An Update and a D'Var Torah...

Today is my last full day before I begin the life of an HUC student. While I still don't start classes for a while, tomorrow is the first day of orientation. Not much has happened this past week, now that I am more settled in: I have gone on a couple of smallish tours, hung out with friends, and generally just got more accustomed to life in Israel...which will of course all change when I'm not sleeping in every day and going out every night, once classes begin.

Jeff, Nicole, and I held Kabbalat Shabbat at our apartment Friday night. About 15 people came, and it was fantastic. We led a great service, with Jeff playing guitar (and I assisted a bit), Nicole as the MC, and me giving the D'Var Torah (more on that later). Everyone brought food for a potluck, which was delicious, and then we just sang songs and shmoozed for a few hours. Once again, it was truly magical being in a place where everyone wants to sing and pray together.

Saturday morning I went to Shabbat services at HUC, followed by a nap. This weekend was alumni weekend, and so in the afternoon there was a seminar on spiritual care and counseling. While it wasn't totally relevant to us incoming students who have yet to have any training on counseling, at the same time it was still useful, and I hope to combine it with my later studies on the subject. Following the seminar was a Seudah Sh'lishit, and Havdallah, which was amazing: Rabbi Kenny Chasen led us, along with some HUC students, and then we finished alone after everyone left with some more singing.

So far it's been great--and the year has barely begun! I look forward to learning more and studying with all of my fellow students.

Finally, here's a more organized version of the D'Var Torah I gave Friday night:

Last week's portion was Balak, in which Balak, King of Moab, saw that the Israelites had defeated other kings and so he asked Balaam to curse them. Balaam refuses, saying that he can only do what God tells him to, and so each time that Balaam goes to curse them, he instead blesses them. While traditional Judaism often paints him as a wicked man, because he tries to curse them even though he doesn't, at the same time he is one of only seven gentile prophets.

This idea--that a non-Israelite, or a non-Jew--could be a prophet, really stuck out to me. In my mind, it shows that it doesn't quite matter to God whether or not your are Jewish or not; either way, you can still connect with God; you can still be a good person or not; and you can still find a place in this world or the next.

I recently read a story about a state law that was passed in Louisiana which essentially allows state funding that would normally go to public schools to be put aside for vouchers, which private (including religious) schools can then use to help students attend their schools. Besides the obvious problem of a lack of separation of church and state, the story gets worse: one of the state legislators, upon hearing that a Muslim school was applying for the vouchers, said, "Unfortunately it [the voucher program] will not be limited to the Founders’ religion...We need to insure that it does not open the door to fund radical Islam schools. There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently. I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.” You can find articles on the story here and here.


For me, this story reflected the opposite of the message of the parsha: that this legislator, like many in America--and the world--are not tolerant.


On one of the tours this week, Udi, our Israeli intern, took us to a place called Gesher. In Hebrew, gesher means bridge, and the name is very fitting for what they do. Unlike many groups which serve to make peace and find tolerance between Jews and Arabs or between Israel and the outside world, Gesher serves within Judaism: to make peace between secular and religious Jews, between the Orthodox and the non-Orthodox, etc. While I'm not sure how much I will end up being involved with this group, it once again struck me that despite this teaching of the parsha, there is still much intolerance in the world.


There is intolerance, there is bigotry, there is prejudice--and we all can be like this. Even me.


I knew coming into this program that we would all be from different backgrounds. Many students had the "typical" Reform youth: growing up at URJ camps, being involved with NFTY, etc. Many students have had actual full-time jobs at synagogues, and many have had Jewish internships. And many do not fit these categories. Some, for example, might have worked at a rock gym...


Yet despite knowing that everyone would be different and come from different places--and be at different places in their lives--I found myself not as open as I had thought I would be. I judged people based on first impressions; I judged people based on how they interacted during official meetings, or during those sort-of-awkward meeting-for-the-first-time events. Not that I was that bad, but I did let first impressions affect me. And I realized something: while we are all going to be Jewish professionals, we are not there yet. Sometimes we will have to put on an air of professionalism. But right now, when we are together as students--well, then we can relax.


And so for me, this parsha helped open my eyes to the fact that everyone here is different, and yet everyone is equal in God's eyes. That I should not base my knowledge of someone on what little information I have. And my challenge to all of you is to do the same: stop judging on first (or even second or third) impressions; remember you might not know the whole story.


Shavua tov!