Rabbi's Letters

Dear Friends, 

It has not been an easy two weeks.

After the events of the past ten days, the storming of the Capitol and the concerns surrounding the inauguration, we are challenged not to be overcome by negativity, worry, and fear. 

For good reason! Our nation underwent a harrowing and difficult event that has brought many deep issues into focus and to the fore.

What it evoked is different amongst us. 

What we know is that we need to address systemic issues in our society, including extremism, racism, violence, partisanship, and the distortion of truth. 

It is easy to see the forces at play as intractable and beyond any single individual or even institution to address, but we are also called to have faith, and to remember that we are not working alone.

As the Ethics of the Fathers teaches:
It is not incumbent upon us to complete the task nor are we free to desist from it.

At the same time as we strive to bring justice and truth to our world, we cannot let ourselves be overcome by the negativity and let it be amplified from person to person, and drown us in despair - that is giving in to terror!

As we approach the holiday of Purim in February, and this weekend marks MLK day, we are reminded that injustice and evil are present in all generations. But also that our dreams are more powerful than we imagine.

How to fight darkness? With light.

If we block the negativity from our own hearts, we are playing a small part in bringing peace and harmony into our nation and world.

If we fight hopelessness then we are creating space for hope and new ideas to come flooding into all of our interactions.
 
If we find love within, we have the force to banish hatred.

We do not know what the week ahead will bring - in fact we never do - but we can decide in our hearts right now to be better instruments of justice and light.
--- 
 
Now I would like to address a question that our president, Juli Geldner, asked some week ago about the nature of the afterlife in Judaism.
 
I answered that I needed a few weeks for this one! 

What does Judaism believe about the afterlife? Many of us in our generations were raised to think that Judaism does not believe in an afterlife. Or that if we do, we do not talk about it. It is in the realm of the mysterious and the superstitious.

There is a grounding to this cultural sensitivity in our tradition. The Mishnah teaches: “Whoever speculates on one of four things should better not have been created: what is above; what is below; what is before; and what is after." We are a this-worldly religion, focused on repairing the world and – l'chaim – celebrating the wonders of life.

Yet, Judaism also has a very rich received tradition about the afterlife and it is in fact a central focus of many of our rituals. Jewish customs surrounding death and mourning are observed by many Jews, even those whom do not consider themselves religious. We say kaddish for 11 months for our departed parents, to pray for their souls to ascend higher and higher until they find their final resting place. Every kaddish is a little push up - sent through the worlds with love - to help our loved ones. Yahrzeits fulfill a similar function. The El Maleh Rachamim prayer recited at funerals and memorials is mystical and asks God to let the soul of the departed rest under the wings of the Sheckinah, the female Divine presence.

The Jewish mystical tradition, Kabbalah has a complex understanding of what happens after we pass away. There is an in-between period for the soul where it comes to terms with losing the body and our prayers help it recover from its confusion. This corresponds to the period of shiva when loved ones gather to speak and send warm thoughts to their departed relative. Then the soul is drawn out of this world to the heavens. Following that it undergoes a period of judgement as its deeds are reviewed. The Talmud speaks of the 7 questions each soul is asked in heaven including, “were you honest in business?”, “Did you devote time to learning Torah/ wisdom?” before the throne of the Sovereign of Sovereigns.

Finally after the period of judgement, the soul finds its final resting place in the eternal joy and bliss of heaven. Those less fortunate spend a period in Gehenom, the Jewish equivalent of Hell, not an eternal damning place but a chance for purification. The Kabbalists believed in reincarnation, gilgul, and that after a period has elapsed, the soul is once again prepared to be born in this world. But before, it is flown by angels to see the location of where it will take birth, to meet its parents, and to know how it will die. Some believe the soul can say 'yay' or 'nay' to this proposed life. If they say ‘yes’, they are born into the school of life to pick up more wisdom and self-understanding in their journey.

Earlier forms of Judaism believed in other forms of the afterlife. The early rabbis thought that once a person died, they remained interned in the earth until the end of days, when the righteous would be raised from the dead and walk to Jerusalem for a final in-gathering (hence the custom of being buried in Jerusalem as close as possible to the location of the deliverance - a less arduous journey than tunneling through the Atlantic Ocean).

Judaism has spent much energy to reflect on the afterlife. The door may have been closed for the past generations to access these teachings. But I believe we can still be a this-worldly religion while sharing our wisdom with each other and providing comfort to the bereaved and those facing this great transition.

I wish you a Shabbat shalom. May this week – whatever it brings – still gift us blessing and peace. May we find gratitude in our hearts for what we do have.

Here is a blessing for peace by Rebbe Nachman published by the Rabbinic Action Committee of the JUF.

Here is a link to a rapidly published compendium of rabbinic responses to the events of January 6th including a sermon of mine (that you can hear this Shabbat). http://bit.ly/rabbinicresponse

Here is a hauntingly beautiful video of yedid nefesh from the Friday night service by Israeli singer Maya Belsitzman, combining Hasidic and Celtic influences. http://bit.ly/yedidnefeshmayab
 
The words are:
You who love my soul
Compassion’s gentle source,
Take my disposition and shape it to Your will.
Like a darting deer I will flee to You.
Before Your glorious Presence Humbly I do bow.
Let Your sweet love
Delight me with its thrill
Because no other dainty
Will my hunger still.
 
Sincerely,

Rabbi Adir Glick