The legacy of Robin Williams

The legacy of Robin Williams –by Rabbi Stephen Wise

August 16, 2014 – 20 Av 5774

The modern Hebrew poet Hayim Nahman Bialik put it this way:

There was a man -- and see: he is no more!
Before his time did this man depart
And the song of his life in its midst was stilled
And alas! One more tune did he have
And now that tune is forever lost
Forever lost!

I was shocked when I heard Robin Williams died.  He is probably one of the most loved comedians and entertainers, hysterically funny, zany and brilliant.  We will miss him, I already do. 

People of my generation grew up with Robin Williams. His frenetic humor, the dizzying runs of free-association, resonated across all ages; as children, we didn’t get all his jokes but we knew it was amazing.  He had the ability to make us laugh and cry.  At the end of Mrs. Doubtfire, after making us laugh as he acts like an old Scottish Nanny for half the movie, he moves us to tears about how much he loves his children.  He was a genie in the bottle for the Aladdin movie, the first time I really remember a funny Disney character whose voice made the film come alive for me.  He was Peter Pan in Hook able to re imagine what Peter might be like as an adult trying to recapture his childhood.  I loved his genius in Patch Adams as a doctor healing through laughter.  And his Oscar winning role as a psychiatrist in Good Will Hunting helping the Matt Damon character overcome his inner demons and finally breaking free into a life filled with love and purpose.   The first war movie I remember seeing was Good Morning Vietnam, and he was so funny, I bought the album and memorized all his lines.   Dead poet’s society moved me in profound ways, and the way he reached his students actually influenced the way I wanted to be a teacher when I did my masters of education degree. 

In some ways, I think of Robin Williams as an honourary Jew. 

He could effortlessly drop Yiddishisms into any conversation, he could perfectly articulate the accent of an old Jewish man and he had countless close friends and colleagues who were members of the tribe. Apparently his affection and support for Judaism ran deeper as the New York Jewish Week reported, Williams attended 13 Bar Mitzvahs in the eighth grade while growing up in Detroit. Williams provided the comedy at the 2005 annual banquet of the Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Foundation, leaving everyone in stitches; offending no one and remained at the banquet long after the headliners left. When Spielberg was filming “Schindler’s List,” Williams called him every day during the production to “brighten the director’s mood.” Indeed the Jewish Federations of North America noted on their facebook page “We mourn the loss of the great actor, comedian Robin Williams, zichrono li-veracha, “may his memory be a blessing.

A few years ago on “Inside the Actors Studio,” host James Lipton asked Williams the final question on the Proust Questionnaire: “If heaven exists, what would you like to hear at the pearly gates?”  “First, I’d like to have a front row seat,” he smiled. “It would be nice to know that there’s laughter. And it would be nice to hear G-d say, ‘Two Jews go into a bar . . . ’”

I think there some things to take from his life that can guide our lives today.

The first is that he brought laughter and joy to so many.  His used so many tones of traditional Jewish comedy.  As Rabbi Evan Moffic wrote,

He used Humor to undermine pretension and pomposity: Robin Williams managed to be lovable and irreverent at the same time. He did not fear offending anyone.

As one of his obituaries reported, he once called out from a London Stage,“Chuck, Cam, great to see you.” Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife, Lady Camilla Bowles were in the audience. He continued, “Yo yo, wussup Wales, House of Windsor, keepin’ it real!”

He used comedy to heal.  Jewish history is filled with destruction. Hatred and persecution have plagued us for so long, and they continue to do so in the Middle East and Europe.

One of the great healing balms of Jewish life has been humor. It has helped us maintain perspective, seeing possibilities for joy amidst pain, for sweetness amidst the harshness of life.

Robin Williams’ humor—along with his many acting roles—helped heal so many. His life mirrored the role he played so beautifully of Patch Adams, the doctor who used humor to heal his patients.

He used Comedy as a way of poking fun at ourselves: Robin Williams knew his own foibles. He did not shy away from admitting his struggles with addiction and relationships.

And he would turn those struggles into brilliant one-liners. Indeed, he once described cocaine as “God’s way of saying you make too much money.”  

 

 The second lesson was can take away from his death is knowing that he was a mensch, in the sense that he was one who struggles.   We know now that this was an internal struggle behind closed doors, that Robin Williams struggled with mental health and addiction issues for many many years and to which he eventually succumbed.  Perhaps it will prompt us in the Jewish community and the wider community, to deal more seriously with mental illness.  This includes depression but also bi-polar, schizophrenia, PTSD and addiction.  We as Ashkenazic Jews are more prone and clinical trials have shown its in our DNA. 

Rabbi Jeff Salkin wrote a brilliant piece this week in the Jewish news about William’s struggle with mental illness and showed that in our history there are many Jewish heroes who suffered similarly.  Moses seemed to have struggled with a kind of depression – and anxiety, about representing God, constantly feeling that he was letting them or God down, and weighed down by the immense task of leading the people to freedom.  The prophet Elijah seems to have suffered from depression. He flees from the homicidal wrath of Queen Jezebel, finds himself at Horeb (Mount Sinai), and crawls into a cave -- either crawling back into the womb or looking forward to the tomb (I Kings 19). Some say that the prophet Ezekiel struggled with mental illness. The Psalmist had his demons. Just one example: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? (Psalms 42:11)

Many Hasidic rebbes struggled with depression. Elie Wiesel devoted his book Four Hasidic Masters and Their Struggle Against Melancholy to their storiesReb Nachman of Breslov famously battled the forces of depression, and his prayers and meditations are “gentle weapons” in that struggle. It appears that the great Zionist Theodor Herzl was given to bouts of inner darkness, and he passed on this tragic legacy to his children and grandchildren. Moshe Dayan struggled with depression; when he was Army Chief of Staff, Yitzhak Rabin suffered a nervous breakdown.

We know there is a veil of secrecy, shame and stigma when it comes to mental illness.  If someone breaks a foot playing hockey there is no shame we sign their cast.  When someone breaks their soul having put too much strain on it, let there be no shame there as well.  We want our synagogue to be a place of healing.  One way is in our liturgy when we offer the Mi Sheberach prayer for healing, we ask God to grant healing of the body, and the mind and the soul. 

When thinking of Robin Williams, he had to hide his inner demons and be a comedian on the outside.  He loved to make others happy even if he was not always happy on the inside. 

The Talmud (Ta’anit 22a) tells the story that, one day, when Rabbi Baroka was in the marketplace, he encountered Elijah and asked him: “Who among these people will have a share in the world to come?” Elijah pointed to two men, and replied: “Those two.” Baroka asked them: “What is your occupation?” They replied, “We are clowns. When we see someone who is sad, we cheer him up. When we see two people quarreling, we try to make peace between them.”

Maybe right about now, Robin Williams is sitting in the World To Come entertaining The Holy One, “who in enthroned in the heavens and laughs” (Psalm 2:4).

 

Williams’ apparent suicide is a tragedy. We can never know the pain he felt and struggles he underwent. What we do know, however, is that his life was a blessing.

He fulfilled the definition of a successful life captured so brilliantly by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Zichrono livracha, may his name always be remembered as a blessing. 

a way to look at the current situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip

As the hostilities continue in Israel and the Gaza Strip, now for a third week, its quite painful to watch and hear about war and death and struggle in the Jewish holy land.  There are too many opinions on who started it, who is to blame and who should end, to put it all here.  I think what is more helpful is to ask thoughtful questions about what is happening, so the conflict is not reduced to simple one word or one line sentences that don’t really delve into the deeper understanding of the context of the events and how to perhaps resolve some of the issues. 

 

makomisrael.com had a great way to see the conflict through looking at Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva, where four values are extolled in the penultimate line, “To be a free people in our land”.  This summarizes what Israeli’s want. 

 

First “To be”, that is Jews have known for centuries what it was like not to have a homeland, not to have a safe place to live and suffered through attacks none worse than the Holocaust.  At what point will the Jewish state be allowed to simply live in peace without the constant threat of war and destruction? 

 

Second, a “people” relates to the understanding that Israel stands for more than the sum of its parts.  Israel represents the Jewish people as a whole, who live there and in all corners of the world. It is the Jewish homeland, and every Jew tries to visit and faces her when he or she prays.  Jews are connected to the country in a visceral and emotional way, that traces back through our history and very soul. 

 

Third,  “in our land” is perhaps the most controversial part.  This land was promised to the Jewish people by God as written in the Bible, and we began our journey as a people in Israel.  The Romans exiled us from the land around 70 CE and we yearned to return and finally did officially in 1948 when the United Nations voted to create the modern state of Israel, as it exists today.  However it is obvious that when the UN made that vote, it was not a perfect situation as many other peoples lived on that land over those years and through until today.   How are borders established when many people lay claim to one piece of land?  What about when wars happen and people move from one part of the land to another?

 

Fourth, “free”  - how do we understand freedom?  Is one free to do anything or are there some limits, in terms of violence or speech that can hurt others?  If one is attacked, how should one respond? 

 

As one addresses these questions in light of the conflict, we can see that there are no easy solutions.  Jewish traditions maintains that we are a peaceful people who pursue peace and value life above all.  However we also have sources that allow us to defend life when someone rises up to kill.  Here lies the major issue.  Today Israel is in a state of defense, to protect its citizens and borders from terrorist attacks and hand held rockets fired from Gaza and landing in Israel.  To properly defend the country, Israel must prevent these attacks from where they originate in Gaza, which is under the control of Hamas, a terrorist organization that in its charter that they are struggling against the Jews and call for the creation of an Islamic state in place of Israel and the obliteration of Israel.  This is why Israelis planes target missile launching sites in Gaza and why the army has moved into Gaza to root out terrorists, close up weapon smuggling tunnels and prevent more attacks.   I hope and pray each day for an end to the hostilities and that the two people can come to some sort of agreement to share the land, without resorting to violence.  I am realistic to know that peace is hard to achieve and may not be at hand, but I am also optimistic enough to say that looking back at history, there have been longer conflicts and that hopefully the time will come when we shall lay down our swords and shields and turn them into pruning hooks. 

 

 

The pope's visit to Israel

 

Rabbi Stephen Wise – May 31 2014 –  2 Sivan 5774 
featuring quotes and content from Israeli columnist Haviv Rettig Gur of the “Times of Israel”.  original article at http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-the-pope-triumphed-over-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/

 

It is a memorable moment when the Pope visits Israel.  In some ways it’s a pilgrimage for a leader of faith to visit the birthplace of his religion, a chance to walk in the path of his prophet and lord, Jesus Christ.  But we all know its so much more that simply a religious journey for the Pope.  As the leader of 1.3 billion adherents, his visit is always political and strategic.  This newest leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has been a source of humility and hope for not just Catholics but all faiths.  In fact for this particular trip to Israel, he brought along two of his close friends from Argentina, a Rabbi and an Imam.  This was remarkable alone for his strong attachment to improving interfaith relations.  A few days have passed now since the visit and everyone has had a chance to examine it. 

He started by landing in the territories and meeting with Palestinian leaders and even praying at the separation fence between Israel and the territories.  Then he came into Israel and prayed at the Kotel.  He met with various political and religious leaders and at the end of the day, according to Israeli columnist Haviv Rettig Gur, the rhetoric and imagery produced by the visit have been assessed and reassessed from every imaginable perspective, and something close to a consensus has developed: the pope didn’t make any mistakes.

This might appear like an odd conclusion, as though his visit was a test.  But in many ways it was, his first visit to a volatile region, trying to bridge two warring sides and finding a middle ground where it appears he supports both sides and ultimately aspires for them both to achieve peace.  Indeed it might be hard to convey the scale of this achievement, but it must be attempted because it reveals much about the conflict, about leadership, about Israel and about the pope.

Much like a chief Rabbi, The Holy See has no hard power. As Gur writes, “The pope can’t tax or arrest the estimated 1.2 billion adherents of the Catholic Church. His only influence over them is voluntary, driven by powerful images and narratives of redemption and belonging. In an important sense, then, the pope is a symbol, a stand-in for a higher reality, and all his statements and actions are consciously undertaken as part of his symbolic role.”

So when the Palestinian Authority brought the pope to a concrete-walled portion of Israel’s West Bank security fence, the pope was hardly confused by the intentions of his hosts. They wanted to create a symbol, and he, a master of symbolism, gave it to them willingly.  And then he proceeded to offer prayers there. According to the Huffington Post, the wall just happened to be on the path of his itinerary through Bethlehem, but the PA revealed that their plan all along was to create the image of the Pope at the separation wall.  This was hard to watch for Israeli’s, especially hard line right wingers, but I think a moment of clarity that the Pope was literally straddling the fence on the issues that separate Israeli’s and Palestinians. 

The pope’s visit to the PA together with the repeated mention of the “State of Palestine” in Vatican press releases and in the pontiff’s own speeches, quickly set people off with the predictable cheering and hand-wringing. Yet while the Palestinians claimed victory that the Pope was on their side, the Israeli’s could quickly point out that in the same press release and speeches, the Pope for the very first time explicitly recognized the justice of Zionism and made the first papal visit to the tomb of Theodor Herzl. 

The Pope also followed his visit to the Palestinian side of the separation fence with a visit to the Israeli national memorial for terror victims — with Israeli leaders noting that over 1,000 Israelis were killed in Palestinian suicide bombings by the time the government decided to build fences and walls between Israelis and Palestinians.  The Pope delivered on live Israeli TV a brief but strident rejection of terrorism.  How he managed to deliver for both sides, and all able to say that the Pope was on their side is a matter of excellent diplomacy and spiritual strength. 

As Gur wrote in the Times of Israel, as Pope Francis left the region he had gone out of his way to accept both sides’ narrative. Unlike previous popes or more junior Vatican officials, Francis did not hedge or equivocate for a moment. He signaled without hesitation his belief that the Palestinians are traumatized by occupation and deserving of long-denied national freedom, and simultaneously that the Jews of Israel are victims of indiscriminate violence who also deserve to live as a free people in their land.  This is something many Jews  - from Israel and the Diaspora - have been saying for years, this Rabbi included, but it comes across loud and clear when an impartial leader with great weight behind him, such as the Pope, says it.

What more could a Jew, or anyone, ask of the Pope.  Tens of thousands of articles, if not more, have been written about the new ideology that Pope Francis has brought to the papacy. While he has not compromised on any aspect of dogma or ethics — he is as intransigent on contraception, homosexuality and abortion as his two famously conservative predecessors — he has brought a new “style” and a new rhetoric to the post.

Last July, Francis gave a remarkable interview to journalists aboard his flight back to Rome from Brazil.  In talking about homosexuality he said, “When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized. The [homosexual] tendency is not the problem…they’re our brothers.”  He brilliantly moved it from dogma to a personal approach.  Indeed, who are you, who is anyone, to judge someone based on their sexuality or gender or orientation.  It’s the most incredible line I have heard from a Pope since 1964 when the Pope officially said the Jews did not kill Jesus.

The Pope has railed again the troubled global financial system, called for a new theology for women, and brought new standards to the pomp and circumstance of the Vatican, himself moving into a humble guesthouse instead of the papal residence. Non-Catholics have also started talking about him, even the American pro-gay magazine The Advocate named Francis their “Man of the Year” on the grounds that his acceptance of gays as human beings is the most important thing to happen to gays last year. “Pope Francis is leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics all over the world,” the magazine noted. “There are three times as many Catholics in the world than there are citizens in the United States. Like it or not, what he says makes a difference.”

Thus the man who vociferously opposed the introduction of gay marriage in his native Argentina became a hero of the gay community in the United States simply for stating that gays must be treated as human beings.

There is a unifying thread in all these statements, an ideology summed up in the official motto of his papacy: “Miserando atque eligendo,” a Latin quote from the seventh-century English monk Bede that means, roughly, “By having mercy, choosing.”

That, in short, is Francis’s message to the world, and the mission of redeeming humanity, of evangelizing and elevating, cannot be conducted through political partisanship or theological bickering, Francis has said. It must evangelize as Jesus did, by seeing past the discord and sinfulness with which people interact with the world to the suffering and brokenness at the core of the human experience.

This is the backdrop for Pope Francis coming to Israel in the spirit of harmony and brotherhood and peace.  Both the Palestinians’ and Israelis’ tried to get him to legitimize and magnify their narratives, and in response he refused nothing. He recognized every symbol, stood at every wall and memorial, recognized both Palestinian suffering and Israeli victims of Palestinian violence, Zionism and the State of Palestine. As Gur writes, in doing so, he wasn’t being a “pawn.” He was simply but emphatically refusing to play the Israeli-Palestinian game

Humility, Francis has taught, especially in the face of conflict, is the only way for the church to offer guidance to those who suffer war or deprivation. That is what Israeli and Palestinian leaders must learn if we are to move forward towards peace. 

For Israeli’s, what might have been the highlight was the Pope as leader of a billion Catholics with Peres the president of the only Jewish state.  But Francis did not seem to share the Israelis’ enthusiasm for the symbolic event, wearing a bland, tired expression, and walking slowly through the grounds.  It was only when a choir of 120 Jewish, Christian and Muslim children sang Hallelujah, did he smile and make contact by shaking the hands of all the participants.

Pope Francis is not as foolish as Israelis and Palestinians believe. He did not invite Abbas and Peres to the headquarters of the church to negotiate — but to pray.  That was the point of his visit, and before leaving the country, the pope extended an unplanned invitation to President Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to join him in the Vatican for a prayer for peace. The invitation, which the two leaders immediately accepted, was soon the subject of much head-scratching.

Abbas and Peres have met hundreds of times. Abbas is forming a government with Hamas, which continues to openly advocate terrorism against Israeli civilians, while Peres holds a symbolic post from which he is in any case retiring in July.

The pope “doesn’t know Peres doesn’t make political decisions at all,” PLO official Hanan Ashrawi explained in comments echoed by officials close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who were embarrassed by the pope’s favoring of Peres over the prime minister who holds the actual power to broker peace.  That is because the Pope is smart and it’s a lesson we can all learn.  He isn’t there to negotiate, especially over generations’ long conflict and heels dug in mutual suspicion – rather he came to ask God to help us all find Peace.  Ken Yehi Razton. 

The Original Rabbi Stephen Wise - Lessons on the Art of Public Speaking

The art of speaking

Rabbi Stephen Wise – March 15 2014 – 13 Adar 2

On March 17, 1874 a young Stephen Wise was born in Budapest, Hungary, delightfully coinciding with St. Patricks Day.  His father Aaron Weisz was a Rabbi, as was his grandfather Joseph Weisz, famed for his legendary gifts of prophecy, orthodox piety and political liberalism.  This was the legacy that seemed to transfer down through the generations and imbedded itself in the future Rabbi Stephen Wise, having his named changed to the simpler spelling upon the family’s arrival in American in 1875, a year after his birth.  Stephen’s father Aaron served as Rabbi of Temple Rodeph Sholom on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and this certainly inspired young Stephen to follow in the family footsteps, because from his earliest youth he was determined to find a career in the ministry. 

As this is the week that celebrates the birthdays of both Stephen S. Wise from March 1874 and Stephen A. Wise, the current rabbi born in March 1974, I wanted to take a look at some of the things that made the original Rabbi Wise such a unique leader, specifically his speaking eloquence and passion for social justice.  I believe there is a lot we can learn from his life and his advice that speaks to use today.

In reading further into his background and personal letters, I believe what made Rabbi Stephen S. Wise stand out was his art of public speaking.  At the height of his influence as Rabbi of the Stephen Wise Free synagogue in NYC that he founded, his sermons were so popular they were often delivered at Carnegie Hall and would be carried live on radio for the whole country to hear.  At the height of his popularity, letters addressed to “the rabbi” would arrive at his door. 

Stephen Wise devotes one chapter of his autobiography to the Art of Speaking.  He gives three pointers:  1. Have something to say.  2. Believe in what you are going to say.  3. Say it clearly and without fear. 

The first one reminds us that before you know how to say something properly, you need to have message you want to communicate.  And where will you find what you want to say; at home, or from school/university.  From reading books and newspapers, even online news sources.  Wise says don’t read just to find quotations, but rather to get more information and to make you think.  Wise said, “I attach great importance to reading…for the sake of self-enrichment” (p.121).  Wise then recommends, once you have something to say, begin and when you finished, stop.  This is important, to not linger at either end but say your piece and be done. 

In regards to the second point, nothing is as important in public speaking as to believe in what you want to say.  This might seem simple, but be sure to think about what you are saying and how to say it, but deep down you had surely be passionate about the subject and that you personally believe in the point you are making.  If you talk about belief in God, you need to believe in God, its not enough to simply bring information for others.  As Wise wrote, “Often among listeners they might be saying to themselves, “did he mean that?”  “Is he sincere?”.  If doubts arise, the speaker is lost.  Noise and vehemence, far from proving and achieving sincerity, are ordinarily accepted as disproof thereof”. (p.122)

Finally making his third point, Wise says, to speak without fear.  Be yourself and don’t imitate anyone else.  Wise often came across people trying to imitate him and would warn them, “one if me is quite enough, perhaps too many.  Be yourself”. 

There is a great Talmudic story about being yourself,  that perhaps Rabbi Wise drew upon when he gave this advice.

Once there was a rabbi named Zusya who loved God with all his heart and soul, and who treated all God’s creatures with respect and kindness. Rabbi Zusya studied Torah, kept Shabbat, visited the sick, and praised God for all the goodness in the world. Though he was not a rich man, Zusya gave generously to those in need. Students came from far and near, hoping to learn from this gentle and wise rabbi. Zusya often told his students, “Listen to the still, small voice inside you. Your neshamah will tell you how you must live and what you must do.”

Each day Rabbi Zusya”s students came to the House of Study, called the Bet Midrash, eager to learn what they could from him. One day, Zusya did not appear at the usual hour. His students waited all morning and through the afternoon. But Zusya did not come. By evening his students realized that something terrible must have happened. So they all rushed to Zusya’s house. The students knocked on the door. No one answered. They knocked more loudly and peered through the frost-covered windows. Finally, they heard a weak voice say, “Shalom aleichem, peace be with you. Come in.” The students entered Rabbi Zusya’s house. In the far corner of the room they saw the old rabbi lying huddled in bed, too ill to get up and greet them.

“Rabbi Zusya!” his students cried. “What has happened? How can we help you?”

“There is nothing you can do,” answered Zusya.  “I’m dying and I am very frightened.”

“Why are you afraid?” the youngest student asked. “Didn’t you teach us that all living things die?”

“Of course, every living thing must die some day,” said the Rabbi. The young student tried to comfort Rabbi Zusya saying, “Then why are you afraid? You have led such a good life. You have believed in God with a faith as strong as Abraham’s. and you have followed the
commandments as carefully as Moses.”

“Thank you. But this is not why I am afraid,” explained the rabbi. “For if God should ask me why I did not act like Abraham, I can say that I was not Abraham. And if God asks me why I did not act like Rebecca or Moses, I can also say that I was not Moses.” Then the rabbi said, “But if God should ask me to account for the times when I did not act like Zusya, what shall I say then?” because I know that is what they will ask of me.

The students were silent, for they understood Zusya’s final lesson. To do your best is to be yourself, to hear and follow the still, small  voice of your own neshamah.

Now even if you have something to say, and believe in it without fear, but what if you really can’t say it well.  Some might say, “Rabbi Wise, but I have a poor voice”.  Rabbi Wise counselled them, better a poor voice with something to say than the oft fatal gift of mellifluousness.  A voice of honey is not substitute for the salt of thought. 

Perhaps the best example of a handicapped speaker was our greatest teacher of all, Moshe Rabbeinu.  He knew he was hard of speech and explained to God that he could not face Pharaoh alone and speak of behalf of the Jewish people.  He was scared, Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to him, the Jewish people wouldn’t listen to him.  But Moses went, with Aaron by his side, and learned to believe in what he spoke and trust in God.  Together these elements made Moses perhaps the greatest speaker ever as from that moment on, God’s words all came through Moses, the next three books of Torah are spoke by Moses.  He is considered our greatest teacher, from such humble beginnings, never to let his claim of difficult speech prevent him from leading the Jewish people to freedom. 

As Wise writes (p.123) anyone handicapped by an unpleasant or ineffective manner of speech can choose to make that handicap good by wide reading, deep study, clear thinking and brave speaking. To speak with a sense of respect for the subject, the audience and himself. 

Rabbi Wise writes that one of the most effective speakers he ever heard was the first president of the state of Israel, Chaim Weitzman.  His voice was often hoarse and throated and unpleasant to listen to.  He had no grace nor manner of speaking, spoke slowly and awkwardly.  Yet he would make his point deliberately, with scientific precision and sequence, always mastering his theme, rarely deflecting from his goals.  Through supports and hecklers he always made his point.  How?  He knows his case, he makes the best possible use of folk lore and folk manner, with nothing to commend him save his intellectual weight and his command of the cause. 

These lessons on the art of speaking might not seem so revolutionary or profound but they are lessons I take to heart each time I am preparing to speak in public.  Rabbi Stephen Wise was quite modest in writing this chapter, because many of his contemporaries would name him as the person to whom they would describe as giving the great speeches.  We still study his words at seminary today.  But Wise was also modest in avoiding giving advice about content.  Rabbi Wise is know for his willingness to speak out about subject that were often controversial, to his synagogue community, to him personally and to the Jewish community as a whole, but that never prevented him from speaking on them.  At one point in building his synagogue, he had a great amount of pledges towards a new building fund.  Many of the pledges came from wealthy members, who owned business, usually without unions.  At the same time Wise would stand at the pulpit and decry these sweatshops and demand worker rights and unions.  The individuals with wealth withdrew their money in protest, but Wise would not stand down, even as the fundraising plan collapsed.  He stood by his values.  Wise was also one of the first to follow in the steps of Theodore Herzl calling for a Jewish homeland in Israel.  This again went against the grain as most rabbinic leaders in America were hesitant to support a Jewish homeland, when life for Jews in American was prosperous and full of freedom and opportunity.  Why would they jeopardize their position by actively calling for Jews to leave and form this new homeland.  Wise was not fearful of a backlash against him personally or the community at large and continued to push for Zionism, even forming the first American Jewish Zionist organization.  Wise was also quick to fight for Jews who were suffering through the Holocaust.  He was able to get information to the President about the Jewish plight.  There are many who felt Wise did not do enough or put lives in danger, but Wise stood by his beliefs to do what he could.  I even have a copy of the telegram sent to his attention that he passed on to President Roosevelt.

There is much to learn from Rabbi Wise, from his advice on the art of speaking to his ability to put his money where his mouth is and speak truth to power.  Wise had great oratorical skills and used them to express strong opinions on the controversial topics of his age.  I am very honoured to carry on his name and take his advice in speaking passionately and without fear about modern issues today.  May we all have that courage and strength to speak to what we believe in with passion and excellence.  Shabbat Shalom.

 

Whats Jewish about the Olympics

What’s Jewish about the Olympics?

Rabbi Stephen Wise – March 1 2014 – 29 Adar 1 – Pekudai

 

Sidney Crosby and PK Subban each had exactly zero goals as Team Canada approached the Gold Medal game vs Sweden.  There was much talk about why the best player in the world had not scored and why the NHL’s best defenseman from the previous year was not even being dressed for the game.  The prevailing wisdom was that when Team Canada puts together a hockey team, its not about individuals, its about the team.  And that is not just for hockey, its for the entire Canadian contingent at the Olympics.  When any athlete competed to the best of their abilities, it was the team that succeeded.  When a Canadian received a medal, it was tallied towards the Team Canada total.  There of course were wonderful stories of athletes succeeding beyond expectation and others unable to fulfill their dreams.  When snowboarder Spencer Obrien failed to finish in the top 3 spots of her discipline, she broke down in tears in an interview saying “I'm really disappointed and really sad that I let Canada down”.  Hold your head up high Spencer, you didn’t let Canada down, but you did realize that we work together as a team, its not about individual achievement, its an overall effort by multiple people to achieve a goal.  Indeed in the gold medal hockey game, Crosby played as well as he had all tournament and in one defining play, was backchecking when he stripped the puck from a Swedish player, raced across the ice, past 3 players, deked out the goalie and scored putting Canada ahead comfortable 2-0 on route to a 3-0 final score gold medal.  And it was PK Subban who stood in line to receive the very same medal Crosby did.  How poetic that the two are side by side with medals around the necks and huge smiles on their faces for the Gold Medal team photo.

 

Olympic fever has slowly started to dissipate this week  across Canada and as we move past these extraordinary games, though I feel this cold weather has given us fever’s of another variety.  But its fitting to look back at the games on this Shabbat from a Jewish perspective to examine if there is anything that connects to our faith.  This weeks portion is Pekudai which accounts the records of all that had been built in regards to the Holy tabernacle – the Mishkan – which would be filled with God’s presence.  The holy priest would be adorned with Gold, a testament to this medal holding the properties of the most valuable material, fitting for the top Olympic performers.  And just as the verses make an accounting of all the precious metals used, so too do the Olympics finish with an accounting of all metals won – from gold to bronze.  

But as we delve more deeply in the Jewish connection to the Olympics, we would be mistaken to see Jews in sports as a high value.  In ancient times, while we were busy attending to worship in our holy temple, it was the Greeks who valued sport and the human body and began the Olympic games, in honour of their Gods.  In this way the Olympics are tribute to idols, completely foreign in every way to our worship of the one true god – unseen, unchallenged, omnipotent.  We Jews had our heads in the books while the Greeks used the Olympics to highlight natural human movement and the shape of muscles and the body. It was as much a religious festival as an athletic event with sacrifices to Zeus.  When the Maccabees defeated the Greeks and rededicated our Temple, it was a pushback not just on our political freedom but to eliminate cultural assimilation into the new Greek ideas, game, foods and dress. 

 

For most of Jewish life from ancient times to the 20^th century, we placed much more value on literacy than sports, as most famously joked about in the movie airplane when a passenger asks the stewardess for some light reading she says “I have this 1 page leaflet- famous Jewish sports legends”. Other than stoning, it would be hard to find a Jewish sport in the Bible or any Talmudic source.  Jews have however in the 20^th century and beyond embraced sports and certainly in each professional league in every era we can often find one Jewish athlete we can rally around such as boxer Barney Ross, baseball players Hank Greenberg or Sandy Koufax, ice skating champions Sasha Cohen, and more.   Our children would probably value sport over religious school these days, though it does warm my heart when a child makes the effort to come to religious school in their soccer uniform to learn some Hebrew before heading off to the pitch.

But I also think there are values in the Olympics that are in line with Jewish values. 

1.      Healthy bodies.  Athletes are very careful about what they eat, and how they exercise and stay healthy.  These are lesson for all of us, perhaps not to compete at an Olympic level but to make healthy eating choices and regular exercise to avoid disease, maintain energy and mental acuity and live longer more productive lives. Jews too value health and nutrition.  In ancient times we had rules about food, including never eating an animal we found dead or had disease, we had to kill it properly and humanely, thereby only eating proper meat.  We also ritually washed our hands before each meal. There is a wonderful new book out by the Reform Rabbis called “the Sacred Table: creating a Jewish food ethic” with essays about Jewish dietary practices.  A lot of it focuses on healthy eating and the spirituality of food.  Amy recently gave talk about it after her research.  As Jews we know that taking care of our body is important, not just to ourselves but to God, who created us, made us in Gods image and breathed life into us.  It is therefore our responsibility to take care of this vessel and keep it healthy throughout our lives. 

2.      Team work.  As I alluded to in the beginning, the word Team in Team Canada is first because every athlete understands what it means to be part of a team.  Even in individual races on the skating rink or snow slopes, the athletes are collectively part of a team.  They train together, travel together, get coached together and compete together. A win for a Canadian athlete is a win for the team.   In the team sports of course its even more crucial to work together.  The lead curler who seems to be throwing rocks on an empty sheet of ice is setting up shots for the skip to take home the points.  The bobsledders who push the sled at the top give it that edge of time so the driver can steer through the rest of the course for victory.  In Judaism we always stress our collective identity.  In this week’s portion, each Israelite gave something towards the building of the mishkan, whatever they were able, and then it was up to Bezalel the master artist to gather the materials and create the sanctuary.  Our synagogue is made up a team of individuals who each bring their own strengths and gifts to make this shul work as a whole.  Some are great cooks providing communal meals, some serve on boards to set guidelines and fiscal responsibility, some attend worship and education regularly keeping our spirituality high, some work behind the scenes raising money or preparing the kitchen or making phone calls.  Collectively as a team we make this shul great, and only working together do we succeed. 

3.      Practice makes perfect.  In Olympic sports the athletes trains for years and years to compete in the moment.  Practicing is the only way to achieve excellence, and even then it might not be enough because some of the sports are so detail oriented.  The racing events such as luge, skeleton, skiing and skating – often come down to 1/100^th of second to mark the difference between a winner and 10^th place.  It’s incredible how close the athletes are in skill when such tiny measurements of time can determine victory.  In Judaism too the details are important.  God does not just say build me a mishkan.  There are a dozen chapters with exact instructions as to how to build it, what dimensions and what materials.  Listen to the details on just the breast piece of the outfit for the high priest

“on the breast piece they made braided chains or corded gold, they made two frames and two rings of gold, and fastened them at the end.  They attached them to the inner edge which faced the ephod, the rings were fastened to the front, low on the shoulder pieces close to the seam but above the decorative band, and held in place by a cod of blue from its ring to the rings of the ephod…..”

            When a bar or bat mitzvah student is getting ready for their coming of age ceremony, we don’t start a week before.  These children being learning Hebrew when they are in kindergarten.  A year before the big day they begin learning their portion with weekly appointments with a tutor to learn the Hebrew of their portion, prepare to read it without vowels and learn the trope marks to sign it. In addition they learn their haftarah, lead some of the prayers, do a mitzvah project and write a dvar torah.  I remind them, this will take a year of practice and there are many many details to get it right. 

Perhaps the best lesson for our student athletes that is different from the Olympics is that they don’t have to be perfect or the best.  Each child strives to their best, not in competition with any other students because our community, and god, only want to see each child achieve as best as they can do. Moreover no one can read the torah perfectly, that is why we have a gabbai who reads along with the portion and guides the torah reader as they go.  It’s a bigger mitzvah to correct the reader to make sure they are doing it right, then the mitzvah of actually chanting torah.  Its not a mistake, rather its an opportunity for the gabbai to guide towards the correct word.  In the Olympics if you fall on a qualifying run or during a big race, you are done and have finished your competition.  In Judaism you are always able to get back up and compete again.  Not just in your bar or bat mitzvah reading torah, but in every facet of life we have the built in ability to start again, teshuvah.  It was given to us at the moment we were created, the ability to get a second chance.  Whether its taking that opportunity in the moment or during our holiday of yom kippur, our tradition reminds us that we humans are not created in perfection, we all miss the mark at times, and we have the ability to start again, make changes, get back on the right path and finish the race we call life. 

4.       And finaly I want to talk about patriotism.  I felt it in my heart when I watched the Canadian team walk into the opening ceremonies, in fact I felt for each country as they walked in, in the countries colours, flying the flag, so proud to represent a common group.  It was even more special at the closing ceremonies, because no matter how each athlete did, win a medal or place in any position, they competed as a team and so team Canada walked in together.  In the sports village everyone had a similar room.  The NHL players have multimillion dollar salaries but they lived in the same rooms as the amateur athletes who might have even paid their own way to Sochi to attend, who don’t have endorsements or salaries, who might be going back to regular jobs after the Olympics as factory workers or small business owners or bank tellers. For these few weeks it was a team who put away their selfish interests and pocketbooks to live and compete together.  And when Canada actually won, again and again, in skiing or men and womens curling or men and womens hockey  - again- I had tears in my eyes as we sang the Canadian anthem together.  As Jews we can be proud that our tiny country of Israel sent Olympians, we sent 5 for the winter but often have a large presence at the summer games.  Its interesting because of those 5, none were actually born in Israel but now live there.  I often think to myself, if I was competing at an Olympic level I could actually choose to compete for Canada or by making aliyah I could just as easily compete for our Jewish homeland. Most people in the world don’t have the option to choose for which country they compete.  Now Israel could probably use more athletes but one would likely have a better chance to win with Canada.  Luckily we have the maccabee Olympic games, the one  for Jewish athletes every four years where we can cheer for everyone because everyone is a member of the tribe

 

To the question what is Jewish about the Olympics, indeed when you look closely there is a lot in common.  Our shared values of healthy eating and healthy bodies, team work, practicing to get things rights, the details are important, guidance of teachers and coaches and competing for a country or people.  Indeed our Jewish tradition ought to have a prayer for sports – for competing hard and achieving goals.  And I want to end with this which I put together from two different sources.  It’s a prayer not for someone to win a race or a game, but to compete well and at the end realize its not a blessing for the sport but rather for life. 

 

  “My you run and not grow weary.  May you be strong and walk in Gods ways.  May you mount up with wings as eagles.  May you pursue and then overtake your foes.  And may you prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.  Amen.

(taken from Psalm 18:38, Isaiah 40:31, 1 King 2:2-3, Ken Bresler from Ritual well)

 

 

 

PM Harpers recent trip to Israel

Harper’s trip to Israel
Feb. 22 2014 – 22 Adar 5774
Rabbi Stephen Wise

It was hard not to be amazed as a Canadian and a Jew, that our Prime Minister went to Israel last month to a hero’s welcome and spoke in front of the Knesset, the first prime minister ever to do so.  And this for a man in his very first visit ever to the Holy Land.  Its quite remarkable that Harper has been such a supporter of Israel since becoming PM in 2006 and even before, yet this was his first trip actually seeing the county.   Its almost mystifying how this PM is so supporting of Israel but yet how we can we not be impressed by his words and actions.  How many other leaders of state visit Israel and address the Knesset.  How many other world leaders stand beside Israel and say they will stand by her no matter what. 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke fiercely in defence of Israel, accusing critics of anti-Semitism, vowing to stand with the country, and even drawing heckles from the two Arab Minister who eventually walked out.

"Through fire and water, Canada will stand with you," Harper said in closing his speech to Israel's parliament, smartly echoing one of the prayers we say on Rosh Hashanah.  He must have some excellent Jewish speechwriters. 

In his speech, Harper spoke of the long ties between the two countries, and said Israel and Canada share the same democratic values.  As Jews we wonder when critics accuse Israel of human rights violations or apartheid.  We know it’s absolutely wrong and unfair to continually single our one country in the world.  Is there a China Apartheid, North Korea Apartheid, or Iran Apartheid.  Syria murders 200,000 of their own people but only Israel is continually singled out.  Finally it was our Canadian PM who spoke the hypocrisy aloud. He accused Israel's Western critics of moral relativism and said they single out Israel "to go along to get along." He argued "People who would never say they hate and blame the Jews for their own failings or the problems of the world instead declare their hatred of Israel and blame the only Jewish state for the problems of the Middle East," he said. "Some civil-society leaders today call for a boycott of Israel.... Most disgracefully of all, some openly call Israel an apartheid state. Think about that. Think about the twisted logic and outright malice behind that. 

Canada for many generations rarely took strong stands on world affairs, preferring to stay in the background or serve as a middleground, ready to see both sides and find solutions.  We supported world democracies and stood against communist or totalitarian or autocratic regimes.  But we never stood firm on supporting Israel despite her commitment to democracy from the first day of independence in 1948. 

Indeed when one looks at official Canadian government policy towards Israel and the Palestinians, there doesn't seem to be much that is outstanding. Beyond the language on UN resolutions that provide Canada with room to protect Israel, the basic pillars are all there: Two-state solution, anti-settlements, reference to UN resolution 194 for refugees, etc. Yet, after this visit, knows that the Canadian prime minister's heart and soul, and his rhetoric, are firmly on one side: With Israel.

So what are we to make of this trip, and overall our prime minister and ruling party Progressive Conservatives strong Support of Israel. 

When I looked at the huge delegation that went along, 208 people and most of it paid for by our government, I wonder, was this motivated by votes or morals?  The Jewish population of Canada is  around 300,000 out of 30,000,000 – so it doesn’t make sense that it would lead to more votes.  Yes there are three mainly jewish ridings and yes the PC won but that won’t give them a majority.  And there are three times as many muslims in Canada as Jews, with many more votes in the balance.

Even Netanyahu must be wondering where this support comes from.  Harper supports every single thing Israel does, its almost as if Netanyhau wrote the speech that Harper delivered.   

According to John Bell, Director of the Middle East and Mediterranean Programme at the Toledo International Centre for Peace in Madrid, this general bafflement may be because Harper's stance is personal and ideological, not calculated interest. He may embrace a deeply held view of Israel's place in Christian eschatology, a "moral" position where Israel's existence rights historical wrongs, while also heralding of a Christian messianic future. This translates politically into a view that Israel is a country under threat that needs to be defended - more like Israel of 1966 than 2013.

"Canada supports Israel, fundamentally, because it is right to do so," Harper said. Beel writes, a world of greys does not suit him as much as a landscape where one side is decidedly right, and the other decidedly wrong. The fact that the creation of Israel, no matter what one's views on that, has also done another people, the Palestinians, a wrong, has little space in this universe. Such contradictions hold little sway in the world of cartoons, of good guys and bad guys, that Mr Harper inhabits.

Now the Canadian government does support the Palestinians.  The PC will point to the announcement of $66 million as a sign of new support for Palestinians, in addition to $30 million last year.  But, its obvious that Palestinians come a distant second in Mr Harper's calculations. And I am happy as a Jew, that someone unequivocally supports the Jewish state.  Its nice. 

But I sometimes worry, that is also what Jews do.  Canada is known as the nice country, a “nation that is expert at keeping political emotions low, and avoiding ideological madness - two keys to finding constructive solutions”.  And so in that sense, we are an exceptional nation, a country rare in its avoidance of national zeal. Yet, our PM is working hard to make it as "unexceptional" as all others: nationalistic, and very certain of its right and wrongs. Are we going to send fighter jets to defend Israel from Iran.  Are we going to search for national glory by beating the drums of war?  I don’t think so and that is not what Israel, nor the Middle East wants or needs. 

For now Canada’s reputation has not been permanently damaged. Canada's image, as a country of tolerance, has withstood the PM's fervent attempt to paint it in sharper and more dramatic historical colours. In a survey of Canadian responses to the trip to Israel, 1/3 were supportive, 1/3 were against it and 1/3 didn’t care and had no opinion.  So nothing to be learned there. 

I worry though that Canada is losing its position as a country that can help Israel and the Palestinians achieve peace, by taking such a one sided support Israel at all costs. I believe Canada can be a great friend of Israel and also out of support point out policies that are not working to achieve a peaceful settlement.  That is what a true friend does.

I also worry that we might blindly support Harper despite some of the other policies of the current government that might not be in light with Jewish values.  The recent changes to refugees and immigrants making it harder to come here, hearken back to the day when Jews were refused entrance before the Holocaust.  How can we support building barriers to those who are trying to find safety in Canada, when we know how it affected us? 

I also don’t want Israel to become a wedge issue in Canadian politics.  That each party uses it to garner votes and put other parties down.  This week we had a visit from Howard English from CIJA who as a representative of the most important Jewish advocacy group in Canada, talked about how its not a wedge issue.  In fact all three political parties are supportive of Israel.  That is unique.  So we don’t need to necessarily need to vote for any one party to show that we support Israel.  There was a Rabbi who said after the visit that Harper “walks on water”.  He doesn’t walk on water.  No politican does. 

So overall I am very happy that our government and our pm support Israel.  There are not too many countries or leaders that do.  And it makes me proud of our country.  But support is not a blanket black and white Israel is perfect.  She isn’t, and I will be the first to admit and I love Israel and will fight for her at all costs.   And I don’t want Canada to lose her status as a catalyst of solutions. I want Canada to be an honest broker whom two sides can rely on to find a true and honest middle ground. A country that can lead globally through its highly education population, multicultural ethos and past excellence in multilateral diplomacy.