Day 60 - Shabbat, December 23 - 60 Days for 6 Million

Mazaltov!

Rabbi Shaw's words speak for themselves.

I give you all a bracha, a blessing, that this project you undertook should inspire you to continue your Jewish learning - and inspire you to get others to participate.

Day 59 - Friday, December 22 - Why am I a Jew?

Read this as if you're speaking in front of a thousand young Jewish students and you'll get goosebumps. Rabbi Sacks has so eloquently captured the challenge of our times as Jews.

Day 58 - Thursday, December 21 - A Prayer

I have found that the last five or six essays have been the most powerful of the book.

This one by Eli Wiesel is another very important one. Many people have read Eli's book, Night, in which he questions G-d. As he explains in this essay, later in his life, his faith returned.

His struggle to maintain his relationship with G-d is an inspiration to us all who face lesser struggles than he did.

Day 57 - Wednesday, December 20 - End of Days

Quite an appropriate title as we approach the end of this historic first cycle of 60 Days here in Chicago. I hope you've enjoyed this project as much as I have and that you have learned a lot. At the very least, I hope it has aroused your desire to learn more.

Please encourage your friends to sign up for our next cycle, beginning January 3rd and concluding the day before Purim.

This essay draws on the story of Purim to describe a fundamental idea about the Jewish view of the coming of the Messiah. The headlines of today's newspapers confirm this outlook in a very strong way.

Day 56 - Tuesday, December 19 - Spirituality without G-d

Sara Rigler is the best Jewish writer I have read. You can read many of her articles at www.aish.com. This essay is a typical piece where she beautifully compares the difference in outlook between Judaism and Buddhism. Her first published work, "Holy Woman" is life-altering. I strongly urge you to read it (You can buy it online at www.artscroll.com and get a discount during their Chanukah sale on right now).

We are nearing the end of the first cycle of 60 Days here in Chicago. We have given out over 500 books, bli ayin hara.

Today, I took a look at www.yadvashem.org at one of the names on one of the cards that I stil have.

Lola Meirowicz was born in Lodz, Poland in 1914. She was married. Prior to WWII she lived in Lodz, Poland. During the war she was in Lodz, Poland. Lola perished in 1942 in Auschwitz, Poland. This information is based on a Page of Testimony submitted on 18/04/1957 by her sister-in-law.

May her memory be for a blessing.

Day 55 - Monday, December 18 - Freedom of Will

Great teachers throughout history have grappled with the contradiction between Free will and Divine foreknowledge.

It is definitely a fascinating philosophical dilemma.

However, personally, I've never had a problem with the concept of Free Will because I feel deep down that I have the ability to choose.

When our philosophical problems cause us to abdicate the responsiblity for our actions, then we need to step back and honestly examine how philosophical and how practical our 'problem' is.

Day 54 - Sunday, December 17 - Private Winneger

And perhaps you'll say it is a coincidence too that we are reading this story during Chanukah!

Day 53 - Shabbat, December 16 - From Vision to Reality

Go to http://www.laniado.org.il/ to find out more about this incredible hospital and the 'angel in human clothing' who founded it.

Day 52 - Friday, December 15 - The wonder of creation

I was just reading two articles on evolution on the Jerusalem Post site today, one by Jonathan Rosenblum and one by Shmuley Boteach. Jonathan points out some of the inconsistencies in the theory and the steadfastness of its proponents. Shmuley gives another angle and a more positive look at the animal world than Darwin did. You can see both articles by clicking on the links below.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881893390&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881913788&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The essay in the 60 Days book also provides ample food for thought to reconsider the theory of evolution.

The prerequisite is an open, intellectually honest mind.

Day 51 - Thursday, December 14 - Have we lost G-d in the Details?

One of my favorite teachers of all times is Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo. One of his most masterful lectures was titled: "Halacha as a symphony."

This essay follows a similar theme, as it concludes: "The Divine is in the detail."

Again, with a little thought, a major misconception about Jewish law is vanquished.

A little like the little light of the menorah vanquishing a lot of darkness on a dark winter night.

Day 50 - Wednesday, December 13 - The Role of Jewish Women throughout the Ages

It is clear to me that it is the women who have saved the Jewish people throughout history. That is because at my classes throughout the years, there have always been more women than men who are searching for spirituality. Whatever reasons you want to propose, the numbers cannot be denied.

Day 49 - Tuesday, December 12 - Why Marry Jewish

After reading all these essays up until day 49, I believe the question is moot. But if you still have this question in your mind, this essay will give you another few reasons. Doron Kornbluth speaks all over the world and has spoken here in Chicago for JET a number of times. He is another one of those Jewish heroes we read about in this book

Day 48 - Monday, December 11 - The Holocaust: Were they Sheep to the Slaughter?

Probably the most powerful essay in the book in my opinion. One that requires no words to embellish it.

Day 47 - Sunday, December 10 - Who Will Win this War?

Where does a people like ours get the strength to survive the way we have?

Read this essay and you'll see why. At the end of this essay, a German soldier is quoted as saying:

"I don't know who will win this war, but one thing I am sure of - people like you, a nation like yours, you will never be defeated, never!"

Each of these essays carries a positive message. Jews of today, especially the young, are so ignorant of our heritage and the heroes who lived and died to protect it. A book like this, an essay like this, will hopefully ignite the neshamas of so many Jews. Our future depends on it.

Day 46 - Shabbat, December 9 - Coping with Bereavement

This book is like a little encyclopedia of Jewish life and I am more impressed with it with each passing day.

Again today, the concept of shiva, the beginning of the bereavement process, is explained in such a beautiful way. Many of us have been on shiva calls where it is nothing more than a cocktail party. If you have a friend or family member who has lost a loved one, you could do so much to help them by reading this essay and having them read it too.

Day 45 - Friday, December 8 - Mikveh: Gateway to Purity

One of the highlights of the Maimonides Leaders Fellowship program that I run on campuses around Chicago is the Sunday tour of West Rogers Park, the observant neighborhood of Chicago. We visit the Ark, the boys school (yes, they have school on Sunday mornings), sometimes the Matzah factory. While the boys visit the Chicago Community Kollel, the girls visit the Bnei Reuven mikveh. As you'll read in this essay, the mikveh is the cornerstone of Jewish life. With so much of Judaism, it is so misunderstood and maligned. A visit to the mikveh is my way of introducing the girls to the beauty of Jewish purity and sanctity in a world which has become so jaded.

Day 44 - Thursday, December 7 - A Gutte Yid

I teach a lot of classes to a lot of different kinds of Jews; downtown, in the suburbs, on campuses. I tell my students that there is only so much Judaism you can teach in a classroom. To really understand the power and beauty of the Jewish life, you have to experience it - and you have to experience those who live that life at its fullest. Fortunately in Chicago we have the kinds of Jews mentioned in this essay. I encourage you all to one time visit one of these Gutte Yidden.

Day 43 - Wednesday, December 6 - Finding Love in the Maelstrom

In four short pages Rabbi Kelemen provides hope and comfort for Jews who wonder at the millenia long struggle we have had against brutal anti-semitism. If only we Jews could stop and think and discuss these issues among ourselves we would be more united and determined.

Day 42 - Tuesday, December 5 - Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People

This is the eternal theological question. I have given a class on this subject many times and feel it is so important to give the correct Jewish perspective on this.

Day 41 - Monday, December 4 - A Taste of Kabbalah

Day 40 - Sunday, December 3 - Shabbat: A Gift Forever

The author of this essay, Esther Jungreis, will be JET's guest at our inaugural benefit event, Jewish Unity Live, on Tuesday, March 20.

Day 39 - Shabbat, December 2 - The Art of Giving

A cute story at the end of this essay highlights the correct attitude towards our material possessions.

Day 38 - Friday, December 1 - A Soldier's Boots

A message of hope

Day 37 - Thursday, November 30 - Brit Milah: Completion Through Incompleteness

Day 36 - Wednesday, November 29 - Death with Dignity

It amazes me how we stand in stark contrast to the current values of the modern world. And we've survived doing this for thousands of years.

Day 35 - Tuesday, November 28 - Keeping the Flame Alive

Another heartfelt plea by Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, for all Jews to contribute to Jewish continuity.

Day 34 - Monday, November 27 - The Wonder of the State of Israel

Whoever reads this will be proud to be a Jew. For me it made me want to go back to Israel. Fortunately, I'm planning on going for a short visit at the end of the year.

Day 33 - Sunday, November 26 - The Torah that journeyed from the depths to the Heavens

An inside look at the Torah scroll that accompanied Ilan Ramon on the ill-fated Space Shuttle flight.

I read an article in JTA that described a trip that another Torah scroll took into space.

Torah honoring Ramon returns from space journey
By Racelle R. Weiman
December 6, 2006
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=17360&intcategoryid=5

CINCINNATI, Dec. 7 (JTA) — Rona Ramon, the widow of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, and Steve MacLean, a Canadian astronaut, helped mark the homecoming of a small Torah scroll from space.

As a tribute to Ilan Ramon, MacLean brought a Torah aboard the Atlantis space shuttle.
It was returned Tuesday to Professor Henry Fenichel at a ceremony at The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education in Cincinnati. Fenichel is a physics professor in Cincinnati and a child survivor of the Holocaust.

“Ilan Ramon was my best friend,” MacLean said at the ceremony.
A small Torah scroll was brought aboard the 2003 flight of the Columbia space shuttle by Ramon, who was the son of an Auschwitz survivor. It belonged to Professor Joachim Joseph of the University of Tel Aviv, a Holocaust survivor who brought it out of the Bergen Belsen concentration camp, where as an inmate he secretly held a ceremony for his bar mitzvah.
Joseph, too frail to attend the Tuesday ceremony, sent a videotaped message from Israel.
The Columbia shuttle crashed, killing its crew.

To honor the memory of her husband and the crew of the Columbia, Rona Ramon appealed to a friend, MacLean, to bring another small Torah from Fenichel, a survivor of Bergen Belsen, aboard the 2006 flight of the Atlantis.

She had discovered Fenichel in April on Yom HaShoah as part of a videoconference between Cincinnati and Israeli schoolchildren.

“There was this modest man, a Dutch survivor of the Holocaust, holding a small Torah that was like a sister to the Torah that Ilan took up in space,” she recalled. “I knew that I needed to ask him for a very big favor — to allow his Torah to go up in the next shuttle, and make the return back to Earth — for Ilan’s sake, for his memory, to complete his mission.”

Fenichel expressed the hope that Joseph’s “Torah — the Columbia Torah — and by extension my Torah, — the Atlantis Torah — represents the survival of the Jewish people and the hope for the future, as well as the ability to rise from the anguish of the Holocaust, and to reach for the stars.”

The Atlantis Torah will be the centerpiece of a traveling exhibition in 2007.

(Racelle R. Weiman is founding director of the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education on the Cincinnati campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.)