ahausman

About ahausman

Posts by Angela Hausman :

April 8 2025

D’var Torah – April 4

Vayikra: Dust Yourself Off and Get Back on the Horse

Shabbat Shalom!

I hope this finds you all well.

Many moons ago, back when I was a gawky teenager in my senior year of high school, I gave a ride home to two fellow seniors. I thought I was so cool, so great driving other folks around. I was so consumed with this sense of adolescent hubris and youthful arrogance that as I turned right at a red stop light, I literally didn’t think to look to my left to see if there was any oncoming traffic. We almost got hit and I had to peel off the road to avoid a collision. I was beyond ashamed and embarrassed, and my classmates were visibly shaken by the experience. Ridden with guilt, I told my dad (of blessed memory) what happened as soon as I got home, handed him the car keys, and declared that I never wanted to drive again. After a couple days, he sat me down and asked me four questions:

“What did you do?”

“What were the implications of what you did?”

“Did you apologize to your classmates and make amends with them?”

“What are you going to do in the future to make sure that never happens again?”

I answered the first three questions to his satisfaction, but my answer to his fourth- “I’m never driving again,” was simply not acceptable to him. He handed me the keys to the car, and said, “you’re going to take me to the supermarket and I’m going to give you the directions.” We took a very long, scenic route getting there, one that involved a lot of four-way intersections, red lights, stop signs, and right turns.

Looking back, I can’t be more grateful to my Dad. It was the ultimate “dust yourself off and get back on the horse” moment.

I’ll be honest – I hadn’t thought about that story from my life for years, and I do mean years, until I came to this week’s parsha of Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1-5:26).

In Vayikra, God tells Moses the following:

“When a person unwittingly incurs guilt in regard to any of God’s commandments about things not to be done, and does one of them —

If it is the anointed priest who has incurred guilt, so that blame falls upon the people, he shall offer for the sin of which he is guilty a bull of the herd without blemish as a sin offering to God.

If it is the community leadership of Israel that has erred and the matter escapes the notice of the congregation, so that they do any of the things which by God’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize guilt — when the sin through which they incurred guilt becomes known, the congregation shall offer a bull of the herd as a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting.

The elders of the community shall lay their hands upon the head of the bull before God, and the bull shall be slaughtered before God.” (Leviticus 4:2-4, 13-15*)

Earlier this week I was listening to retired Navy SEAL and podcaster Jocko Willink as he interviewed fellow retired SEAL Jim Foreman. Specifically, they discussed mistakes and errors they made on the battlefield and how they dusted themselves off and got back on the horse. Willink offered the following nuggets of advice:

“…it’s my fault and sometimes; [and] people, they take that to the point of ’it’s my fault and therefore I need to be punished over and over and over again and never forgiven.’…If you can’t say ‘oh yeah, here’s what I did, this was my intent, I didn’t intend for this bad thing to happen but it is certainly is something I did. I’m going to learn from it and I’m going to forgive myself and move on.’… I think if you can go, ‘okay, here’s where I am culpable, here’s the mistakes that I made, here’s how I’ll prevent them happening again,’ I think that’s the way out of it and the way to move forward in life.” [1]

Interestingly enough, the Jewish Publication Society’s 1985 translation of the Torah alternatively calls the khatat the sin offering, the “offering of purgation.”[2] In other words, it means purging, removing, getting rid of the sin from one’s presence and life.

The beauty of the sin offering/offering of purgation is that it allowed our ancestors to atone for their errors, learn from their mistakes, and get back to work with the full knowledge of what they had gained from their experience.

Bizrat HaShem, with God’s help, may we always atone for and learn from our errors, may others accept our atonement (and we their’s), and may we all come back from our mistakes stronger, wiser, more compassionate, and overall better people.

Wishing you a Good Shabbos and a great weekend.

Bivrakha,

Rabbi Aaron Stucker-Rozovsky

Beth El Congregation | 520 Fairmont Ave, Winchester, VA 22601

(540) 667-1889 (office)

April 3 2025

D’var Torah – March 28

ahausman Weekly D'var Torah

God: with us both day and night

Shabbat Shalom! I hope this finds you all well.

There are two stories that always provide me with incredible inspiration.

The first was during the Vietnam War. When an American pilot was shot down behind enemy lines in the densely forested and inhospitable jungles of that country, a vast network of aircraft and highly trained and motivated personnel sprung into action to help safely recover the downed pilot and prevent his capture. This included light observation planes whose pilots risked life and limb to communicate with the pilot on the ground and guide his steps as he made his way to a pick-up zone; heavily armed gunships; fighter jets and attack aircraft whose crews kept the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong at bay; and finally, helicopters with special operations rescue crews onboard who would ultimately make the extraction. When any of these aircraft were running out of fuel, a replacement was right there to take its place. Day or night, this is how it worked. These aircraft and crew always stayed on station and many died protecting the downed pilots. It was a sacred vigil that they performed, and an unbreakable and holy bond that these aviators had with one another.

The second is from my own life. From the day she was diagnosed until she took her last breath, my mother of blessed memory was never alone. From the second she was diagnosed until her death three years later she was surrounded by an army of doctors, physicians assistants, nurses, proton beam technicians, patient advocates, treatment coordinators, chaplains, hospital volunteers, and countless others. For three years they gave my mom everything they had. She was their charge, their responsibility, their calling…their patient. I still remember one night, near the end of it all, a nurse who had come just off shift came in and spent 20 minutes talking with us. She could have gone to the gym, the mall, or home, but she stayed there with us. That was a priceless and unforgettable experience. Just as with the heroic and selfless pilots and aircrews from the Vietnam War, those in charge of my mother’s treatment saw to her care both day and night without fail.

These stories, these episodes come to mind whenever I reach the concluding lines of this week’s parsha of Pekudei (Exodus 38:21-40:38).

We read: “When Moses had finished the work [of building the tabernacle], the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of God filled the Tabernacle…over the Tabernacle a cloud of God rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.” (Exodus 40:34, 38*)

The cloud and fire are a concrete sign and visible demonstration reminder that wherever the people of Israel go, God goes with them. When in doubt, the cloud and fire were a clear sign that God was with them. I can’t even begin to fathom how reassuring this was for our ancestors as they trekked through the wilderness.

It is said in Torah that B’tzelem Elohim – we are made in God’s divine image (Genesis 1:26), and that we are to walk in God’s divine and holy ways (Deuteronomy 10:12). Therefore, it goes that just as God was with our ancestors on a constant and consistent basis during their sojourn in the wilderness, so too must we always demonstrate the same amount of attention and love to those whom we hold closest. Being a devoted and loving husband or wife, a caring mother or father, a dutiful son or daughter, and a loyal friend require a lot more than banker’s hours. These precious people deserve the very best of us every hour of every day.

And what should we term this middah g’dolah – this supreme value? Perhaps it’s this: “constant consistency.”

Perhaps the greatest symbol of this constant consistency that we have today in our midst is the ner tamid – the eternal light which hangs above the Aron Kodesh (the Holy Ark) and Sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) which contain the most basic and fundamental words of our faith. Always lit, always there, the ner tamidis a reminder of God’s enduring and unending presence in our lives and a standard we should strive to achieve for those whom we love most.

Bizrat HaShem, with God’s help, may we always show up and be there for those whom we love both day and night.

Wishing you a Good Shabbos and a great weekend.

Bivrakha,

Rabbi Aaron Stucker-Rozovsky

Beth El Congregation | 520 Fairmont Ave, Winchester, VA 22601

(540) 667-1889 (office)

April 3 2025

D’var Torah – March 21

ahausman Weekly D'var Torah

Time, Talent, and Treasure: “According to the labor is the reward.”

Shabbat Shalom!

I hope this finds you all well.

My wife and I love looking up and trying workouts that are designed and recommended by those in the know – be they fitness gurus, celebrity personal trainers, social media influencers, championship sports teams, and elite military units. Why? Because they’re fun to try, we enjoy the challenge, and they force us to dig deep and push ourselves physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

There’s one workout I’ll never forget seeing (although, sadly, I can’t find it on YouTube anymore). A group of Marine option NROTC midshipmen are about to commence a grueling circuit workout of planks, lunges, curl-ups, push-ups, rope climbs, weight lifting, and, of course, constant running throughout. Their trainer, a seasoned Gunnery Sergeant, calls them together and says, “You’re going to get out of this what you put into it.” Not, “You better ace this thing,” or “I don’t want to see any of you taking it easy on yourselves.” His sublime words are fatherly and parental, and thus I’ve found great inspiration in them.

In this week’s parsha of Vayakhel (35:1-38:20), Moses tells the people to donate their personal items to build and furnish the Mishkan, the Tabernacle – God’s dwelling places among Israel. He says:

“Take from among you gifts to God; everyone whose heart is so moved shall bring them—gifts for God – gold, silver, and copper; blue, purple, and crimson yarns, fine linen, and goats’ hair; tanned ram skins, dolphin skins, and acacia wood; oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the aromatic incense; lapis lazuli and other stones for setting, for the ephod and the breastpiece.” (Exodus 35:5-9*)

What happened? Well, we’re told the following:

“And everyone who excelled in ability and everyone whose spirit was moved came, bringing to God an offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting and for all its service and for the sacral vestments. Men and women, all whose hearts moved them, all who would make an elevation offering of gold to God, came bringing brooches, earrings, rings, and pendants—gold objects of all kinds. And everyone who possessed blue, purple, and crimson yarns, fine linen, goats’ hair, tanned ram skins, and dolphin skins, brought them; everyone who would make gifts of silver or copper brought them as gifts for God; and everyone who possessed acacia wood for any work of the service brought that. And all the skilled women spun with their own hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen. And all the women who excelled in that skill spun the goats’ hair. And the chieftains brought lapis lazuli and other stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece; and spices and oil for lighting, for the anointing oil, and for the aromatic incense. Thus the Israelites, all the men and women whose hearts moved them to bring anything for the work that God, through Moses, had commanded to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to God.” (Exodus 35:22-29*)

Wow! This surprising and unexpected outpouring of time, talent, and treasure is so immense that Moses declares, “Let no man or woman make further effort toward gifts for the sanctuary!” (Exodus 36:6) The Torah adds “their efforts had been more than enough for all the tasks to be done.” (Exodus 36:6-7*)

This incredible lesson brings up a powerful lesson and thought-provoking question, namely, how much effort do we put into our relationships with others and those organizations that we care about? Do we honestly spend enough helping out a friend in need, quality time with our beloved spouses, mentoring and teaching our children, volunteering in our congregations and communities, and developing our junior colleagues at work? All too often we hear people say, “I wish my civic club had this,” or “I wish my congregation did that,” or “why isn’t my kid able to hit home runs, speak three languages, or perform calculus equations,” yet, do not take the time, space, or initiative to stand up, lead, and effect those changes. The Israelites in Vayakhel definitely show us what right looks like.

As Rabbi Ben He He of the Talmud famously and succinctly taught, “According to the labor is the reward.” (Pirkei Avot 5:23*)

Bizrat HaShem, with God’s help, may we get out of life, our endeavors, and our relationships what we put into them, and may our reward always reflect our labor.

Wishing you a Good Shabbos and a great weekend.

Bivrakha,

Rabbi Aaron Stucker-Rozovsky

Beth El Congregation | 520 Fairmont Ave, Winchester, VA 22601

(540) 667-1889 (office)