Page 4 - The Jewish Voice - May '21
P. 4
Page 4, The Jewish Voice
LocaL happenings
MorseLife Now for Holocaust System President
Survivors Initiative Takes and CEO Keith A.
Myers. “By teaching
Flight the lessons of the
Holocaust to children
MorseLife, in partnership with Next Generations and today, we work to
the NOW for Holocaust Survivors Initiative, has taken ensure those who
flight with 5,000 ceramic butterflies, each symbolizing a perished are honored
child who perished in the Holocaust, that are being painted and see that it never
by MorseLife residents as well as children and families happens again. We
throughout Palm Beach County — a true community effort. are commissioning a
“Most of the impoverished survivors we aid through work of art for our campus as a lasting tribute.” program through MorseLife,” said Senior Rabbi Robert
our NOW for Holocaust Survivors Initiative were children The Butterfly Project is a call to action through education, Silvers. “Through our preschool, religious school, and
themselves during the Holocaust and the trauma they suffered the arts, and memorial making. Participants throughout the through our general membership, we are painting 700 ceramic
had a lasting impact on their lives,” said MorseLife Health community paint ceramic butterflies and engage in Zoom butterflies to be featured at MorseLife. The butterfly has, in
gatherings to learn about the unique needs of survivors and fact, become a symbol for the 1.5 million children murdered
how the NOW Initiative is helping Holocaust survivors in in the Holocaust and for Holocaust education. Around the
From the Rabbis from page 3 Palm Beach County. world, people view the butterfly as representing endurance,
In our community, the butterflies will be embedded in a change, and hope. The butterfly is a reminder of the Divine
Memes: Funny or Harmful? large sculpture that will reside at the MorseLife campus. This Presence in all of life. Through this project we fulfill our
physical structure, a gift from a local artist, will represent tradition’s commitment to remember those who perished in
By Rabbi Paul Arberman MorseLife’s dedication to helping survivors and their the Holocaust, and at the same time send a message of hope
These days, we are families and will be a permanent display of hope, change, and faith that humanity can change; that we can manifest
inundated with memes — and resilience. God’s compassion, kindness, and love in our world and root
an image, video, piece of Residents at MorseLife have been painting the butterflies, out hatred, prejudice, and anti-Semitism for all time.”
text, etc., that is spread as well as Palm Beach County school students, country MorseLife was able to launch the program through a grant
rapidly by internet users clubs, and synagogues. One synagogue, Congregation B’nai from The Jewish Federations of North America’s (JFNA)
on Facebook, email, or Israel in Boca Raton, organized a monthlong initiative with Center on Aging and Trauma, a project of the Holocaust
messenger. Some of them participants ranging in ages from two to 90 years old. It Survivor Initiative. This grant is part of JFNA’s partnership
are funny and some are began with 150 members and synagogue families painting with the federal government to improve lives for Holocaust
poignant — but some of butterflies for Mitzvah Day on March 7 and culminated with survivors, as part of JFNA’s Holocaust Survivor Initiative.
them are quite critical or a virtual Yom HaShoah Service (Holocaust Remembrance
even cruel. Day) on April 6. Local Happenings on page 6
The Talmud teaches about Rabbi Yochanan in the “At Congregation B’nai Israel we are honored to be
Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 71a, who told his participating in this community-wide Holocaust remembrance
colleagues about how he dealt with the law of the mamzer
in the Torah. What is a mamzer? You might yell “bastard”
at someone who dangerously cuts you off at high speed
on the highway, but the Talmud means it in the official
sense — a mamzer, or bastard, is a child born of an
adulterous or incestuous union. And the law states that a
mamzer is forbidden from marrying all Jews except for
other mamzers — even though, I should add, the child of
such a union has done absolutely nothing wrong.
Rabbi Yochanan recognized the harsh treatment of
mamzerim and so he told his colleagues: “It is in my power
to reveal the families of impure birth in Jerusalem, but
what shall I do, seeing that the greatest men of our time
are mixed up therein.”
It’s a brilliant response on many levels. He is saying: I
know about the presence of “bastards” in our community,
but it might affect YOUR family too. If I reveal any of the
names, it will cause them and possibly you great suffering.
It is a stern reminder to refrain from casually
transmitting gossip or unflattering information about
others, which might cause the lowering of status of the
person being discussed. You might tell stories or pass on
a meme about others to make you seem knowledgeable
or entertaining, or it might be done on purpose to cause
suffering and harm to the other person.
Before you become a link in a chain transmitting
embarrassing or hurtful information about friends or
celebrities, politicians or colleagues, remember that Rabbi
Yochanan wouldn’t even reveal who was a mamzer. That’s
why I end up blocking people who send me jokes that are
inappropriate for racial, sexual, or identity content. To
rephrase Ecclesiastes: Just as there is a time for speaking,
there is also a time for silence.
Rabbi Paul Arberman is spiritual leader at Temple
Beth David in Palm Beach Gardens.
Editorial copy appearing herewith is not necessarily the viewpoint of
Seabreeze Publications of Central Florida. Most editorial copy is created by
the homeowners and is edited by their appointed editor.
1102 W. Indiantown Rd., Suite 5, Jupiter, FL 33458
(561) 746-3244
FAX (561) 746-2509
Seabreeze Publications
Publisher
M. Sean Reid
J. Reid
Editor: Wendy Bernstein
Sales
Tom English, Laura Berrio, Bret McCormick
www.seabreezepublications.com