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ROSH HASHANAH 2014
How Louis B. Brandeis Joined the Harvard Law Honor Society (unknown origin – story from my email archives)
Louis B. Brandeis, the first Jew on the Supreme Court, was a very bright law student at Harvard University. In those days - and possibly now, too -there existed a very exclusive honor society at Harvard. Membership was by invitation only. There was one problem: no Jew had ever been a member of that honor society.
Brandeis was so brilliant that after his freshman year at Harvard Law, it was very obvious that he should be invited to join. But he was a Jew! So the leaders of the Honor Society decided to let the matter slide.
Came the end of the sophomore year, the brilliant Brandeis was again overlooked for membership. This time the members of the Honor Society decided upon a plan.
Every day, for lunch, Brandeis had uninvited company. Someone from the Society would join him at the table. Day after day the conversation, with some variations, went something like this: "Brandeis, you are brilliant. There has never been a brighter student at Harvard Law School. You are so brilliant that you will some day probably end up on the Supreme Court. But you are Jewish. What chance do you have? Why don't you convert? Convert to Christianity, and then all problems will be solved. You'll join us in the Honor Society. Top legal fins will welcome you. And really, some day you may even sit on the Supreme Court," Every day during lunch Brandeis listened - just listened.
At the beginning of his senior year at Harvard Law, the leaders of the Honor Society could not hold out any longer. They had to invite him to membership -the first Jew. But they had hopes that maybe the luncheon talks had taken effect, for Brandeis immediately accepted the coveted invitation.
The evening of his official induction arrived, and Brandeis was asked to speak for a few minutes. This is what happened: He walked to the lectern, slowly looked around the room with his piercing eyes, and said, “I am sorry I was born a Jew!"
Such applause, such screaming, such joy greeted that statement. "Finally, finally, we made a dent,” the Society members said to each other. "He's going to convert." Such back slapping! Such glee!
When the room was quiet, Brandeis again said, “I am sorry I was born a Jew. But only because I wish I had had the privilege of choosing Judaism on my own!"
Indeed, in my opinion, Brandeis, a descendent of Bohemian Jews who emigrated to American after the European revolution in 1848, did choose Judaism on his own, every day he was there and throughout his life thereafter in his fight for labor laws, “Right’s to Privacy”, against monopolies, for education, justice and Judaism. He wrote, “The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” "Behind every argument is someone's ignorance."
I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that this summer has been an intense one. A summer filled with zeal, argument and often a lack of understanding. Around the world there has been a rise in conflict, malice, xenophobia, slander, corruption, persecution, provocation, betrayal, in other words, when we say the Vidui, the prayers of confession, I think as a world community, as a country, as a people, as individuals, we can rightfully beat our chests and say, Sahrnoo mee-meetz-voe-teh-cha, we have turned from your commandments.
If we have strayed so far, how do we dare ask for mercy rather than justice to be meted out. Were the angels were correct when they suggested that it was folly to make human beings? Are we really doomed before
In the Decalogue as it appears in the book of Exodus, it reads in reference to idol worship:
4 thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
5 and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments. {S}
Mercy to the thousandth generation that love Me and keep My commandments.
Then in Talmud, Rosh Hashanah, (17b), the section appropriate for our purposes, it talks about the sin of the Molten, generally know as the Golden Calf, and how afterward, Moses felt there would be no way for the Israelites to atone for the sin and be redeemed. So Moses asks God to reveal the qualities of Divine mercy to him. In a prophetic visions, God then appears to Moses as a communal prayer leader wrapped in a tallit and recites the thirteen attributes of Divine Mercy. God tells Moses that, "Whenever Israel sins, let them recite this [the Thirteen Attributes] in its proper order and I will forgive them.
"What are the thirteen attributes? Based on Exodus 34: "The Lord! The Lord! God, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to anger and Abundant in Kindness and Truth, Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of iniquity, willful sin, and error, and Who Cleanses (but does not cleanse completely, recalling the iniquity of parents upon children and grandchildren, to the third and fourth generations)" (EX. 34:6-7).
You’ll notice it echoes the Decalogue both in the positive and negative aspects. When we recite the attributes, we leave off the negative.
I see two reasons for this. The first is the negative aspect is a natural process and there isn’t much that can be done to stop it. We have only to look at the Bernie Madoff situation to see an example. Already all of his sons have died, which automatically affects his grandchildren, and his decimation of so many organizations and households will not be forgotten in one or two generation. It will easily be felt into the fourth and perhaps even beyond before his family can be redeemed in many eyes.
Second, it is the aspects of mercy upon which we are focused and if mercy is accorded unto the thousandth generation, that far outweighs a misdeed visited into the fourth. So let’s take a few moments to look at these attributes.
As listed by Ronald L. Eisenberg in The JPS Guide to Jewish Tradition and posted in My Jewish Learning,
“The 13 Attributes of Mercy, according to the generally accepted opinions of Rabbenu Tam and Abudraham, are as follows:
- The Lord! (Adonai)--God is merciful before a person sins! Even though aware that future evil lies dormant within him.
- The Lord! (Adonai)--God is merciful after the sinner has gone astray.
- God (El)--a name that denotes power as ruler over nature and humankind, indicating that God's mercy sometimes surpasses even the degree indicated by this name.
- Compassionate (rahum)--God is filled with loving sympathy for human frailty does not put people into situations of extreme temptation, and eases the punishment of the guilty.
- Gracious (v'hanun)--God shows mercy even to those who do not deserve it consoling the afflicted and raising up the oppressed.
- Slow to anger (ereh apayim)--God gives the sinner ample time to reflect, improve, and repent.
- Abundant in Kindness (v'rav hesed)--God is kind toward those who lack personal merits, providing more gifts and blessings than they deserve; if one's personal behavior is evenly balanced between virtue and sin, God tips the scales of justice toward the good.
- Truth (v'emet)--God never reneges on His word to reward those who serve Him.
- Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations (notzeir hesed la-alafim)--God remembers the deeds of the righteous for the benefit of their less virtuous generations of offspring (thus we constantly invoke the merit of the Patriarchs).
- Forgiver of iniquity (nosei avon)--God forgives intentional sin resulting from an evil disposition, as long as the sinner repents.
- Forgiver of willful sin (pesha)--God allows even those who commit a sin with the malicious intent of rebelling against and angering Him the opportunity to repent.
- Forgiver of error (v'hata'ah)--God forgives a sin committed out of carelessness, thoughtlessness, or apathy.
- Who cleanses (v'nakeh)--God is merciful, gracious, and forgiving, wiping away the sins of those who truly repent; however, if one does not repent, God does not cleanse.
In a traditional service, these attributes are recited several times during the Kol Nidre and Neilah services. They are preceded by a paragraph which begins: Ayl Melech Yoshayv Ahl Keesay Rachameem - God, Ruler who is sitting on the seat of mercy and followed by a request for forgiveness even as Moses asked for forgiveness for the Israelites.
So let’s examine our hearts as well as our deeds and see if we can find some of the qualities we just delineated. You see, the idea isn’t just to emulate Moses, no - the idea is to bring Divinity into the world. If you stand during the Amshamnu and beat your breast and it is all mechanical, it is also all meaningless. The physical expression is a mere reminder of what you are to be experiencing. Don’t fly through all the words. If one of them resonates with you, stop, stay with it, let it get into your kishkas, your guts and your soul. We’ll still be here when you’re ready to rejoin us.
By the same token, I’m going to ask, for those who are brave, if you’ve never worn a tallit, or never wrapped yourself in one, and I mean, fully enclosed so that it is you and your soul conversing with what you call Divine, Otherly, Off-world, the Void, The Force, I call it Adonai, see if you are up to the challenge.
Before we begin the Torah service, take a moment. Embrace the Shechina and be reminded that we can not merely recite words, we must clothe ourselves in these attributes to bring mercy, forgiveness and repair to ourselves and to this world.
Like Louis Brandeis, everyday, if we do this, we are choosing to be a Jew.
ROSH HASHANAH 2014
How Louis B. Brandeis Joined the Harvard Law Honor Society (unknown origin – story from my email archives)
Louis B. Brandeis, the first Jew on the Supreme Court, was a very bright law student at Harvard University. In those days - and possibly now, too -there existed a very exclusive honor society at Harvard. Membership was by invitation only. There was one problem: no Jew had ever been a member of that honor society.
Brandeis was so brilliant that after his freshman year at Harvard Law, it was very obvious that he should be invited to join. But he was a Jew! So the leaders of the Honor Society decided to let the matter slide.
Came the end of the sophomore year, the brilliant Brandeis was again overlooked for membership. This time the members of the Honor Society decided upon a plan.
Every day, for lunch, Brandeis had uninvited company. Someone from the Society would join him at the table. Day after day the conversation, with some variations, went something like this: "Brandeis, you are brilliant. There has never been a brighter student at Harvard Law School. You are so brilliant that you will some day probably end up on the Supreme Court. But you are Jewish. What chance do you have? Why don't you convert? Convert to Christianity, and then all problems will be solved. You'll join us in the Honor Society. Top legal fins will welcome you. And really, some day you may even sit on the Supreme Court," Every day during lunch Brandeis listened - just listened.
At the beginning of his senior year at Harvard Law, the leaders of the Honor Society could not hold out any longer. They had to invite him to membership -the first Jew. But they had hopes that maybe the luncheon talks had taken effect, for Brandeis immediately accepted the coveted invitation.
The evening of his official induction arrived, and Brandeis was asked to speak for a few minutes. This is what happened: He walked to the lectern, slowly looked around the room with his piercing eyes, and said, “I am sorry I was born a Jew!"
Such applause, such screaming, such joy greeted that statement. "Finally, finally, we made a dent,” the Society members said to each other. "He's going to convert." Such back slapping! Such glee!
When the room was quiet, Brandeis again said, “I am sorry I was born a Jew. But only because I wish I had had the privilege of choosing Judaism on my own!"
Indeed, in my opinion, Brandeis, a descendent of Bohemian Jews who emigrated to American after the European revolution in 1848, did choose Judaism on his own, every day he was there and throughout his life thereafter in his fight for labor laws, “Right’s to Privacy”, against monopolies, for education, justice and Judaism. He wrote, “The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” "Behind every argument is someone's ignorance."
I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that this summer has been an intense one. A summer filled with zeal, argument and often a lack of understanding. Around the world there has been a rise in conflict, malice, xenophobia, slander, corruption, persecution, provocation, betrayal, in other words, when we say the Vidui, the prayers of confession, I think as a world community, as a country, as a people, as individuals, we can rightfully beat our chests and say, Sahrnoo mee-meetz-voe-teh-cha, we have turned from your commandments.
If we have strayed so far, how do we dare ask for mercy rather than justice to be meted out. Were the angels were correct when they suggested that it was folly to make human beings? Are we really doomed before
In the Decalogue as it appears in the book of Exodus, it reads in reference to idol worship:
4 thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
5 and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments. {S}
Mercy to the thousandth generation that love Me and keep My commandments.
Then in Talmud, Rosh Hashanah, (17b), the section appropriate for our purposes, it talks about the sin of the Molten, generally know as the Golden Calf, and how afterward, Moses felt there would be no way for the Israelites to atone for the sin and be redeemed. So Moses asks God to reveal the qualities of Divine mercy to him. In a prophetic visions, God then appears to Moses as a communal prayer leader wrapped in a tallit and recites the thirteen attributes of Divine Mercy. God tells Moses that, "Whenever Israel sins, let them recite this [the Thirteen Attributes] in its proper order and I will forgive them.
"What are the thirteen attributes? Based on Exodus 34: "The Lord! The Lord! God, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to anger and Abundant in Kindness and Truth, Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of iniquity, willful sin, and error, and Who Cleanses (but does not cleanse completely, recalling the iniquity of parents upon children and grandchildren, to the third and fourth generations)" (EX. 34:6-7).
You’ll notice it echoes the Decalogue both in the positive and negative aspects. When we recite the attributes, we leave off the negative.
I see two reasons for this. The first is the negative aspect is a natural process and there isn’t much that can be done to stop it. We have only to look at the Bernie Madoff situation to see an example. Already all of his sons have died, which automatically affects his grandchildren, and his decimation of so many organizations and households will not be forgotten in one or two generation. It will easily be felt into the fourth and perhaps even beyond before his family can be redeemed in many eyes.
Second, it is the aspects of mercy upon which we are focused and if mercy is accorded unto the thousandth generation, that far outweighs a misdeed visited into the fourth. So let’s take a few moments to look at these attributes.
As listed by Ronald L. Eisenberg in The JPS Guide to Jewish Tradition and posted in My Jewish Learning,
“The 13 Attributes of Mercy, according to the generally accepted opinions of Rabbenu Tam and Abudraham, are as follows:
- The Lord! (Adonai)--God is merciful before a person sins! Even though aware that future evil lies dormant within him.
- The Lord! (Adonai)--God is merciful after the sinner has gone astray.
- God (El)--a name that denotes power as ruler over nature and humankind, indicating that God's mercy sometimes surpasses even the degree indicated by this name.
- Compassionate (rahum)--God is filled with loving sympathy for human frailty does not put people into situations of extreme temptation, and eases the punishment of the guilty.
- Gracious (v'hanun)--God shows mercy even to those who do not deserve it consoling the afflicted and raising up the oppressed.
- Slow to anger (ereh apayim)--God gives the sinner ample time to reflect, improve, and repent.
- Abundant in Kindness (v'rav hesed)--God is kind toward those who lack personal merits, providing more gifts and blessings than they deserve; if one's personal behavior is evenly balanced between virtue and sin, God tips the scales of justice toward the good.
- Truth (v'emet)--God never reneges on His word to reward those who serve Him.
- Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations (notzeir hesed la-alafim)--God remembers the deeds of the righteous for the benefit of their less virtuous generations of offspring (thus we constantly invoke the merit of the Patriarchs).
- Forgiver of iniquity (nosei avon)--God forgives intentional sin resulting from an evil disposition, as long as the sinner repents.
- Forgiver of willful sin (pesha)--God allows even those who commit a sin with the malicious intent of rebelling against and angering Him the opportunity to repent.
- Forgiver of error (v'hata'ah)--God forgives a sin committed out of carelessness, thoughtlessness, or apathy.
- Who cleanses (v'nakeh)--God is merciful, gracious, and forgiving, wiping away the sins of those who truly repent; however, if one does not repent, God does not cleanse.
In a traditional service, these attributes are recited several times during the Kol Nidre and Neilah services. They are preceded by a paragraph which begins: Ayl Melech Yoshayv Ahl Keesay Rachameem - God, Ruler who is sitting on the seat of mercy and followed by a request for forgiveness even as Moses asked for forgiveness for the Israelites.
So let’s examine our hearts as well as our deeds and see if we can find some of the qualities we just delineated. You see, the idea isn’t just to emulate Moses, no - the idea is to bring Divinity into the world. If you stand during the Amshamnu and beat your breast and it is all mechanical, it is also all meaningless. The physical expression is a mere reminder of what you are to be experiencing. Don’t fly through all the words. If one of them resonates with you, stop, stay with it, let it get into your kishkas, your guts and your soul. We’ll still be here when you’re ready to rejoin us.
By the same token, I’m going to ask, for those who are brave, if you’ve never worn a tallit, or never wrapped yourself in one, and I mean, fully enclosed so that it is you and your soul conversing with what you call Divine, Otherly, Off-world, the Void, The Force, I call it Adonai, see if you are up to the challenge.
Before we begin the Torah service, take a moment. Embrace the Shechina and be reminded that we can not merely recite words, we must clothe ourselves in these attributes to bring mercy, forgiveness and repair to ourselves and to this world.
Like Louis Brandeis, everyday, if we do this, we are choosing to be a Jew.
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