In the 1960s, Rabbi Morris Margolies, of blessed memory, gave a series of lectures for an adult education program. They were so well received, they were published in a pamphlet titled “Ten Turning Points in Jewish History.”
More than 50 years later, Alan Edelman, who was responsible for bringing Melton to Kansas City several years ago and is the retired associate executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, will be teaching a Melton graduate class on the lectures.
Classes will be held from noon to 1 p.m. beginning Thursday, April 26, at Village Shalom. A free kosher lunch will be provided on the 26th, and a donation of $36 is suggested to join the class.
Contact Megan Pener, MeltonKC director, or 913-327-8161 to register or for more information.
Chapter headings from Rabbi Margolies’ “Ten Turning Points in Jewish History” are:
• The Revelation of Sinai
• The Coronation of King David
• Ezra’s Return to Jerusalem
• The Maccabean Revolt
• The Crucifixion of Jesus
• The Editing of the Talmud
• The First Crusades
• The Expulsion from Spain
• The French Revolution
• The Rebirth of Israel
Edelman said one of the students from a Melton class he taught at Village Shalom approached him and said many of her friends don’t really know Jewish history, don’t understand how we have survived for 5,000 years or what major events were responsible for that survival.
She remembered attending Rabbi Margolies’ lectures on the 10 turning points back in the ’60s and thought it would be an important class to offer. Edelman agreed.
“Rabbi Margolies was my rabbi growing up and inspired me in so many ways,” said Edelman. “He was a role model for me in terms of Jewish learning and Jewish teaching, and how to approach Jewish teaching. He taught me a passion for Jewish teaching.”
The ’60s were politically charged with the civil rights movement and Vietnam. Edelman said he and his friends went to services on Friday nights to hear Rabbi Margolies’ sermons because they were so powerful and taught them the connection between Judaism and social justice. He added that many Jews growing up in the ’60s left Judaism; they didn’t feel it was relevant to what was going on in the world.
“Rabbi Margolies made it very relevant and those of us who were teenagers during those years really connected to our Judaism through social justice and political activism,” he said. “I wish he were alive today to see young people again getting mobilized against things they’re concerned about.”
He alluded to issues related to Jewish life and Israel, and students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who are advocating gun control.
Rabbi Margolies’ lectures on the 10 turning points are still relevant today because if we don’t learn our history, we’re destined to repeat it, Edelman said. He gave the example of the current coalition and prime minister in Israel being so divisive within the world Jewish community around issues of the Western Wall, conversion and the occupation of the West Bank.
He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first promised to establish a new Western Wall area for Jews who want to pray the way they want, then backtracked and said no because the ultra-Orthodox in his coalition put pressure on him.
Another example is when Netanyahu agreed with the U.N. refugee agency to resolve the African refugee problem in Israel which was going to take 16,000 refugees and seven other countries that were going to take 60,000. But the ultra-Orthodox didn’t want these Africans in Israel. Netanyahu signed the agreement, then backtracked.
“It’s very reminiscent of what’s going on with our president in the recent discussion around the NRA,” Edelman pointed out. “One day he says you congressmen and senators are afraid of the NRA and the next day the NRA meets with him and he backtracks.”
Edelman cited a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times written by Ron Lauder, a conservative who is head of the World Jewish Congress and a friend of Netanyahu and Trump, who said that Israel has to resolve the two-state solution and stop kowtowing to the ultra-Orthodox because Jews around the world are losing their connection to Israel.
“The worst thing that could happen is for Jews to become apathetic toward supporting Israel,” Edelman said.
The point is, Edelman explained, that similar events are happening today that happened 2,000 years ago and were responsible for the destruction of the Temple, such as fractioning and zealotry.
The zealots went to Masada to retake the Temple and kick the Romans out, no matter what the cost. Today there are settlers who are zealots and don’t want to relinquish the West Bank to the Palestinians. And the ultra-Orthodox are like the Sadducees, or priests, who were in control of the Temple, Edelman said.
“The Talmud says the Second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred — one Jew for another,” he said. “And the venom you hear coming out of the mouths of the ultra-Orthodox and settlers toward those Jews who don’t accept (their point of view) … Again, we’re on a path to losing our beloved Israel if we don’t get our act together.”
Edelman believes history is important studied from two angles. One, all the things we’re dealing with today such as acculturation, assimilation and intermarriage have been dealt with in the past; nothing is new. And two, learning the historical events themselves to show how they have contributed to where we stand today.
“There are lessons to be learned and approaches and only by studying history can we deal with it in a positive way, not one that will take us down a dangerous path again,” he said. “All of that history informs who we are today as Jews.”
Rabbi Margolies retired in 1986 after serving Congregation Beth Shalom for 25 years. He died in 2012 at the age of 90.