From the Rabbi's Desk...
 
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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June 3, 2010
Latest From Haiti
It’s been almost six months since a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti.
What has happened since then?
One of our congregants, Dr. Jeffrey Wolf, has just returned from two weeks working with the Materials Management Relief Corps in Haiti. The Corps has worked tirelessly to keep medicine and medical supplies on the shelves of Haiti’s hospitals and clinics. It has also been buying and distributing powdered milk and formula to children.
We plan on having Jeff talk to us about his experiences in Haiti on a special evening later this month.
Meanwhile, anyone interested in supporting the Relief Corps can donate by clicking
www.mmrc-us.org.
Driving on Shabbat: What’S the Issue?
Our four week course on Halacha (Jewish Law) begins this Sunday at 10:30pm with a discussion on the debate within Judaism over driving on the Sabbath.
Why does the Orthodox tradition say “no,” and what compromise exists within Conservative Judaism?
This is an opportunity to learn how rabbis develop Jewish law, and what was the basis of a 1960 decision by the Conservative movement that allowed limited travel on the Sabbath and holy days.
Later this week, I will be forwarding the 1960 decision document which will be at the center of Sunday’s discussion. Here is an internet article outlining the different denominational views on driving: http://tinyurl.com/2u3born
A bagel breakfast will be served at 10:15am, followed by our class at 10:30am.
Annual General Meeting
A congregational meeting will be held on Monday at 7:30pm to elect CTI 2010-11 Board.
Cti Yard Sale: The Triple Mitzvah
It’s time to declutter our homes as we prepare for this year’s CTI yard sale.
The sale, scheduled for Sunday, August 8, helps facilitate a triple mitzvah: it enables those in the community to purchase clothing and other items at a reduced rate while raising money for CTI, and enabling us to get rid of items that are not being worn or used.
You can begin dropping off your donations at the CTI office. We’ll be posting a call for volunteers later this month.
The Spy Story and Self Confidence
In spite of our best efforts as parents and teachers to raise strong and independent young people, peer pressure often leads children into a variety of moral traps.
And it seems nothing much has changed over more than three thousand years.
In this week’s Torah portion, we read about the famous story of the dozen spies sent to assess the military capability of the Canaanites.
Upon their return, ten of the spies complain that the residents of Canaan appear as giants, and that the Israelites seemed as grasshoppers in comparison. And based on this majority report, the Jewish people begin to fret.
Meanwhile, Joshua ben Nun and Caleb ben Yefuneh hold their ground. They insist that if the Jewish people remain faithful and maintain their core values, they can indeed conquer Canaan and assume their rightful place as caretakers of the land.
But in the end, the majority view prevails and God sentences the Jewish people to another 39 years of wandering.
Our lesson from the week’s Parashah centers around Joshua and Caleb. The two heroes in our story refuse to bow to peer pressure. They draw on their inner strength and not on the majority view, and maintain that positivity and not fear should guide our thoughts and actions.
It’s not that different today. Peer pressure is as alive as ever.
For example, a quick view of many Facebook sites maintained by college students depict scenes of hard partying, superficial criticisms against friends, and cyberbullying.
This type of activity has always existed. Perhaps you or I were no better in our day.
However, there exists such pressure in our society to use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter for gossip and libel that it often becomes too easy to get caught up in this wave of random words.
Photos, images, and other postings on Facebook and MySpace can exist for a lifetime and can affect a person’s future job prospects. Meanwhile, lies, gossip, and “loose fingers” can damage another human being forever.
Peer pressure exists today as it has for millennia, but the difference now is that by text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and use of other media, it is much easier for lives to be impacted, and reputations ruined.
As I noted in my rabbinical thesis, we need to be careful of what comes out of our mouths, and off of our fingertips.
Self assessment exercises such as “What does my Facebook page say about me,” can be healthy.
More importantly, users of electronic media such as e-mail, texting, and Facebook need to be careful that in the worldwide trend to take words less seriously, we do not let one deadly verbal arrow strike a human target.
Peer pressure in the Torah caused the Jewish people to wander in spiritual wilderness for forty years. We are no different.
Let us stand as did Joshua and Caleb did and use to words to create rather than destroy.
The lesson of being ourselves and not embracing what others do is as relevant today as it was thirty-four hundred years ago. The Torah reminds us through the story of Joshua and Caleb that it is important to believe in ourselves and a higher power and, when necessary, to walk away from the majority.
It is only then that we will find our Promised Land.
Best wishes for a Shabbat shalom, a peaceful and enjoyable time of rest.
Kol tuv (with all goodness).
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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