Rabbi Jonathan Kligler

Rabbi Jonathan remembers the late David Marell and shares some of David's moving and humorous meditations on life, Woodstock Jewish Congregation, Erev Rosh Hashanah 5780/2019

Rabbi Jonathan's introductory comments at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation, Erev Rosh Hashanah 5780/2019

Student Rabbi Miriam Geronimus' teaching at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation, Second Day of Rosh Hashanah 5780/2019

Rabbi Jonathan's teaching at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation for the First Day of Rosh Hashanah 5780/2019

In our final class, we explore the deep and challenging wisdom of Rabbi Akiva and its relation to the rituals, imagery and purpose of the High Holy Days.

This week we take a deep dive into the exquisitely humane teachings of Hillel. We also discuss the relationship of the academies of Hillel and Shammai, and how that relationship illustrates the core Jewish values of meaningful debate and civility, with the quality of the decision-making process in may ways more important than the final decision.

This week we begin with Antigono of Socho's (3rd C. B.C.E.) instruction that one must offer oneself in service without expectation of receiving a reward. How do we live a life of service, and in service to what ideals? Is it okay to expect acknowledgement for our efforts? A deep and wide-ranging discussion ensues in which many class members offer wise and moving insights from their own hard-won experience.

As we prepare for the New Year, we turn to ancient wisdom for guidance. Pirkei Avot, the collection of Rabbinic wisdom sayings from the 3rd century CE, offers timeless guidance. In this introductory class, we discuss the origins and provenance of the collection. Then we delve deeply into and also range widely out from the very first aphorism: "The world depends on three things: Torah, prayer, and deeds of lovingkindness."

This session brings our course to a close. Since the Six-Day War of 1967 the mantle of the Zionist "pioneering spirit" has gradually passed from the Socialist Zionism of the founders to the Religious Zionists and "Greater Israel" nationalist Zionists of the present. Meanwhile, in much of the international arena, "Zionism" has become an epithet, and a modern means of blaming the Jews for global problems. This is a new form of antisemitism. Zionism succeeded beyond its founders wildest dreams in terms of creating a national homeland for Jews scattered all over the world. But Zionism failed to achieve its other intended goal: to solve the "Jewish Problem", that is, antisemitism. (Pease note that the last 15 minutes or so of this recording various class members are speaking, and it may be hard to hear all of their comments.)

We discuss the emergence of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and debate the differing historical narratives that accompany these developments. Also, Rabbi Jonathan describes the holiday of Lag Ba'omer, which coincides with our class meeting, as a case study in how the success of Zionism has transformed Jewish observance.

In am wide-ranging discussion, we cover the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate period; the beginnings of the Jewish-Arab conflict; the thinking of Vladimir Jabotinsky and Revisionist Zionism; the story of Rabbi Jonathan's Grandfather, Professor I. J. Kligler, and his pioneering work eradicating malaria in Palestine; and background on the Jews from Arab-speaking countries.

Origins and History of Zionism 4 The Labor Zionist Revolution 050919.MP3 by Rabbi Jonathan Kligler

Beginning in the 1880s some Jews despaired of ever being truly integrated into the life of Europe. A new idea emerged, to reconstitute the Jewish People as a modern nationalist movement, intent on creating a Jewish national home in our ancient homeland. With the publication of Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) in 1896, and by convening the First World Zionist Congress, Theodore Herzl catapulted this far-fetched idea onto the global stage, and a movement was born.

We begin by discussing the recent Israeli elections. Then, we return to our historical survey: emancipated from the ghettos of Europe, Jews of the 19th century now had to choose which, if any, aspects of Judaism they could or should retain while trying to gain entry into European societies.

In our far-ranging introductory session, we define terms: What is "Zionism"? And, we discuss the antecedents of the emergence of this movement in the late 19th century: The history of the Jewish People's relationship to the Land of Israel; the origin of the names Israel, Judea, and Palestine; the transition during the Enlightenment from medieval societal structures to modern concepts of nation sate and citizen; the ancient origins of antisemitism; and the unanticipated dilemmas that Jews faced when they were emancipated from their ghettos and permitted to enter European societies.

As the Tent of Meeting is constructed, a strange verse describes how "the women who served at the Tent of Meeting donated their mirrors to create the sacred wash basin in which the Kohanim would purify themselves." Who were these women who served at the Sanctuary? What is the meaning of their mirrors? We take a deep dive through this looking glass to explore the shadow narrative beneath the surface of our text.

Why do we need a physical "dwelling place" for God in our midst? We explore many angles, ancient and modern, on the meaning and power of the Mishkan, the dwelling place for the Divine that God instructs Moses how to create.

We take a deep dive into the Torah's laws regarding the treatment of slaves. While slavery as an institution was never abolished by the Torah - slavery as a concept would not come into broad question until the 18th century - the Torah can be understood to be a revolutionary document for its time, and to have planted the seeds of ultimate equality under the law. The Torah insists that slaves possess basic dignity and even have rights, because they are human beings created in the image of God.

Fear and Faith: Amalek is the internal enemy that fills us with doubt, that makes us question whether our lives have a higher purpose. But if we enter into the sacred covenant at Mount Sinai, and embrace the Ten Commandments, we have the tools to become a holy People.

The Torah is explicit that the purpose of the high drama of the plagues and the exodus is so that we will tell our children and our children's children. In this wide-ranging discussion we explore this theme.