Zekie Lieberman's Original Compositions: Adon Olam and Ein Keloheinu

Zekie worked with his tutor Rena Branson and created original music. We all look forward to singing with Zekie and Rena in person one day soon!
 

Zekie Lieberman's Bar Mitzvah Derash on Bereshit

Mazel tov, Zekie and to your parents Beth Janus and Seth Lieberman, and your sister Nami. We are so proud of you!

Here is Zeke's Davar Torah.

Shabbat shalom. When I was reading through my Torah portion, I noticed something peculiar. Two times, God asked questions, probably already knowing the answers. This captured my attention because why would God ask these interrogations if God is all-knowing? Is there some deeper meaning behind them? The first instance is after Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge. God asks Adam where he is and Adam says he heard God and because he is naked, he hides. With only this one question, God asks Adam if he ate from the Tree of Knowledge. But why does God have to question? The second time is after Cain kills Abel. God asks Cain where Abel is. Cain then says, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”. This time God’s response is even more puzzling. God blames Cain when all he has done is ask if he is in charge of his brother. God is correct, but once again, why does God ask and jump to conclusions so quickly? Today, I will be exploring the possibilities of God’s perplexing and repetitive actions. Are there any other times in the Tanach when this happens? Let’s find out.

            What I discovered is that yes, there are many instances when God or God’s angels do something like this. One time this occurs is in Jonah. After God decides not to kill the people of Ninevah, Jonah says that he’d rather die than see the people not get punished. Next, God proceeds to ask what is wrong, when quite frankly, it is obvious! Another example of this is in Vayera. Hagar’s baby almost dies, and God asks what’s wrong. If a friend of yours almost loses someone close, you wouldn’t ask them what’s wrong. If anyone should know social cues, it should be God. Plus, God should have nothing to learn; God should know what’s wrong. But God always has reasons for God’s actions. An additional time is in Vayishlach. After wrestling with God’s Angel, the angel renames Jacob to Israel. Jacob then asks what the Angel’s name is. The angel asks why Jacob would ask. If someone wrestles you and renames you, wouldn’t you want to know his or her name? 

            We know God as an all-powerful, tells-you-what-to-do, serious being. It doesn’t seem like God is the type to laugh. Or so we think. I believe that God is being sarcastic. But this is not just humor, it’s humor with a deeper meaning. God’s strange questions are God’s way of conveying something to us—in these cases, that God is not always so formal. True, God’s questions do not seem like sarcasm, but the Torah would never say, “Gee, I wonder where Adam is.”. Sometimes, we can overlook these moments because the Torah’s way of expressing sarcasm is different, but we have to remember that this position is critical to our understanding of the Torah. 

            Sometimes people today use satire to open a new perspective on people or things. There is a YouTuber named Rob Lopez who made a video about if Airpods commercials were honest. He highlights all the unnecessary features: how they are lost easily, how they fall out of your ear, and most importantly how incredibly overpriced they are. Although the delivery was humorous, it questions why so many people buy this unnecessary product to go into a rich guy’s wallet when there people dying on the streets from hunger. Also, I saw a Key & Peele skit about if teachers got treated like football players. The skit went into an imaginary world where teachers got paid millions a year, there were teacher drafts, and the teacher’s choices of who to call on were competitive. Even though this was comical, it got me thinking. Why do football players get so much more attention? Should we do something about it? This is another example where comedy opened my eyes. Before watching this, I hadn’t really put much thought into it, but it gave me a new perspective.

Now that we think we have the answer, what should we learn from it? What we acquire from this is a more authentic relationship with God. We can look at God as more of someone to relate to, instead of an all-powerful, above us being. Sure, we still need God as our leader, but we will be more likely to want to follow God as someone slightly like us. This makes God more of a friend, as well as a leader. God is already different enough from us that we can distinguish, but this is a slight overlap in personality. After watching the fake Airpods commercial, we are still going to keep using Apple products, but we might rethink why we need all this. Maybe not get every single model every single year—a more authentic relationship with the products we buy. Relating to the Key & Peele sketch, people are not going to all of a sudden stop watching sports, but maybe we can advocate for teachers! There is so much we can learn from satire, even if it first doesn’t seem like it has a deeper meaning. 

For my mitzvah project, my sister Nami and I are creating another way to learn. We want to create an app that will help people decrease their animal product consumption. We know it’s unrealistic to make everyone vegan because it’s intimidating to change your diet so drastically, but if everyone ate slightly less meat and dairy, it would save hundreds of thousands, even millions, of animals. It would also significantly improve climate change. Users will log their food intake and the app gives them a “reduction score”. Whether you are a vegetarian looking to have a little less milk, or a big meat-eater trying to decrease your red meat consumption, the app will help you improve. In addition, the app may include a social aspect, so users can compare scores with their friends, family, or even complete strangers. Users will also be able to earn coupons to vegan or vegan-friendly restaurants or products. While Nami is exploring the coding side, I am focusing on the business side. Whether you want to reduce animal product consumption to help animals, help the planet, or improve your health, SaveDatCow will work for you.

I’d like to thank Rabbi Adam for helping with my D’var Torah, Rena for teaching me the material for today, all the relatives and friends that came here in person, and all the relatives and friends that came through Zoom. I’d also like to thank my sister Nami for helping with the app, the slideshow, and the siddur. Finally, a huge thank you to my parents for organizing the whole event.

 

Jakob Friedman Slifker's Bar Mitzvah Dvar - Miketz 2014

We have watched Jakob since his early shofar-blowing

days til now - when he teaches us! mazel tov!

Jakob Friedman Slifker  Bar Mitzvah D’var Torah December 20, 2014

Shabbat Shalom.

When I first learned my Torah portion was going to be Miketz, I was really excited.  I had studied the parasha multiple times in Jewish Day School.  I knew Miketz: the story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams of cows and grain; his being given control of the food supply in Egypt during the years of abundance and the following years of famine; Joseph’s brothers’ coming to Egypt; Joseph’s holding Shimon captive until his brothers returned with the youngest, Benjamin.  I knew the story of how Joseph had returned the gold to his brothers in their sacks of grain, making them fear they would be suspected of being thieves.  I knew there’d be a lot to talk about, and I thought I knew the story.  In studying with Rabbi Alanna, however, I found that these stories are only half the deal.  The other half is way more interesting.

First of all, Pharaoh didn’t just give Joseph control of the food supply in Egypt, he actually gave Joseph the power of a king and “only with respect to the throne [was Pharaoh] superior to” Joseph.  In addition, Pharaoh gave him this power immediately after hearing Joseph interpret his dreams.  When I read that I thought: there must be more to this.  Why would Pharaoh immediately give Joseph this power?  He’d only just met the guy, so there’s got to be something else behind his decision.  With these questions in mind, Rabbi Alanna and I went and looked at Breishit Rabba and found some fascinating midrashim (which are rabbinic interpretations of the text). 

In one midrash, we learned about what happened before Joseph’s meteoric rise to power -- in the time between Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream and his being granted the power of a king.  According to Rabbi Eliezer, after Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, Pharaoh told Joseph, “before I can give you all this power, you need to show me that you know the fifty languages of the world because a king must know all the languages.”  (I don’t know exactly why he needed to know all these languages, but a certain 8 ½ year-old I know suggested that a king has to be able to have control over any people he might meet, and those people might speak different languages).  Our midrash teaches that that night, the angel Gabriel came down from heaven, taught Joseph the 50 languages, and told him what he needed to do to pass Pharaoh’s challenge.  The next morning, Pharaoh tested Joseph and he aced the test.  50 languages?  No problem.  Then Joseph surprised Pharaoh by saying, “but I also know another language.”  He then spoke in the language of his people, Hebrew.  At this point, Pharaoh instructed Joseph not to tell a soul that he knew this language.  Why?  Because Pharaoh did not know Hebrew, and he was concerned that his people would no longer respect him as their king and would rebel.  Joseph agreed to keep this secret.  And it seemed like that was that.  But Rabbi Eliezer wasn’t quite finished.  In the next parasha, we learn that Joseph wanted to bury his father in Canaan (Jacob’s final request) and that Pharaoh refused to let him go.  In response, according to our Midrash, Joseph threatened Pharaoh, telling him, “If you don’t let me go, then I’m going to tell everyone in Egypt that you don’t know a language that I do, which will undermine your power and allow me to usurp you.”

This Midrash brings up something that seems to contradict the stories I thought I knew so well.  In my education at Jewish Day school, I was taught to view Joseph as a hero. Yes, when he was younger, living with his family in Canaan, he shared some dreams that seemed to suggest that he thought he was better than everyone else.  But our lessons didn’t focus on Joseph’s pride, but rather on how these dreams led to his brothers’ mistreating him and selling him to the Ishmaelites.  Quite simply, his brothers were bad, and Joseph’s supposedly selfless actions in Egypt made up for any character flaws.   But I was nine; I was in fourth grade, and this was just another Torah lesson.

Now, as a thirteen year-old, who’s beginning to discover my own opinions, I see Joseph differently.  Rather than viewing him simply as a hero, as a selfless and kind leader, who distributes food to anyone who needs it, I’m left with questions.  Is Joseph really a good leader?  Or is Joseph a selfish, power-hungry man, more interested in wealth and control, than in the well being of his people?

One way of beginning to address these questions is to ask other questions:  Is Joseph really in charge of his own actions? Or is God the one in control?  If God is the one in control, then is God merely a voice in Joseph’s ear directing him or is God moving Joseph like a pawn, controlling everything Joseph says and does?  

The reason I’m asking these questions is because, in reading Miketz in preparation for my bar mitzvah, I noticed that when Joseph was interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, it’s not exactly clear who’s talking -- Joseph or God.  Joseph doesn’t just say, “Well, God told me the meaning of your dreams.”  He talks about God and Pharaoh in the third person, and it’s not clear where Joseph fits in.  Before Joseph explains that the dreams of the cows and the grain symbolize the years of abundance and famine to come, he says, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same: God has told Pharaoh what he is about to do.”  That’s pretty clear.   After explaining the dreams, however, he then repeats himself, saying, “It is just as I have told Pharaoh.  God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. [...] The matter is determined by God and God will soon carry it out.”  Here, when Joseph says “I,” it’s not clear whether he means himself or God.  Is Joseph equating himself with God, just as his brothers thought he was in his earlier dream about the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to him? Or, is God speaking through Joseph to tell Pharaoh what God’s intentions are?

If this lack of clarity reflects Joseph’s desire for power, then it proves my original theory: Joseph is selfish and more interested in power than in the well-being of others.  On the other hand, if God is speaking through Joseph then maybe some of Joseph’s apparent selfishness is not his fault.  His seeming desire for power is really God moving Joseph like a pawn for some greater purpose unknown to Joseph and to us.  Why is God putting Joseph in this position of power?  Why does his being in this position of power allow Joseph to forgive and to help his brothers? … Why do I keep asking questions and leaving them unanswered? 

Here’s my point -- one of the things I’ve realized in writing this D’var Torah and in studying for my bar mitzvah is that sometimes the things I thought I knew contain more layers, more complexity, and more depth than I ever realized.  I don’t yet know the answers to all the questions I’ve posed here -- although I hope they’ll lead to thoughtful discussions among all of you (at lunch).  But what I do know is not to be complacent, and to always be ready to ask questions and to be open to new answers.  As Ben Bag Bag used to say about the Torah, "Turn it, and turn it, for everything is in it. Reflect on it and grow old and gray with it. Don't turn from it, for nothing is better than it." Part of growing up for me means taking responsibility for myself and my own learning.  I know that in the Jewish community, by becoming a bar mitzvah, I take on the responsibility of myself and my own choices. I need to think about my own choices in terms of selfishness, power, and the greater good -- no matter who’s directing me. I know that I have to take this responsibility seriously because I can’t blame my parents anymore (at least according to Jewish tradition). 

My Mitzvah project grows out of my parasha.  Since Parshat Miketz deals in part with storing and distributing food for the hungry in times of need, I realized that I wanted to do something related to food and hunger relief.  As part of my project, I recently helped organize a food drive through the synagogue for Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief agency. In fact, the centerpieces for the luncheon later are baskets we made with the food we collected and which will be donated. For the other part of my project, I worked with the Jewish Relief Agency, or JRA, where I packed and delivered boxes of food to people in need. Why did I do these things? That’s a question that I will answer. I did these for my project for two reasons. First, because Miketz revolves around food and hunger.  But secondly, and more importantly, I wanted to use my power and choices to help others.  According to Reconstructionist Judaism, God doesn’t choose Jews to be performers of God’s commandments, rather it is when we choose to serve God (typically, through the mitzvot), that we are brought close to the Divine.

Maybe Joseph was prideful; maybe God was telling him what to do. At the same time, maybe the whole story of Joseph and God didn’t even really happen.  Maybe it’s just a story. So what really does matter?  What matters to me is that I was influenced by this story to help feed the hungry.  Maybe it’s just a story, but I think all of us should use the Torah to influence us to do good things in the world, to interpret it and to find the lessons that are waiting there for us when we’re ready to hear them.

I would like to take a few minutes to thank all of the people who have helped me on my journey to becoming a Bar Mitzvah. Thank you to all the people who have traveled long ways and in two cases overseas to be here: my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents who came in from Boston, New York, and Florida. Gina from California. Gabi from Tel-Aviv. Zsuzsi from Budapest. Thanks to my friends for making me laugh and to my dog, Phineas, for giving me constant smiles. Thanks to my tutor, Rebekah, for making me not completely fail at this, Rabbi Annie and Rabbi Alanna for rehearsals and my D’var, my teachers from PJDS for teaching me pretty much all the Hebrew I know and helping teach me how to think about Torah, and to the whole Dorshei community for providing me with a wonderful Jewish home. And, finally, thanks to my amazing parents who supported me all the way, helped me through all my struggles, and kept me from going completely crazy, so that I could be here today.