D'var Torah

Iyyar-Sivan 5765

Reflections on a Loaf of Bread and a Piece of Clothing

Rabbinic Midrash takes from the ordinary and finds something extraordinary. Case in point: a loaf of bread and a piece of clothing. Mused a rabbi no later than the fifth century:

“How much labor Adam must have expended before he obtained bread to eat! He ploughed, sowed, reaped, piled up the sheaves, threshed, winnowed, selected the ears, sifted the flour, kneaded and baked and after that he ate; whereas I get up in the morning and find all this prepared for me. And how much labor must Adam have expended before he obtained a garment to wear! He sheared, washed the wool, combed, pun, wove, and after that he obtained a garment to wear; whereas I get up in the morning and find all this prepared for me. All artisans attend and comer to the door of my house, and I get up and find all these things before me.” [Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 58]

All too often we take things for granted and do not reflect upon all that needs to be done before something can be accomplished. We lose sight of the goals, visions, and striving of those who create recipes and designs; those who work to make real something that may only exist in the human mind. All the more difficult are the labors of committees. To combat the oft cited “A camel is a horse designed by a committee,” working together to achieve a common objective requires patience, diligence, an ability to move beyond the self and a willingness to listen to others. All the more difficult for those who volunteer for an organization or an institution. The constraints of time and energy often work against the decision making process.

Not so with committees at the Greenburgh Hebrew Center, most notably with the Cantor Search Committee and the Religious School Board. As you will see elsewhere in this edition of the Hamvaser, these two committees worked mightily to achieve enthusiastic agreement and consensus. Representative of the congregation and committed to its vibrancy, they have brought to the synagogue two new energetic, enthusiastic members of the professional staff, Cantor Amy Kanarek and Sandy Zisser, our religious school director. We who benefit from their labors thank them for their tenacity, their devotion and their remarkable example of congregants and friends working together in the best interests of the family that is the Greenburgh Hebrew Center. Yishru kochakhem. Mazal tov and thank you for your labors, efforts, and the example you have set for all of us in creating community at the GHC.

Additional Divrei Torah