I am writing this en route to Israel where I will be studying and traveling for the next few weeks. While I am excited for this learning opportunity, I miss my Temple Shalom family.

As I make my way to Israel, I am reminded of the scene from our recent Torah portion where Moses, sends out the scouts to check out the Land. As the familiar story reminds us, the 12 scouts spend 40 days and 40 nights examining the land and bring back 2 reports. 10 scouts report that the Land is scary, filled with giant looking creatures, harsh landscapes and unfriendly territory and inhabitants. 2 of the scouts, Joshua and Caleb, agree to that assessment, but are undeterred in their excitement and readiness to pursue the Land anyway. The naysayers have their way, and the Israelites are condemned to wander for an additional 38 years. I wonder, why did Moses send the scouts in the first place? If the Holy Land was where we were commanded to go, why did it matter what the Land looked like and what the odds were that we were up against?

While traditional commentaries focus on the outlooks between those who are afraid and those who are courageous (the outlooks between the 10 scouts vs. Joshua and Caleb), I think the effort of the scouts is really about whether or not we are ready to receive the inheritance of shalom and holiness, or whether we are still shouldering the burdens of fear and small thinking. The promise of Israel is the promise of hope and possibility in spite of the darkness and limiting places we find our selves spiritually, emotionally, or intellectually.

In this past week we have seen glimpses of this hope and possibility in the wake of the Supreme Court rulings and the debate about flags and the manner in which many in our country honor the triumph of love over hate. Anytime there is the victory of Betzelem Elohim – the recognition of the divine presence in the face of our brothers and sisters, anytime we are willing to embrace hope and courage and possibility and deny the anger of hate, of alienation, of name calling and of fear – we come closer to truly inheriting the gift of Israel and all she stands for. I have always believed that there is no cost to honoring the holiness of another; that there is no effort in seeing the Godliness of another and there is no need for a cost-benefit analysis in recognizing the dignity of another. If you believe, as I believe that God’s love is the most powerful tool for a peaceful world, then seeing that Godly love in another doesn’t take a lot of work….it just is. That’s what I saw that happened for a brief moment this past week. I hope you did too.

I know there is still a lot of work to be done to bring more of God’s love to the world, to our state, to our community and to our families. I know there are people in our midst filled to brim with hate and fear and hopelessness. And here, the traditional commentaries are helpful; I for one am in the Joshua and Caleb camp. I will not allow the voices of the fearful and angry drown out the possibility of love and hope and courage. If we truly are Yisrael – the ones who struggle with God – then let that struggle inspire us to bring God’s love and presence to those in need, to situations in need and to places in need. Israel is that promise, for me, for you, for everyone.

As I get closer to the Land of Israel -the Israel of space – with every passing minute, I can’t help but to feel, we are all getting closer to Israel – the Israel of time. And it is very exciting! I hope you will follow my journey at rabbip.com. May God bless you and yours with love and with peace…

It hasn’t even really been a week – just five days. Five days of my 63 days of sabbatical – a time of educational, spiritual, physical and emotional recharging. I have been thinking about this time for a long while now and I chuckle to myself about being careful what you wish for. My real refreshing will come when I travel to Israel later in the month for about 3 weeks where I will be studying, relaxing and touring around the country. It’s the meantime that makes me chuckle and where I have been thinking about the balance between serving our calling and serving ourselves; between a work ethic and an ethic of self. I have been wondering out loud what kind of balance I have struck through more than 20 years of “work” in the service of God. I love working. I have been working in some form or another since I was 8 or 9, whether it was the form of raking leaves or shoveling snow up and down our street, to day camp counselor, to sealcoating driveways, to construction, to painting, to property management, back to camp and finally to the rabbinate. 40 years of working and, for the most part, loving every minute of it. I worked hard and long hours, as those in my family and in my community did. I felt proud at my efforts, liked the money I was receiving and felt it mattered in the long run. All of my work prior to the rabbinate were part time. I worked in between my schooling and only in college did I work while i was in school to pay for college. Vacations were few and far between. My family rarely took winter vacations or spring breaks; summer was an opportunity for more work. It never dawned on me to ask why we didn’t take more time to refresh ourselves. I knew we couldn’t really afford vacations and spiritual talk wasn’t a part of the fabric of our family discussions. How did my father maintain an active dental practice for almost 50 years where I never heard him complain about it and where he went to work nearly every day? No idea. Did my dad long for a sabbatical to refresh himself. No idea. While the rabbinate and dentistry are not the same kind of work – my dad did not have nightly commitments, board meetings and federation dinners to attend – everyone needs some kind of lift of the spirit to keep ones’ passions afire. After 5 days I am itching to get back to work. I like the work. I miss the work. I know my heart and soul are not yet refreshed and that I have to train my spirit to think about what it needs as I attend to the needs of others. It’s not boredom I feel, it’s not knowing how to help my heart and soul get back to that original state in order to help the body and mind do its Read the rest of this entry →