#yechiel

"But as for me, afflicted and in pain– may your salvation, God, protect me. I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves." — Psalm 69:29–31 In all my years of being a rabbi, I have never heard the following: “Why me? Why does everything happen to me? Why am I happy, healthy, and wealthy? Couldn’t God have picked someone else?” What I have heard plenty of is the other “why me” – “Why am I the one with – illness, money problems, loneliness, etc? Why is it happening to me?” In Psalm 69 King David reminds us that both of these situations – good times and tough times – are opportunities to connect with God. In fact, the latter circumstance is actually a greater opportunity than the first. When things are going well, we are challenged to take notice and turn to God in appreciation. These good times are expressed by the psalmist as “a bull with its horns and hooves.” Horns are a bull’s means of protecting itself or attacking another animal. They represent power. Hooves allow the bull to stand strong on firm footing. They represent independence. Together, a bull with horns and hooves symbolizes a person experiencing extremely blessed times when everything seems secure and wonderful. And yet those who have a relationship with God will remember that it is only through His grace that their lives are so blessed. Submitting to God and acknowledging His dominance over the world is expressed as offering a “bull with its horns and hooves” to God as a sacrifice. This pleases God. But there is something even greater. Have you ever seen the stars out in the daytime? The answer is no. When the sun is shining brightly, we cannot appreciate the light of other stars. It is only in times of darkness that we can appreciate their splendor. In the same vein, while it is certainly appropriate to sing God’s praises when everything in our lives is bright and sunny, it’s in the darkness of our lives that we can truly shine. In Psalm 69 King David is “afflicted and in pain” (v. 29). Yet David proclaims, “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.” It’s one thing to praise God when everything is going right. It’s another thing to be grateful when things seem so wrong. It’s more difficult, but always possible. For every one thing that goes wrong, there are ten other things that are going right. As King David affirms in this psalm, thanking God during difficult times will please the Lord far more than when things are going well. It is in those times that we can shine. Take a moment to reflect on your life. No matter how many challenges you might be facing, ask yourself, “What about my life is great?” Thank God for what you do have. Your gratitude will light up your life. With prayers for shalom, peace, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein President

"But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" — 1 Kings 8:27 At the inauguration of the Temple built for God by King Solomon, he expresses the following: “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.” How in the world can an infinite God possibly be contained in a finite physical building? King Solomon makes a good point. One that may have better been brought up before he built the Temple! But of course, his question is really rhetorical, and he is simply teaching us a very important lesson about every place of worship for all of time. If we think that any place of worship is the address of God, then we are gravely mistaken. Because God isn’t contained to any one space. God is everywhere. God is in your living room, in your bedroom, even waiting with you in line as the person in front of you takes way too long to pay for their groceries. As a great rabbi, the Rebbe of Kotzk, once said when asked where God is, “God is everywhere you let Him in!” So if God is everywhere, then what was the purpose of building Him a home? And why do we still build places for prayer today? Places of worship are like a pair of glasses. They are a window. They allow us to see and experience God in a way that we could not have otherwise. Although God Himself is everywhere, we experience His presence more in some places than others. In today’s places of worship, and a million times more in the Temples that once stood, a person was in the presence of God in a much more concrete way than if he were anywhere else. Through this greater encounter with God, that person would be changed. His prayers would be changed. They would be more powerful and more passionate. And that is why they were more likely to be answered. Not because God is any different in a house of worship, but because we are different in such holy spaces, and our prayers become more aligned with God’s will for us when we are more connected to Him. In our hectic daily lives it is possibly more important than ever to make the time to visit our places of worship on a regular basis. We stand only to benefit from such encounters. However, at the same time we need to remember that God is with us and prayer is always an option — no matter where we are. With prayers for shalom, peace, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein President

"Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me." —Psalm 66:16 Do you ever tell your children or grandchildren stories about “the good old days”? Do you have favorite family stories that you share over and over? Children love hearing about stories about their family history. Stories are how we learn about who we are, where we came from, and the heritage of our ancestors passed along from generation to generation. In ancient times, before the written word, people transferred history and information through stories. This oral tradition passed on stories of heroes of faith, too, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This storytelling tradition preserved the history until it was written down in the time of Moses. Many of the Psalms were written to be sung by the people of Israel so as to pass on the stories of God’s miraculous dealings with past generations. This musical tradition of storytelling made history easy to remember and pass on to future generations. It served an important function in helping people rejoice together about the greatness of God. If you thought about it, you could probably recall a story that had an impact on you. Stories reach us at a different level than mere information. That’s why stories are so powerful. Stories remind us of real people, facing real problems, and experiencing real results. When those results reflect divine intervention, the stories become faith-building treasures that we remember for a long time. God’s word, the Bible, is a collection of these stories – that’s why it is such a living, powerful, life-changing book! Stories aren’t just for children. We need to make a conscious effort to share our experiences to encourage one another through testimonies of what God has done in our lives. Hearing about trials, faith, and God’s provision, increases our faith. We need to hear – and tell – about the work of God in our lives and among our generation. It builds the faith of the current generation and passes that faith heritage on to future generations. With prayers for shalom, peace, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein President

"If you go with me, then I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go." —Judges 4:8 Thus spoke the renowned Israelite general, Barak, to the prophetess Deborah. Deborah had just beseeched Barak to lead his Jewish soldiers against the evil commander Sisera, in an attempt to free Israel from two decades of oppression at the hands of the Canaanites. In response to Deborah’s plea, Barak insisted that Deborah accompany his troops into battle – only then would he consent to take up arms against the enemy. Barak’s response to Deborah is reflective of a most profound tenet of Biblical theology: personal responsibility. If Deborah truly wished to see God’s will done – if she truly wished to protect the Jewish people in their Promised Land – she must see to the task herself. Only through personal engagement with a problem may one hope to solve it. And only by owning the solution to one’s difficulties will that solution be truly lasting. As our world becomes ever more interconnected in this Information Age, it has become increasingly easy to assume that when a problem arises someone else is fixing it. With so many people walking the earth, surely somebody has already thought to remedy the ills we all glimpse in our world on a daily basis. Our own contributions would be so tiny (or so we tell ourselves). It couldn’t possibly make much difference in the long run if we remain complacent – content simply to cheer others on from the sidelines. The power of Barak’s reminder to Deborah, then, is in its call to accountability. Indeed, both Deborah and Barak could have remained at home, hoping that some other hero would come along and disperse Israel’s enemies. Instead, they decided to take charge of their fate and the fate of their people. They held themselves accountable to the change they wished to affect in their society. Similarly, if we wish to right the wrongs within our world, we must take an active and personal role in doing so. In the words of the great Jewish thinker Hannah Arendt, “Action without a name, a who attached to it, is meaningless.” Let us strive to make our actions meaningful. With prayers for shalom, peace, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein President

"I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses." — Joshua 1:3 One of the more fantastic, famous, and miraculous stories in the book of Joshua is the story of the conquest of Jericho. The Bible tells of God’s elaborate commands to bring down the mighty impenetrable walls of Jericho, which involved seven days of circling the city with heifers and the blowing of horns. On the last day, the people were to circle around Jericho seven times with the whole priestly procession, horns blowing. Finally, on the seventh time, they were to all scream out, and the walls would crumble. And that’s exactly what happened. Why this whole procession? Why this whole ritual to conquer the land that God promised them? Moreover, in chapter six, the Bible spends 19 verses describing how to go about sacking the wall, then repeating the rituals when Joshua tells the people at length, but only spends two verses on the actual conquest! Why such lopsidedness? Why the need for the crying out and such an elaborate ritual? I think, my friends, that we can learn a valuable lesson about life from this story. We must remember what God told Joshua in the beginning of the book. There, in chapter 1 verse 3, God says, “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.” I believe that God commanded an elaborate ritual to show who truly wins and controls wars. God says numerous times to Moses and Joshua that He will fight for them, but words are not enough. To teach the people about the power of God, the people needed to perform a ritual, not a battle tactic; they needed to cry out, not a battle cry to instill fear in the enemies, but to cry out as a part of a ritual, similar to a prayer, before they could conquer the great wall of Jericho. They needed to know without a doubt that God was in command. My friends, the story of the walls of Jericho should be an encouragement to us to know that God is with us in our battles as well. Whatever wall we may be facing – whether it’s the loneliness of a broken relationship, an addiction, or illness – we worship and serve a God who is able to help us overcome. With prayers for shalom, peace, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein President

“For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.” — Psalm 9:4 The Innocence Project is a non-profit organization operating in the U.S., the U.K, Canada, and Australia, that is totally dedicated — through DNA testing — to proving the innocence of those wrongly convicted. Since its inception in 1992, this group has helped exonerate 258 people previously convicted of serious crimes. That such a group exists underscores the fact that injustice, or being treated unfairly, is part of our human experience. While we hopefully will never be falsely accused of committing a serious crime, we all have to some extent or another felt like we’ve been unfairly treated. Perhaps your best intentions have been misunderstood and you have faced criticism for your actions. Or maybe you have worked hard on a report for your boss, only to have her take the credit for what you have done. It could be as simple as the group at work or school ignoring your ideas. Certainly, David, the author of Psalm 9, was treated unfairly. Although David did nothing but further King Saul’s kingdom by securing victory after victory on the battlefield, the king felt threatened enough by his young warrior to order him killed. For many years, David ran and hid from Saul and his men in the barren wilderness and enemy territory. David might have severely doubted God’s promise to him that he would one day be king of Israel. He could have easily become angry and vindictive about the situation. Certainly, David had opportunities to harm the king on several occasions. But David never wavered in believing that God would fulfill His promise to him. Nor did he ever take justice into his own hands. Why? I think part of the answer lies in verse 4. David affirms that God has “upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.” David trusted completely that God, indeed, saw his good deeds and that God would reward those in His own time. God alone would judge all righteousness and act accordingly. That is a good lesson for us all to remember when we have been wronged, or when we have felt the sting of injustice. Rather than take revenge or allow feelings of hatred or pity to wash over us, we need to trust in God. Only then will we be able to experience his peace and be free from the worry of how others perceive us and treat us. With prayers for shalom, peace, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein President