Kee Tavo 5768 - Rabbi Mark Diamond

A Blessing to One Another

Rabbi Mark S. Diamond
Executive Vice President
Board of Rabbis of Southern California

September 18, 2008 / 18 Elul 5768

Torah Portion: Kee Tavo ("When you enter…"), Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8

Haftarah Portion: Isaiah 60:1-22

[This Torah message is dedicated to a beloved colleague, Rabbi Levi Meier, zikhrono livrakha (of blessed memory), who died on July 13, 2008. Rabbi Meier was honored this week at a memorial service at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he served as Jewish Chaplain for three decades. Levi was a rabbi's rabbi, master teacher, counselor and leader in our community. He epitomized the finest ideals of the Jewish tradition--learning, healing, love of his fellow Jews and love for all people. Rabbi Meier's life and work reflected the Torah's mandate, "And be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2). May his memory remain a blessing and inspiration for all of us who were privileged to know him.]

This week's Torah portion has special meaning for me as I mark the anniversary of my Bar Mitzvah. I remember little of the ceremony and reception more than four decades ago. But I do know that I was fortunate to celebrate this milestone on a Sabbath with a great Torah portion. Among the highlights of the parashah are ceremonies and liturgical declarations of first-fruits and tithing, a ceremony marking the Israelites entrance into the land of Israel, and a lengthy set of curses offset by a shorter set of blessings.

Two verses from the parashah resonate in my own heart and mind:

"Blessed shall you be in the city,

And blessed shall you be in the country...

Blessed shall you be in your comings,

And blessed shall you be in your goings."

(Deuteronomy 28:3, 6)

What does it mean to be blessed in urban and rural settings? How are we to receive and convey blessings when we enter and leave our homes, workplaces, synagogues, schools and other institutions? The editors of the Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary offer these insights based upon a passage in the Talmud:

"Blessed shall you be in the city." May your home be in a good neighborhood, close to the synagogue, surrounded by good neighbors. (Etz Hayim, p. 1149)

I feel fortunate to live in a good neighborhood close to several synagogues and other houses of worship. I am blessed with good neighbors who look out for and care about one another. Living in Los Angeles, our diverse neighborhoods and community represent a potpourri of races, cultures, religions and nationalities. Being a good neighbor can be challenging, especially when your neighbors' customs, habits and lifestyle differ from your own. Perhaps this is the reason why the famous exhortation "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18) is considered one of the greatest and most difficult mitzvot of interpersonal relations.

Last week I had the privilege of touring A Blessing to One Another, a new exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center. The exhibition chronicles the warm and close ties between the late Pope John Paul II and the Jewish people. A Blessing to One Another takes us in four sections from the Pope's childhood days in pre-war Poland, through the Nazi occupation of Poland and horrors of the Holocaust, to the Pope's post-war career as priest, bishop and cardinal, and finally to his elevation as the first non-Italian pope since the sixteenth century.

I was especially moved by Karol Wojtyla's childhood friendship with a Jewish boy named Jerzy Kluger. Their hometown of Wadowice, Poland was 80% Catholic and 20% Jewish, and the Wojtyla and Kluger families fostered and encouraged their sons' close friendship. Jerzy and Karol remained lifelong friends, and their relationship strengthened when Kluger settled in Rome and Wojtyla later became Pope John Paul II. The exhibition offer vivid testimony to the awesome and unpredictable power of the relations we nurture with our friends, neighbors, co-workers and others in our midst. A Blessing to One Another reminds us that we change hearts and minds one relationship at a time. In so doing, we change the world.

As the professional head of the Board of Rabbis, I feel especially blessed to play a role in strengthening the bonds between the Catholic and Jewish faith communities. We take pride in rabbi-priest dialogues and study seminars, the Federation's Holy Land Democracy Project in Catholic schools, joint exhibitions of Christian and Jewish art at the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels, a kosher Passover seder for Jewish and Catholic clergy and laity, interfaith missions to the Vatican and Israel, and much more. Forty-three years after the seminal Nostra Aetate proclamation of the Second Vatican Council, we celebrate the remarkable progress in our interfaith relations, even as we anticipate the challenges that lie ahead.

A Blessing to One Another is an important and timely exhibit marking key chapters in the history of Jewish-Catholic relations. It is especially noteworthy in our multi-faith and multi-cultural Los Angeles community. A Blessing to One Another runs through January 4, 2009 at the Skirball Cultural Center. For further information, see www.skirball.org.