On this day in 1553 Pope Julius the third ordered the confiscation and burning of the Talmud.
‘Once these books are removed,’ an advisor to the Roman Inquisition had written, ‘it will soon be that the more that they are without the wisdom of their rabbis, so much more will they be prepared and disposed to receive the Christian faith and,’ what he calls, ‘the wisdom of the word of God.’
The Inquisitors confiscated every copy of the Talmud in Italy; On Rosh Hashanah 5314 (9 September 1553), that the Talmud and many other Jewish books were burnt in the Campo dei Fiori in Rome.
On 12 September 1553 another papal decree was issued, demanding that all copies of the Talmud throughout the Catholic world be gathered and destroyed. In Venice – then the world centre of Hebrew printing – the order was interpreted to include other Jewish books as well. On Saturday, 21 October 1553 , 3rd Cheshvan 5314 all the books gathered were burned in Piazza San Marco.
Other Hebrew books were burned in 1568 in Venice.
Throughout the remainder of the sixteenth-century, a complete edition of the Talmud could not be found anywhere in the region.
Later, the printing of Hebrew books was permitted once more, but under censorship. They were checked and licenced by the authorities (licenza dei Superiori) whose imprimatur can be found in all Hebrew texts printed in Venice from the second half of the 16th century onwards.
The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and studying it has shaped Jewish thinking. Those of us who have read a page a day (daf yomi) for the seven and a half years it takes to complete the books will attest to a change in how the world is perceived. Yet the ideas of a people do not only reside on the printed page, and the burning of their books did not destroy the Jewish people.
Judaism resides in the spirit of the Jewish people. Ideas may be suppressed, people may be martyred, but as Leo Baeck wrote centuries later “A people only dies when its spirit dies”.
On the plaque recording the great burning in Rome there are two quotations. One from the Talmudic story of the martyrdom of Rabbi Hananiah ben Teradion, who, wrapped in a burning torah scroll called out “The parchment is burning but the letters fly up to heaven”, the second from the lamentation Sha’ali Serufah ba-Esh, a kinah by Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg, written in the 13th century after the Disputation of Paris led to the destruction of almost every copy of the Talmud in Europe. The question is directed at the Torah, how can the text given in holy fire be destroyed in worldly fire? “My question, burned in the fire, about the welfare of mourners” (Sha’ali Serufah ba’Esh, leshalom avelai’ich”
For all that study of our texts has sustained and nourished us, informed and shaped our thinking, allowed us to express our reality and pursue ideas to their sometimes extraordinary conclusions, the texts themselves repeatedly tell us that it is the ideas they embody rather then the physical artefacts that matter. What is given in holy fire cannot be destroyed in worldly fire. It is our interaction and engagement with the ideas of Judaism that keeps our spirit alive, and keeps our people alive.
This coming week, month, year find some texts and engage with them. It can be bible or siddur, Talmud or commentary. Let yourself be touched and changed, discover for yourselves the holy fire.
On 11th August 1942, Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr (called “the most beautiful woman in Hollywood”) received a patent with composer George Antheil for a “frequency hopping, spread-spectrum communication system” designed to make radio-guided torpedoes harder to detect or jam. Lamarr and Antheil made an interesting pair of collaborators. She was an Austrian-born beauty and American film star who practiced electrical engineering when off the movie lot; he was an avant-garde composer, notably of Ballet Mécanique, a score that included synchronized player pianos. The two devised a method whereby a controlling radio and its receiver would jump from one frequency to another, like simultaneous player pianos, so that the radio waves could not be blocked.
The two submitted their patent to the US Navy, which officially opined that Lamarr could do more for the war effort by selling kisses to support war bonds. On one occasion, she raised $7 million. She and Antheil donated their patent to the US Navy and never realized any money from their invention, which would eventually become the basis for wireless phones, Global Positioning Systems, and WiFi, among other cutting-edge technologies. (from JWA.org)
Hedy Lamarr was born to a comfortable Viennese Jewish family, and in later life she often spoke of her childhood as a kind of paradise, with forest walks and piano lessons, attending the theatre and later herself becoming an actress in theatre and film. She had an extraordinary life, with six husbands and other lovers, a Hollywood career where she was called the most beautiful woman in film and was generally cast as a kind of mysterious temptress, sexually alluring and always somewhat on the outside of normal life. Life followed art, she lived in America and was a film star, but was not of America, and the role-playing of her professional life seems to have been mirrored in her private life.
Hedy Lamarr never told her family that she was born a Jew, that she grew up with Jewish parents. Her own children did not know of that part of her identity even though Hedy’s mother came to live in the United States and they grew up knowing her. Both Lamarr and her mother had converted to Catholicism – Lamarr for marriage in 1933 her mother some five years later. The children found out their maternal background only as adults, when a documentary maker told them of it.
In the month of Elul we think about our own lives and how we invent and reinvent ourselves, how we try to hide what is inconvenient to our preferred narratives and what we prioritise and why. While we may not be living a life as complicated and as cryptic as that of Lamarr, each of us have questions to ask ourselves about our choices, and about whether we are living our lives as our best selves.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg sworn in United States Supreme Court
On this day in 1993 RBG was sworn in as the second woman – and the first Jewish woman – to serve on the US Supreme Court.
At the time she said “I am a judge born, raised, and proud of being a Jew. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of the Jewish tradition. I hope, in my years on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, I will have the strength and the courage to remain constant in the service of that demand.”
Throughout her life and career, Justice Ginsburg fought against oppression and inequality. She is credited with transforming opportunities and livelihoods previously dictated by gender inequalities. She was influential on Civil Rights Law, and dismantled a network of laws which supported sex discrimination. Perhaps surprisingly, many of her landmark legal successes came while she was representing men. Ultimately, Justice Ginsberg was clear: gender inequality is harmful to everyone.
She also said “Promoting active liberty does not mean allowing the majority to run roughshod over minorities. It calls for taking special care that all groups have a chance to fully participate in society and the political process.”
We can’t be RBG, but she was carrying on a legacy of justice that is our inheritance and obligation too. We may not be able to change or to create legislation, but in our own ways and our own worlds we can have the strength and courage to serve that command.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, asked to give advice to young people about how to fulfil that obligation said “Let them be sure that every deed counts, that every word has power, and that we can do our share to redeem the world despite all absurdities and all the frustration and all the disappointment.”
We can each do our share. Indeed, it is all that we can do. The only question is how we plan to do it.
1st Elul 2021 Rosh Hashanah Le’ma’aseir Behema 9th August
Mishnah tells us there are four New Years, and the 1st of Elul is the New Year for the accounting purposes of tithing domestic animals.
While this is a date for a Temple practise and therefore has no practical significance today, the date has been glossed in order to publicise the Jewish value of Tza‘ar Ba’alei Hayim – of preventing the suffering of animals.
The phrase originates in a Talmudic discussion about the treatment of domestic beasts, their loading and the conditions they must work under (BT Bava Metzia 32b).
Hebrew uses a number of words for animals – in Genesis animals, like humans are “Nefesh Chaya” – living souls. Biblically we see behema/ot are domesticated animals, Chaya (literally “alive” the word for wild animals (in modern Hebrew the generic word for animals, while wild animals are chayat bar, animals of the wild). But this Talmudic phrase Ba’alei Hayim not only recognises that animals are living, but that they are quite literally the masters or owners of life.
What does it mean to be an owner of life? And how does seeing our domestic animals as such figures influence how we think of them and treat them?
Judaism generally treats God as the Owner of Life – the One who gives and takes away life. We read in Talmud (Berachot 60b) the prayer familiar to all who read the morning service, the Elohai Neshama…:
When one awakens, one recites: My God, the soul You have placed within me is pure. You formed it within me, You breathed it into me, and You guard it while it is within me. One day You will take it from me and restore it within me in the time to come. As long as the soul is within me, I thank You, O Eternal my God and God of my ancestors, Master of all worlds, Possessor of all souls. Blessed are You, O Eternal who restores souls to lifeless bodies.
While it is clear that the Talmudic phrase “Ba’alei Chayim” is referencing animals that are in the service of human activity, it uses a lens we frequently ignore or even deny. Animals, even those who work for us or are farmed and herded in order to provide food for us, have a level of existence and meaning that also reflects the Creator of Life. We humans may have accorded ourselves the highest level in the creation story, the ones who name the animals and who will use them for our own benefit, but animal life too is important and has a spark of divine force, and it is not enough simply to avoid unnecessary cruelty.
Talmud tells us (BTBava Metzia 85a) “Once a calf being led to slaughter thrust its head into the skirts of Rabbi [Yehudah HaNasi]’s robe and began to bleat plaintively. “Go,” he said, “for this is why you were created.” Because he spoke without compassion, he was afflicted [at the hand of Heaven].(the midrash tells us he suffered toothache for 13 years)
Then one day, his maidservant was cleaning his house and came upon some young weasels. She was about to chase them away with a broom, when Rabbi Yehudah said to her, “Let them be, for it is written: ‘God’s tender mercies are upon all God’s works'” (Psalms 145:9). They said [in Heaven], “Since he is merciful, let him be treated with mercy.” [Thereafter, his pain ceased.]
This day, Rosh Chodesh Elul, is the day to consider the value of Tza’ar Ba’alei Hayim and ask ourselves, how do we value Creation in our daily lives.
Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua was once asked by his disciples: To what do you attribute your longevity? He said to them: In all my days, I never made a shortcut [kappendarya] through a synagogue. Nor did I ever stride over the heads of the sacred people, i.e., I never stepped over people sitting in the study hall in order to reach my place, so as not to appear scornful of them. And I never lifted my hands for the Priestly Benediction without first reciting a blessing. The Gemara asks: What blessing does the priests recite before the benediction? Rabbi Zeira says that Rav Ḥisda says: Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who has sanctified us with the sanctity of Aaron and commanded us to bless Your people, Israel, with love. (BT Sota 39a)
This blessing is unique in its formulation. The Cohanim (priesthood) are commanded to perform the blessing with intentional and conscious love. While there are three commandments to love in Torah To “love your neighbour as yourself”(Leviticus 19:18); To “love the stranger as yourself” (Leviticus 19:34); and “You shall love the Eternal your God for all your heart, soul and strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4), there is no other blessing over a commandment that requires us to perform it “with love”
Rav Joseph B Soloveitchik taught that this blessing, recited by the Kohanim prior to their delivering God’s Birkat Kohanim to God’s People, has much to teach us with its unique commandment to bless God’s people Israel with love. Rav Soloveitchik explains that this is not a blessing on the mitzvah per se “but it is a desire for the Priestly Blessing to be accompanied by love.”
He notes that the commandment of Birkat Cohanim has two separate parts – there is “the transmission of a direct blessing from God” as the priests speak the words and God blesses the people and there is also hashra’at ha-Shechinah (the manifestation of God’s presence).”
In effect, when the Birkat Kohanim is recited, there “is a direct meeting with the Shechinah that presents us with an intimate encounter in which we come [so to speak] face to face with God.” (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Darosh Darash Yosef: Discourses of Rav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik on the Weekly Parashah)
Unlike any other prayer or any other benediction, this ancient text of threefold blessing, given in community yet addressed in the singular to each and every person, has the power to eradicate the distance between the people and God. And so, says Rav Soloveitchik, we are reminded to enact it with intentional and deliberate love.
When Moses is told to tell Aaron about the giving of this blessing, the text is clear. The priests will say the words, but the blessing is to come directly from God. This is why the Cohanim uttering the words do not have to be deeply righteous or saintly people necessarily – they are only the vessels through which the blessings come. On ascending the bimah to give the blessing they become faceless, their heads covered by their tallit they neither look directly at the people nor do the people look directly at them. Their role overrides any personal history at this moment.
And yet – this is more than those of Aaronic descent being the conduit for a divine blessing. As Rav Soloveitchik understands the event, they are not only conveying the divine blessing but they are re-enacting hashra’at ha-Shechinah – literally creating an immediate and intimate encounter between God and the Jewish people.
By doing this with intentional love, it seems to me that the Cohanim are taking on something of the role or characteristic of the Divine. Unconditional love, deliberate and intentional love, is a pre-requisite of the ceremony. Regardless of who is saying the words of blessing, regardless of the actions and choices of each of the individuals receiving those words of blessing, the bond is formed through loving acceptance of the other.
The word for love used in the blessing “ahavah” is first used in the narrative the Akedah, when God speaks to Abraham of his son Isaac “the one you love” before testing that love to the limit. Ahavah seems to be used biblically across a full spectrum of loving feelings – from parental love to sensual love to loving friendship to spiritual love. All use the verbal root alef hey beit.
The mystical tradition notes that the numerical value of ahavah (love) and echad (one) are the same – 13, and that the verse that precedes the command us to love God ends with the word “Echad” – describing the unity of God – a verse best known as the first line of the shema.
From this comes the idea that perceiving unity is the ultimate objective of love, and that love both brings the understanding that not only God is One, but creation too is connected and makes up one whole – even while we tend to note diversity and difference more frequently than we note unity and similarity.
So why are we commanded to love God? Because loving God – who is unified and whole – should cause us to love Creation – which is unified and whole. Loving God means we have to love people – all people, regardless of whether we might find them appealing or appalling, regardless of whether they are “of us” or are different from us.
The Talmud (Yoma 9b) tells us that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Exile of the Jewish people from the Land of Israel was a direct result of sinat chinam – causeless hatred. Rav Abraham Isaac Kook famously wrote that to rebuild Israel we would have to cultivate ahavat chinam – causeless love.
Causeless love is the requirement in the blessing before Birkat Cohanim, the priestly blessing. It is the only time we say the blessing to fulfil a mitzvah with these words. We need to nurture and cultivate the ability to causeless love for the other, not because this makes us fit to be the conduit for God’s blessing in the world, but because this makes us able to bring God’s presence into the world.
As Rabbi Akiva said, “Love your neighbour as yourself is the foundational principle (klal gadol) of Torah”. He was not talking about love as feelings, nor as something to be earned or deserved, but to treat other human being with respect, with justice, with awareness that they too are part of the Unity that God has created, that they are part of us as we are part of them.
In this time of increasing polarisation, of rising anxiety and tensions, of spewing hatred in social media and on our streets, it is time to remember the unique formulation of blessing before enacting hashra’at ha-Shechinah, trying to bring God into the world; time to remember and be intentional knowing that God commands us to treat God’s people with love.
“A full year of lockdown has passed and more than one hundred and twenty six thousand people in the UK are recorded as having lost their lives to Covid 19. We grieve every person; we mourn for all the joy and wisdom, warmth and love that has left our world with their deaths.
A little more than a year ago our world was upended with news of the coronavirus, our relationships and our lives destabilised as fear crept into our waking moments and anxiety coloured our dreams. We are grieving for the world we knew; for the easy handshakes and hugs; for the freedom to go wherever we needed to, unafraid and straightforwardly.
We have learned in this past year about our own mortality, about how lightly life is worn and how easily it can fall from us. Some of us have experienced great illness and recovered, some of us are continuing to suffer; some of us have watched a loved one suffer without being able to be close to them, or are living with the knowledge that they died alone, comforted not by their family or friends, but by caring strangers.
As we remember those whose lives were cruelly cut short by this virus, our feelings flow and change, overcome and recede. We are cut off from the comforts of being with each other, from the squeezing of hands and the sharing of glances, from the rituals of saying a proper goodbye.
But while each of us may mourn alone, we also share our grief. The lonely path we are walking is being trodden by so many others. Walking alongside us, even if we do not see and cannot touch them, we are remembering and grieving together. People across the world – and close to home – are sharing the journey. Reach out, help and loving support is closer than you think.
In the Book of Judges we find a fantastical story of a debate between the trees about who should become their king. They first asked the olive tree who refused on account of the oil it produces; then they asked the fig who refused because she produced sweet fruit, and finally the grapevine who refused – well you get the idea. Then they asked the thornbush who responded that if they would honour him they could shelter under his shade, but if not, fire would come that would destroy even the cedars of Lebanon.
The story is told by Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon the judge who had brought Israel back to God after it had strayed into idolatry, but who notably had refused the kingship, saying that neither he nor any son would rule over them, only God was ruler of Israel.
Yet Abimelech, one of Gideon’s sons had other ideas. After Gideon’s death Abimelech committed fratricide to become the first king of Israel. Bible tells us Gideon had seventy sons – only Jotham survived Abimelech’s murderous onslaught by hiding. When Abimelech was made king in Shechem, Jotham stood atop Mt Gerizim and declared the story of the trees to the populace.
What was the purpose? To remind the people that good leadership comes with personal sacrifice, and that those who grab leadership for their own benefit can bring down the whole of society. Three trees were not prepared to give up their fruitful lives to take on leadership, and so the barren yet aggressive thorn was able to assume the title, with the false claim that it could provide protective shade (it cannot). Once in power, if anyone went against it, it could fuel the fires that would destroy them all.
Civil war scarred the population. Abimelech died after a brief and bloody reign. Jotham’s story is for us all.
Gli alberi che cercavano un sovrano di rav Sylvia Rothschild pubblicato il 20 gennaio 2021 Nel Libro dei Giudici troviamo una storia fantastica di un dibattito tra gli alberi su chi sarebbe dovuto diventare il loro re. Dapprima chiesero all’olivo, che rifiutò a causa dell’olio che produce; poi chiesero al fico, che rifiutò perché produceva frutta dolce, infine alla vite che rifiutò… beh, avrete capito. Chiesero quindi al roveto, che rispose che se lo avessero onorato avrebbero potuto ripararsi sotto la sua ombra, ma in caso contrario sarebbe arrivato un fuoco che avrebbe distrutto anche i cedri del Libano. La storia è raccontata da Jotham, il figlio più giovane di Gedeone, il giudice che aveva riportato a Dio il popolo di Israele dopo che si era smarrito nell’idolatria, ma che in particolare aveva rifiutato la regalità, dicendo che né lui né alcun figlio avrebbe governato sul popolo, solo Dio era governatore di Israele. Eppure Abimelech, uno dei figli di Gedeone, aveva altre idee. Dopo la morte di Gedeone Abimelech commise fratricidio per diventare il primo re di Israele. La Bibbia ci dice che Gedeone aveva settanta figli e solo Jotham sopravvisse all’assalto omicida di Abimelech nascondendosi. Quando Abimelech fu nominato re a Sichem, Jotham si trovava in cima al monte Gherizim e raccontò alla popolazione la storia degli alberi. Qual era lo scopo? Ricordare alle persone che una buona leadership viene fornita con il sacrificio personale e che coloro che afferrano il potere a proprio vantaggio possono abbattere l’intera società. Tre alberi non erano pronti a rinunciare alle loro vite fruttuose per assumere il comando, e così la spina sterile ma aggressiva fu in grado di assumere il titolo, con la falsa affermazione che poteva fornire ombra protettiva (non può). Una volta al potere, se qualcuno si fosse messo contro, avrebbe potuto alimentare gli incendi che li avrebbero distrutti tutti. La guerra civile segnò la popolazione. Abimelech morì dopo un breve e sanguinoso regno. La storia di Jotham è per tutti noi. Traduzione dall’inglese di Eva Mangialajo Rantzer
The festival of Chanukah commemorates the regaining of the Jerusalem Temple in 164 BCE, and its rededication, after the occupying Seleucids had defiled it by imposing Hellenic culture and worship over its empire, and prohibiting any other religious worship.
The story of the successful revolt by a small group of pious Jews against the large military power of its day has a touch of the miraculous, and sure enough, the narratives which are first told in the apocryphal first two Books of Maccabees have evolved in their retelling, embroidered and shaped well beyond the original rather violent events.
The darkest parts of this story of revolutionary struggle, and Jew fighting Jew in bloody civil war – as some embraced the new culture while others resisted fiercely – are glossed and reframed in the Talmud, which determinedly saw Chanukah as less of a human story of oppression and guerrilla warfare, and more as a demonstration of the divine presence in history. So today we celebrate the miracle of oil staying alight for 8 days rather than one, and we eat foods cooked in oil and play games of chance that refer to the miracle; we give presents each night and generally have fun with friends and family, and we think very little of the origin of the festival being fierce rebellion against assimilation with the dominant power.
The date of Chanukah – 25th Kislev – moves around the calendar a little but is always around Christmas. And the date is not the only similarity. Both are festivals rooted in pagan winter solstice where lighting the surrounding darkness is central. Both use tree symbolism – the Chanukiah is based on the Temple Menorah, which bible describes using botanical terms – clearly a Tree of Life, while Christmas uses evergreens – holly, ivy, fir trees – to proclaim Everlasting Life. Both stories are set in times of oppression – the Seleucid Empire and the Roman one, and both embed hope that human oppression is vanquished by divine activity. Both signal God’s presence in the world and both stories have a mythic quality of redemption.
The mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah candles is to proclaim the miracle – known by its Talmudic name of “pirsumei nissa” (the word paras means to spread or to reveal- in modern Hebrew it is the root of the word pirsommet – advertisement. Nissa is better known to us as “nes” – miracle). So we are supposed to light the Chanukiah in the boundary between our private space and the public space – in a window or by a doorway, in order to “advertise” the story of Chanukah – in particular the miracle, which is above all a story of hope as well as of holiness.
What was the miracle of Chanukah? The story of holding onto an identity when the political climate was determinedly eroding it must surely be part of the extraordinary story, even if that meant a dark time of division in the internal Jewish world.
The story of a small group fighting a much larger power for the right to self-determination must surely also be part of the “miracle” – for we see today so many groups and peoples still fighting for that right, and we see how much energy is expended for often so little reward, something which can destroy even the most committed activist’s well-being.
But I think the biggest miracle of Chanukah is the hope that is expressed when the last oil was set aflame, and no one knew for sure what would happen when it would go out.
This year has been a time of extraordinary darkness for so many of us. While Covid has ravaged the populations of the world, we have also been engaged in division and fuelled by impotent anger. How did this disease come into the world? Who can we blame? What about our fellow citizens not taking the right precautions? Or our Governments imposing lockdowns and apparently removing our freedoms?
We have seen both extraordinary compassion and terrible frustration. Frontline workers giving their all to society, while other people have been much less selfless.
We are tired and frightened and unsure about the future, we have survived the Spring and the Summer but now we face winter and the light is lessening with each passing day.
How much this year do we need the lights of Chanukah? The lights that every day increase and bring us growing hope that we are explicitly told to share with others.
In the story of Creation, everything begins with the creation of Light. First there was “tohu vavohu” – unformed chaos, and there was darkness. And God said “Let there be light, and there was light, and God saw that the light was good and divided the light from the darkness, calling Light Day, and Darkness night. That was day one. But the sun and the moon are only created on day four – so what is this primordial light?
Our mystical tradition suggests that this earliest light is the hidden light, the light that is present even in darkness. We allow it to emerge when we are engaged in God’s will – when we study, do good deeds, make the world a better place.
The story of Chanukah reminds us that there is always light, even when we don’t always see it. It may be hidden in the darkness but it is there. And it is for us to bring it forth into the world, to share it with others, to promote hope and well-being in our world, so that the blessing of God’s face shines on us all.
La festa di Chanukah ricorda la riconquista del tempio di Gerusalemme nel 164 BCE, e la sua ri-conscrazione, in seguito alla sua occupazione da parte dei Seleucidi, i quali lo avevavo dissacrato imponendo una cultura ellenica e la sua venerazione in ogni angolo del proprio impero, vietando altri culti.
La storia di una rivolta di successo da parte di un piccolo gruppo di pii ebrei contro una delle più grandi potenze militari di allora ha un che di miracoloso, e non a caso, i racconti presenti nei due apocrifi libri dei Maccabei si sono evoluti, trasformati e sono finiti per andare ben oltre quei violenti eventi originariamente descritti.
I dettagli più bui di questa storia fatta di lotta rivoluzionario, in cui gli ebrei combattevano l’uno contro l’altro in una guerra civile sangunaria (alcuni abbracciarono la nuova cultura mentre altri si opposero violentemente) vengono ignorati e riproposti nel Talmud, dove Chanukah viene vista meno come una storia umana di oppressione e guerriglia, e più come una dimostrazione di una storica presenza divina. Di conseguenza, oggi celebriamo il miracolo dell’olio che rimase accesso per otto giorni consecutivi, e mangiamo cibi fritti e giochiamo a giochi basati sul caso che si riferiscono al suddetto miracolo; ogni notte ci scambiamo regali e ci divertiamo in compagnia di amici e parenti, e non pensiamo troppo all’origine di questa festa fatta di feroce ribellione nei confronti di una potenza dominante con un obbiettivo di assimilazione.
La data di Chanukah – il 25 di Kislev – tende a spostarsi nel nostro calendario ma avviene sempre intorno al natale. E la data non è l’unica cosa che queste due feste hanno in comune. Entrambe sono feste legate al solstizio d’inverno pagano, dove il dare luce all’oscurità circostante è il punto centrale. Entrambe le feste utilizzano il simbolismo degli alberi- la Chanukiah è basata sulla menorah dell’antico tempio, che nella bibbia viene descritta utilizzando termini botanici-chiaramente un albero della vita, mentre il natale utilizza sempreverdi- agrifogli, edera, pini– per proclamare la vita eterna.Entrambe le storie hanno luogo in tempi di oppressione-l’impero Seleucida e quello Romano, ed entrambe rapparesentano la speranza che l’oppressione umana possa essere sconfitta da un’intervento divino. Entrambe segnalano la presenza di Dio nel mondo ed entrambe le storie hanno una qualità mistica di redenzione.
La mitzvah dell’accendere le candele di Chanukah è proclamare il miracolo– conosciuto nel Talmud come “pirsumei nissa” (la parola “paras” significa rivelare e nel ebraico moderno è la radice della parola pirsommet – annunciazione. Conosciamo meglio il termine Nissa come “nes” – miracolo). Di conseguenza, dobbiamo accendere la Chanukiah in quello spazio tra il nostro spazio privato e quello pubblico-davanti ad una finestra o vicino ad una porta, in modo da “annunciare” la storia di Chanukah – in particolare il miracolo, che è in tutto e per tutto una storia di speranza ed una di sacralità.
Quale fu il miracolo di Chanukah? La storia del rimanere aggrappati alla propria identità in un clima politica che stava tentando di eroderla ne fa sicuramente parte, anche se ciò significava un periodo buio di divisione nel mondo ebraico.
La storia di un piccolo gruppo che ha combattuto contro un potere ben più grande per il diritto dell’autodeterminazione sicuramente fa parte del “miracolo”- e anche oggi vediamo gruppi e popoli che stanno ancora combattendo per quel diritto, e vediamo quanta energia viene spesa rispetto al premio ottenuto, un qualcosa che può distruggere la psiche anche dell’attivista più dedito.
Ma credo che il miracolo di Chanukah sia la speranza espressa quando venne utilizzata l’ultima goccia d’olio e nessuno sapeva per certo cosa sarebbe successo una volta che si fosse estinta la fiamma da essa generata.
Quest’ anno è stato caratterizzato da straordinaria oscurità per molti di noi. Mentre il Covid ha devastato le popolazioni del mondo, ci siamo anche trovati divisi e pieni di rabbia impotente. Come è nata questa malattia? A chi possiamo dare la colpa? Cosa dire dei nostri concittadini che non prendono le dovute precauzioni? Cosa dire dei nostri governi che impongono lockdown, apparentemente limitando le nostre libertà?
Abbiamo assistito sia a straordinaria compassione che terribile frustrazione. Gli operatori in prima linea che hanno dato tutto per la società, mentre altri sono stati meno altruisti.
Siamo stanchi , impauriti ed incerti sul futuro, siamo sopravvisuti alla primavera ed all’estate, ma ora ci troviamo ad affrontare l’inverno e le ore di luce continuano a diminuire giorno per giorno.
Di quanto abbiamo bisogno delle luci di Chanukah quest’anno? Le luci che ogni giorno aumentano e che ci donano speranza e che ci viene detto esplicitamente dobbiamo condividere con gli altri.
Nella storia della genesi, tutto inizia con la creazione della luce. In principio vi fu “tohu vavohu” – caos senza forma, e vi era oscurità. E Dio disse “Sia la luce, e la luce fu, e Dio vide che la luce era cosa buona e separò la luce dalle tenebre, e fu sera e fu mattina.” Questo fu il primo giorno. Ma il sole e la luna vennero solo creati il quarto giorno-quindi che cos’è questa luce primordiale?
La nostra tradizione mistica ci propone che questa prima luce è una luce nascosta, la luce che è sempre presente anche nelle tenebre. Facciamo si che emerga quando seguiamo il volere di Dio-quando studiamo, compiamo buone azioni e rendiamo il mondo un posto migliore.
La storia di Chanukah ci ricorda che vi è sempre luce, anche quando non riusciamo a vederla. Sarà anche nascosta nelle tenebre, ma è pur sempre li. Sta a noi portarla nel mondo, condividerla con altri e promuovere speranza e benessere nel nostro mondo, in modo che la benedizione del volto di Dio possa illuminarci tutti.
The moment that Yom Kippur services finish, (well maybe the moment after we have eaten and drunk to break our fast), the traditional Jew makes the first symbolic move to build their succah. Five days after the solemnity and awe of Kippur, we are commanded to rejoice – Succot is Zman Simchateinu – the season of our rejoicing.
The Gemara (Pesachim 109a) asks how the mitzvah of “vesamachta bechagecha” (rejoice on your holidays) can be fulfilled once the Temple is destroyed. It answers, “ein simcha ela b’yayin,” there can be no joy without wine, citing Psalm 104:15 which states, “yayin yisamach levav enosh,” wine brings joy to the people’s hearts. This is not a recipe for drunkenness though; it is a reminder that sometimes drinking wine can help us escape the horrors of the current world. If the shopping habits of many since Covid struck, it seems many have the same idea. Alcohol sales in the UK have risen by a third since Covid.
But unlike Pesach or Purim, there is no mitzvah to drink on Succot. We must get our joy elsewhere.
The root of the word s’m’ch (joy) appears only once in each of the first four books of the bible, but explodes (relatively) in Deuteronomy – where it is clearly part of the future activity in the Land. And generally the joy is to be experienced in the Tempe worship. In chapter 12 of Deuteronomy we have three examples: – “[In the place that God will choose] you and your families shall eat and rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Eternal your God has blessed you” (Deut. 12:7). : “And there you shall rejoice before the Eternal your God, you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns” (Deut. 12:12). “Eat them in the presence of the Eternal your God at the place the Eternal your God will choose – you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns – and you are to rejoice before the Eternal your God in everything you put your hand to”
A few chapters later, when tithing the produce, we are told “And you shall use the money (from the produce) for whatsoever your soul desires, for oxen or sheep, for wine, or strong drink …and eat there before the Eternal your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. And the Levite that is within your gates, you shall not forsake him; for he has no portion or inheritance with you”
– Shavuot is to be celebrated joyfully in the Temple: And rejoice before the Eternal your God at the place God will choose as a dwelling for The Name – you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the strangers, the fatherless, and the widows living among you” Deut 16:11
And three times we are told about Succot – once in Leviticus we read the instruction to “take the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Eternal your God seven days.”(23:40) and twice in Deuteronomy ““Be joyful at your feast – you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the strangers, the fatherless, and the widows who live in your towns .For seven days, celebrate the feast to the Eternal your God at the place the Eternal your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete ” (Deut. 16:14,15).
When you put these verses together what jumps out – besides the idea that simcha/joy is essentially a phenomenon emerging from the worship experience, is that it is a shared and communal experience. Simcha/joy is not an individual emotion, but the effect of coming together as a group in order to affirm our contract with God. It is not surprising that the word for a celebration is “simcha” – one cannot have a party or celebrate alone, simcha needs the presence of others.
While not the only joyous festival in our calendar, three times the word s’m’ch appears in conjunction with Succot. And yet at the same time Succot is a festival whose main symbols represent the fragility of life. The succah itself, reminding us of the flimsy tents we lived in while traveling in the desert on our way to the Promised Land. Vulnerable structures, unable to fully protect us from the elements, providing “just enough” shelter. They are not well constructed; need to have only 2 and half walls (though at least 3 is preferable) and be open enough to the sky that while there is more shade than sun, there must be sufficient gaps in the s’chach (covering) to be able to see the sun or stars.
While the succah most likely descends from the temporary dwellings where the farmers or shepherds lived in order to protect the crops or flocks, it has become a metaphor for our dependence on God, a reminder that our faith in the security of bricks and mortar is misplaced.
The lulav and etrog symbolise our dependence on the land – and on the rains coming at the right time- for our food. Midrash glosses them in a myriad of ways – they represent the full Jewish community, the body of each of us, the way we experience the world. They represent our history from Egypt to settlement, a celebration of the water cycle, a representation of the different micro climates in the Land of Israel….But however they are glossed, the arba’a minim are a physical reminder of our need for the seasonal rains if we are to eat and to survive.
The two messages – of our vulnerability in the present that we cannot “future proof” however hard we try, and of our need for others if we are to create joy, make Succot one of the most powerful festivals in our calendar. We become powerfully aware both of our individual fragility and of the way that being in community can address our fears and our weaknesses; that being together in doing God’s demands of us can keep us secure in a deep and meaningful way.
The book of Kohelet is traditionally read on Succot. It is a strange book, part of the wisdom literature tradition, full of awareness of the transitory nature of our lives. It sees reality in all its bleakness – recognises that the oft-quoted consolations don’t hold up. The good do suffer. Bad people are not brought to justice. The innocent can face tragedy. While appearing to be deeply pessimistic and a strange choice for the festival of joy, in fact I think it is a brilliant addition. Because its unflinching facing up to reality, to the fact that our days are fleeting, that there is no recipe for success or happiness or longevity or whatever it is we want, it takes us to the heart of simcha. There is no way we can manipulate our world or our futures so we may as well focus on the present and learn to be present within it, learn to value what we currently have with who we currently have.
Joy comes when we stop looking for more, stop comparing what we think we deserve with what we actually have, stop competing and begin to understand and come to terms with the people and the times we live in. Joy comes when we accept our vulnerability and know that it can be mitigated by companionship, community and relationship with God. Joy comes when we celebrate our today rather than keep our eyes on some ideal prize in our tomorrows.
This year’s Succot is going to be harder than most – we may not be able to squash into the succah with family and friends because of the Covid distancing – but we can invite the ushpizin, the guests who represent our history and our values, to join us. We may have to temper our interactions with our communities, mitigate them through the conferencing platforms on our computers, miss out on the release of the tensions of Elul and Tishri that a simcha can bring. We can contemplate our vulnerability this year and know just how real it is – this year the symbols of Succot may be less needed as a reminder. But we can still experience joy. We belong to our communities, we recreate them in virtual space, we know that in these pandemic times friends and family members community members we know and those we do not, neighbours and delivery drivers – they alleviate our isolation, provide human companionship and life’s necessities. So let this Succot be a time of joy, and let it remind us not only that our lives hang on a thread, but that the thread is woven into the fabric of community, we hold it securely for each other.
When we heard that the names of the heroes and heroines of Israel were being erased on the streets of Bet Shemesh, we decided to give them a place of honor in our Sukkah. Please join us in honoring them in yours.
כשנודע לנו שעיריית בית שמש החליטה למחוק את שמות גיבורי וגיבורות ישראל משלטי רחוב- החלטנו לתת להם מקום של כבוד בסוכה שלנו. הצטרפו אלינו בבקשה והכניסו אותם גם לסוכה שלכם.
Nel momento in cui finiscono i servizi dello Yom Kippur (beh, forse dal momento dopo che abbiamo mangiato e bevuto per rompere il nostro digiuno), l’ebreo, tradizionalmente, fa il primo simbolico atto di costruzione la sua succà. Cinque giorni dopo la solennità e il timore reverenziale di Kippur, ci viene ordinato di rallegrarci: Succot è Zman Simchateinu, la stagione della nostra gioia.
La Gemara (Pesachim 109a) chiede come si possa adempiere la mitzvà di “vesamachta bechagecha” (rallegrati per le tue feste) dopo che il Tempio è stato distrutto. Risponde “ein simcha ela b’yayin“, non ci può essere gioia senza vino, citando il Salmo 104: 15 che afferma, “yayin yisamach levav enosh“, il vino porta gioia ai cuori delle persone. Questa non è però una ricetta per l’ubriachezza, ci ricorda che a volte bere vino può aiutarci a sfuggire agli orrori del mondo attuale. Se le abitudini di acquisto di molti dopo che il Covid ha colpito mostrano qualcosa, sembra che in tanti abbiano la stessa idea. Le vendite di alcolici nel Regno Unito sono aumentate di un terzo da quando c’è il Covid.
Ma, a differenza di Pesach o Purim, a Succot non c’è la mitzvà di bere. Dobbiamo indirizzare la nostra gioia altrove.
La radice della parola s’m’ch (gioia) appare solo una volta in ciascuno dei primi quattro libri della Bibbia, ma esplode (relativamente) in Deuteronomio, dove è chiaramente parte dell’attività futura nella Terra. E generalmente la gioia deve essere sperimentata nel culto al Tempio. Nel capitolo 12 del Deuteronomio abbiamo tre esempi: “[Nel luogo che Dio sceglierà] voi e le vostre famiglie mangerete e gioirete di ogni vostra iniziativa per la quale l’Eterno tuo Dio vi ha benedetto” (Deut. 12:7). – “Gioirete dunque davanti all’Eterno vostro Dio, i vostri figli, le vostre figlie, i vostri schiavi e le vostre schiave, nonché il Levita che è nelle vostre città” (Deut. 12:12). “Mangiateli alla presenza dell’Eterno, vostro Dio, nel luogo che l’Eterno vostro Dio sceglierà: voi, i vostri figli e le vostre figlie, i vostri servi e le vostre schiave, e il Levita delle vostre città – e dovete rallegrarvi davanti all’Eterno vostro Dio in tutto ciò a cui mettete mano”.
Alcuni capitoli dopo, quando si paga la decima, ci viene detto: “E userete il denaro (dal prodotto) per qualunque cosa la vostra anima desideri, per i buoi o le pecore, per il vino o la bevanda forte … e mangerete lì davanti all’Eterno vostro Dio, e gioite, voi e la vostre famiglie. E il Levita che è entro le vostre porte, non lo abbandonerete; perché non ha parte o eredità con voi”.
“(A Shavuot) ti rallegrerai davanti al Signore tuo Dio, tu e tuo figlio, la tua figliola, il tuo schiavo e la tua schiava, il Levita che è nella tua città e il forestiero, l’orfano e la vedova che saranno in mezzo a te, nel luogo che sceglierà il Signore tuo Dio come residenza del suo santuario.” Deut 16:11
E tre volte ci viene detto di Succot: una volta, nel Levitico, leggiamo l’istruzione: “prendete il frutto di alberi buoni, rami di palme e rami di alberi folti e salici del ruscello, e gioirete davanti all’Eterno vostro Dio sette giorni.” (23:40) e due volte in Deuteronomio “Ti rallegrerai nella tua festa: tu e tuo figlio e le tue figlie, il tuo schiavo e la tua schiava, il Levita, il forestiero, l’orfano e la vedova che vivono nelle tue città. Per sette giorni, farai festa in onore dell’Eterno tuo Dio nel luogo che il Signore stesso sceglierà, perché ti benedirà il Signore e nei tuoi prodotti dei campi ed in tutte le sue azioni sarai dunque completamente lieto.” (Dt. 16 : 14,15).
Quando metti insieme questi versi, ciò che emerge, oltre all’idea che simcha/gioia è essenzialmente un fenomeno che emerge dall’esperienza del servizio religioso, è che è un’esperienza condivisa e comunitaria. Simcha/gioia non è un’emozione individuale, ma l’effetto di riunirsi in gruppo per affermare il nostro contratto con Dio. Non sorprende che la parola per una celebrazione sia “simcha“: non si può fare una festa o festeggiare da soli, simcha ha bisogno della presenza degli altri.
Sebbene non sia l’unica festa gioiosa nel nostro calendario, tre volte la parola s’m’ch appare insieme a Succot. Eppure allo stesso tempo Succot è una festa i cui simboli principali rappresentano la fragilità della vita. La succà stessa, che ci ricorda le fragili tende in cui vivevamo mentre viaggiavamo nel deserto verso la Terra Promessa. Strutture vulnerabili, incapaci di proteggerci completamente dalle intemperie, fornendo un riparo “appena sufficiente”. Non sono ben costruite; devono avere solo due muri e mezzo (anche se almeno tre è preferibile) ed essere aperte a sufficienza verso il cielo così che, anche se c’è più ombra che sole, ci debbano essere spazi sufficienti nello s’chach (copertura) per poter vedere il sole o le stelle.
Sebbene molto probabilmente la succà discenda dalle abitazioni temporanee dove vivevano i contadini o i pastori per proteggere i raccolti o le greggi, è diventata una metafora della nostra dipendenza da Dio, un promemoria che la nostra fede nella sicurezza di mattoni e malta è mal riposta.
Il lulav e l’etrog simboleggiano la nostra dipendenza dalla terra e dalle piogge, che arrivano al momento giusto, per il nostro cibo. Il Midrash li coniuga in una miriade di modi: rappresentano l’intera comunità ebraica, il corpo di ognuno di noi, il modo in cui viviamo il mondo. Rappresentano la nostra storia dall’Egitto agli insediamenti, una celebrazione del ciclo dell’acqua, una rappresentazione dei diversi microclimi nella Terra di Israele …. Ma comunque li interpretiamo, gli arba’a minim sono un promemoria fisico del nostro bisogno di piogge stagionali se vogliamo mangiare e sopravvivere.
I due messaggi, della nostra vulnerabilità nel presente che non possiamo “rendere a prova di futuro” per quanto ci sforziamo, e del nostro bisogno degli altri se vogliamo creare gioia, fanno di Succot una delle feste più potenti del nostro calendario. Diventiamo fortemente consapevoli sia della nostra fragilità individuale sia del modo in cui essere in comunità può fronteggiare le nostre paure e le nostre debolezze; che essere insieme nell’adempiere alle richieste che Dio ci fa può tenerci al sicuro in un modo profondo e significativo.
Il libro di Kohelet viene tradizionalmente letto a Succot. È un libro strano, parte della tradizione della letteratura sapienziale, pieno di consapevolezza della natura transitoria delle nostre vite. Vede la realtà in tutta la sua desolazione: riconosce che le consolazioni spesso citate non reggono. I buoni soffrono. Le persone cattive non vengono assicurate alla giustizia. L’innocente può affrontare la tragedia. Sebbene appaia profondamente pessimista e una strana scelta per la festa della gioia, in effetti penso che sia un’aggiunta geniale. Perché affrontare risolutamente la realtà, il fatto che i nostri giorni sono fugaci, che non esiste una ricetta per il successo o la felicità o la longevità o qualunque cosa desideriamo, ci porta al cuore della simchà. Non c’è modo di manipolare il nostro mondo o il nostro futuro, quindi possiamo anche concentrarci sul presente e imparare ad essere consapevoli al suo interno, imparare a valutare ciò che abbiamo attualmente, insieme a chi abbiamo attualmente.
La gioia arriva quando smettiamo di cercare oltre, smettiamo di confrontare ciò che pensiamo di meritare con ciò che abbiamo effettivamente, smettiamo di competere e iniziamo a capire e venire a patti con le persone e i tempi in cui viviamo. La gioia arriva quando accettiamo la nostra vulnerabilità e sappiamo che può essere mitigata dalla compagnia, dalla comunità e dal rapporto con Dio. La gioia arriva quando celebriamo il nostro oggi piuttosto che tenere gli occhi su un premio ideale nel nostro domani.
Il Succot di quest’anno sarà più difficile della maggior parte degli altri: potremmo non essere in grado di stringerci nella succà con la famiglia e gli amici a causa del distacco del Covid, ma possiamo invitare gli ushpizin, gli ospiti che rappresentano la nostra storia e i nostri valori, a unirsi a noi. Potremmo dover temperare le nostre interazioni con le nostre comunità, mitigarle attraverso le piattaforme di conferenza sui nostri computer, perdere l’occasione di sciogliere le tensioni di Elul e Tishri, che una simchà potrebbe portare. Possiamo contemplare la nostra vulnerabilità quest’anno e sapere quanto sia reale: quest’anno i simboli di Succot potrebbero essere meno necessari come promemoria. Ma possiamo ancora provare gioia. Apparteniamo alle nostre comunità, le ricreiamo nello spazio virtuale, sappiamo che in questi tempi di pandemia membri della comunità di amici e familiari che conosciamo e quelli che non conosciamo, i vicini e i fattorini, alleviano il nostro isolamento, forniscono compagnia umana e le necessità della vita. Quindi, possa questo Succot essere un momento di gioia, possa ricordarci non solo che le nostre vite sono appese a un filo, ma che il filo è intessuto nella trama della comunità, lo teniamo saldamente gli uni per gli altri.
Quando abbiamo saputo che i nomi degli eroi e delle eroine di Israele venivano cancellati per le strade di Bet Shemesh, abbiamo deciso di dare loro un posto d’onore nella nostra Sukkà. Unitevi a noi per onorarli nel vostro.
The name of this final service of Yom Kippur Neilah, is more properly called “Neilat She’arim” the closing of the gates. (Ta’anit 26a).
The question that has exercised many commentators since the time of the Jerusalem Talmud is – which gates are closing? And what does their closing mean for us?
Is it simply a reference to the gates to the Temple, since the last service of the day is about to be complete and we know that the Temple gates were closed while there was still some daylight?; Or could they be the Sha’arei Shamayim – The Gates to Heaven (TJ Berachot 4:1). And if so, what are the Gates of Heaven and why would they close? Rav, a third century sage understands the phrase to mean the setting of the sun – when the Gates of Heaven close, darkness comes into the world. Night is coming with all its fears and uncertainties.
“Open the gates,” our liturgy says, “For day is nearly past.” The fear that the gates will close before we can do what we must do, before we can complete the work of Yom Kippur, makes the Neilah service the most intense and climactic experience of the day. The gates of the Ark are traditionally open throughout the Neilah service –the longest time this happens in the year, a sort of symbol for our desire keep the pathway to God open. We yet again recite our confession, we urgently beg for God to hear us and grant our prayers – the need is pressing, the time is short, the task is critical. As Rabbi Tarfon taught (Pirkei Avot 2:16) “the day is short, and the work is plentiful, and the labourers are indolent, and the reward is great, and the master of the house is insistent.” At no time do we experience the force of this teaching so much as at Neilah.
Gates are important places in the biblical and rabbinic worlds. They are not simply the places by which one can enter or leave a city, but places of great significance. The judges and elders sit at the gates of the city to perform their civic duties; it is the place where the news is announced, the markets were by the gates, they were the centre of public and social life. The vulnerable or poor who lived “within the gates” had a legal status and recourse to public support. The wells were usually nearby the gates, criminals were punished outside the gates, the ritually impure were made to stay outside the gates…. The gates provided protection from the outside world and its dangers, closed each night and reopened when the dawn came. The image of dawn opening is even used to describe the actions of God –in the blessing before the evening shema God is described (in the ma’ariv aravim prayer, the blessing before the evening shema) as “pote’ach she’arim” the one who opens the gates [(of dawn) with wisdom, and who arranges the times and the seasons]
Jerusalem had gates to the city (8 survive today), and gates to the Temple Mount – a surprising number of gates for such a small place. Some say there were 13 gates to the Temple Mount, one for each tribe to use, and one for those who don’t know their tribal affiliation; or maybe it is to reference the 13 attributes of God that we repeat throughout this solemn day.
We refer in our texts allegorically to so many gates. There are gates of righteousness, gates of repentance, gates of prayer and gates of tears. Job speaks of the gates of death; the psalms speak of the gates of deep darkness. We know the gateway to be important liminal space. There is a reason we place a mezuzah on the posts of the gateway to our homes. Gates are transformative and sometimes fearful places.
Our lives are made up of gateways – some we travel through, some we ignore. Sometimes we are able to change and move into a different space, other times fear or complacency keep us from exploring the where the gate might lead to. We wait, like the man in Kafka’s story “Before the Law”, afraid to go forward and afraid to go back, waiting for some fantasy permission, until, too late, the gate closes leaving us still outside, never to know what really lay on the other side.
At Neilah the gate stands open before us, but we are agonisingly certain it will soon close. The gate indicates the choices we might make to change our lives, the directions we might decide to travel, the leaving behind of one life and the uncertain one we might enter.
Lea Goldberg, who emigrated to Tel Aviv from Europe in 1935 wrote
This is an hour of change.
Within it we stand uncertain on the border of light.
Shall we draw back or cross over?
Where shall our hearts turn?
Shall we draw back, my brother, my sister,
Or cross over?
This is the hour of change, and within it,
We stand quietly
On the border of light.
What lies before us?
Shall we draw back, my brother, my sister,
Or cross over?
Her questions are our questions – we stand uncertain at the border – should we draw back or cross over? What will we leave behind? What will we move towards?
We have the chance each yom Kippur to spend a full day examining and evaluating our lives. If we are committed to the process we have had a month and a half – from the beginning of Elul until now, to scrutinise our existence and to make decisions about what we want from our lives, what we want to leave behind for good, what we want to change and what we want to develop in the coming days and years. The symbolism of closing gates at Neilah is a wake-up call as strong as that of the shofar – reminding us that we do not have infinite time, nor infinite chances. We may have reflected and considered, but the time to make a decision is now.
What are the gates we face today? There are so many – each of us has our own gate just as the 12 tribes each had their own pathway to the holy of holies.
There are the gates we may keep closed in order to keep others away. Should we be opening these gates and welcoming all who want to come through them?
There are the gates of memory which allow us to revisit the past and reconcile with it.
There are the gates of opportunity – new ways of being in this world, and the gates of community – building relationship with others in order to add new layers of meaning to our lives.
There are the gates of prayer, of experienced emotion, of spiritual practises; the gates of hope where we place our stake in building the future and the gates of wisdom gained through reflecting on our experiences.
Each of us has a gate through which we can enter today in order to become our better selves. We stand on the threshold, the light is fading and the day nearly over. Tired and hungry we must find the energy for one last push – identify the values that speak to us, the experiences we know we need, the openness to changes in our lives.
It is said that there are 49 gates open for us at Neilah, 49 ways in which to come closer to God. Seven times seven, the most perfect of numbers in biblical arithmetic. And there is a fiftieth gate – the gate through which God comes closer to us.
As the prophet Malachi wrote – God says to us “return to Me and I shall return to You”
We stand on the threshold. It is time to leave our negative old habits behind us, and step through the closing gates.
Sermone per Neilà 5781 – 2020
Di rav Sylvia Rothschild
Il nome di questo servizio finale di Yom Kippur, Neilà, è più propriamente “Neilat She’arim” la chiusura delle porte. (Ta’anit 26a).
La domanda che ha fatto esercitare molti commentatori, sin dai tempi del Talmud di Gerusalemme, è: quali porte si stanno chiudendo? E cosa significa per noi la loro chiusura?
È semplicemente un riferimento alle porte del Tempio? Giacchè l’ultimo servizio della giornata sta per essere completato e sappiamo che le porte del Tempio venivano chiuse mentre c’era ancora un po’ di luce diurna. Potrebbero essere invece le Sha’arei Shamayim: Le porte del paradiso (TJ Berachot 4: 1). E se fosse così, cosa sono le porte del paradiso e perché dovrebbero chiudersi? Rav, un saggio del terzo secolo, interpreta la frase evocando il tramonto del sole, quando le porte del paradiso si chiudono e l’oscurità entra nel mondo. La notte sta arrivando con tutte le sue paure e incertezze.
“Aprite le porte”, dice la nostra liturgia, “perché il giorno è quasi passato”. La paura che le porte si chiudano prima che possiamo fare ciò che dobbiamo fare, prima che possiamo completare il lavoro di Yom Kippur, rende il servizio di Neilà l’esperienza più intensa e culminante della giornata. Le porte dell’Arca sono tradizionalmente aperte durante il servizio di Neilà, per il periodo più lungo di tutto l’anno, una sorta di simbolo per il nostro desiderio di tenere aperta la via verso Dio. Recitiamo ancora una volta la nostra confessione, chiediamo insistentemente a Dio di ascoltarci e esaudire le nostre preghiere: il bisogno è urgente, il tempo è breve, il compito è fondamentale. Come ha insegnato il rabbino Tarfon (Pirkei Avot 2:16) “la giornata è breve e il lavoro è abbondante, gli operai sono indolenti, la ricompensa è grande e il padrone di casa è insistente”. In nessun momento sperimentiamo tanto la forza di questo insegnamento come a Neilà.
Le porte erano luoghi importanti nel mondo biblico e rabbinico. Non erano semplicemente i luoghi da cui si può entrare o uscire da una città, ma luoghi di grande significato. I giudici e gli anziani sedevano alle porte della città per svolgere i loro doveri civici; era il luogo in cui si annunciavano le notizie, dove si tenevano i mercati, erano il centro della vita pubblica e sociale. Le persone fragili o i poveri che vivevano “entro le porte” avevano uno status legale e ricorrevano al sostegno pubblico. I pozzi erano solitamente vicini alle porte, i criminali venivano puniti fuori dalle porte, le persone ritualmente impure venivano fatte rimanere fuori dalle porte…. Le porte fornivano protezione dal mondo esterno e dai suoi pericoli, si chiudevano ogni notte e si riaprivano quando veniva l’alba. L’immagine dell’apertura all’alba è anche usata per descrivere le azioni di Dio: nella benedizione prima dello shemà serale (nella preghiera ma’ariv aravim, la benedizione prima dello shemà serale) Dio è descritto come “pote’ach she’arim” colui che apre le porte [(dell’alba) con saggezza, e che organizza i tempi e le stagioni].
Gerusalemme aveva porte per la città (di cui otto sono sopravvissute fino ad oggi) e porte per il Monte del Tempio, un numero sorprendente di porte, per un luogo così piccolo. Alcuni dicono che ci fossero tredici porte al Monte del Tempio, una da usare per ciascuna tribù e una per coloro che non conoscevano la loro affiliazione tribale; o forse è per fare riferimento ai tredici attributi di Dio che ripetiamo durante questo giorno solenne.
Nei nostri testi ci riferiamo allegoricamente a tante porte. Ci sono porte di giustizia, porte di pentimento, porte di preghiera e porte di lacrime. Giobbe parla delle porte della morte; i salmi parlano delle porte delle tenebre profonde. Sappiamo che la porta è un importante spazio liminale. C’è una ragione per cui mettiamo una mezuzà sugli stipiti delle porte delle nostre case. Le soglie sono luoghi di trasformazione e talvolta incutono timore.
Le nostre vite sono costituite da passaggi: alcuni li attraversiamo, altri li ignoriamo. A volte siamo in grado di cambiare e muoverci in uno spazio diverso, altre volte la paura o il compiacimento ci impediscono di esplorare il punto in cui la porta potrebbe condurci. Attendiamo, come l’uomo del racconto di Kafka “Davanti alla legge”, con la paura di andare avanti e la paura di tornare indietro, aspettando un permesso di fantasia, finché, troppo tardi, la porta si chiude lasciandoci ancora fuori, senza mai sapere cosa ci sia veramente dall’altro lato.
A Neilà la porta è aperta davanti a noi, ma siamo terribilmente certi che presto si chiuderà. La porta indica le scelte che potremmo fare per cambiare le nostre vite, le direzioni in cui potremmo decidere di viaggiare, l’abbandono di una vita e la vita incerta in cui potremmo entrare.
Scrive Lea Goldberg, che emigrò a Tel Aviv dall’Europa nel 1935:
Questa è un’ora di cambiamento.
Vi stiamo incerti, sul confine della luce.
Dobbiamo ritrarci o attraversare?
Dove si volgeranno i nostri cuori?
Dovremmo ritrarci, fratello mio, sorella mia,
O attraversare?
Questa è l’ora del cambiamento, in cui
Restiamo in silenzio
Al confine della luce.
Cosa ci aspetta?
Dovremmo ritrarci, fratello mio, sorella mia,
O attraversare?
Le sue domande sono le nostre domande, siamo incerti sul confine: dovremmo ritrarci o attraversare? Cosa ci lasceremo alle spalle? Verso cosa ci muoveremo?
Abbiamo la possibilità ogni Yom Kippur di trascorrere un’intera giornata esaminando e valutando le nostre vite. Se siamo impegnati nel processo, abbiamo avuto un mese e mezzo, dall’inizio di Elul fino ad ora, per esaminare la nostra esistenza e prendere decisioni su ciò che vogliamo dalla nostra vita, cosa vogliamo lasciare per sempre, cosa vogliamo cambiare e cosa vogliamo sviluppare nei prossimi giorni e anni. Il simbolismo della chiusura delle porte a Neilà è un campanello d’allarme forte come quello dello shofar: ci ricorda che non abbiamo tempo infinito, né infinite possibilità. Potremmo aver riflettuto e considerato, ma il momento di prendere una decisione è adesso.
Quali sono le porte che dobbiamo affrontare oggi? Ce ne sono così tante: ognuno di noi ha la propria porta, proprio come le dodici tribù avevano ciascuna il proprio percorso verso il Sancta Sanctorum.
Ci sono le porte che possiamo tenere chiuse per tenere lontani gli altri. Dovremmo aprire queste porte e accogliere tutti coloro che vogliono attraversarle?
Ci sono le porte della memoria che ci permettono di rivisitare il passato e riconciliarci con esso.
Ci sono le porte delle opportunità, nuovi modi di essere in questo mondo, e le porte della comunità per costruire relazioni con gli altri al fine di aggiungere nuovi livelli di significato alle nostre vite.
Ci sono le porte della preghiera, dell’emozione sperimentata, delle pratiche spirituali; le porte della speranza dove poniamo il nostro interesse nella costruzione del futuro e le porte della saggezza ottenute riflettendo sulle nostre esperienze.
Ognuno di noi ha una porta attraverso la quale può entrare oggi per diventare il proprio sé migliore. Siamo sulla soglia, la luce sta svanendo e la giornata sta per finire. Stanchi e affamati dobbiamo trovare l’energia per un’ultima spinta: identificare i valori che ci parlano, le esperienze di cui sappiamo di aver bisogno, l’apertura ai cambiamenti nella nostra vita.
Si dice che ci siano quarantanove porte aperte per noi a Neilà, quarantanove modi in cui possiamo avvicinarci a Dio. Sette volte sette, il più perfetto dei numeri nell’aritmetica biblica. E c’è una cinquantesima porta, la porta attraverso la quale Dio si avvicina a noi.
Come ha scritto il profeta Malachia: Dio ci dice “ritorna a me e io tornerò a te”.
Siamo sulla soglia. È tempo di lasciarci alle spalle le nostre vecchie abitudini negative e varcare le porte che si chiudono.
