On the Jewish festival holidays, and additionally in some communities on Shabbat, the Birkat Kohanim–the Priestly Blessing–is traditionally offered as part of the Musaf service, the additional service that follows the Torah reading. But on Simchat Torah, which we just celebrated, the Birkat Kohanim is traditionally offered during the earlier Shacharit service. What is the reason for the earlier recitation of the Birkat Kohanim on Simchat Torah?

Birkat kohanim Vorsetzblatt by Ephraim Moses Lilien is in the public domain

A. Simchat Torah celebrates the point in the Torah reading cycle when we complete the book of Deuteronomy and begin reading Breishit again. This is a moment of great joy, as indicated by the congregational dancing with the Torah. In contrast, the Birkat Kohanim is one of the holiest and most serious moments in the Jewish liturgy. Therefore it was decided to perform that ceremony first, before changing the mood of the service to one of merriment, as we dance with the Torah scrolls.

B. Before the Priests ascend the altar to offer the Birkat Kohanim, they prepare for this holy moment by duchaning, a ceremonial cleansing. At this time the Leviim wash the hands of the Kohanim. The rabbis determined that on the day when the Torah scrolls are carried around the sanctuary (and in some congregations outside around the synagogue as well), that the cleansing ceremony should take place first, so that the Kohanim would be in the highest state of ritual purity before lifting the Torahs aloft.

C. The Birkat Kohanim is also known as Nesi’at Kapayim, the “lifting of the hands,” as the Priests raise their hands aloft with fingers spread in the traditional pose. But on Simchat Torah, we lift all of the Torah scrolls high as we dance in celebration. The rabbis decided that the raising of the Torah scrolls takes precedent over the raising of the Priests’ hands; therefore the Birkat Kohanim was moved earlier in the service, making the raising of the Torahs the focal point of the Simchat Torah celebration.

D. The tradition during the Priestly Blessing is for congregants not to look at the Kohanim. In contrast, during the reading of the beginning and end of the Torah we are commanded to open our eyes and ears (tir’eh v’tishma) to the word of God. Therefore, the rabbis decided to offer the Birkat Kohanim first, when we close our eyes, followed by the Torah reading, when we look up at the Torah and receive God’s laws.

E. The custom on Simchat Torah is for all participants to drink schnapps (alcohol) after receiving an aliyah to recite the Torah blessing. Because it would be improper for the Kohanim to perform the Birkat Kohanim while drunk, this ceremony takes place earlier in the service before the Priests start drinking.

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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died earlier this month at the age of 87, following 27 years of service on the United States Supreme Court, where she was the first Jewish woman to serve. Throughout her career she was an advocate for women’s rights, as evidenced by her writing the majority opinion in United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996) which struck down the male-only admission policy of the Virginia Military Institute. Her forceful and principaled opinions earned her the moniker Notorious RBG. What was the “Great Yom Kippur Controversy” that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was involved in?

614px-Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg_2016_portrait by Camilo Schaser-Hughes is in the public domain

A. Ginsburg was a member of the Jewish Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority at Cornell University. While she was a student there, a number of the sorority sisters proposed that the sorority house kitchen be open on Yom Kippur, though it had always previously been closed for that holiday. But many of the members were not observant, and wanted to be able to eat in the house as they did every day. Ginsburg herself was not observant, but she led the opposition to the proposal. Local rabbis and communal leaders also weighed in on what became a heated debate. Ultimately, Ginsburg’s side won and the kitchen remained closed in what became known as the “Cornell Great Yom Kippur Controversy”.

B. In 1995, the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments on a case on Yom Kippur. Chief Justice William Rehnquist was resistant to canceling the hearing and changing the date. Said Rehnquist, “We confer on Good Friday and nobody complains about that.” Justice Ginsburg nevertheless convinced him to change the hearing date, emphasizing the fact that some of the lawyers who had been preparing their case for many weeks would find themselves torn between their court and client obligation and their personal religious belief.

C. Ruth Bader was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the East Flatbush neighborhood. Her family was not very observant, but they were members of the Conservative East Midwood Jewish Center. When Ruth was in 3rd grade, there was a proposal in the Brooklyn schools to close on Yom Kippur (prior to that schools had always been open on all of the Jewish holidays). The proposal was pushed by the Teachers Union, a fledgling organization founded in 1935, which Ruth’s mother, Celia, a teacher, served as president. In a major speech given by Celia Bader, she said that the proposal was not only to accommodate the Jewish teachers, but also for the children, such as her daughter Ruth, who should be allowed to be with their families on the holiest day of the year. This  “Great Yom Kippur Controversy” led to an adoption of Yom Kippur as an official school holiday, and Rosh Hashanah was added to the list five years later.

D. In August 1991, a Jewish member of the Navy Seals who was serving in the Middle East on missions related to Operation Desert Storm filed suit because his commanders said that he was not allowed to fast on Yom Kippur. He argued that his religious rights were being violated. The military command countered that the national security interest of not having a team member whose physical weakness from fasting might endanger the mission and the lives of other personnel overrode his individual rights. Because the case was timely and national security was involved, the case was quickly escalated to Judge Ginsburg, who was serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The case became known as the “Great Yom Kippur Controversy”, and received national attention from Jewish organizations including the Anti-Defamation League and the Orthodox Union, as well as military and veterans organizations. Judge Ginsburg ultimately ruled in favor of the military and the Jewish serviceman agreed to eat on Yom Kippur.

E. In 1987, when Judge Ginsburg was serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, she was also on the Board of Trustees of her Conservative synagogue, Adas Israel Congregation. The Law Committee of United Synagogue of America had approved egalitarianism as an option for member synagogues a few years earlier, and Adas Israel was now debating whether to allow equal participation by women in their ritual life. Judge Ginsburg opposed women’s participation, stating, “When it comes to the Torah, I am an originalist. Judaism clearly states that counting in a minyan, leading services, and other roles, are for men only. There can be no leeway, as the words and meaning of Torah and the Rabbis are clear.” There was a huge split in the congregation, and when the board voted by a narrow majority to maintain a non-egalitarian approach, board members who favored egalitarianism filed a lawsuit to force the leadership to allow equal rights for women. Judge Ginsburg represented the Board of Trustees in court, while the dissenting members hired a lawyer to represent them, Antonin Scalia, who argued in court that Torah is clearly a living document, one that should be interpreted according to its core principals, but consistent with modern life. A judge ruled in favor of attorney Scalia’s argument, and egalitarianism was implemented. Judge Ginsburg resigned from the board stating, “My burden is not to show that originalism is perfect, but that it beats the other alternatives. Sadly they accepted the argument of Mr. Scalia. He seems like a nice man, though. I suspect we would get along very well together.”

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While women will serve as Rabbis and Cantors in synagogues across the country next week on Yom Kippur, it was 130 years ago, on the evening of Yom Kippur in 1890, that a Jewish woman became the first female in America to give a sermon from the pulpit. The woman, Ray Frank, was the great granddaughter of Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon, the renowned Gaon of Vilna. She actually organized the service that night in Spokane, Washington, as that community did not have a synagogue. She preached such a compelling message to the thousand attendees (Jews and non-Jews) about the importance of the Jewish community coming together and creating a congregation that a non-Jewish audience member stood up and offered the donation of a site for the Jewish community to build a synagogue. Ray Frank went on to speak and to preach across America, including at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 and at High Holiday services at an Orthodox synagogue in British Columbia. What nickname did Ray Frank acquire?

Ray Frank Litman  is in the public domain

A. Rebbitzin Ray.

B. The Spokane Spokes-Jewess.

C. The Girl Rabbi of the Golden West.

D. Madame Rabbi Ray.

E. The excommunicated Ray Frank.

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One of the traditions on the first day of Rosh Hashanah is Tashlich, when Jews symbolically cast away their sins by tossing breadcrumbs into a body of water (though the ceremony can take place at any time during the High Holidays until Hoshana Rabah, the 7th day of Sukkot). The ceremony arose from a verse from the prophet Micah (7:19), which states, “He will take us back in love; He will cover up our iniquities, You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Last year, Hillel at Stanford University partnered with another student organization to celebrate Tashlich in a non-traditional way. What did they do?

Tashlich in Tel Aviv 1920 by Shimon Korbman is in the public domain.

A. Hillel partnered with the Student Space Initiative to celebrate the tradition with Tashlich in Space. Jewish students wrote their sins on slips of paper which were placed, along with breadcrumbs, inside a rocket which the Student Space Initiative built and launched skyward. The program was promoted with the slogan “Reflect. Renew. Blastoff.”

B. Hillel partnered with the Stanford Muslim Student Association to celebrate the Tashlich tradition with Pita for Peace. Jewish and Muslim students met together and baked pita bread, while teaching each other about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Raʿs as-Sanah al-Hijrīyah, the Islamic New Year. Then all of the students collected the crumbs from the baking project and tossed them into nearby San Francisco Bay.

C. Hillel partnered with the Mock Trial Club to celebrate the tradition with Mock-Atone. Jewish students described the sins which they wished to symbolically cast away, and members of the Mock Trial Club voted on whether to accept their contrition or not. The students whose sins were absolved then pushed the non-forgiven students into the university swimming pool as prayers were recited.

D. Hillel partnered with the Stanford chapter of Swipe Out Hunger, an organization that provides meals from student meal cards to homeless and hungry people in the local community. The program, Cast Out Your Sins–Hand Out Your Bread, enabled Jewish students to give away loaves of bread to those in need, rather than simply throwing away breadcrumbs. The program was promoted with the slogan “Feed Your Soul, Feed Your Neighbor.”

E. Hillel partnered with the Stanford Cannabis Alliance to celebrate Tashlich/Hashlich. The students spent the evening smoking pot and munching on Cheetos, Oreos, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Then they all picked up the munchy crumbs from their laps and tossed them around the room before falling asleep on the couch.

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