Rabbi Howard Morrison

Allies in Faith

The traditional Haggadah contains a cluster of Biblical verses which were added into the Haggadah after the Crusades of the eleventh century. When we open the door for Elijah the Prophet, we recite the words, "Pour out your wrath on those nations who do not know your name, who devour Jacob. . . "

Much of the Pesach Seder and Haggadah focus on four thousand years of Jew-hatred. Consider not only Pharaoh, the central villain of the Pesach story. Reference is made to Lavan, the father-in-law of Jacob who sought to destroy Jacob through deceit. In the Haggadah, Laban the Aramean is a code term for the Roman Empire, the central villain of the second Temple period during which time much of the Haggadah and Seder were developed.

On Seder night, we read that in each and every generation there are those who rise to annihilate us. On an important level, Passover is a wakeup call to remind us of Jew-hatred in every generation. Since the aftermath of the Shoah, many of us add material to the Haggadah incorporating the evils of the Shoah into the Pesach experience. Today, on the last day of Pesach, we will add an additional memorial prayer which also focuses on the worst enemy of the Jewish people in the twentieth century. And, as we all know, the horrors of October 7, 2023 was the worst day in Jewish history since the horrors of the Holocaust.

For much of Jewish history, walls have separated Jews from majority cultural and religious groups surrounding us in the world. 

For much of Jewish history, the timing of Easter and Pesach was a cause of legitimate anxiety and concern. There was a time in the Middle Ages when Good Friday and Easter were used as opportunities to attack Jews and incite hatred with the blood libel accusation, charging that Jews took the blood of Christian babies for the purpose of baking Matza. Such a ridiculous accusation since any knowledgeable person knows that Jews must purge blood and never consume it. However, propaganda has a life of its own.

Fast forward - I am a spoiled kid raised outside of Boston. I did not know personally of anti-Semitism, though I learned about it in Jewish day school and was constantly educated by my parents.

Once I decided to become a rabbi, I dedicated part of my purpose in helping to tear down old walls and replace them with bridges between Jews and non-Jews. Thus, I became a reserve military chaplain for twenty years. To this day, one of my best friends is a Catholic Priest whom I met in the military and who lives and works in the Boston area. He attended my rabbinic ordination, and I attended his ordination as a Priest. In 2007, he and his dad drove up here to attend Elie's Bar Mitzvah.

In New Jersey, Long Island NY, and here in Toronto, being part of multi-faith clergy groups has been critical to my rabbinate. And then - As many of you have heard from me before, October 7, 2023 happened. Critical relationships broke down for many of us, not only rabbis. We questioned those whom we had thought were our non-Jewish friends. Their silence became deafening. Fortunately, for Rabbi Howard Morrison and for Beth Emeth, we made a new friend at our Kristallnacht commemoration service this past November. Now pastor David Larmour and the King Street Community Church are our friends. Finally, we are building interfaith bridges once again. While I wish our shul was in dialogue with many Churches and even Mosques, we start with one and go from there. The two communities visited each other in March, and we are planning the next program even as I speak today.

I would add - If we want our Christian neighbors to empathize with our pain and suffering, we must do the same when they are hurting, and when Christian communities are being targeted in various parts of the globe. While Jews and Christians had walls between us for almost two thousand years, we have begun to build bridges of dialogue, respect, and understanding over the last sixty years in particular, especially when the Catholic Church issued a new doctrine in the early 1960's called Vatican II, in which Jews were no longer seen as Christ killers, in which Jews are now seen as having a legitimate religious covenant with God, in which the Church no longer sees itself  as a replacement of the Holy Temple.

We Jews dare not forget our history. I continue to recite the passage, "Pour out your wrath," which entered the Haggadah after the Crusades. However, I also add a lesser-known text from the sixteenth century, "Pour out your love on those nations who do know Your name and who have shown love to the people of Jacob."

May we continue to strive to tear down walls and replace them with bridges - even as we must remember on this Yizkor day.

Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Howard Morrison

On Thursday April 24 at 7PM, you are invited to our annual brotherhood Yom Hashoah V'Ha'Gevurah candlelighting ceremony on the Elder Street steps of Beth Emeth. For many years now, we have honored and remembered the six million, the destroyed communities, the one and a half million murdered children, the ghetto fighters and partisans, the righteous of the nations, and the State of Israel. A brief but meaningful service, we will have six candles lit with appropriate remarks and prayers. 

It should be noted that the title of the day includes "Ha'Gevurah," meaning "the heroism." We must remember not only the horrors, tragedies, and deaths, but also the many acts of heroism and bravery that took place in the late 1930's and 1940's. It is no accident that the selected date for this observance is just a few days after Pesach, so that it is connected to the heroism of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, which took place on the first night of Pesach.

With small numbers  of actual survivors still remaining, it falls upon children and grandchildren to ensure that the lessons of the Shoah will continue to be remembered, learned and taught to Jews and non-Jews for generations to come.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Howard Morrison

The last chapters in the book of Shmot, Exodus, detailed the construction of the Mishkan, Tabernacle. The focal point would be the Mizbeach, the altar, on which sacrifices would be brought.

Now, the book of Vayikra, Leviticus, focuses on the actual ritual and usage of the Mishkan, Tabernacle. We read this week and next week of the various categories of offerings which would be brought to the altar. Priest, sacrifice, and altar would become the center stage of Jewish worship in antiquity. Judaism was hardly democratic or inclusive. The Priesthood and the Temple precincts would be a consecrated and reserved area for much of Jewish history until the second Temple was destroyed almost 2000 years ago. The dawn of Talmudic/Rabbinic Judaism would begin to create a form of Judaism that would become more democratic, inclusive and accessible to all.

Perhaps the one symbol which shows the transformation of Jewish life from Temple to Talmud is the Mizbeach, or, altar, itself. If you ever enter a Church, as some of us did a couple of weeks ago, the stage or, Bimah, of the Christian sanctuary is called the Altar. For Christianity, once the holy Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, the Church took over the concept of the altar and transferred it to the center of the Church sanctuary. In the Catholic or Episcopalian forms of Christianity, the whole altar and priesthood is more laden with the look of the ancient Temple than the appearance of more liberal Churches, such as the one we visited two weeks ago.

In Judaism, the platform on which I am standing, on which the Torah is read, on which the Shliach Tzibbur is leading the prayers, is not called a Mizbeach, or, altar. Rather, this is merely a Bimah, or stage, or, elevated platform. That's all this is - reaffirming that the synagogue is not a replica or perpetuation of the ancient Tabernacle in the Torah or the ancient holy Temple of Judaism. Did the concept of altar disappear from Judaism after the destruction of the holy Temple in the year 70CE? The answer is no.

Rather, the Jewish home took on the terminology of Mikdash M'At - the Temple in miniature, and the dining room table in the home became the altar. For example, the Talmud states, "In the days of the Temple, the altar served to atone for us; now it is our table that atones for us." The commentor Rashi adds on that statement, "by inviting guests to our table." In other words, when we invite people to our table, we refine human relationships. This is how and where atonement takes place. Notice how the limited Priestly space of the Temple became the totally inclusive and accessible space of the Jewish home.

In Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of the Sages, "Whenever three people eat at a table without any words of Torah, it is as if they had consumed the meat of the dead." In other words, the altar of the Jewish home is made spiritual not only by inviting others to the table but also by the quality and content of the conversation that is being shared. 

Over the years, it has become a practice to salt our bread at the Table, not only on Shabbat and Festivals as part of an elaborate Kiddush and Ha'Motzi ceremony, but any time we recite Ha'Motzi over bread on any day of the week. The ritual of salting our bread connects the altar of the home to the altar of the Tabernacle and Temple when all of the sacrifices were salted.

While it is customary to invite others to our homes for Shabbat and many other occasions, the exemplary time for inviting will take place a week from tonight over the first two nights of Pesach. We will proclaim, "All who are hungry come and eat." If not literally, at least figuratively, the value of the Jewish home being open to guests is announced at the very beginning of the Seder and even toward the end when the door is opened again for Elijah the Prophet.

Let us use this week before Pesach as an optimum time for making the altar of Judaism a relevant, inclusive, and accessible space for relationship building and deepening the spirituality of Jewish life.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison 

On this Shabbat, we conclude the book of Shmot and anticipate the beginning of Nissan on Sunday. While we close out a book of Torah, we begin the Passover month, which is actually considered the first month of the year.

The book of Shmot began with the Passover narrative, from slavery to freedom, to receiving the Torah, and to establishing a Tabernacle in which to feel God's presence with community.

The aura of the Tabernacle developed into the holy Temple of Jerusalem. For almost the last 2000 years, the home has been called a temple in miniature form.

Once, Passover was celebrated in the holy Temple. Now, it is celebrated at the Seder table with family and friends.

As the book of shmot began with a story of oppression and ends with the completion of a communal sanctuary, similarly, the Seder begins with a story of persecution but ends with song and praise.

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov,
Rabbi Howard Morrison

Many of us sports fans get excited with the anticipation of a home and home series. In a given week, the home and road teams will play two games switching venues from one game to the next.

We at Beth Emeth and our new friends at the King Street Community Church in Oshawa are in the midst of a home and home series. Two weeks ago, as we ushered in Shabbat on a Friday evening, Pastor David Larmour and roughly fifty members of his church visited our shul. They were given a tour of the sanctuary; they participated in our Kabbalat Shabbat service; and they joined us for a festive Shabbat dinner. During the program, the pastor and I spoke and then fielded questions from the attendees.

This Sunday, March 23, you are all invited to part 2 at the church. The church office is asking for advance registration to have a number count. We will join our new friends for their Sunday worship service which begins at 10:30AM. During the service, the pastor and I will deliver an excerpt from the talks we gave two weeks ago. Then, we will discuss the meaning of Psalm 23 in Jewish and Christian traditions. Finally, I have been asked to address the following questions in front of the several hundred worshipers who attend on a weekly basis:

1. Explain the following terms - Tikkun Olam, The righteous among the nations, Mitzvot, Hashem
2. In Judaism, what does "salvation" mean?
3. What is the biggest challenge being Jewish in Toronto in a post October 7 Canada? And how can the Christian community help?
4. What is the one thing you would want Christians to know about Judaism?

While I prepare myself for this coming weekend, how would you answer these questions for yourself and for those around you?

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison

One of the fundamental questions pertaining to the Torah is the following - Are the laws and commandments coercive upon us? Or do we accept them freely based on personal choice and autonomy? Simply put, are we the chosen people or the choosing people?

The Sages of the Talmud already debated these questions. Based on a verse in Parshat Yitro, right before the Israelites received the The Commandments, "They took their places at the foot of the mountain (Exodus 19:17)." -  "Rabbi Avdimi bar Hama bar Hasa said: 'This teaches that the Holy One Blessed be He overturned the mountain above them like a tank and said to them, 'If you accept the Torah, good, but if not, here shall be your grave.'"

The afore-mentioned quotation suggests that the obligations of the Torah were coerced upon the Jewish people from our nation's inception. However, on the same page of Talmud (Tractate Shabbat 88a), we find an alternative teaching: "Even so, they accepted the Torah again in the time of Ahashverosh, as it is written, 'Kiymu V'Kiblu Ha'Yehudim - The Jews undertook and accepted (Esther 9:27),' meaning the Jews undertook that which they had already accepted."

Thus, even if the Torah was originally legislated by coercion, the Purim experience teaches us that our Persian ancestors some 2500 years ago freely chose to accept the norms of the Torah.

How do you feel? Coerced? Free to choose? Both? neither? 

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison

This evening, Jews around the world will begin to celebrate Purim. Harkening back to the 400's BCE in ancient Persia, Purim celebrates the reversal from near devastation and annihilation to liberation and celebration. It is noteworthy that when the Sages teach us that a futuristic time will no longer call for the observance of most of our holidays, Purim will continue to be celebrated. 

Purim symbolizes the eternal hope of our people even when situations seem so overwhelming. Throughout the Middle Ages, local Jewish communities would celebrate their own mini-Purim when they averted potential tragedies.

Over the last sixteen months, our people have been murdered, held under inhumane conditions, and traumatized by Jewish hatred around the world. With all this in mind, we need Purim even more so. Our heritage calls on us to celebrate Purim to the maximum. To do less means giving into the enemy's wishes.

I wish us all Simchat Purim, the joy and celebration associated with this timeless holiday.

Rabbi Howard Morrison

I met Pastor David Larmour and members of his family when our synagogue hosted an event to commemorate the anniversary of Kristallnacht this past November. After not hearing anything from any non-Jewish clergy person for over a year, it was a breath of fresh air to sit next to and to hear from Pastor Larmour that night. We developed a collegiality and friendship right away. After having lunch together a few weeks later, we both felt right about having a home and home interfaith conversation, here at Beth Emeth and later this month at the King Street Church in Oshawa.

Interfaith dialogue is as old as Abraham, the father for both the Jewish and Christian traditions. In Genesis chapter 14 (vv. 18-20), we read: "And King Malkitzedec of Shalem,. . . a priest of God Most High, blessed Abram, saying: Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Creator of Heaven and Earth." The terms, El-Elyon (God Most Hight) and Koneh Shamayim Va'Aretz (Creator of Heaven and Earth) were common to both of them, even if they believed in different ideas. In fact, Malkitzedec's exact language entered the Friday night Shabbat service in the short form repetition of the Amidah prayer and is paraphrased in every single Amidah prayer - The Amidah is the core prayer of every service seven days a week. 

In the 1960's, the famous Martin Luther King was accompanied by the legendary Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel during the civil rights marches and demonstrations. Both commonly invoked images from the book of Exodus, including "Let me people go." Heschel was known for the expression, praying with one's feet, not just with one's mouth. In other words, prayer and sentiment must lead to action. The same Rabbi Heschel led the Jewish community in dialogue with the Catholic Church, which led to a revision of age-old doctrines. No longer were Jews seen as Christ killers or the suffering servant. No longer was the Church seen as the new Temple of Jerusalem. Catholicism now viewed Judaism as a legitimate covenant with God.

In antiquity and the Middle Ages, There was little to no Jewish-Christian interfaith dialogue. Judaism was threatened, as exemplified by the Crusades, the Inquisition, pogroms, and more. In part, because there was no interaction, Judaism saw Christianity as being idolatrous, believing in three different Gods. It was only when particular Jewish scholars interacted positively with their Christian counterparts in the latter Middle Ages that Judaism began to see Christianity as being monotheistic, albeit in a trinitarian way, which was and is incompatible with Judaism.

When I became an interfaith military chaplain in the U.S. Armed Forces in the Summer of 1984, I attended a chaplaincy class at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery Alabama. There, I was the only Jewish clergy person, surrounded by 29 Catholic classmates and 29 Protestant classmates. The two weeks of sharing and bonding became my first experience with interfaith clergy dialogue. My new Catholic friends shared a common belief that tradition transcended the Biblical text. For them, it meant the authority of the early Church Fathers. For me, it meant the authority of the Talmudic/Rabbinic Sages.  My new Protestant friends shared a common belief that respect for the Bible meant a thorough faithfulness to the Pshat, or, contextual understanding of the Bible. For them, that meant the accuracy of the Old and New Testaments. For me, that meant the accuracy of the Hebrew Scriptures. 

Here in the GTA, I have been blessed to be part of interfaith dialogue groups, at least until October 7, 2023 occurred. Sadly, and tragically, for many rabbis including myself, we heard nothing from our non-Jewish interfaith colleagues. For me - Nothing until I met Pastor Larmour this past November. Even after we learned the tragic fate of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, I heard only from Pastor Larmour. He is a Zionist, a lover of Israel, and a friend of the Jewish people. 

In six weeks, the Jewish people will celebrate Passover, even as our Christian neighbors will celebrate Easter. In dark days of the Middle Ages, Jews feared pogroms on Passover night, which explains one of the reasons why we open the door waiting for Elijah the Prophet to announce the coming of the Messiah. Fortunately, that blood libel concern is a lesson of the past but thankfully not a contemporary concern with our Christian neighbors nowadays.

Passover is the pinnacle holiday for the Jewish people. Freedom is a prerequisite for all else. While we celebrate the Jewish new year in the Fall with Rosh Hashanah and the sounding of the Shofar, ram's horn; Biblically speaking, the month of Nissan, the Passover month, is considered the first month of the Jewish calendar. Thus, there are multiple new years for different purposes on our calendar. Passover speaks to the particular story of the Jewish people, but it must also be understood on a universal level, teaching that all peoples must be free. In fact, Scripture mandates that Jews must be kind to the stranger for we know what it was like to be a slave in Egypt.

Freedom is not easy. In fact, when God promises freedom to the Children of Israel, Scripture provides five expressions (Exodus 6:6-8).

"I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians

and deliver you from their bondage.

I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements.

And I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God. . . . 

I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraha, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the Lord."

Why five expressions of freedom? The commentary found in our Sanctuary Bible, the Etz Hayim Chumash, says the following:

"I will free you - from physical enslavement in Egypt.

I will deliver you - from the psychological mindset of being a slave, which might persist even after you have been physically liberated.

I will redeem you - so that you will think of yourselves as free people.

And I will take you - into a special relationship with Me, for that is the ultimate goal of your liberation.

I will bring you into the land - Only when the Israelites have their own land can they become the special people they are summoned to be."

While it may be true that physical enslavement from ancient Egypt has been completely fulfilled, I might humbly suggest that the other stages are all still in process. Freedom in its multi-faceted stages is not easy to achieve. We are still fighting for Jewish particular freedom and for universal freedom around the globe.

I am thankful to have our community celebrate this Shabbat with Pastor David Larmour, his family, and members of the King Street Church in Oshawa.

I conclude with a verse/song from the Biblical Prophets:

"Lo Yisa Goy El Goy Cherev, V'Lo Yilm'du Ohd Milchama - Nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."

Rabbi Howard Morrison

The tablets - broken and whole

One of the most joyous days of my young life was witnessing the bar mitzvah of my younger brother Mitchell, who chanted all of Parshat Terumah on a Spring like day in February of 1977. My parents and siblings were so proud. Many of our long-distance relatives came to our community for the simcha. I have always associated Terumah with great joy.

This year, while I continue to remember the childhood of myself and my brother, Terumah just does not seem as joyful. The text of the portion is one worthy of rejoicing. The Israelites are instructed to make a portable tabernacle in which to gather and feel God's presence. Every person, rich or poor, can find a way to voluntarily participate in making the Mishkan. When the Ark, the centerpiece of the Tabernacle, is described, the Torah tells us that the tablets of the Ten Commandments were placed inside of it. That portable Ark is parallel to the permanent Ark of the contemporary synagogue which houses our Torah scrolls. Our Sages, however, ask a penetrating question - Which Tablets were placed in the ancient portable Ark? Remember that the Torah has us recall the broken fragments which Moses had smashed upon seeing the golden calf and the new whole tablets which Moses received some time later. 

In the Talmud, our Sages teach us that "Luchot V'Shivrei Luchot Munachim Ba'Aron - the whole Tablets and the broken Tablets were placed inside the Ark," suggesting that a community is only complete when the whole is embraced with the broken.

Each of us at some point in our lives experiences moments of wholeness and brokenness. Is it not important that those experiencing broken moments are cared for by those who feel whole at the time? Is it not important that those of us who feel whole are reminded that at some point in our lives, we too will endure broken moments and will be strengthened by others at that time of our lives?

In our synagogue Ark, we have kosher scrolls and unkosher scrolls. The unkosher ones are in a sense broken. They can never be used again for ritual use. Some of them were rendered unfixable by the horrors of the Shoah. One, on display in our lobby, shows the extreme of a desecrated Torah scroll. Yet, the "broken" scrolls" have value in and of themselves. They teach history and meaning to us on a regular basis and to high school and other groups, Jews and non-Jews, who visit our synagogue and sanctuary during the course of the year.

Over the last several weeks, we have watched with anxiety the release of a few hostages at a time. They are all broken, certainly psychologically and emotionally.

Some have come back looking like survivors of the Shoah, so emaciated. Where is the outcry?

Some of the returnees have come back to broken families, not even knowing until their release that some of their family members had already been murdered on October 7. Where is the outcry?

 That one survivor thought he was returning to a wife and children, not knowing the fate that awaited him, was simply beyond such words as immoral and inhumane. Where is the outcry?

That a five-year-old and a two-year-old, taken when they were barely four years old and nine months old, came back in boxes whose keys purposely did not open the locks, along with the casket containing the body of their young mother - Where is the outcry?

 The entire last year and a half has been immoral and inhumane! Where is the outcry.

It is noteworthy that the Hebrew word ARON is used for both, Ark and coffin. A few days ago, three dead broken bodies, a mother and her two young children, were rested. Shiri Bibas was laid to rest snuggled by Ariel and Kfir. She now holds them tight to her in death, as she did in the final chapter of their lives.

As with October 7^th itself and its immediate aftermath, I heard from almost no one outside the Jewish community after a week ago Thursday. Dara Horn must be right. The world loves dead Jews. I heard only from Pastor David Larmour from Oshawa. He will be speaking with me here in shul Friday night March 7 and again in his Church Sunday morning March 23. He is a righteous and Zionist Christian pastor. He texted the following to me a week ago Thursday:

"Hi Howard. Thinking of you and the Jewish community today. So sad to hear of the recent unnecessary and sickening deaths of Shiri Bibas and her sons, Kfir and Ariel, and of Oded Lifshitz. Praying for you and your community, Howard"

I would humbly suggest that every Jew in the world is broken in one way or another since October 7, 2023. We can only be made whole by embracing each other side by side just as the two sets of tablets laid side by side in the ancient Ark of the Tabernacle. 

May the day come when our brokenness can truly be healed and transformed into a renewed wholeness.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison

In this week's portion of Terumah, the Torah describes two Cherubs hovering over the Ark of the Covenant, with one Cherub standing over each side. What were these Cherubim? Our tradition contains many ideas. One which comes to mind this week is that they were little winged angelic children who were protecting the sanctity of the Ark and the Ten Commandments inside. As we know, children enter this world pure and innocent. An ancient legend suggests that God revealed the Torah to our people on the promise that we would teach Torah to our children from the earliest moments.

As we all know, our people lost two pure innocent babies last week to the brutality and murderous acts of Hammas. An immediate Bibas family and the entire family of the Jewish people are in a state of shock, grief, and anger. Does not the murder of these little ones provide enough evidence for what Israel is dealing with outside its immediate boundaries?

Now, Ariel and Kfir Bibas are amongst the Cherubs - pure winged angelic children who we pray will protect our people and our heritage, as our Torah depicts Cherubs hovering over the Ark in this week's Torah lesson.

Rabbi Howard Morrison 

Heaven—have mercy.
If you hold a God
(to whom there’s a path
that I haven’t found), pray for me.
My heart has died.
There is no prayer on my lips.
My hope and strength are gone.
How long? How much longer?

Executioner, here’s my neck:
Slaughter! You’ve got the ax and the arm.
The world to me is a butcher-block—
we, whose numbers are small
it’s open season on our blood:
Crack a skull—let the blood
of infant and elder spurt on your chest,
and let it remain there forever, and ever.

If there’s justice—let it come now!
But if it should come after I’ve been
blotted out beneath the sky,
let its throne be cast down.
Let the heavens rot in evil everlasting,
and you, with your cruelty,
go in your iniquity
and live and bathe in your blood.

And cursed be he who cries out: Revenge!
Vengeance like this, for the blood of a child,
Satan has yet to devise.
Let the blood fill the abyss!
Let it pierce the blackest depths
and devour the darkness
and eat away and reach
the rotting foundations of the earth.

In memory of those murdered by evil Hamas since October 7, 2023

At the outset of Parshat Va'era, the entire Children of Israel find themselves enslaved in Egypt. They are indeed trapped, captive, taken hostage, with nowhere to go and no end in sight. God then instructs Moses to say the following to the people:

"I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians

and deliver you from their bondage.

I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements.

And I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God. . . . 

I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Exodus 6:6-8)"

Notice five consecutive verbs of redemption - V'Hotzaiti (I will free you), V'Hitzalti (I will deliver you), V'Ga'alti (I will redeem you), V'Lakachti ( I will take you), followed soon after by "V'Havaiti ( I will bring you).

These verbs of promise form the foundation for the five cups of wine at the Pesach Seder. We cannot read God's mind nor understand why our ancestors began their experience with slavery in Egypt; however, God promises redemption in these five stages. The Etz Hayim commentary, based on earlier sources, explains the stages as follows:

"I will free you - from physical enslavement in Egypt.

I will deliver you - from the psychological mind-set of being a slave, which might persist even after you have physically liberated. 

I will redeem you - so that you will think of yourselves as a free people.

I will take you - into a special relationship with Me, for that is the ultimate goal of your liberation.

I will bring you into the land which I swore to Abraham - Only when the Israelites have their own land can they become the special people they are summoned to be."

I think of these stages of redemption in terms of the Jewish people as a whole these days, and the situation concerning hostages already liberated, and hopefully, more and all hostages to be soon liberated.

While the first stage, physical freedom from ancient Egypt, has clearly taken place 100%, the other stages are not so clear for all Jews. Let me explain:

The psychological mind set for all Jews feeling free might not be a given - for Holocaust survivors and their families, for example; for IDF soldiers coming back from war coping with PTSD; for hostages who were returned last year or now, and their families. Psychological trauma can indeed be strong in these examples, and in many others.

The thinking of ourselves as a free people might also not be a given. For sure, we are grateful for a State of Israel. Our people know too well the implications of not having our own sovereign state. Just consider the Shoah and hundreds of other situations before that throughout our history. Even, with our sovereign State, we may not feel so free, with Israel continuously surrounded by enemies on all sides and having always to be vigilant.

Being in a special relationship with God is a given for many Jews but also a source of conflict for many other Jews for all kinds of reasons, starting with the whole theology of what God is and what God demands of us.

Ironically, it is the fifth term of redemption which is perhaps simpler than the second, third, and fourth stages of redemption - "I will bring you into the land." After almost 2000 years of exile and dispersion, our people are sovereign in our land since 1948. I would agree, while living in the Diaspora, that only in Israel can a Jew live the fullest possible Jewish life. For example, certain Mitzvot can be observed only living in Israel. With regard to the hostages, fortunately, some hostages physically returned home a year ago this past November, and small numbers have begun to return home now. We pray that twenty-six more return home over the next five weeks, and that all ninety-four in total return home soon.

These five terms of redemption form an essential part of our four-thousand-year heritage, and they form the basis for the cups of wine at the Pesach Seder. Just as we pray annually for "next year in Jerusalem,'' let us also pray annually that all the Torah's terms of redemption be fulfilled for all Jews at a Peach in the very near future.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison

This week's brief message is a precis of the sermon I will deliver this Shabbat. 

After two hundred plus years of slavery in Egypt, God promises to Moses that Israel will be redeemed. Five different terms for redemption are provided, referring to five different stages involved in our people's freedom from bondage. Liberation will not happen all at once but over a period of time.

Similarly, the Jewish people today have experienced acts of murder and hostage taking going back almost five hundred days to October 7, 2023. Now, we are beginning to witness gradually in stages the release of almost a hundred hostages. We were ecstatic to see three young women released from bondage last weekend. We are scheduled to see four more hostages let go this coming weekend, and thirty-three in total over a six-week period. Hopefully, before too long, every single hostage will be liberated from their captivity.

While gradual stages of freedom are not easy to endure, this was the case for the Israelites in ancient times, and this is the case for our people right now. We hope and pray for the best. We hope and pray that hostages will never ever be taken again.

Am Yisrael Chai - Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison

Kfir Bibas turns two years old today on Shabbat January 18th. He spent his first birthday a year ago today in the dungeons of hell with his older brother, Ariel, now 5 years old, and their parents Shiri and Yarden. With a hostage deal now set in which 33 Israelis are to be released, presumably 23 alive and 10 deceased, we think and pray for all the hostages, as we commemorate the birthday of the youngest hostage today. 

While Kfir and Ariel are the youngest of the hostages, and spending their childhoods in evil surroundings, they are not the first to do so. Today, we begin to read the book of Shmot-Exodus. As a new wicked Pharaoh legislates the genocide of new born Israelite males, a mother places her baby boy in a basket of reeds and sends him down the Nile with the older sister observing his safety from a distance. Soon after, the daughter of Pharaoh retrieves the baby boy. When she had opened to basket, she saw that it was a child, a boy crying. The Hebrew word for child is YELED. The Hebrew word for boy is NAAR. Why the difference in terminology? Rashi, quoting the Midrash, says "Kolo K'Naar - His voice was that of an older boy." A baby boy was found in a basket, with the voice of an older boy crying. Little Moses cried with the perspective of a more mature child, perhaps already being aware of his foreign surroundings. Can we not say the same for the Bibas boys and all the hostages?

Soon after in the Biblical text, we read in verse 10, "Vayigdal Ha'Yeled - When the child grew up," followed in verse 11, "Vayigdal Moshe - When Moses had grown up." The commentary found in the Etz Hayim Chumash states: "The phrase 'he grew up' occurs twice, once referring to physical maturity, the second time to a sense of responsibility, going out to join his kinsmen and take responsibility for the wrongs of society." Even while growing up amongst evil, Moses knew his true identity. As a result, when he sees an Egyptian beating on a Hebrew, Moses responds. When he sees two Israelites quarreling, Moses responds. When he later sees herdsmen attacking the daughters of Yitro, all being non-Israelite, Moses responds. Thus, the birth and early development of our leader, Moses.

We hope and pray that all the hostages, especially the young ones, know who they really are as Jews, as Israelis; that they will be able to physically, emotionally, and spiritually come back to their people, their faith, and their tradition. 

Two weeks ago, I spoke about the Mitzvah of Pidyon Shevuyim, the redeeming of hostages and captives. I spoke about the possible limitations of doing so in Jewish law. I noted that none of the examples of antiquity or the Middle Ages addressed a situation where a sovereign Jewish nation in its homeland was targeted as a whole. I mentioned that many religious halakhic authorities have agreed that in the complexities of today, it is for the elected Israeli government to make the critical decision of redeeming hostages while weighing the short and long term consequences for Israel's safety and security. As a supportive, Zionist, Diaspora congregation, it is for us to support 100% the stance taken by Israel now and moving forward.

May we live to see soon the release of all the hostages, and may there never ever be hostages again in our people's future!

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison

The last Parshah in Sefer Bereishit, the book of Genesis, presents lessons and values for the past, present, and future. In it, a generation comes to an end. Jacob will pass away, and Joseph will pass away. Genesis will end the history of the patriarchs. The family of Israel, seventy in number, will soon become the nation of Israel when we begin to read the second book of the Torah, Shmot-Exodus, beginning this afternoon.

Death and the end of a generation, however, are not the main motifs. Rather, words of blessing for the present and the future take up most of the portion. Before he passes, Jacob has his two grandsons, Ephraim and Menashe,  brought before him. Even before he blesses his children, Jacob blesses his grandchildren. Why? 

One reason - the challenge of Jewish continuity is not so much about will your children stay and be Jewish. But rather will your grandchildren, two generations later, stay and be Jewish?

Over the centuries, while parents bless their daughters in the names of the four founding matriarchs, parents bless their sons in the names of Ephraim and Menashe because they were the only ones to be raised completely outside of the land of Israel and retained attachment to their heritage. This is a wonderful example for every generation's sons and grandsons. I still get a tear blessing my twenty-six-year-old son at the Shabbat table, reciting the words, "May God make you as Ephraim and Menashe."

Soon after Jacob blesses his grandsons, we find Jacob lying on his deathbed surrounded by his children. The Midrash expands the Biblical verses in the following way. When the father sees his children dressed in contemporary Egyptian garb, his children say to him: "Shma Yisrael Adonai Eloheynu Adonai Echad," loosely translated, "Listen, dad, the Lord is our God, the Lord who is one." Remember that the original term of Yisrael is not a peoplehood, but a surname for Jacob. With barely a whisper left on his lips, Jacob responds so every quietly, "Baruch Shem Kvod Malchuto l'Olam Va'ed - Blessed be the name of God's glorious sovereignty for ever." This same literary tradition is observed evening and morning seven days a week in the Maariv and Shacharit services.

After the reassurance offered by the children to their father, Jacob offers a unique blessing and warning that is specific to each of his children, words for the present and for their future lineage. From this idea, there developed in antiquity and in the Middle Ages a literature known as Jewish ethical wills. Parents codified their beliefs, hopes, and aspirations for their children and grandchildren in personalized form, sometimes given before one's death and sometimes after one's death. Parents have a right if not an obligation to share their most precious thoughts and values, and children have a right if not an obligation to receive their parents' most precious thoughts and values.

To parents and grandparents - Do you bless your children at the Shabbat and Yom Tov table? Have you already done or considered compiling in written form a Jewish ethical will for each of your children and grandchildren? If one day they expect to receive your material items, should they not expect to receive and know clearly your spiritual and moral items? What is more important?

As we conclude the first book of the Torah today, Parshat Vayechi presents lessons and values for the past, present, and future.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison