Hakol FEB-MARCH 2011 rfs.pdf - Bethtikvahtoronto.org

PRESIDENT’S
COLUMN
By Maurice Kulik
When the Rabbi
Leaves
This piece was written during the
week of Parshat Va’Era. In the parsha
we learn God tells Moshe that
He is going to give the land of Israel to the
Jewish people.. “Venatati Otah Lahem
Morasha…”, I will give it to you as a heritage,…..”
The word morasha appears two
times in the Torah. Later, in V’zot
Habraha, we learn that the Torah was given
to Moshe as a morasha – “Torah Tziva
Lanu Moshe Morasha Kehilat Yaakov….”
Our sages and scholars have struggled about
the interpretation of the word morasha as it
appears in the two places of our Torah. Is
the meaning intended, inheritance or heritage;
if so, why, the use of the word morasha
and not yerusha? From the many commentators
on these phrases we learn the important
difference and purpose for these words here.
Rashi teaches that the significance of
morasha is as something we have been given
to hold on to, to nurture, and never to
abandon. Morasha is the obligation, such as
the land of Israel or the Torah which must
be shared from one generation to the next.
The inheritor receives a yerusha without specific
direction for its future disposition. The
land of Israel and our Torah each must be
nurtured and sustained by every generation,
to be passed on to the next generation, to be
cared for and protected forever. How we
accept our obligation of Eretz Israel and our
Torah will determine whether ours is a
morasha or simply a yerusha.
Rabbi Allen has served Beth Tikvah
Synagogue with high distinction for more
that 23 years. He will leave Beth Tikvah at
the end of his current 18 months sabbatical.
He is a respected scholar in our congregation
and the community. Rabbi Allen led
us to a greater commitment to God, Torah,
and Eretz Israel.
As our Mara d’Atra, his philosophical commitment
is to principle not rigidity. He is a
wonderful teacher at all levels of educational
background. Those of us who have had
the good fortune to study with him continue
to marvel at the ease and breadth of his
access to a multitude of sources both
ancient and modern. Helping with the
publication of the Rabbi Allen’s book of
responsa, “Perspectives on Jewish Law and
Contemporary Issues”, is one of the highlights
of my 25 years as a volunteer at Beth
Tikvah.
We bask in the praise the community has
lavished on our spiritual leader. His work
with conversion classes has brought Torah
and Jewish observance into lives of more
that 350 men and women. Rabbi Allen
brought comfort to the ill and bereaved,
happiness at hundreds of smachot, and
meaning and purpose to the many seeking
guidance.
In balancing between halaha and the needs
of a diverse congregation, Rabbi Allen dealt
with difficult issues. He engaged in dialogue
with our volunteers and congregants,
always with careful consideration of both
reason and passion and with a study of
halahic sources to arrive at a decision.
We will continue to take pride in our
Rabbi’s accomplishment as he begins a
number of new projects in the community,
to teach, to write and to plan the development
of a much needed Canadian rabbinical
school at the University of Toronto.
As our Rabbi leaves, we must accept the
responsibility to abide by his guiding principles
as both a yerusha and morasha. We
will inherit Rabbi Allen’s teaching on the
principles of Jewish life and observance. We
will nurture his initiatives in education at
all levels for our members and in the community.
His love of music and in particular
the music of our composer Srul Irving
Glick, z”l, will continue to be our everlasting
legacy.
We will bring Beth Tikvah’s legacies within
easy reach of our children and young
adults. Rabbi Allen’s dedication to the
needs of our youth will serve as our planning
goals for the future.
We expect that two rabbis will serve Beth
Tikvah to respond to the full range of current
and future spiritual and educational
needs of our members. To begin the evaluation
of our staffing needs and ritual direction,
I have appointed a Transition
Committee staffed by about 16 members
of the congregation with specific awareness
in synagogue areas of interest including,
ritual, education, youth and young families,
music, business management, long
range planning and fundraising.
The mandate of the Transition Committee
is to consult the membership about the
expectations, needs, and hopes for our
synagogue in the near future. At the
completion of its mandate, the Transition
Committee will deliver a series of recommendations
for the future direction of our
synagogue. The recommendation of the
Transition Committee, if approved, will be
adopted by our Board of Governors as a
plan of action for the future spiritual
staffing and orientation at Beth Tikvah.
Although we can and should expect some
changes at Beth Tikvah as we try to accommodate
the future mandate of our synagogue,
we will always be sensitive to the
morasha of the principles of our tradition
entrusted to us by our teachers and spiritual
leaders.
I invite the participation and advice of our
members in these important deliberations
for the future of our Beth Tikvah, for us
and for our future generations.
Please share your thoughts with me at
maurice@bethtikvahtoronto.org
Hakol - Feb/Mar 2001
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