As I approach writing the sermons for this time of the year, part of my concern is not to repeat myself. It is a possi-ble to repeat yourself unless you keep careful track of your work. We rabbis also think about whether the sermon needs to be timely. The danger in this type of approach is that it can sound no different than a CNN news report with a Jewish twist to it.
There is a sense that once again the world is spinning out of control with a dangerous economic downturn worldwide. There are many wars and revolutions going on from Afghanis-tan to Pakistan, to Northern Africa and the Middle East, and somehow the United States is right in the middle of it all.
Nuclear weapons and radioactive materials are a serious concern with talk just this past week by representatives of France, that a strike on Iran may be necessary.
An endless tug of war continues between two middle east versions of reality: An Israeli vision of Peace with two states with real world negotiations, and a Palestinian version based on wishes and fantasy of returning all refugees to Israel with-out any responsibility for the many wars, acts of terrorism, and lack of a viable physical and political entity. Luckily, there is nothing wrong in the world to talk about!
Turkey’s leader, this week said that Israel has killed hun-dreds of thousands of Palestinians. This is a dangerous accu-sation and Blood Libel from a leader who has said he would send a military escort for ships bound for Gaza in order to break the Israeli blockade of the weapons to Gaza. This is a clear provocation, a possible prelude to possible war.
Prior to Turkey’s flotilla encounter with Israel, there was another diplomatic flare up in which Prime Minister Erdogan complained to Israel that its ambassador had been shown in a photo with his height shown as being taller than Erdogan. Erdogan made a big uproar over this since you can’t show a non-Muslim as taller (?). That sounds a bit like why Jews can’t ride camels. Are we really dealing with such a foolish and dangerous mindset? We are, and it’s not going to go away even if we’re nice people.
Now that you’re up to date on the state of the world, I am going to speak about us, and what we do, study and pray, rather than what is being done to us by others.
In the Tanakh, the Jewish Bible, the Book of Nehemiah, Chap 8, a man named Ezra ‘Hasofer,’ the scribe, introduced or reintroduced the reading of the Torah before the public. In addition the Torah commands us that once every seven years we should have a Public reading of just the last book, Devarim or Deuteronomy. Bringing the people together is considered a Mitzvah and it was done by the king. Yes, we had kings. Gradually, the reading of Torah became the responsibility of small congregations outside of Jerusalem.
There is an example of such a gathering place for prayer on Masada, as well as the structural remnants of synagogues throughout Israel.
Ezra, the scribe, was also responsible for increasing the frequency of the readings and he is credited with the idea of not going more than two days without hearing the Torah. The reading is considered a congregational obligation and not just the readers obligation. There is evidence that it is already a custom in second century BCE when it is mentioned as a cus-tom in Egypt, and that is why Egypt’s oldest synagogue is the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Most probably the Torah reading was widespread for some time.
In the tractate of the Talmud called Megilla, Torah read-ing is discussed.
If one visits Israel today, a small sect of Christians known as Samaritans still keep the practice of reading the Torah as a central part of their worship. There is some suggestion that the public reading of the law was to remind people of what the Torah says about Festivals which differ from Samaritan prac-tice.
Torah reading was accomplished in Palestine through a triennial cycle. In Bavel, Babylon, a full reading was the standard each week and the entire Torah was read each year. Interestingly the triennial cycle is the older custom. This was not done for the sake of saving time. In many communities such as Yemen, Egypt, and Palestine the Aramaic version was read following the Hebrew, a version of the translation.
The importance of RAV (175-247 CE) is clear in his es-tablishment of the custom of beginning the cycle of reading in Tishre as well as founding the Academy at Sura which led to the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud. The readings were arranged so that they fall before the holidays especially Deuteronomy XXVIII, to remind us of the Holydays and Festivals.
Orthodox and many Conservative congregations still fol-low the complete Babylonian custom. Reform and Conserva-tive congregations have switched to the triennial, to the relief of congregants and B’nai Mitzvot.
On weekdays, Mondays and Thursdays as well as Satur-day afternoons we read the first three of seven Torah portions. The Torah reading has seven plus aliyot on Shabbat. The festivals have special readings with fewer aliyot.
Special prayers and music surround the reading of the To-rah and these change with the festival, Yom Tov, or Shabbat.
An Aliyah, a going up to the Torah is both a movement towards the Torah and spiritual elevation, as Torah raises our level of holiness. The caller-upper is known as a Gabbai who also functions as a corrector for the reader. This is not always appreciated and there are many different attitudes by the readers. Some rabbis and Gabbaim demand that the words and music are perfect and will correct a reader over the smallest error. This can have a negative effect on the readers and volunteers as people generally do not like to be publicly embarrassed by correcting their reading. Yet the tradition is to have a high standard for the reading. In some countries they seek out talented readers who can be great at reading, music, and at memorizing. In other places Torah creates a ‘job’ for someone.
We want both children and adults to experience the Torah reading as intellectually nourishing. Who will carry on the tradition if we make it so difficult?
The words for readers are Ba’al K’ri’ah or Ba’al Ko’re. In many congregations everyone follows, in others the Torah reading can be a time for a noisy get together outside! In the Yemenite community we have the reader, then a boy trans-lates, and another boy recites the Targum after each verse in Arabic written by Saadia Gaon.
The first three ‘olim’ include a Cohen, Levi, and Yisrael. Reform and Reconstructionist have abolished this custom for the roles of the descendants of the Priests of ancient Israel likening it to a religious caste system. However, for many it’s just a matter of pride that they know something about their ancestry.
Everyone called up recites the before and after blessing. We are generally called by our Hebrew name such as Ploni Ben Ploni plus Cohen, Levi, plus the name of the Aliyah – Rishon, Sheni, Sh’lishi etc.
Some congregations include the Hatzi Kaddish as a signal that the service is now at a dividing point. The maftir usually recites the last torah reading and the blessings and haftorah. The last Torah reading can indicate the sacrifices made on a specific day of a holiday in Jerusalem.
Parsha or Sidra are words for the weekly reading. Hag-ba’ah and Galilah, the lifting and wrapping of the Torah can include a child for the wrapping. The Haftorah is drawn from the prophets and is related to the Torah reading and Holyday. The custom of ending and beginning the Torah is accom-plished through the unique holiday of Simchat Torah to indi-cate that the Torah never ends, it is eternal like, God.
Moses himself read the Torah publicly. Ezra established the practice which continues to this day. Some say that Mon-day and Thursday were Torah reading days to link the days to Market days when people would gather and in order to remind them that they needed fair practice in commerce, just weights and measures.
It was not until the Maccabean time, 167-165 BCE that a complete system of weekly reading was instituted. As you know we use a Yad to read, a small pointer so as not to touch the Torah and in order to preserve it and its sanctity. What is most holy as an object to us? The Torah. What is holier than a Torah? A human being and God. We are taught to elevate life and custom, and by learning to revere the law it is a lesson that we must treat each other with reverence, respect, love, and understanding.
As you can see the Torah is a form, laws, and customs which require us to study its content so that we may learn how to walk in life, how to walk in the path of our ancestors, and how to walk in the path that has guided so many to a better life, and a life rich in meaning, filled with closeness to God and tradition.