Hurricane season is coming to an end, so soon I’ll be putting away my special ‘Hurricane Kit.’  Anyone living near the coast is advised to keep such a kit handy during the summer and early fall.  It’s got all you need to get you through a category three or higher storm: A map to track the Hurricane; candles and matches if you lose your lights; duct tape to protect your windows; batteries and a portable radio if the electricity goes out; and lots of bottled water and cans of food to last several days.  You don’t even want to think about getting through this time of year without one of these kits stocked and ready.

And just as Hurricane Season comes to an end, Jewish Season is ready to roll in.  After a slow and lazy summer, Synagogues are open and ready to begin the new year with Open Houses, Hebrew School, and High Holidays.  Talk about your busy season: In a 23 days period, we’ve got seven Yontifs, five Hol Ha-Moeds, three Shabbeses, and two Fast Days!  Now if the experts advise you to have a kit for a possible Hurricane, they’re certainly going to tell you to have one prepared for Jewish Season – because these holidays are going to storm in – no doubt about it.  So as a public service, let me advise you how to prepare a special Kit for Jewish Season.

First thing you’ll need is a Luach, or a Jewish Calendar.  If you can’t tell the players at a ballgame without a scorecard, there’s no way you can get through Jewish Season without your Calendar.  It’s got information found on no calendar you could buy at a stationary store: What time to schedule the Break-the-fast supper; what night the first Seder is held; what time to put on your invitation for a Temple wedding on a Saturday night in August; and when to say Kaddish for a loved-one’s Yahrzeit.

A Jewish Calendar quickly reminds you that we Jews live in two different worlds.  To everybody out there, tonight is October 8th; but to everyone in here, it’s also the 10th of Tishre, and that means it’s Yom Kippur.  Out there, in October you’ve got to deal with Columbus Day.  In here, it’s Tishre, and we’ve got Rosh HaShana, Tzom Gedalya, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah.

Actually, it’s not just in here that it’s Tishre; it’s also Tishre, in every Jewish home.  Yet, sadly, most Jews aren’t even aware of when Sukkos or Shemini Atzeret are (I suspect many don’t even know what Sukkos or Shemini Atzeret are!)  That’s why you need a Luach.

But a Jewish calendar is about more than just a second set of holidays and strange sounding months.  The secular calendar is geared to the sun – and the sun is always the same.  The Jewish Calendar goes by the moon – and the moon is always changing.  In the light of a full-moon, we celebrate our most important holidays; as the moon wanes, and the night gets progressively darker, we experience our people’s dark history; then, at the new moon, on Rosh Hodesh, we see a sliver of light and look forward to renewal and growth, as the cycle begins one more time.  The moon is about change, and hope – and that’s one reason we Jews follow a calendar that’s geared to the moon.

Besides the Luach, we have a Shofar.  This reminds us of Rosh HaShanah.  In antiquity, before they had printed calendars, it was the Shofar that signaled to the people the start of a new year.  But when we blow it today, in the synagogue, it has a different message.  It’s a wake-up call.  It rouses us from our daydreaming and from our sleepwalking.  It tells us: “Get up!  Time is fleeting!  Don’t just sit there, do something!  Get off your rear-end and get to work!” 

The Shofar also reminds us Jews of the three key moments of History: Creation, Revelation, and Redemption.

The Shofar announces the birthday of the world, for according to the Talmud, it was on Rosh HaShanah that God created the Earth.  The message to us is that on this day, to the sound of this horn, the world is created anew.  We don’t have to accept things the way they are; on this day, to the sound of this horn, we can start all over again…

When God gave the Torah to Moses at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites heard the blowing of the Ram’s horn.  When we hear the Shofar today, we are called to receive the Torah once again.  It is the bell that signals: Class is beginning, and it is time for us to take our seats, open our books, and begin to learn what it means to be a Jew.

And the Shofar, according to legend, will be blown to announce that the Messianic Era is upon us.  That everything broken into Shevarim or Teruahs will be put back together again into a long, whole Tekiah Gedolah.  And the call of the Shofar is not to tell us that it is done, but is rather a call for us to rise up and make it so.

Next in the Kit is a pair of sneakers, worn on Yom Kippur.  On the Day of Atonement, we afflict ourselves in five ways – by not eating or drinking, by not washing, by not anointing ourselves with perfumes or colognes, by no physical intimacy – and by not wearing leather shoes.  We send a message to God – and to ourselves: We care nothing for physical comfort and pleasure of the body; today, we focus entirely on the soul and the spirit.

Sneakers and a suit or dress make a terrible fashion statement, and that’s the point: This isn’t a fashion show, and we’re not to worry what other people think.  The only standards that truly matter in life are God’s, and God judges us for our hearts, not for our shoes.

Yom Kippur footwear teaches us another important lesson: Judaism values modesty, in dress, in language, and in behavior.  At a funeral, our tradition prefers a plain pine box over a more elaborate (and expensive) casket.  The dead are traditionally buried in Tachrichim – plain white shrouds, not fancy clothing.  At Simchas, simple and modest is more appropriate than glitzy and ostentatious.  In fact, during the Middle Ages, Jewish communities developed “sumptuary regulations,” which limited the amount of money a family could spend, how much food they could serve, and how many people they could invite.  Then, as now, families were foolishly engaged in spending more that they wanted or could afford in order to “Keep up with the Stein’s.”  Sneakers remind us – “Keep it Simple.”

You’ll also need in your Kit an Etrog Box.  On Sukkot, we have two major mitzvot: Building and eating in a Sukkah, and holding and shaking the Four Species – A palm frond, willow leaves, myrtle branches, and Pri Etz Hadar – the fruit of a beautiful tree.  Though the Torah doesn’t specify exactly what that tree is, the Rabbis teach us that it is a citron, a fruit related to the lemon.  One of the unusual things about the Etrog is that to be Kosher – its Pitom – the dried up flower at the end of the fruit – must be intact.  As anyone who has ever held an Etrog knows, the Pitom is very fragile.  You flick it, and it’s bound to snap off.  Drop the Etrog,  and the Pitom is history.  Therefore, we tend to keep the Etrog during the week of Sukkot in a special box that will protect it.

Imagine being so careful about a piece of fruit!  Imagine buying a special box just to protect the perishable pitom!  And yet, there’s an important teaching here, too.  The Talmud points out the similarity in size and shape of the Four Species to parts of the body.  The palm represents the spine, the human backbone.  The willow reminds us of the lips of the mouth.  The myrtle leaves look like an eye.  And the Etrog – is the same size as the heart.

So here’s the lesson: Be careful how you handle the Etrog.  And since the Etrog is a symbol for the heart, we are warned: When you hold someone’s heart in your power – be very careful and gentle.  It’s not fruit we’re obsessed with; it’s another person’s feelings.  That’s the message of the Etrog box.

No Kit would be complete without a Dreidl, the spinning top kids use on Hanukkah.  On its four sides are four Hebrew letters: A Nun, a Gimel, a Hay, and a Shin.  Originally they stood for four Yiddish  words that told the outcome of each spin – NISHT take nothing: GANTZ – take the whole pot; HALB – take half; and SHTEL – put into the pot.  But Jews are not content to leave things as they are – we always look to put a “Jewish spin” (pun intended) on things.  The four letters now stand for NES GADOL HAYA SHAM, a great miracle happened there, meaning in the land of Israel, in the year 165 BCE.  Everyone agrees that something miraculous occurred; it’s just that we can’t agree on what exactly the miracle was.  Traditionalists say that the one, last jar of Kosher olive oil lasted a week longer than it should have, until a new supply could be found.  (Only God could make a gallon of gas take you 800 miles – or make a jar of oil burn for eight days.)  Modernists argue that even God doesn’t violate the laws of physics, and the miracle was that a father and his five sons led an outnumbered band of fighters against one of the world’s most powerful armies – and eventually wore then down until they “up and left”.  One way or another, the impossible happened.  And that’s why you always need to keep a dreidl in your pocket.  Just at the point that you’re ready to give up hope, just when you think you’re licked, just when you can’t imagine how in the world things will turn out all right – pull out your dreidl, read those four letters, and give it a spin.  Miracles do happen.  I can’t explain why, and I can’t explain how – but the dreidl reminds me that they do.  

Three months after the Dreidel, you’re going to need a grogger.  When we gather on Purim to read the Megilah, the scroll of Esther, every one is given a noisemaker.  Each and every time we hear the villain’s name, we create a commotion so that the memory of Haman is blotted out.  According to Rabbinic tradition, Haman was a member of the tribe of Amalek – the arch enemy of the Jewish people.  We’ve had many enemies over the centuries – Egyptians, Canaanites, Phillistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans – it starts with Pharaoh and goes right up to Ahmadinejab.  But Amalek was different.  There was no logic to their hatred, no reason for them to harm us.  So the Torah commands us: Remember what they did, and Blot out their memory.  On Purim, we take those words literally.  As soon as Haman makes his presence known – we’re there to shout him down.

And there’s the important teaching: We need to carry a grogger around with us not just on Purim, but all the time.  Whenever evil rears it’s ugly head, pull that grogger out of its holster and shout the bad guy down.  You see a bully picking on the weak kid in the schoolyard – make some noise.  Someone tells an ethnic joke that’s more mean-spirited than funny – don’t become an enabler of hate through your silence.  You see on the news that there’s ethnic cleansing happening somewhere in the world – don’t be one of those bystanders who looks the other way.  Jews hear about evil anywhere – and they raise their voices.  And their groggers.

As spring comes around, our thoughts go to… Passover.  Some would say you need Matza, Maror & Haroset; others would insist on a Seder Plate.  But I believe the essential item you need in your kit for Pesah is Elijah’s Cup.  For kids, this may be an even more dramatic moment than the Four Questions.  They open the door, and Elijah the Prophet – invisible to the eye – enters the house, comes and takes a sip of wine from the special goblet in the center of the table.  And then he’s off to the next house… But that’s not what the cup of Elijah was really about.

The Rabbis in the Talmud had a debate over the question: How many cups of wine do we drink during the Seder?  Some said four, based on the four Hebrew verbs God used in describing the Exodus from Egypt:  I will free you; I will deliver you; I will redeem you; I will take you.  Other Rabbis said five – because our redemption wasn’t complete until the fifth verb: I will bring you to the land of Israel.  They argued, they debated, they voted; it was a tie.  As a compromise they decided.  Drink four cups, but pour a fifth, which we don’t drink.  Why is it Elijah’s cup?  Because when they couldn’t resolve a problem, the Rabbis said: The answer will have to wait till the coming of the Messiah.  He’ll tell us who’s right.  And how will we know when the Messiah is coming?  Elijah the prophet will come to announce him.

The lesson of Elijah’s Cup is to admit that we don’t know all the answers, and until we do, we’ll have to compromise.  We’ll have to find a way to respect everybody’s opinion.  “You’re right… And you’re right too.”  But Rabbi – how can they both be right?”  “ You know, you’re also right.”

And here’s the best part: The Hasidic Rebbe, Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz used to teach how to fill the cup of Elijah.  We pass an empty goblet around the table, and everyone pours a little bit from their own cup.  Elijah’s Cup stands for redemption.  And redemption comes about when we all work together – each one offering what they can.

Seven weeks after Passover we celebrate Shavuot.  Besides Cheesecake or Blintzes, there aren’t  any ritual objects associated with the Festival.  But in our Kit we have what may very well be the most important item of all – a Humash.  Forty nine days after leaving Egypt, our people came to Mt. Sinai, and there they received the Torah.

A Humash is the Torah in book form – with a bunch of extras.  The Humash has vowels, punctuation and trope (musical notes) – which a Torah scroll doesn’t.  And a Humash has a translation – also not found in a Sefer Torah.  But most importantly, the Humash has a commentary.

Pious Protestants are often seen carrying around a Bible, reading from it, and quoting scripture and verse.  Jews don’t so much read the Torah, as they study it.  While we care what the book says; we care even more how the book is interpreted.

The classic Jewish version of the Torah is a book called MIKRA’OT GEDOLOT.  Open it up, and you’ll find the Torah text in the middle of the page.  And then all around the page, you find various commentaries: There’s Rashi (France, 11th Century), and Ramban (Spain, 13th Century), and Ibn Ezra (Spain, France, 12th Century), and Rashbam (France, 12th Century) and Sforno (Italy, 16th Century) and the Baal Ha Turim (Germany & Spain, 14th Century).  Each one has a different take, and a different insight.  And that’s the genius of the Torah: It doesn’t mean just one thing; it can mean many things, and each of us searches it to find ourselves and our own story, written here in the text.

You don’t have to go back to Medieval Europe to find a variety of approaches.  There are at least six different modern editions of the Humash, each with its own perspective: The JPS Torah Commentary presents a contemporary scholarly approach t the Bible.  Our own Etz Hayim presents the viewpoint of Conservative Judaism, the Artscroll’s Stone Humash that of right-wing Orthodoxy, the Plaut edition of the Torah presents the attitudes of Reform Judaism.  The Five Books of Moses, edited by Robert Alter takes a literary approach.  And “The Torah – A Woman’s Commentary”, has Feminist sensibilities.

Jews are known as People of the Book.  This is the Book.  And our way of interpreting it is what makes us who we are.

You don’t have to wait for months to go by to experience Jewish Season – it happens every week on Shabbat!  In our Kit we’ve got a pair of Shabbes candlesticks.

Most people mistakenly think that the Sabbath is the day of rest, and since we’ve got Sunday for that, Shabbes isn’t really needed anymore.

But that’s not what Shabbes is about.  It’s a day in which we take the ordinary, the regular, the everyday, and we turn it into something unique, something special, something sacred.

Shabbat is a day for reconnecting with family.  It’s a day for reconnecting with God.  We spend a good deal of time at home, around the table, and we spend a few hours in Shul, around the Torah.  It’s a day for putting aside all that’s hounding us during the week – a day for embracing and re-discovering all that’s of ultimate value to us.

And it all begins with these two candlesticks.  Lighting candles always signals that something special is going on.  On a birthday cake, they mark the passage of time and a wish for a bright future. So do Shabbes Candles.

On a dinner table, they announce a quiet intimate meal, with love all around.  So do Shabbes candles.

On a highway, they signal us to slow down and be careful of the hazards ahead.  So do Shabbes candles.

In a power failure, they remind us that technology can fail us, but we’ll find a simpler way to get by in life.  So do Shabbes candles.

Friday at sunset, we light the Shabbes candles, close our eyes, say the magic words – and when we open our eyes again – we find that we’ve been mysteriously transported – for 24 hours – to a different time and place.

There’s one more items in our Kit, and it’s meant to be used, not once a year, not once a week, but every single day.  It’s a Siddur – a prayer book.

This is nothing less than a Treasure Map, that shows us how to find God, and along the way, ourselves.

It contains some of the greatest poetry ever written – the Psalms, which enable us to see the world in a whole new light.

It contains some of the greatest wisdom ever taught – Pirke Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers, which guides us how to live a righteous life.

It contains some of the greatest meditations ever uttered, so that when we, or those we love, are sick, or troubled, or lost – we have the words and the path to find our way.

The Siddur is not just a “wish-list” of the things we want.  It’s also a “to-do list” of the things we want to become, things we need to accomplish. 

The Siddur is filled with Petitions to God, and with Praises to Him.  But most significantly, it is filled with Berakhot – with blessings.  They help us to take ordinary moments, and to turn them into sacred occasions.  And they help us to see the many blessings that fill our lives, and to appreciate and savor them.

       

So there it is – your special Kit for Jewish Season.  Now here’s what’s interesting: Hurricane Season lasts a few months, and then once the danger’s gone, you don’t have to worry about it again until next year.  Jewish Season is different.  It’s not a threat of something bad – it’s a promise of something good.  And once it comes – it never goes away.  Jewish Season can always be with us – just as long as you have your Kit.