Words From Rabbi White

My dear friends,

As we said a couple of weeks ago, when we concluded VaYiqra’, there was a time when breaking the rules in school had consequences. Not any more! [I would probably have lost points from my English teacher for that last sentence, without a verb or subject!] I saw in the news this week that McGill is granting amnesty to the protesters, will discuss their demand for divestment from Israel, etc. 

The name of the parasha, “naso’” which means “to lift up,” is the same root as the word “nasi’” which means a chief of a tribe in this week’s parasha, and is the modern Hebrew word for President. We have ben astonished this year to have seen how the presidents of great universities, such as MIT, Harvard, and Columbia in USA, and McGill in Quebec, have caved in to the demands of the pro Hamas [i.e., pro murderers] protesters. The world is upside down!

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I trust that Shavuot went well for all. Before the reading of the Torah portion on the first day of Shavuot, Ashkenaz custom is to read a lengthy poem, called Aqdamot after its first word, composed in a difficult Aramaic, by an 11th century scholar. The language is difficult to understand, but the tune sticks in everyone’s mind. The tune is reserved for three special occasions: Aqdamot, the kiddush for the night of the three Yomim tovim, and the calling up of the special aliyot during Simchat Torah. 

The first part of the poem describes the greatness of God. The poem then changes course and describes the great challenge that Jews had in those years: pressure to convert to Christianity, or death, and the strong determination of the Jews to resist that challenge. Sadly, in our time, like Homer’s hydra, the snake has raised another ugly head, against our beloved State of Israel. But we shall prevail. 

[Our Sephardi brethren are not familiar with Aqdamot, but instead read the beautiful Ketuba composed by Rav Najari, describing the marriage contract between HaShem and the Jewish people.]

I hope that we have all made, on Shavuot, a commitment to increase our torah study.

Shabbat shalom, and, with the traditional Yiddish greeting after Shavuot, “a gutn zummer!” 

Rabbi Menahem White