Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thank you for joining me. I'm Rabbi David Lyon from
Congregation Beth Israel in Houston. Clearly, the holiday season is here,
and many of you have already celebrated in your offices
or in your communities, perhaps even an early Christmas and
early Hanukkah, since Hanukkah falls on Christmas, at least it
(00:20):
begins on Christmas Day this year. I know that many communities,
because of vacations and holidays, are celebrating an early Honkkah
with their congregations or families at home. But we also
learn from our Jewish tradition about what it means to
celebrate a holiday. Now, Christmas is a most significant holiday
(00:42):
in the Christian community. Hanukkah has become significant in the
Jewish community, but compared to other holidays on the Jewish calendar,
like Russiashana, Yomkipur, Passover, Shiva, Wote, Hanukkah is what is
called a minor holiday. There are really no pro ambitions
to speak of. There are no special holiday observances that
(01:04):
must be conducted like they are on the high holy days,
but there are special foods, lighting of candles, special prayers
that are included, and of course, the joy. We wish
to share it with children in a season of darkness,
to illuminate and bring light in all the places that
we can. What's more, our Jewish tradition taught us how
(01:27):
to regard Holy days special occasions that we celebrate. In
a mid Rush and Rabanic interpretation on the Book of Genesis,
they write, God said, if you have spent a pleasant
Holy Day this year, you will spend an equally pleasant
Holy Day next year. What does it mean to us? Well,
(01:49):
the rabbis wanted to get us into the habit of
celebrating our Holy days on special times with special observances.
And if we can pause and set aside the daily
work that keeps us so full and so separate from
that which is holy, then we mark our calendar, we
(02:11):
spend our day, and we focus our heart and our
head on things that aren't about work or stuff or earning,
but rather how all of that stuff came to be,
and with great appreciation and gratitude not only do the
people who live with us in our life, but also
to God who provided life and the goodness we've come
(02:31):
to know. And I'm sure that just as you mark
your calendar for Christmas, juice celebrate and mark their calendar
for Hanukkah and for other occasions too, even aside from
religious holidays. I'm sure that you have on your own
calendar special days at mark obviously a birthday and an anniversary,
(02:53):
but maybe another kind of anniversary too. Maybe it's the
first anniversary of a new job, or perhaps it's the
twenty fifth year of the job you've been doing, or
other anniversaries, milestones and special occasions. Maybe some of you
mark how many years you've been in the same home,
(03:16):
or you've been together with a partner, or any other
special time. Just as the teaching tells us, if you've
spent a pleasant Holy Day this year, if you've set
aside time to mark that occasion, to set apart for
a special reason, a glass of champagne, a special dinner,
a special moment, a card, a memo to somebody, then
(03:39):
you will spend an equally pleasant Holy Day next year too,
because that occasion is a means of communicating and connecting
with others, And I would dare say, even if you're
not particularly religious, it's also time of reflection to say, Wow,
another year has gone by. I can honor that moment
(04:03):
and that milestone again, and even find a way to
say thank God or thank you a person in your
life who has made that moment very special. Getting into
the rhythm and habit of it helps us to appreciate
that as time continues to unfold, what is special one
(04:23):
day or one year can continue to be brought with
us into the new year as well and create rhythms
and patterns and expectations that bind us this community to
each other. And as the rabbis wished to God as well,
who helped us to find, to locate, and to express
gratitude for what we've been given. That's why Rabbi Levi
(04:46):
also said in another mid rush, when a Holy Day
comes to you, rejoice and give pleasure to God. It
is a way for all of us to appreciate that
what we've been given, the Holy Day itself and all
that it contains and all that it comments on and celebrates,
is something that God has given to us in a
(05:07):
small way. If we can come to worship in the
congregation to share our prayers or make a contribution to
an organization that reflects what the holiday stands for, or
if we can simply gather with family and friends to
mark the occasion. It is a means of expressing our
things to God, who created the day for us to have.
(05:29):
Rap I Levi went on to say, if the season
is a good one, go out to your vineyard and
to your grove, that you may behold the profuse growth
of your fruits and rejoice therein. It really is a
beautiful way of saying, Gosh, if the season is a
good one, go out and enjoy it. Breathe it deeply
(05:51):
into your lungs. Look at the greenery and all that
you've grown, all the produce that you've been able to
enjoy and sell and s and give away, and rejoice therein,
of course, giving thanks to God for the reins that
came and went in season, for those who participate in
(06:11):
gathering and sowing and harvesting, and even the goodness of
giving away some of the gleanings of your crop. Now
that might sell them to old fashion, especially if you're
not a farmer. But even today we build and plant,
we work hard, we have dividends, We have reasons to
(06:31):
be grateful for the things that are product of our
good seasons too, And on holidays like the winter holiday season,
that gives us a time to take vacation and break
from school. It's an important way to illuminate the holiday,
to decorate a little bit, so that we can see
(06:52):
more clearly what there is to be so grateful for.
I do know people who get away and get out
of town and go on a special vacation to feel
the breeze and the sun differently than they do the
rest of the year, or to ski down the mountains, because,
certainly in a place like Houston, which is so flat
without hills and mountains, it's good to awaken the senses
(07:15):
through the eyes and the sounds and all the feelings
that come by celebrating what has been a good year.
But we have to also note that the rabbi's teaching says,
if the season is a good one, go out to
your vineyard into your growth, that you may behold the
profuse growth of your fruits and rejoice theory in. But
what if the season is not a good one. There
(07:37):
are other teachings in the talmud An and Jewish tradition
that teach, for example, gamzulatova it means this too is
for good. It doesn't mean that a season that isn't
good should be despairing and fill us with a sense
of loss. Rather, if we have a home and some food, friends,
(07:59):
a religious community to lean on when we need them,
then we can find gratitude in that too. But when
we have more and there is abundance, like many people
do have, then we shouldn't simply forget to celebrate, and
we shouldn't simply forget to say thank you. The truth
(08:20):
is that God created us as blessings in the world
and wants us to prosper. And if we are blessed
with a good life, whether it's from a lot or
from less, we have an opportunity, and I would say
a responsibility for that goodness to say thank you for
all that we've been given. And that's why Rabbi Levi said,
(08:41):
however you might measure the goodness of your season, go out,
rejoice in it, and give thanks for what you've been given.
In another mid rush, it says, half for the Lord
and half for yourselves is the rule for the right
observance of all our holy days. Now, the rabbis were
(09:02):
speaking only of Jewish holy days, but you can simply
understand how meaningful it can be for all holy days.
Half for the Lord and half for yourselves is the
rule for the right observance, or at least some proportion
that includes giving thanks to God or for that which
is larger than ourselves, appreciating that we are not solely responsible,
(09:24):
nor should we give ourselves all the credit for what
we've been given what we've come to enjoy. I think
even those people we might call selfish or perhaps above
board or having too much, we might say if there's
some reflection of their generosity and goodness where they've expressed
appreciation for what they have by noting the people around
(09:48):
them who help them get it, or the people who
supported them in all of their efforts, and also God
who granted them gifts and skills and abilities. In this way,
they express things for what they have and give thanks
to something larger than themselves, half for the Lord and
half for yourselves. Fifty to fifty sounds like the right
proportion to me, and perhaps even if we're more generous
(10:11):
than that, we would give even more to God. I
think the Midrash suggests that that fifty to fifty is
the right proportion. We wouldn't even be here without the
miracle of birth and the gift of the blessing of
all the gifts and skills that we have. But if
we can do better than fifty to fifty, better than
the bare minimum, then we are truly a little more righteous,
(10:34):
and certainly a little more and obviously more grateful for
what we've been given. In these three ways, we begin
to see that the holiday season can be so much
more for all of us, however we might celebrate, in fact,
for those who celebrate Christmas. And I was recently in
a meeting with bishops of the Protestant faith and the
(10:55):
cardinal of our archdiocese, and as we ended up meeting together,
they wished me a happy Honkkah, and I wished all
of them a merry Christmas. But I have a friend
who's Muslim, and I verified with him there are no
particular holidays during this winter holiday season that the Muslim
community will be celebrating, and so I asked how his
(11:15):
family comes together. Well, one of the things they do
is to appreciate how their season is an opportunity still
to give thanks for their abundance and prosperity, and they
enjoy the lights and the decorations of their friends and
the larger community around them just as much as when
my children were younger, we put them in the car
(11:36):
and drove them through the neighborhoods so they could see
all the beautiful Christmas lights. And when they asked why
we don't have lights like that, we told them who
our Christian neighbors are, and why in our Jewish home
we have our own respective and respectful ways to celebrate too.
And in fact, the Honkkah menora, the Honkah lamp, is
a beautiful display of lights which we've been taught to
(11:59):
light one night light the first night, and increasing the
lights until the whole manora, the whole Hanukkah lamp is
burning with candles on the eighth night of Hanukah. We've
been taught about aleen Bakodesh. When we have an opportunity
to increase holiness, we do. We don't take the opportunity
to decrease it, but rather to increase it, and the
(12:21):
display and expression of it is increasing candles in the menora.
I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth Israel. To listen
again or to share this message with someone at this
holiday season, please do. You'll find it at Sunday ninety
nine dot com. On the iHeartRadio app. My podcast is
Heart to Heart with Rabbi David Lyon. I don't know
(12:44):
how you'll be celebrating your holiday season, but I will
urge you to be mindful of the pluralistic nature of
this season. While schools are out and people take vacation
and offices have holiday parties, there be lots of Christmas
trees and hankamnoras, But why don't we also reach out
(13:04):
and say, how do you celebrate the holiday season. If
someone says I celebrate Christmas, then wish them merry Christmas.
If someone says I'm Jewish, I celebrate Hanakah, then wish
them a happy Honigah. And if somebody says we don't
have a holiday that we celebrated this season, then wish
them a happy holiday season any way, so that they
can feel connected to our hope that their season, separate
(13:28):
from vacation and work and all the things that keep
us occupied, will be pleasant and joyful for them. And
then when we go home to our family and friends
and our respective houses of worship, there we can find
all the reasons and even the rabbis of old taught
us to do to give half to God and half
to ourselves are even better than that, And to be
(13:51):
sure that we recognize the joys and prosperity that we
do have, and to give thanks for what we've been
given and delight in it. Enjoy the retreat, enjoy the vacation.
Set aside work and the phone and the messages so
that family and friends can be seen in front of
you and prioritized, and they can feel your love and
(14:12):
friendship to and when the holiday season is over and
we all go back to work, we'll know that we've
done all that we could. We've validated the holiday season
by living up to standards set by our religious faith traditions.
And as we've learned to mark this time, let's be
sure that if there was something very special, let's do
(14:34):
it again. Take the pictures, make the notes, send the
thank yous, and be sure to repeat again and build
memories for your children and grandchildren to repeat for themselves
as well. I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth Israel.
Thank you for joining me. I wish you the very
best at this holiday season, and I look forward to
(14:54):
being with you again next time.
Thank you for joining me. I'm Rabbi David Lyon from
Congregation Beth Israel in Houston. Clearly, the holiday season is here,
and many of you have already celebrated in your offices
or in your communities, perhaps even an early Christmas and
early Hanukkah, since Hanukkah falls on Christmas, at least it
(00:20):
begins on Christmas Day this year. I know that many communities,
because of vacations and holidays, are celebrating an early Honkkah
with their congregations or families at home. But we also
learn from our Jewish tradition about what it means to
celebrate a holiday. Now, Christmas is a most significant holiday
(00:42):
in the Christian community. Hanukkah has become significant in the
Jewish community, but compared to other holidays on the Jewish calendar,
like Russiashana, Yomkipur, Passover, Shiva, Wote, Hanukkah is what is
called a minor holiday. There are really no pro ambitions
to speak of. There are no special holiday observances that
(01:04):
must be conducted like they are on the high holy days,
but there are special foods, lighting of candles, special prayers
that are included, and of course, the joy. We wish
to share it with children in a season of darkness,
to illuminate and bring light in all the places that
we can. What's more, our Jewish tradition taught us how
(01:27):
to regard Holy days special occasions that we celebrate. In
a mid Rush and Rabanic interpretation on the Book of Genesis,
they write, God said, if you have spent a pleasant
Holy Day this year, you will spend an equally pleasant
Holy Day next year. What does it mean to us? Well,
(01:49):
the rabbis wanted to get us into the habit of
celebrating our Holy days on special times with special observances.
And if we can pause and set aside the daily
work that keeps us so full and so separate from
that which is holy, then we mark our calendar, we
(02:11):
spend our day, and we focus our heart and our
head on things that aren't about work or stuff or earning,
but rather how all of that stuff came to be,
and with great appreciation and gratitude not only do the
people who live with us in our life, but also
to God who provided life and the goodness we've come
(02:31):
to know. And I'm sure that just as you mark
your calendar for Christmas, juice celebrate and mark their calendar
for Hanukkah and for other occasions too, even aside from
religious holidays. I'm sure that you have on your own
calendar special days at mark obviously a birthday and an anniversary,
(02:53):
but maybe another kind of anniversary too. Maybe it's the
first anniversary of a new job, or perhaps it's the
twenty fifth year of the job you've been doing, or
other anniversaries, milestones and special occasions. Maybe some of you
mark how many years you've been in the same home,
(03:16):
or you've been together with a partner, or any other
special time. Just as the teaching tells us, if you've
spent a pleasant Holy Day this year, if you've set
aside time to mark that occasion, to set apart for
a special reason, a glass of champagne, a special dinner,
a special moment, a card, a memo to somebody, then
(03:39):
you will spend an equally pleasant Holy Day next year too,
because that occasion is a means of communicating and connecting
with others, And I would dare say, even if you're
not particularly religious, it's also time of reflection to say, Wow,
another year has gone by. I can honor that moment
(04:03):
and that milestone again, and even find a way to
say thank God or thank you a person in your
life who has made that moment very special. Getting into
the rhythm and habit of it helps us to appreciate
that as time continues to unfold, what is special one
(04:23):
day or one year can continue to be brought with
us into the new year as well and create rhythms
and patterns and expectations that bind us this community to
each other. And as the rabbis wished to God as well,
who helped us to find, to locate, and to express
gratitude for what we've been given. That's why Rabbi Levi
(04:46):
also said in another mid rush, when a Holy Day
comes to you, rejoice and give pleasure to God. It
is a way for all of us to appreciate that
what we've been given, the Holy Day itself and all
that it contains and all that it comments on and celebrates,
is something that God has given to us in a
(05:07):
small way. If we can come to worship in the
congregation to share our prayers or make a contribution to
an organization that reflects what the holiday stands for, or
if we can simply gather with family and friends to
mark the occasion. It is a means of expressing our
things to God, who created the day for us to have.
(05:29):
Rap I Levi went on to say, if the season
is a good one, go out to your vineyard and
to your grove, that you may behold the profuse growth
of your fruits and rejoice therein. It really is a
beautiful way of saying, Gosh, if the season is a
good one, go out and enjoy it. Breathe it deeply
(05:51):
into your lungs. Look at the greenery and all that
you've grown, all the produce that you've been able to
enjoy and sell and s and give away, and rejoice therein,
of course, giving thanks to God for the reins that
came and went in season, for those who participate in
(06:11):
gathering and sowing and harvesting, and even the goodness of
giving away some of the gleanings of your crop. Now
that might sell them to old fashion, especially if you're
not a farmer. But even today we build and plant,
we work hard, we have dividends, We have reasons to
(06:31):
be grateful for the things that are product of our
good seasons too, And on holidays like the winter holiday season,
that gives us a time to take vacation and break
from school. It's an important way to illuminate the holiday,
to decorate a little bit, so that we can see
(06:52):
more clearly what there is to be so grateful for.
I do know people who get away and get out
of town and go on a special vacation to feel
the breeze and the sun differently than they do the
rest of the year, or to ski down the mountains, because,
certainly in a place like Houston, which is so flat
without hills and mountains, it's good to awaken the senses
(07:15):
through the eyes and the sounds and all the feelings
that come by celebrating what has been a good year.
But we have to also note that the rabbi's teaching says,
if the season is a good one, go out to
your vineyard into your growth, that you may behold the
profuse growth of your fruits and rejoice theory in. But
what if the season is not a good one. There
(07:37):
are other teachings in the talmud An and Jewish tradition
that teach, for example, gamzulatova it means this too is
for good. It doesn't mean that a season that isn't
good should be despairing and fill us with a sense
of loss. Rather, if we have a home and some food, friends,
(07:59):
a religious community to lean on when we need them,
then we can find gratitude in that too. But when
we have more and there is abundance, like many people
do have, then we shouldn't simply forget to celebrate, and
we shouldn't simply forget to say thank you. The truth
(08:20):
is that God created us as blessings in the world
and wants us to prosper. And if we are blessed
with a good life, whether it's from a lot or
from less, we have an opportunity, and I would say
a responsibility for that goodness to say thank you for
all that we've been given. And that's why Rabbi Levi said,
(08:41):
however you might measure the goodness of your season, go out,
rejoice in it, and give thanks for what you've been given.
In another mid rush, it says, half for the Lord
and half for yourselves is the rule for the right
observance of all our holy days. Now, the rabbis were
(09:02):
speaking only of Jewish holy days, but you can simply
understand how meaningful it can be for all holy days.
Half for the Lord and half for yourselves is the
rule for the right observance, or at least some proportion
that includes giving thanks to God or for that which
is larger than ourselves, appreciating that we are not solely responsible,
(09:24):
nor should we give ourselves all the credit for what
we've been given what we've come to enjoy. I think
even those people we might call selfish or perhaps above
board or having too much, we might say if there's
some reflection of their generosity and goodness where they've expressed
appreciation for what they have by noting the people around
(09:48):
them who help them get it, or the people who
supported them in all of their efforts, and also God
who granted them gifts and skills and abilities. In this way,
they express things for what they have and give thanks
to something larger than themselves, half for the Lord and
half for yourselves. Fifty to fifty sounds like the right
proportion to me, and perhaps even if we're more generous
(10:11):
than that, we would give even more to God. I
think the Midrash suggests that that fifty to fifty is
the right proportion. We wouldn't even be here without the
miracle of birth and the gift of the blessing of
all the gifts and skills that we have. But if
we can do better than fifty to fifty, better than
the bare minimum, then we are truly a little more righteous,
(10:34):
and certainly a little more and obviously more grateful for
what we've been given. In these three ways, we begin
to see that the holiday season can be so much
more for all of us, however we might celebrate, in fact,
for those who celebrate Christmas. And I was recently in
a meeting with bishops of the Protestant faith and the
(10:55):
cardinal of our archdiocese, and as we ended up meeting together,
they wished me a happy Honkkah, and I wished all
of them a merry Christmas. But I have a friend
who's Muslim, and I verified with him there are no
particular holidays during this winter holiday season that the Muslim
community will be celebrating, and so I asked how his
(11:15):
family comes together. Well, one of the things they do
is to appreciate how their season is an opportunity still
to give thanks for their abundance and prosperity, and they
enjoy the lights and the decorations of their friends and
the larger community around them just as much as when
my children were younger, we put them in the car
(11:36):
and drove them through the neighborhoods so they could see
all the beautiful Christmas lights. And when they asked why
we don't have lights like that, we told them who
our Christian neighbors are, and why in our Jewish home
we have our own respective and respectful ways to celebrate too.
And in fact, the Honkkah menora, the Honkah lamp, is
a beautiful display of lights which we've been taught to
(11:59):
light one night light the first night, and increasing the
lights until the whole manora, the whole Hanukkah lamp is
burning with candles on the eighth night of Hanukah. We've
been taught about aleen Bakodesh. When we have an opportunity
to increase holiness, we do. We don't take the opportunity
to decrease it, but rather to increase it, and the
(12:21):
display and expression of it is increasing candles in the menora.
I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth Israel. To listen
again or to share this message with someone at this
holiday season, please do. You'll find it at Sunday ninety
nine dot com. On the iHeartRadio app. My podcast is
Heart to Heart with Rabbi David Lyon. I don't know
(12:44):
how you'll be celebrating your holiday season, but I will
urge you to be mindful of the pluralistic nature of
this season. While schools are out and people take vacation
and offices have holiday parties, there be lots of Christmas
trees and hankamnoras, But why don't we also reach out
(13:04):
and say, how do you celebrate the holiday season. If
someone says I celebrate Christmas, then wish them merry Christmas.
If someone says I'm Jewish, I celebrate Hanakah, then wish
them a happy Honigah. And if somebody says we don't
have a holiday that we celebrated this season, then wish
them a happy holiday season any way, so that they
can feel connected to our hope that their season, separate
(13:28):
from vacation and work and all the things that keep
us occupied, will be pleasant and joyful for them. And
then when we go home to our family and friends
and our respective houses of worship, there we can find
all the reasons and even the rabbis of old taught
us to do to give half to God and half
to ourselves are even better than that, And to be
(13:51):
sure that we recognize the joys and prosperity that we
do have, and to give thanks for what we've been
given and delight in it. Enjoy the retreat, enjoy the vacation.
Set aside work and the phone and the messages so
that family and friends can be seen in front of
you and prioritized, and they can feel your love and
(14:12):
friendship to and when the holiday season is over and
we all go back to work, we'll know that we've
done all that we could. We've validated the holiday season
by living up to standards set by our religious faith traditions.
And as we've learned to mark this time, let's be
sure that if there was something very special, let's do
(14:34):
it again. Take the pictures, make the notes, send the
thank yous, and be sure to repeat again and build
memories for your children and grandchildren to repeat for themselves
as well. I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth Israel.
Thank you for joining me. I wish you the very
best at this holiday season, and I look forward to
(14:54):
being with you again next time.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.