feed the birds kashe (buckwheat) on Shabbat Shirah because they are called ba’ale hashir (the singers). No creature can sing like a bird because they rule the air, and music is created by the flow of air (Bet Aharon quoted by Sefer Hamatamim). 

3) Rabbi Eliyahu Ki Tov says that the birds receive their reward on Shabbat Shirah for the songs which they utter to God every day, and when we recite our Song, we remember their songs. 

4) Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Hatam Sofer (Pressburg, 1762-1839) says that this custom is based on the verse in our parashah (Exodus 16:32) “In order that they may see the bread which I fed you” i.e. that future generations should see that when you trust in God with your whole heart, he provides food as he did for the children of Israel in the desert. We feed the birds on Shabbat Shirah in order to say that if the Jewish people, who are compared to a bird, will devote themselves to Torah and mitzvot, then God will provide them food without toil. 

5) The most well-known explanation is that given by Rabbi Avraham Eliezer Hirshowitz (quoting Ma’aseh Alfass). He reports that it says “in the Yalkut” on Exodus 16:27 “And behold on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather [manna] and did not find any”. Why does it say “and did not find any”? Because Datan and Aviram went out on Friday night outside the camp and spread some manna, in order to make Moshe a liar, since he said there would be no manna on Shabbat. They then said to the people: go out and see that there is manna in the fields! Therefore, some people went out to gather, but found nothing because the birds had eaten the manna which Datan and Aviram had strewn about. We give them their reward on Shabbat Shirah since we also read the story of the manna on that day. 

So says “the Yalkut”, but as Rabbi Menahem Mendel Kasher points out, this midrash is not found in Yalkut Shimoni or any other collection of midrash. Indeed, in Sefer Matamim it is quoted in the name of Rabbi Bunim of Parsischa, while in Sefer Ta’amey Haminhagim it is quoted in the name of the Holy Seer of Lublin. Therefore, this midrash is really a hassidic explanation from the nineteenth century. 

https://schechter.edu/why-is-shabbat-shirah-for-the-birds/