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

Since last Independence Day, a major change has come over the situation for Israel: it has lost the goodwill of the great powers. Before only the Arabs damned her, now no one has any love for her. This ninth birthday finds the United States and Russia both appeasing the Arabs and opposing the Israelis. Israel’s very existence has been called into question, and she has been called upon to justify her very survival as well as her attack on Egypt.Israel has now been called every name under the diplomatic sun. Aggressor, war-maker, offensive. And an argument repeated often enough can affect even the strongest partisans and make them over into opponents. Our Rabbis of the Midrash tell us that God showed Moses Dor dor v’dorshav and also the leaders of each generation, its prophets, its wise men, and so on. This means that he showed him the kohanim of the future who would remain spiritually bnei Aharon. But, also included in this vision, though less known, were each generation and its gazlanim, and its chomsanim. And we wonder: are these too kohanim bnei aharon? And the answer is: no. It is not that the descendants of Aaron will be robbers and thieves, but, the meaning is, that despite their being the preachers and leaders and prophets and wise men of every generation, they will be called robbers and thieves… as though God said to Moses: they still are to Me, despite all the names so unjustly applied to them by others, kohanim bnei Aharon. And so when we find that Russia calls Israel an aggressor, the United States calls her and unjust intruder, and India calls her a thief, we open the Bible and the Midrash, and we find that God tells us that those whom others call, in their generations, both robbers and thieves, remain the “priests, the children of Aaron,” the priests of all nations and the kingdom of holy people.Why is Israel right? Why do they remain the “priests, the children of Aaron?” What is the underlying principle of Israel’s claim to Statehood, its justification…

Since last Independence Day, a major change has come over the situation for Israel: it has lost the goodwill of the great powers. Before, only the Arabs damned her; now no one has any love for her. This 9th birthday finds the United States and Russia both appeasing the Arabs and opposing the Israelis. Israel’s very existence has been called into question, and she has been called upon to justify her very survival as well as her attack on Egypt. Israel has now been called every name under the diplomatic sun: aggressor, war-maker, offensive. And an argument repeated often enough can affect even the strongest partisans and make them over into opponents.Our Rabbis of the Midrash tell us that God showed Moses *dor dor v’dorshav*—each generation and its leaders, its prophets, its wise men, and so on. This means that He showed him the *kohanim* of the future who would remain spiritually *b’nei Aharon*. But also included in this vision, though less known, were each generation’s *gazlanim* and *chamsanim*—and we wonder: are these too *kohanim b’nei Aharon*?And the answer is: no, it is not that the descendants of Aharon will be robbers and thieves. But the meaning is that despite their being the preachers and leaders and prophets and wise men of every generation, they will be called robbers and thieves. As though God said to Moses: they still are to Me, despite all the names so unjustly applied to them by others, *kohanim b’nei Aharon*.And so, when we find that Russia calls Israel an aggressor, the United States calls her an unjust intruder, and India calls her a thief, we open the Bible and the Midrash, and we find that God tells us that those whom others call, in their generations, robbers and thieves, remain the “priests, the children of Aaron,” the priests of all nations and the kingdom of holy people.Why is Israel right? Why do they remain the *kohanim b’nei Aharon*? What is the underlying principle of Israel’s claim to statehood, its justification of Operation Sinai, an…

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

This week our country and our city have been hosts to one of the most distinguished visitors ever to come to our shores. General Charles de Gaulle, Premier of France, is a man who has captured the imagination of the world, teaching men that it is possible to raise a modern nation from the throes of despair by holding before it the image of its ancient splendor. In particular, there is one word or quality associated with his name and character that is descriptive of his role in modern history. That word is: grandeur.The word and the man come to mind on this Sabbath preceding the Yom Ha-Atzma’ut, Israel’s Twelfth Anniversary of Independence. Is there a quality appropriate to Israel that is equivalent to the grandeur of France? Do we Jews have a grandeur of our own? What, in other words, is the specifically Jewish definition of grandeur?I believe there are three Hebrew words that, together, can best spell out for us what Jewish grandeur is. Each represents another aspect of this elusive but very real quality. Combined, they represent the Jewish definition of grandeur.The first word is: tiferet. We might loosely translate that as dignity. There can be no grandeur without a sense of dignity.Of course, dignity has certain external manifestations, certain outer appearances that enhance it. But the dignity of tiferet is also expressed in an inner quality which, ultimately, proves far more important. We read in the second chapter of Avot: Rabbi said, what is the right way that a man ought to choose for himself? And he answers: whatever is tiferet l’oseha and tiferet lo min ha-adam – whatever gives dignity to him who does it and appears dignified to his fellow men. I prefer to interpret that somewhat differently. The right way a man ought to choose, the way of grandeur, certainly includes tiferet l’oseha – it gives an air of dignity, a dignified atmosphere, to whoever acts in the proper manner. But of far more crucial significance is tiferet lo min ha-adam – that the dignity…

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 …

The conjunction of the two Sidrot we read today, Tazria and Metzora, is remarkable. The first speaks of birth, the second of a kind of death: metzora harei hu ke’met, a leper is considered as partially dead. Tazria describes the joyous acceptance into the fold of a new Jew by means of berit milah, circumcision, while Metzora tells of the expulsion of the leper from the community. Yet, these two portions are read on the same Shabbat with no interruption between them. The tension between these two opposites, this dialectic between birth and death, between pleasure and plague, between rejoicing and rejecting, speaks to us about the human condition as such and the existence of the Jew specifically. Even more, this tension contains fundamental teachings of Judaism that are relevant to the problems of the State of Israel, whose 18th birthday we shall be celebrating this Monday. After delineating the laws of childbirth, the Torah in the first Sidra gives us the law of circumcision. The Midrash Tanhuma relates a fascinating conversation concerning this Jewish law. We are told that Turnus Rufus, a particularly vicious  Roman commander during the Hadrianic persecutions in Palestine, spoke to R. Akiva, the revered leader of our people. He asked R. Akiva: ezeh mehem na’im, which is more beautiful: the work of God or the work of man? R. Akiva answered: the work of man. Turnus Rufus was visibly disturbed by the answer. He continued: Why do you circumcise your children? R. Akiva said: my first reply serves as an answer to this question as well. Whereupon R. Akiva brought before the Roman commander shibolim and gluskaot, stalks of wheat and loaves of good white bread. He said to the Roman: behold, these are the works of God, and these are the works of man. Are not the works of man more beautiful and useful? Said the Roman to R. Akiva: but if God wants people to be circumcised why are they not born circumcised? R. Akiva replied: God gave the mitzvot to Israel le’tzaref ba-hen, to t…

Dear Dr. Birnbaum: I have been trying to arrange for the proper kind of celebration of Israel Independence Day at The Jewish Center. One of our difficulties is that the booklets issued by the Jewish Agency have the Hebrew prayers unpointed and with no English translation. I wonder if we can get together some time at the end of May to discuss the possibility of preparing something attractive which could be printed for use by The Jewish Center, and perhaps thereafter by other congregations. Would you be kind enough to give this some thought? Cordially yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm

The great festival we shall celebrate next week is known by two names. In the Bible it is called Shavuot, “Weeks.” In the Mishnah, however, it is known as Atzeret – which means binding or conclusion or climax. Our tradition tells us that it is called by this name because, like the eighth day of Sukkot, which is known as Shemini Atzeret, this festival of Shavuot is the climax of a long development. Even as Shemini Atzeret is the conclusion of the Sukkot holidays, so, in a sense, is Shavuot the conclusion, and hence the atzeret, of the period begun with Passover. Now, while this is certainly an adequate and reasonably accurate explanation, there is some troubling question about it. Why is it that in the case of Sukkot, the waiting period before the atzeret is but one week, whereas between Passover and its atzeret, seven weeks must elapse?Various answers have been offered to explain this. Now, however, for the first time in history – there is no longer any question! This year, and hereafter for all eternity, Shavuot shall be known as the atzeret after the one-week rededication to the God of Israel! For this is the week between Yom Yerushalayim on the 28th of Iyar, and the zeman mattan toratenu on the sixth day of Sivan.Indeed, as we gather for the first Yom Yerushalayim in Jewish history, let us emphasize specifically those aspects of our present festival for which Shavuot is truly the atzeret, namely, the theme of revelation. There are three types of hitgalut or revelation, which occurred one year ago today, and for which the celebration of mattan torah, the giving of the Torah, is a logical climax. This will require deep thinking on our part, because as Jews we believe that God reveals Himself primarily in historical events; and to see this requires, as Yehudah Halevy called it, an “inner eye,” it makes demands upon our attention and reflection.It is more than a coincidence, I believe, that three forms of revelation correspond neatly to three historic names associat…

I. Introduction – A. Spoke here ten years ago today. B. My theme simple. Rabbi Meyer Shapiro of Lublin once gave complicated drasha for Moas Hittim appeal. After ending, his audience discussed intricacies of his dialectic. One child was present. Rabbi to child: did you understand what I talked about? Child: yes, the rabbi wanted money. Rabbi: this child understood the sermon better than anyone else... C. Independence Day should not only be occasion for celebration, but dedication; not only gratitude for past but commitment for future – through U.J.A. D. Little that I can tell you that you cannot read in today’s Times, or tomorrow’s Day-Morning Journal. Let me then give you some insights I gained from my semi-sabbatical. II. Social problems – A. “Black Panthers” should not frighten you. The real outrage is not their choice of a dramatic name, but the necessity for having to remind us of their impoverished conditions. Visit the Katamon’s – no customers for your jewels. 250,000 people below poverty level – 12–14 people in one and a half rooms. U.J.A. III. Armaments industry – A. No reliance on France and other countries, hence develop own military industrial complex. My recollections of how it began when I worked for munitions research for Israel in New York in May 1948. IV. A. Romanian Jews whom you meet in Jerusalem – actually purchased, at so much and so much per head. U.J.A. B. Russian Jews – in Jerusalem under the shadow of the Wall. Their tremendous spunk. Their arrival at Lod. Their demonstration for the Leningrad trials at the Kotel. Story of Natashya. V. A. To do all of this Israelis have to accept cruel tax burden, highest in world, with no complaint – 90% of tax is for defense. B. We must be partners. VI. A. I ask you to be good Jews, not better Jews, or warm Jews: 3 types. VII. A. It is not enough to give, one must give adequately and sacrificially. Portion of Metzorah – two kinds of sacrifice at occasion of cleansing, one for rich, and one for poor. And l…