Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

I am a traditionalist in many ways, one of which is my joy in reading a Jewish newspaper from cover to cover. Over the years, I have subscribed to many Jewish newspapers, especially ones emanating from places where I have lived. Growing up in Boston, I have been a lifetime reader of The Jewish Advocate. Having lived in the New York-New Jersey area from 1982-2000, I continued through this past Summer receiving the Jewish Week. From 2000 until recently, I have read and sometimes appeared in the Canadian Jewish News.

Sadly, over the last few months, all three of these papers among others have decided to shut down their print operations. The trend toward digital newspapers, other on line sources of receiving information, and the pressures caused by Covid-19, have all been contributing factors. Nevertheless, I already miss much of my Shabbat afternoon reading material from which I learned about the Jewish diversity of my local communities and the world at large.

One form of Jewish print that will never go down is the Torah itself. During Sukkot in antiquity, the entire Jewish people formally heard its words every seven years in a ceremony called Hakhel. From the time of Ezra-Nehemia, we have formally read from the Torah every Monday, Thursday, and Shabbat. The Torah is read on Jewish holy days as well.

In early Talmudic times, each honoree recited his own Aliyah passage. Subsequently, a trained Torah reader recited the prescribed passage for most honorees. The reading from the Torah has historically been surrounded by ritual pageantry.

Beyond the formal ritual of Torah reading, we have spent our history studying it, interpreting it, and living according to it. Each morning, we recite a blessing thanking God for the obligation of immersing ourselves in daily words of Torah.

In my own life, from second grade to the present moment, I have been privileged to study Torah from amazing teachers and with ever evolving commentaries and insights.

This coming weekend, we will celebrate Simchat Torah. When we finish reading the last book of the Torah, we will not render our scrolls to the new digital world. Rather, we will start reading anew from the first book of the Torah. Our challenge from one year to the next is to continually discern new meaning and refinement from age-old words and ideas, to keep the Torah timeless and timely at the same time.

While changing circumstances are impacting Jewish newspapers which were with us for a century or more, our Torah, the first Jewish print medium, stands the test of time. The Torah waits only for us to be active readers and students of its lessons.

Rabbi Howard Morrison