News from Middle Tennessee's Jewish Community |
Monday, March 31, 2025
I have often pondered the question of what constitutes a religious person and have never felt satisfied with the responses I have heard others give when asked this very personal question. This question usually comes up when someone inquiries about another’s religius affiliation and the response is frequently, “I am Jewish and a member of our Temple, but I really do not believe I am a religious person.” Other common responses include, “I am more of a spiritual person than a religious one,” and, “I am more a secular Jew than a religious one.” So, the big question, is what exactly one has to do to consider themselves a religious person
It feels like Germany in the 1930s again. But this time it's in Nashville and it's 2023.
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said, “If, while holding a sapling in your hand you are told that the Messiah is about to arrive, first plant the sapling and then go out to receive the Messiah.” Much is written in the Torah and the Talmud about trees, and we read even more carefully about them his month when we celebrate Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees.
GO AHEAD, IT’S OK
As a new year begins, so does a partnership with the staff of Jewish Family Service and The Observer. The staff will be sharing this new column focused on issues of humanity. We will share with you our thoughts, opinions, and experiences as we continue to support our community through life’s transitions.
Three months ago, on the Festival of Simchat Torah we began reading the Book of Genesis. On the first weekend of January 2023, we conclude the Book of Genesis, with the story of our forefather Jacob who lived his final years in the Land of Egypt. The Torah tells us that despite Jacob’s passing at the age of 147 years old, Jacob never actually died. Since he bonded with G-d, and G-d doesn't die, Jacob never really died. His body did, but he did not. Jacob's life didn't die.
A few days ago, I found an interesting piece written by Rabbi David Golinkin about the origins of the Dreidel and its connection to Hanukkah. According to Rabbi Golinkin, in the past, some Rabbis claimed that the Dreidel was used by children as they were doing their best to fool the Greeks. While the foreign soldiers thought that those kids were wasting their time playing with this four-sided spinning top, in reality they were using all their energy to study Torah. Rabbi Golinkin also quotes an explanation that connects the Dreidel to Hanukkah through gematria. So, for example, the gematria of nun, gimmel, hey and shin equals 358, which is also the numerical equivalent of the word Mashiach. The idea, then, is that when we play with the Dreidel on Hanukkah, we are reminded of the miraculous salvation of those days, hoping for a new redemption in the near future. Finally, Golinkin mentions those who see in the four letters of the Dreidel the hints of the four kingdoms who tried to destroy us throughout history. The nun stands for Nebuchadnetzer, ruler of Babylon. The hey stands for Haman, the bad guy from Persia. The gimmel stands for Gog or for Greece and the shin (or actually sin) for Seir, which is one of the names for what came to be the Roman Empire. The message is clear: In every generation we face enemies willing to wipe us out of the map, but we always find a way to overcome those threats, and we celebrate transforming those bad guys into amusing toys.
The horrific murder of 19 beautiful children and 2 innocent adults rocked our nation and the entire world, a short while ago in Uvalde, Texas. Senseless other shootings have happened since then. Our hearts are heavy, and our eyes are filled with tears. We cry for the Uvalde community and pray for the comfort and healing of all the families, of this and other recent shootings.
One day, my phone rang. “Is this Chabad?” “Yes,” I replied. “My name is Lisa from New York. A friend of mine is driving through Nashville and her car won’t start.”
Addressing high-ranking officials during his inaugural speech on May 19, 2019, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “I don’t want my portraits to hang in your offices, because the president is not an icon or an idol. Hang pictures of your children there and look them in the eyes before every decision.”
In 1982, Rabbi David Hartman wrote a powerful essay titled, “Auschwitz or Sinai?” There, Hartman asks himself about the defining event that should be shaping our Jewish identities today.
Recently, we read on Shabbat about the laws of kashrut, and we learned of the two characteristics which render creatures of the sea Kosher. It is stated in the Book of Leviticus, chapter 11, “These shall you eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales.”
There is no doubt that, if you are a child, your favorite part of the Passover Seder is related to the Afikoman. Technically speaking, Afikoman is not a very Jewish word. Like Karpas – which is Greek for fresh raw vegetables or for what we define as hors d’ouvres – Afikoman is one of those terms that remind us that the Passover Seder was a spin-off of the Greco-Roman symposium, the Hellenistic drinking party where men came to debate, plot, and boast with each other.
Sometimes you have to smile. With all the misery piling up from day to day in the ongoing Ukraine saga, there was one light moment. A newscaster in India was interviewing two guests about the crisis. One was an American analyst, the other an editor from a Kiev newspaper. The two guests were broadcasting from different locations and were represented by their own window on the screen. They were identified by the name on their respective windows. The American - as identified by his name - was talking nonstop. This irritated the newscaster who really wanted to hear from the man in Kiev. When the American ignored him, the newscaster challenged him, including by insulting him, and his presumed association with Western ‘colonial’ policy over many decades and centuries. But the American just carried on talking.
