Why don't we single out Kohanim (priests)?

I found out an interesting fact from Jonathan Keren-Black the other day: there is no Kohanim line at the Progressive Judaism Cemetery.

I'm liking the Progressives more and more...

Just one question, why do we still have the Kohenim songs and prayers in our Siddur and Machzor?

Rabbi Jonathan responds:

With regard to a cemetery: There is an ancient belief that being in touch with the dead makes one ritually unclean.  This is why there is a tradition to wash after the funeral.  At many cemeteries you'll find special taps etc and people going to do so after the funeral.  Most Progressive Jews do not worry about such things, either being ignorant of them (as we don't teach them as an important part of Jewish life) or considering them superstition.  Common sense would suggest that they are to do with hygiene (and consequently superseded by much more effective modern health regulations) - if a person has died, it may have been from a contagious disease, and washing after any contact would have been a very good idea!). 

However, there are special restrictions for Kohanim - the priests could not do their ceremonial work (running the Tabernacle and later the First and Second Temples) if they were impure. Therefore they were not allowed to be in touch with the dead (except very close relatives like parents, unmarried sister etc).  

This has been perpetuated even to this day - so a Cohen (a male believed to be descended from the priestly family) is not allowed to come close to the dead.  Thus there will be a path or boundary beyond which they should not go at a cemetery.  In the Brown's Road Jewish cemetery chapel in Melbourne, the coffin is actually in a separate building, though visible through large matching windows in that building and the chapel.  In Kazimierz, the old Jewish part of Krakow in Poland, there is still a sign that says 'COHANIM BEWARE!!! Only the opposite sidewalk can be used for walking on this street!!! The sidewalk on this side and part of the roadway have been paved over graves'.  Similarly, El Al adjusts some flight paths to try to avoid flying over cemeteries (!), and there have been stories of Cohanim wrapping themselves in plastic to safeguard themselves (plastic is not listed in the bible as one of the many materials that 'conducts impurity'!).  

In the Progressive Jewish world, which has no wish to return to the centralisation of the Temple in Jerusalem, or the daily animal sacrifices, or the sole authority of the priesthood, we therefore have no need or interest to perpetuate the division of the Jewish people into castes: Kohanim (1st class), Levi'im (2nd class) and Yisraelim (the rest, third class)!  

So we do not ignore the fact that Kohanim are a part of the ancient Israelite past - but when the Temple was no more, they really had no specific role remaining. Since we see all Jews (and all people) as equals, we do not favour a special responsibility simply by accident of birth into a particular tribe (Levites) or family (Kohanim)- or for that matter of gender (male)! But there are many things to cherish and use, or re-use or recycle from our past, and the 'Priestly blessing 'y'varechecha' is one - May God bless you and keep you; May God enlighten you and be gracious to you; May you feel God's Presence within you, and may it bring you peace' (page 99, Mishkan T'filah, World Union Edition). There is just no reason why this beautiful blessing should be said exclusively by Kohanim, and you'll often find Rabbis using it, for example at a Baby Naming or at a Bat or Bar Mitzvah!

What is a Consulting Rabbi?

If a congregation is a constituent of the Union for Progressive Judaism, Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and they don't employ their own Rabbi, then they need to have a relationship with another member of the Rabbinic Body, the 'Moetzah', and they are called their 'Consulting Rabbi'.  They should be available to answer any status questions regarding potential members, conversions, divorce etc.

The Consulting Rabbi is expected to develop a relationship with the congregation over time by visiting at least annually to lead services and study activities etc over a weekend. This is paid for by the congregation.  The Rabbi is also available for reasonable phone/Skype and/or email conversations and support to the Chair and Executive.  

The mechanism is that the Moetzah discusses who is the consulting Rabbi where, which congregation needs one etc, when it meets six monthly.  It then makes suggestions of matches to the congregations (which may be conveyed via the UPJ or through the Movement Rabbi).

The congregational Board then decides whether that suggestion will work for them.  If so, they agree and it is a shidduch - if not, they say so, and we try to make a better match!

In other words, it is important to understand that the CR is not imposed on the congregation.

How do we support students part-way through conversion course?

Dear Rabbi,

We currently have 5 people on our conversion to Judaism programme. They have all completed an Introduction to Judaism course that was facilitated by the last Rabbi before he left. In addition, they have attended a variety of forums, are attending services and are all studying Hebrew.

We are hoping to have at least two of these candidates ready for a Beth Din when you can arrange one in around six months time. But we are needing your guidance on:

   - How we assess what knowledge the candidates have (and what their gaps are)

      

       We are doing a 'audit' of what courses they have attended, but this will not tell us what

       they have actually learned. Yours guidance and help with ways to assess their learning

       would be much appreciated (e.g. Is there an 'exam' we could give them? Would it be

       possible/ useful for you to speak to them?)

  -  Once we know what the gaps are, guidance on how best to fill these?

Rabbi Jonathan responded:

Lovely to hear from you.  

There is a process to assist you with the wonderful opportunity of welcoming people to Judaism - once the studies are completed, there are 'Take Home' Essays to write first.  These can be done from notes, books, internet etc. and partners can assist.  

1) It is easiest to send them to the student as a Word file.

2) I suggest that these are then submitted on computer and someone (your tutor?) goes through them using 'Track Changes' to make major corrections, comments etc.

3) Then send them back to the candidate for consideration.

4) Then send the revised version to the Supervising Rabbi (each person accepted for Conversion with congregations of the Union for Progressive Judaism has to be accepted by a Supervising Rabbi), or, if the Supervising Rabbi is no longer available, to the congregation's Consulting Rabbi (every congregation in the Movement must have a Rabbi or Consulting Rabbi who is a member of the Rabbinic Body, the Moetzah).

5) If the Supervising or Consulting Rabbi is happy, you should then administer the 'Closed Book' paper.  There is no pass mark and no time limit on this - it usually takes up to 2 hours.  It is done without resources (books, phones etc).  This gives the Bet Din an 'inventory' of how much the student has internalised (for obvious reasons, this document should be printed out and not circulated!)

If there are major errors or gaps, teach them.  If necessary, resit.  Then send that back to the Supervising or Consulting Rabbi.  

If they are happy with both these papers (and you report that the student can decipher and 'read' Hebrew to the best of their ability, and have been participating actively in the congregation for at least a year) then we can set a Bet Din for them.  

We have a regular Bet Din in Melbourne and in Sydney.  For one candidate, it is usually better for them to come to these.  Once there is more than one candidate for the Bet Din, it may be preferable to set up a local Bet Din (this requires 2 Rabbis or Cantors, both members of the Moetzah).  The cost is split between the candidates, the congregation/s, the UPJ and the Moetzah.  Ritual immersion and circumcision will be required as necessary following acceptance by the Bet Din, and the congregation then arranges a welcome ceremony (which may be private or public depending on the wishes of those just accepted).   

WHEN THE TORAH PORTION IS AHEAD OF THE ORTHODOX

WHY ARE WE RUNNING AHEAD?

I know we are progressive, but why have we progressed to be a full week ahead in all our Torah readings?  We read Acharei Mot on Saturday 1^st May when most other synagogues read it on 8^th May, we start the book of Numbers (and read the first portion, Bmidbar)’ on 4^th June when others are starting it on 11^th, and even on 6^th August we are reading Masei when most congregations are reading Mattot-Masei?  

The short and easy answer is that we follow the Israeli Torah readings.  The more involved explanation is that the tradition developed that outside of Israel, where Jews were uncertain of exactly whether the new moon had been sighted and thus a new month declared in Israel, would mark two first days of festivals.  If one was not correct, it must be the other.  So each festival became a day longer, the one day Shavu’ot of became two, and the seven day festivals of Pesach and Sukkot became eight days.  This also explains second night seder – it is really the first night (Seder night), but repeated on the next night in case that was really the first night!   

By two thousand years ago, astronomers (some of whom were the Rabbis themselves) were able to determine exactly when the new moon would appear and produced detailed tables years in advance.  But tradition had taken hold, and that was that!  Until the Progressive movement came along and said ‘we know when the new moon is, and we only need observe festivals as instructed in the Torah!’.

But how does this explain why we are a week ahead in our Torah readings at the moment?  Because for us the seven days of Pesach started on 22^nd April and concluded on the sunset of 29^th April, whereas the orthodox (outside of Israel) continued to celebrate Pesach until the end of Shabbat on 30^th April.  So Shabbat was not Pesach for us (and hence we returned to the regular Torah reading cycle) but it was for the orthodox (who instead read special readings for the last day of Pesach).

Actually this happens in many years, but usually only for a few weeks at a time.  But because this is a leap year in the Hebrew (as well as Gregorian) calendar, there is only one ‘doubled-up’ Torah reading, Matot-Ma’asei.  (Doubled-up readings ‘take up the slack’ in a normal year, so that there are enough Torah readings to go around even in a leap year with an extra month in it).  So from Shabbat 30^th April, all the way through to Shabbat 30^th July, we will be a week ahead – so if you want to know what happens next in the Torah story, come and hear it at LBC!

(You can get the Progressive Torah reading calendar on Google calendar by searching PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM CALENDAR WITH SHABBAT AND FESTIVALS or by using the link oi25cfvcm19vdoquc8p3abif68@group.calendar.google.com). 

Do we do Pidyon HaBen - Redemption of the first born?

Not usually: Let me first give the background (with thanks to help from Torah and Wiki!).

In Exodus 13:2 at the end of Parshat Bo, God is reported to instruct that: ‘Every firstborn that opens the womb amongst the Israelites, whether human or animal, is to be set aside as holy to Me, for they are Mine.’

Moses seems to expand on this in Exodus 13:12-13, explaining that firstborn cattle were to be offered as sacrifices, a firstborn ass (not kosher as a sacrifice) was to be swapped ('redeemed') with a sheep (or be 'given' by breaking its neck), and firstborn sons were also 'redeemed', though here it doesn't specify how. Moses' explanation (Exodus 13:15) is that God slew every firstborn in Egypt, animal and human (so this is apparently a perpetual reminder of the tenth plague).

In Numbers 3:41-45, after the sin of the Golden Calf, we find repeated twice the instruction: 'Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine - I am the Eternal One.'  This is because the Levites were loyal to God, and seems to imply that the firstborn were to be God's functionaries in running the Tabernacle, but lost that honour because of their involvement in the Golden Calf, to be replaced by the Levites. 

There were apparently 273 more firstborn Israelites than Levites, and Aaron and his sons, the priests, were to be given five shekels per head in compensation for each of these, this being called 'redemption money', Numbers 3:46-51.

So we can deduce that originally, the first born son in each family was to serve God as a functionary, but they were replaced by the Levites, and the value of this 'redemption' from a life of holy service was 5 shekels each.

Over the generations and especially in transition from 'Israelitism' (biblical Judaism) to Judaism (Rabbinic Judaism), these details were formalised. The Shulkhan Arukh states that when a Jewish woman gives birth to a firstborn male (but only by natural means) then the child must be "redeemed". The process is that the father of the child purchases back the child from a known Kohen (representing the original Temple priesthood), for the sum of five silver Shekels, or equivalent in their country's currency. The procedure does not apply when the father is a Kohen or Levite (because then the child will continue that line and need not - and cannot - be redeemed from the responsibility).

This redemption ceremony is performed when at least thirty days have passed since the child's birth, since child mortality was common and a child was not considered to have proven its viability until after 30 days.

Pidyon HaBen is an interesting question as we don't usually do it in the Progressive Movement, I think largely because of course we don't recognise Priests etc. and therefore the concept of the firstborn serving as priests... and needing to be redeemed.  (There is also a problem of discrimination - it only counts if your first born is a boy, and if he is not born by Caesarean). But we could adapt and reinterpret the tradition to the idea of thanking God for the start of the next generation, which is a lovely idea, and where it is done, the money is directed to charity - so perhaps it should go to a baby care or mothers' support charity.  On the other hand, there are so many costs involved with a first new baby - and if it is a boy you already have to pay the mohel, so perhaps we don't need another way to make a 'religious charge' on the family!   

Rabbi Jonathan

PREPARING THE TORAH

It is essential to prepare the Torah reading properly, and it is usual to do this with a Tikkun, which has the portion written with vowels and singing notes on one side, and as it appears in the Torah alongside it.  It is far preferable to read from the Torah, but it is disrespectful to the congregation (and the tradition) if it is not prepared as well as you can do.  There is nothing wrong with having someone to read the chumash and prompt or assist - that is a normal and sensible thing to do!

By the way it does not need to be chanted.  My own preference is to read a verse, and then translate it (sometimes with a bit of explanation and interpretation, which is teh way it was done by the 'Mturgeman - translator/interpretor - which is why the Targum - aramaic ' translation' is printed in the traditional commentaries and often referred to by the commentators).  Many people tell me that this makes the portion more accessible and meaningful.

I find it useful to use coloured sticky markers - they leave no trace after removal - but always put them ALONGSIDE the letters, NOT on them!

Mark the line in which the sentence starts or ends.

I use the same colours to mark the start and end in the chumash as well, so you can tell people exactly where the next part is commencing - eg we are starting at Leviticus 21 verse 10, which you can follow on page 796, left hand column of hebrew, last line, two words from the end - that is page 796, left hand column, last line, second word from the end - verse 10 (always worth repeating these details!).

When to say 'Shabbat Shalom' (A Peaceful Sabbath)

When to say 'Shabbat Shalom' (A Peaceful Sabbath)

People wish each other 'shabbat shalom' instead of 'goodbye' in the day or so leading up to Shabbat - meaning 'when shabbat comes, have a good one'.  It is wrong, however, to say 'shabbat shalom' as 'hallo' until it is actually shabbat!