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PRESS OFFICE
ARMENIAN CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA WESTERN DIOCESE
3325 North Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91504
Tel: (818) 558-7474
Fax: (818) 558-6333
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: www.armenianchurchwd.com
Dear Friends,
We are so grateful for Archbishop Hovnan Derderian's visit on
Wednesday. As promised, here are my reflections on the program.
Thank you for sharing your gifted and inspiring spiritual leader with
the Jewish community.
With God's blessings of peace,
Rabbi Mark S. Diamond
Executive Vice President
The Board of Rabbis of Southern California
6505 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 415
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323-761-8600
323-761-8603 (fax)
[email protected]
www.boardofrabbis.org
Torat Malakhim
(Torah from the City of Angels)
March 27, 2004 5 Nisan 5764
Rabbi Mark S. Diamond
Executive Vice President
The Board of Rabbis of Southern California
Torah Portion: Vayikra ("The Eternal One called ...")
Leviticus 1:1-5:26
Haftarah Portion: Isaiah 43:21-44:23
The weekly Torah portion details a elaborate set of mandated sacrifices
through which our ancestors worshiped God. The Hebrew word for
sacrifice, korban, bears the connotation of "drawing near" or "coming
into close contact" with the Holy One. In his masterful Torah
translation, The Five Books of Moses (Schocken Press), Dr. Everett Fox
renders the second verse of the parashah, "When one among you
brings-near (yakriv) a near-offering (korban) for YHWH..."
Nearly two thousand years after the cessation of formal animal
sacrifice, we demonstrate devotion to God in alternative ways. Prayer,
Torah learning and mitzvot have supplanted sacrificial rites in the
Jewish tradition. Furthermore, we are bidden to demonstrate our love of
God by manifesting love and respect for our fellow men and women, the
highest forms of Divine creation.
The more I travel throughout our community, the more I realize how
little we really know about the religious beliefs and practices of our
neighbors. Earlier this week, I had the great pleasure to bring a
cherished friend and colleague to speak at the Milken Community High
School of Stephen S. Wise Temple. Our special guest was Archbishop
Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church
of North America. As Primate, Archbishop Derderian oversees a region
with more than 600,000 Armenians and dozens of congregations and
church-affiliated schools. Two-thirds of the Armenian community lives
here in greater Los Angeles.
The Archbishop was warmly welcomed in private meetings with Rabbi Eli
Herscher and Head of School Dr. Rennie Wrubel, and enthusiastically
received by students and faculty at an open forum. We noted several
fascinating points of commonality between the Jewish and Armenian
communities--a burgeoning day school movement, pressing issues facing
new immigrants to this country, and the special challenge of maintaining
religious, ethnic and national identity among second and third
generation Jewish and Armenian Americans. Archbishop Derderian
spearheads a project to bring young people on trips to Armenia, a
program that reminds me of our own acclaimed Birthright Israel.
I watched and listened with pride and joy as the Milken students and
staff peppered the Archbishop with questions. What was the religious
significance of the robe and necklace he wore during his visit? Did he
believe that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' death? How does
Armenian Orthodoxy differ from Roman Catholicism? Do Armenian priests
have to take vows of celibacy? What happened during the Armenian
genocide, and what parallels can we draw with the Nazi Holocaust? How
does the Archbishop feel about Israel? Muslim-Armenian relations? A
return of Armenians to their homeland?
As we prepared to leave the campus, Archbishop Derderian was surrounded
by a crowd of inquisitive students who greeted him with more questions.
As before, the Archbishop responded to each query with warmth, love and
respect. The Milken students did not want to let this distinguished and
dynamic spiritual leader leave their campus. Their enthusiasm and
hospitality were matched by the Archbishop's keen interest in prolonging
his first visit to a Jewish school.
I'm uncertain who enjoyed and appreciated this interfaith program the
most--the hosts or the guest. One thing I do know--on that day, the
Jewish and Armenian communities took a small step closer to God, and to
one another.
* Shabbat Shalom *
ARMENIAN CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA WESTERN DIOCESE
3325 North Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91504
Tel: (818) 558-7474
Fax: (818) 558-6333
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: www.armenianchurchwd.com
Dear Friends,
We are so grateful for Archbishop Hovnan Derderian's visit on
Wednesday. As promised, here are my reflections on the program.
Thank you for sharing your gifted and inspiring spiritual leader with
the Jewish community.
With God's blessings of peace,
Rabbi Mark S. Diamond
Executive Vice President
The Board of Rabbis of Southern California
6505 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 415
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323-761-8600
323-761-8603 (fax)
[email protected]
www.boardofrabbis.org
Torat Malakhim
(Torah from the City of Angels)
March 27, 2004 5 Nisan 5764
Rabbi Mark S. Diamond
Executive Vice President
The Board of Rabbis of Southern California
Torah Portion: Vayikra ("The Eternal One called ...")
Leviticus 1:1-5:26
Haftarah Portion: Isaiah 43:21-44:23
The weekly Torah portion details a elaborate set of mandated sacrifices
through which our ancestors worshiped God. The Hebrew word for
sacrifice, korban, bears the connotation of "drawing near" or "coming
into close contact" with the Holy One. In his masterful Torah
translation, The Five Books of Moses (Schocken Press), Dr. Everett Fox
renders the second verse of the parashah, "When one among you
brings-near (yakriv) a near-offering (korban) for YHWH..."
Nearly two thousand years after the cessation of formal animal
sacrifice, we demonstrate devotion to God in alternative ways. Prayer,
Torah learning and mitzvot have supplanted sacrificial rites in the
Jewish tradition. Furthermore, we are bidden to demonstrate our love of
God by manifesting love and respect for our fellow men and women, the
highest forms of Divine creation.
The more I travel throughout our community, the more I realize how
little we really know about the religious beliefs and practices of our
neighbors. Earlier this week, I had the great pleasure to bring a
cherished friend and colleague to speak at the Milken Community High
School of Stephen S. Wise Temple. Our special guest was Archbishop
Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church
of North America. As Primate, Archbishop Derderian oversees a region
with more than 600,000 Armenians and dozens of congregations and
church-affiliated schools. Two-thirds of the Armenian community lives
here in greater Los Angeles.
The Archbishop was warmly welcomed in private meetings with Rabbi Eli
Herscher and Head of School Dr. Rennie Wrubel, and enthusiastically
received by students and faculty at an open forum. We noted several
fascinating points of commonality between the Jewish and Armenian
communities--a burgeoning day school movement, pressing issues facing
new immigrants to this country, and the special challenge of maintaining
religious, ethnic and national identity among second and third
generation Jewish and Armenian Americans. Archbishop Derderian
spearheads a project to bring young people on trips to Armenia, a
program that reminds me of our own acclaimed Birthright Israel.
I watched and listened with pride and joy as the Milken students and
staff peppered the Archbishop with questions. What was the religious
significance of the robe and necklace he wore during his visit? Did he
believe that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' death? How does
Armenian Orthodoxy differ from Roman Catholicism? Do Armenian priests
have to take vows of celibacy? What happened during the Armenian
genocide, and what parallels can we draw with the Nazi Holocaust? How
does the Archbishop feel about Israel? Muslim-Armenian relations? A
return of Armenians to their homeland?
As we prepared to leave the campus, Archbishop Derderian was surrounded
by a crowd of inquisitive students who greeted him with more questions.
As before, the Archbishop responded to each query with warmth, love and
respect. The Milken students did not want to let this distinguished and
dynamic spiritual leader leave their campus. Their enthusiasm and
hospitality were matched by the Archbishop's keen interest in prolonging
his first visit to a Jewish school.
I'm uncertain who enjoyed and appreciated this interfaith program the
most--the hosts or the guest. One thing I do know--on that day, the
Jewish and Armenian communities took a small step closer to God, and to
one another.
* Shabbat Shalom *