|
The Oldest Operating Synagogue in Newark, New Jersey 145 Broadway, Newark, NJ 07104 |
|
The magnificent Ark dates from 1870’s and is a transplant. The Ark first graced the majestic 19th century synagogue of Congregation Beth-El, later Rodeph Sholom, at Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street in NY City.
After setting up the lights, Alan Zwiebel presented us on Erev Yom Kippur with the amazing vision of the beauty of the Ark .
|
|
Copyright © Congregation Ahavas Sholom 145 Broadway, Newark, NJ 07104 (973) 485 - 2609 Fax: (973) 485 - 2609 |
|
E.MAIL US |
|
RELATED LINKS |
|
“ABOUT EMOR” (leviticus/ EMOR) May 10, 2008 / 5 Iyar 5768 - 20 OMER
SIMON ROSENBACH
|
|
“SIMON SAYS”- From Our Spiritual Leader |
|
Happy Mother’s Day! |
|
"Beauty is only skin deep." "It's what's inside that counts." "You can't tell a book by its cover."
We all were taught growing up not to judge people by their appearance. In the lore of the Fantastic Four, Alicia (who is blind) loves Ben Grimm (the Thing, who is ugly), precisely because she is not distracted by his appearance and can see the goodness in his heart. In "The Best Years of Our Lives," Homer Parrish is afraid that his girlfriend will reject him when he returns home from the war without his hands, but she does not. And of course, in "Beauty and the Beast," Belle learns to love the horrible beast (and is rewarded when the beast becomes a handsome prince).
But our ancestors, at least in the area of the priesthood, had a different view. Nobody could officiate as a priest unless he (and only a he) was physically flawless. Indeed, no animal could be offered as a sacrifice unless it was physically flawless. The sincerity of the blind, or the lame, or the physically deformed mattered not one whit when it came to officiating as a priest.
This insistence on physical flawlessness prompts a number of questions, beside the practical question of how many such men were there in an era before antibiotics and competent medical care. The first question, of course, is: how do we square this requirement with the many exhortations by the Prophets that sincerity in the giving is more important than any sacrifice. The second question is: how does this insistence on flawless humanity inform Judaism's views on the disabled today.
Judaism did not ignore the disabled. Only last week we read that we should not defame the deaf, who can not hear and respond, and we should not place a stumbling block before the blind, who can not avoid the block. On the other hand, even today, there are restrictions on, let us say, a blind person's legal right to read Torah. Because the Talmud forbids the recitation of Torah from memory, blind people have been forbidden to be the Ba'al Kri'ah. Blind people can be olim and recite the blessings, and blind people can serve in the role as translator, but to this day, they can not actually read the Torah in traditional synagogues.
We don't have priests any longer, but cohanim continue to have an active role in ritual. In Israel, the Birkat HaCohanim is recited daily in some places, and in this Country, the Birkat HaCohanim is recited during the musaf Amidah on the regalim in Orthodox shuls. For this purpose, the priest need not be flawless, so long as the blemish can not be seen. So: why might our ancestors have required physical flawlessness and what does that requirement mean today.
An initial thought is to say that the priests were ministering to God, so shouldn't the most perfect examples of mankind be the ministers? But we know from the Torah that God created man in God's image, so wasn't any man good enough? Why was God being so unforgiving?
I think that God was not being unforgiving, people were. In today's world, if a deformed person were a great actor, the public simply would not find that actor believable as a leading man. The people must be able to believe that their sacrifices were offered properly and accepted, and the leading man must look the part.
Today, we must be (and we probably are) more forgiving. A rabbi can be lame, or blind, or missing a limb, and nevertheless be a respected, authority figure. We need to insure that the physically disabled are included in our congregation and we need to find ways to enhance their participation within the bounds of halacha. We already have infrared hearing receivers and large print books; we have ramps for people who can't walk. When we restructure our sanctuary in years to come, let us also strive to make the bimah accessible to congregants who can not negotiate even the one step that today may as well be 100 steps.
In the course of researching this message, I found a number of interesting web sites. One you may want to look at is short: http://www.theinterpretersfriend.com/rlgn/halacha.html. The more we know, the better we can integrate everybody into the community. SIMON ROSENBACH
***
The websites for kidney and bone marrow donating, in case you are interested : Kidney donating: http://www.kidneyregistry.org Bone marrow donating: http://www.marrow.org
***
Poile Zedek Cemetery Desecretion If you need more information, contact us at 732-432-7711 or info@jf-gmc.org. You may also donate on line by logging onto our website at www.JewishMiddlesex.org or www.njjewishnews.com
|
