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D'var Torah on Parashah T'tzaveh

Given by Sam Freedenberg on March 3, 2007 (13 Adar 5767 )
Kindling the Lamp...and Stepping Away

Shabbat Shalom,

This week's parsha, T'tzaveh, begins with instructions on the lighting of the Menorah in the Tabernacle, a tradition that we continue to this day with the ner tamid, the eternal light. V'atah t'tzaveh . . . "And you will command the children of Israel to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps continually." Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz, of the Jewish Theological Seminary, notes that on this verse Rashi quotes the Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 12a, as follows: "One must kindle the flame until it radiates and ascends upward by itself." "Kindling a lamp," says Rabbi Berkowitz, "is a mindful, deliberate action that requires patience and nurturing. The lamp is truly lit when it keeps burning after the kindler has stepped away."

"It keeps burning after the kindler has stepped away." What possible signficance could that have for us today, here at Tikvat Israel

There are many, many people in our synagogue who contribute their time and energy and knowledge to making this the wonderful congregation that it is. Nobody does it for glory or fame, but it is reasonable to hope that everyone will receive proper recognition in due time. Today, however, because of special circumstances, I would like to single out one person in our congregation who has been kindling a special lamp for us for many, many years, and who, in just a few months will, along with her husband and daughter, be stepping away from us--Cantor Terry Horowit.

Today is a special day for Terry and for those of us who read Torah here at Tikvat Israel. Today we heard the Torah read for the first time by members of Terry's final class of Torah trope students. Today is also the last day for which Terry assigned Torah readings--a job she has been doing with persistence and dedication for the last dozen years. With 54 parshiot read each year, and 8 readings per parasha, that is more than 5,000 Torah readings that Terry has assigned. And I'm not even counting the High Holiday readings and the marathon balagan readings on Simchat Torah, which she has also assigned. And of course Terry also reads Torah herself and serves as a Gabbai up on the bimah.

Starting next week a committee of four people--Mike Berman, Janaki Kuruppu, Rich Nisenson, and I--will be taking over this important responsibility that Terry is relinquishing. It is a testimony to her abilities that it will take four of us to do what she alone has done so well.

When our committee met with Terry in January to start learning the ropes of this job, she gave us each a list of the qualified Torah readers at Tikvat Israel. We were astonished to see that there were more than one hundred names on the list. These are people who have not only received Torah trope instruction from Terry and from other dedicated teachers in our congregation and elsewhere, but who have also committed to reading on a regular basis or specifically when needed. There are some in that group who initially signed up for Terry's class just to prepare for a reading at a child's bar or bat mitzvah, but who--motivated by Terry and others--ended up as regular readers.

All of us who read have stories about Terry, and all of us know that she is a stickler for detail. She gives criticism, but it is always, always constructive, positive criticism. She always pushes you to do better, to take on longer and more challenging readings, to do it right, and to have fun in the process. And it should be fun--it is not always easy, but it should never be a chore.

Someone has referred to our reading of the Torah as "the world's longest running weekly book club." We have Oprah beat by a couple of millennia in that department. The Torah has been central to our people since long before any of us were born, and it is safe to say that it will be central to Judaism after all of us here today are long gone. But while we are here, we have the responsibility to make it a living and relevant document for us and, I might add, to make our synagogue a "m'kom Torah"--a place of Torah. But it doesn't happen by itself, by magic. It takes people willing to teach it, willing to learn it, to read it, and to make sure that others are also caught up in it. We need, in short, people, people like Terry, to kindle the flame and to give it the patience and nurturing that it needs so that it will keep burning after we have stepped away.

Terry, we wish you, and Jim and Sharone, all the best in your future endeavors. You've helped to light a flame here at Tikvat Israel that burns brightly and that we promise will continue to do so. Yeeshar kochachem to you and Jim and Sharone. We thank you. Shabbat Shalom.

Thank you.

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