It’s Only Football
New York Giants fans are still on a high days after their thrilling over-time victory on Sunday. It is a déjà-vu all over again: the Giants versus the Patriots and the hope that is that once again the under-dog Giants will emerge victorious, even without David Tyree to make another incredible catch, after an amazing dodge and weave effort by Eli Manning to throw it. But we all know that whether win or lose, our lives will go on. We may be disappointed that our team only made it to the Super-Bowl but didn’t win, but our lives do not revolve around the fortunes of a football team, unless we are foolish enough to bet more than a token sum. Football for us is entertainment.
On the very day that the Giants clinched a berth for yet another Super-Bowl, Joe Paterno died of cancer. In 46 years as head coach of Penn State his team had losing seasons only 5 times; but 5 times they managed to go through the season un-defeated. He had the most victorious of a Division I coach (409); most bowl appearances (37) and most bowl victories (24) and along the way two national championships. It is truly a remarkable record of achievement. And yet all that was tainted because of his inactions a decade ago.
Our Rabbis speak of one who obtains the merit of entering heaven B’sha’ah Achat, in a single moment; with a single action, with some redemptive act. Sadly, Joe Paterno whose accomplishments as a coach are unlikely to be matched—how many can coach for 4 ½ decades?--, demonstrated almost the opposite; that he lost his stature if not in a single moment, with a single deed, then with a set of actions that finally were revealed only a few months ago. How sad that while he was being memorialized, the sad denouement to an incredible life-time of achievement also had to be mentioned.
Football for most of us is a way of finding surrogates for athletic achievements beyond our reach. Listen to fans who say “we’re going to do x or y.” No, we may watch the game; but the heavy lifting, the actual game is in the hands of the athletes and the coaches. We get a vicarious thrill through their efforts. Not so with those on the front-lines. Their behavior has real consequences: whether they shoot themselves with an unlicensed hand gun, take banned substances to enhance their performance, or stand by while subordinates do unspeakable deeds with minors.
We hope that our football heroes do not have feet of clay, so we can enjoy their on field accomplishments.
Shabbat shalom.
PS Next Shabbat I shall once again wear my “lucky” NY Giants tie. I hope that it has one more bit of “luck” in it.
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Chadashot MeYisrael: News from Israel
An Historic Egalitarian Service in Jerusalem
A historic prayer service was conducted in the Knesset this past Wednesday by a leadership mission of the Masorti-Conservative movement from North America who held the first ever mixed men and women service in the Knesset. The group, which included male and female rabbis and communal leaders from the US and Canada, met with several members of the Knesset, including Ministers Dan Meridor and Uzi Landau, to discuss the issue of religion and state. The meetings focused for the most part on the issue of religious radicalization in Israel and its influence on the country’s image abroad, particularly in America. The group also raised the controversial issue of rights for non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, referring to the lack of recognition the state grants the Conservative movement’s rabbis and ceremonies.
The group, after concluding their meetings, proceeded to recite Minchah, the afternoon prayers. That the service was led by Rabbi Jen Gorman in the Knesset synagogue made the first non-Orthodox service in the Knesset even more historic.
“It was an inspiring service and we were extremely happy to be praying in the beautiful synagogue of the parliament of the Jewish State,” said Rabbi Dr. Alan Silverstein, president of the Masorti Foundation here in the United States.
The story received attention both in The Jerusalem Post, as well as in the Hebrew Press in Israel.
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Payrushim LaTorah: Comments on the Weekly Torah Portion
The portion of Boh (Exodus 11:4-12:28) is read this Saturday, January 28th.
12:2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you.
This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months. Why was this [injunction] the first commandment given to the Children of Israel as they left Egypt? It is known that the Egyptians were the first to invent the calendar which ordered the year around the sun, and not the moon, as was customary with other peoples. [This is true: the Egyptians had a solar calendar of 365 days divided into 12 months of 30 days and a festival period of 5 days.] And this is because the counting of the days of the year was linked to a significant recurring event, the time at which the Nile rose to water the land. And hence, their near-year began on the day on which the Nile rose.
Consequently, since the invention of this calendar was considered one of the greatest achievements of Egyptian civilization, the first commandment given to the Children of Israel was “This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months!” As a free and independent people, first of all, you should no longer celebrate the Egyptian new year, rather you should observe your own Jewish months. (R. Zeev Yavetz. In B. Yeushson, Meotzarenu Hayashan: Sh’mot, Vayikrah. Rabbi Yavetz was an East European historian, author of Toledot Yisrael [The History of Israel], who moved to Palestine in the late 19th century. He was a founder of Mizrachi, the religious Zionist organization, and was perhaps the first to link Tu B’shevat with the planting of trees, having done so with students from the school at Zichron Yaakov in 1890. 16 years later, the Hebrew Teachers Council in Palestine made the planting of trees on Tu B’Shevat a permanent feature of the observance of the holiday.)
