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Synagogue Sermon

May 4, 1957

Every Name Under the Sun - editor's title (1957)

Yom Ha'atzmaut & Yom Yerushalayim
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Chag He-Asor (1958)

As we Jews would over .... David: זה היום עשה ד' נגילה ונשמחה בו. Indeed, נגילה ונשמחה not as easy as seems. For many years never assimilated full impact of event – supernatural, incredible, meta-historical – words prophets – and all we thought of was: Polit., Money... exiqencies of impact ... Like traumatic event, leaves state shock, disbelief, so ... Now, however, that event receding into
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I. Sidra opens with Jews concerning childbirth. אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר וטמאה שבעת ימים... וביום השמיני ימולו בשר ערלתו. Seven days of uncleanliness, of separation, + then circumcision. II. Our Rabbis most profound comment in reason for טומאה and relation of mother's 7-day uncleanliness to child's 8-day ברית → (נדה ל"א ב') – R. Simon bar Yochai – during those 7 days mother is still in state of anxiety that remains with her from before + during _______ birth-giving. It takes 7 days to recover not only from physical experience, but from the mental
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A National Insurance Policy - editor's title (1962)

The occasion of the birthday of the State of Israel is one of great Simchah for Jews throughout the world. We recall, at this time, the birth agonies of the state, the anxieties as we counted votes in the United Nations, the agitation and the worry as Israel encountered the armies of seven Arab countries, and also the indescribable thrills we experienced when it emerged victorious and forged a state not only out of dreams and prayers, but blood and steel, as well. We remember all these vicissitudes of the state, and the goodness shown to it by the Almighty in miracles both apparent and hidden, from the moment of its birth through the Sinai war and until this very day.Yet Simchah means more than just happiness or joy for Jews. Our tradition has made of Simchah a creative spiritual act. Maimonides taught, in the Laws of Festivals, that לא נצטוינו על הוללות וסכלות אלא על שמחה שיש בה עבודת יוצר הכל – Simchah does not mean vain merry-making of hollow party-going but rather that kind of joy which leads to an understanding of Providence, an appreciation of the presence of G-d in history. True Simchah must lead us to recognize our duties to our fate, and challenge us to our rendezvous with destiny.And therefore, at this time, we must ask ourselves: do we Jews in the United States practice real Simchah? Is our celebration only empty and trivial gaiety, or does it participate in this higher and nobler joy?I believe that too often, too many of us are guilty, with regard to the State of Israel, of a historical sin. One of the words for “sin” in Hebrew is Averah. The origin of the word is Avor, which means: to pass by or pass over. One of the great Averot that many of us American Jews are guilty of is that we have allowed history to pass over us and we have remained largely oblivious to and unaffected by it. Compared to the ages of most nations, the State of Israel, though fourteen years old, is but an infant. It was born only yesterday. Our times are extraordinary; history is …
Yom Ha'atzmaut & Yom Yerushalayim