COMMENTARY
November 2021
Federation Star
11A
A life cycle moment Rabbi Adam F. Miller
I
n 2003, David Roher was the first student whose bar mitzvah I participated in as an ordained rabbi, at Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester. The senior rabbi asked me to start the service, while he planned to take the main role. One of the smallest in his bar mitzvah class, I towered over David on the bimah. Seeing the nervous look in his eyes as he stood next to me, I leaned in and whispered, “Go easy on me, it’s my first bar mitzvah.” David laughed, and off we went. A couple of weeks later, Eric Levy earned the distinction of being the first bar mitzvah where I took the main role. Bright and passionate about his Jewish
identity, Eric and I bonded over the experience. He went on to be president of the youth group when I was the advisor and, later, made Aliyah to Israel, where I visited him during my last trip. Over the course of my 18 years in the rabbinate, I officiated at more than 500 b’nai mitzvah, including two sets of triplets! I had the privilege of watching those young men and women ascend the bimah as children and descend as young adults, eager to embrace their new title and place in the Jewish community. Some showed aptitude for reading Torah, many demonstrated remarkable courage as they overcame obstacles, and several shared a gift for teaching and speaking. Truth be told, all of those students left me feeling proud of their accomplishments. Yet, none of that prepared me for what will happen on Nov. 6, as our oldest sons, Jonah and Gabriel, stand before the congregation at Temple Shalom to mark their b’nai mitzvah.
When we first visited Naples, my wife, Jennifer, and I asked ourselves if we could see our children reaching this milestone here. The answer was a resounding “yes,” and that led us to choosing Temple Shalom. Now that the day is here, it is hard to express all the emotions I feel in anticipation of this very personal life cycle experience. Preparing what I will say to the boys has proven to be more difficult than writing sermons for High Holy Days! While I may need some more time to work on what to say, there is no doubt in my mind that this life cycle moment will be sweeter, because we are able to share it with our community. One reason we delayed a year, from 2020 to 2021, was to enable more of our community and family to attend in person, even with spaced seating and masks. Jonah and Gabriel grew up at Temple Shalom, arriving when they were only 2½ years old. From Temple Shalom Preschool through today, Temple Shalom and the Naples Jewish community have been
part of their lives. We joyfully invited our Temple family to join in the joy of this simcha with our family. The service will be broadcast as a livestream on the Temple website and Facebook, and we welcome the community to join us virtually. According to one text, when God gave Torah to Israel, God asked for a guarantor. The Israelites offered their faithful ancestors as well as the great prophets, yet neither was sufficient. Finally, they offered their children, and their children’s children, indicating that they would pass Torah from one generation to the next. Satisfied with that answer, God gave Torah to our people. Jennifer and I look forward to the moment when we pass Torah to Jonah and Gabriel. Adding them as the latest link in the sacred chain of our tradition. From Sinai until now. L’dor va’dor – generation to generation. May we all keep that chain alive. Rabbi Adam Miller serves at Temple Shalom.
Chanukah: renew, rebuild, rejoice! the place, and the spirit of the site was barely flickering.
Rabbi Fishel Zaklos
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hanukah season is upon us. It is a trendy Jewish holiday. Donuts. Menorahs in the window. Public lightings. Gifts. Money gifts. Oil in everything. Cool songs. It has it all. We all love Chanukah. How about the story itself? What message does Chanukah have to tell us now, as we wind down the year 2021? It’s been over 2,000 years after the Chanukah miracle took place in the second century BCE. Is there still relevance? The answer is a resounding “yes!” It is a story for our time. It is the story of our time. It is a story about rebuilding, a tale of courage. Our story took place when the Land of Israel was under the control of the Seleucid Greek empire. The Greeks were determined to destroy Judaism and its heritage, and they went about it with fierce determination. ‘Hellenism for all’ was the battle cry. The Jewish leader, Matisyahu, the High Priest of the Holy Temple, and his five sons were not having any of it. Indeed, they would be the first group to fight for religious freedom -- their right to practice as you wish. After revolting against their tormentors, the brave Maccabees miraculously won many battles against the mightier Greeks. It all reached a crescendo when the Jews were finally able to reconquer the capital city of Jerusalem and enter the Holy Temple. Their hearts dropped to the floor. This was not the beautiful building they remembered. The disappointment was profound. The home of G-d was in shambles. There were idols all over
They had two options before them: 1. They could feel sorry for themselves and lose their spirit, saying, “Is this what we fought for? Will the Holy City ever be beautiful again? What is the point of getting up if we might fall again? The world will never be the same, so let us go back to bed and binge watch on Netflix (or whatever they did to ‘kill time’ in those days).” 2. Get up, brush off the dust, straighten their tired backs and get to work on rebuilding and renewal. They chose the latter and got to work. They sourced a menorah, searched high and low for the pure kosher oil needed to light the menorah, finally finding a small flask. At the same time, others were cleaning up the mess, discarding from it their enemies’ deities with other leftovers from the tyrannical Greeks. In short: They rededicated the temple. Temple 2.0 Indeed, that is what the translation of ‘Chanukah’ is: rededication. Chanukah teaches us never to give up and never give in. Is this not the necessary message for our times? Is this not the same courage that we seek to find within ourselves at this moment? After close to two years of chaos and the once unimaginable becoming our reality, we learn that failure is never the end of the journey. Instead, it is the classroom of life. It builds the muscle of courage and the heart of grit. It builds character for the next step of the journey. Down always leads to an up. We are strong. We are courageous. We have infinity within us. Nothing is more robust than our resolve. We can climb mountains, fall, and rise again. “The righteous fall seven times, and they get up,” says the book of Proverbs. שבע יפול צדיק וקם.
Rebuilding what was lost is more complicated than starting something new. The freshness and idealism are a bit tainted. The Maccabees, however, teach us how to do the courageous act of getting up, again and again. That is character.
Maccabees of the world: Let’s get to work! Rabbi Zaklos Fishel serves at Chabad Jewish Center of Naples.
