​Many of you have heard me talk about my zaydie, the rabbi, who was born in Germany and marked his Bar Mitzvah in 1933, the year that Hitler rose to power. You’ve heard me talk about his Bar Mitzvah tefillin, one of the only possessions that made it through the journey north to Liverpool, across the Atlantic to Toronto, to Saskatoon, to a suburb of Cleveland, and then finally, to Orlando, where my zaydie sat with me when I was just eight years old, and gave them to me.

​If there’s one thing we Jews can agree on, it's that the Ten Commandments are the most important commandments in the Torah, right?
 
Not so fast. 
 
Sure, murder is really wrong, and honoring your parents is very important and Judaism wouldn’t be a monotheistic religion if idol worship was permitted. But it doesn’t say anywhere in Parashat Yitro, the account of the revelation at Sinai that we read this week, that these mitzvot should be prioritized above all others. Nor is the punishment for coveting your neighbor's wife or stealing as severe as the one for eating chametz on Passover (for which the offender is “cut off” from the Jewish people and from God). 

by Rabbi Ari Sunshine
​One of the most oft-cited passages from the Talmud is the text from Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 which focuses on the significance of God creating all humanity from Adam, a single human being.  According to the text, this teaches us that all people have a common ancestor, that no one can claim “my ancestor was greater than yours,” and that destroying a single life is akin to destroying the entire world, while saving even one single life is as if we have saved a whole world. This profound message, that every person matters equally, is one that, even today, close to 2000 years after the Mishnah was compiled, we still often struggle with putting into practice.

David just reached a huge milestone -- he paid all his rent and utility bills himself for the month of January! It's a big step forward, and we congratulate him. He's a bit nervous about his ability to keep this going, but we assured him we are here to help. On January 8, The Ladder Project executive committee met with David (on his day off from work!) at the synagogue to review his monthly income and expenses. Laura Miller's daughter, Lily Wolens, created an easy budget template for David to use each month to record his living expenses. Additionally, we gave David several tips on how to save money, including: bring your lunch to work at least four days a week, and don't buy any clothing -- let our congregants help with that!

David loves all the garments he has received to date, both donated and new items. When we pressed him for another wish list, he asked if it would be possible to get two pairs of his favorite jeans, Levi 505s, and some white undershirts. Please click on the link below if you'd like to purchase one of those items for him from an Amazon registry we have set up. Everyone did so well on the apartment items that he needs for NOTHING in that respect. Thank you everyone! 

UPDATE! EVERYTHING ON DAVID'S AMAZON LIST HAS BEEN PURCHASED! THANK YOU!

My heart sank as I read the headline of an article from the Forward on my Facebook feed this week: “Even Proud Zionists Think This Hillel Is Way Too Focused On Israel.”
 
Before I even clicked on the link to see the details, I knew what the story would, essentially, be about—young Jews, whose disagreements about Israel were polarizing a Jewish community.