Jubilee year idealism shows way to counter gun violence

BY RABBI AMY FEDER

I signed up months ago to write this week’s d’var Torah. I remember thinking what a fun parasha this would be to share with you all. I love the discussion of the jubilee year and of the gifts made to the sanctuary, and of the idealism that closes out the book of Leviticus before returning to the biblical narrative in Numbers. I had lots of ideas about what I wanted to write.

Then, a few minutes ago, before I intended to start writing, I drove my son and his friend to a movie. Like many parents with young teenagers, I spend quite a bit of my time as a chauffeur, quietly shuttling children who, while sitting in the back seat, seem to forget that I’m there and talk openly about whatever’s on their minds.

Today’s back-seat conversation went like this:

“They cancelled the big game in Texas today because it got rained out.”

“Right, and also probably because of the mall shooting there. I heard eight people were killed.”

“Yeah. Did you know there have been more mass shootings this year than there have even been days?”

And then they got out of the car, waved goodbye to me and went into the theater without a backward glance.

That was it.

I sat in my car for a few minutes, unable to move. It wasn’t that they had been blasé

Troubling history

The online article published April 3 about Holocaust rescuer Varian Fry (“New Netflix show ‘Transatlantic’ chronicles an effort to save artists and thinkers from Nazis,” by PJ Grisar of the Forward, reprinted with permission on stljewishlight.org) noted how he helped more than 2,000 Jews escape Vichy France in 194041. Your readers may be wondering why Fry’s mission came to an end.

Sadly, prior to America’s entry into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s policy was to maintain cordial — sometimes even friendly — relations with Nazi Germany as well as with the Nazis’ puppet regime in Vichy, France. Thus, when the Nazis and Vichyites complained to Washington about Fry, the Roosevelt administration responded by taking action to curb his activities.

Secretary of State Cordell Hull instructed the U.S. ambassador in Paris in September 1940 to tell Fry “that this Government cannot, repeat not, countenance [him] carrying on activities evading the laws of countries with which the United States maintains friendly relations.” Hull also sent a telegram to Fry, demanding that he “return immediately” to the United States. When Fry refused, the Roosevelt administration refused to renew Fry’s passport, forcing him to leave France.

The administration also punished Hiram “Harry” Bingham IV, a U.S. diplo- about the shooting. It’s just that nothing fazes them anymore. They have learned how to hear this horrific news, take it in and move on.

Rabbi Amy Feder serves Congregation Temple Israel and is a past president of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.

While the fact that they are able to do so may mean that they are blessedly far more resilient than I am, it breaks my heart that they have had to build that kind of resilience. How have we given them a country in which mass violence is so commonplace that it hardly registers?

I don’t have an answer for how to stop gun violence in our country. Like many of you, I have read and listened to countless experts and politicians speak on the topic, and minds far brighter than mine have presented ideas that have one by one been rejected, discounted or ignored. It has gotten to a point where it seems that most people have simply thrown up their hands and assumed this is a problem that’s impossible to fix.

Yet I find myself drawn back to the parasha and the lessons we can find in ancient wisdom. The Torah presents us with an idea of a jubilee year, which was essentially a complete socio-economic refresh when everyone could start with a clean slate. Many scholars suggest that such an idea was probably more a dream than a reality, an impossibly utopian vision for society.

Yet we keep studying it, keep dreaming about it, because we know that it presents an idea for a society that we should be striving for. It gives us a vision for a world in which people are given hope and security and the tools to work together to have another chance to be the best versions of themselves and their society.

In our own day, we need to keep doing the same when it comes to striving for a world without mass shootings. This is not nearly as complicated as the jubilee year. We should be able to do this. We need these teachings to remind us that even seemingly impossible visions of society are worth striving for and that we must continue coming up with wild dreams and goals for perfect communities in the hope that at least some of them might just work.

This week’s parasha also gives us the words inscribed on the Liberty Bell: Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. May this be the year when we have the liberty to live our lives without fear, when our children should not need to casually accept the brokenness we continue to hand to them. May the visions for the kind of society we all wish for ourselves and the next generation be more than just a dream.

World War II, or in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks—it could be argued that Israel is doing an even better job than the United States in that respect.

Stephen Flatow Long Branch, N.J.

BY NINA NEEDLEMAN

Many of us have mothers who can afford to buy whatever they want. Or perhaps they’re getting to the point in life where they’re downsizing or getting rid of things.

So instead of buying a gift this Mother’s Day that she may not need or want, why not honor your mom by contributing to a cause that’s important to her? Visit the links below and donate in her honor.

Is she an animal lover? How about:

• St. Louis Zoo — Adopt a Puma promotion for Mother’s Day. Visit https:// bit.ly/stlzoo-puma

• ASPCA (American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) — www.aspcapro.org/resource/mothersday-your-way

If her interest is empowering girls, how about:

• Girls in the Know — Teaches girls about self-esteem, safety and puberty with classes by police, doctors and more. www.girlsintheknow.org

• Girls on the Run — Teaches running and critical life skills to girls. www.girlsontherunstlouis.org

If she’s inspired to help families:

• Jewish Family Services — Helps seniors, children and families at risk, provides food and services for the needy, helps mediate family problems and enhances Jewish connections. jfsstl.org mat in Marseilles who had been aiding Fry; Bingham was transferred to Portugal, then to Argentina.

It was the administration’s actions against Fry and Bingham that forced an end to their rescue effort.

Dr. Rafael Medoff, Director

The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, Washington, D.C.

Equality in Israel

Rabbi James Bennett (April 19 commentary, “Trust in Israel’s future despite challenging present”) asserts: “Surely, no one can claim that the complete equality of social and political rights of all Israel’s inhabitants, irrespective of religion, race or sex, is being pursued…”

Well, let’s see.

Israeli Arabs vote freely in every Israeli election; Israeli Arabs serve in parliament; Israeli Arabs have served as cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, ambassadors, and consul-generals; and there is an Israeli Arab justice on the Supreme Court. So while Israel obviously is not perfect — neither is the United States — it is, in fact, doing a very good job of pursuing complete equality for all its citizens, especially for a country that is under daily siege by terrorists and is surrounded by aggressive totalitarian regimes that constantly threaten to annihilate it. In fact, if you consider how civil liberties have fared in America during periods of internal or external threats—such as in

Judaism and abortion

The Access MO Clergy Board wrote a letter to the editor (April 5 edition) in response to Jordan Cherrick’s March 8 op-ed in which he expressed a cogent presentation on traditional Jewish Biblical views toward abortion.

The Clergy Board wrote that since “Judaism mandates abortion when it is necessary to save the mother’s life ... one can easily conclude that Judaism is indeed pro-choice, pro-freedom and pro-personal autonomy.”

It certainly is true that Judaism places the life of the mother over her unborn child. However, in the United States, well over 95% of abortions take place on healthy mothers carrying healthy unborn children. Therefore, to conclude that a mandated abortion when a mother’s life is endangered leads to the conclusion that Judaism is pro-choice — meaning, Judaism allows abortion as an elective procedure under any and all circumstances — requires a leap of logic greater than motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel’s jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace.

Knievel failed in his outlandish 1967 stunt, as does the criticism of the Access MO Clergy Board of Cherrick’s exposition of the traditional Jewish Biblical view of abortion.

Richard Senturia University City

• National Council for Jewish Women-St. Louis — Provides micro-lending program for women and families in need, helps outfit children in need as they get ready for school, provides a community closet of clothes and supplies for children, helps grieving widows and widowers and much more. www.ncjwstl.org

If someone close is suffering from a disease or died?

• Cancer Support Community — Offers counseling, support groups, cooking and exercise classes and other resources for individuals and their families fighting cancer. www.cancersupportstl.org

See NEEDLEMAN on page 24

Nina Needleman is a retired financial planner. She spent the first three decades of her career in the financial services industry, where she mentored salespeople so they could teach, educate and sell financial products to consumers. For the past nine years, she worked directly with consumers as a financial planner to help them reach their life goals. Now she uses her business skills to help nonprofit organizations and, more importantly, as a volunteer to teach people about personal finance and philanthropy.