Rabbi Alex Chapper

From BES to Israel with love
I really hope that you can join me on this very special solidarity trip to Israel 🇮🇱 ❤️

BDE Devastated by the news that 3 Israelis, being held hostage in Gaza, were mistakenly shot dead on Friday morning
May their families be comforted amongst their fellow mourners of Zion and Jerusalem
Let's be clear that this tragedy wouldn't have happened if the terrorists hadn't taken them captive in the first place

Zos Chanukah - this is Chanukah!

It was a privilege to attend the Chanukah lighting at 10 Downing St this afternoon hosted by Lord Cameron

Eva's interview in this week's The Jewish News

Visiting someone in hospital, I was asked by a nurse if I was from urology
I explained that I'm more pastoral than clinical!

These images, from Sunday’s incredible march against Antisemitism, remind us that the Jewish people have an amazing sense of humour.

However, this should come as no surprise since the name given to one of our Patriarch’s Yitzchak means “laughter”.

His mother, Sarah even says, “G-d has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”

The Ibn Ezra points out that, whereas Avraham’s name had a letter added to it, and Yakov’s name was changed to Yisrael, Yitzchak’s was the only one of
three Patriarchs not to have his name changed because G-d Himself instructed Avraham to call his son Yitzchak.

But why would G-d insist that our Patriarch’s name would mean “laughter”? Why is it that the description of an Aishet Chayil is that “She can laugh at the days to come”? What is it about Jews and laughter that we love to laugh? How is possible that some of the greatest comedians have been Jews?

Think of Groucho Marx, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Jackie Mason. In 1978, Time magazine claimed that 80% of all stand-up comedians in the United States were Jewish. And this at a time when Jews made up only 3% of the U.S.

By way of explanation, psychologist Samuel Janus said that, “Jewish humour is born of depression and alienation from the general culture. For Jewish comedians, comedy is a defence mechanism to ward off the aggression and hostility of others."

Laughter is a most curious reaction. It’s almost uniquely human, yet deeply physiological - a response that’s, at the same time difficult to control, and something we seek to curate through humour.

Numerous researchers have found that human beings laugh much more often when we’re with other people than when we’re alone. In fact, we even find ourselves laughing at things that aren’t remotely funny if others are with us. Laughter, then, must serve as more than a response to the unexpected and the humorous.

The Talmud relates the practice of the sage Rabbah, who, before beginning to teach matters of Jewish law, “would say something humorous so that the Sages might be cheered”. As such, laughter becomes part of the sacred act, a prerequisite for engaging collectively with that which is deep and profound.

We learn from Sarah that laughter is a communal connective tissue. It’s an act of faith, rather than doubt, of defiance and triumph rather than acquiescence.

Yitzchak’s name is a symbol of Sarah’s hope and from that moment on, we, the Jewish people, descendants of Yitzchak, though scarred and traumatised, never lost our humour or our faith. We retained our ability to laugh at ourselves and our present troubles and still believe in ultimate redemption.

In the story of the Jewish people, comedy and tragedy are intertwined and it’s often what we might call “laughter through tears,” or in Yiddish, “a bitterer gelekhter”. But by laughing at our fate, it’s as if we’re stepping out of the situation and looking at it from a distance, as if we’re outside observers, and it enables to carry on.

Sometimes you read something and then have to read it again to believe what you've read
(Daily Telegraph 24.11.23)

The one with Jewish Women's Aid
Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Alex & Eva Chapper

The one with Jewish Women's Aid. Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Alex & Eva Chapper Click here to watch

Three times a day, in the Amidah, we say that G-d is the One who releases those being held captive
Let's pray with added intensity that all of the hostages are released very soon

The story unfolds more like a Greek tragedy than biblical narrative. Esav, possibly the first vegan in history, sells his birthright for lentil soup as he despises it but cries bitterly when he realises that he’s also lost his father’s blessings of prosperity.

From that day to this, a mountain of hatred has been heaped on us, the descendants of Yakov, falsely accused of being usurers and thieves, occupiers and oppressors and every other type of libel.

The late Dayan Swift suggests that the Zohar may have been alluding to this stigma in a remarkable passage saying that the freedom and dignity of the Jewish people, and the Moshiach won’t come “until Esav’s tears dry up”.

It’s hard to know what that means but it’s a tremendous responsibility for us to bear - to have to justify our very entitlement to exist - but we do so through our commitment to spiritual and moral excellence, how we raise our children, how we dedicate ourselves to Torah and mitzvot, kindness and unity.

Whether we like it or not, the Torah is “an inheritance of the House of Yakov”, which means that we’re the heirs of his spiritual and physical legacy and the only way to quieten the question of our legitimacy to it is to guard it like a treasured possession.

Astonishingly, given the many centuries of Jewish suffering, biblical Hebrew has no word for “tragedy” because tragedy isn’t a Jewish idea. Instead, as Rabbi Sacks wrote in his book Future Tense, “The Jewish way is to rescue hope from tragedy. However dark the world, love still heals. Goodness still redeems. Terror, by defeating others, ultimately defeats itself, while the memory of those who offered kindness to strangers lives on.”

Judaism is the systematic rejection of tragedy in the name of hope. It’s a hope rooted in the knowledge that the Torah is a “tree of life” and our connection to it, to G-d and to each will ensure that, despite whatever challenges we face, when we hold on strong then Am Yisrael Chai.

Today is World Children’s Day.
Over 35 children and babies are among the more than 240 hostages being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.
Everyone around the world must call for their immediate release.

Hear from Jo Grose and Rebbetzin Eva Chapper on their experiences and stories from the United Synagogue’s mission to Israel this week. All are welcome, but please note that some of the content will not be suitable for younger audiences.

https://www.tinyurl.com/bes-israel-19nov

My piece in this week's Jewish News

The one with Eva back from Israel
Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Alex & Eva Chapper

The one with Eva back from Israel. Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Alex & Eva Chapper Click here to watch

It was a remarkable achievement. Not just that Sarah Imeinu lived to 127 years old but also, as the Torah implies, each of her years were equal in the quality of their goodness.

Rav Moshe Feinstein points out that Sarah was outstanding in her ability to continue to do mitzvot and chessed despite the pain she would’ve suffered due to circumstance and age. It’s this incredible fortitude in the face of the significant challenges that she faced which makes her, as the first of the Matriarchs, an exemplar for us all. At this difficult moment in the life of the Jewish people, we’ve seen how to respond, and we’ve understood that, it’s particularly at times like this, that we must show the strength necessary to keep doing mitzvot and chessed.

This idea is reflected in the Gemara which discusses how someone who has a financial obligation to another must repay them. The question is asked whether it should be from the highest, medium, or lowest value property and the answer given is that each person is assessed according to what they have. If that’s true in material matters, then even more so in spiritual realms, the expectation on each of us is to do what we can to the best of our ability.

I remember as a child being enrolled in Tzivos Hashem (G-d’s Army) which was an initiative of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to mobilise an army of children from all over the world to do acts of kindness, learn Torah and do mitzvot. Each month we’d receive a newsletter containing a mitzvah campaign encouraging us to earn the points needed to be promoted up the ranks. The harder the mitzvah the more points it would be worth, and it was a great way to generate a sense of excitement and enthusiasm as well as commitment and responsibility.

Regardless of whether we’re on the actual front line or not, every single one of us is in Tzivos Hashem and we have to do what we can to fight the good fight in the knowledge that victory will come with us all making a contribution. Our fervent prayer is that G-d gives strength to His people and blesses us with peace.

And now collect all the negative feathers that you scattered!

Today is Rosh Chodesh Kislev which means there are 25 shopping days until Chanukah!
More importantly, it means we put behind us the bitterness of Marcheshvan and look forward to a month of miracles, light and victory over our enemies.
In the words that we add into our prayers today, may G-d remember us for good, blessings and life.

The one with more Israel programmes for you
Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Alex & Eva Chapper

The one with more Israel programmes for you. Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Alex & Eva Chapper Click here to watch

Last chance to record your message of love and support for Israel
Please send it to https://tinyurl.com/bes-israel-video

How Do We Make Sense of an Upside Down World?

Inviting a response, G-d reveals to Avraham Avinu His plan to destroy the cities of S***m and Gomorrah because “their outrage is so great, and their sin so grave!”

Perceiving an apparent injustice, Avraham Avinu protests, “Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty?” Perhaps there are fifty innocent people within the city and if not that many, what about forty, thirty, twenty or even ten? “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike.”

Avraham appears to struggle to understand how G-d could do such a thing, even questioning G-d, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” The Gur Aryeh explains that Avraham feared that present and future generations would lose faith in the fairness of G-d’s justice if they were to feel that G-d had inflicted equal suffering on the righteous and the wicked

In response to his prayer, G-d said that He would indeed exercise mercy but there was no-one except Lot who deserved to be saved and the episode concludes with G-d carrying out his plan, “and Avraham returns to his place.”

This is far more than just a geographical detail. Here Avraham’s faith in G-d’s righteousness was restored, he accepted that, from his position, as a mere mortal, his perception is limited, his comprehension is finite, he can never fully understand G-d’s ways. Rabbeinu Bachya explains the phrase “to his place” means “to his regular emotional state.” As long as Avraham had been in a dialogue with G-d, he was on a totally spiritual and intellectual level, not allowing for normal emotional responses which are part of the human condition.

Now that the immediate benevolent presence of G-d had departed, he resumed his customary frame of mind and his approach to matters of a more terrestrial nature. He returned to doing what he does best - chessed - showing kindness to others.

Here the Torah is highlighting something which is deeply relevant to us today.

We’re living in, what Chazal term, an Olam Hafuch - an upside world. Where, despite the advances, we’re living at a time of greater polarisation and disarray than at any other time in recent memory.

When the level of hatred and vitriol has risen to a fever pitch, and we can’t even speak to each other across our differences, when the images of violence numb us into disbelief.

Where murder and hostage-taking are glorified by some and justified by others, where, many of the western liberal “intelligentsia” have blurred the lines between the right to exist, the duty of self-defence and pogroms and blood lust, where good and evil are confused, righteous and wicked are judged the same.

Where our national broadcaster can’t bring itself to use the “T” word and a beloved high street chain has to cancel an advert because the colours are wrong.

Elie Wiesel was once asked what his greatest disappointment was in life. He answered: “I was convinced in 1945 that what happened must never be forgotten. One thing appeared to me then: that Antisemitism had died in Auschwitz. But now I realize that only its victims perished. Antisemitism is still alive and well!”

The Gemara records that the son of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, became deathly ill and was thought to have died. Then he suddenly regained consciousness. It was as if he had returned from some far-away place. As he regained consciousness, his father said to him: ‘What did you see?’

He said: ‘I saw an Olam Hafuch - a world turned upside down. What is above was below and what is below was above.’

His father said to him: ‘My son, You have seen an Olam Barur - a clear world, you have seen the world clearly.’

We’re living in an Olam Hafuch - an upside-down world, a place that doesn’t make sense, with events, opinions, attitudes that we can’t understand.

Our challenge during this is to remain focused on Olam Barur - a clear vision of what is good, right, true.

This is our mission as it was Avraham’s to which G-d attests: “For I have singled him out, because he instructs his children and his household after him, to keep the way of G-d by doing what is just and right, in order that G-d may bring about for Abraham what has been promised him.”

To whoever threw an orange at our front window today
Thank you!

Aharon meeting Boris Johnson in Jerusalem

The one when we wave the flag
Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Alex & Eva Chapper

The one when we wave the flag. Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Alex & Eva Chapper Click here to watch

עץ חיים היא!

When 700 people come together from a number of local communities for a Friday night of unity with Israel as they did this week in Elstree it sends a clear message:
Israel we love you
Israel we support you
Israel we stand with you
While sadly there are many who may hate Israel and hate Jews and show that Antisemitism is a light sleeper, they don't realise that they just make us stronger, that the love between Jews increases and we display greater unity
I'm proud to be part of the Jewish people because I love Jews, I love Judaism and I love Israel
Am Yisrael Chai

The one when we show our unity with Israel
Shabbat Shalom from Rabi Alex & Eva Chapper

The one when we show our unity with Israel. Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Alex & Eva Chapper Click here to watch

We have a packed programme for Shabbat Shuva with something for everyone