Seven Ate Nine - By: Rabbi Denise L. Eger

Shabbat Shalom
Tonight we begin with a riddle—why is six afraid of seven?
Because seven "ate" nine! An old joke popular with the under ten set-but the numbers seven eight and nine play a special role tonight on this Shabbat.

Let us begin with Seven: Of course the most obvious is that Shabbat is the seventh day of the week. Made holy by God’s rest and renewal during the first week of creation and made holy by God’s commandment to us to Observe and keep the Sabbath day, Shabbat is an opportunity, a gift to us to have eternity be present in our world. But how many of you take off and rest? How many of you make a conscious effort to create a different spiritual space on the Sabbath? I don’t just mean this hour of worship time—but throughout the day on Saturday—this too is Shabbat until Sundown. Try it tomorrow –no errands, or laundry, come to Torah study, read a book at home. The quality of the day will change if you have Shabbat in your life.

But we have other sevens in Jewish tradition—for seven is a special number, there are seven wedding blessing the Sheva Brachot—again tied to creation but also tied to the promise of redemption. There are Biblically seven days of Pesach and Sukkot—a full week of rejoicing. Joshua marched around the walls of Jericho seven times. The sabbatical year is the seventh year according to the Torah. The number seven indicates completeness and wholeness in our tradition.

Eight in Jewish tradition is associated with human activity—because it is a week plus one and shows human work is needed to bring about redemption. Eight is the number of days from birth to a brit milah, entering the child into the covenant. And eight is associated with the days of the Chanukah—the triumph of religious freedom and rededication to the ideals of monotheism by the Maccabees.

The number eight is important today of course because it is 8/8/08. For the Chinese the number is 8 has special magical and lucky meaning-which is one reason the Chinese chose this day for the Olympics to begin.

According to and article written by Amlan Chakraborty in PTI “For the Chinese, eight in Mandarin is 'ba', which sounds like 'fa' or prosperity, thus triggering a craze to get that lucky date on marriage certificates. According to estimates, nearly 16,500 couple tied the knot in the capital only while the administration has been flooded with requests from Shanghai, Guanzhou, Qinhuangdao and Zhengzhou as well to get married”

Often in its foreign policy—China will sign eight documents or agreements with others and Confucius left 8 virtues for his follwers in Ancient China.

But tonight as the Olympics begin in China amid the beauty of the opening ceremonies—we would do well not to forget the complex nature of China and its policies of abuse and human rights violations. China no longer the “sleeping giant” has roared awake on the global scene with its huge economic engine and people power. But their tremendous violations of human rights continue.

China could make a difference in Darfur and help to stop the genocide that is taking place there. As the largest consumer of Sudanese oil, China has been asked to speak to the government in Khartoum to stop the systematic extermination of the people of Darfur—but the Chinese government has resisted and instead is the largest supplier of arms to the Sudanese. There efforts there have enabled hundreds of thousand to be murdered and millions exiled.

China is also the biggest supporter of the oppressive regime in Myanmar. Formerly known as Burma—this is a government that went after the Buddhist priests in their peaceful protests and a government so oppressive that after the recent typhoon—they even refused aid from the American government though their people were suffering. China is also the biggest supporter of Kim Jong –IL’s repressive regime in North Korea.

And of course China’s now long record of oppression in Tibet is well-known. The Dali Lama travels the world seeking freedom for Tibet and freedom of religion while the Chinese government cracks down more tightly on the Tibetan people and resettling other Chinese ethnic groups to Tibet while making these other groups the beneficiaries of economic development in Tibet. As recently as March, the Chinese police imprisoned hundreds of protesters in Tibet in a crackdown on journalists and religious leaders.

And China especially during these Olympics has censored the press and tied its hands. The internet in China is limited access for everyone but even to foreign press and peace activists have already been expelled this week.

Even the Catholic Church cannot escape the hands of the Chinese government who wants to control who is appointed bishop and if they don’t like Rome’s choice –simply appoints it own.

Who can forget the pictures 19 years ago of a lonely Chinese protester in Tiananmen Square facing down that tank?
Even as the Olympics begin with its emphasis on athleticism, peace, and sportsmanship—China’s violation of human rights must not and cannot be ignored on this day of lucky Chinese 8’s.
And the number nine is important because tomorrow evening at the end of the Sabbath day—the Jewish community will observe Tisha b’Av the ninth of Av. This is our national day of mourning. Both the first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and the second temple was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70. On the ninth of Av we also mourn the expulsion from Spain and other tragedies of our people through fasting, and all of the same prohibitions that one observes on Yom Kippur.

We read from the book of Lamentations—Eicha- on this day. But this year we add to it and are reminded that the suffering we experienced at the hands of the Babylonians and the Romans and the Spaniards is no different than the suffering of human rights that are going on in plain sight of the world in Darfur, Myanmar and yes, China.
So even as we prepare to observe this sad day among our own people—let us dedicate this light of memorial to the people of Darfur who have died needlessly, and for the people of Tibet who have had their spirits crushed and for the people of Myanmar and North Korea who suffer and for those around the world whose human dignity and human rights are violated by oppressive governments and cruel rulers and dictators—whether in China, or Africa or S. America, Asia or any place in our world.

As Rabbi Andy Korn writes: “Oppressed people need more than our good intentions. They also need us to be involved. In the immortal words of Hillel the Elder: “If not now, when?” “If not now, when?” So this week call the Chinese consulate here in Los Angeles even as you watch the Olympics to ask about Freedom for Tibet and why they continue to support the oppressive regimes in Khartoum and Myanmar and hold them accountable for their actions.

“May it be our prayer that blessing should come to those who should not be forgotten. As athletes gather for competition, may we also work on behalf of those denied the rights we sometimes take for granted. May the abuses of the powerful soon and speedily give way to freedom, justice, and understanding for all.” (Korn)

Posted by Jimmy at August 11, 2008 04:51 PM