CHUKAT 5781

Spiritual Healing

I begin with a question that most of us have asked this past year: Why is there illness in the world? According to the Midrash, there was no illness until Father Jacob asked for it. Why would anyone in his/her right mind ask to be sick? Before Jacob, suggests the Midrash, when it was one’s time to leave this world, one simply sneezed and expired. That perhaps explains the universal custom of following a sneeze with everyone saying, “Gd bless you!” Father Jacob didn’t want the suffering that sickness often brings, he just wanted to have some warning before he died, says the Midrash, so that he would have time to put his affairs in order.

In our experience, illness is, for the most part, derech hateva (the way of nature). Sometimes we become ill just because we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time and breathe in a droplet in the air that has a virus in it—as we all tragically know from the Covid-19 pandemic. But for whatever reason illness occurs, the Talmud (Brachot 60a?) suggests that we use illness as an opportunity to review our lives and the direction we are going in order to make corrections and better ourselves. When we use an illness to draw us closer to Gd we open ourselves up to healing from above.

When we are ill, we all want healing, and we want it fast! No one wants to wait even 20 minutes for an aspirin to work when one has a headache. In today’s Torah portion Moses creates an amazing breakthrough in medical technology for instant healing. Let me set the scene for you.

Moses’ sister Miriam and brother Aaron die. Moses is suddenly all alone leading the Jewish people. To make matters worse, it was, as the Midrash points out, because of the merit of Miriam that they were able to find water in the desert—so after Miriam died, the people clamored for water. It was Aaron that was the peacemaker among the people—now after he died, there was a constant bickering. They went as far as to ask Moses, “Why did you take us out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread and no water! Our souls are dry from this disgusting food” [referring to the miraculous manna]. (Num. 21:5) What chutzpa! 

So Gd sent snakes that were called seraphim and they bit the people and many died. The people then came repented and begged Moses to ask Gd to take away the snakes. Moses prays to Gd to help his people who have just insulted him. Gd then commands Moses to make a saraph copper snake and place it on a high pole—so that whenever one is bit by a snake, one just has to look upon it and be healed.

As an aside, Rabeynu Bachya learns from this that, “if someone asks a person for forgiveness for insults committed against him, the injured party should not be cruel and refuse,” but should be like Moses who not only forgives, but prays for those who insulted him.

What was this seraph snake? The word saraph means “to burn.” In the Bible it Seraphim were fiery angels. Why was this snake called a seraph? Some of the commentators note that it was because its venom burned like fire. Archeologists have uncovered in Israelite and ancient Near Eastern writings and drawings evidence of a winged snake perched on a standard, just as the Torah described the snake statue of Moses.

The Bible recalls that later generations setup this snake statue in the Temple itself, calling it N’chushtan—a pun on the Hebrew word for snake, nachash, and on the Hebrew word for copper, n’choshet. Other relics from the age of Moses like the rod of Aaron or a flask of manna were kept in storage in the Temple—out of sight. But the N’chushtan was erected publicly in the Temple courtyard. Why? Since the Torah indicates that one could be healed just by looking at the statue, probably when the Israelites made their offerings in the Temple, they made sure they also gazed upon the N’chushtan statue hoping for a similar miracle to what ailed them.

The Book of Kings II (18:4) records that King Chizkiya—the great reformer king of ancient Israel—“broke the copper snake that Moses had made into pieces, for until that time the Israelites had been offering sacrifices to it.” What a chutzpa! The seraph statue was made by Moses from the command of Gd Himself. King Chizkiya was one of the most pious of all the kings of Israel. The seraph statue had amazing healing powers. How could he destroy it? 

Rashi explains, that originally, when one would look upon the snake one would think of Gd and repent for ultimately, healing comes only from Gd. But when the people looked at the seraph statue as an idol and worshiped it, it went from a symbol of Gd’s healing to an object that wounded the soul. That’s why Hezekiah destroyed it—despite the fact that it was made by Moses according to Gd’s command.

We don’t have a seraph statue today to heal us…or do we? Dr. Allen Rosenthal—founding president of our shul, may he rest in peace—once gave me a fascinating book to read called, The Cosmic Serpent. In it, the author Dr. Jeremy Narby—a noted anthropologist—points out the symbol of the snake in all ancient cultures was that of a healer. The shamans of almost all cultures have visions of the cosmic serpent that is very often doubled. There is much in their descriptions that led Dr. Narby to see amazing similarities to today’s research of the double helix of DNA. We’ve all seen that doubled snaked medical symbol. Science now tells us that with the completion of the mapping of DNA, it is now only a matter of time till we will be able heal practically any illness—even Covid-19. In fact we may eventually be able to alter our DNA and prevent illness. How cool would that be?

But maybe Father Jacob was right—i.e. that sometimes sickness has a good purpose. Since illness will not be eliminated in our lifetime unless, hopefully, the mashiach comes, it is crucial that we understand that ultimate healing comes only from Gd. A powerful spiritual principle is surrender. Do what you can to get the best medical help available and then surrender to Gd. Once you surrender to Gd, trusting in His goodness, then you allow His healing to enter.

My friends, not every ill person can be healed physically. This is the derech hateva (the way of nature). Sometimes one can be swept up in a pandemic! But remember that Rashi on the seraph statue: “when one would look upon the snake one would think of Gd and repent?” From looking to Gd and repenting, from finding ways to come closer to Gd, comes spiritual healing that may open one up to physical healing as well…who knows? Let’s look upon our snake—our double helix DNA—and the wonders of the human body, and lift our hearts toward heaven…for there is where the healing comes for our shattered souls. Amen!

KORACH 5781

A Tribute to My Father-in-law, My Bonus Father Harold Goodman

As you all have heard, Cheryl’s father, Harold Goodman, passed away this week. I have been blessed in my life with 3 fathers. My father and teacher, Sidney Kunis, of course, and by 2 bonus dads—my previous father-in-law Martin Vogel and Cheryl’s father Harold Goodman.

My father, Sidney Kunis, was a great role model. He taught me to be kind and considerate. I learned from him to be dedicated our people, to my family and to country. I learned to think and care about the world around us—to understand its ideas and passions and to get involved. This Tuesday will be his 4^th Yahrtzeit.

From Martin Vogel—who died this past year—who survived Auschwitz, I learned resilience—how to survive in a hostile world, and how to love Gd and Torah no matter what life will throw at you.

And from Harold Goodman I learned that family is not just important, it is everything! Born and raised to a Jewish family in South Africa, he understood that. Although he loved South Africa, it wasn’t the best place to raise a Jewish family anymore. So, in trying to find the best place for them he moved to Israel. When that didn’t work out, he came back to South Africa, then to London and finally to Atlanta. Why? so that the family could be together in the best place for all of them. 

Harold was a man of rare courage and real inner strength. You could see that in the way he faced his illness. He had stage 4 pancreatic cancer 18 years ago, followed by a unique “Whipple” surgery that was supposed to give him 3-5 years. That was 18 years ago! He was diagnosed with a new pancreatic cancer this past fall and we were told to hope for a couple of months! When the chemo no longer worked he had the courage to opt for a new experimental trial of treatment. And when that didn’t work, he faced his end with calmness and resoluteness. I’m not sure Harold knew who Lou Gehrig was, but he paraphrased his famous speech at Yankee Stadium when he said, “I’m the luckiest man in the world!”

He wasn’t at all materialistic, but he was a very wealthy man by Harold Goodman’s standards for he had an amazing family along with the love and respect of all who met him. Harold was stubborn at times, but in a good way! He knew what was important and just wouldn’t let anything distract him from it. Life wasn’t always easy, but even during difficult times, he never lost his dignity, and always remembered consideration for others. I never heard him raising his voice or speaking ill of anyone—never! He was so smart and well-read, and could talk on almost any topic with authority.

There are people who enrich bovert gifts…and there are others like Harold who enrich by their mere being. Harold was a big man with a bigger heart—bigger than life. And when you were in his presence, he made your heart bigger!

I thought I know what compassion was until Harold taught me about compassion. During this past year, one of Cheryl’s former neighbors was suffering with cancer. She was having a really hard time of it. She couldn’t move her arms well or bend her back to do even menial tasks. When Cheryl told Harold about this, he told her about a couple of arm extension tools he had that might help her. So, he immediately got in his car and delivered the one he no longer used to her. After visiting with her for a while, the next day he came back with the better one because, as he said, “She needs it more than me!”

How do most of us deal with the annoyance of street beggars when we stop for a light? That’s right, we look the other way and try to ignore them. Kind as he was to so many—Harold always kept a stack of dollar bills in his car so when he saw a beggar, he would stop to give him a few bucks. He didn’t stop to think perhaps he will use the money for liquor or drugs. No, if lowering himself to ask for money, Harold would help him. Who does that?

In this week’s Torah portion, we see the opposite of Harold Goodman—we see selfishness, embodied in Korach. Korach attacked Moses and fomented a rebellion. Why? We see Korah’s true motive in the opening words (Num. 16:1): Vayikach Korach (Korach took). The big question in the text is, what did Korach take? The verb “take” is not associated with any direct subject—telling us what he actually took—leaving us to wonder what it was.

The commentators give various answers. But my point is that “Take” is a good word to describe Korach because he was all about taking. He wanted to take power and the glory of leadership for himself. He wasn’t seeking leadership to help others, but for his own glorification. Korach was a master “taker”—always figuring how events can benefit him—a “What’s in this for me?” kind of guy.

Moses, unlike Korah, never wanted to take the role of leader upon himself. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?” he asked Gd (Ex. 3:11). In fact Moses pleaded with Gd to choose anyone else in his stead.

After the sin of the Golden Calf, Gd offers to destroy the Jewish people and make Moses into a great nation (Ex. 32:10). Instead, Moses tells Gd: “If you do not forgive the people, erase me from the book which You have written.” Moses, the humblest man on earth (Num. 12:3), recognizes that leadership is not about oneself, rather about the people being led. It’s about sacrifice and deferring personal needs and gratification.

That was Harold Goodman—one who sacrificed again and again and deferred his personal needs and gratification for the sake of others. Harold was one of the humblest men you’ll ever meet. He was such a good husband, father and grandfather because, no matter what, his family always came 1^st. He gave of his time and financial resources, not for personal gain but to help others.

The word for love in Hebrew is ahava—which comes from the root hav, which means “to give.” My friends, you create happy, enduring relationships by being a “giver” and not a “taker.” This is why Moses and legacy remains 3,000 years later while Korach is all but forgotten.

So, let’s try to emulate Moses and Harold Goodman who both taught us how to be “givers.” Perhaps Harold’s greatest gift of all was to give to this perplexing turbulent world a sense of honor and dignity, a sense of respect and a sense of devotion. Harold taught us something, without saying a word, about the deeper meaning of life beneath the superficial materialistic world. We were enriched—no elevated—by his life. Y’hi zichrono Baruch, May his memory be for a blessing. Amen!

KORACH 5781

A Tribute to My Father-in-law, My Bonus Father Harold Goodman

As you all have heard, Cheryl’s father, Harold Goodman, passed away this week. I have been blessed in my life with 3 fathers. My father and teacher, Sidney Kunis, of course, and by 2 bonus dads—my previous father-in-law Martin Vogel and Cheryl’s father Harold Goodman.

My father, Sidney Kunis, was a great role model. He taught me to be kind and considerate. I learned from him to be dedicated our people, to my family and to country. I learned to think and care about the world around us—to understand its ideas and passions and to get involved. This Tuesday will be his 4^th Yahrtzeit.

From Martin Vogel—who died this past year—who survived Auschwitz, I learned resilience—how to survive in a hostile world, and how to love Gd and Torah no matter what life will throw at you.

And from Harold Goodman I learned that family is not just important, it is everything! Born and raised to a Jewish family in South Africa, he understood that. Although he loved South Africa, it wasn’t the best place to raise a Jewish family anymore. So, in trying to find the best place for them he moved to Israel. When that didn’t work out, he came back to South Africa, then to London and finally to Atlanta. Why? so that the family could be together in the best place for all of them. 

Harold was a man of rare courage and real inner strength. You could see that in the way he faced his illness. He had stage 4 pancreatic cancer 18 years ago, followed by a unique “Whipple” surgery that was supposed to give him 3-5 years. That was 18 years ago! He was diagnosed with a new pancreatic cancer this past fall and we were told to hope for a couple of months! When the chemo no longer worked he had the courage to opt for a new experimental trial of treatment. And when that didn’t work, he faced his end with calmness and resoluteness. I’m not sure Harold knew who Lou Gehrig was, but he paraphrased his famous speech at Yankee Stadium when he said, “I’m the luckiest man in the world!”

He wasn’t at all materialistic, but he was a very wealthy man by Harold Goodman’s standards for he had an amazing family along with the love and respect of all who met him. Harold was stubborn at times, but in a good way! He knew what was important and just wouldn’t let anything distract him from it. Life wasn’t always easy, but even during difficult times, he never lost his dignity, and always remembered consideration for others. I never heard him raising his voice or speaking ill of anyone—never! He was so smart and well-read, and could talk on almost any topic with authority.

There are people who enrich by overt gifts…and there are others like Harold who enrich by their mere being. Harold was a big man with a bigger heart—bigger than life. And when you were in his presence, he made your heart bigger!

I thought I know what compassion was until Harold taught me about compassion. During this past year, one of Cheryl’s former neighbors was suffering with cancer. She was having a really hard time of it. She couldn’t move her arms well or bend her back to do even menial tasks. When Cheryl told Harold about this, he told her about a couple of arm extension tools he had that might help her. So, he immediately got in his car and delivered the one he no longer used to her. After visiting with her for a while, the next day he came back with the better one because, as he said, “She needs it more than me!”

How do most of us deal with the annoyance of street beggars when we stop for a light? That’s right, we look the other way and try to ignore them. Kind as he was to so many—Harold always kept a stack of dollar bills in his car so when he saw a beggar, he would stop to give him a few bucks. He didn’t stop to think perhaps he will use the money for liquor or drugs. No, if lowering himself to ask for money, Harold would help him. Who does that?

In this week’s Torah portion, we see the opposite of Harold Goodman—we see selfishness, embodied in Korach. Korach attacked Moses and fomented a rebellion. Why? We see Korah’s true motive in the opening words (Num. 16:1): Vayikach Korach (Korach took). The big question in the text is, what did Korach take? The verb “take” is not associated with any direct subject—telling us what he actually took—leaving us to wonder what it was.

The commentators give various answers. But my point is that “Take” is a good word to describe Korach because he was all about taking. He wanted to take power and the glory of leadership for himself. He wasn’t seeking leadership to help others, but for his own glorification. Korach was a master “taker”—always figuring how events can benefit him—a “What’s in this for me?” kind of guy.

Moses, unlike Korah, never wanted to take the role of leader upon himself. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?” he asked Gd (Ex. 3:11). In fact Moses pleaded with Gd to choose anyone else in his stead.

After the sin of the Golden Calf, Gd offers to destroy the Jewish people and make Moses into a great nation (Ex. 32:10). Instead, Moses tells Gd: “If you do not forgive the people, erase me from the book which You have written.” Moses, the humblest man on earth (Num. 12:3), recognizes that leadership is not about oneself, rather about the people being led. It’s about sacrifice and deferring personal needs and gratification 

That was Harold Goodman—one who sacrificed again and again and deferred his personal needs and gratification for the sake of others. Harold was one of the humblest men you’ll ever meet. He was such a good husband, father and grandfather because, no matter what, his family always came 1^st. He gave of his time and financial resources, not for personal gain but to help others.

The word for love in Hebrew is ahava—which comes from the root hav, which means “to give.” My friends, you create happy, enduring relationships by being a “giver” and not a “taker.” This is why Moses and legacy remains 3,000 years later while Korach is all but forgotten.

So, let’s try to emulate Moses and Harold Goodman who both taught us how to be “givers.” Perhaps Harold’s greatest gift of all was to give to this perplexing turbulent world a sense of honor and dignity, a sense of respect and a sense of devotion. Harold taught us something, without saying a word, about the deeper meaning of life beneath the superficial materialistic world. We were enriched—no elevated—by his life. Y’hi zichrono Baruch, May his memory be for a blessing. Amen!

BEHAALOTCHA 5781

It’s No Longer About Israel, It’s about Jews!

(with gratitude to R. Benjamin Blech, R. Mitchell Wohlberg, R. Joshua Kunis, Peter Savotnik and Bari Weiss)

The latest war between Israeli and Hamas is now over with the usual results. They shot missiles at Israel and Israel shot them down. Israel destroyed their infrastructure, Israel destroyed their tunnels and made them pay a bitter price. There’s no question Israel won the battle. But it should concern us that Israel may have lost the war—the war for public opinion. Something has changed.

On the concluding part of the Priestly blessing in last week’s Torah portion—V’yaseym l’cha shalom (May Gd grant you peace)—the Midrash adds the strange words: “Peace when you enter, peace when you leave and peace with every man.” The Ktav Sofer explains: “Peace when you enter” means peace in your home, “peace when you leave,” means peace in your country, and “peace with every man” means peace in the world. The Ktav Sofer is telling us that yes, we should all pray for peace. But before we strive for peace in the world, our 1^st obligation is to make sure our home is safe. Peace at home always comes 1^st.    

Within 3 days after the conflict exploded, the NY Times—along with most of the media—had op-ed after op-ed condemning Israel, but not a single op-ed—while thousands of missiles were falling on Israel’s population centers—not a single op-ed in the American newspaper of record with one positive word about Israel! In fact, during this conflict it advertised that it was looking for a Palestinian analyst!

What none of the op-eds made mention of—none—was that Hamas calls for the destruction of Israel, that Hamas calls for the destruction of Jews—me and you—that Fatah, led by Mahmoud Abbas, has refused to sit down and even negotiate with Israel, that Israel has offered peace plans by Perez and by Rabin and by Olmert and at Camp David and on and on. Let me ask you, have you ever heard of a Palestinian peace plan???

No, you’ve heard about “disproportionate responses.” Well, thank Gd, Israel is strong enough that if it’s attacked by terrorists, it’ll be able to give a disproportionate response because it’s entitled to have peace in its homes. Remember, Israel is fighting a very difficult enemy. The Palestinians are not led by a Nelson Mandela, a Dr. Martin Luther King jr., or a Mahatma Ghandi. They’re led by murderers! And so Israel will do anything and everything to make sure its people find peace in their homes.

My friends, as I said before, something has changed. We’re used to seeing pro-Palestinian protestors on the streets of London, Paris and Brussels. We saw them last week when pro-Palestinian protesters threw an explosive device into a crowd of Jews in New York’s Diamond District. We also saw them last week when 2 men were attacked outside a bagel shop in midtown Manhattan. Again, we saw them last week, at a sushi restaurant in West Hollywood, when a group of men draped in keffiyehs asked the diners who was Jewish, and then pummeled them. And in a parking lot not far away, when 2 cars draped in Palestinian flags roared after an Orthodox man fleeing for his life. And in the story of the American soccer player Luca Lewis, cornered by a band of men in New York demanding to know if he was a Jew. Andrew Yang, former would be candidate for president, now running for mayor of NYC, had to retract his pro-Israel statement because of pressure—this in very Jewish NYC! 

Something has gone wrong. Perhaps a hint can be found in this week’s Torah portion, which contains one of the strangest incidents in the Torah. The Jews complained about the food—nothing really new about that. What’s strange is that they were complaining about, “the fish, the meat, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic they said they received in Egypt for free.” Really!? That never happened. What made them say this? 

The Torah (Num. 11:4) introduces this incident by telling us that: “The rebel rousers that was among them felt a lusting and then the Israelites also wept and said, ‘Who will feed us meat?’” The problem started with the rebel rousers, the Eruv Rav, the mixt multitude—the former Egyptians who joined the Jews in the Exodus. They started complaining and soon more and more Jews wept along with them.

It starts small with some loud-mouthed protestors, anti-Semites and Jew-haters. And then the message gets mixed in with the rest of the people. My friends, we always had the likes of a Louis Farrakhan with his ugly anti-Semitism. Now it has grown into the Black Lives Matter Movement throwing their weight behind the Palestinians. There’s always the likes of a Roger Waters, co-founder of Pink Floyd, who are viciously anti-Israel. But these were lone voices. Now it’s John Oliver and Trevor Noah and many others who have turned against us.

It used to be Uncle Bernie and Elizabeth Warren we had to worry about. We treated them like a lone voice that no one was listening to. But now former friends like Senator Robert Menendez and Jewish Congressman Jerry Nadler join with Israel’s critics. It used to be AOC and her Squad. Now the Squad has turned into a mob!

And most painful for me is that, as thousands of missiles rained upon Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, 100 students from the rabbinical colleges of the Conservative and Reform movements signed a public letter accusing Israel of apartheid and calling on American Jewish communities to, “hold Israel accountable for the violent suppression of human rights!”

We didn’t fight back much to these kind of things in the past thinking, “It’s only a handful.” But while we weren’t paying attention, the handful has turned into a multitude! When model Bella Hadid spoke out against Israel, we dismissed it as a lone voice in the wilderness. We didn’t realize she has 50 million followers on Instagram! A few have mixed with the many and their voices are growing stronger. It’s upsetting and it’s depressing.

Even Moses couldn’t handle the complaints. So, in our parsha, Gd told him to gather 70 leaders who would speak to the people and tell them the truth. Are we going to be smart enough to do the same? It starts with a few, but it can grow into many. We have the few. We have wonderful organizations like AIPAC, CAMERA, Honest Reporting, and the Flame. But are they reaching the masses? Do you even know who they all are?

I sent a link 2 weeks ago from AIPAC urging people to write to their Congressman and Senators. All you had to do was click on the link and fill out a small form and press “send”—less than 5 minutes. Tell the truth. How many of you did it? We have to make sure that our few turns into many. And for that to happen it depends on each and every one of us.

A fundamental truth about the war against Israel can be summed up in one sentence: When approached by a student who attacked Zionism, Dr. Martin Luther King responded, “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews—and you’re talking antisemitism!”

The most fundamental lie about the countless op-eds, vicious social media entries and critiques of Israeli policy is that its hatred is directed towards Israel…when it has become ever more abundantly clear that the detested object of scorn remains the same as it has for thousands of years—Jews!

The ADL recently found on Twitter more than 17,000 mentions of “Hitler was right!” Again, Palestinian sympathizers viciously beat up Jews in Times Square. Diners in Los Angeles were asked by a raging mob of Hamas flag bearers, “Are you a Jew?” It was the same in major cities around the world. None of the victims were asked if they were Israelis. All that mattered was that they were Jews.

Isn’t it strange that at a time when someone is accused of being racist can in an instant cause a person to lose his or her job and be banned from social media, but identification with Hamas which openly calls for a 2^nd Holocaust is viewed as a moral stance deserving of approval?

My friends, this is no longer just about Israel. It’s come to the streets of America. It’s about being a Jew. Now what are we going to do about it? Amen! 

Urge your Senatorsand members of Congress to stand with Israel. Here's the AIPAC link to easily accomplish that in only a minute: https://p2a.co/u9jbbtK.