The late 2000s/early 2010s brought a wave of pop psychology fads that sought to make complicated ideas more digestible but in subversively simplistic ways. Gurus like Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Ariely told the world that if people only worked 10,000 hours towards a goal and happened to be born in the right month, they too would rise to the apex of their desired fields. Predictably, much of the research and conclusions would end up being debunked several years later. The statistics were often manipulated if not outright fabricated and correlation regularly confused with causation. Thankfully for the stars of the phenomenon, the fall did not come before billions of TED talk views on YouTube and tens of millions of books were sold.
An especially juicy topic drawn on during that era was the role birth order plays in human development. Replacing horoscopes as the reason people use to explain their successes and failures, one’s place in the sibling hierarchy became seen as a key determinant in personality and life outcome. This may have been news in the secular world but the Torah had been teaching these lessons for thousands of years.
From the older Cain resenting the younger Abel to the younger Jacob receiving his name as a result of pulling Esau’s heel in a failed attempt to be born first, the idea of being first out of the womb seems sacrosanct. Nowhere is this more evident than the 10th Plague which we will soon recall at the Passover Seder.
A central point of the Maggid section is the collective recitation of ‘Makat Bechorot’ in a macabre tone while dropping the last of our grape juice onto a napkin. The ritual demonstrates our own sadness at the immense suffering the Egyptians, also created in the image of God, endured during the slaying of the firstborn so Pharaoh would finally let the Israelites go free. Less talked about is why exactly the firstborn were chosen. The preceding verse in the Torah describes Israel as God’s firstborn son with the 12th century Spanish rabbi and astrologer Ibn Ezra (who definitely would have loved to see the solar eclipse) commenting that firstborn is this context means the originators of monotheism. Long story short and in danger of the usually much lighter newsletter jumping the shark into Dvar Torah territory, birth order matters a great deal in Judaism.
The repercussions of the 10th Plague continue to reverberate today. Every year, Jewish firstborns are commanded to fast on Passover eve. The fast is only brought up as part of a tangent in a minor part of the Talmud. There is no indication as to how or when it started. Some rabbis say it is in memory of the Egyptian firstborns while others say is in gratitude that the Israelite firstborns were spared when the plague ‘passed over’ the lamb blood-stained doors of Israelite homes. Firstborns can exempt themselves from the fast by completing a section of Torah learning. How does that work? The best guess is that the simcha/joy of learning Torah overrides the sadness associated with the fast. Note that this ‘cheat’ does NOT apply to Yom Kippur or any other fast days.
This year, we are blessed to host over Zoom longtime JCC member Todd Walzer’s siyum/completion of the 10th Chapter of Tractate Sanhedrin from the Babylonian Talmud. Sanhedrin is a grand compendium of the Jewish legal system covering civil and criminal law, the courts system, punishments and more. We will review Page 89, with some interesting segments on Jonah the prophet and the Binding of Isaac (Akeda). Not only Firstborns, middle children and even the babies of the family are welcome to join. Details under Events below.
Services
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, April 12th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, April 19th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat HaGadol – Parshat Metzora
Moroccan Torah Reading Round 2
Kiddush open for sponsorship
Saturday, April 20th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Passover Day 1
Tuesday, April 23rd
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush Seder Leftovers: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, April 26th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Chol HaMoed Passover
Saturday, April 27th
Kiddush open for sponsorship
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Passover Day 7 – Shōwa Day
Monday, April 29th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Friday Night Dinner Reservations can made on our website: https://jccjapan.jp/shabbat-meals-sign-up/.
Events
Fast of the Firstborns Siyum/Completion
Monday, April 22nd at 7:00am
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85938469213?pwd=e7xd3BwbRZLi45FGWSERLFw8MsR572.1
Passover Seder – First Night – SOLD OUT
Monday, April 22nd at 6:00pm
Passover Seder 2
Tuesday, April 23rd at 6:00pm
Reservations: https://jccjapan.jp/passover/
Film Screening: The Wolf of Baghdad
A graphic memoir by Carol Isaacs (The Surreal McCoy cartoonist), comes to life panel by panel as a motion comic (animated slideshow) with its own soundtrack of Judeo-Arabic and Iraqi music. A unique audio-visual journey through a Jewish family’s memories of their lost Iraqi homeland.
Followed by Q&A with the creator of the film Carol Isaacs moderated by the JCC’s Rachel Walzer.
Tuesday, May 7th at 7:00pm
Registration Details: https://jccjapan.jp/event-registration/
If you have an idea for an event or a topic you would like to share with others, please visit our website: https://jccjapan.jp/event-committee-inquiry/
Announcements
The first night seder is officially SOLD OUT. We have plenty of space on the second night and hope to see you there if you haven’t already reserved.
The JCC will host morning services three times over Passover. While making the minyan on Saturday is never easy, weekdays are even tougher. Please consider joining us for the celebratory prayers we only get to do a few times a year led by our own in-house Chazzan who knows all the tunes.
We were beyond fortunate to host a Moroccan from Marrakech last Shabbat who chanted the Torah reading in a way that Moses would have understood better than the Long Island accented Hebrew more commonly heard from the pulpit. Missed it? No worries! You get another chance to witness something truly rare and extraordinary when Natan and Aviva return next week so that we can again enjoy such mellifluous Torah reading.
Mazal Tov to the JCC’s high school seniors on their college acceptances. Now to choose from the many incredible options while considering the climate of antisemitism on each campus! Todai, Waseda and Keio never looked so good.
Yiddish Club with Jack Halpern: Please contact Jack at jack@cjki.org if you are interested to join. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Much more than just language, the club’s monthly meetings explore Yiddish culture as well.
Shabbat Tazria
Candle Lighting: 5:53pm
Havdala: 6:52pm