Herzl's Kids

An interesting piece of T’shuvah, repentance/forgiveness recently caught my attention. Two of Theodor Herzl’s children were reinterred in Jerusalem after decades of debate.

Hans and Pauline Herzl, who died in 1930 and were buried in France, were laid to final rest alongside the founder of modern Zionism in the cemetery that carries his name in Israel’s capital, Har Herzl. Herzl, who died in 1904, had said that he wanted to be buried next to his children. But Israeli authorities, after reinterring Herzl himself in 1949, were reluctant to do the same for Hans and Pauline given the controversy surrounding their deaths. Pauline died of a drug overdose in what might have been a suicide, prompting her brother to shoot himself. Hans´ conversion to Christianity shortly before his death further stoked religious opposition to his burial in Israel. But rabbis recently ruled that Hans had disavowed Christianity before dying, and that Pauline’s demise was a result of mental disturbance.

At the cemetery, next to the grave that is visited by nearly every tourist who comes to Jerusalem (including everyone who has ever taken a trip with me) Ehud Olmert said: “Having brought in the remains of Pauline and Hans, we are completing the mission and achieving historical closure.”

Even in death there is room for T’shuvah, which literally means “return”. Returning Herzl’s heirs to their father’s side, in the land of his dreams, reflects Israel’s true intent: Which is to create a Jewish homeland for all, even those who have strayed from the pathways of tradition. Israel is truly the site for the ingathering of the exiles.

Groundbreaking Dedication

This past Sunday, with over 500 in attendance, we formally broke ground on our new synagogue building. It was a lovely day. The children sang, dignitaries spoke, and I was honored to give the invocation.

The following is the text of what I said:

Eighty five years ago, our spiritual forebearers, bold men and women of vision, stood together to dedicate the first congregation Beth El, then in Camden New Jersey. Many of them were recent immigrants, or the children of European parents. Fate had brought them to South Jersey, but a sense of destiny had led them to put down roots. Then, 39 years ago, in response to the growth that had stemmed from those roots, construction began on a new Beth El, one that would build on the vision of those who had come before. And now, two generations later, we are the branches that grow from the Etz Chayim, the Tree of Life, that is Beth El. The buds and flowers that will emerge from the branches will be the next generation of Jewish leaders, those who will someday thank us for the effort we are about to undertake. On September 13, 1998 we dedicated our new school building with an enrollment of about 200. today we have over 600 children under our tutelage and care – and we are just getting started.

It is with great humility that I, as Spiritual Leader of this great and mighty congregation, offer the following prayer of invocation and consecration:

Almighty Gd, and Gd of our Ancestors:
We have come here today to hallow Your name by breaking ground on this site for a Bet Kinneset dedicated to You. In this most significant hour, we invoke Your blessings upon the work of our hands.

Thirty centuries ago, You commanded our ancestors, ”V’Asoo Lee mikdash….”
“Make for Me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst.” From that day to this, their descendants have established houses of worship wherever they dwelled. We recall today those who built the First and Second Temples. We remember those who built the simple shuls of Europe as well as the many lavish congregations destroyed by enemies of our People in ancient times and not so very long ago. Our success will be their victory – the triumph over death that only spiritual life can bring.

This morning we of this community, young and old, have gathered to take the first step in the physical construction of a magnificent new building, with the hope of consecrating it to You, our Torah, and Your Holy People. Fully do we realize the magnitude of this undertaking; well do we comprehend the tremendous responsibilities we have assumed by beginning this work. Grant us Your assistance to complete this work, for the glory of your name and the sake of Israel.

We consecrate this site as Admat Kodesh, sacred ground, whereupon we shall endeavor to perpetuate and vitalize the faith we have inherited – for ourselves, for our children, and for future generations of Jews. We are thankful, dear Gd, for the spirited men and women who have given their support thus far in our labors; for the many of our community who have responded enthusiastically to our call and made possible the genesis of this holy work.

Bless all those whose shared vision has helped to make this moment possible. May this momentous occasion inspire all of us to continue our efforts with love and devotion until we have completed that which we have begun today. May we work together to create a home in which You, and we are truly blessed. AMEN.

European T'shuvah

We are now in the heart of T’shuvah season. This is the time of repentance, T’shuvah. But really, T’shuvah means “return”. With Gd’s help, and our own decisive will, we return to what’s right. Gd had a plan for the world, one that He tries to maintain. But we fallible humans stray from the plan, diverge from the path. This time of years we Jews seek to realign our lives to the natural path of growth and productivity that our Creator has in store for us.

History was made yesterday as the Jewish community of Germany returned to the path of Jewish productivity it was supposed to have before the Nazis came to power. Prior to the War, there were 500,000 Jews in Germany. Just before German unification, there were only 30,000. Prior to the War, hundreds of Rabbis were trained and ordained in Germany for service to their Jewish community. Since the War – ZERO. Until yesterday. In a Dresden synagogue built in 2001, poignantly placed adjacent to the site of a shul destroyed on Kristallnacht, three Reform Rabbis were ordained. Two of them will stay and minister to Germany’s Jews. The third will return to his native South Africa. As the Jewish population of Germany grows (it’s now over 100,000), more Rabbis will be trained to serve the unique needs of their community.

To me, there was something strangely beautiful about this ceremony yesterday. I believe it represents the power of T’shuvah on a national scale. I know there are plenty of cynics out there, but I for one appreciate the great lengths that the German people have gone to in T’shuvah for the Holocaust. The fact that their hate crime laws are far tougher than ours; the fact that more than 50 years after the fact, they are just now beginning to show some national pride (remember the World Cup), and the fact that this ordination was big news in Germany, all point to the power of Return, of T’shuvah to what is right, just and moral. I think that Germany can serve as a model for other European countries, especially France – because that country is yet to do the T’shuvah that will make it a safer place for Jews, minorities, and, indeed all its citizens.

The Commandment to Get Involved

I grew up near the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia. My elementary school, Thomas K. Finletter was only a mile or so from the Fern Rock movie theatre. It was near that theatre that a horrible double murder took place last night. It breaks my heart to think that the neighborhood where I rode my bike as a kid is not even safe for people to walk through.

This crime was particularly heinous. A man raped a woman in an alley, a couple came to her aid, and both of the people trying to help were killed. One of the many tragedies related to this incident is the fact that good people may now be less likely to get involved in helping others in need.

This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tay-tzay, can be read like Aesops’s Fables. Why? Because the Torah gives examples of how we human beings are supposed to treat animals. For instance, we are told we cannot yolk an ox and a donkey together. We are also taught that we cannot take both the mother and the young bird from a nest, but must shoo the mother away. And, we are commanded that when we see someone’s animal fall, we must help him to get the animal back on its feet.

What makes it like Aesop’s Fables? The moral lesson each verse teaches. Tradition says that we learn how to treat others by first trying to treat animals fairly. If we need to be kind to them, how much more so does Gd expect us to be kind to our fellow human beings. A donkey and an ox should not have to do the same job. (We should be careful when we have expectations of others that are “one size fits all”. It’s not always fair.) The bird needs to be sent away. (We should learn to appreciate the unique love of parents for their children, especially if we are in a position of instructing the child or sharing with a parent information he/she does not really want to hear.) And finally, we are supposed to help animals that have fallen. (How much more so are we expected to reach out to people in need.)

I look at what has become of my old neighborhood and I cringe. So much crime! But then I think about the couple that did get involved. It was their neighborhood, too. That neighborhood is full of good, caring people. We need to work together to make sure that they can feel safe; safe and secure enough to know that getting involved is really the right thing to do. And it starts by understanding what Gd really expects of each us. For yea, though we walk through the shadow of death, Gd is with us. I hope our city makes it safe enough for Gd to walk the streets.