Rebellion for Heaven's Sake | JCoOC Events June 26 - July2
06/26/2020 11:05:25 AM
Jun26
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COLLABORATIVE EVENTS: JUNE 26 - JULY 2
Scroll to bottom for Rabbi Tilchin's weekly message.
Friday, June 26th at 6:00pm FRIDAY NIGHT by CANDLELIGHT
with Temple Beth Emet and special guest Dale Schatz Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma’ariv Click to join us on Zoom (password: 595052) or Facebook Live
Saturday, June 27th at 2:00pm (PDT) TWELVE STEPS AND TORAH Join Rabbi Marcia Tilchin, Rabbi Ilan Glazer and friends for Torah study guided by Twelve Step wisdom. Join on or call 949-402-8004 for more information.
Saturday, June 27th at 8:45pm HAVDALAH TOGETHER With special guest, Rabbi Heidi Cohen Join us on Zoomor Facebook Live
Sunday, June 28 through Thursday, July 2 at 6pm OC Egal A nightly, inclusive minha / ma'ariv service on Zoom CLICK HEREto sign up. Text reminders are sent to enrolled participants 30 minutes prior to each service. Last minute zoomers welcome! It's more than a minyan. It's a MITZVAH!
Tuesday, June 30 at 10am ADVANCED LEARNING INSTITUTE “Personalities in the Parashah” with D’vorah Miller Korah, the lead character in this week’s parashah, is COMPLICATED! To better understand who followed him and why,
with the Orange County Interfaith Network (OCIN) “Where do I stand? A chance to process reactions and lessons learned from OCIN’s 2020 Virtual Roundtable Discussions” Co-facilitated by Rabbi Tilchin and OCIN Board members
NEW CLASS LAUNCHING IN JULY The Jewish Collaborative of Orange County invites you to explore Pathways Into Judaism, an online survey course for people looking to enrich their core Jewish knowledge or explore Judaism for the first time. Cohort 1 begins July 8th. Cohort 2 begins October 7.
“A controversy for Heaven’s sake will have lasting value, but a controversy not for Heaven’s sake will not endure…What is an example of a controversy not for Heaven’s sake? The rebellion of Korah and his associates.” (Pirkei Avot 5:19)
The study of Torah and rabbinic wisdom is endlessly fascinating precisely because, for more than 2000 years, it has held a Divine mirror up to society in every age and generation. No two moments in time are identical and Torah is always there to reflect the nexus between man and God in our current space.
Marc Gary, the Chief Operating Officer of JTS, wrote a poignant D’var Torah this week titled “When Push Comes to Shove: Protests in the Wilderness and in Our Cities,” (CLICK HERE for the complete text) in which he connects the rebellions in this week’s parashah to the protests on American streets inspired by the highly publicized death of George Floyd on May 25. We recall that, in the initial weeks after the murder, peaceful protesters coming together in solidarity with the African American community (many of whom were justifiably angry and channeling that anger into purpose) were intermingled with bands of inciters looking to foment chaos and destruction for their own pleasure. The latter groups were not motivated “for the sake of Heaven,” but present to threaten law and order and derail hundreds of thousands of people who had an important message to share precisely “for the sake of Heaven.” Using the Mishna above as a proof text, Dr. Gary makes this connection:
“While condemning the demagoguery and ruthless ambition of Korah and the other ringleaders, our Rabbis recognized that protests, arguments, and controversies are often praiseworthy [when done for Heaven’s sake]. The protests of Korah and his followers clearly fall into the latter category, as the Mishnah explicitly recognizes. But protests against repression and for human dignity, protests that challenge the abuse of state and police power that snuffs out the lives of black men and other people who have been marginalized and debased, protests that challenge us to live up to the ideals we affirm as Jews and that reflect the biblical principal that all persons are created in the image of God and that to extinguish the life of one is to diminish God’s presence in this world—these protests, when conducted peacefully, are surely for the sake of Heaven, and we pray that they will in the end yield results”.
This moment in American history is unlike any other. People of every demographic in unprecedented numbers are asking granular questions about their own unconscious biases, understanding viscerally that most of us have no clue what it is like to live in dark skin.
Pastor Ian Stevenson, founder of Trellis, shared the following reflection: As someone who grew up in the south and experienced busing in the school system, having seen firsthand people being treated differently because of the color of their skin, heard the derogatory names being thrown back and forth between races, experienced the fights in hallways, listened to friends talk about their encounters with police, I have had to confess to my lack of response, engagement and quite frankly, indifference. I’ve had to confess that I am part of the problem. There is so much I’m still sorting out in my heart and mind about all this, so much I am trying to continue bringing before God and trying to figure out. I’m trying to determine how this all relates to the context I find myself living in now, here in OC. I’m thinking about injustice in general that I’ve become indifferent to. I’m thinking about how immigrants and my Hispanic brothers and sisters are treated… Jesus hates racism, and so do I. But I am realizing I just don’t understand how big the problem is, how much there is for me to learn, and how much more there is for us to do to be a part of the solution and not the problem. I have been pulled over by the police several times in my life [but] I’ve never feared for my life when it’s happened. I almost always get a decent table at a restaurant when I ask for my choice [but] I’ve never really wondered, “why are they seating me all the way back here?”
Ian is among hundreds of thousands of Americans who now feel the urgency to self-reflect in this way. Confronting our personal biases and how they play out both in subtle and overt ways is essential to effecting the societal change we crave. The following article - 4 Steps That I and Other White People Can Take to Fight Racism - is well written and provides links to other helpful resources on this subject.
It starts with each of us. Right here. Right now. For Heaven’s sake.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Marcia Tilchin
The Jewish Collaborative of Orange County innovates, supports and collaborates on community programming that enriches the landscape of OC Jewish life and encourages individuals, couples and families to connect their passions and purpose with Judaism.
Jewish Collaborative of Orange County 2200 San Joaquin Hills Rd. Newport Beach, CA 92660
