Rabbi Guzik - A Bisl Torah

Ribono shel Olam, Master of the Universe, our hearts are broken as we continue to learn about the devastation in Texas. Water offers the power of rebirth and, destruction. We remember the story of Noah in which, “All the fountains of the great deep burst apart, and the floodgates of the sky broke open…all the highest mountains everywhere under the sky were covered.” As we learn about each stolen life, the floodgates of the sky broke open once more. We pray with urgency and angst that the waters recede, and semblances of peace find ways into the hearts of the bereaved.

Journalist Jancee Dunn asks us to look for life’s tiny, little joys. Often, the grandeur of happiness feels unattainable; it’s too lofty and fleeting. But tiny, little joys can be seen and felt every day.

We had the opportunity to visit the Jewish area of Rome. An Italian Jew, Sarah, was our tour guide for two synagogues: the Great Synagogue of Rome and a smaller synagogue sometimes used by the Italian Jewish community and sometimes used by the Libyan Jewish community. It is often shared by both.

Our middle son just graduated elementary school. Whether we are watching high schoolers go to college, sitting at weddings, experiencing the birth of grandchildren or nieces and nephews, or witnessing our own milestones, many of us are going through ceremonies and, additionally, reflection.

We will always remember this week. In the future, our grandchildren will ask us what we did and where we were when we received the news about Israel’s courageous preemptive strike on the Iranian regime’s nuclear program, saving the West. We texted with congregants and family members in bomb shelters throughout Israel, people singing, praying, crying, and hoping their children would sleep a few hours through the hellish nights. So many of us wondered what this moment in history would bring.

Birkat Kohanim, the Blessing of Peace, is one of the most sacred, well-known pieces of Jewish liturgy. Found at the end of Parashat Naso, the prayer is often recited on Friday nights, a blessing extended from parent to child. Additionally, the clergy offer the prayer at brit milah/baby namings, b’nai mitzvah ceremonies, and under the chuppah during a wedding. The blessing asks God to offer protection, kindness, and ultimately, peace, as the person navigates their various life milestones.

At the beginning of Bamidbar, we see a counting of each male, head by head. The commentators debate the merit of counting each person when in Jewish tradition, there is strong merit in the collective. If B’nai Yisrael is trying to become a nation, what is the purpose in identifying each individual?

The Jewish world lost a giant this week: A luminary and a visionary. We mourn the passing of Abner Goldstine, past president of Sinai Temple.

Rabbi Simon Jacobson created a “Spiritual Guide to the Counting of the Omer.” He offers 49 steps “to personal refinement” as a means of readying ourselves for the receiving of the Torah during Shavuot. Rabbi Jacobson writes, “Each day in time has a life of its own. A day is a unique energy flow waiting to be tapped and channeled into the fiber of man’s being.”

The Torah dislikes sloppiness, specifically, the lack of regard for others and oneself when it comes to how we choose to use our words. Tazria-Metzora lays out a framework of isolation and return when a person, clothing, or home develops some kind of disease. And the rabbis attribute this disease to spiritual malaise, primarily caused by using words that contribute to the spreading of gossip and lies.