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Orthodox UnionResources on this page include:
Please find a discussion guide, prepared by Debbie Fox, LCSW, here. We recommend either sending it out in a shul email, or having copies printed (if you’re meeting in person for davening). The intended goal of the document is to encourage and enable families to use it to have a real conversation about personal, familial, and communal changes over Shabbos dinner.
In your own shul, you can choose to use it however you’d like. Discussion groups are hard to run over Zoom and in-person programming is extremely limited, but if you find an unconventional way to use it, please let us know so we can share your ideas!
Drasha Material / Ready Dvar Torah for Your Bulletin
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb wrote the following dvar Torah. Below, we’ve retooled the core message as a short dvar Torah that you can include in your emails. You can also extract the concepts for chomer lidrush. Scroll down for more from Rabbi Weinreb.
Our tradition teaches us to consider all of our life experiences as opportunities for self-education. Even life’s “ordinary” events deliver lessons to be learned. We live every moment in an ongoing relationship with the Almighty. Whatever happens to us is in some sense a message from Him. Decoding that message is seldom a simple task.
For the past many months, we have all experienced a unique and all-encompassing set of circumstances. I refer, of course, to the pandemic and all of its countless ramifications. What messages do these recent circumstances have for the human race, for the Jewish people, and for each of us as individuals?
In what realm of human knowledge can we find answers to the existential questions that we now, willingly or unwillingly, must confront? Turning to medical science leads to the dead ends of uncertainty, contradiction, and confusion. Consultation with our political leadership only results in deep and bitter disillusionment. Even when we seek guidance from our religious leaders we find a wide and diverse range of speculative reactions, and come away regretting the absence of authentic prophecy more than ever before.
Personally, I have discovered a set of intellectual perspectives that I find most helpful. It is the framework of chinuch, pedagogy, the philosophy and psychology of education.
In a sense, that framework is the essence of Torah, which literally means “instruction”, and which is all about education. Educational themes and concepts are to be found everywhere in Chumash and Navi, in Tehilim and Mishlei and Kohelet, throughout Mishnah and Talmud, and certainly in the works of Rambam, Kuzari, and Maharal. The teachings and writings of Rav Hirsch along with the masters of Mussar and Chassidut bristle with brilliant insights into the educational process.
One fascinating, and quite sophisticated, approach to education can be found in the pre-Holocaust writings of Rabbi Kalonymos Kalman Shapira, the Piaczesner Rebbe. As is well known he utilized the techniques of meditation and imagery in his pedagogical activities. Here is a description of the technique he used with incoming yeshiva students, loosely translated from his monograph Tzav V’Zeruz:
“If you wish to develop religiously, and not remain at age 70 the same person you are at your bar mitzvah, do this: Every year set yourself a goal. If your name is Reuven imagine the Reuven that you would like to be a year from now. What will be his character, his level of piety, his scholarly achievements? Let this imaginary Reuven be the measure by which you assess yourself. After a month ask yourself how far you have progressed toward becoming this imaginary Reuven. Do this every month until the end of the year. And then set yourself a goal for next year’s Reuven. Continue to make regular assessments and set new goals for Reuven as your life proceeds.”
We have all endured many months of living a restricted life, deprived of the environments of the synagogue, of family occasions both joyous and sad, of work settings, and of places of entertainment. Wittingly or unwittingly, we are no longer the same Reuven as we were but several months ago. Ask yourselves, “How have I changed? Have I grown spiritually, or regressed? Have my domestic relationships improved or deteriorated? Has my physical condition become healthier, or weaker? Have I studied more Torah or less? Has the quality of my Torah study deepened or diminished? How exactly have I suffered? Has my prayer life intensified or dissipated? Have I become more efficient at my work, or less so?”
According to the Piaczesner Rebbe these are the assessments which we must undertake if we are to educate ourselves, if we are to begin to learn the lessons that this pandemic has to teach us.
But that’s only the assessment component of the great Rebbe’s pedagogical master plan. What about the goal setting component? What about the future?
We don’t know exactly when and exactly how, but eventually we will emerge from our current circumstances. What kind of post-pandemic Reuven do we want to be then? How will this new Reuven differ from the Reuven of today? What lessons will he have learned from the deaths of loved ones? What lessons will he have learned about the value of simply breathing? What will he have learned about his family? Above all, for what kinds of things will he have learned to be grateful? What did he take for granted before this pandemic and now must sincerely appreciate?
We have begun the season of Ellul, during which these kinds of questions are especially apt. Now is the time to define for ourselves the type of person we want Reuven to be a year from now. Now we must begin the thorough introspective work which is desperately necessary if we are to grow religiously. We need to make an assessment of what we have learned from the pandemic. And we need to define where we go from here. What will next year’s Reuven look like?
Kesivah V’Chasima Tova to all.
Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, 27 Menachem Av, 5780
This version is pared down to 613 words, for use in your email/bulletin. If you need to shorten it, paragraphs 5 and 8 have a number of questions that can be omitted:
Our tradition teaches us to consider all of our life experiences as opportunities for self-education. Even life’s “ordinary” events deliver lessons to be learned, though decoding that message is seldom a simple task. What messages to these recent, unique, and all-encompassing circumstances have for the human race, for the Jewish people, and for each of us as individuals?
In what realm of human knowledge can we find answers to the existential questions that we now, willingly or unwillingly, must confront?
One fascinating and sophisticated approach can be found in the pre-Holocaust writings of Rabbi Kalonymos Kalman Shapira, the Piaczesner Rebbe. He utilized the techniques of meditation and imagery in his pedagogical activities. Here is a description of the technique he used with incoming yeshiva students, loosely translated from his monograph Tzav V’Zeruz:
“If you wish to develop religiously, and not remain at age 70 the same person you are at your bar mitzvah, do this: Every year set yourself a goal. If your name is Reuven imagine the Reuven that you would like to be a year from now. What will be his character, his level of piety, his scholarly achievements? Let this imaginary Reuven be the measure by which you assess yourself. After a month ask yourself how far you have progressed toward becoming this imaginary Reuven. Do this every month until the end of the year. And then set yourself a goal for next year’s Reuven. Continue to make regular assessments and set new goals for Reuven as your life proceeds.”
We have all endured many months of living a restricted life, deprived of the environments of the synagogue, of family occasions both joyous and sad, of work settings, and of places of entertainment. Wittingly or unwittingly, we are no longer the same Reuven as we were but several months ago. Ask yourselves, “How have I changed? Have I grown spiritually, or regressed? Have my domestic relationships improved or deteriorated? Has my physical condition become healthier, or weaker? Have I studied more Torah or less? Has the quality of my Torah study deepened or diminished? How exactly have I suffered? Has my prayer life intensified or dissipated? Have I become more efficient at my work, or less so?”
According to the Piaczesner Rebbe these are the assessments which we must undertake if we are to educate ourselves, if we are to begin to learn the lessons that this pandemic has to teach us.
But that’s only the assessment component of the great Rebbe’s pedagogical master plan. What about the goal setting component? What about the future?
We don’t know exactly when and exactly how, but eventually we will emerge from our current circumstances. What kind of post-pandemic Reuven do we want to be then? How will this new Reuven differ from the Reuven of today? What lessons will he have learned from the deaths of loved ones? What lessons will he have learned about the value of simply breathing? What will he have learned about his family? Above all, for what kinds of things will he have learned to be grateful? What did he take for granted before this pandemic and now must sincerely appreciate?
We have begun the season of Ellul, during which these kinds of questions are especially apt. Now is the time to define for ourselves the type of person we want Reuven to be a year from now. Now we must begin the thorough introspective work which is desperately necessary if we are to grow religiously. We need to make an assessment of what we have learned from the pandemic. And we need to define where we go from here. What will next year’s Reuven look like?
A note from Rabbi Weinreb about tools for Rabbis:
I’ve written the above remarks for every thinking person, not just for professional pulpit rabbis. What follows is a “short list” of sources that I have found useful in preaching and teaching about personal growth and development, especially within a spiritual context, chomer ledrush if you will.
First of all, I highly recommend the pre-Holocaust works of the martyred Piaczesner Rebbe. He was undoubtedly one of the great heroes of the tragic Shoah. But we must not forget that, long before the Shoah, he wrote profoundly significant works on the topic of spiritual growth, chief among them his Chovat HaTalmidim, translated as “The Students’ Obligation”.
I do not think I need to bring to your attention the many published writings of Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, particularly his Al HaTeshuva, “On Repentance”. But I must mention my own prejudice: the full impact of the Rav’s exquisite homiletic eloquence is best appreciated by reading or hearing his Yiddish derashot. The Yiddish volume entitled Derashos und Kesavim contains masterpieces of special relevance to our contemporary concerns, including his Rosh Hashana 5718, Yachid V’Tzibbur, and Vi Azoi Darf ah Yid Davenen? (How should a Jew Pray?).
As is well known, the Rav was a candidate for the chief rabbinate of Tel Aviv back in the 1930s. His rival, who eventually won the election, was Rav Moshe Avigdor Amiel, who was a master darshan. I confess to have “fetched” many of my sermons for this season from the deep wellspring of his Derashot el Ami. I know that many of my younger colleagues are unaware of this treasure, and hope that I am successful in publicizing it more widely.
I have had the great fortune in my own education to have had the benefit of exposure to both “Lithuanian” Mussar and Chassidish influences. As one sample of each of these sources I recommend the volume of Kitvei HaSaba MiKelm on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and a new work introducing the thought of the “Berditchaver”, L’Or Kedushat Levi, written by Abraham Veinrot, and published by Feldheim.
Some Chomer Lidrush ideas (please email me if you one you’d like to add!)
- Parsha HaMelech. The Ohr HaChaim deals with the inconsistency surrounding wanting a king (the ambiguity in Parshas HaMelech as well as the machlokes in Sanhedrin), and suggests it depends on how Bnei Yisrael frame the ask for a king. A lot rides on perspective and the framing for our approach to how we ask questions.
- Eglah Arufah. The Sefer HaChinuch (531) comments on the prohibition of building in the valley where the eglah arufah ceremony took place. The Kli Yakar notes the smicha to the parsha of bal tashchis and notes the common thread: when someone dies or a when a tree is cut down, it means the loss of potential and possibility. One could tie this a directive about planting new trees, about not going “back to normal” ela re-imagining a “new normal,” or a number of other directions.
- Arei miklat. Rabbi Lamm’s drasha on Arei Miklat deals with the sin of thoughlessness. Very easy to tie back to intentional change.
- Elul. This project was initiated with an Elul mindset, and the options are boundless. Pick any parshan on L’David, a perek of Tehillim that focuses on emunah during hard times. Or you can relate to teshuva and growth, about real teshuva being about creating lasting habits.
- Click for a drasha prepared especially for this Shabbos by our chaver Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Schwartz.
Social Media
We are starting a social media campaign as well, encouraging people to post their (or their family’s) resolutions, then challenging two or three friends to do the same, with the hashtag #resolvetogether. You may find this a useful activity within the shul community as well. This push can come from the shul’s account or any individual leader’s account, and can take place in the days leading up to Shabbos as a forethought, or the week following as a “look what we did.”
An example post (for your favorite social platform):
Elul is coming and I’m taking part in Shabbat #ResolveTogether with the OU!
In the thick of lockdown, all I could focus on was every single thing I was worried about (everything!), but when the kids went to camp, I realized: we had dinner together as a family, every day, for the first time in ever. We #resolvetogether to keep that up and make that a part of who we are as a family.
I’m resolving to keep that up. @Ahuva, @Jerry, and @Ariel, what do you resolve?
(obviously with real accounts in the last line)
People have already begun using the hashtag to let us and their friends know that:
- They dress up for davening and generally take it more seriously
- They go on family walks every morning
- They picked up daf yomi and aren’t going back
We’d love to hear what your community comes up with!