Dear Shaare Family,
This Shabbat begins one of my favorite times of the year. The heaviness of the three weeks, Nine Days and Tish’a B’Av are behind us, the seriousness of Elul is still a few weeks away and there is a lightness and optimism in the air. For the next seven weeks, taking us through Rosh Hashanah, all the Haftarot deal with joyous themes of consolation. In Rabbinic parlance, they are known as the Shiv’a DeNechemta, the seven Haftarot of comfort. All of them, without exception, are taken from the book of Isaiah, or Yeshayahu (or Yeshaya). In our house, we call these weeks the Shaya DeNechemta!
Hakarat HaTov Corner
I already thanked in advance those who made Tisha B’Av a thoughtful and meaningful day, but I would be remiss if I didn’t express gratitude to the other local Rabbis and teachers who made the Tisha B’Av Teach In such a special experience: Mrs. Chana Ben Abraham, Rabbi Aryeh Feigenbaum, Rabbi Peretz Shapiro, Rabbi Avi Pekier and Rabbi Moshe Segal. A special thanks to all those who attended over the course of the afternoon.
Rabbi’s Resources will be on a brief hiatus for the next few weeks, until Friday, August 13, 2021 (5 Elul, 5781). I began this project as a way of communicating with the shul when we were shut down during the pandemic, continued it as we began to reopen and then realized that I enjoyed it even now that we have, thank God, resumed normal activity. I’d love to hear from you- whether you enjoy these letters and found them enriching, whether you agree or disagree with something I wrote or whether you appreciate the articles and music I love sharing. I look forward to resuming in a few weeks’ time!
Rabbi’s Recommendations
1. George Frederick Handel’s (1685-1759) Oratorio “Messiah” is usually associated with the December holiday season, though it was actually composed for performance at Easter time. Of course, the Messiah being described in the title is antithetical to our concept of Messiah. Indeed, one prominent scholar, Michael Marrissen, has suggested in several places that this Oratorio has distinctinctly anti-Jewish overtones. For those interested in learning more, he expanded his views into a book called Tainted Glory In Handel’s Messiah.
While many passages are taken out of the New Testament, and those from the Old Testament are taken out of context, the music is sublime (it is often said that music cannot become tamei- ritually impure)- and some of the most memorable passages are taken from Isaiah chapter 40- this week’s Haftarah:
Comfort ye my people...every valley shall be exalted (Isaiah 40:1-4)
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed (Isaiah 40:5)
2. There has been a great deal of discussion about the new show “My Unorthodox Life” (no link- you’ve either seen it or definitely won’t…) In the aftermath, a popular social media personality named Alexandra Fleksher mobilized Orthodox women to write about their Orthodox Jewish life. Journalist Tzippy Yarom-Diskind collected these responses into a website. On the other hand, several formerly Orthodox Jews, like Professor Dainy Bernstein, penned responses, as did a woman named Malka Svei, who is the granddaughter of a revered Rosh Yeshiva in the American Chareidi community and grew up in it, and now identifies as Modern Orthodox.
Shabbat Nachamu Shalom,
Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky
