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2006

Palm Beach Synagouge (2006)

Parshat Shekalim
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The Cure Before the Illness (1956)

Reasm Rabbis Talmud (מגילה, פ"ק) for Shkalim. אמר ר"ל גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והי' העולם שעתיד המן הרשע לשקל שקלים על ישראל, לפיכך הקדים שקליהם לשקלי המן – והיינו דתנן, בא' באדר משמיעין על השקלים. Thus 2 things: a) G-d purposely commanded מצות שקלים centuries before the המן episode to neutralize it – by Jews voluntarily offering שקלים to G-d, King of the Universe, counteract effects שקלים of Haman to Achashverosh.... b) ... פרשת שקלים read before פורים.
Parshat Shekalim Israel & the Middle East

Synagogue Sermon

Judaism's Open Secret (1972)

In preparing for the revelation at Sinai, Moses read the “Book of the Covenant” (from the beginning of the Torah up to that point) to the children of Israel. ויאמר כל אשר דבר ה’ נעשה ונשמע, “And they said: ‘all that the Lord hath spoken we shall do and we shall obey.’” Our tradition saw in these two words, naaseh ve’nishma, not just an indication of consent but a whole philosophy of religion. For the Tradition did not translate naaseh ve’nishma as “do and obey,” but as “do and understand.” It is the particular order of that expression, the priority of action to understanding, that was acclaimed by our Sages. They tell us that even God was overwhelmed: יצתה בת קול ואמרה מי גילה רז זה לבני שמלאכי השרת משתמשין בו? A divine voice issued from heaven and cried out, “Who revealed to My children this secret which only the ministering angels know of?”But we must be honest. If the Jewish tradition admires the response of naaseh ve’nishma and God was astounded that the secret is out, clearly we moderns are shocked for the opposite reason. The modern temper sees in this attitude a symptom of blind religion, of lack of understanding, of irrationality. Surely an intelligent person seeks to understand before he practices, he seeks to know before he commits himself.How then can we go along with Judaism’s enthusiastic approval of naaseh ve’nishma?We must understand that we here face two radically different approaches. The modern temper can be characterized as autonomous. Man himself must determine each act, each decision, each challenge. A demand must appeal to his intellect and to his emotion before he commits himself to it. He, man, is the measure of all things. What he does must issue from internal consent, and not be imposed upon him externally. Judaism, however, is theonomous. Naaseh ve’nishma implies not man as the center of all things, but God. It is the nomos of Theos, the law of God, to which we submit in humility. Judaism regards autonomy in religion as an act of intellec…
Mishpatim Parshat Shekalim

Synagogue Sermon

Balancing the Books of Life (1963)

The prolonged New York City newspaper strike has adversely affected not only the economy of our community, but also the democratic process which requires an informed citizenry intelligently to decide upon its course. It constitutes no less than a national disgrace. Yet, as with everything else, we must be able to see the silver lining about the cloud. There is a redeeming feature to this otherwise intolerable state of affairs. We moderns have an insatiable appetite for constant stimulation by dramatic, world-shaking events. Our emotions feed on headlines, and our minds like to be jarred by exciting news of colossal proportions. Now, for several weeks, we have learned that life can be quite interesting even without these external stimuli. We have learned to fall back upon our own inner resources, without being incessantly pricked and shocked by big threats, terrible scandals, imminent attacks which usually do not materialize. We actually can get along without those big headlines which, in but a few hours, are valueless, surpassed by newer “extras” that shriek at us from the newsstands. Life, we have discovered, has its own justification in the little things that occur to us every day. This same idea is contained, in somewhat different form, in a Midrash quite appropriate for the Sabbath on which we read of the shekalim, Moses collected from the Children of Israel for the purpose of the construction and maintenance of the Tabernacle. The Midrash relates (Yalkut, Pekudei) that when Moses completed the building of the Tabernacle, he turned to the Israelites and said, now I shall give you a report of the shekalim you gave me. When Moses completed his accounting, however, he discovered to his dismay that his books did not balance. Tradition records with fine precision that the deficit was exactly 1,775 shekalim. Moses was deeply concerned by this discrepancy. He was distressed and perplexed. Now, he thought, Yisrael motz’in yedehem lomar Mosheh natlan – the Israelites wi…
Parshat Shekalim