Scroll down for this week's commentary by Rabbi Falick

Today's Topic: EVIL IN OUR MIDST

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TWO SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE INITIATIVES:

Here's a satisfying and easy community service you can do to make a difference while staying safely at home.

In cooperation with the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and other allies we're participating in a campaign to encourage voting.

This project is organized to make participation as easy as possible. You'll receive a packet of 40 postage-paid cards followed up by an email with addressees and sample language for the cards and a sample message will be sent by email. If you can't commit to 40 cards, you can share with others.

If you have questions or would like to join this effort, contact Audrey Pleasant at audreypleasant@gmail.com.

We are collecting warm socks (not cotton) and all types of travel-sized toiletries which NOAH (our Winter Mitzvah beneficiary) desperately needs. They are also looking for: washcloths, underwear, bandages, Depends (prefer small, medium or large), and cough drops. A collection box is available at the east temple entrance (to the Pivnick Center and SHJ offices).

NOAH also maintains an Amazon Wish List and you can donate specific items at this link.

"The mission of the NOAH Project is to empower low income and homeless Detroiters to achieve stability by serving as the first step on the journey to self sufficiency."

Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history.

As the novel opens, Helen has been summoned by a former student to view a cache of seventeenth-century Jewish documents newly discovered in his home during a renovation. Enlisting the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is charming, and in a race with another fast-moving team of historians, Helen embarks on one last project: to determine the identity of the documents’ scribe, the elusive “Aleph.”

You can purchase it AT THIS LINK for Kindle or Amazon delivery ... or support independent bookstores by shopping at BOOKSHOP.ORG.

Contact Sarah Markowitz, 1luciann1@comcast.net or Cathy Radner radner210@gmail.com with any questions. 

The password was sent under separate cover. Please contact rabbi@birminghamtemple.org if you need it.

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I promised myself I was not going to wade into any election-related content in these commentaries. But after reading what I’m going to share with you, I decided to do it. I promise that it will be in a completely law-abiding manner. I’m not talking about a candidate or endorsing anyone so I am in full compliance with the now-famous Johnson Amendment.

What prompted this commentary was a statement by a Jewish radio talk show host named Josh Bernstein who had this to say about seniors voting in person:

I want to first note that at least a few of the people he’s talking about may actually have stormed the beaches of Normandy.

That said, what really shocked me about this was his utter contempt for human life. And in the name of what? Getting his candidate elected? (He was ostensibly addressing those voters.)

I am sharing this with you because, while there is certainly no shortage of outrage available to us these days, I believe it’s important to remember where rhetoric like this ultimately leads. It is no place good. It is a dark destination where inhumanity betrays the best exhortations of our finest philosophers and moral leaders throughout the ages.

On his Twitter feed and elsewhere Bernstein identifies as a Jewish “conservative.” The entire weight of Jewish civilization stands as a rebuke to his heinous statement. Neither have I encountered it in any principled version of American conservatism.

At the end of the day, if we are to have a vibrant democracy, we need (at least) two parties and plenty of space for reasonable if different points of view. Over the years I have frequently disagreed with Jewish conservatives like David Frum, Bill Kristol, Jennifer Rubin, Mona Charen, or Max Boot. Despite this I knew that we shared a common foundation of human decency.

People like this Bernstein do not possess an ounce of concern for human welfare or dignity. They are a scourge on our society and they must be called to account by leaders of the Jewish community.

Times like these tend to bring out both the best and worst in people. When enough people choose the path to wickedness, our society becomes evil. Those who cheapen human life are showing us precisely how they envision our nation. As Jews, as humanists, it is our critical duty to repudiate them. We must never countenance such callous barbarism in our political discourse.

Because we do remember where that leads.

Best Wishes for a Speedy Recovery to:

*THIS WEEK'S CARTOON

*BT COMMUNITY SHARING

Ezra writes: "Students between the ages of 8-12 usually do very well with piano in my experience, and older and younger students and adults are welcome as well."

You can contact Ezra at pianist4486@yahoo.com.

*METRO DETROIT COMMUNITY SHARING

Although we live in an affluent area, we have neighbors and friends experiencing significant hardship that often overlook. We don't want anyone to go without, so please tell anyone that you know who may have food needs to go to tinyurl.com/tkacfp and for their food pick up time.