Chol Hamoed Pesach Shabbat

Rabbi Philip Weintraub

Congregation Agudas Israel

Chol Hamoed Shabbat Passover 2014

Today is a very special day.  It is Shabbat.  It is Passover.  It is Chol Ha-moed.

The term itself is a little strange.  Chol is weekday/secular/NOT holiday and Moed is Festival.  The former has no restrictions on work--we are SUPPOSED to work on Chol, yet MOED is Festival, with all of the accompanying restrictions.  So are the intermediate days of the festival primarily holiday time or primarily week-day time?

One way to ask this question is do we wear Tefillin on Chol Hamoed?  In the Shema, Tefillin are called “Ot”, a sign, that we put on our heads and our arms.  Shabbat and Festivals are also considered signs.  Since we do not need two signs to remind us of mitzvot, we do not wear Tefillin on Festivals or Shabbat.  But what about these intermediate days?  Are sitting in the SUkkah and eating matzah signs?  Most Sephardim do not wear Tefillin on Chol Hamoed.  Many Ashkenazim do.  In Israel today, virtually all Jews do NOT to wear them-regardless of affiliation.  Some Ashkenazim wear Tefillin outside of Israel, but do not say the blessings.  Most Chasidic groups also do not wear Tefillin!

So a simple majority of Jews consider Chol Hamoed different enough from normal weekdays that they do not wear Tefillin, but does that mean that the days are truly holidays and work should be forbidden?

The short answer is, it’s complicated!  The rabbis debate over whether there is a complete work prohibition, and if so, is it from the Torah, or a rabbinically enacted law.  One suggestion that it is a later addition is the fact that there are so many exceptions.

One is permitted to do work on Chol Hamoed:
1) If one will incur a financial loss by refrainging from doing so (davar haaved).

2) For the sake of okhel nefesh. (My addition: meaning food to eat)

3) For an individual need related to the festival, as lon as the melackha is not a maase uman (My addition--meaning it needs a craftsman/professional to do)

4) For the sake of a public need

5) One can hire a worker who has nothing to eat in order to support him. (based on p. 63 of Rabbi David Brofsky’s Hilkhot Mo’adim, Koren/Maggid Press)

http://www.korenpub.com/EN/products/maggid/maggid/9781592643523

Specific examples of prohibited work on Chol Hamoed are laundry and haircuts, yet even with those we have professional exceptions.  Clothing that we are used to changing regularly--ie underwear is permitted to be washed--and if you are already throwing in the wash, you can add other things.  If one is required to shave for work--or customarily shaves daily, than one can shave on Chol Hamoed, too.

With so many exceptions, why bother?

We live in a world that moves very quickly.  When we vacation, we bring our work with us.  When they go to bed, some people even leave their phones under their pillows, so that they can still respond to texts or emails?!  Judaism is a little bit counter-cultural.  It is not a fan of the always-on society.  Our texts and traditions remind us of a very humanly-connected world, but not so electronically connected.  Having a calendar cycle (which we read on every festival), celebrating Shabbat, reminds us that to be always-on isn’t always so good.  Taking time to disconnect and relate personally is important.  While we can have a discussion about how technology can connect us, for example I heard from many people about skyping Seders with distant relatives, much of our devices that beep and buzz can survive being turned off once in awhile.

While I am not suggesting that we take an electronic fast for the entire week of Passover or Sukkot, I wonder what would happen if we cut back a little bit during this time.  What if we played one less game of candycrush or words with friends?  Sent a few less emails?  Took a couple half-days from work.  What would we do with that time?  Would we have a more leisurely Pesadich lunch with our family?  Would we find more time for prayer or meditation?  Would we celebrate our birthdays a little more?  I cannot answer that definitively, but I think this intermediate time is pretty special.

I think Chol Hamoed is one of the neatest things in our Jewish tradition.  In many ways, the rabbis and Jewish tradition are focused on organzing the world, categorizing it.  They would have loved Carl Linnaeus and his taxonomy. They love putting things in neat little boxes.  Chol Hamoed is a challenge, because it just doesn’t fit.  It is neither secular nor festival, neither workday nor Sabbath.  It blurs the lines.  It questions the classifications.  It’s very Jewish!  Just like our Hebrew name, Israel, the one who struggles with Gd, Chol Hamoed is struggling with its identity.  Now what could be more American, more Jewish, more American-Jew or Jewish-American, than someone trying to figure out where they stand??  That is Chol Hamoed.

Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbat HaGadol: Change your diet, change your life!

Rabbi Philip Weintraub

Congregation Agudas Israel

4/11/2014

Monday evening starts Passover.  While for some this strikes fear in their hearts, Passover is a time of liberation.  We imagine ourselves escaping Egypt, forgetting the decrees of Pharaoh and beginning our journey to the Promised Land.  From the second night of Passover, we begin counting the Omer, connecting the Exodus from Egypt with receiving Torah at Sinai, and in just a few weeks, we will celebrate Shabbat.

Traditionally, Shabbat HaGadol, which is today, the Shabbat before Passover, included a long, extended lecture by the rabbi.  While I do not plan to speak for hours today, there are three points I would like to cover.

1. Passover is just the beginning.  We are not really done until Shavuot.
2. Cleaning for Passover is essential, but not necessarily totally arduous.
3. Changing our diet is a holy experience.

For those of you reading our next book club selection, Rabbi Kalman (the protagonist of Kabbalah: A Love Story) mentions that every rabbi has three sermons that they teach over and over in different ways.  For me, if there is one thing I teach you, it is that the Exodus was just the beginning.  

Exodus 5:1

א  וְאַחַר, בָּאוּ מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן, וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֶל-פַּרְעֹה:  כֹּה-אָמַר ה", אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, שַׁלַּח אֶת-עַמִּי, וְיָחֹגּוּ לִי בַּמִּדְבָּר.

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh: 'Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.'

Exodus 8:16

טז  וַיֹּאמֶר ה" אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, הַשְׁכֵּם בַּבֹּקֶר וְהִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי פַרְעֹה--הִנֵּה, יוֹצֵא הַמָּיְמָה; וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו, כֹּה אָמַר ה", שַׁלַּח עַמִּי, וְיַעַבְדֻנִי.

16 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him: Thus saith the LORD: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

Exodus 9:1

א  וַיֹּאמֶר ה" אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, בֹּא אֶל-פַּרְעֹה; וְדִבַּרְתָּ אֵלָיו, כֹּה-אָמַר ה" אֱלֹהֵי הָעִבְרִים, שַׁלַּח אֶת-עַמִּי, וְיַעַבְדֻנִי.

1 Then the LORD said unto Moses: 'Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him: Thus saith the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me. (Biblical texts from mechon-mamre.org)

Those verses are only three examples, but there are more.  Moses said to Pharaoh, LET MY PEOPLE GO, that they may SERVE GD.  We are freed from Egypt not so we can buy whatever we want, not so we can do whatever we want, not so we can enjoy life (although that’s ok), not so we can watch TV; we are free to be JEWS.  We are free to observe Torah, to study, to teach, to do deeds of lovingkindness, to raise children, to love one another and to love Gd.

Shavuot is probably one of the most unobserved important days in modern America.  Shavuot is the day when we accept the Torah, accept Gd’s commands, accept Gd’s love.  It is the day when we make the real journey--we leave “freedom FROM” and arrive at “freedom TO”.  I can even see a parallel with our first amendment to the US Constitution, we are FREE TO state-sponsored religion, and FREE TO observe whatever faith is ours.

So my essential sermon is that we are not simply “Free FROM” Egypt, but we were “Freed TO” serve Gd.

My next point is the classical Shabbat HaGadol sermon.  How do you get everything ready for Pesach?  Yes, it takes some work.  It takes some time, but it does not have to kill an entire month!  Pesach cleaning can be done in one day, if necessary.  

The first step is thinking about what is and isn’t chametz.  If Le’vee won’t eat it, it’s not chametz.  You do not need kosher for Passover deoderant or beauty products.  If you follow the Ashkenazi custom of avoiding Kitniyot, you can put away those products, but they are NOT treif for Passover.  If you accidentally get a chickpea on your Pesach dishes, that’s OK!  If you don’t eat green beans, you can still give them to a picky toddler or a vegetarian.  (Note, I’m not equating those two.)  In your Shabbat brochure, there is an abridged guide to cleaning for Pesach.  Again, it is important to the health of your soul, but it should not destroy your physical health.  The most important thing is to get rid/lock up any physical chametz, bread, flour, crumbs, oats, barley, rye, spelt or wheat.  The next step is to send me your form to sell your chametz.  There is even a form on the shul website.  It can be emailed to me through the webform, as long as it is done by 8AM Monday morning, (the last time I will check my email).  Traditionally, donations are made to organizations that help the needy.  For us, I will be sending a check to Mazon this week.

My third point was about our diets, you might be wondering what the whole point of changing our diet for a week is.  What do I get out of it?  Why does Gd care what we eat?  How can it be that if I eat bread during Passover, according to a traditional understanding, I disconnect my soul from the Jewish people, earning karet, Divine punishment for myself?

When we change what we eat; when we clean our kitchens, we are forced to reflect.  We are forced to consider what goes into our mouths and what comes out of them.  By ridding our homes of chametz, we follow the commands of our Gd.  We follow the traditions of our people.  We show our thanks for our very existence.  

From my understanding, in previous generations, it was unheard of to have Jews who were not observant.  While people might have kept the laws more or less strictly, the idea of a Jew who did not follow halacha at all was not known.  If someone was to stop following Jewish traditions, it was a sign that they no longer wished to be known as Jewish.  Therefore, as much as the rabbis said it was Divine punishment that separated this person’s soul from Gd and Israel, it was also a statement by the individual him/herself saying I am no longer a Jew.  Eating a sandwich on Pesach was not ignorance or lack of affiliation, but a conscious act to say “I am not a Jew.”

Gd cares what we eat, because Gd cares.  If you have someone you love with diabetes, you ask them about their diet.  If they have celiac, you keep bread away from them.  If they have heart disease, you cut out the fat and salt, too.  When we love someone, this is reflected in every action.  The same is true from Gd.  Because of this love, Gd asks us to keep a special diet year-round and an even more special one during Pesach.  Gd wants us to think about what we eat, how we eat.  Do we eat to feed ourselves or for pleasure?  Because we are bored?  To fill an emotional void?  By changing our diet, we ask ourselves these questions and more.  We cleanse our souls, by cleansing our bodies.

These physical acts are reflected in our souls.

One last point, seders can and should be fun.  Pesachim, the tractate of Talmud discussing Passover, says that all should be alert and awake during the seder.  They suggest afternoon naps, candy/nuts for children and new clothing for wives and daughters.  (Since they enjoyed their wine, they suggest wine would gladden the hearts of the men.)  One rabbi begins his seders by saying “Don’t ask any questions tonight!  If you do, I will be forced to throw candy at you!”  A great seder idea I heard this year is to put random objects, keys, clips, buttons, etc. next to your guest’s plates.  THe goal is for someone to say “Why are these here!?”  Somewhere during the course of the seder, one can even ask people to try to relate their random objects to the evening!

The Jewish calendar is filled with self-reflection.  Almost every holiday is a time for consideration, for tshuvah, for repentance.  By changing our diet, by making a great seder, we bring holiness to our lives. We connect ourselves to the Divine.  We show our children the traditions of our ancestors and link the generations one to another.

Skin Diseases and Liminality--Holy Moments in Tazria

Rabbi Philip Weintraub

Congregation Agudas Israel

3/28/14

A few years back, I celebrated my Bar Mitzvah on Parshat Tazria.  Today I stand before you (albeit not in April) with the same Torah reading.  Tomorrow morning, I will read from the Torah about how long to wait after childbirth before resuming marital relations, many dermatological (skin) conditions, as well as discussions about what to do if clothing or fabrics have strange growths and discolorations.  It all sounds very archaic.  Why would the priest be the arbiter of skin conditions, didn’t they have dermatologists in Torah?  Why does childbirth require a sacrifice and immersion in the mikvah before a couple can return to their normal lives?

While I do not have my bar mitzvah speech in front of me for comparison, I think the main point of this parsha is actually two-fold--focusing on daily life and liminal/transitional moments.  Although some of the details may not determine our behavior today, the ideas remain relevant thousands of years from when we stood at Sinai.

The birth of a child is a holy moment.  It is a moment fraught with tension.  While women have been giving birth for as long as we have been on this Earth, it has always been a dangerous endeavor.  Offering a sacrifice, immersing in a mikvah are ways of giving thanks and marking the success of that mission.  A couple is forever changed when a child comes into their life.  Besides the medical reasons for a temporary suspension of intimate relations, our Torah teaches us the holy nature of this separation.  Giving us time to reconsider our lives, determine our new priorities, discover what it means to be parents and a couple again, is a pretty good idea!  

On the dermatological side, skin diseases are a part of life.  Whether infection or allergy, we itch and scratch and deal with peeling skin.  Thousands of beauty products claim to make our skin younger, firmer, more tone, more tan, less tan, less wrinkly, smoother, less bumpy, etc., etc., etc.  In the Torah there were no dermatologists.  There were no magic creams--although they probably did use aloe!  By having someone, whether priest or doctor, look at rashes and recognize which ones were contagious and required isolation and which were harmless, the health of the community was protected.  

On a similar note today, vaccination is a public health issue and a Jewish value.  By vaccinating your children and grandchildren, you follow the Torah’s teachings of caring for the sick, keeping oneself healthy, teaching our children life-saving skills, and protecting and caring for the neediest among us.  It is one simple act that can save not only one child’s life, but many others!

By discussing, these topics this evening, I want to bring these words out of the shadows.  There is holiness in the details of Torah.  Even the parts that seem out of date, irrelevant, have deep meaning and sanctity.  While reading about skin diseases may sound strange, it is a reminder that every moment of our life is sacred, every choice we make has the potential for holiness.

Next week’s parsha is Metzora, which continues discussions of skin disease, among other topics.  The rabbis separate that word into component parts, speaking of motzi shem ra, evil speech, lies, malicious gossip.  They say that in Torah times, skin diseases were actual punishments for improper behavior, for hurting others with our words.  While today we do not see G-d as punishing us in such a way, we still must be very careful of our speech.  Every word we say, whether carefully or carelessly has great potential to show love or to hurt.

In our shared communities, of the JCC, TBJ and CAI, we have numerous opportunities to speak highly of one another.  Each of our unique communities does incredibly beautiful, holy, helpful work, elevating the souls of all who participate.  Every organization wants and NEEDS the others to succeed, for the good of our shared project, for the good of our community, for the good of Newburgh!  As such, within our organizations--internally and together, we MUST be careful of what we say.  We can create great holiness, and maybe even prevent some eczema, if we only share words of love!

Shabbat Shalom

Illness and the Sukkah

As we are getting ready for Purim and then Pesach, now might not seem to be the normal time to discuss Sukkot. Yet that is the tractate of Talmud we are currently studying in Daf Yomi. 
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daf_Yomi)

Judaism has always recognized that there are ideal and less ideal ways of following commandments.  We are told that we are to live by the commandments and not die by them, that if we need to, we can break one Shabbat, so that we may live for many more Shabbatot.  This compassion extends to the ones who take care of those who are ill, as well.  Not only are we permitted to help an ill person on Shabbat, but we are required to help them.  I remember a scene from one of Chaim Potok's books where the Rebbe himself picked up the phone on Shabbat to call the doctor for an ill person, demonstrating that in an emergency you don't just delegate, but immediately do what is necessary to help!  On the same note, I have seen Orthodox rabbinic questions and answers that say if you drive someone to the hospital on Shabbat, you are also allowed to drive home (and are not stuck at the hospital for up to 25 hours).

On page 25a and discussed on 26a is a very interesting mishnah about what to do if one is sick during Sukkot.
(Hebrew Text From Bar Ilan 16+)

תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוכה דף כה עמוד א 

משנה.. . .חולין ומשמשיהן פטורין מן הסוכה. . . .

Translation from the Koren Steinsaltz Sukka p. 118 (http://www.korenpub.com/EN/products/talmud/talmud/9789653015715)

 The ill and their caretakers are exempt from the mitzvah of Sukka.  

תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוכה דף כו עמוד א 

חולים ומשמשיהם. תנו רבנן: חולה שאמרו - לא חולה שיש בו סכנה, אלא אפילו חולה שאין בו סכנה, אפילו חש בעיניו, ואפילו חש בראשו. אמר רבן שמעון בן גמליאל: פעם אחת חשתי בעיני בקיסרי, והתיר רבי יוסי בריבי לישן אני ומשמשי חוץ לסוכה. 

p. 123:

It is stated in the mishna. The ill and their caretakers are exempt from the mitzvah of sukka. The Sages taught in a baraita: The ill person that they said  is exempt from sukkah is not only an ill person whose  condition is critical, and even one who feels  pain in his eyes, and even one who feels pain in his head.  Rabban Shimon be Gamliel said: One time I felt pain in my eyes in Caesarea, and the esteemed Rabbi Yosei be Halafta  permitted me and my attendant to sleep outside the sukkah.

[Clarification of Steinsaltz Talmud translation--bold words are the words actually in the Hebrew/Aramaic, regular words are additions/clarifications to make full English sentences.]

The long and short of it is that when we are ill we are exempt from the commandments of living and dwelling and eating and drinking in the Sukka.  Yet this exemption is ALSO for those who are taking care of the ill person.  Judaism recognizes that illness and healing are processes that take a community, that take supportive people.  Whether you are caring for a family member, a friend or someone in the community, you have rights and responsibilities.  A caretaker has to be able to take care of themselves.  

When I meet people in the hospital, I always check to make sure that the caretakers remember to eat and sleep.  If they do not do these things, they will not be able to help their loved ones.  More than fifteen hundred years ago, our rabbis and teachers were teaching the same lesson!

Two in one day--Sermon for Pkudei

Parshat Pkudei

March 1, 2014

Rabbi Philip Weintraub

The Book of Shmot, Exodus ends:

When Moses had finished the work, 34 the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud had settled upon it and the Presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. 36 When the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set out, on their various journeys; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they would not set out until such time as it did lift. 38 For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the Lord rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.

http://www.jtsa.edu/PreBuilt/ParashahArchives/jpstext/pkudei.shtml

Our sefer, our book opened with the Jews descending into Egypt and ends with God’s presence, the Shekinah, descending into the Tabernacle.  While in Hebrew the language (entering vs dwelling) is not the same, I was struck by the parallel of the opening and the closing of this story.  It made me think about the parallels in our own lives.

In Sophocle’s Oedipus, the Sphinx asks Oediphus: “What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?”  The answer, of course, is man, people.  From infancy we learn to crawl, then walk, and then for many of us, at a certain point walking becomes more difficult.

Life has phases.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Yet we have to live in all of them.  In my chaplaincy, in my work with our community, I find people that are happy in every stage of life and those who are bitter in every stage.  There are some that say “if only” and some that say “Thanks.”

I think that the conclusion of Exodus is God saying “Thanks.”  God shows God’s appreciation of our ancestors hard work by dwelling among them.  The Holy One saw all the work, the time, the energy, the money, the resources that went into building the Tabernacle and said, “This is a Holy Space.”

In the days and weeks ahead, let us recognize the Holy Spaces around us.  Let us recognize the Holy People around us.  Let us recognize the Thanks that we have to our Creator and to all who make our lives liveable.

The other day, I had someone say to me “You probably do not know it, but I really appreciate you.  You are a nice guy and I am glad to see that the nice guys always step up.  Thank you.”

I have to say that I really appreciated that gratitude.  We all can use a reminder of the good we do.  Personal thanks can really make a difference in some one’s day.  So with that, I say:

Thank you to every one of you.  I truly appreciate you.  Your hard work makes my job much easier and makes me far more effective.  

Yesterday I went with Mike and Mark Copans and Steve Licker to a seminar on networking.  My take-away was the important reminder that depth is more important than breadth.  I can give away a thousand business cards without having a real conversation, or I can talk to a few people, develop a rapport, build a relationship, and they can share their experiences with others.  Either way I can reach a thousand people, but the second way has far more lasting effects.  

I have said it once and I will say it many more times.  We do great things here.  If we want to make others aware of it, we only have to tell them, bring them, and share the love.  One person at a time can and will change the world.  Amen.

Superman Sam and gratitude

Gratitude.  Thanks.  Appreciation. תודה

In the Jewish tradition we say blessings daily.  We thank God that we wake up, that our soul has been restored, that we can move and breathe and see and walk.  We even say these blessings when not all of those conditions are true, praying that we can say them fully again.  We have blessings for eating and drinking and seeing a beautiful tree, flower, or person.  Over my desk I have a very old poster from the Melton Research Center for Jewish Education reminding me of the blessings of appreciation for fragrant trees, fruits, on seeing thunder, etc.

In my mind, one of the greatest gifts of Judaism is this reminder to stop and THINK, to stop and THANK.

Whether as part of the formal liturgy or in a moment of quiet, I try to regularly demonstrate to myself and those in my life that I am grateful for their existence.  I try to count my blessings and thank God for the gift of my life, for the gift of my rabbinate, for the gift of Newburgh and Congregation Agudas Israel.

In that vein, I am also grateful for sadness.  I am grateful that I have empathy and can hear the joy and the sadness in the lives of others.  I am grateful that I can listen to the stories of others (one of the greatest gifts of being a rabbi!).  

I believe that I have previously spoken of Superman Sam, a young boy who died a few months ago from a particularly aggressive cancer.  As a response, 36 rabbis (more than that now) began fundraising for research for childhood cancers. http://www.stbaldricks.org/events/mypage/10921/2014/  They are close to their goal of $360,000 raised!

I am grateful to the family of Superman Sam.  Not only did they choose to share the difficult story of their son's diagnosis, treatment, remission, relapse and passing, but they are continuing to share their grief and joy in the months since.  Sharing their story, they remind us that every single person has a story, that every single person has trials, tribulations, joy and wonder in their lives.  We ALL have good days and bad days.  We ALL have blessings and curses in our lives.  Through it all, through heartbreak and loss, this family has shared holiness, blessing and love of God, Torah and Israel.  Their story is a lesson for all of us:

http://supermansamuel.blogspot.com/

The Power of Art

Rabbi Philip Weintraub

Congregation Agudas Israel

Feb. 15, 2014

Before I begin, I have a question for you:

What book, movie, painting, sculpture has touched you more than any other?

For all of us, there are moments when art has touched our lives.  Whether it is in reading the words of a gifted novelist, seeing the form of a great sculptor or a painting that cause us to stop and think.

Art lives and breathes within us.  Our souls crave expression and light up when we see kindred spirits in the art of others.  Art can anger us or inspire us (or both).  It can be simple or grand, but when it is great, it touches something deep within us.

Parshat Ki Tissa has two vastly different experiences of art within it.  One is the work of Bezalel:

Chapter 31

1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 See, I have singled out by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 I have endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft; 4 to make designs for work in gold, silver, and copper, 5 to cut stones for setting and to carve wood — to work in every kind of craft. 6 Moreover, I have assigned to him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have also granted skill to all who are skillful, that they may make everything that I have commanded you: 7 the Tent of Meeting, the Ark for the Pact and the cover upon it, and all the furnishings of the Tent; 8 the table and its utensils, the pure lampstand and all its fittings, and the altar of incense; 9 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand; 10 the service vestments, the sacral vestments of Aaron the priest and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests; 11 as well as the anointing oil and the aromatic incense for the sanctuary. Just as I have commanded you, they shall do. (http://www.jtsa.edu/PreBuilt/ParashahArchives/jpstext/kitissa.shtml)

Bezalel and Oholiav inspired the people Israel.  They helped them find their hidden talents.  They helped former slaves build the Mishkan, the traveling Temple.  Together they built something magnificent, a way for the people Israel to be inspired and connect to God, a dwelling place for the Holy One.  This art, this creation brought people together for generations, through the wilderness, into Israel and all the way until the time of Solomon when the Temple was built.

Yet just a few verses away we find another creation--the Golden Calf.  This art also was inspiring to some--yet its creation was a sign of great alienation.  It was of a people not ready for freedom, a people unsure of their destiny, even with sign after sign after sign and miracle after miracle after miracle from God.  This artwork brought people together for a moment but quickly tore them asunder, as God’s plague wiped out its creators and major followers.

The same is true for art today.  There is art that brings people together and art that separates them.  For art to reach people’s souls, sometimes it disturbs sensibilities.  Artwork that inspires us today sometimes scandalized the generation of its creators.  Without naming specific artists or works, we can all think of many such examples.

For me, one of the most inspiring works of art is the Talmud.  Knitted together across centuries, bringing scholars and teachers, populists and radicals together, it has been a source for Jewish law and practice for generations.  Within it are words that inspire and some that seem revolting to the modern reader.  Medical and philosophical ideas sometimes seem long before their time and elsewhere they seem hopelessly antiquated.  Yet these words have inspired generations.  Jews of all stripes, hats, outfits, genders and philosophies have used the Talmud to change their lives for the better.  

In 1906, the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design was founded.  From the beginning our Zionist forbears knew that in order for Israel to be successful, for the Jewish State to exist, art and culture had to be a central part of it.  A Jewish nation-state needs Jewish art!  Naming the academy after the artist of our parsha, the founders connected our Biblical heritage, our religious heritage to our land.  They sought to unite Jews through inspiration.

In every generation there are teachers and artists who inspire us.  Their words and their work speak to their communities--or sometimes to communities that have yet to be born!  

May we cultivate these artists, these cinematographers, these writers.  In order to create the next generation of scientists and mathematicians, we need artists, too.  Creativity is a skill that leaps disciplines.  Training a student of Talmud helps her become a greater mathematician.  Helping a young Picasso creates the next cancer researcher.   Our schools (Jewish and public) need funding for music and arts as much as they need funding for the science labs.  These are not either/or questions; this is not a zero sum game.  With both STEM and art, our world will be a better place.  Let us learn from Bezalel and remember that!