Minyan, Music, Talmud

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai.

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Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

Transcript

Clap,

okay, exhaling, yeah,

there are different kinds of exhaling. So the way that I translated eika, which is the name of the book of Lamentations, the way that I translated it for our for our observance the other night was Sai, like Ei, because the word Ei, you know, sometimes it's translated as alas or how, but basically it's like an exclamation of incredulity and sadness and disappointment. And in that context, I translated it as like a sort of exasperated sigh.

But the truth is,

a good exhale with a good sound, with a good sigh is not necessarily just exasperated and sad and frustrated. It's also it's also cleansing, and it also invites in new breath. So now that Tisha Bob is over, now that the energy of Ei is history, and we're moving into the seven weeks of consolation and

and sort of opening toward the possibility of high holidays, so I want to invite us to take some breaths in and then exhale

with a sound or a sigh, but that like feels cleansing

and with like different kind of energy. And it's okay, you know? It's okay, if it you know, there's some of the lingering stuff from from Eijah, lingering around, that's okay too, but take this opportunity to begin the day by letting go of some of that and bringing in

gathering new breath and

exhaling it, sighing it out. You

with gratitude for your breath and for this morning, I'm

going to take my tallit, put it around my shoulders.

Feel free to do the same, or to just kind of imagine yourself doing the same, wrapping yourself in light,

breathing In

Baruch at Adonai, Elohim Asher, Keith, Vanu, liji you

I'm

going to move us.

Move us all the way in.

Where's my little sea door? I'm going to move us all the way in, the sea door to the

middle of

Sukey to Zimra to the hallelujahs,

take a moment to

express, either in the chat or just in your own mind, What you are, what you're grateful for this morning

sunshine, coffee community,

some shift that you know about, but that we don't know about, but that maybe you could share with us

that will help us join you in hallelujah.

Let's see you.

Hall There we go. Hallelujah,

hallelujah,

hallelujah,

hallelujah, ah,

hallelujah, hallelujah,

hallelujah, hallelujah,

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah, oh

Victor.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,

hallelujah, Oh hallelujah.

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah,

hallelu,

I need to move my little chat box so I can see what you've been saying and see what's on the screen. Hallelujah.

Boob, take a shofar.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, hallelu.

Better.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah,

oh.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah,

hallelujah,

hallelujah,

even for me, this is a little low.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,

hallelujah,

hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah,

hallelujah,

hallelujah,

Oh,

hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah,

I'm inspired by all the things that are good and working despite all the things that are not i I'm grateful for the nephew tame. It's good to have you here, the nephew who reached out with a super sweet and thoughtful message when your father passed.

I'm grateful for the work deadline that I had an extra week longer than I thought. Yahoo, recognizing old patterns and shifting out of them. And coffee helps a lot. Le Chaim, I am.

Violet rolled over yesterday for the first time, a great birthday gift for you and your wife, and now you get to have even more anxiety as you put her to bed at night and make sure that there are no blankets or anything around for this great milestone.

Mazel toe grateful that the heat has gone down by 50% welcoming the fresh air. That's because you're in Europe right now. We have worse air quality than we did yesterday. Delia, but lucky. You grateful to be awake and anticipating a wonderful 88 year old who's been my mentor for 53 years and imparts great wisdom. What a amazing thing, Jan, you've had a mentor longer than I've been alive.

What a gift trees, bushes, plants, green summer I mean, I mean the studying beauty of Lake Michigan. Blair, happy birthday, celebrating 70 years of glorious life.

Humor. Yeah, grateful. The condo garden seems to be a continuing source of community beauty,

and grateful for the super blooming of plants and flowers and beginning of harvesting of what I've sowed in the garden and in life. Oh, that's another good question to start the day with, if not today another day, what's a seed you planted long ago that's beginning to harvest. Now you know that, like you didn't know, would anything happen to it? You know, would it just stay in the ground? Would it just kind of, you know, get, get, you know, mushed into the dirt? But, like, actually,

it's blooming. If decades later, I'm gonna stand I invite anybody who wants to join me in standing. Otherwise, you know, you can you can bend. You can achieve the good bend with the bar who even just with your head, if that's what's available to you this morning.

All right, I'm facing east here. Feel free to unmute as we go into the back and forth of the

bar who at Adonai humma,

Adonai

el atah, Adonai, Elohim yozer, or over a whole Sheik, oh say shalom, worry at tackle arts, Valarie, Malay, habra, hamimana, savory. She.

Making me want to sing this song this morning, all this talk of the lake in the chat, somebody asked me the other day if there is a blessing, you know, like her form of exercise is swimming, she said, Is there a blessing for before going swimming? And I thought about it, because I really wanted the answer to be yes.

And so I thought, and I thought, I thought about a

conversation in the Talmud between,

I don't know, I'm a between, between two Rabbi's. I'm forgetting who they were. And maybe somebody on this call knows, and one of them is kind of like giving the other one a little bit of grief for going to the bathhouses. And, you know, and sort of like, you, like, relish your human form. You go to the bathhouse, you, you know, basically, you know, like, like, giving somebody, giving somebody crap if they work out, for example, you know, like, oh, you spend, you know, what, like, an hour in the gym, making your muscles beautiful. Anyway, um, you know, the same thing about the guy going to the bathhouse. This one rabbi says to the other, and, and so the guy who enjoys actually going and like sitting in the sauna and doing the steam room and whatever, he says, you know, what do you see? How much care the Romans take when they wash their statues, you know, shining and polishing them. He says, like, those statues are stone graven images of people. I am an image of God,

and so are you? You think I'm not gonna like go to the bathhouse and take care of my image of God in this world. I don't know if he I don't know if he said a blessing for it, but the point was, like, you think the bather was Hillel? Oh, Rabbi Yochanan, not Hillel. Great. Thanks. Thanks. Thank you. Talmudic. Talmudic consensus. I knew Rabbi Yohanan was one of the guys. I didn't know who the other one was. In any case, every single one of us, we are, we are God's human, you know, human image in this world. We got to take care of ourselves.

But then I did think about the blessing for when you see the ocean or a lake, you know, basically a body of water that's so expansive you can't see the end of it. And the blessing is blessed. Are you a creator of the universe who creates the great waters? O say, eta yam Hagadol, which is not a blessing for swimming, but it is a blessing for the water. So for those of you who are, for those of you who are out at the lake right now, or thinking about the lake now, you know a blessing for the water. And if anybody can come up with a good blessing for swimming, let me know, and I'll pass it along to the person Who asked,

ah,

Ah,

ah,

me

Me,

Rabbi

Om

Me, I

ma,

or ha da Shazi.

Don't, yeah, be nice, careful.

Out of my hair alley, or, oh,

you know what? So I'm making this connection in my head right now. So if it's not a fully formed thought, you know, or if it doesn't completely connect, I apologize in advance, but the conversation happening in the chat right now is a is a good one. So Rabbi, so Mary, thank you for thank you for bringing in the other story about Rabbi Yochanan famously swimming in the river with somebody who is a student, well, no, becomes a student of his. Maybe I'm giving it away already. Do you want to tell the story quickly? Because I think it's got an important lesson that's actually like an important high holiday lesson. Somebody else can't I'm, I'm, my hands are busy. So, all right, all right, great, wonderful. So if I if I screw it up. If I screw it up, somebody correct me. So Rabbi Yochanan is he sees a, I don't know. He sees this guy in the river, and he's got a gorgeous body, and he's like, Hey,

your beauty should be for Torah. Like you should, you should learn torah.

Or the guy in the No, the guy in the river says, Your strength should be for what. Come on, somebody help me out here. The other way around, the guy, the guy on the shore, sees Rabbi Yohanan in the river and says, Your strength like you're beautiful.

And says, he jumps into, he takes all his clothes off, yes, into the river with him. And says, what? And then, as far as we know, which one who takes their clothes off, they're both naked. Okay? One is swimming. Who's swimming? Start over, all right? Rabbi Yohanan is swimming. This other guy comes by, sees him in the river, throw takes his clothes off, jumps into the river with him and says your beauty should be for women. That's what Yohanan says. Your strength should be for Torah.

And then the guy tries to get back out of the river, and his strength is all gone. So his strength is right? And so he becomes Rabbi Yohanan student, and Rabbi Yohanan marries his sister, right? No, he marries Rabbi Yohanan sister. He marries Rabbi Yochanan sister. So, like, basically, this guy who we understand later, was kind of like a brigand. He was kind of like a, you know, a, you

know, a guy who was, who abandoned,

abandoned, okay, and he becomes a great Torah scholar and and it's this beautiful story of how they're too, you know, he kind of comes into the family of scholars and Torah learning. However, the story doesn't end in a great way, because at a certain point they're arguing over some point in Torah and

a beautiful queer love story. Thank you, Emma. They're arguing over some point in Torah and

and if you get into the details of the story, it makes more sense, why? When Rabbi Yohanan says, Well, you know what? Like somebody who used to use weapons would know what these tools are? You know, they're arguing about whether some piece of steel is, you know, able to be made kosher, able to bend, or whatever it is, and Rabbi Yohanan basically reminds REISH LAKISH of the life he used to have with the tools he used to use. And it's incredibly insulting to REISH LAKISH, and they basically stopped talking and

and this devastates both of them. And

correct me, if I'm which one of them actually dies of heartbreak? One of them dies of heartbreak? Which one actually both of them? Because resh Lakish dies, yes, and then Yochanan goes crazy. And there's and there's a famous story that the rabbi's tried to send him another and the guy just tell them how wonderful he is, and he's like, go away. You're too boring. Actually, she would argue with me and tell me that everything I said was wrong, and we would both get better, and I don't need yes men. So that's another wonderful story. But, and then in the end, he he also dies, but they both die of heartbreak because they're idiots and won't talk

men, right?

But what the connection I wanted to make, just as we go into this, you know, the ahava Rabbi going into the Shema is actually this idea, the idea of teshuva, yeah, no, Ahmed. Seriously, everybody's cheering

between EMET and Mary. We've got, like, the whole Talmud here, and I'm just here to make you guys look good. I'm just here to start the story so that you can

correct me the lesson of not reminding someone of where they come from in a way that is insulting. You know, not saying not like, reminding a convert that, like, well, your parents weren't.

Jewish. So you don't really, you know, like, you don't really belong here, or, you know, any version, yo, oh. Like, you think you're so great. Well, I remember you when you were, you know, I remember you when you were a drunk. I remember you when you were, like, no. Like, that is one of the most insulting

me. Like, it's doing the reverse, like not doing that is actually a mitzvah of not not both, not placing a stumbling block before the blind, not oppressing somebody who's vulnerable. You know, it's like hitting somebody where they're weak. And the tradition says, Don't do that. Do not do that. And like, one of the reasons why

the Talmud tells the story is because even Rabbi Yohanan, you know, even a great Torah scholar, you know, when when tempted, when pushed, can can stoop to that level, and the damage that it does can be absolutely devastating. And then the damage isn't just to the person you've insulted. It ends up being to you as well.

And one of the ways that we show love is to cultivate people in the direction that they want to go, that they you know, that if they are becoming a new person, if I am becoming a new person, to believe that that's possible, to cultivate that, to celebrate that, to honor that, to love that, and not to, you know, not to remind somebody of who they used to be or what you know, in a way that, in a way, whose purpose is to drag them down or denigrate them,

to create the possibility for transformation, and believe that that's possible. And I feel like that is the whole that is this whole season is to believe that that is possible. And if you find yourself kind of going well, you know, I don't know, it hasn't worked before or well for the last, however, many decades, this is how they have been. They another group of people. They you know,

then I think that the season needs to work a little harder in your heart, because the whole, the whole point of the tradition actually brings us to the possibility of the world can be changed, and that we can change inside of it, and that we can believe that other people can change too. All right, so with that, we gather all the four corners of art. Seat, seat.

Aruca, taranai have a mo Yisroel be ahava,

close and cover our eyes With the Shema.

Shema Yisrael,

Adonai,

Eloheinu,

Adonai Echad e

they are hafta eight, Adonai Elohim, the high

you had very

share. I know he mitzvah. I am Alva machine and time Levina, Rabbi shifted. Rabbi Levina,

Rabbi

shifted by you. Latota foot benea, who could have Tom almazha, I'm gonna

move forward to Mika mocha. We'll use this as our healing prayer this morning,

our prayer for crossing chasms, for healing, for growing,

for the possibility of changing.

So go ahead and share the folks you're thinking about who are on your list for Misha Barach for healing. Misha beratenu, vimoutenu, Sarah Rivka, Leah Abraham, mitzvah, the Yakov, Hui, vara, pet Cola, holim,

everyone on the oh my gosh, the long lists,

friends, loved ones of everyone in this Minion, may you heal everyone who is sick, who is struggling with the illnesses mental and physical.

May You send food to the hungry, may You send compassion to the hard hearted?

May You send relief and release to all those that are held captive.

May you help children believe the world can be better,

and parents to believe that they can teach that to their children and be telling truth. You

you help all of us stay strong and compassionate.

Mika Moha vai Li madonai, mikamoha,

medar Ba Kodesh, Nora tehi Lord.

Oh say, fellow.

Oh say, fella.

She Ra,

Shiba only,

Messi,

fat, I am Jahan pulamo, do we? Hum? Ro wrong. I don't know.

Swear Israel for

Mother's rat Israel definitely know.

I

don't know.

Keith Israel, Keith,

sending

a

refuel shalema To

everyone who has ever been a hostage or suffered abuse, and continue to be now after 670 days, including everyone suffering war in their country.

I mean,

I mean, I mean,

all right, so I am. I had this little I had a bim bam video queued up for Ed Hanan because it it promised beatboxing with the Shema, which the Shema is found in our this, our parsha this week. So I kind of thought that that sounded fun. But as it is 830 I want to make sure we say khadisha tome, and if you stick around then, then we'll watch that for fun, and then we'll be here for office hours, for whatever people want to want to talk about.

So, temeh, I know you're here this morning. Do you want to share anything about your dad before we go into mourners cottage?

Sure. Thank you.

Yeah, just that. Like that quote I'll probably mess up, terdof said it said it turned off. That was, that was my dad. Like he pursued justice always he, he worked with Thurgood Marshall in the Justice Department. He fought for justice for everyone who'd lost money in the savings and loan scandal. And a lot of lawyers and accountants ended up hating him because he went after them if they enabled it by finding loop Hu loopholes

that caused people to lose their life savings. And he was very proud of being hated for that. And yeah, he always pursued justice. Um, he represented a magazine called Big Mama rag in the late 70s, and he fought the IRS because they denied the magazine tax exempt status. It was one of the first to fight for gay rights and women's rights, and this was the late 70s when that was not popular, but for him, it was very important. So, yeah, that's just some stories that really exemplify who he was. Oh, thank you. Oh, thank you for sharing about him. What was his name, Timmy um Harris, or it's V Hirsch.

Yeah, he's equal. No Libra. Thank you and to Joan and Barry

and Celia, but Melech o Miriam. Anybody else for Kadisha tome this morning, my uncle Sheldon Tobolski and Holly Frisch? Is there anybody who wants to lead us in Kaddish this morning? I

eat Kadal Viet kadash, shame, Rabbi Amen Yama di vaute, mahute, Bahai Khan, Oyo mehon, ocho, peithra el gala of isman, Keith femero and

ATA

Ella, being called verhata to spahata, hamata, damiron, be Alma, vimaru,

Salama, Rabbi, mean she Maya behind,

who ya say, shalom, Elena, we all call Israel the Emerald, amen main man, may all of their memories be blessings and truly Tere, it's, it's the place.

Pleasure to hear a little bit about your dad's life and story, and I loved the way that you said, like he was very proud of being hated for doing the right thing. Exactly, we're doing the right thing.

All right. Well, should we? Should we turn our attentions to some, you know, a little, a little fun. Torah, it's four and a half minutes here. Why not? Why not everybody? All right, hang on.

All right.

Okay, can you see this big dark screen here? Can

somebody say yes? If you can yes, okay, all right, this is checking. All right. Here we go.

Okay, I

I

gonna cross the Jordan. I said I'm gonna cross the river Jordan one of these days. Hallelujah. You

parashat vaethanan begins on the east side of the Jordan River, where the people of Israel are camped in order to prepare themselves to cross the river and enter the land. Moses is still with them and takes the opportunity to review the journey and reiterate the laws of the Torah, the whole book of Devarim, or Deuteronomy, in fact, is Moses's valedictory speech. God has told Moses that he will not cross the Jordan with the rest of the people with the land so close, Moses appeals to God to reverse the sentence of death in exile. There is something tragically human about Moses' attempt to convince God to postpone his death, like anyone he first denies the reality of death and then tries to bargain with God for a different outcome. But this isn't just anyone facing his last days. This is Moses, the greatest prophet with whom God spoke face to face, who led the Israelites to freedom, who brought down the 10 Commandments from Sinai. Why does Moses die just outside the promised land? According to the Book of Numbers, Moses's fatal mistake was to draw water from a rock by hitting it twice when God told Moses to speak to the rock. According to Deuteronomy, the people are to blame for insisting that Moses send spies into the land and then believing their negative report. Perhaps Moses must die simply because he belongs to the generation destined to die in the wilderness. But there is more to it than these reasons. The great prophets and visionaries never do seem to get into the promised land. They envision the next phase of history, but they don't live to see it. The dreams of these prophets come into being through Joshua's successors with different sets of skills that can make dreams realities. God assures Moses that Joshua will lead the people across the Jordan River and settle them in the land Moses climbs a peak above the Jordan Valley and looks to the mountains in the north, the deserts in the south and westward all the way towards the sea. He sees not only the geography of the land, but also the long history of the people. Most importantly, he sees future generations interpreting these five books, and realizes that it is through them that he will gain immortality. The children of Israel and God are linked in an endless loop of forgetting and remembering. There is also love between the children of Israel and God. God saved the people from oppression, fed them in the wilderness, and will soon bring them across to a land flowing with milk and honey. In return, they are asked to love God with all their heart, with all their soul and all their might. God's words are with them, always at home and on the road when lying down and standing on their arms and on their foreheads, on the doorposts of their homes and on their gates.

Schmael.

Away. I said,

I Well, I'm going

to hit

the record, the stop record button. Now I'm.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai