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Tu B’Shevat: A Holiday of Renewal

Monday, January 30th, 2012

by Matt Rosenberg

When I lived in Israel for a year, I distinctly remember witnessing the first blossoming of almond trees on the holiday known as Tu B’Shevat. For me, the coincidence of the first blossoms appearing and Tu B’Shevat was nothing short of a miracle for this minor holiday is known in the Jewish tradition as the “new year for trees.” It marks the beginning of the spring renewal that fills the land with the produce of Israel, as mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:8, a “land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs and pomegranates, a land of olive trees, and honey.”

The ancient Israelites relied upon rain in its proper season to bring forth this produce from the land. Israel lacks rivers for irrigation so if there is too little rain, famine was the likely result. Thousands of years ago the inconsistencies of nature could wreak havoc on society. Even though we live in the twenty-first century, the same is true today. Not enough rain leads to drought and too much rain leads to flooding. While we have more technology for controlling the impacts of these extremes, oftentimes, despite our best efforts, nature’s impact is profound.

In ancient times, Tu B’Shevat marked the end of the rains and the beginning of the planting season, a critical point in the agricultural calendar. Every region has that critical point, the too-many continuous days of rainfall; the point where high temperatures, low humidity, and Santa Ana winds will turn any spark into a conflagration; the time when the hurricane-force winds are projected to make landfall. We always live on that razor’s edge between serenity and chaos.

Tu B’Shevat provides us the opportunity to recognize the power of the divine and of nature on our planet. It is an ancient moment of transition that leads us from one season and into the first fleeting signs of another one beginning. It represents renewal and hope. That hope exists in the hearts of those victims of disaster that NECHAMA helps throughout the year. Through its efforts to rebuild and repair, NECHAMA fills an important void in the disaster recovery process.

Happy New Year for the Trees!

Matt Rosenberg is a Rabbinical Student at American Jewish University in California and a NECHAMA volunteer. He can be reached at rosenbergmatt@gmail.com

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Hanukah 5772 By Matt Rosenberg

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

There is a midrash, a Rabbinic commentary, about the first winter that Adam and Eve experienced after the Garden of Eden. As the nights were getting longer and the days were getting shorter, Adam feared that night would overtake the day and soon, only the cold nights would exist. Eve thought of a plan to ward off the night. They would light lamps to defend against the nights. This was a comforting idea to Adam. So they began. Each night they added a lamp, one on the first night, two on the second night, three on the third night and so on until after the eighth night, when Adam and Eve realized that the nights were getting shorter and the days were again getting longer.

Obviously this ancient tale was a portent of the lights of Hanukkah, a holiday in which we traditionally light candles during the darkest point of winter. With each night, each additional candle wards off the darkness and cold by increasing the light found within our homes. Hanukkah is one of the most frequently observed Jewish holidays in America and it’s no wonder – it is a holiday that unites families and makes a house a home.

Volunteers and staff of Nechama worked earlier this month at Nechama’s warehouse to prepare the supplies and equipment needed for next spring and summer’s inevitable round of disasters. Every disaster organization must ensure that its equipment and supplies are ready to respond and Nechama is no exception. This essential preparation during the darkness of this time of year will hopefully lead to bringing light into the homes of families around the country.

As we light our Hanukkah candles, one additional candle on the Hanukkiah (Hanukkah menorah) each night, increasing in light throughout the eight nights, let us pray for a season of warmth and happiness in our homes. Happy Hanukkah!

Matt Rosenberg is in his penultimate year of rabbinical school at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles and is a NECHAMA volunteer.

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Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Thanksgiving: A Jewish Holiday?
Matt Rosenberg

A psalm of praise. Raise a shout for God, all the earth; worship Adonai in gladness; come into God’s presence with shouts of joy. Acknowledge that Adonai is God; God made us and we are God’s, Adonai’s people, the flock God tends. Enter God’s gates with praise, God’s courts with acclamation. Praise God! Bless God’s name! For Adonai is good; God’s steadfast love is eternal; God’s faithfulness is for all generations. – Psalm 100 (JPS translation)

Many of our psalms, such as psalm 100 above, speak of giving praise and thanks to God for all that God has bestowed upon us. Psalm 100 is one of the thanks-giving psalms and is recited in daily worship. It speaks to thankfulness and expresses the heart of the great American holiday of Thanksgiving.

November is often a month without any Jewish holidays. But, can we count Thanksgiving as a Jewish holiday? The concept of giving thanks is not foreign to Judaism. Offerings of thanks were made in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem and much of our liturgy is centered around giving thanks, such as Psalm 100.

The sharing of a meal surrounded by friends and family is a very Jewish way of celebrating a holiday. The Passover seder, the meals before and after the fast of Yom Kippur, the plethora of meals in the Sukkah during Sukkot are just a few of the times of gathering together over a communal meal. The modern Thanksgiving meal, with its traditional and symbolic foods of that historic first Thanksgiving in the New World, reminds us of the founding of our nations, on its principles of religious freedom.

Additionally, the custom of sharing what one is grateful for over the past year can be somewhat likened to the self-accounting that took place during the High Holy Days just a few weeks ago. During the High Holy Days we reflect on the aspects of ourselves that we’d like to change and improve; during Thanksgiving we have the opportunity to reflect on the happiness and blessings that were part of our life. Thanksgiving is indeed a great Jewish holiday, to be celebrated to its fullest.

Unfortunately, for many families affected by disaster, Thanksgiving represents the beginning of a difficult and cold holiday season working to recover. Thanks to people like you who support agencies such as NECHAMA with your time and donations, more families are more able to be grateful for their blessings such as a roof over their heads.

Yom Hodu Sameach! Happy Thanksgiving!

Matt Rosenberg is a Rabbinical Student at American Jewish University in California and a Nechama volunteer. He can be reached at rosenbergmatt@gmail.com

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Sukkot

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Traditionally, during the upcoming holiday of Sukkot, one relocates outdoors, living within
the sukkah, the temporary dwelling that is the embodiment of the holiday.  The roof of the sukkah is made of vegetation
and should allow the residents of the sukkah to also see some sky.  The laws of the sukkah are discussed in the
Mishnah, the oldest collection of the Oral Law, dating back to the second century.  One teaching in the Mishnah
informs us that we may abandon our sukkah if the rain would ruin our meal of porridge.

As I write this, on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, the American Red Cross is reporting that 185 days and nights have passed since there has been a night where people were not taking refuge in a disaster
shelter.  More than half a year has passed where each night, victims of disaster have needed a temporary shelter
over their heads.  This continuous sheltering over the course of so many disasters over the past six months is
truly unprecedented.  Tonight, three shelters remain open: a church in Pennsylvania, a city indoor tennis facility
in North Dakota, and a church in Washington state.

Most of the time, we have the luxury of returning to our home from our sukkot should incliment weather turn our porridge into mush.  For those who have been evacuated, displaced, flooded out over these past six months of non-stop sheltering in our country, tonight these three remaining facilities are serving as sukkot, as temporary dwellings.  They are temporary dwellings for people who would rather be safe and sound inside their own homes and not living on a cot in a multi-purpose room.

The Jewish year of 5771 has been an unprecedented year for disaster in our country.  I hope and pray that the year 5772 is a year
of calm and that no records are broken.
Dear God of our ancestors, our planet needs a respite.

 

May your
Sukkot holiday be joyous.  Thank you for
your support of Nechama in all of its work over the past year.  Hag sameach.

 

Matt Rosenberg is a Rabbinical Student at American
Jewish University in California and a Nechama volunteer. He can be reached at
rosenbergmatt@gmail.com

 

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Rosh HaShannah

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Rosh HaShannah

 

A very famous poem from the Rosh HaShanah liturgy, known as Unetanneh Tokef, bespeaks a multitude of calamities
which might befall one during the upcoming year.  It includes the following powerful words…

On Rosh HaShanah they will be written down and on Yom Kippur they will be sealed: how many will pass on and
how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die at his predestined time and who before his time; who by fire  and who by water, who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst, who by storm, who by plague…

This powerful liturgical poem evokes much emotion in us during the High Holy Days for it points to the stark realities of life.  We approach the High Holy Days in trepidation, praying to be inscribed in the Book of Life for the coming year.   But, we don’t know when personal or communal disaster will strike.  This month has already been full of disaster.  We have seen historic flooding on the East Coast and destructive wildland fires in Texas.  Of course, September is peak season for hurricanes and so we anxiously watch the Atlantic Ocean for signs of impending storms.  The Unetanneh Tokef is powerful because we don’t know when disaster will strike and we must always be vigilant.  But what can we do?

We can take action.  We can prepare.  September is designated as National Preparedness Month across the United States.  It’s a month to get a disaster supply kit, make a disaster plan, and be informed about hazards, first aid, and CPR.  Take this month, this time of the new year of Rosh HaShannah, to become better prepared for any disaster that may strike.  As volunteers and supporters of NECHAMA, the better prepared you are to help yourself and your family, the more ready you will be to help neighbors and NECHAMA respond to disaster.  Visit www.ready.gov today to learn about getting a kit, making a plan, and becoming informed.

 

L’shanah tovah tikatevu!  May you be inscribed for a good year!

 

Matt Rosenberg is a NECHAMA volunteer and a student at the Ziegler School of
Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles.

 

 

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Tisha b’Av

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Nechama: 9 Av

A few days after many in Southern California panicked about the “devastating” impacts of closing ten miles of Interstate 405 over a weekend in mid-July, I spotted a news item about a real disaster that gave me pause. I read that Omaha, Nebraska would be suspending their sandbagging operations due to extreme heat. This, I thought, was double jeopardy and completely unfair to Omaha, which has been fighting flooding on the Missouri River day after day for nearly two months. The city has deployed nearly 200,000 sandbags and installed 79 emergency pumps to keep the water back. Battalion Chief Shane Hunter of the Omaha Fire Department spoke about Omahans, “The city has stayed dry for one reason and one reason only: The people who are out there working — with boots on feet, gloves on hands … that are getting muddy and dirty in horrible conditions — with insects, heat exhaustion — they’re doing that work, they’re keeping the city dry.”

The image of the citizens of a city fighting to protect themselves from an outside force reminds me during this time of year of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70 CE. Indeed, the day that the Omaha sandbagging ceased temporarily due to extreme heat was the 17th of Tammuz on the Hebrew calendar, a day that is remembered as the day that the Romans broke through the city walls of Jerusalem some 1,941 years ago. The 17th of Tammuz marks the beginning of a period of mourning in the Jewish tradition simply known as “the three weeks,” a time when it is inappropriate to hold weddings and other celebrations. The three weeks recall the time between the breech of the Jerusalem city walls and the destruction of the Second Temple.

The destruction of the Temple, which we remember on Tisha b’Av (literally, the 9th of the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar), has become a catchall day for the remembrance of Jewish catastrophe and disaster. We connect a series of tragic events to Tisha b’Av: the First Temple in Jerusalem was also destroyed on that day, the Jewish revolt of the second century had its final defeat, the Jews were expelled from England in 1290 and from Spain in 1492, and World War I began (which was a precursor to the Second World War and the Holocaust). Like Yom Kippur, the 9th of Av is a solemn day which includes a 25-hour fast from sunset to sundown the following day. In synagogue we recite Lamentations and sit on the floor as mourners would.

While we can’t possibly compare the destruction of the center of Jewish worship in the first century with a flood threatening a Midwestern city, in both cases citizens battle day and night to fend off an external threat. Once the waters abate in the region, Nechama will be there, providing comfort and hope to those whose homes have been damaged by the flood waters. Our prayers go out to those who are fighting this modern siege of their city and pray that the efforts of those who are working against nature will succeed.

Matt Rosenberg is a Rabbinical Student at American Jewish University in California and a Nechama volunteer. He can be reached at rosenbergmatt@gmail.com

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