Chanukah and the Environment

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Halton Guest Blogger

In the darkest days of December, the Jewish community will be celebrating our annual holiday of Chanukah.  This ancient ritual dates back close to 2,500 years ago when the Greek-Syrians took over the holy land of Israel from the Jewish people. They set laws over the Jewish people restricting them from praying to God, celebrating Jewish holidays, performing Jewish customs or even studying our holy texts.

In response the Jewish people revolted, led by Judah Maccabee, and defeated the mightier Greek army.  When they recovered the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, they saw their holy candelabra lights had been extinguished and not enough oil to relight the lights. However a great miracle happened, the lights were relit and lasted a full eight days longer than they should have, until more oil could be produced and brought in. Today we therefore light candles for eight nights, starting with one the first night and adding one each night, to add light and holiness to our lives.

As we think about light and thanking God for miracles of the past, we can take these lessons forward to today’s celebration of this holiday, and the other holidays of this December season.

1.  Light – the candle lights of Chanukah are wonderful for the environment. While we can’t use candlelight for everything, we can take a look at how we consume light and electricity in our homes. Remember to turn off lights when not using them. Replace all your light bulbs with either CFL or LED bulbs that use a fraction of the electricity and last for years longer than traditional bulbs.
2. Waste – as this is the time of gift giving in the Jewish community, one for each night, might we consider how we wrap the gifts to avoid waste, and save the parts like ribbons and gift bags for future use. Perhaps using a website like www.echoage.com which is way to give gifts without waste and sends half of the money to a worthy charity of your choice.
3. Miracles – at this season of remembering miracles, let’s take a moment to recognize the value of all the earth provides for us. We have the luxury of turning on electricity when we need it, we have food at an easy reach wherever we go and plenty of water. The earth itself is a miracle from God that we must cherish, respect and keep in good shape for future generations.

Channuka thoughts in the Oakville News

http://oakvillenews.org/happy-chanukah/

AGM Rabbis speech 2013

 If you can believe it, this is my seventh year at Shaarei Beth El.  In Jewish terms, we would call this the Shmitah.  In ancient times the 7^th year was when all debts were forgiven and the land was allowed to lay fallow and not harvested, to give people and the land itself a time to refresh and recharge.  Seven as you know is a whole number in Judaism – we have the seven days of creation leading to the seventh day as Shabbat, a time to rest.  We have many other sevens – seven circles of a bride around a groom, 7 day of shiva, 7 dreams of Joseph in the Bible, the armies circled Jericho 7 times before winning the battle, there are 7 layers to ascent to heaven.  Each 7 represents a milestone, a time to look back on what was accomplished and to spend a year planning for the future.  So lets look back seven years ago.

When I arrived here financially our synagogue was on shaky footing.  We had large debt and incurred losses each year.  Due to many factors we are now on solid ground.  We updated our dues structure, cut down on spending, restructured our debt, adjusted our staffing, created an annual fundraiser, and we balanced our budget.  This was due to the hard work of our treasurers, board and executive members and especially you, the congregants, who gave so generously out of your pockets.  In fact not only have we had a balanced budget each year, we raised enough last year to complete the first phase of Walking on Sacred Ground.  I think we were all impressed by how it turned out, thanks to some very hard work by our WSOG team and the renovation professionals.  One of our biggest benefactors, Eddie Weisz, took me to lunch the other day to express his delight at how beautiful our sanctuary looks.  I’m excited for phase 2 and the renewal of our entranceway and lobby to match our sanctuary.  Now if only TD Bank would respect our Shmita laws and forgive our debt, we would be thrilled.  However with a balanced budget now for 7 years its time to look to the future and establish an endowment fund, a place where we put money away and earn interest to go towards our operating budget.  This can be in the form of large donations from wills or stocks or final requests, or other such initiatives.  We need to have a long term plan for the continual survival of Shaarei Beth El, for us, our children, our grandchildren and beyond. 

When I look back 7 years ago, I wanted us to be a learning congregation.  Our education program has succeeded beyond expectations, as testament to our education staff and director Cheryl Wise, so that our children are learning in innovative ways. We even received special grants from Federation that have rewarded our new approach to Jewish study.  At the same time, we as adults are also continually learning. We have a wide variety of adult opportunities, such as Shabbat morning torah study, film nights, and Hebrew Sunday mornings.  Wednesday nights are going to be our adult Ed nights, as we have focused on Judaism and health recently, and moving ahead into more Israel and Jewish European history in the coming months, to tie into our upcoming trips.  Of course last summers’ Israel trip was a huge success, I’m looking forward to taking a group to Europe next summer and mark your calendar now for our return trip to Israel in 2015. 

7 years ago many outside our shul didn’t know SBE existed in Oakville.  We have raised our profile, with events such as our inclusive Chanukah candle lighting ceremony, participated in other civic events, highlighting our activities in the local papers and became much more active in interfaith events.  I remember when I got here we didn’t even have a sign on the front of the building that said SBE and now we are Or L’goyim, a shining beacon of light within the Halton community.  So I am not that surprised that many families are looking our way, and am happy to report that 17 new families have joined our shul this year.  With new membership chairs Doris and Arthur leading the way, we are surely looking at a very strong membership base.

 I look forward to using this year to recharge, see where we are, and build for the years ahead. 

 

comparing Mayor Rob Ford to King Antiochus from the Channuka story

      As a resident of the great city of Toronto, its somewhat embarassing to constantly be reminded that our mayor is a crack smoking liar.  When Ford was elected a few years ago, I was unimpressed with him, and his ideas and his policies.  But sometimes you don't always agree with whoever gets elected to office but you wait and see what happens.  Ford has gone further and further downhill, caught on video smoking crack and admitting to it.  He has lied and his boorish and bullying behaviour is not becoming of an elected official.  Imagine trying to explain to young children that this is our mayor.  When he gets made fun of on TV talk shows constantly, at first its funny, but then its sad that our great city is connected to this man. 

As Channuka is approaching next week I was studying a book called "A Different Light" edited by Noam Zion to prepare for an adult education program.  I read an article by Victor Tcherikover, exerpted from "Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews" (p.175-181), which highlights Antiochus Epiphanes as a "mad missionary".  Here are some points about King Antiochus, a man with no political tact who did not know how to act as a King. 

 

•At times would leave the palace and wander and converse with insignificant people.

•Was more than once seen in the company of shady company of aliens of unknown identity and origin.

•If he heard of a drinking party, he would join, often making such a strange impression, many would fear him and make their escape.

•Full of contradictions and sudden surprises. 

•At a festival once jumped on stage to dance with other players, causing many to leave the hall in shame.

•Silent among the company of his best friends but talkative among strangers.

•Irritable and nervous, ever striving to do something extraordinary and to astound the world.

•Sometimes walked the streets handing out rings of gold or simple stones but gave others worthless objects such as dates or dice.

•The humorists openly mocked him, calling him Antiochus “Epimanes”  (mad) instead of Epiphanes (the god manifest)

As I finished reading I realized, this King is very similar to Mayor Rob Ford.  Ford also keeps shady company, joins in drinking alcohol, full of contradictions and causes others to leave his company in shame.  I found it fascinating to compare the two characters.  Antiochus is the villian of the Channuka story, who imposes discriminatory rules over the Jewish people, who eventually fight back for religious freedom and re-establish a sovereign Jewish state.  I hope that for our great city of Toronto, we too are able to convince Mayor Ford to enter some sort of rehab program and allow responsible town councillors to run the city properly until next years election.

A recent article in the Oakville News emphasised the disturbing facts that even in a fine town such as Oakville, abuse against women does take place regularly.  Among the members of the Jewish community, there is the same false notion that these things don’t happen among our people, its out there among other families.  

 

The sad truth is that Jewish women also experience physical, sexual and verbal abuse by boyfriends, husbands, fathers and more.  Its time to put a stop to it, and no better time to highlight these issues than Nov. 25^th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 

 

Here are some important steps toward ending abuse, as compiled by Rabbi Catharine Clark (original article from the Canadian Jewish News http://cjnews.com/columnists/violence-against-women-must-end)

1.       End denial.  It’s a popular strategy but it does not change the fact that abuse victims live in fear and pain inflicted often by people very close to them.

2.       Jewish law prohibits a man from striking his wife.  Rabbi Yosef Karo wrote in the 18^th century that “we must treat a man who beats his wife more severely than a man who beats another man, since he is obligated to honour his wife, more than himself.  A man who beats his wife should be placed under a ban and excommunicated”.

3.       We must uphold the value of Shalom Bayit which means “a peaceful home”.  The person abuser is disrupting the family, not the woman who speaks out and attempts to leave the relationship.

4.       We should speak about abuse from our pulpits and in bulletins and emails.  Leaders of faith, especially rabbis, cantors and educators, should send the message that we take this seriously and will listen to someone suffering from abuse.  We can also help through referrals, counselling and simply encouraging a woman that they are not alone.

5.       Insist that contact numbers for shelters and abuse help lines be up on the walls in the womens bathroom to empower women to make the first step towards help.

6.       Listen and believe.  The stories might sound far-fetched or insignificant.  However if a man is controlling a womans money, time, space, living area or access to others people – this is abuse.  Respect her courage in coming to you to talk about it.

7.       Know the options for a woman seeking help and provide the phone numbers and emails so a woman can develop a safety plan.  Allow her to make the calls from a safe place such as a synagogue or other house of worship knowing that an abused woman might not have free access to a phone or computer.

8.       When preparing couples for marriage, discuss abuse openly and honestly.  Allow for a separate conversation where a woman can speak to the Rabbi alone and ask if there are any signs of abuse.

9.       Do not tell a woman to stay in a relationship for the sake of children.  Long term abuse can have life-long effects on a woman and the children’s development.  In fact the children might become victims themselves. 

10.   Support a woman in her decisions, even if this means staying in the abusive relationship for now until she is ready to make the next step. Support and guide her.

 

 

Religion and the political arena - advantages and drawbacks

In light of Canadian Remembrance Day, the American election this week, and my recent Reform Rabbi’s conference in Ottawa, I wanted to take a moment to comment on the role of Judaism and our relationship to the government and country we live in.

As a people that spent most of its time living in the Diaspora, and even when the state of Israel existed as an independent entity both in ancient times and today, Jews have always lived in countries around the world and had to establish a set of guidelines in how to understand and relate to the government of that country. 

In ancient times in Israel under Greek and Roman rule, we primarily fought back when a government sought to impose its authority over us, whether politically or religiously.  This often ended in battles and ultimately when we fought the powerful Romans for sovereignty, they destroyed the Temple and sent us into slavery.

Since then we have yearned to return to our own state but also realized the importance of establishing communities in various countries and create positive relations with the governing authority.  When governments gave Jews free reign in commerce and industry, we flourished.  When governments gave us freedom of religion and let our courts adjudicate our own religious matters, we flourished.  When the opposite was true, we languished and often the end result was migration or expulsion.

In modern times, when church and state have separated, individual Jews, and the Jewish community, has thrived.  But we constantly remember the Talmudic dictate, from Pirkei Avot that says, “Ohev et ha’mlacha, u-s’nah et harabanut, v’al teetvada larashoot”.  This translates as “love work (your profession), hate title/dominance, and do not seek undue intimacy with the government”.  In other words, everyone should have a job and enjoy their chosen field, or at least enjoy it enough to make a living from it.  We should not depend on the country we live in for financial support.  Hate the dominance or authority,  that is if you constantly let yourself be filled with the power of a high up position, it will take over your soul.  This was meant to say that those Jews who always sought to lead over others will be buried by it, absolute power corrupts absolutely.  The great medieval commentator Rashi explains further that of all the 12 sons of Jacob in the book of Genesis, Joseph died first even though he was one of the youngest, and that was because he spent most of his life around those in power in Egypt. 

But most importantly is the last part, do not seek undue intimacy with the government.  In Roman times that was seen as blasphemous.  Even today, we should not be seduced with the government and its power.  The Rabbis say if you are seeking to be part of the government, you are really seeking your own needs and not for anyone else.  You will then break away from God and the mitzvot.  On the other hand, the government has a great deal of influence on our lives, to where our tax dollars go, to legislation for human rights, to creating a social safety net for the vulnerable in our society – the poor, homeless, and hungry.  So we have to walk a careful line, especially here in North America.  We want to live independent lives from the government, in terms of having freedom to worship and express our religion – following our customs, our holidays, our dietary habits, circumcisions, holidays etc.  But we want and should be involved in serving our country during war, lobbying for issues that are important to us that contravene our deepest held values and voting for leaders who will fight what we think is important. 

Over the wars of the past century, Jews have served admirably in securing freedom and democracy and even more so, fighting Hitler’s Nazi Army in World War Two, ultimately saving the remnants of the European Jewry from complete and utter destruction.   On this Remembrance Day weekend we remember that Jewish soldiers served in greater numbers, proportionate to their share of the population, than any other comparable ethnic or religious group. More than 17,000 Jews served in the Canadian Armed Forces during World War II. Of these, 420 were killed in action and more than 300 were wounded. Over 200 received decorations for their service to their country.  We acknowledge their sacrifice and dedication to our country and to the Allied effort to end the war and bring peace once again to our world.  Jews continue to serve in the military in Canada, in our peacekeeping efforts, in UN missions, in NATO missions, serving abroad or here nationally, and we are proud of them. 

And what of the election south of the border.  I was trying not to get too caught up in their electoral process, but its hard not to be affected by the outcome as America’s influence stretches around the world, she is our biggest trading partner and her involvement in the Middle East has incredibly high strategic value for our homeland in Israel.  The political rhetoric and commercial messages are quite overwhelming, as is the obscene amount of money spent on this election that seems to take years.  I much prefer our system with controlled spending and short election seasons.  That being said, way more Americans are involved in the process and vote, in swing states as much as 70-80% voting.  In the last Canadian federal election only 60% voted and in Ontario, especially in the most recent election, it was below 50%.  Maybe its because politics are more exciting down there.  Maybe its because the US leaders are so diametrically opposed even though its only two parties, it really matters which side you vote.  Here in Canada, even with 3 parties, the political platforms are much more similar.  While I did not vote, I was hoping for Americans to choose a leader who was fiscally responsible, maintained appropriate taxes on all segments of society, increased the social safety net for the vulnerable including health care and pension, stood up for same sex marriage and a woman’s right to choose, and maintained the strong friendship between Israel and America.  I think President Barak Obama is that leader.  I was especially insulted by the rhetoric of the Republican party that attempted to smear Obama as soft on Israel and Iran.  In fact in speaking with Israeli low level diplomats, they say he has been one of the best presidents for Israel.  Of course that doesn’t sit well with Netanyahu, who wants a blank cheque that anything Israel does is great and the US must supports it.  Obama has a more nuanced approach, understanding its not black and white.  To act as mediator, the US cannot favor one group over another, but we know the US has Israel’s interests at heart, a two state solution based on negotiated settlement of all issues, clear recognition of the other and a fully implemented peaceful treaty.  The hoopla surrounding the election and the attempt to get out the Jewish vote for Romney simply because he was painted as stronger on Israel, fell short, way short.  The Jewish vote went overwhelmingly in favor of President Obama, by something like 70%, showing the Jews were thoughtful about who they voted for, examined all the issues, and voted for a President that led on all the issues I highlighted before.  I can tell you among my American colleagues there was a deep sigh of relief and most decided to continue living south of the border and not move up here.

I watched the election in Ottawa as I was there on a 3 day study conference with the Canadian Reform Rabbis.  16 of us visited the capital, heard from excellent speakers and discussed important issues for Jews in Canada.  We were particularly impressed with our local MP Terrence Young who gave us a backroom tour of the Parliament building, seeing Prime Minister King’s old office and unusual tidbits of history.  We walked into the senate and even the parliamentary library.  We were treated to dinner in the Parliamentary dining room, where each Rabbi got to sit with his or her MP from across Canada and have some informal time to get to know each other.  This is part of the CJPAC mission, for us to get to know our MP or MPP and engage in the political process.  Not to select one party over another, but simply to establish a relationship with all government officials, regardless of party, so if an issue of importance comes up for Israel or our community, we have someone to go to and they might listen to us because we know them.  Terrence Young already has a strong record on support of Israel and our community, and he impressed the entire group with his graciousness. 

We also met with Ambassador Miriam Ziv from Israel.  We discussed at length the very positive friendship between Israel and Canada through the Conservative leadership years.  But when we mentioned how Anat Hoffman was arrested at the wall and the lack of rights of women in the religious sphere - and of liberal Judaism in general, she simply lost her cool. She told us she was secular and had no interest in our concerns. She yelled at us, reminding us that she is a woman in power and seemed unaware and totally disinterested in the role of non-Orthodox Judaism at the Kotel or anywhere else in Israel.  She said if we don’t live there or serve in the army, we can’t be anything but totally and 100% unconditionally supportive of everything Israel does and says.  This goes against everything I believe in, that I, and all of us in this room, have a stake in the land of Israel, as the homeland for all Jews.  She talked about the great relationship with Canada, but seems to disregard Canadian Jews.  We don’t have a vote in Israel but we certainly have a voice and she attempted to silence it.  As you can imagine we were quite upset after her diatribe, and afterwards wrote letters both to her and her bosses, and the leadership of the Reform movement in Israel and abroad, about our concerns.  We will see if she even addresses them, apparently she is quite controversial.  Her staff apologized on her behalf after she left, and that is pretty much their job everywhere she goes.  To hear this from an ordinary Israeli is one thing, where we can debate.  But to hear it from the official representative of Israel in Canada was almost too much to bear.

For the most part though, we enjoyed meeting members of our government.  We sat with Tom Mulclair, leader of the opposition NDP and Bob Rae leader of the Liberals.  We met with Jon Baird the minister of defense and Jason Kenney the minister of immigration.  We were quite impressed that CIJA  - the Canadian Israel and Jewish affairs committee, that has such positive relations with all the parties in Ottawa that we were able to meet with everyone. While each had slightly different views on domestic policy, they were almost uniform on their calls against the Apartheid Israel Boycott/Divestment/Sanction movement among the left in Canada, and uniform in their declaration of support for Israel and the two state peace process.  This was nice to hear, as Baird put it succinctly, Israel does not come up much in the House of Commons or question period, because its not controversial.  All the parties share the same position, which is comforting to know that whichever party retains power or moves into power, support for Israel is established. 

Not that the parties agree on everything, we got a chance to enter Parliament and watch Question period. In a way we know its theater as it’s the only hour when the television cameras are there and the public is watching.  The politicians know in advance the questions, and have prepared their answers, and generally the game is preset.  However there are moments of levity and improvisation.  Plus its fun to see each party declare their intentions to catcalls and yells of support and sarcastic applause.  The best line was actually from Bob Rae, commenting on PM Harper paying to have his armored Mercedes brought from Canada to India for his transportation, Rae said if the PM would finally meet the premiers of Canada, he could bring along his limo to Charlottetown.

There is a delicate balance when it comes to living our lives as Jews and as Canadians.  We must fight hard for our religious freedom and maintain our culture, identity and practices as a minority.  At the same time our tradition calls on us to follow the law of the land, and even more so to engage in the political process, to make sure the leaders in power commit to upholding the values we hold dear, and call them out when we feel they have missed the mark in their duties.  Yet we must refrain from being too close to power, to letting it corrupt us, to letting it move us away from our ultimate goal of being responsible, dedicated and caring Jewish Canadians.  And let that be God’s will.    

The favorites and the underdogs – a sermon on Jewish values and sporting championships

After a tumultuous week of sports, with ups and downs, surprises and sure things, we are left with two champions – The Dallas Mavericks of the NBA and the Boston Bruins of the NHL. Thinking back to the beginning of the season, even going back a few weeks ago, one would have been hard pressed to pick these two team as the champions within their respective leagues. Both are solid teams, but neither had won anything of significance in decades. Expectations were low, though each team had plenty of talent and drive, and each featured a superstar. The Mavericks feature 7 footer Dirk Nowitzki, a former NBA MVP who is a natural team leader. The Bruins feature the best goalie in the NHL this season, Tim Thomas, the eventual MVP of the playoffs and most likely the eventual Vezina trophy for best goalie during the regular season. The Bruins also feature one of the most dominant defensemen in the game, the 6”9 Zdeno Chara who happens to hold the title of hardest shot from the NHL skills competition.

So while these two teams were both underdogs, they were able to overcome great odds and win it all; how did they do it? The Mavericks were facing the Miami Heat who featured the “big 3”. In the last offseason the 3 best free agents all signed with one team in south Florida. They held onto Dwayne Wade, grabbed Chris Bosh from us here in Toronto and more significantly attracted Lebron James from Cleveland, possibly the greatest player in basketball today. In his ego driven nationally televised decision, Lebron invited the world to watch a one hour special where he told the world he was going to the Heat. The way the team presented the 3 players as though they had already won a championship and the way they ditched their former teams to get together, made them the most talented and most hated team. With high expectations, the team gathered steam through the regular season and steamrolled the competition through the playoffs, and won the first game of the series so convincingly, it seemed the Heat would fulfill their top dog status.

The Bruins faced the Vancouver Canucks, who owned the best record in the NHL this past season winning the president’s trophy. The Canucks have arguably one of the best goaltenders in the league, who won the gold medal for Canada at last year’s Olympics. Their top forwards twin brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin each led the league in scoring respectively over the past 2 years, and Henrik was league MVP last year and Daniel will likely win this year. With secondary scoring from such heavyweights such as Ryan Kessler and Alex Burrows, and great defense, the Canucks gelled in the playoffs squeezing by the rival Blackhawks in 7 but then racing by the Sharks and Predators and taking the first 2 against the Bruins and the cup was in sight.

So these two underdogs, the Mavs and Bruins, had something special that led them to the championship. What was the secret to their success? Let’s look at the classic Jewish story of an underdog overcoming all odds, David vs. goliath. The account of the battle between David and Goliath is given in first Samuel, chapter 17. Saul and the Israelites are facing the Philistines at the Valley of Elah. Twice a day for 40 days, Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, comes out between the lines and challenges the Israelites to send out their MVP of their own to decide the outcome in single hand to hand combat. However, Saul and all the other Israelites are afraid of him.

Young David is present, having brought food for his elder brothers. Told that Saul has promised to reward any man who defeats Goliath, David accepts the challenge. Saul reluctantly agrees and offers his armor, which David declines, taking only his sling and five stones chosen from a nearby brook.

David and Goliath confront each other, Goliath with his armor and shield, David with his staff and sling. David hurls a stone with all his might, and hits Goliath in the center of his forehead. The Philistine falls on his face to the ground; David takes his sword and cuts off his head and a new champion is crowned.

Here are David’s strategies.

One he was brave and didn’t back down. Sure goliath was the greatest warrior of the time, but if you don’t enter the battle you certainly can’t win. David believed in himself and went into the battle mentally prepared to fight and win. The Mavs and Bruins similarly didn’t see their opponents as any better than them. In the rhetoric and preparation for the games, they held on to their own style of play and never backed down. The Mavericks lost game 1, but continued to play their game, shooting well from the 3-point line, excellent defense and clutch scoring down the stretch. The Bruins continued their hard nosed play, concentrating on scoring spread among their 4 lines and smart, simple defense, letting Thomas make the big stops. Even after losing the first two, they had only given up a total of 3 goals, they continued their style and believe their pucks would eventually go in, especially returning to their home rink in Beantown.

Second David saw the goal at the end. He realized there would be a reward from King Saul, but David had the greater purpose in mind of freeing the Israelites from Philistine rule. Yes there are individual battles, but there is a larger war. David was doing his one small part to defeat Goliath and send a message to everyone. Eventually David would become king, using this victory as his calling card. By showing he could defeat the great Goliath, when he led his men into battle they were given great confidence as well to follow someone who led by example. Following David meant they were following a champion and this gave the whole army confidence. No one wonder David’s armies were so successful in establishing the greatest Israelite kingdom.

The Bruins and Mavs also focused on the end goal. The Mavs played with heart and soul. They fought down to the final minute in each game. Even when they were down by a lot, they didn’t let up and twice came from behind to win in the 4^th quarter. There was no individual, it was a team effort. They played the emotions of Nowitzki who is quiet, unassuming and plays hard. Contrast to the Big 3 who yell, gesture, make faces and style their way to the basket but come up short at crucial moments. And Jason Kidd, nearing 40, a wily veteran who had come close twice before, they wanted him to finally get the big trophy.

The Bruins played hard as a team too, seemingly none of their players are all stars, but as a group they are cohesive. They never dive, they hit hard and they never back down. When one of their best players, Nathan Horton, was knocked out by a late hit, he came back a few nights later to cheer on the team from the bench. They also had two wily veterans in Thomas and Rechi, the latter had already said this was his last game and they wanted to win it for him. You of course could say the same about Vancouver, who were playing at times for a city and an entire country, but unfortunately they weren’t able to put it all together on the ice when it mattered the most.

Finally David spoke truth to power. When they faced each other, “The Philistine cursed David by his gods.” But David replies: “This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down, and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that God saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is God’s, and he will give you into our hand.” David speaks with great confidence and sets the tone for the battle simply through his words. David states the fact, that he will win, and not just that but particular details of the outcome. Surely even Goliath was struck by the ferocity and clarity of the words.

In sports, there are always words spoken before and after the games, sometimes cliches sometimes real feelings, and it can affect the game. After Lebron James was called out for his lack of ability to finish games strongly, he countered with an observation that all those that hate will have to go back to work the next day, while he continues to play basketball and get paid tons of money. He belittled the whole premise of sports, that we buy a ticket to support a team, even if these athletes make millions more than us, the owners too. We give our loyalty and love to a team because of the collective, because its an escape from our job (whether we have one or not), our lives, our reality. It’s a time to embrace something beyond our simple lives and that is what we all buy into. Buy calling us out on it Lebron further lowered in our standards and is actually biting the hand that feeds him. Its not confidence, or a challenge to win the final goal, it’s a slide out the back door for someone who didn’t have the desire or determination to win.

In the hockey final, there were many words exchanged about the goalies. A writer asked Thomas if he would change his style after he got faked out and scored upon in game 2. Thomas said, no he wasn’t going to change, he’s been playing goalie for quite a while and been successful. He knew exactly what he was doing and had the confidence in himself to win it all, his way. Luongo on the other hand got flustered at one point when asked about a particular goal that Thomas let in again in game 5 with his aggressive style. Luongo said he probably would have made the save, then quickly went on to say Thomas was a great goalie, but he never got compliments from him. Thomas quickly went on the offensive. He’s supposed to compliment the opponent? Did David compliment Goliath for his size and battle skills. No he described how he would cut his head off. Then he went out and did it, that is the way you demoralize your opponent and set the tone for victory.

Of course sports are just games. We cheer and hope for our teams, but ultimately it’s not life and death. When David faced goliath he did face a real existential battle. And when David talked about God on his side, that was truly when he needed god’s help. When athletes point to God to thank them for scoring a basket or saving a goal, its not a life and death situation. Perhaps they can thank god for giving them the talent to compete so well in games. They can thank god for their health and their ability to sustain play at such a high level, especially when we see serious career threatening injuries all the time. They can thank god for the chance to play on a great team, to earn money for playing games. But its not appropriate, I think, to thank god for winning or scoring, god has better things to do.

I am a big sports fan as you can tell, and I was stunned this week when two underachieving teams, facing great odds, came up big to win championships. I’m a sucker for the underdog and I love the finals, watching teams raise the trophy, the tears from huge strong men, the emotions flying out. There was a great advertisement for the Stanley Cup that strung together a bunch of interviews where each player was asked what it was like to win the cup, and their eyes get misty and they can’t even get the words out. The tag line is, “there are no words”. I have to admit, even I teared up just watching the commercial. There is something about sports that brings out certain emotions. And when a team overcomes obstacles, senses the goal, works as a team, voices their commitment, and wins, its great to watch. I just hope, one day, that it will be a Toronto Maple Leaf that hoists that cup and I’ll be there to witness it. On that day, there will be no words.