Page 4 - The Jewish Voice - May '21
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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.


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