From the Rabbi
Rabbi Robert L. Wolkoff
Previous Messages
“Boostering a Conversation”
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” This African proverb is one of my favorites because it speaks to all of us — families, communities, and countries. It tells us that it takes slowing down to stay together. To wait for the stragglers behind. When the Israelites left Egypt, the stragglers behind were attacked by the Amalekites. Moses and the Israelite camp fought fiercely to defend them and keep them within the camp. They were part of the community.
Slowing down during Covid months provided us an opportunity to reconnect with those with whom we dwell. But when we look at our country today, we face the same choice as in the African proverb. The race to develop the Covid-19 vaccine and to administer it as widely as possible left many people straggling behind, people who are not vaccinated for various reasons. Do we go fast and leave the stragglers, or do we take more time for an explanation, a conversation?
Why are so many vaccine resistant? Some people have real fears and phobias, others religious or political reasons. In the past, vaccines did not seem to raise this much resistance. But this is a new situation within a bigger, unprecedented global episode. We have to recognize it as such, and give room for people to ask questions and decide for themselves. Science is not perfect, and the vaccine is not divine.
Of course, we must exercise social responsibility. Success will be measured by the number of people protected and healthy. Healthy in body and spirit. Healthy mentally and healthy members of society. Mental and spiritual health is primary in Jewish practice. A good example is the issue of abortion. If the fetus threatens the life of the mother, physically or mentally, it is aborted. Similarly, when we recite the Mi-Sheberach prayer for healing, we pray for the spirit and the body. However, in the current debate regarding vaccination, the mental and spiritual aspects seem to be secondary. Naturally, the public square cannot remain silent, but I’m worried about the current conversation, and the seeming imbalance between corporal and spiritual.
How do we then treat people who disagree with us? As Psalm 81 says, God tests us in our conflicts. We can apply pressure on others to comply, as has been done throughout history. If we were to freeze in place at this moment in history, would we find ourselves duplicating scenes in paintings of past wars, like “The Battle of San Romano” by the Florentine painter Paolo Uccello, with bloody bodies and daggered horses all around? Would we look around when it’s all over and see the tearing of families and friendships?
In some cases around the world, dealing with the virus has resulted in taking away fundamental human rights. Although forced vaccination stopped with the Nuremberg Codes, societies can still mandate vaccination in many ways. In Australia, for instance, people are being sent to camps for noncompliance. Recently in Israel, one of the ministers proposed that nonvaccinated people be required to wear a special bracelet. This should ring a bell — the bell of liberty.
A healthy conversation is a Jewish mandate. The two Cherubs on top of the Ark of the Covenant are positioned to face each other, and God speaks from between them. Likewise, the word Messiah in Hebrew — Mashiach — can be read as Masiach, which means “from a conversation.” Healing the conversation is as important as curing the virus.
So, if we want to go far, we need to go together. We may need to slow down, so that when we get to the other side, we are still together with our family, friends, and neighbors who may seem to us as straggling behind. In our effort to create herd immunity, let’s beware of herd mentality. In the process of boostering ourselves against the virus, let’s make sure to always keep boosting our conversations.
Happy and peaceful New Year.
—Rabbi Gadi Capela
“Thanksgiving to Our Heroes”
Every year, the Greenport Ecumenical Ministries holds a special service on Veterans’ Day to honor our veterans and other civil servants. This year, the service was expanded to honor and thank our essential workers — the North Fork Heroes of the Pandemic. The event took place at the First Presbyterian Church of Southold on Sunday, Nov. 14.
In Tractate Avot 4:1, the Talmud asks the question, Who is a hero? He who overcomes his inclination, as it says in Proverbs 16:32. “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city…” Earlier in Avot 2:16, Rabbi Tarfon asserts, “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to quit it…”
According to our sages, being a hero is like being a soldier, one who has no right to abandon his post. Moreover, Biblical heroes are the ones who believe they do not have the right to cease from their work. In fact, the Hebrew word tzava describes service in the military and also service to God by the Levis in the Holy Temple. Rabbi Tarfon adds, “Faithful is your employer to pay you the reward of your labor, and know that the grant of reward unto the righteous is in the age to come.” Being a hero is also a willingness to serve without feeling appreciated or seeking an immediate recompense. Still in Avot, Rabban Gamliel, the son of Rabbi Judah Hanasi, said, “…all who labor with the community should labor with them for the sake of Heaven, for the merit of their forefathers sustains the community…”
The consistency exhibited by our heroes — those doctors and nurses who did not abandon their posts in hospitals and other health facilities despite facing immediate danger daily — are like the Temidim, the daily offerings in the Temple, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They are examples of those Rabban Gamliel is talking about, those who serve for the sake of heaven and whose merits sustain the community. I am reminded of our shared responsibility for the sins of the community on the High Holidays. By the same token, the merits for good and heroic acts by a few can redeem a whole community.
As the year 2021 is closing, let us take this lesson to heart. Let us roll up our sleeves and get our hands in the dirt. Let us serve the community with the owe of heaven. We also owe gratitude to the heroes in our own CTI, our own Temidim, who show up every morning and afternoon, every weekday, every Shabbat and holiday. To all those who serve on the shul’s Board of Directors and to all the members of our various working committees, we salute you, and extend to you and all in the shul family the blessings of this this Thanksgiving day.
—Rabbi Gadi Capela
“Open Ark, Close Ark”
It was a week before Rosh Hashanah, and we were still assigning aliyot to the Torah and other honors. It is a big honor to open the Ark on Rosh Hashanah, like opening the gate of heaven. We pack all our prayers in and then send them off throughout the High Holidays, all the way through Simchat Torah. And then we close the Ark for the season.
Wanting to avoid crowding the Bima and also keeping services as non-cumbersome as possible during Covid, we decided to avoid this honor this year. Nevertheless, the nature of the hybrid service means that the whole world is open to us. The doors to our synagogue can be like the doors of the Ark, open to all.
A week before Rosh Hashanah, I received a message that my cousin’s husband had passed away unexpectedly on a trip to Florida. When I first moved to New York, Dalia and Gary’s apartment, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, was my first address. They were hospitable and welcoming. Gary was smart and accomplished, and was endowed with a calm and assuring demeanor. He was a good role model for me. A few years and a few kids later, they moved to the West Coast.
Since Gary had passed away in Florida, it took a week to bring him to final rest. He was finally buried a few hours before Rosh Hashanah had set in. It was just a few hours before we were to open the Ark. It was as though Gary had received the honor to open the Ark. He went to heaven and, as a welcoming and hospitable mensch, he left the doors open behind him to make way for our prayers.
Three weeks later, right after sundown on Simchat Torah, I standing in front of the Ark, putting away the Torah covers and other accouterments associated with our observances. I was ready to close the Ark for the last time for the season when I received another message. This time it was about the passing of a dear friend, John. John and Dolores were there from the beginning of my rabbinic chapter. They were the first to take the tour to Israel with us; they were there at my ordination, my installation, and on many a vacation. John, like Gary, was a calm and assuring presence, always with a helpful tip and advice.
It seemed to me that, just as Gary had opened the Ark, John had the honor to close the Ark. He entered the gate just before it closed. Like a responsible police officer, he was there to guard the gate. As though God had arranged a way to bypass the social distancing for the opening and closing of the Ark.
Where they have gone, time and space are not measured in days or distance. One way or another, the Ark needs to close before it can be opened again.
A personal message
I would like to convey my deepest condolences to the families of Gayle Kaplan and Thelma Novick, two pillars in our community, who passed away shortly after the holidays. Gayle was a wonderful soul. I enjoyed her presence in Hebrew class for many years. Gayle was joined by her good friend Thelma Novick just a few days later. I had spoken with Thelma only a few days prior to her passing. At 97, she still sounded positive and motivated.
I also extend condolences also to the Rothman family on the passing of Madelyn’s aunt, Myrna Kroff, and to the Goldman family on the passing of Phil’s brother Stanley.
May their memories be for a blessing for many years to come.
Blessings for a peaceful year,
—Rabbi Gadi Capela
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