Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

Last week in the United States, U.S. Supreme Court member, Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away. In recent times, a documentary and motion picture were made about her life and career. While we live in Canada, it is noteworthy that a Diaspora born Jew from Brooklyn made it to such prominence. The following quotation of hers is reminiscent of the entire Talmudic enterprise. She once remarked: “Dissents speak to a future age. The greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time, their views become the dominant view.  So that’s the dissenter’s hope: That they are writing not for today, but for tomorrow.”

Similarly, in Jewish tradition, the Talmud is filled with accepted and dissenting opinions of remarkable sages. Why would rejected and minority opinions be recorded in the Oral Torah, known largely as the Talmud and the sources derived from it? So that courts of sages in subsequent generations can draw from them on an as needs basis and during exigent circumstances.

Across the denominational spectrum, many Rabbis have drawn from dissenting voices and minority opinions in order to maintain a sense of belonging during  the pandemic.

Such was the wisdom of a Jewish woman from Brooklyn who, in spirit, knew her Torah. Yhi Zirchra Baruch – May her memory be a blessing.

(This message is inspired by my sagely brother Mitchell Morrison. Some of the statements are his from an email he shared with me).

Rabbi Howard Morrison