Rabbi’s Message — 7/19/24

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Rabbi David Katz

Given a choice between choosing a timely sermon topic or a timeless topic, I usually go for the timeless. Eternal values, the human condition and ageless questions that have confronted human beings throughout the millennia are what intrigues me most. But I must say, these past couple of weeks have gotten me thinking about many timely matters. Important elections in Iran, Great Britain, France and here in the United States, the assassination attempt of a former President, the Republican national convention and yesterday’s world wide computer outage could make a dozen sermon topics.

How to choose?

When I am about to write a sermon I always look to the Torah portion first. Perhaps I will find a connection between what is happening in the Torah and the news of the day.  This week “Balak” (Numbers 22:2−25:9) presents the theme of anti-Semitism and response.  It was not hard to connect what is timeless with what is timely.

What’s is very challenging in this portion is not its themes but its style and tone. How often do we find humor in the Torah? Not often.  But in this week’s portion we have a talking donkey, an amusing plot line and at least one scene straight out of vaudeville. A gentile prophet, at the behest of a gentile King, is on his way to curse the people of Israel and after being sidetracked by an ass, ends up blessing Israel instead.  Serious commentators have had a hard time figuring out the meaning of this week’s parashah but when we to turn to the book “Let Laughter Ring,” a collection of Jewish jokes written right before the Holocaust and filled with humor about Hitler, this week’s Torah portion becomes more understandable. It is through the lens of comedy that we may come to understand our portion.

I’ll be sharing jokes from “Let Laughter Ring” (Ed. S. Felix Mendelsohn, 1941) and we’ll learn how Jews through the ages have maintained their self-esteem when faced with ongoing, international hostility.

Should be interesting.

 

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi David Katz