4 Cheshvan 5777
5 November 2016
Grapevine
Noach
Proudly representing
Judaism in the
nation’s capital.
Rabbi’s Sermon
Rabbi Meltzer will be
speaking on the topic of:
Hitting Ctrl-Z: The
restart of the world!
Weekly Snapshot
Thursday 3 November
2:00pm: Grumps R Us
7:45pm: Modern Responsa
Across the Denominations
Friday 4 November
10:00am: ReachOut Meeting
6:00pm: Progressive Service
6:30pm: Orthodox Service
7:19pm: Candle Lighting
Saturday 5 November
9:30am: Orthodox Service
10:00am: Progressive Service
Farewell Kiddush following
services.
8:20pm: Havdalah
Sunday 6 November
8:30am: Shacharit
Monday 7 November
7:45pm: Women in the Bible
Tuesday 8 November
ACT Jewish Community’s Weekly Newsletter
From the
Scholar’s
Desk
in the same way, it is easy to stop listening. It is easy
to assume that they know what the next person is
going to say. So there is no point in actually listening;
there is no place to grow, learn or change.
IWelcome to the Netzer madrichim and all those
participating this weekend.
t is in Parshat Noah that we read the relatively short
story of the Tower of Babel.
Everyone on earth had the same language and the
same words….. And they said, “Come, let us build us a
city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a
name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered all over
the world.” The Lord came down to look at the city and
tower that man had built, and the Lord said, “If, as one
people with one language for all, this is how they have
begun to act, then nothing that they may propose to
do will be out of their reach. Let us, then, go down and
confound their speech there, so that they shall not
understand one another’s speech.” Thus the Lord
scattered them from there over the face of the whole
earth; and they stopped building the city. (Genesis 11:1
-9)
When reading about the Tower of Babel, that I think
about the state of the world today. I look at the fights
happening around the world. Neither side listening to
the other. In some ways, it is as if they are both
speaking different languages that the other does not
understand.
Often, when we speak about how to create peace or a
pluralistic society, we try to make everyone the same.
We look at our similarities hoping to be able to make
a connection. In some ways, this might be the
strongest and easiest way for people to work together.
Even God thought humankind was too strong when we
were all able to “speak the same language”. It was
easy to talk to one another. Everyone was able to
understand. At the same time, when everyone speaks
People became divided when language was mixed up.
It made communication more difficult, and caused
many to feel like they could not speak at all. At the
same time, we might be able to look at the mix up of
language as a place for humankind to grow. If not we
don’t speak the same language, we are forced to slow
down, making sure that we understand and were
understood.
It is through the lack of similarity that we have the
opportunity to learn from someone, allowing us to
see their perspective on the world. There is research
on how language affects the way that one perceives
the world, showing that just by the words we use, we
see and relate to the world differently. What would
happen if we find a way to take the time to see the
world through the eyes of someone different?
In order to really create a space of peace or pluralism
we need to look at the differences. We need to stop
for a minute and try to see the world through the eyes
of the other. What do they need? What are they
experiencing? And if we really want to get the story,
we need to stop and talk to them. We need to listen to
what their world is like, from their perspective. If both
sides find a way to listen to the other, maybe we will
be able to work together again. To once again create a
shared language. To work together in creating a better
world.
Shabbat Shalom,
Eryn London
[email protected]
Farewell Kiddush
Please join us for a Farewell Kiddush for
Gilon Smith to held this Shabbat following services.
Challah Bake
Thursday 10 November, 6:00
-8:00pm. $15/adult, $10/
child;
CLICK HERE to register
7:30pm: Ben Adam L’Chavero
Thursday 10 November
2:00pm: Grumps R Us
6:00pm: Great Challah Bake
7:45pm: Modern Responsa
Across the Denominations
Musical
Kabbalat
Shabbat
Friday 11 November,
6:00pm in Progressive
Service & 6:30pm with Bnei
Akiva Orthodox Service
Communal
Shabbat Lunch
Saturday 12 November
following services. See
website for ticket costs.
CLICK HERE to register
Musical
Havdalah
Saturday 12 November,
8:30pm
Community News
Ladies Who Lunch’s End of
Year Meeting
Monday 5th December 2016, 12.15pm
Notice of Meeting
Thursday 24 November, 12:00noon
The inaugural meeting of the ACT Zionist Council will be held at
the National Jewish Memorial Centre. Guest Speaker: Ginette
Searle, Executive Director, Zionist Federation of Australia. The
Draft Constitution can be downloaded by CLICKING HERE.
Robert Cussel (Convenor of Interim ACT Zionist Council)
Yarralumla Yacht Club, A La Carte
RSVP acceptances essential (for non regulars) to the ACTJC’s Office
tel. 6295 1052 or [email protected] before
Monday 28 November 2016 please.
Note: this lunch takes the place of our December meeting which
would have been on the first Wednesday of the month at Mawson.
AGM
Time to Renew Your
Membership before our AGM
on Tuesday 29 November 2016
Dear member of the ACTJC
We are writing to encourage people who have not renewed their
membership of the ACT Jewish Community to do so before our AGM
which will be held on Tuesday 29 November at 7:30pm. As you know
we are entering a remarkable period of expansion of the
organisation driven by the Capital Appeal Campaign and your
membership during this exciting phase is strongly encouraged.
Please contact the office if you are unsure about your membership
status or are not intending to rejoin the ACJT so can remove your
invoice from our database.
As the ACTJC Constitution provides that only financial members
have speaking and voting rights at the AGM we ask that you pay
your membership fees for 2016-17 no later than seven days before
the ACTJC Annual General Meeting (AGM) in order to be eligible to
vote.
For practical purposes, this will mean paying your membership fees
in person to the office manager by no later than midday on Monday
21 November 2016 or by EFT online no later than midnight on
Monday 21 November 2016. Memberships can be paid by
instalments and please contact our President or Treasurer, Yael Cass
or David Rosalky, if you are experiencing financial difficulties.
We look forward to seeing you at the AGM
Social Get-Togethers
Every Thursday at 2:00pm at the Centre. On the first Thursday of
the month we have lunch is at a nearby restaurant.
Every second Wednesday 10am - 12noon at the Centre.
Contact: Raz & Rotem: [email protected]
First Wednesday of each month, between 11:30am- 12noon at
California Café, Southlands Shopping Centre, Mawson.
The group meets fortnightly 7:30-9pm on a Wednesday night.
Contact Kim Rubenstein for more info.
Information Meeting:
Friday 4 November, 10:00am.
Morning tea will be provided.
Please RSVP: [email protected] if you
are able to attend or interested in the program.
Educational Opportunities
The Scholar’s
Corner
Ben Adam L’Chavero – Interpersonal Relationships Eryn London
First Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm:
Starting 6 September
Jewish law is not only about our relationship to God, but
it also covers how we should interact with others in our
community. We will explore four areas that fall into the
category of “Ben Adam l’Chavero” (Interpersonal
Conduct): Bikkur Cholim (visiting the sick), Nichum
Aveilim (comforting the mourner), Kibbud Av v”Em
Saturday 5 November to
(honoring one’s father and mother), and Hachnasat
Friday 11 November
Orchim (welcoming guests).
Women in the Bible & Beyond - Eryn London
Mondays 7:45pm: Continuing weekly
There are many women that have helped shaped Jewish
history, starting already in Bible. Together we will learn
about various women in the Tanach and beyond: their
stories, lives, choices, strengths and weaknesses,
Navigating the Siddur – Eryn London
triumphs and failures.
Modern Responsa Across the Denominations - Eryn
London
Thursdays 7:45pm: Starting 18 August, weekly
Jewish law is constantly evolving and changing.
Responsa also reflects how a community looks at a
situation and their own views on the matter. Together
we will look at some topics and see how rabbis across
the denominations react and play out in the halachic
realm.
Third Sunday of each month at 10:00am:
Starting 21 August
We will explore the siddur, prayers and liturgy as a
continuation of our first semester program.
Cook Jewish Be Jewish - Rabbi Alon Meltzer
First Sunday of each month at 10:00am:
Starting 28 August (in lieu of beginning of Aug).
We will explore different recipes and foods of Jewish
cultures from around the world.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR A CLASS
o
hours:
Lifecycles
Birthdays
The ACTJC wishes the
following people a very
Happy Birthday:
Anna Reiner
Vida Rosauer
Timothy Riegerix
Garry Sturgess
Cohava RubensteinSturgess
Susanna Elkaim
Daniel Tedeschi
Tim O’Neill
Naomi Robertson
Adrian Brown
Stefan Foster
___________
Sarit will be at the Gallery 12 & 13 November and
members are invited to join her then.
Anniversaries
The Jewish International Film
Festival
Ben Sakker Kelly
Opening Night: Thursday 10 November
at Dendy Cinemas, Canberra.
Yahrzeits
Other dates are 12, 13, 19 & 20 November.
Janet Berger’s
Grandmothers on 6
Cheshvan
Details can be found on the ACTJC website - CLICK HERE to
view.
Join Rabbi and Linsay (plus family),
Eryn London, Jo Dixon, Daniel
Coppel and others for a fantastic
weekend in the Central Coast.
Go to http://www.shalom.edu.au/event/
limmud-fest/ for all the details and to book.
Limited $100 rebates for ACTJC Member Families
once booked. Email Rabbi Meltzer directly to claim
rebate.
_________
Peggy Gould’s Father
on 6 Cheshvan
_________
Refuah Sheleima
We wish all those who are
unwell a speedy recover.
Please contact the Rabbi
or Arava if you or
someone you know is
unwell.
Individual & Collective Responsibility
I once had the opportunity to ask the Catholic writer Paul Johnson what had struck him most about
Judaism during the long period he spent researching it for his masterly A History of the Jews? He replied
in roughly these words: “There have been, in the course of history, societies that emphasised the
individual – like the secular West today. And there have been others that placed weight on the collective
– communist Russia or China, for example.”
Judaism, he continued, was the most successful example he knew of that managed the delicate balance
between both – giving equal weight to individual and collective responsibility. Judaism was a religion of strong individuals and strong communities. This, he
said, was very rare and difficult, and constituted one of our greatest achievements.
It was a wise and subtle observation. Without knowing it, he had in effect paraphrased Hillel’s aphorism: “If I am not for myself, who will be (individual
responsibility)? But if I am only for myself, what am I (collective responsibility)?” This insight allows us to see the argument of Parshat Noach in a way that
might not have been obvious otherwise.
The parsha begins and ends with two great events, the Flood on the one hand, Babel and its tower on the other. On the face of it they have nothing in
common. The failings of the generation of the Flood are explicit. “The world was corrupt before God, and the land was filled with violence. God saw the
world, and it was corrupted. All flesh had perverted its way on the earth” (Gen. 6:11-12). Wickedness, violence, corruption, perversion: this is the language
of systemic moral failure.
Babel by contrast seems almost idyllic. “The entire earth had one language and a common speech” (11:1). The builders are bent on construction, not
destruction. It is far from clear what their sin was. Yet from the Torah’s point of view Babel represents another serious wrong turn, because immediately
thereafter God summons Abraham to begin an entirely new chapter in the religious story of humankind. There is no Flood – God had, in any case, sworn
that He would never again punish humanity in such a way (“Never again will I curse the soil because of man, for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from
his youth. I will never again strike down all life as I have just done”, 8:21). But it is clear that after Babel, God comes to the conclusion that there must be
another and different way for humans to live.
Both the Flood and the Tower of Babel are rooted in actual historical events, even if the narrative is not couched in the language of descriptive history.
Mesopotamia had many flood myths, all of which testify to the memory of disastrous inundations, especially on the flat lands of the Tigris-Euphrates valley
(See Commentary of R. David Zvi Hoffman to Genesis 6 [Hebrew, 140] who suggests that the Flood may have been limited to centres of human habitation,
rather than covering the whole earth). Excavations at Shurrupak, Kish, Uruk and Ur – Abraham’s birthplace – reveal evidence of clay flood deposits.
Likewise the Tower of Babel was a historical reality. Herodotus tells of the sacred enclosure of Babylon, at the centre of which was a ziqqurat or tower of
seven stories, 300 feet high. The remains of more than thirty such towers have been discovered, mainly in lower Mesopotamia, and many references have
been found in the literature of the time that speak of such towers “reaching heaven”.
However, the stories of the Flood and Babel are not merely historical, because the Torah is not history but “teaching, instruction.” They are there because
they represent a profound moral-social-political-spiritual truth about the human situation as the Torah sees it. They represent, respectively, precisely the
failures intimated by Paul Johnson. The Flood tells us what happens to civilisation when individuals rule and there is no collective. Babel tells us what
happens when the collective rules and individuals are sacrificed to it.
It was Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the thinker who laid the foundations of modern politics in his classic Leviathan (1651), who – without referring to the
Flood – gave it its best interpretation. Before there were political institutions, said Hobbes, human beings were in a “state of nature”. They were
individuals, packs, bands. Lacking a stable ruler, an effective government and enforceable laws, people would be in a state of permanent and violent chaos
– “a war of every man against every man” – as they competed for scarce resources. There would be “continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the
life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Such situations exist today in a whole series of failed or failing states. That is precisely the Torah’s
description of life before the Flood. When there is no rule of law to constrain individuals, the world is filled with violence.
Babel is the opposite, and we now have important historical evidence as to exactly what was meant by the sentence, “The entire land had one language
and a common speech.” This may not refer to primal humanity before the division of languages. In fact in the previous chapter the Torah has already
stated, “From these the maritime peoples spread out into their lands in their clans within their nations, each with its own language” (Gen. 10:5. The
Talmud Yerushalmi, Megillah 1:11, 71b, records a dispute between R. Eliezer and R. Johanan, one of whom holds that the division of humanity into seventy
languages occurred before the Flood).
The reference seems to be to the imperial practice of the neo-Assyrians, of imposing their own language on the peoples they conquered. One inscription of
the time records that Ashurbanipal II “made the totality of all peoples speak one speech.” A cylinder inscription of Sargon II says, “Populations of the four
quarters of the world with strange tongues and incompatible speech . . . whom I had taken as booty at the command of Ashur my lord by the might of my
sceptre, I caused to accept a single voice.” The neo-Assyrians asserted their supremacy by insisting that their language was the only one to be used by the
nations and populations they had defeated. On this reading, Babel is a critique of imperialism.
There is even a hint of this in the parallelism of language between the builders of Babel and the Egyptian Pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites. In Babel they
said, “Come, [hava] let us build ourselves a city and a tower . . . lest [pen] we be scattered over the face of the earth” (Gen. 11:4). In Egypt Pharaoh said,
“Come, [hava] let us deal wisely with them, lest [pen] they increase so much . . .” (Ex. 1:10). The repeated “Come, let us … lest” is too pronounced to be
accidental. Babel, like Egypt, represents an empire that subjugates entire populations, riding roughshod over their identities and freedoms.
If this is so, we will have to re-read the entire Babel story in a way that makes it much more convincing. The sequence is this: Genesis 10 describes the
division of humanity into seventy nations and seventy languages. Genesis 11 tells of how one imperial power conquered smaller nations and imposed its
language and culture on them, thus directly contravening God’s wish that humans should respect the integrity of each nation and each individual. When at
the end of the Babel story God “confuses the language” of the builders, He is not creating a new state of affairs but restoring the old.
Interpreted thus, the story of Babel is a critique of the power of the collective when it crushes individuality – the individuality of the seventy cultures
described in Genesis 10. (A personal note: I had the privilege of addressing 2,000 leaders from all the world’s faiths at the Millennium Peace Summit in the
United Nations in August 2000. It turned out that there were exactly 70 traditions – each with their subdivisions and sects – represented. So it seems there
still are seventy basic cultures). When the rule of law is used to suppress individuals and their distinctive languages and traditions, this too is wrong. The
miracle of monotheism is that Unity in Heaven creates diversity on earth, and God asks us (with obvious conditions) to respect that diversity.
So the Flood and the Tower of Babel, though polar opposites, are linked, and the entire parsha of Noach is a brilliant study in the human condition. There
are individualistic cultures and there are collectivist ones, and both fail, the former because they lead to anarchy and violence, the latter because they lead
to oppression and tyranny.
So Paul Johnson’s insight turns out to be both deep and true. After the two great failures of the Flood and Babel, Abraham was called on to create a new
form of social order that would give equal honour to the individual and the collective, personal responsibility and the common good. That remains the
special gift of Jews and Judaism to the world.