T orah P ortion
Being a Light Unto the Nations
BY RABBI DANIEL LEVITT
Parshat Vayishlach
AT THE END of this week’s
parsha, there is a rather
disturbing episode. Jacob’s
daughter Dina gets kidnapped
and raped by a local Canaanite
prince. After the incident,
the rapist’s father attempts to
betroth Dina to his son.

Initially, Jacob’s family
agrees to the marriage under
the condition that the entire
city converts to the Jewish
religion and all the men get
circumcised. After agreeing
to the demands, Jacob’s sons,
Shimon and Levi, sneak into
the city and kill them all in
retaliation for what had
happened to their sister.

Even though Shimon and
Levi believed that they were
justified for what they did,
Jacob scolds them harshly. He
fears for the way in which his
family will be perceived by the
rest of their neighbors.

There is a midrash which
adds depth to the nature of
Jacob’s disapproval of their
terrible act. Rather than
seeing Jacob’s objection based
solely on self-preservation,
this midrash shifts the focus
on how the immoral action of
Shimon and Levi will under-
mine the mission of the Jewish
people. The midrash (Bereishit
Rabbah Vayechi 98:5) portrays
Jacob as chastising his sons for
breaking the wall of conver-
sion, one of the essential walls,
assumed by the midrash, that
holds up the house of Israel.

Judaism is not a proselytizing
Happy Th anksgiving
from th e
Jewish Exponent
www.jewishexponent.com 24
NOVEMBER 18, 2021
religion; there is a mitzvah to
convert someone who sincerely
wants to cast his or her lot with
the Jewish people, but the focus
of this midrash seems to put
a weight on conversion that
we don’t traditionally find. So
what can we learn from this?
The mission of the Jewish
people is to be light to the
nations of the world. This can be
done by positively influencing
others to be better people and
make the world a better place.

For the rest of the world to be
willing to be influenced by the
Jewish people, it is necessary
that we also find ways to trust
and be influenced by them.

Throughout the midrashic
commentaries on the stories
of the patriarchs, we see a
description of our forefathers
inf luencing, teaching and
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Nov. 19
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4:20 p.m.

converting the world to their
moral perspective, belief in one
God and the ethics which are
influenced by such a belief.

Jacob feared that by
deceiving the Canaanites by
allowing them to convert, and
subsequently killing them,
Shimon and Levi had under-
mined the potential to fulfill
their mission in the world
because it undermined the
trust necessary to positively
influence others.

Jacob’s perspective is that
their crime has far more
negative implications than the
act itself, heinous as it may have
been; what they did was also a
chillul hashem (a terrible sin
where a person causes others to
lose respect for God, Judaism
and the Jewish people).

Sometimes our zealousness
for our own perspectives and
beliefs causes us to ignore the
impact our actions are having
on others. Our values and
beliefs need to be seen through
the lens of the overarching
values of being a light unto the
nations. l
Kaufman, executive director
of the Jewish Addiction
Awareness Network.

With addiction becoming
something the Jewish commu-
nity has become more aware
of due to increasing numbers
of those struggling, additional
spiritual guidance has become
available. More rabbis in
recovery are sharing their
stories around addiction,
which, in turn, lets congregants
know they have somewhere to
turn if they are struggling.

After a year as the rabbi at
Temple Sinai in Cinnaminson,
New Jersey, Rabbi Michael
Perice, who has been sober from
opioids for more than 10 years,
told his congregants about
his substance abuse disorder.

They were overwhelmingly
supportive, he said.

“I knew I was in a place to
share this with this community
because I built up that level of
support, that level of trust with
my congregants,” Perice said.

“I was honoring the trust they
placed in me by showing them
I trusted them as well.”
This isn’t the case for all
congregations. “Many times rabbis don’t
feel like they can fully trust
their congregants, and that’s a
real shame,” Perice said. “Our
congregations can handle way
more than we often give them
credit for.”
On a synagogue-wide level,
Kaufman insists there is still
more that can be done.

Synagogues can host serenity
Shabbat services, in solidarity
with those in recovery. They can
have sober seders and design
programming where alcohol is
not served.

“When you open the
dialogue, you reduce stigma,”
she said. l
Rabbi Daniel Levitt is the executive
director of Hillel at Temple
University: The Rosen Center.

The Board of Rabbis of Greater
Philadelphia is proud to provide
diverse perspectives on Torah
commentary for the Jewish
Exponent. The opinions expressed
in this column are the author’s own
and do not reflect the view of the
Board of Rabbis.

Addiction Continued from Page 15
to what’s available: 12-step
programs and Alcoholics
and Narcotics Anonymous
meetings. But these resources
aren’t accessible to everyone,
said Rabbi Abby Michaleski,
the rabbi at Beth Israel in
Vineland, New Jersey, and a
licensed addictions counselor
who also is in recovery. Many
NA and AA meetings take
place in church basements
or contain Christian liturgy,
making some Jews feel unwel-
come or uncomfortable.

“There’s this message that,
as Jews, we don’t necessarily
belong there,” she said.

The lack of NA and AA
meetings in Jewish contexts
sends the message that Jews
aren’t welcome to talk about
substance abuse in Jewish
spaces either.

“It’s just another message
that says we don’t have this
problem or we don’t care about
this problem,” said Marla
JEWISH EXPONENT
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



C ommunity
Larry & Brenda Glassman
7043 Ayrshire Lane
Boca Raton, FL 33496
COMMUNITYBRIEFS Jim Gardner to Retire at the End of 2022
LONGTIME 6ABC/WPIV-TV anchor Jim
Gardner — born as Jim Goldman — will scale
back his schedule with “Action News” and plans
to retire at the end of 2022.

Gardner, 73, who is Jewish, joined the station
as a reporter and anchor at noon on June 1, 1976,
and has anchored the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news
since May 11, 1977. In early January, Gardner
will stop anchoring the 11 p.m. newscast,
although he will continue anchoring at 6 p.m.

In a 2016 Jewish Exponent article, Gardner
explained why he changed his name.

“I was really uncom-
fortable with the name
change,” he
said. “Basically, I’d been trying
to get a job on TV for a
long time with no success.

I had this opportunity
and was asked to do that
— and said ‘yes.’ But my
family are Goldmans,
and when I sign checks,
I’m definitely Goldman.

Jim Gardner
Courtesy of 6abc/WPVI
And when I go to back-to-
school night with my
Goldman child, I’m a Goldman parent.”
Gardner also discussed his Jewish heritage in
the Exponent interview.

“I have strong feelings of my Jewish identity,”
he said. “I’ve been to Israel three times, once
as a tourist and twice working for the station.

In 1993, when Arafat and Rabin were at the
White House shaking hands, I felt we needed
to be in Israel getting that story from the
Palestinians. It was an utterly fascinating trip —
probably the last time the moderate community
of Palestinians had their moment in the sun ...

“I don’t wear a tallit on the air, but I’ve gone
through four Bar and Bat Mitzvahs as a parent.

I remember my Bar Mitzvah. The cantor who
taught us, people were scared to death of him,
but for some reason I liked him and he liked me.

He said, ‘One day Jimmy Goldman, the cantilla-
tions will click.’”
Gardner received his bachelor’s degree from
Columbia University in 1970, then worked briefly
at the all-news WINS Radio in New York and
later WFAS Radio in White Plains, New York. His
television broadcast career began at WKBW-TV
in Buffalo before he joined WPVI.

Israel’s ALYN Hospital, Philadelphia
International Medicine Announce Pediat-
ric Medicine Partnership
Israel’s ALYN Hospital, Pediatric & Adolescent
Rehabilitation Center and Philadelphia
International Medicine announced on Nov. 8 a
collaboration on delivering medical education,
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM joint research and patient care, among other things,
to benefit the international medical community.

ALYN Hospital is a pediatric rehabilitation
center, while PIM provides specialized services
and education that connects 10 Philadelphia-
area medical centers internationally.

The initiative is PIM’s first collaboration
with an Israeli hospital. Within PIM’s network,
the partnership will initially focus on Nemours
Children’s Hospital.

“Medical education, research and innovation
are ongoing activities at ALYN, and enhancing
knowledge is always to our patients’ benefit,”
said Dr. Maurit Beeri, director general of ALYN
Hospital. “By partnering with PIM, we can
build a valuable health gateway together.”
Through knowledge-sharing, the Initiative
will advance education, assist in the sharing
and developing of new techniques and technol-
ogies for treating pediatric patients and improve
patient care worldwide.

“Connecting Israel with Philadelphia opens
many doors for both organizations to collab-
orate to improve the future of medicine,” said
Edgar Vesga, CEO and president of PIM.

Makom Community to Open a
Second Location
Jewish childhood enrichment center Makom
Community will open its new second location
to families on Nov. 29. The new center is at 1317
S. Juniper St. in Philadelphia.

Makom Community previously shared space
with the South Philadelphia Shtiebel at 1505
S. 13th St. since launching the South Philly
Makom in August.

“Given the really warm response we had to
Makom Community coming to South Philly,
we wanted to really put our roots down and say,
‘we’re staying here. We believe in this commu-
nity. We believe in building with these families.

We plan to be here for the long term,’” Founding
Director Beverly Socher-Lerner said.

The new 3,000-square-foot space can accom-
modate up to 65 children and will hold the same
summer camp and five-day-a-week after-school
programming as its Center City counterpart
at 2013 Sansom St. More than 15 students
are enrolled at the South Philly Makom, and
Makom recently hired two new educators to
address growing interest in the center.

Makom Community provides after-school
programs, b’nai mitzvah training and summer
camps to children from pre-kindergarten
through seventh grade through a pedagogy
that emphasizes the application of Jewish texts
to how children move through their lives and
interact with others. l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
and Sasha Rogelberg
JEWISH EXPONENT
Larry & Brenda Glassman:
50 th Wedding Celebration
Larry and Brenda Glassman celebrated their 50 th wedding
anniversary on Nov. 14. Originally from Philadelphia, the
couple married at Park City West on Nov. 14, 1971, and
moved to Boca Raton in 1973. Larry is a retired real estate
developer who developed and built thousands of homes in
South Florida. Brenda has been a homemaker their entire
married life. Their children are Alyson and Brad Yellin,
Kimberly and Kerry Hoffman and Ashley and Justin
Wayne. The couple has seven grandchildren (Mikayla,
Hailey and Brianna Hoffman, Brandon and Mason Yellin
and Myles and Leilana Wayne). Joining in the celebration
is Larry’s mother, Mickey Glassman.

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