TILT – what’s happening

Greetings.

TILT is now looking at the weekly Torah portion. In theory we look at the portion to be read the following Saturday, although some trips to visit my grandson and family have pushed us back a week. This week, March 20, we looked at two portions to catch up: Vayikra and Tzav—the first two parshiot of Leviticus (1:1 – 8:36).

Over the past few months, we have read most of Exodus and I’ve shared a lot of what I found in The Midrash Says – The Book of Sh’mos by Rabbi Rabbi Weissman. I’ve also used The Five Books of Miriam: A Women’s Commentary on the Torah edited by Ellen Frankel. Everett Fox’s translation of The Five Books of Moses is another favorite source. And I recommend Nahum Sarna’s Exploring Exodus. We try to use as many different translations as there are participants since translation is commentary. I stress that there is no one “right” way to interpret the text, while showing what the rabbinic tradition has read into and pulled out of the text.

For example, last week (March 20), I explained that men gave their jewelry to make the golden calf, but the women refused to do so, not out of vanity but because they did not approve, and so, in recognition of their piety, Rosh Hodesh (the day celebrating the beginning of each Jewish month) became a women’s holiday. Someone pointed out the minor problem that this is not to found in the Biblical text. She was not convinced by the fact that the Hebrew text says the men gave their jewelry, since Hebrew uses the masculine plural to mean both men and women. And I’m sure there are other instances where tradition insists that women are included when the text says men. This led to a discussion of the Oral Torah and the Written Torah and their relative value in Jewish tradition. I love that the text is a living and growing entity.

Reading Esther

In honor of Purim, TILT (Temple Israel Library Talks) on Wednesday, February 27, at 1:30 pm in the Temple Israel library will focus on Megillat Esther (the book/scroll of Esther).

Every year I notice something new. This year I’ve noticed that there are two parties held by the king at the beginning of the book and two parties held by Esther at the end. Also, there’s an awful lot of asking other people for advice and I’m not sure it’s all for the best.

What have you noticed?

Please share.

And Happy Purim!

A new year

Greetings. This year’s format is different. Temple Israel of Westport is doing One Book / One Congregation, in which everyone is invited to read the same book and participate in discussions. My TILT (Temple Israel Library Talks) programs on Wednesday afternoons will use the five parts of the book as monthly themes.

The OB/OC book chosen is  I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl. The first part of the book, “Identity,” is the inspiration for four talks on different ways that we express our identity.

My current plan is to list the material I use to start our discussion along with some brief comments. Not all the books are in the Temple Israel Library; in fact, not all the books have an obvious Jewish connection.

Please, please, add to the conversation.

To catch up, here is what I’ve done so far:

• October 10: Religion—the major three or four Jewish movements as well as Humanistic Judaism, Havurot, spirituality
  • used an assortment of Haggadot from various movements

• October 17: Social activism—helping others, saving the world, Jewish organizations, politics, Tikkun Olam
  • Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother — helping friends and family
  • Martha Alexander’s We’re in Big Trouble, Blackboard Bear — helping friends, repairing relationships, righting wrongs
  • William Steig’s Doctor De Soto — helping enemies
  • Louise Pfanner’s Louise Builds a House — creating and sharing
  • Daniel Pinkwater’s The Big Orange Splot — creating and sharing, mentoring
  • Mark Podwal’s  Golem: A Giant Made of Mud — politics, helping others, saving the world

• October 24: Artistic expression—movies, television, music, art, humor, Hiddur Mitzvah
  • Strictly Ballroom
    • This is about many things, but one of them is the desire to create new steps, even if it means challenging existing systems. I maintain that this movie is, in part, about how organized religions can stifle the original transcendent moments that led to their existence. I got this idea from Abraham Joshua Heschel; I hope that is what he meant.
  • Tootsie with Dustin Hoffman
    • A lot of Jewish talent went into this movie that is not only funny, but also message-driven.
  • Waiting for Guffman by the Lead Guitarist of “Spinal Tap”
    • The drive to express oneself artistically is not limited to the talented. There is a Jewish dentist, whose wife has a necklace with a Hebrew word worn backwards.
  • Gershwin plays Gershwin [CD]
    • Jews as outsiders in outsider culture, such as movies and popular music. The Marx Brothers always seemed to have a serious musical interlude in their movies.
  • To Every Thing There is a Season by Leo and Diane Dillon
    • It’s a beautiful book based on the song based on some of the words from Ecclesiastes (Kohelet); the pictures are in styles from many times and places. My link to the topic is that Jews have always interacted with the society around them.
  • My Editor by M.B. Goffstein
    • A short, illustrated book about the creative process and the value of editing.
  • The Mousewife by Rumer Godden with pictures by William Pène Du Bois
    • It’s here because I like it. A married mouse befriends a dove and discovers an exciting world beyond her ordinary existence. Experiencing good art has a similar effect.
  • Joseph Who Loved the Sabbath retold by Marilyn Hirsh, illustrated by Devis Grebu
    • An example from the Talmud of how Hiddur Mitzvah (performing a mitzvah as beautifully / well as possible) leads to tangible gains, which Joseph shares with his community.
  • A Gift for Mama by Esther Hautzig, illlustrated by Donna Diamond
    • What is valuable? What is beautiful? Sara wants to buy lovely slippers for her mother; Mama wants Sara to make something.
  • The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater
    • Inspired by the splot on his roof, Mr. Plumbeam makes his house reflect his dreams and then convinces his neighbors to be equally creative, each in his own way.
  • The Ugly Menorah by Marissa Moss
    • What is beautiful? Her grandparents’ menorah appears ugly until she understands its origin.
  • Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
    • She travels the world sharing beauty.
  • A Cloak for the Moon retold by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Katya Krenina
    • A beautifully illustrated book of a Rabbi Nachman story of a tailor who travels far to make an cloak that can expand and contract (wax and wane) for the moon. No, I don’t really understand the mystical significance of it.
  • The Sign Painter by Allen Say
    • A young man chooses between the security of working for a sign painter and traveling on to create his own art. There is a subplot about someone else’s dream.
  • Hanna’s Sabbath Dress by Itzhak Schweiger-Dmitel, illustrated by Ora Eitan
    • There are values more important than keeping a new, beautiful dress clean. I’m reminded of Frank Crawley left-handed compliment in Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca,

” … kindliness, and sincerity, and if I may say so—modesty—are worth far more to a man, to a husband, than all the wit and beauty in the world.” [p. 132 of my copy]

Receiving Revelation

What happened at Mt. Sinai? Who was there? How does it affect us here today? I find the contrast between the Shavuot Torah reading (Exodus 19 and 20) and Haftarah (Ezekiel 1:1-28, 3:12) revealing. The Torah reading focuses on the Ten Commandments—a short, straightforward list of things to do or not do—while the Haftarah is Ezekiel’s vision of indescribable heavenly creatures. While visions inspire us, we also need guidance about how to live the rest of time. Or, while intense moments are wonderful, we also need a way to connect during ordinary, everyday moments. Do the Ten Commandments provide that for you?

What about the 613 commandments that may have been given at Sinai? Where does that number come from? One nice Midrash explains that it is the sum of the number of days in a year plus the number of bones in a human body; in other words, you should obey the mitzvot / connect to God completely all the time. As to who was there, I like the idea that all Jews of all times—that means me now—were standing at Sinai. In fact, I believe that the Sinai experience is the moment when we become a Jewish people. I want to explain this further on Wednesday. I hope you can make it.

Pirke Avot translations

Pirke Avot is mostly a collection of sayings from the rabbis of old. It it still widely studied because the sayings still have meaning and it is popular because it consists of many short, standalone aphorisms. We have several versions of the book in our library. Wisdom of the Jewish sages: a modern reading of Pirke avot, by Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro, is small enough to fit in your pocket and, even so, has more white space on each page than print. Rabbi Shapiro has translated and interpreted the ancient text in a way that is most meaningful to him and, he hopes, to other modern readers. He has removed some of the sexist language and, interestingly, translated Torah as Reality. It is worth reading in its own right, but even more interesting to compare to traditional translations and commentaries.
The other way to make Pirke Avot contemporary is to add enough commentary so that some of it will relate to you. Rav Lau on Pirkei Avos : a comprehensive commentary on Ethics of the Fathers does this. It is three volumes filled with commentaries and stories from Jewish tradition. Unlike Rabbi Shapiro, Rabbi Lau keeps the comment in Pirke Avot about not engaging in small talk with women, but then explains why it can be seen in a complementary way.
Try both versions and see which you prefer.

Yom Ha’atzmaut readings

Yom Haatzmaut, Israel Independence Day, is this week. To celebrate, eat a felafel, buy something from Israel and read a book about it. If you search for “Israel” in our online catalog, not surprisingly, you max out the number of results at 200.  One book that caught my interest is Israel 50. It is a large colorful book done in a newspaper format that covers the first 50 years of the modern state of Israel. We also have  Chronicles: News of the Past, a two-volume collection of “newspapers” purportedly from a few thousand years ago, that makes the history of ancient Israel come alive—at least to generations who got their news from newspapers.

And we have many more books with more in-depth information and insights on a multitude of topics: go to our online catalog for an extensive reading list of books on Israel. Check them out!

Using fantasy and objects to in Holocaust books for children

There are hundreds of books for children about the Holocaust. The Diary of Anne Frank has been mentioned as a book that no child should miss. Recommended books range from the graphic depiction of life and death in Elie Wiesel’s Night (1958) to the brief mention of numbers tattooed on a survivor’s arm in Patricia Lakin’s Never Forget (1994). Some authors try to create a safe(r) distance between the reader and the events of the Holocaust by:

• using a non-realistic framework as fairy tales do,
• focusing on an object or ritual use of an object instead of people,
• writing about those who lived out the war in remote or relatively safe parts of the world.

The picture books I want to discuss this Wednesday use these techniques.

An interesting study could be made of the messages contained in Holocaust literature over the years. Is the Holocaust the story of the innocent victims? Of the heroic struggle to maintain one’s humanity in the death camps? Of the brave partisans who fought back? Of those who managed to escape the death camps only to endure hardships in remote locations? Of the righteous people who unselfishly risked or gave up their own lives to save others? Of the brave leaders who chose to help? Of the governments who chose not to? Of the great heights or depths that ordinary people can reach in the face of extraordinary circumstances? Of the effect of such barbarity on the lives of those not directly involved? Of the ultimate triumph of goodness? Of the absence of justice in the world? Of the banality of evil? Of the death of God?

Is it even possible to find meaning in the events of the Holocaust? Should we? Or is the Holocaust proof that life is at best meaningless? Do we continue to teach our children that the world is fundamentally a good place with kind people? Or is the world chaotic and the only meaning it has is whatever we choose to impose on it?

The meaning, or lack thereof, that we get from the Holocaust depends on how we approach it. Do we believe that undeserved suffering is good or bad? What religious values, if any, do we want to affirm? Is forgiveness always possible? Is it ever possible? Do we do unto others as they have done unto us? Or—the logical inverse— do we not do unto others what we do not want them to do to us? I.e., do we believe in revenge as so many people have in so many places for so many centuries; or do we try to create a world where the Holocaust will never happen again? (Obviously I believe in the latter.)

What meaning is imposed on the Holocaust by the very act of writing about it? When we read a first-person narrative of a survivor, do we take comfort in the many people who survived? When we read about narrow escapes and building successful lives do we remember those who were broken and slaughtered? Do we see the luck of living as a sign of special intelligence or worth? Stories, including history, impose meaning on events. They create order from chaos by picking and choosing facts. If the very act of creating a story is life-affirming, how does reading a story about death affect our understanding of what happened?

The enormity of the destruction of millions of people and the death of centuries-old cultures is mind-numbing. Human beings are not built to comprehend the death of over one million Jewish children, but we can mourn the death of one young girl when she becomes alive to us by reading her diary. The books I want to discuss this week touch, usually very gently, on some of the questions I’ve raised.

Szyk Haggadah

What first attracted me to this Haggadah is the intricate and colorful artwork. It is a beautiful book. But it is not only that: the text matters as well as the pictures. Remember, the pictures were made to enhance the words. The words came first. 

 

What is new to this edition are the commentary and the translation by Byron L. Sherwin and Irvin Ungar; oh, and the paper is shinier and larger. Our library also has the older, smaller version edited by Cecil Roth with a different translation and commentary. And there is, of course, the artist’s own commentary: every picture tells a story—Szyk’s art is his interpretation of the text. His luxurious work is fitting for a festive meal. His modern and ancient clothing makes the ancient story of Passover relevant to the 1930s, when he created this Haggadah.

 

Caged Birds

The Kingdom of Singing Birds by Miriam Aroner, with illustrations by Shelly O. Haas, is a story about Rabbi Zusya.  Zusya  was a Hasidic rabbi who famously said that when he was called to account for what he had done in his life, he was not worried that he would be asked why he was not Moses, but rather that he would be asked why he was not Zusya.

In this lovely picture book for children, a king has inherited a marvelous collection of birds, but is concerned that they don’t sing. Rabbi Zusya—to give it all away—explains that the king must open the birds’ cages if he wants them to sing. The king is worried that the birds will fly away, but, in fact, while some birds do, even more come to the kingdom. All of them sing.

To me the story is about Jewish observance. The king carefully observes the commandments he has learned from his father(s); he has built a strong fence around the law. But, while he makes sure that everything is done correctly, there is no  inspiration or joy or understanding in his observance. He is not motivated to do more good deeds or contemplate spiritual thoughts. The solution is not to get rid of the birds, but to give them the opportunity to move about in the outside world and return to the palace as they wish. The risk is that some birds—traditions—can be lost and other, different birds may enter the palace. Is this a problem? That may depend on how you view history and on whether you are Orthodox or Conservative or Reform or ….

If we insist on inflexible traditions, then our traditions will never soar or sing.

The Giving Tree’s subversive message

Some people like the selfless love displayed by the title character in Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree; I prefer to see the book as a cautionary tale about dysfunctional relationships. Briefly, throughout a man’s life, a tree does its (her) very best to provide him with whatever he asks for. SPOILER: Finally there is nothing left of the tree but a dead stump, which the tree gladly offers as a place for the man to sit when he returns to her. 

Is this love noble or twisted? I’ve finally decided that Shel Silverstein is brilliant because both answers work. Those who want to see the beauty of motherly love can find evidence to support their feelings in the text. Those who think mothers deserve to live their own lives and not only through others can also point to details in the story. The ambiguity of the final meeting between the tree and man make this possible.  The book is like all good poetry (I guess—I’m not good at understanding most poetry) and also like Torah. Enough is left unsaid that the same set of verses can be interpreted in two diametrically opposite ways. (That’s why we need Rashi.)

As a librarian in Jewish schools I’ve been able to push my point of view of The Giving Tree to the teachers who want to spend their Tu B’Shvat unit praising the actions of the tree. I am happy to say that they have changed their teaching a bit. They now ask if perhaps the boy isn’t being a little bit selfish in always taking and taking until the tree is destroyed. And they talk about ecology and how we must be guardians of nature: If we have dominion over nature, then we must be responsible owners.

Happy Tu B’Shvat.