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Rabbi Carl M. Perkins
Donald R. Lassman, President
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A Message from Rabbi Perkins
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January 30, 2017
3 Shevat 5777
Dear Friends,
These past ten days have been extraordinary. First, on Friday, January 20th, our new President and Vice President were inaugurated in Washington, D.C. The next day, 3.3 million women and men marched and demonstrated in 500 American cities, including Boston. Other marches and demonstrations took place around the world. Then came the still on-going controversy over just how many people were present at the Inauguration and then a slew of executive orders setting in motion plans to build a border barrier along the U.S. Mexican border, revive the Keystone and Dakota Pipelines, beef up the enforcement of immigration laws, and investigate unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Finally, just a few hours before Shabbat this past Friday, yet another executive order banning citizens of seven Middle Eastern nations from traveling to the U.S. and suspending our refugee program was issued. This order sent shock waves all across the globe. (The headline in the
Wall Street Journal
was, "Donald Trump's Immigration Ban Sows Chaos.")
What a whirlwind!
In my Shabbat morning
drashot
, I've been sharing a few responses to the changes we have been witnessing. On Shabbat morning, January 21st, I spoke about the ancient Jewish tradition of praying for the welfare of our country. Entitled, "Is There a Blessing for the Czar?" I surveyed the basis for this practice and some of the texts that we have used to pray for our rulers --including, yes, czars and other despots. You can access the source sheets I distributed in shul that day, and the audio file for our discussion by clicking here.
This past Shabbat, January 28th, I spoke about the contaminating impact of lying. Entitled, "Liar, Liar," I began by referencing a film you may have seen, as I did, twenty years ago. You can access the text of the sermon here.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) evening, January 31st, in my "Ethical Life" adult ed course, we are going to shift topics. Instead of studying the unit we were going to explore, we will be studying Jewish sources that explore immigration and refugee relief. Whether or not you've signed up for and/or participated in the course up to now, please feel free to join us. (But please let the office know by clicking here if you would like to come, so we can set out enough seats.)
Whether or not you will be joining us tomorrow evening, I encourage you to read two Jewish responses to the President's executive order on immigration. These are:
I look forward to discussing with you tomorrow evening various Jewish perspectives on the very thorny set of issues raised by the immigration and refugee crisis.
Take care,
Rabbi Carl M. Perkins
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