My Bed Rest Reading List

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Have you ever had extended time to recover from an injury or illness? Did you have any favorite books you read?

When I had my 40-day bed rest in 2017, I decided I was not going to watch any TV or movies, and just read, write, and meditate. I posted the enclosed message on my Facebook page and simply asked my friends if they had any book suggestions. I did not explain anything about the personal and professional turmoil I was going through. It just so happened that all of the books my friends recommended helped me with my inner search and desire for personal growth. It was a unique experience to fully surrender my mental stimulation into the book recommendations of others. It truly was a gift and a blessing. I am so grateful to my friends for each suggestion.

Andy Facebook post Surgery
My goal is to highlight certain elements of each book not create a synopsis, but rather a brief glimpse and taste of each book so you can decide whether to read them.

Reading all of these books in a 40-day period truly transformed my outlook on life and has given me invaluable insight into the search for unconditional happiness. I  hope you can also learn and explore your personal journey.

Lessons from Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse – first published in 1951

“When someone is seeking,” said Siddhartha, “it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal.” (p. 140)

The River Metaphor: “When Siddhartha listened attentively to this river, to this song of a thousand voices; when he did not listen to the sorrow or laughter, when he did not bind his soul to any one particular voice and absorb it in his Self, but heard them all, the whole, the unity; then the great song of a thousand voices consisted of one word: Om – perfection.” (p. 138)

Lessons from Kai by Anne Marie Bennstrom – first published in 2013

“Creation is constantly adapting and refining itself. Everything that has a beginning also has an end, and every end is also a new beginning, and between these two polarities, life unfolds its destiny.” (p. 12)

“Life is a journey of discovery, of making known what we do not yet know, and of using all our inner tools of knowingness to guide us along our path until we arrive at the place where everything finally makes sense, and from that place we can see our journey in a greater light of understanding, and that understanding will be the launch pad for another journey of discovery…”

Lessons from The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff – first published in 1982

Knowledge and Experience do not necessarily speak the same language

“Rabbit’s clever” said Pooh thoughtfully.

“Yes,” said Piglet “Rabbit’s clever.”

“And he has Brain.”

“Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit has Brain.”

“I suppose,” said Pooh, “that that’s why he never understands anything.” (p. 15)

“How did Rabbit describe the situation with Owl? Oh, here it is:

You can’t help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn’t spell it right; but spelling isn’t everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn’t count.”

The Lessons of Bisy Backson

“The Bisy Backson is almost desperately active. If you ask him what his Life Interests are, he will give you a list of Physical Activities, such as: “Skydiving, tennis, jogging, racquet-ball, skiing, swimming, and water-skiing” …Therefore he confuses exercise with work. He works when he works, works when he exercises, and more often than not, works when he plays, work, work, work. All work and no play makes Backson a dull boy. Keep up for long enough, it makes him dead, too!

Chuang-tse described the concept of Bisy Backson in this way:

“There was a man who disliked seeing his footprints and his shadow. He decided to escape from them, and began to run. But as he ran along, more footprints appeared, while his shadow easily kept up with him. Thinking he was going too slowly, he ran faster and faster without stopping, until he finally collapsed from exhaustion and died.

If he had stood still, there would have been no footprints. If he had rested in the shade, his shadow would have disappeared.”

“The honey doesn’t taste so good once it is being eaten; the goal doesn’t mean so much once it is reached…if we add up all the rewards in our lives, we don’t have very much. But if we add up the space between the rewards, we’ll come up with quite a bit. And if we add up the rewards and the space, then we’ll have everything – every minute of the time that we spent. What if we could enjoy it? Enjoyment of the process is the secret that erases the myths of the Great Reward and Saving Time.”

Going Nowhere and Doing Nothing:

“Where are we going?” said Pooh, hurrying after Christopher Robin.

“Nowhere, “ said Christopher Robin.

So they began going there, and after they had walked a little way Christopher Robin said:

“What I like doing best is Nothing.”

“How do you do Nothing?” Asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long time.

“Well, it’s when people call out at you just as you’re going off to do it, what are you going to do, Christopher Robin, and you say “Oh, nothing, and then you go and do it.”

“Oh I see,” said Pooh.

“This is a nothing sort of thing that we’re doing now.”

“Oh, I see” said Pooh again.

“It means just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”

Lessons from The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel – first published in 1951

Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time – “and God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world” (p. 10)

“Labor is a craft, but perfect rest is an art” (p. 14)

“Unlike the Day of Atonement, the Sabbath is not dedicated exclusively to spiritual goals. It is a day of the soul as well as of the body; comfort and pleasure are an integral part of the Sabbath observance. The Sabbath is a reminder of the two worlds –this world and the world to come; it is an example of both worlds. For the Sabbath is joy, holiness, and rest: joy is part of this world; holiness and rest are something of the world to come.” (p. 19)

“Shabbat is like a palace in time with a kingdom for all. It is not a date but an atmosphere…How precious is Succot! Dwelling in the succah, even our body is surrounded by the sanctity of the Mitzvah,” said once a rabbi to his friend. Whereupon the latter remarked: “The Sabbath Day is even more than that. On Succot, you may leave the Succah for a while, whereas the Sabbath surrounds you wherever you go.” (p. 21) The Sabbath itself is a sanctuary which we build, a sanctuary in time.”

Lessons from The Rise by Sarah Lewis – first published in 2014

Being Beaten doesn’t mean you are defeated

“We tell the story of Muhammed Ali’s eighth-round win against George Foreman that night in Kinshasa, Zaire, even though we know how it ends, for while it happened, no one could see it. Ali upset most of the 60,000 person crowd who favored him as he spent the first seven rounds, 180 seconds long each, leaning against the ropes while enduring brutal frontal attacks from Foreman, known to have bored a hole in his practice punching bag. No amount of screaming from his trainers could get Ali off the ropes, never mind the shouting of those sitting near the ring, from George Plimpton to Norman Mailer — counting how many righthand leads Ali took, and remembering how Ali, being pummeled still managed to whisper to Foreman in the seventh round “Is that all you got George?” yet no one but the fighters in the ring could sense it—there is a difference being beaten and strengthened, for as it appends, it is hard to perceive” (p. 11)

“The gift of failure is a riddle” (p. 198)

“From the wisdom in 17th century poet and Samurai Mizata Masahide’s haiku:
‘My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon”

Lessons from Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach – first published in 2003

Many people have told me that when they finally are able to see how long their life has been imprisoned by self-hatred and shame, they feel not only grief but also a sense of life-giving hope. Like waking up from a bad dream, when we can see our prison, we also see our potential.

When we learn to cultivate Radical Acceptance, we begin to rediscover the garden (of Eden) – a forgotten but cherished sense of wholeness, wakefulness and love.”

Clearly recognizing what is happening inside us, and regarding what we see with an open, kind and loving heart, is what I call “Radical Acceptance.”

The image of the Buddha seated under the bodhi tree is one of the great mythic symbols depicting the power of the pause.

Until we stop our mental busyness, stop our endless activities, we have no way of knowing our actual experience.

When we are not consumed by blaming and turning on ourselves or others, we are free to cultivate our talents and gifts together, to contribute them to the world in service. We are free to love each other, and the whole of life, without holding back. (p. 271)

Lessons from The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer – first published in 2007

“What you’ll find is that the only thing you really want from life is to feel enthusiasm, joy, and love. If you can feel that all the time, then who cares what happens outside?” (p.46)

“In the yogic tradition, that unfinished energy pattern is called a Samskara. This is a Sanskrit word meaning “impression,” and in the yogic teachings it is considered one of the most important influences affecting your life. A Samskara is a blockage, an impression from the past. It’s an unfinished energy pattern that ends up running your life” (p.53)

“A wise person remains centered enough to let go every time the energy shifts into a defensive mode” (p. 65)

“The spiritual journey is one of constant transformation. In order to grow, you must give up the struggle to remain the same, and learn to embrace change at all times. One of the most important areas requiring change is how we solve our personal problems. We normally attempt to solve our inner disturbances by protecting ourselves. Real transformation begins when you embrace your problems as agents for growth.” (p. 81)

“Spirituality begins when you decide that you’ll never stop trying. Spirituality is the commitment to go beyond, no matter what it takes. It’s an infinite journey based upon going beyond yourself every minute of every day for the rest of your life.”

Lessons from Our Pristine Mind by Orgyen Chowang – first published in 2016

“It is most important that our mind be relaxed and calm, fresh and open. Then we appreciate and enjoy everything, and we feel gratitude.” (p. 39)

Orgyen explains how reaching an enlightened state through meditation is like the journey of an airplane. There is a lot of effort at the takeoff, then a little turbulence of the ascent, then you finally reach cruising altitude when everything seems still, calm, and quiet. (p. 44)

Orgyen explains the concept of short-term mental events becoming illusions. While our permanent happiness is independent of our short-term events, nevertheless, we often get so caught up in reacting to the short-term events. (p. 69)

“It is like a mirage in the desert. Circumstances of heat, light, distance and the way we perceive things create a vision of a distant oasis with water and green trees, but when we reach it, the oasis is not there because our viewpoint, our perception has changed. It was an illusion.”

Orgyen explains that meditation is “just like a bird that leaves no trace in its flight through the sky, abide in your natural mind in the same way.” (p. 133). This reminds me of one of my favorite Japanese expressions. “Tobu Tori ato nigosazu” a flying bird leaves no trace.

Orgyen writes (p. 159)

“The joy of meditation is realization that is free from mental events, distractions, and dullness of mind.

The joy of compassion is impartiality free from bias or prejudice.

The joy of experience is one’s own Pristine Mind, free from distortions.

The joy of generosity is freedom from the grasp of attachment and expectation.

The joy of wealth is to realize that all possessions are illusions.

If you know your own true nature, there’s no restlessness.

This is effortless joy.”

 

Shabbat Discussion Questions

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HOLY:
Why is the first thing in the Bible which is called “Holy”, Shabbat?

Torah Scroll

A leather made scroll of Megilat Esther

  • Nothing created in the first six days of creation is called Holy. Even human beings. Of all God’s Creations, only Shabbat is called holy.
  • How have you experienced the holiness in the Sabbath?

STOPPING:
Shabbat means to stop. Why is neither stopping and resting nor anything we do or even God does the first thing that is called Holy?

Stop
  • What does it mean to stop and rest and be with God? When have you truly stopped? What did you discover?

SET APART:
Why is it that time, specifically stopping in time, the first thing that is set apart for God?

  • Quick reminder: Kadosh-Holy means something set apart for God.
  • What have you set apart in your life to create meaning and spiritual connection? Is there a special place you visit? Or a family routine that is sacred in your life?

REST:
Shabbat is a Day of Rest and Kedusha/Sanctity. Is it enough to “rest” and “refrain” from doing things on Shabbat? Suppose you do nothing all Shabbat – just eat and sleep. Have you celebrated Shabbat?

Shabbat Candles
  • Genesis 2:3 says “God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy.” And the Ten Commandments tell us “to keep it [Shabbat] holy.”
  • How can we live in Shabbat? How can we feel holiness on Shabbat? 

STARTING TO STOP:
How do you prepare to stop on Shabbat?

Shabbat

  • The experience of stopping for Shabbat is not like screeching to a stop at a red traffic light. You need to prepare to stop. Truly experiencing the holiness of Shabbat requires preparation and planning to allow for your sacred time and space of Shabbat.
  • How have you prepared to stop? What do you need to do in advance so that you can truly do nothing?

SHABBAT IN THE MODERN WORLD
Do we need Shabbat any longer, when we have weekends and days off? Does the Biblical calendar of Shabbat still resonate meaning in our modern, always-connected life?

Weekend
  • What activities might you consider NOT doing on Shabbat in the modern world? Would not doing them restrict you or “liberate” you?  Is there value to making this a routine part of your life? What would you do to make it special? What about a traditional Shabbat appeals to you?  What might you add?

SHABBAT IN ISRAEL

Western Wall

  • Have you spent Shabbat in Israel? Have you ever experienced Shabbat in Jerusalem? How was it different? How did being in Jerusalem enhance the holiness of Shabbat?

FOOD ON SHABBAT
Food is very important on Shabbat and we are expected to have three meals.

Challah
  • Are there foods that are special for you on Shabbat? Would you feel right eating them any day of the week? Besides the food, is there something you would especially want for the Shabbat table?

 

 

 

 

 

Praying in Salonica

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by Eswar Priyadarshan

Minyan

Our phones told us we were within 50 feet of the synagogue, but we could not find it. It was a busy street, with shops and restaurants open in the middle of the day, but no synagogue. Google Maps had pictures of a darkened passageway as a helpful hint, so we switched modes and walked back and forth, looking for a dark passage rather than a door or a sign. We finally found an awning and a passage similar to the picture and walked in.

Yad Lezikaron Synagogue

Google Maps photograph of the Yad Lezikaron Synagogue in Thessaloniki (Salonica) – the dark passageway entrance is to the left of the awning.

There was a phone booth to the right, with someone seated in it as though it was their permanent daytime spot. A door to the left, with a sign in Greek that had the word “Thessaloniki” in Cyrillic and the word “NAZI” in English. We peered around, ready to withdraw given the sign, but then the door opened and a young bearded man in a dark suit and hat walked out. He looked at my wife and I and said “Hello” in Hebrew. My wife said “Hello” right back and asked if this was the synagogue and if he was the Rabbi. Yes, to both. She asked if or when we could come back for services because we needed to say kaddish. “4 PM,” he said, and left out onto the busy street.

We wandered around downtown Thessaloniki, the city in Greece that used to be called Salonica in its Jewish heyday. It has its own ancient Hagia Sophia church, as old as Christianity itself, with the colors and architecture of Greek Orthodoxy within and crazy graffiti spray painted without. The church began as a Byzantine monument, was converted to a mosque and then back to a church again.

Old Church Salonica

The old church turned mosque turned church.

There’s a waterfront promenade along the Aegean Sea, with water as dirty as Boston Harbor in its toxic prime. And there’s a stone tower, the favorite lock-em-up spot for whomever ruled the city in whatever era – archaic, Hellenic, Byzantine, Roman, Crusader and Ottoman.

The White Tower Salonica

The White Tower along the waterfront.

We returned at 4pm. There was now another bearded guy up front at the door. He was your basic Israeli badass – requesting our names and passports, asking why were we in town and why we were visiting the synagogue, opening our bags and taking everything out – no please or thank you, just a very serious focus on making sure we meant no harm. We passed inspection and walked in the door.

There was a large map on the wall indicating the 57 synagogues of Salonica. There are only 2 remaining – the one we stood in and one other, which opens only during the High Holy Days. My wife first went upstairs and was quickly shooed back down to a small curtained partition on the ground floor. I sat in the main area with two other men and we waited for a minyan. Men and women trickled in – the men were mostly in their 60s on up. We continued to wait – I wondered if they would count me in the minyan count of 10 men.

Yad Lezikaron synagogue

The interior of the Yad Lezikaron synagogue.

I marveled at the beauty of the interior, especially relative to the busy, average street and the nondescript passageway leading to a room next to a phone booth.

We reached 10, including me, and we still waited. It was clear that the definition of 10 in this group meant 10 people known to one another. Eventually, one more man walked in and the oldest of the groups began the program. The Rabbi eventually arrived around 4:45pm and took control.

He stopped abruptly, looked at me and asked if I/we still wanted to say kaddish. “My wife”, I started to say. “Only men”, he said.

I was on alert. My wife seemed to be in deep conversation with one of the ladies – I wondered if it was in English, Hebrew or rudimentary Greek since she (my wife) has the uncanny ability to scoop up languages on the fly.

The service continued. The Rabbi stopped again.

“Now?”, he said to me. “For my wife’s mother…”, I began to say. “Only men now”, he said. I have been attending Jewish services for 20 years yet I realized how little I knew of things a Jew would know naturally.

Finally, another, “Now”, from the rabbi. I said my wife’s mother’s name, “Sandra Kass”.

“Katz?”, he said. “No, Kass”, I said. He looked puzzled because Katz fit perfectly and Kass was probably another one of my stumbles.

A man behind me snorted and started to walk out at this back and forth. My obvious ignorance and the Rabbi accommodating me had really offended him. The Rabbi stopped and lectured the man in Greek, probably about the importance of treating a stranger as one of your own. The offended one returned to his seat.

The gentleman seated closest to me came over with his book and walked me through the Kaddish line-by-line – I was very moved by his gesture. I was briefly a member of this small community, embraced and participating despite my awkwardness. I was touched by a universal grace.

Memory

Thessaloniki is an old city in Macedonia. It was founded in 315 BCE by Cassandra of Macedonia, who named the city for his wife Thessalonica, the half-sister of Alexander the Great. It has seen every kind of movement toward civilization and backslide towards catastrophe that you can imagine (including a great fire that destroyed most of the city in 1917). It’s a poor city in a poor country, made poorer and more on the edge by being a gateway from the Balkans to Europe. While you notice an absence of young people in Europe in general, you really notice the absence in Thessaloniki.

The first Jewish refugees in Salonica arrived from Palestine and Alexandria from 145-135 BCE. The Jewish community grew over the centuries and was by no means homogenous. The Greek Jews drew their traditions from the Palestinian Talmud while the European Jews drew from the Babylonian. They spoke Greek, Yiddish, Italian and finally Spanish from a massive influx of Sephardi expelled from Spain at time Columbus set sail for the New World.

Salonica Freedom Square

A Nazi officer humiliates Jews in Salonica’s Freedom Square.

Salonica had the largest Jewish population in Europe at one point. Close to 50,000 Jews lived in the city as of July 9, 1942. Two days later, there were virtually zero., The Nazis had rounded up all of the Jews, humiliated them in public and sent them from the train station to the concentration camps.

Salonica was aflame with Zionist zeal during the early 20th century. Zionism wasn’t just for the intellectuals, the idea cut across all sectors of Jewish society. Tel Aviv port was built by Jewish dock workers from Salonica. Fifteen landed from Salonica in the summer of 1933. A Zionist, socialist commentator saw them at work a month later and was amazed – they were the brawny, Jewish epitome of the Zionist dream.

“The Jews here spend their lives doing things even the Arabs can’t do back home. I stood on the docks and watched the ships being unloaded just as you’d told me. I spoke to the workers carrying the coal, and they were as blackened by it as the Egyptians from Port Said who work in Haifa. But the Thessalonikans are better workers.”
Isaac Molho, Thessalonikan Mariners in Israel – Vision and Fulfillment, p. 58 [Hebrew]

Salonican worker

A Salonican hauling oranges in Haifa Port, 1948.

Fast forward to today. You have to dig deep and do your own research to find evidence of the Jewish history in the city. There’s the small Jewish memorial museum and one other monument – a sculpture created in a local parking lot along the water in the early 2000s. The sculpture has been cordoned off from the main parking lot with some bushes since then.

Jewish Memorial Salonica

The 21st century memorial to the Jews of Salonica near a waterfront parking lot – it has faced a rash of anti-Semitic vandalization this past summer.

The Jewish museum has a wall of the names of those citizens killed in the Holocaust. My wife’s stepfather was an Eskenazi originally from Salonica – there were many Eskenazis on the wall. My wife stopped, shocked and too moved to continue at one point, when she saw other family names – names of her stepfather’s family friends also from the old country. Here we were, ostensibly strangers in a new city in a new country, confronted with kinship and friendship from generations past.

I thought about the long, difficult history of the city, about the sign outside, the names on the museum wall, the Holocaust memorial in a parking lot, the map of the other synagogues now forever gone, our serious interrogation by the security guy and the time and effort it must be for the few remaining, committed Jews in town to somehow make a minyan on a weekday afternoon.

I thought about what it means to remember and the vital need to remember. I thought about rituals like saying kaddish and of people staying with their traditions despite violent suppression or just plain indifference. I thought about the busy street where we struggled to find the synagogue and how the minyan and the service seemed like a dream when we stepped back out into the street. The future is history, says a recent book title, or is it history that is the future, as the chaos of Brexit, the chaos in France or our own political upheaval seems to be telling us?

How do we keep from joining the indifferent? We can’t control the future but we can so easily choose to forget the past. The only way, it seems, to re-connect our everyday lives with the past we must honor and cherish, is to walk off the busy street, through the darkened passageway and gather and recount the names and the journeys with anyone of good faith who will join us.

Eswar Priyadarshan and his wife Jill Eskenazi are Boston transplants currently living in the Bay Area. Theirs is a Jewish, Hindu, Christian and atheist household where everyone is expected to remember. Their kids Sunjay, William and Sarah are very fortunate to have grown up with their grandmothers Dorothy Downing, Sandra Kass and Saraswathi Singh  as a constant and reassuring presence.

Eswar and Jill were recently in Thessaloniki to visit their daughter Sarah, who was in a semester-abroad program at Northeastern University.

 

 

 

“Darkness was on the face of earth…God said “let there be light…God saw the light was good and divided the light from darkness”

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How can we bring the light of day one into the world?

The Breaking Matzo community is devastated by the recent anti-Semitic attack at the home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg in Monsey, a suburb north of New York City, during a Hanukkah celebration – the latest in a string of anti-Semitic incidents in recent weeks that including beatings of Jewish people in the streets of New York City and a massacre at a Kosher grocery store in Jersey City, N.J., in addition to the unimaginable loss of lives at The Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

We pray for those who lost their lives, and those families and friends who lost a loved one or are suffering injuries. May we all seek to find blessings in their beautiful memories. May the communities in New Jersey, New York and Pittsburgh find strength and hope to deal and heal with these unspeakable tragedies. Such anti-Semitic acts of violence are morally repugnant.

I decided to read the torah…

from…

The very first page….

Genesis 1.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. And God said: ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
While we cannot fully protect ourselves from the darkness that occurs on our planet, each of us can, and must, choose daily to illuminate the earth with light of day 1 which is good.

During this Hanukkah Celebration and rededication, the light of the Menorah takes on even more significance and meaning.

We must vigorously divide the light from the darkness.

May we be inspired to cast radiant light in the midst of the unspeakable darkness.

History of Jews in Turkey

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Did you know that the first Hebrew printing press was invented in Instanbul in 1493?

Turkey has been a place of refuge for scores of persecuted Jews for centuries. Jewish settlements in the Turkey region date back to 4th century BCE and include the ancient cities Ephesus, Sardis, Pergamon and Smyrna (now known as Izmir). While Izmir was known for its large Jewish community, Sardis was known for its ancient synagogue built in 220 BCE. Its ruins still stand today. Other synagogues in Turkey include the Ahrida Synagogue founded in 1460, Zulfaris Synagogue (1671) and the Beit Yaacov synagogue (1878). With such rich history, it is easy to see the strong influence of the Jewish community in the early years of the Ottoman Empire and throughout the history of Turkey.

Turkey’s reputation as a safe haven for Jewish refugees began in 1492 when Jews were being persecuted in Spain. At the time, the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, ordered Jews to convert to Christianity or leave the country. When Sultan Bayezid II heard this, he welcomed the Sephardim, the term given Jews leaving Spain as a result of 1492 expulsion, into the Ottoman Empire. These Romaniote Jews were predominantly Greek Jews who had been living in the Eastern Mediterranean more than 2,000 years. The influx of Sephardim Jews in Turkey overwhelmed the existing Romaniote Jewish community. Eventually, the Romaniote culture was completely consumed by the Sephardim.

Under the Byzantine rule of Turkey’s early years beginning in AD 395, Jewish communities were oppressed and segregated. Jews could not live amongst Christians, were not allowed in civil service or the military, and could not marry non-Jews. Conversion to Judaism was also illegal.

Things changed during Ottoman Empire, established in 1299, under the rule of Sultan Orhan (1323-1362) who allowed Jewish people to build their first synagogue. The synagogue was named Etz ha-Hayyim, or “Tree of Life” which remained in service until approximately 50 years ago.

Mehmed II, also known as Mehmed the Conqueror, took over Constantinople in 1453 and found an oppressed Jewish community. Mehmed worked to give the Jewish people more opportunities and freedom. He appointed Hekim Yakuo Pasa, a Jew, as his minister of finance and physician Moses Hamon as Chief Physician to the Sultan. Mehmed also designated a Jewish grand rabbi and put plans in place to repopulate Constantinople through the establishment of many communities. Around this time, the Ottoman Empire began encouraging the immigration of Jews to their land. Jews received three invitations to immigrate to the land acquired by the Ottomans. Two invitations were made by Muslim sultans Muhammad II in mid-15th century and later Bayezid II in 1492. In a 1454 invitation from Rabbi Yitzhak Sarfati , he wrote: “Here every man dwells at peace under his own vine and fig tree”. The Rabbi sent the invitation in hopes of helping Jews throughout Europe could escape persecution by coming to Turkey. Thus, the Ottoman Empire became a safe place for European Jews trying to escape religious persecution.

By 1477, 11% of the households in Istanbul were Jewish. With a growing Jewish population as a result of increasing immigration, the Ottoman Empire enjoyed an extended period of prosperity and influence. One significant development was the invention of the printing press in 1493. David and Samuel ibn Nahmias created the first Hebrew printing press in Istanbul and went on to print the first book ever printed in the Ottoman Empire in December of 1493, Arbaah Turim (Four Orders of the Code of Law).

There were 80,000 Jews living in Turkey when Israel was established in 1948. This is thought to be the pinnacle of the Jewish population in Turkey. The freedom that Jewish communities enjoyed during this time led to the creation of exceptional literature and religious texts, advancing their spirituality.

In 1856, the proclamation of Hatti Humayun made all Muslim and non-Muslim Ottoman citizens equal under the law. As a result, leadership shifted its emphasis from the religious to the secular. The Ottoman Empire collapsed during WWI and the Turkish Republic rose with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk elected president. Under this new government, a secular constitution was created and the Caliphate was dissolved. When Turkey was recognized by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, it presented minority rights to the three principal non-Muslim religious minorities, Judaism being one, allowing them to continue their religious education and social institutions.

Today, the Jewish population in Turkey is approximately 17,200 out of a total population of 70 million. Approximately 330,000 – 450,000 Turkish Jews live around the world with 280,000 of those living in Israel. The Turkish Jews hold strongly to their cultural roots and pay homage to their history through such traditions as making bourekas and stuffed grape leaves. Although bourekas have Balkan roots and stuffed grape leaves were brought by the Romaniote Jews to Turkey, they still serve as important cultural ties to Turkey. Be sure to see our recipes for Potato Leek Bourekas and Spinach & Feta Bourekas.

Fun Fact:
Did you know that a Jewish diplomat, Salamon ben Nathan Eskenazi, was the first to construct diplomatic ties between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire?

Peak Population of Jews in Turkey: 81,000 in 1923

Population of Jews in Turkey Today: 17,200

Population of Turkish Jews in Israel: 280,000

Ordinary to Extraordinary Lives: Joachim Ronneberg

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Under the cover of night, a five-man special operations team, parachuted into the snow laden region of Telemark in Norway. Their goal; to sabotage the Vemork plant, the Nazi’s only source of “heavy water,” a key ingredient in the manufacture of weapons-grade plutonium.  23-year-old Joachim Ronneberg and his team knew only that the Nazis were working on a “super weapon” and that the destruction of the plant was critical in thwarting those efforts.

The parachuters missed their mark and were forced to camp and wait out a snowstorm. On the night of February 27, 1943, the team made it to Vemork after a perilous journey negotiating frozen rivers and dangerous gorges in order to bypass a heavily-guarded bridge. Armed with metal cutters, Ronneberg gained access to the plant’s ventilation system, crawling through in order to find the series of pipes that were the intended target. Once there, he fitted the pipes with a series of bombs. He made a last-minute decision to trim the fuses so the bombs went off in 30 seconds instead of the originally planned 2 minutes. He wanted to be sure the bombs ignited successfully. They did. And miraculously the team escaped unscathed.

The team skiied more than 200 miles to reach Sweden before returning to Britain as war heroes. Joachim Ronneberg, the last surviving member of the 5-man team, passed away October 22, 2018 at the age of 99. The heroic tale of his team was told in the “The Heroes of Telemark,” a 1965 film starring Kirk Douglas.

Ronneberg rarely spoke of his role as a resistance fighter and hero. In his later years, he realized the value of sharing his experiences. “A few years ago,” he said, “I realized that I am part of history. Having been more or less silent for years, now I realize it is important and quite natural for people to ask about the past so they can plan for the future. People must realize that peace and freedom have to be fought for every day.”

Hanukkah Playlist

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Happy Hanukkah! We love to have music and videos play during our Hanukkah celebrations!

This playlist includes something for everyone! Have a wonderful eight nights!

Hanukkah Playlist (click here to Play All on YouTube)

Listen on Spotify

Click each title below to link to the individual YouTube videos:

“Oh Hanukkah”The Maccabeats

“The Hanukkah Song” Adam Sandler

“My Little Candle (Ner Li)” Hanukkah Players

“Latke Recipe” The Maccabeats

“Light One Candle” Hanukkah Players

“Candle Dance” Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins

“Burn” The Maccabeats

“Hanukkah – Hava Nagila” Wet Fingers Club Mix ZJM

“Chanukah – Shake It Off” Six13

“Hanukkah (Favorite Time of Year)” Too $hort

“Honeyky Hanukah (Hanukkah)” The Klezmatics

“Happy Joyous Hanukkah” The Indigo Girls

“Hanukkah Blessings” Barenaked Ladies

“Feast of Lights” They Might Be Giants

“Hanukkah in Santa Monica” The Royal George Theatre Cast

“Hanukkah on Japonica” Panorama Jazz Band

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

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T-Shirt Collage

Have you lived life with regret? Have you experienced the feeling of “coulda, woulda,
shoulda”? Have your feelings of regret caused you to miss the blessings of the present
moment?

In the past, I often found myself consumed with regret and disappointment, focusing on what should, could or would have been. In business, I would think about a profitable opportunity I didn’t pursue. With my family, I would regret losing my temper or missing a family function due to business travel. Socially, I would think about who didn’t come to our party. Personally, I often wished I made healthier choices: late night pizza tasted good, but it certainly was not a prudent long-term healthy choice. Thinking about all of these issues, I always woke up with pangs of regret in the morning, looking ahead or reflecting  on the past. I simply was not living in the present.

I truly began living in the moment during a 40-day long, doctor prescribed bed rest due to significant injury (For more on this please view my TED talk and read my blog). I was forced to slow down, even totally stop. I laid on my back for 23 hours a day for 40 days. I didn’t do any work. I didn’t watch any tv or movies. I simply read, wrote, and meditated. This experience totally changed my perspective. I  began to really experience simple pleasures, enjoying one spoonful of dessert instead of eating the entire piece – both literally and figuratively (See “How One Small Bite is More Than Enough to Fill Your Stomach and Feed Your Soul”). It was my “reset” moment.

Regret is a truly distracting feeling that prevents us from experiencing what’s right in front of us, in the present moment and experiencing dayenu. Dayenu is the simple act of acknowledging and expressing gratitude in the moment. Being grateful to God for manna from heaven while the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. A simple dinner with my daughters. Appreciating the ability to stand on my own and take a shower without assistance after six months in a cast. Watching the clouds move and listening to the rustling of the leaves in the wind has become a favorite summer pastime. I learned to notice and appreciate the simple moments of life.

I looked to the Torah to explore the concept of regret. In Genesis 6:6, God expressed regret for making mankind. And the Lord regretted that He had made man upon the earth, and He became grieved in His heart. The Bible rarely speaks of God experiencing “regret.” The Hebrew word used here is yin’nā’hem, from the root word nacham. The word is exclusively about emotions: a feeling of pain, sadness, or unhappiness. As a result, God did a total reset of earth with a devastating flood. Noah followed God’s wishes to rebuild the world’s life with the ark holding the seeds of the world’s species. After the flood, God promised never to flood the world again. In Genesis 9:13, God made his covenant with Noah. My rainbow I have placed in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Myself and the earth. The rainbow is the sign that God will never again destroy the earth.

What “flood” would signify your reset and stop you from living with regret? What proverbial rainbow would remind you to live in the moment and express dayenu?

In an effort to memorialize the end of living life with the “shoulda, coulda, woulda” attitude, I have created a line of t-shirts to inspire people to truly live in the moment. The t-shirts celebrate many Jewish ritual moments. And, in Breaking Matzo’s inclusionary spirit, I have incorporated other faiths and spiritual practices.

I hope you can stop living your life with “shoulda, coulda, woulda”, and begin anew with “shoulda, coulda, dayenu!”

History of Jews in Lebanon

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Did you know Lebanon was considered the “Switzerland” of the Middle East?

Jews have been in the area known today as Lebanon since pre-Biblical times. In 132 BCE, the Bar Kokhba Revolt, or the Third Jewish-Roman War as it was also known, took place. Following the war, several Jewish communities were established in Lebanon, including Tripoli, Sidon, and Tyre. They were known as the Mizrahi Jews. Mizrahi Jews comprise Jewish populations not only in Lebanon, but in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Egypt among others.

In 1710, there was a significant immigration of Jews to the Chouf mountains of Lebanon. The Chouf village of Deir al-Qamar was one of the first places in Lebanon with a large Lebanese Jewish population. The first recorded Chief Rabbi in Lebanon was Moise Yedid-Levy who served from 1799 – 1829. Immigration of Jews to Lebanon peaked from the early 19th century to the second half of the 20th century, beginning with immigrants from Akko in 1809; Greece in 1821; Egypt and other parts of North Africa in 1837; and Syria, Iraq and Iran between 1900-1955. Ashkenazi Jews immigrated from Europe in 1833.

In the first half of the 20th century, people described life as a Jewish person in Lebanon as well-integrated with congenial relationships with neighbors and community members, regardless of religion. Many traditions were shared between Lebanese Jews and people of other religions. Two schools taught Hebrew and other subjects related to Judaism. For centuries Lebanon had a balance of Muslim and Christian populations which allowed for a balanced government structure. The arrival of Palestinian refugees in 1948 started the shift towards a Muslim majority. Simultaneously, Anti-Zionist demonstrations began along with an emerging hostility toward the Jews and the 1948 Arab-Israeli war broke out.

In 1967, sparked by economic insecurity and increasing violence, the first of two major migrations of Jewish people from Lebanon began. The second wave was the result of fear by Jews of religious and political persecution, heightened by the kidnapping of several key figures in the Jewish community between 1971 – 1985. They were kidnapped for ransom while some were murdered. One victim was the president of the Jewish community at the time, Isaac Sasson. With 1,800 Jews remaining in Lebanon, most finally had emigrated in 1976 when Jewish communities were damaged during the civil war with the majority leaving for the U.S., France or Canada.

As of 2017, fewer than 100 Jews were reported living in Lebanon and they cannot practice Judaism openly. The leader of Lebanon’s Jewish community council, Isaac Arazi, announced plans to rebuild the Maghen Abraham Synagogue located in Beirut’s Wadi Abu Jamil in 2008. This synagogue was destroyed during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). The renovation began in 2009 after approval by Hezbollah, the Lebanese government and other authorities. The reconstruction was funded by private donors and Solidere donations, a construction company owned by the family of assassinated Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri. Another synagogue still standing and serving as a religious landmark is the Ohel Yaacob Synagogue, or “Tent of Jacob”, in Saida. It is now a private residence. The famous New Temple was one of the last synagogues built in Lebanon. The Bhamdoun Synagoue also known as the “New Temple” because it was the last temple built in Lebanon, was the largest synagogue ever built in Lebanon. Bhamdoun was once a popular summer resort for many Jews. Once the civil war began and the Syrian army arrived, the Jews abandoned Bhamdoun and the temple.

Lebanese Jews living in diaspora are strongly connected to their roots. This is especially true for the first generation Lebanese Jews. Food enters this long line of tradition and generations have embraced typical Lebanese cuisine modifying recipes to maintain Jewish dietary guidelines. For example, Kibbeh (a mixture of bulgur wheat, spices, onion and meat) is traditionally served with yogurt. Jews simply serve it without. A popular dairy dessert is Khafeh, a syrup-soaked cheese pastry, which Lebanese Jews also serve for breakfast. Be sure to see Andy’s blog,  Lebanese Food: A Family Tradition & Personal Passion.

Here are Breaking Matzo’s Lebanese-inspired recipes!

Today’s remaining Lebanese Jewish populations reside in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Italy, France and Canada. This disparate community stays well connected through social media. While it is difficult to determine the exact number of Lebanese Jews worldwide, there are approximately 7,000 currently in Israel.

Fun Fact:
Did you know that the League of Nations, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and WWI, mandated control of the 5 provinces today known as Lebanon to the control of France? During this time Lebanon was known as “Switzerland” of the Middle East.

Peak Population of Jews in Lebanon:  20,000 in 1948

Population of Jews in Lebanon: <100 in 2017

Population of Lebanese Jews in Israel: 7,000

 

Harmony of Opposition

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Have you ever discovered a friendship in a former foe? When was the last time you embraced a totally different perspective from your own and found a surprising sense of harmony and understanding?

Today, there is a lot of talk of public discord and the inability to find common ground and bridge the political divide. Some talk about the need for tolerance of political differences. I believe there is another way to think about it. In addition to tolerance, I believe we need a celebration of political and ideological differences by embracing our differences, as opposed to only seeking out similarities, we can actually bring more harmony into our lives.

This blog explores the concept of the harmony of opposition.

Many people seek out others with the same perspectives. It validates ones ideas and feels more comfortable. I spent time contemplating the idea of “sameness” and studying different philosophies, and have concluded that nothing can actually be the same. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously said “No man enters the river twice, for it is not the same man, and it is not the same river.” There are always differences. Even identical twins have a slightly different genetic make-up. Therefore, if no two ideas, people, moments or things can be the same, we need to learn to accept differences.

The most easily understood and extreme differences are opposites. Does this mean that opposites necessarily create conflict or discord?

I looked to the human hand for a simple answer. We sometimes take the usefulness of the human hand for granted. The hand is so effective due to the evolution of the “opposing thumb”. The thumb, unlike other fingers, is opposable. It is unique in that it can be turned on itself and reverse directions with the other four fingers. This allows the hand to grasp and hold objects in a way that would be impossible if all five fingers moved in the same manner. The ability to grasp and hold based on the opposable thumb is what allowed humans to develop accurate fine motor skills. This led to the development of tools, significantly advancing and extending human physical capabilities. Its evolution is typically associated with Homo Habilis species, the forerunner of Homo Sapiens. This evolution is considered to have occurred more than 2.3 million years ago. Homo Habilis is thought to have been the forerunner to Homo Erectus later evolving to the modern human species.

I continued to explore Heraclitus and his thoughts on finding harmony in opposition.

He said the following:

“What is cold becomes hot, what is hot becomes cold, what is moist becomes dry, what is dry becomes moist”.

“The same thing are the living and the dead, the awake and the sleeping, the young and the old: these indeed changing are those and those again changing are these”.

“Immortal mortals, mortal immortals, living their death and dying their life”.

“One and the same is the path that goes upward and the path that goes downward”.

“The same are in fact the beginning and the end in the circumference of the circle”.

“Opposites are concordant, and from the discordant comes beautiful harmony, and everything happens according to contention”.

Heraclitus explored the harmony of opposition in the context of a free flowing river. Despite the differences of the source of river water at the top of the mountain and at the end of the river pouring into the ocean, the entire river is connected by the same free flowing water. Despite the differences, upstream vs. downstream, mountain water vs. ocean water, they are connected and exist as part of the same river.

The harmony of opposites allow the river to freely flow and sustain vibrant life, such as fish and vegetation. By contrast, water that doesn’t have movement or integration of opposite sources could be a pond or a lake. Without a fresh water source, the water can become still and stagnant. Life cannot flourish or be sustained in stagnant water. In other words, though the waters are always changing, the rivers stay the same. Indeed, it must be precisely because the waters are always changing that there are rivers at all, rather than lakes or ponds. The message is that rivers can stay the same over time even though, or indeed because, the waters change. The point, then, is not that everything is changing, but that the fact that some things change makes possible the continued existence of other things.

I looked to Greek Mythology for another perspective. Harmonia is the Greek god of harmony. Harmonia is the daughter of Ares (the Greek god of war) and Aphrodite (the Greek god of Love).  Harmony is truly the harmonization of the connection of the opposites of love and war.

I looked to the Bible to explore the concept of harmony of opposition in Ecclesiastes 3.

Ecclesiastes 3 starts off with:

“A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heavens.” What is interesting when you read further is that every phrase lists complete opposite actions and circumstances. “A time for silence and a time for speaking… A time for loving and a time for hating…A time for war and a time for peace”.  I believe that the Bible teaches us that we can only truly find harmony if we fully experience the breadth and depth of life by experiencing all of life and not just the dimensions of life that we might choose.

In conclusion, I would to explore the uniqueness of the human hand shake.

Handshake

A handshake is entirely intuitive. Who initiates and how high and hard do you shake? When do you stop shaking? It is truly an emotional and meaningful connection between two people. However, the most important part of the hand shake involves the thumb. Imagine a handshake if you didn’t or couldn’t use your thumb. It would be considered a “fish hand” that would create an unsettling feeling. It is truly using the oppositional force of your thumb that creates shared human connection and harmony. May we all strive in the coming year to seek out oppositional ideas to create harmony and pause to consider how a simple handshake can create connections in our communities and beyond.

Appendix:

Ecclesiastes 3

A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heavens:
A time for being born and a time for dying,
A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted;
A time for slaying and a time for healing,
A time for tearing down and a time for building up;
A time for weeping and a time for laughing,
A time for wailing and a time for dancing;
A time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
A time for embracing and a time for shunning embraces;
A time for seeking and a time for losing,
A time for keeping and a time for discarding;
A time for ripping and a time for sewing,
A time for silence and a time for speaking;
A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war and a time for peace.

Heraclitus (fl. c. 500 B.C.E.)
Heraclitus
A Greek philosopher of the late 6th century BCE, Heraclitus criticizes his predecessors and contemporaries for their failure to see the unity in experience. He claims to announce an everlasting Word (Logos) according to which all things are one, in some sense. Opposites are necessary for life, but they are unified in a system of balanced exchanges. Heraclitus propounded a distinctive theory which he expressed in oracular language. He is best known for his doctrines that things are constantly changing (universal flux), and that opposites coincide (unity of opposites).

Sources:

Wikipedia
Jewish Publication Society (JPS)
The Harmony of Opposites, Ancestors Voice