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Rabin - 20 Years of Remembrance

10/31/2015

 
     "People really want peace," Rabin said at a Tel Aviv rally for peace Saturday night, Nov. 4, 1995.  And one of the reasons they wanted peace was that Yitzhak Rabin had come to want it, and brought his nation along with him.
     Born in Jerusalem on March 1, 1922, the child of immigrants from Eastern Europe, he was from boy hood a steadfast Zionist. He was not even out of his teens when he became a commando in Hagganah, the Jewish under ground army fighting the Axis powers in what was then British-ruled Palestine. After World War II and the formation of the Jewish nation, his reputation as a soldier and strategist earned him a place in the Israeli military establishment, where he eventually rose to become chief of staff. Rabin oversaw Israel's sweeping victory in the Six Day War of June 1967. He served a term as Israel's ambassador to the United States, and in 1973 returned to Jerusalem to run for a seat in the Knesset as a member of the Labor Party, just in time to benefit from criticism of other Israeli leaders for military unreadiness in the costly Yom Kippur war. In 1974 he took over his party, and became Prime Minister—the first sabra, or native-born Israeli, to hold that job.
     Rabin's tenure was a difficult one. Deeply suspicious by nature and convinced of the virtue of overwhelming military power, he thought that hopes for Mideast peace were unrealistic. A stable state of non-belligerence was the best that could be achieved. Despite some success in controlling Israel's perennially troubled economy, Rabin lasted only three years as prime minister. He stepped down in 1977, following charges of corruption in his government.
     By 1984 he was back in power as defense minister in a coalition government, and began his political rehabilitation.  He also underwent a change of heart. In 1987 the Palestinian intifada began and he evolved toward the view that a political solution must involve territorial concessions.
After elections in June 1992, the Labor Party was able to form a government, and Rabin became top leader again.  The next year, after secret talks with the PLO in Norway, he signed an agreement for eventual Palestinian self-rule in the occupied territories. In his unforgettable speech on the White House lawn after a reluctant handshake with PLO chairman Yasir Arafat, Rabin said:

     “We have come from Jerusalem, the ancient and eternal capital of the Jewish people. We have come from an anguished and grieving land. We have come from a people, a home, a family, that has not known a single year - not a single month - in which mothers have not wept for their sons. We have come to try and put an end to the hostilities so that our children and our children's children will no longer have to experience the painful cost of war, violence, and terror….
     Let me say to you, the Palestinians: We are destined to live together, on the same soil in the same land. We, the soldiers who have returned from battle stained with blood, we who have seen our relatives and friends killed before our eyes, we who have attended their funerals and cannot look into the eyes of their parents, we who have come from a land where parents bury their children, we who have fought against you, the Palestinians - we say to you today in a loud and clear voice: Enough of blood and tears. Enough.”
 
     Twenty years ago the world lost one of its greatest leaders, when Yitzhak Rabin was shot and killed at that rally for peace, Saturday, Nov. 4, 1995. Murdered by an Israeli opposed to concessions.  Immediately following the assassination, President Bill Clinton's delivered a powerful eulogy in which he said:
 
     “The world has lost one of its greatest men, a warrior for his nation's freedom and now a martyr for his nation's peace….Let me just say "shalom chaver." Good-bye, friend.”
 
     As we prepare to vote in our November elections, we remember the great heroes of democracy, and consider what a special privilege we have living in a land where our voices count. Recalling what is at stake in our country and around the world we honor Rabin the great soldier and leader, who anticipated the hazards of war, as well as peace.  He believed peace was worth the risk, worth his life.  We keep the dream of peace alive, join us at Temple Beth Ami as we commemorate Yitzhak Rabin’s Yahrtzeit, during our New Member Shabbat Service, Friday, November 6 at 8:00 PM. 

Rejoicing with, and in, the Torah

10/1/2015

 
Simchat Torah, which comes at the end of Sukkot in what is always a raucous good time. We rejoice with the Torah with music, dance, food and drink Monday night, October 5th at 7:00 PM. Take part in unrolling the entire Torah scroll as we complete the yearly cycle of reading, and begin a new one.  For those who are able to come early, we will be having pizza at 6:00 PM.

Last year our synagogue started a very exciting project:  TBA Words of Torah.  A portal for you, the members of our community, to share your teachings, personal divrei Torah, on the weekly portion. 
 
On our website, the d’var Torah blog http://www.templebethami.org/tba-words-of-torah-divrei-torah has now had dozens of beautiful submissions from yor friends and neighboprs, and we hope during this year you too will now be inspired to share your own divrei Torah (plural of d’var Torah).
 
All kinds of help are available today in understanding and teaching Torah. On the TBA webpage www.templebethami.org/dvar-torah-sign-up you will find the weekly Torah portion, the week it is read, and the chapters/verses. You will also find a link to the Wikipedia page for the portion, which contains summaries, insights and links to other d’vrei Torah.
 
In addition, our Wednesday evening class, which meets each week at 7 pm, will continue to be an opportunity to discuss the TBA divrei Torah as well as those written by others throughout the generations and around the world.
 
When writing your own piece focus on one idea contained in the portion, it is easy to get lost in the many possibilities.  Here are some basic questions to start with as you begin assembling your thoughts on the portion:
 
•  What’s the simple meaning or literal translation?
•  What did that signify in the context of its time?
•  How has it been explained by the rabbis over the centuries?
•  What should it convey to us today? 
 
Some guidelines:
 
•  Show respect for your audience.  Chances are that many of them know as much about the material as you do.  But don’t be intimidated by that either, because chances are even greater that most of them don’t. 
•  Be sure to translate any Hebrew word you use.
•  Just because a d’var Torah primarily is designed to teach does not mean it may not entertain.  A touch of humor is in order, as long as it is germane to the lesson. 
•  Make your comments appropriate to an audience of all ages
•  Know what message you want to leave with the audience
•  Please keep your d’var Torah under 800 words
 
An anniversary of Bar or Bat Mitzvah, or a birthday or anniversary, another special event are great reasons to write a d’var Torah.  Maybe you like a particular portion or story and have been dying to share your insights. We are waiting for your d’var Torah!  
 
Submit your date request through the website: www.templebethami.org/dvar-torah-sign-up.
 
When your d’var Torah is complete, make sure it is submitted by the Tuesday before the week it will be read/studied.  For example, if Vayera is being read from 11/1-11/8, the d’var Torah is due 10/28.
Once it goes through an editorial pass, it will be published and up for the week, as well as archived. As a post it will also generate discussion, and comments (also screened), and they will accompany the d’vrei Torah posts as an ongoing dialog.
 
Yasher koach. May you be strong, and you in turn, will strengthen us, as you teach us Torah.
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