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What We're Commanded

Jackson
ow many times have you
read or recited the Ten
Commandments? For
many years, I used to begin all
religious services by asking the
congregation to rise and recite
after me these "10 words" as they
have become known.
Reciting them at the beginning
of the service was a signal to the
congregation that the service had
begun, but it also helped to focus
on laws which have become,
although erroneously, the bell-
wether of our faith. The first five
commandments relate to our
relationship with the Almighty.
Some are: " I am the Lord your
God." "You shall have no other
Gods before me:' The last five are
laws that speak about our con-
duct towards other human
beings. They include: "You shall

H

not murder. You shall not steal."
The commandments seem
clear when recited, but only
recently did I fully understand
the impact of one law: "Honor
your father and mother." Paying
honor to your parents seemed no
more than being properly
respectful to them. But in the last
four years, with the debilitating
state of my mother and the emo-
tional toil it has taken on my
father, and more recently since
my mother's passing as well as
the affliction my father now
faces, have I truly come to realize
the implications of this com-
mandment.
David Shenk, the author of
Forgetting: Alheizmer's Portrait of
an Epidemic, refers to
Alzheimer's disease as "death by
a thousand subtractions." Each
month, I drive to Toronto to

spend a few days with
care and to maintain
my father, Rabbi
his legacy. The com-
Gunther W. Plaut. The
mandment rings in my
ravages of the disease
ear each day I devote
become all too clear
to his affairs. But the
with every passing
responsibility has
trip. My sister and I are
become a higher call-
so fortunate that we
ing for me now since
Rabbi J onathan he cannot handle any-
were able to find and
V. P laut
hire two couples who
thing for himself.
Com munity
have become fulltime
I know that the slide
Vi ew
caregivers for him.
will continue and ulti-
Each day, I spend time
mately will lead to his
managing his affairs and dealing death. There is an old German
with the many calls, asking about expression: "Der Mensch denkt
his health or asking permission
and Gott lenkt" "Man plans and
to republish some of his intellec-
God laughs." God gave my father
tual property. Never did I realize
a superior mind with which he
how a full day can pass entirely
wrote thousands of articles and
consumed with his affairs. While
28 books. The plan did not
my parents took exceptional care include him coming to the end of
in our growth and development,
his life in such a devastating way.
now my sister and I have the
But we do not have choices. God
responsibility to ensure both his
provided him with a brilliant

mind and then "death by a thou-
sand subtractions" takes it all
away.
"Honor your father and moth-
er." This commandment is an
honor to uphold but now I know
how difficult it is to do.
I think about the command-
ments often and how changes in
my life have been necessary to
fulfill this injunction. I hope that
you gave and will continue to
give some thought to how you
will make 5766 better for your-
selves and your loved ones. Only
you can determine the new pri-
orities in your life. I have had to
do so. ❑

Jonathan V. Plaut is rabbi of Temple
Beth Israel in Jackson. This article
originally appeared in the temple
bulletin.

Bless This (Fragile) House

D

ays before hurricane
Katrina's arrival at the
end of August, weather
forecasters warned the residents
of the Gulf Coast that a powerful
storm was headed their way. A
Category Five in fact. They
warned of the powerful winds
and the searing rains, as well as
the flooding that would
inevitably follow. The television
news programs showed the
expressways lined with cars
packed to the rooftops with fam-
ily possessions; the basic necessi-
ties as well as reminders of a
world and a life that was being
left behind in exchange for safe-
ty.
Many of those interviewed
were certain that their homes
would withstand Katrina's fury.
Judging from the home's per-
formance in past storms, they
were willing to leave for a short
time, confident in their return
once the worst had passed. And
once it did, many people were
left to sit among the remnants of
the homes they were so sure
would survive the winds and the
rain. The television stations
showed that, too. The entire

48

nation cried and mourned, and
still does, with the people whose
lives were swept away by Katrina.
The lesson of the hurricane is
not just one for meteorologists or
for the state and federal govern-
ment. The lesson of the hurri-
cane is for all of us, especially as
we enter the celebration of
Sukkot, a time when we build a
fragile structure that is reminis-
cent of the booths built by our
ancestors in the wilderness.
Though we are commanded to
live in the sukkah for the entire
holiday, many (if not most) peo-
ple do not. We live in Michigan
after all! It's cold out there, and
the sukkah hardly provides pro-
tection from the elements. If we
cannot live in our sukkot, than
we can (and should) at least
enjoy the majority of our meals
during this time in the sukkah.
Sukkah-boasting families can
attest to the wonders hot cider
and soup can do when Sukkot
lands in October!

Fragile Dwellings

It is not by mistake that the
sukkah is such a fragile struc-

ture. God intended it to
response. That is why
be that way. While it
Rabbi Harold Kushner
does remind us of the
called his book When
way our ancestors lived
Bad Things Happen To
while wandering the
Good People. Asking
desert, its function
"why?" doesn't begin
today is more far
the healing or pick up
reaching. Today, we are
the pieces, and in the
Rabbi Jennifer
meant to equate the
wake of a tragic loss of
Tisdale
fragility of the sukkah
any kind, that is exact-
Community
to the fragility of our
ly where energy should
View
lives. Life can change
be directed.
in a moment.
Possessions can be taken away
in an instant. Loved ones can be
Phophetic Judaism
lost without any warning. Just as
Reform Jews view the devasta-
a good gust of wind can bring
tion of Katrina and the message
down our sukkot, a natural dis-
of Sukkot through the lens of its
aster, economic misfortune or ill- traditional roots: prophetic
ness can make us feel like the
Judaism. Prophetic Judaism is a
house is falling down around us
champion of social justice. It was
(literally and figuratively).
the cornerstone of Judaism for
Hurricane Katrina boldly
the Reformers, and social justice
placed this lesson in front of our
is still the foundation of Reform
eyes and in the time that has
Judaism. It is our responsibility
passed since her arrival and
to give of ourselves — financial-
destruction, buried in our con-
ly, physically and spiritually —
sciousness the unhappy and
to those whose lives have been
unsettling truth that nothing is
affected by the storm, and all
permanent. We cannot do any-
those whose lives are as fragile as
thing about what we cannot con-
the sukkah.
trol. The only thing we can con-
God's mandate of equality is
trol is our reaction and our
one that we are still striving to

fulfill. The prophets taught us the
lesson that where there is an
injustice, the Jewish people must
work to remedy that injustice.
Surely we have seen much injus-
tice in not only the response to
the hurricane, but in the reality
that people who did nothing
more than live in the path of the
storm now have to completely
rebuild their lives. The prophets
implored that we must feed the
hungry and clothe the naked,
and that is what we will do until
the need is no longer present.
The sukkah makes us realize
that all facets of life are fragile
and should therefore be protect-
ed and cherished. We must keep
this reality in our minds all year
round so that we do not take for
granted the strong roof over our
heads, the nourishing food on
our table and the comfortable
clothes on our backs. May we
never again learn the lesson we
learned through Katrina. May the
lessons we need to learn come
only when we sit sipping our hot
ciders in our sukkot.

❑

Jennifer Tisdale is a rabbi at
Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.

• October 20 2005 Jj