Shalom Belsize Square Synagogue,

I am writing this message while still in isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and hope that perhaps during the span of this Our Congregation, we will be able to return to our normal routines, open the doors of the synagogue and share time together.

Around this time we mark some crucial historical moments in the life of the Jewish people, beginning with Yom Hazikaron (Day of Remembrance for the fallen soldiers of the state of Israel and victims of terror) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day). Those are followed by Yom Yerushalayim, the celebration of the capital of the Jewish people since the time of King David. This year we celebrate on 22 May. The reunification of the city enabled our people to rebuild the Jewish Quarter in the Old City and tear down the barbed wire and barriers that kept us from the Kotel (Western Wall). Now the city is home to all three monotheistic faiths, a city undivided and free.

Then, on 28-30 May, we will be celebrating the holiday of Shavuot, Matan Torateinu, ‘Giving of the Torah’. The purpose of the Exodus from Egypt was to enable the Jewish people to receive the Torah from God and become a ‘light unto the nations’ (Isaiah 2).

I have had some memorable opportunities these past few weeks while in isolation to engage in some interesting discussions regarding the state of Israel. Thank you to those of you who wrote me such wonderful notes on the subject. I want to let you know why I am a passionate Zionist and devoted to the cause of ‘ahavat Yisrael’ the love of Israel. I was raised in a wonderful Jewish home in Los Angeles,where Israel was core to our very existence. My parents were very involved in Zionist causes. My mother was president of her Eilat Hadassah group for more than 20 years; my father was involved in every Zionist organisation in the Los Angeles area.

My great-great-uncle Samuel Altshuler in Kaluga, Belarus, was among those early halutzim (pioneers) to go to the malaria-infested, Ottoman Empire-controlled Eretz Yisrael in the 1880s. After the great pogroms unleashed by the assassination of Alexander II, and the publication of Auto-Emancipation, a pamphlet by Dr Leo Pinsker arguing for Jewish self-determination, the Zionist movement began to form in this region. Samuel went with four other families and were the first settlers in a place they named Rehovot, today a city of 135,000 people. Mr Altshuler bought land that no one else wanted, paid a steep price to corrupt Ottoman absentee landowners, and planted orange trees there. Those orange groves still exist today.

According to our family history, when Theodor Herzl visited the area on his only visit to Eretz Yisrael in October 1898, he heard Hatikvah for the first time, sung for him by none other than Samuel Altshuler. Herzl loved it and immediately adopted it as the Zionist movement’s anthem. I still get chills each time I sing Hatikvah.

My cousin, Nakdimon Altshuler, was born in 1886, in Rehovot and continued the work of his father in planting orange trees. I had the chance to meet the elderly Nakdimon when I was a rabbinical student in 1977, and what a character he was! He prided himself on having only one suit, one pair of trousers, one pair of shoes: ‘That’s all I need, that’s all we needed, we were building a nation.’

Nakdimon’s son, Gideon, and Rutie and their five daughters showed me what a miraculous place Israel is and the sweat and labour that went into building it. My cousin Mor Altshuler was a scholar of Jewish Thought. My cousin Gideon, a highly decorated veteran of Israel’s wars of 1948, 1967 and 1973, was Ariel Sharon’s second in command, putting into action all of General Sharon’s orders, including the daring surrounding of Egyptian troops that brought an end to the Yom Kippur War in 1973. I will never forget this bravery and it is embedded in my soul to this day.

My daughter Elana Rahel was born in Jerusalem, probably the first Altshuler from our side of the family born in Israel since our family left Judea in 70 CE. My son Eitan Meir lived in Israel for seven years and now, having received his Master’s degree in the US, is moving back. By the way, on my daughter’s birth certificate issued by the United States Consulate in 1978, the location of her birth was given as ‘Jerusalem’ only – at that time, the US did not recognise that Jerusalem was a part of Israel. It still hurts, but thankfully as we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim this year, not only does the US recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, it now has not a Consulate in Jerusalem but its Embassy.

Yom Ha-Atzmaut Sameach to all of us. Israel’s birth, and her incredible story of existence, is perhaps the greatest miracle of all Jewish history. I cherish it and wanted to share why. I hope you are staying well during this coronavirus plague and that we will be back together as a community in our beautiful synagogue soon.

Yours in shalom,

Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

Dear Friends,
This is an unusual time in our lives, living under conditions and circumstances we have never before experienced. It brings back memories of historic periods when the world suffered epidemics like the Black Death caused by bubonic plague, smallpox, Spanish flu, typhoid, all of which wiped out masses of the world population. And we Jews were blamed in practically every natural disaster for bringing plague upon the world, even though we suffered along with everyone else.

Thankfully we are no longer living in the Middle Ages and our medical awareness, facilities, medicines and physicians, imperfect as they are, are far better than what was available to our ancestors. Plagues like this have occurred throughout history, which does not mean that we can be complacent. Our insecurity in the face of the unknown is real but humanity has faced these things many times before. Here is my advice, and I thank you for your patience for this unusually long News From The Square, mainly because I will not have much of a chance to see most of you in the coming weeks. So first, the practical advice from your rabbi:

1) Know the facts and stay away from rumours. There are some very good websites for accurate information. There is an enormous amount of panic now and much erroneous information out there. These rumours do not help. Get advice from people you trust the most, especially medical and psychiatric professionals.

2) Practice all the essential hygienic and respiratory self-care. Wash your hands often, keep a safe distance from people you meet by arrangement or bump into.

3) Stay connected. The emotional factor here is so important. We have the phone, facebook (social media, which I normally dread), texting, emailing and other links. We have to learn different ways to break the isolation we can feel when alone. I personally have never talked so much with my children and the rest of my family since this all began, and it is a great source of strength to me.

4) Get in Touch with Nature. Make sure you go for walks, but away from other people, avoiding crowds. We all need the neurotransmitters in our brains to feel the sun at our backs and the wind in our faces. The endorphins, as I have read, make us more buoyant, which is incredibly important for our physical and mental well-being. They are restorative, especially when we are under such stress.

5) Reach out to professionals, even your rabbi, if you are having a difficult time. This is not the time to keep it all inside. Sometimes just speaking with someone you trust is enough.

6) Stay kind. Chesed, kindness goes a long way. At this time of social distancing, we need to be less judgmental of others. We are all in this together.

Which leads me to the second part, Jewish Responses:

1) Pray while you are at home, it’s good to soothe the soul. When Jacob was going to meet his brother Esau, expecting his brother to be ready to murder him, yitzaku el Adonai – he cried out to God. Do it, let your words rise up to Heaven.

2) Jewish Unity – Kol Yisrael arevim seh ba’zeh. Our rabbis teach us that “All Israel is responsible for one another”. This value of Jewish responsibility and unity has been our people’s strength in every crisis and will continue to be. We are in this as one, finding ways every day to help each other. In this Shabbat’s Torah portion, Vayakhel-Pikudei, Moses gathers all the people as one and reiterates the details of the building of the Mishkan, theTabernacle. Despite our differences throughout history, in times of crisis we come together – Orthodox, Reform, Masori, atheist, agnostic, old and young.

3) We are also in the same human boat. The story is told in the Talmud that the great Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was in a boat with other passengers and noticed one of them drilling a hole through the boat. The Rabbi asked why he was doing that and the man replied: “I needed to drill a hole”, totally unmindful of anyone else in that boat. The Rabbi cried out, “You are sinking us all! Stop at once!” It reminds us that the world is like Noah’s Ark, one boat, and we realise more and more that we are one human family who must fight this scourge together.

4) No one is left behind here, young or old. In the twelfth chapter of Numbers, where Miriam is recovering from skin disease, the Torah says: “The people did not march until she had recovered. “Saving ourselves is not enough.  We must ensure that we take measures to ensure the health and safety of all around us.

5) Talk to each other, as I mentioned above. This is a Jewish ethic from the book of Proverbs: D’aga balev ish yesh chana. (Proverbs 12:25: If there is anxiety in a person’s heart, give him kindness.) In other words, the more we share with others, the less anxiety there will be.

6) The last “Jewish” ethic here is the most important, symbolised by this coming Shabbat Hachodesh, the Sabbath for the month of Nisan, the month of Passover. The word chodesh in Hebrew means renewal, a fresh start, which is what Passover is all about – springtime, greenery, a new reading of history and hope for the future. Psalm 27 tells us: Chazak v’ya’amatz libecha, Let your heart be strong and courageous –  and put your hope in God. Strength and courage are needed. A Jew is never allowed to lose conviction, courage and ultimately hope.

Synagogue life will be quieter than usual but that does not stop our Judaism and practice of faith at home, to pray, study and celebrate Shabbat with our families. We will emerge from this all the stronger, perhaps lighting those candles in our homes to make us realise that the heart of our Jewish identities resides in our homes. We use two yuds in our prayer books to signify the Name of God and the Sages asked: “Why two yuds?” Because it is the last letter of the first word and first letter of the second word in the phrase B’nei Yisrael, the People of Israel.

There are better days ahead, God knows, and our synagogue will again ring with beautiful voices in prayer, learning, and joy.

My wishes to you all for a Shabbat of peace and blessing,

Rabbi Altshuler

What is Judaism? My teacher in Talmud and co-signatory of my rabbinical ordination diploma, Rabbi Dr Saul Lieberman z”l, perhaps the foremost talmudist of the 20th century, was interviewed by Time Magazine in the 1970s in his office, crowded with books. Asked if he really knew all these books, he replied: “Test me.”

The reporter pulled out two books at random and held up the text. The Rabbi’s immediate response to the first was: “12th-century Rabbi Eliezer of Lublin’s commentary on the talmudic tractate of Ketubot, a pearl of wisdom.W His enthusiastic response to the next was: “A 6th-century compilation of talmudic commentary, rare and hard to comprehend, but one of our earliest sources of post-talmudic wisdom.”

Impressed, the reporter said: “I can see you treat these authors and books as classroom mates. It is as if you see Judaism as a conversation between generations.” Saul Lieberman responded: “Young man, that is the best definition of Judaism I have heard. A conversation between generations is exactly what Judaism does.”

That story has influenced my own understanding of Judaism. When I open a page of any sacred Jewish text, I feel I am communicating with tens of generations before me. So I would like to share with you a brief rundown of our most sacred books. After all, we are Am Hasefer, the People of the Book.

1. Torah means Instruction, not Law. The Five Books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy – are our foundation stone, read every Shabbat and Festival.
2. Tanach, Hebrew Scripture, the threefold division of our Bible, written in Hebrew. The word Tanach is made up of TA – Torah, the Five Books; NA – Nevi’im, the Prophets, from Joshua to the last prophet, Malachi; CH—Ketuvim, the Writings, including Psalms, Proverbs, Esther, Jonah, Lamentations, Song of Songs. We do not call it the Old Testament. That is a Christian term for Hebrew Scripture. For us, there is no “old” Scripture leading to a “new” one.
3. Apocryphal Literature: all those books written in antiquity that did not make the canon of Hebrew Scripture, such as the books of Maccabees, Judith, Tobit, Jubilees and other treasures of the Jewish past such as, for some, the Dead Sea Scrolls.
4. Philo of Alexandria, first-century BCE philosopher and Josephus, the first century CE historian. Both are important historical resources from the turn of the millennium 2,000 years ago.
5. Mishnah, meaning “teaching”, refers to the Oral Law, finally written down in Hebrew by Rabbi Yehudah, known as HaNasi (the Prince), around 200 CE. The Mishnah is the first code of Jewish law and contains some of the earliest texts of our rabbis who shaped the Judaism still practised today. For example, the Mishnah says it is the woman’s obligation to light Shabbat candles in the home. There is no reference to this in the Torah.
6. Talmud/Gemara: once the Mishnah was put into writing, the Jews who had stayed behind in Babylonia pored over its words. Gemara, Aramaic for “learning”, covers rabbinic discussion on virtually every facet of Jewish law and practice from 200 to about 550CE, when all 22 tractates were edited by the Saboraim. The earlier “lesser” Jerusalem Talmud, still an important text, also combines Mishnah and rabbinic views.
7. Rashi, Tosefta/Tosafot: later commentaries (literally, additions) with Rashi (11th century France) the supreme master. He created his own commentators, the Tosafot (Hebrew term) and Tosefta (Babylonian).
8. Codes of Jewish Law: the Mishneh Torah (Maimonides’ late 12th-century “Torah Repetition”) and Shulchan Aruch (Joseph Caro’s mid-16th-century “Setout Table”) helping people apply Jewish law in a different environment. Maimonides’ codified Jewish law was a master work. Rabbi Caro of Safed’s comprehensive code is still referred to.

With ever-changing circumstances, the conversation between generations never stops. May we hand it on to the next generation! Wishing you all a joyous and healthy winter and a wonderful beginning to the third decade of the 21st century.

Rabbi Stuart Altshuler