Erev Yom Kippur 5780 Change vs. Transition

Every year, the finals of the International Bible Contest are held in Jerusalem. While not as glamorous, or as enriching as America’s Got Talent, American Idol, or Dancing with the Stars, or the National Spelling Bee, in some circles it is considered to be quite prestigious. In the months leading up to the finals, national contests are held and only the best of the best make it to Jerusalem. I know we have folks here on this Erev Yom Kippur who “know their Bible” so I thought I’d begin tonight with some preliminary questions. Please do not shout out the answers or raise your hands, but if after hearing the questions you think you have what it takes to win, drop me a note and I will submit your name.

1)    Why do we spend forty years wandering the desert after the Exodus?

2)   Why do we need the period of the judges before we can have our first king – Saul?

3)   Why could Saul’s reign not be successful or David’s kingdom remain whole after the death of Solomon?

While the International Bible contest is real, these are not actual questions and you cannot qualify by answering them. In fact, though, these questions lead to a deep truth about Jewish survival and finding a path to a successful Yom Kippur.

Let’s review the answers.

1)    We spent forty years in the desert because a people enslaved for 400 plus years could not quickly transform into a people ready to be free. It took those years in the desert to recover from the trauma of oppression and allow a new generation to move forward.

2)   After all those years in the desert as a loose confederation of tribes, we needed the period of the judges to allow us to move slowly to a more united people, much like the United States first had to have the Articles of Confederation and only then, the Constitution.

3)   Why did the Kingdom need to split apart? Because evidently the reality of living under a new governmental system was a burden we were not fully ready to accept.

The answers contain both the reason I picked the questions and their connection to our personal and communal Yom Kippur work. Each of these stories represent a major change in our historical mythos and the transition surrounding the change, successful or not. They reinforce that when we make changes we need to understand and prepare for the often-bumpy road that we call transition.

In 2000, my first High Holy Days at Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo we had just concluded the N’ila service and was leaving the bema. An older man, was escorting two women toward the exit. The kindly motioned for me to step in front of them. The man then said, “That’s not how Rabbi Fink (who by the way had retired in 1956) conducted High Holy Day services!” One of the women jumped in and agreed with him. I stopped and smiling I turned around and said: “Rabbi Fink was a progressive thinker and leader in the Reform movement who always kept up with, and sometimes led changes in Reform practice and ritual.” The other woman replied: “You know he’s right about Rabbi Fink. Maybe he would have done things differently today.” Without missing a beat, the man jumped in and simply said: “Nah”. Forty-four years and three rabbis later, this gentleman had never adapted to the change in services. Decades later he still had not transitioned from the past and thus rejected possibility the changes could be positive

For years, “change management” has been a part of business culture and practice. We know that every change presents new challenges, small or large. Change management practices tend to focus on the practical aspects of making change but often ignore the emotional toll it takes on the people impacted by the change.

Historian and business consultant Dr. William Bridges altered our understanding of change and transition. Following the death of his wife, he saw that when change happened, a period of time, a transition, was needed to adapt to the change. As he writes: “…transition occurs in the course of every attempt at change. Transition is the state that change puts people into. The change is external (the different policy, practice, or structure that the leader is trying to bring about), while transition is internal (a psychological reorientation that people have to go through before the change can work).” At this time of year, as we examine our behavior and evaluate the positive changes we need to make, understanding transition need to come to the fore.

Bridges then outlines the three processes of transition: Saying Goodbye or endings; The Neutral Zone (explorations); and Moving Forward (new beginnings.)

Think about the behavior you would like to leave behind and the behavior you hope to move to and as I speak, think how the three processes of transition will challenge and support your change.

Saying goodbye to a behavior starts with knowing you want or need to change. Some may seem easy but in reality, challenge us. I am going to use a relatively benign example. Your job is to apply it to the behavioral changes you have chosen during this season of repentance. 

Seriously, how hard is it to not answer an email when it arrives. You feel the vibration or hear the sound, or see the icon bounce, there is no need to read it or look at it. You know you should be focused on your task at hand, your family, your friends, but to actually stop, to say goodbye, to leave behind the quick glance takes a great deal of effort, thought and commitment. Why? In part because it is what you expect of others when they receive your email. In part because it has become society’s expectation of you. Be honest now, in part because you want to feel that important.

Once you have made the commitment to not to continuously check your email and you have actually stopped, now comes the difficult part, exploring the neutral zone.

To quote Bridges: “Even after people have let go of their old ways, they find themselves unable to start anew… The neutral zone (explorations) is uncomfortable, so people are driven to get out of it. Some people try to rush ahead into some (often any) new situation, while others try to back-pedal and retreat into the past. Successful transition, however, requires… time in the neutral zone.” He goes on: “It’s like Moses in the wilderness: it was there, not in the Promised land, that Moses was given the Ten Commandment; and it was there, and not in the Promised Land, that his people were transformed from slaves to a strong and free people.”

Isn’t easy to just look at your email one, two, or maybe just 3 extra times? Or maybe, even though you’ve committed to just check your email “when you rise up and when you lie down”, you quickly discover that you really do need to check your email once more time “while you walkest by the way.” Until we begin the change, we cannot predict if we will slide back into the behavior or slide into zealotry. Each change will take more or less time in the neutral zone. Without the appropriate time in the neutral zone at best the change fails, at worst it becomes oppressive.

Finally, we can begin to move forward toward new beginnings, and even more positive growth. But wait for it, yes, moving forward into the new beginning, we realize our new behavior leads us to another change and process of transition. As Bridges cites the need for wandering through Sinai before entering the Promised Land, once there, we changed from nomads to settled agrarian and urban people. First the judges and then the prophets were needed to push us to return and grow along a path of goodness and righteousness. Similarly, the cycle continues throughout our lives. Just as each year we find ourselves at these days of awe, challenged to change for the better. Challenged to successfully transition. Moving from our own Sinai, through our own desert, through our own promised land.

2010/5770 Report To The Congregation

The Torah portions from 2 weeks ago and last week tell different stories of leadership.

Last week, in Shelach, 12 Israelite leaders are sent to scout the Promised Land. Each comes back raving about the lushness of the land, the bounty of the harvest and carrying bunches of grapes so large that it took two men to carry each one. But 10 of the 12 scouts also come back afraid and spread their fear throughout the community. The Israelites acted like all those who are afraid, they froze and refused to enter the Promised Land and they wanted to flee back to Egypt. Only Joshua and Caleb saw potential and hope. They were realistic about the challenges ahead AND wanted to proceed forward with vision, faith and of course a plan. Ultimately, the rest of the Israelites who acted out of fear were condemned to die in the desert. Only Joshua and Caleb survived the 40 years of wandering and ultimately received the blessing and reward of entering the Promised Land. We learn from this story, that realistically facing our challenges and our fears engenders the possibility of reaching goals beyond our wildest dreams.

Two weeks ago, in B’ha’alot’cha, Joshua comes running to Moses upset that 2 Israelites, Eldad and Medad, were prophesying in the camp. He said: “My lord Moses, shut them up”. Moses replied: “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all God’s people were prophets!” We learn from this story that Moses was the wisest of prophets. He understood that his leadership was not challenged by others who prophesied but just the opposite! When a people is infused with passion there is no limit to the greatness they can achieve. In fact, Moses laments that more people were not moved to prophesy.

As a congregation, as a community, these past few weeks have shown us our strength. Everyone, including me, was tempted to give into allowing our fear to drive us.  But we did not succumb. We found a way to reach beyond the fear and emulate Moses and embrace the powerful energy generated.

This outpouring of passion, commitment and leadership did not surprise me but I was overwhelmed and humbled by the depth of it. I was not surprised because I have seen it many times in the past 10 years. When I first arrived 10 years ago and we were able to heal from the deepest of wounds; As Mitzvah Day grew and encompassed communities disparate from our own; As I watched my dream of this becoming a truly caring community flourish as dozens of congregants reach out to hundreds of members who have faced pain and reveled in simcha; How when the Jewish community looks for its leadership, the first place it looks is to us; How when the crash of flight 3407 threatened to suck the life force from our community and our sister congregation Temple Beth Am, the community turned to us; As I stood on the Bema at Beth Am that Friday night I saw you in the seats, comforting another congregational family who had lost their beloved cantor, Susan Wehle; As I stood at the crash site that weekend watching them recover body after body my cell phone rang and rang and rang as you called to see what you could do to help the survivors and the first responders; at all those times and countless others, we were there, infused with spirit and each standing together as leaders, uniting when so many other communities would have run in fear or fought about who was greater and more deserving.

Now here we stand again. Where others would split apart like the Red Sea before the Israelites, we rush together to face our fears and our challenges overpowering them as the waters of the Red Sea overcame the Egyptians and saved our ancestors.

Tonight we gather together not in fear of splitting apart but challenged by how to use this incredible commitment to and passion for TBZ to confront the real issues facing our community: a shrinking Western New York Jewish community, the still divisive city/suburban split, and the increasing demands of life that clamor to take up our every waking moment.

While daunting, these challenges will not overwhelm us. I am blessed to have with me an incredible Judaic team, our new Assistant Rabbi Laurie Green who is brimming with wonderful ideas, our Cantorial Intern Penny Myers who prays and teaches with a sincerity that is all too rare and our educator Susan Goldberg Pardo who inspires us and pushes us to strive for excellence. With the administrative support of Mark Criden and his staff at our side, Rabbi Green, Cantorial Intern Myers, Susan Pardo and I have committed ourselves to a plan that can, together with you and the energy you bring here tonight, not only face our challenges head-on, but take TBZ to great new places beyond the horizon of our vision.

First: All of our doors, mine especially, are open to you, to listen to you, to offer you spiritual guidance and support. I take incredible pride that the 4 of us are NOT the distant, remote rabbis satirized in the movie “A Serious Man”. Call me, write me, email me, IM or Facebook me.

Yet, it is not enough that our doors are open to you. The four of us are setting for ourselves an ambitious initial goal. Between now and October, we want to meet with at least 100 members to listen to and to learn from you. We will not ask you pedantic questions like what kind of programming do you want or what would make services more meaningful for you. Rather we will ask you to honor us by sharing your stories, your hopes, your dreams, and your reasons for being a part of TBZ. In all that we do, we need to transform from a place where inclusivity means our doors are open to all but we wait for you to come to us, into a community that understands that inclusivity means we also have to come to you. We will not stop with the first 100 but will continue this effort until we have reached as many of you as possible in the coming years.

Second: The ancient rabbis taught that each home should be a Mikdash Me’at - a microcosm of the Temple in Jerusalem, a place of safety, warmth, compassion and positive values. Much of my teaching and programming over the next year will focus on helping you transform your home into a more sacred place and reaching out beyond TBZ to those who need our help to find a home that one day they can transform into a Mikdash Me’at. We will also be looking internally to see how our TBZ home can be more of a Mikdash Me’at - a place of safety, warmth, compassion and postivie values. Here is a 9-point definition of what I hope to help you create.

 “How to Construct A Mikdash Me'At mikdash me'at” by Ozzie Nogg 

1. To transform the home into sanctuary what you have is not as important as how you behave. 

2. To qualify as a mikdash me'at, a home must be a place of safety, comfort and refuge, where the hungry find food, the weary find rest and the stranger finds warmth and welcome. In order to be a true mikdash me'at, a home must be a place where many voices are allowed to sing - in harmony or in disagreement.

3. When erecting a mikdash me'at, place it on a solid foundation of compassion, generosity, humility and positive values. Trust and the ability to forgive are also critical building blocks.

4. To make a home a mikdash me'at you must take nothing for granted. When you rise up, give thanks for the new day and the opportunities it brings. When you lie down, give thanks for the day that is past and the lessons it taught you.

5. A mikdash me'at is built on respect - for spouses, partners, parents and children. In a little sanctuary there must also be respect for the people who work in the home. Pay them fairly. Treat them kindly.

6. Remember. Hospitality is as important as divine worship. In a mikdash me'at, food is happily shared with others. At the table, speak words of wisdom and support. Do not gossip. Even if you are alone, be not distracted by television during meals.

7. To qualify as a mikdash me'at, a home must be a place where each family member is appreciated, considered special, and encouraged to grow and learn in different ways. Listen to others with an open heart.

8. To be approved as a certified mikdash me'at, a home must be insulated against rough weather with a protective layer of peace - shalom bayit - if not every day, then surely on Shabbat. On this one day, at least, you must shut out the stress and cares of the world. Replace tension and argument with words of sweetness and love.

9. When building a mikdash me'at, begin now, and proceed with joy.

Third: Across the American Jewish community people are asking: “Where are the men?” This year I will be hosting a new group aimed at men: “Drash and Draught” - a men’s study group which will look at ways Judaism teaches us, in the words of Rabbi Dan Polish, to “Mentch Up”. 

Fourth: Also in the realm of outreach - I have invited the Jewish Outreach Institute to come to TBZ to work with our entire staff and others to teach us how to be even more open, welcoming and inclusive than we all ready are. They will also be evaluating our written and electronic materials and presence on the web. JOI has worked with dozens of congregations to help them fulfill Isaiah’s vision, which is our vision: “My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples.”

The first of our program initiatives from JOI will be the implementation of a Grandparents Circle. This program, which will be led by our member and teacher Marcia Valente, is designed to help grandparents be a positive Jewish presence for their grandchildren, WITHOUT impinging on their children’s perogotive as parents.

Fifth: Celebration - On July 17, 1810 the first Reform service was held in Germany. That means this summer on the Shabbat of July 16^th and 17^th, we celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the beginning of Reform Judaism. Rabbi Green and Cantorial Intern Myers will mark the occasion at services that Shabbat and throughout the year we will focus on this anniversary. As a part of observing this milestone, I will be teaching a class on Reform Judaism at Temple Beth Tzedek and Rabbi Perry Netter from Beth Tzedek will teach a class on Conservative Judaism at TBZ. Rabbi Netter and I are committed to deepening the connection between our congregations, the oldest and strongest in Western New York.

In addition, 2010 marks the 100^th anniversary of our Women of Reform Judaism/Sisterhood. With everything Sisterhood has done to support and enhance our congregation one might even think it existed before the congregation. This year we will not only celebrate Sisterhood’s history of commitment to TBZ but also thank them for their ongoing vision and support as they are providing us with the resources to renovate the Sisterhood Chapel into a modern, even more spiritual worship space.

And Sixth: As the board resolution says, we want to involve more of you in the planning and decision making here at TBZ. In his commentary on this week’s Torah portion, Korach, my teacher Rabbi Herb Bronstein writes: “synagogue affiliation has two modes: Taking and giving... In our own lives we have to ask: ‘Are we takers or givers?’” That you are committed to TBZ and its future is evidenced not just by your presence here but that you are members of our congregational family. In most congregations, after the last child becomes Bar or Bat Mitzvah a large number of households quit the temple. Not at TBZ. Our members, you, are not simply takers, using our services and then leaving the rest of us behind. TBZ is a special place. You stay and you give so that others can come and stay as well. You know you own this congregation. Be like Eldad and Medad. Continue to make your voices heard in ways that will help TBZ remain the Jewish light of Western New York and be able to shine its light even further and brighter.

Finally, if any of you think we should fear our future or that the challenges are too daunting, look around this room. As the prophet Joel says in chapter 3 verse 1:

 וְהָיָה אַחֲרֵי־כֵן אֶשְׁפּוֹךְ אֶת־רוּחִי עַל־כָּל־בָּשָׂר וְנִבְּאוּ בְּנֵיכֶם וּבְנֹתֵיכֶם, זִקְנֵיכֶם חֲלֹמוֹת יַחֲלֹמוּן, בַּחוּרֵיכֶם חֶזְיֹנוֹת יִרְאוּ

It shall come to pass that I will pour my spirit on all living beings and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your old shall dream dreams and your youth shall see visions.

We dream our dreams but it is our youth who will show us, who have shown us the way. If there is another congregation that could inspire its young people to stand up as they have, express their opinion so passionately and articulately and to attend an annual congregational meeting, I am not aware of it. Your presence here tonight inspires us.

And so I conclude on a personal note. The great 19^th century Chassidic rebbe Menachem Mendel of Kotzk said: It is the followers who make the rabbi. Tonight, looking at all of you, I understand his words, as I never have before. Seeing our high school and college students here as well as hearing and reading their words these past few weeks, if my rabbinic career were to end at this moment, Dayeinu, it would have been enough.

But my career has not ended. Now I look forward to the continued fulfillment of my dream - to be your spiritual leader as we together over the next year raise this Temple to the greatest glory it has ever known

Let us honor our students as they have honored all of us by ensuring that Temple Beth Zion will be here for them, their children and their children’s children, henceforth and forever.

Shabbat Shalom.

Response and Remarks for Temple Beth Zion's 160th Anniversary and the First 10 Years of My Rabbinate Here

Tonight we celebrate our past, our future and our present.

Eight score years ago, our founders dreamt of forming a congregation that would represent who they were and how they wanted to worship. Twelve years later, they decided on a new path and invited Isaac Mayer Wise to send a rabbi to Buffalo who would lead a service in the “Reform tradition”. So 148 years ago, Temple Beth Zion left its original orthodox roots and became a congregation committed to adapting to its times and its community.

In Hebrew, 148 equates to the letters ק מ ח which spell the word “kemach”. Kemach literally means flour but our ancient rabbis understood that it is really much more. Kemach means sustenance, the sustenance we get from food, from our material goods and most of all, the sustenance we get from Torah. Our founders understood that for them, Temple Beth Zion would not only sustain their worship but also be the center of their social and communal life.

Our founders lived in a vastly different time than ours, a time when their goal was to acculturate into American life and be accepted by their neighbors as equals, even while being barred from the general community’s social institutions.

Throughout the years, the decades, the last century and a half, each generation of Temple Beth Zion faced its own challenges and met them with the same strength and insight of our founders. Led by wonderful, committed, 34 caring rabbis and cantors, 50 dedicated presidents and countless lay leaders, Temple Beth Zion changed and adapted to meet its time and community head on, finding positive ways to help its members negotiate being Jewish in Western New York.

In many ways, our challenge is the polar opposite of that of our founders. Fully acculturated into America, we strive to instill in ourselves and our young people what it means to be Jewish and be part of a Jewish community. We no longer live in Jewish neighborhoods. Our children often find themselves the only Jews in their class or even their grade and do not have the Jewish support network so many of us grew up knowing.

So 12 years ago, after much soul searching and planning, a decision was made to adapt our historic nursery school program, to confront our reality and reinforce the incredible base that our nursery school had created, and thus the Play and Learn School was born. Through the almost 11 years of its existence it has not only educated and brought our youngest children closer to Judaism and the Jewish community, it continues evolving to meet the changing needs of our children. Like every aspect of Temple Beth Zion before it, including our incredible nursery school, the professional and lay leadership of PALS understand that its work is not about the present, but rather ensuring the future.

A week ago, a great man died, Walter Hickel Sr. Anyone who knows me, knows there are few politicians that I like and even fewer that I respect. I liked and respected Governor Hickel. He was a man of principle. Forty years ago when he was Secretary of the Interior under President Nixon, he sent a letter to the President decrying the invasion and bombing of Cambodia and the killing of the students at Kent State. Nixon fired him and Wally Hickel returned to Alaska and in 1992 was reelected Governor. Why do I mention him this evening? Because when the congregation in Anchorage honored me for my 10 years of service there, Governor Hickel took time to be there with us. Tonight as we celebrate my 10 years here at Temple Beth Zion, he is here as well through these words of his that I try to live by and would like to share with you:

“If God didn't like big projects, he wouldn't have created the universe.

“When a man thinks he's too good to do another man's work, he neither understands work nor understands the man.

“I am sick and tired of those who say life is cheap. Life is only cheap when it is not your own.

And most importantly: “Dream big dreams. Because if you dream little dreams, you can only achieve little things. But if you dream big dreams, you can achieve little things and big things.”

Our founders, and our leaders since, dreamt big dreams, achieved things little and big. Can we afford to do any less?

I know I have gone past my self allotted 5 minutes but...


Tonight we have mentioned and honored many people; our founders, our historic and current supporters, our rabbis, and our lay leadership. But there is one group of people who get little or no public kavod, public recognition. But they are represented on this Bema and in this service. My predecessors certainly gave and I do my best to give as much as possible of ourselves to this, our congregational family. Yet every evening meeting, weekend program, or class that we, our clergy partners, educators, executive directors and others who work here give to this family, is time donated to the congregation from our own families. Tonight, Rabbi Fink’s daughter, Toby Laping, Rabbi Goldberg’s wife Claire and my own wife Michele are up here representing all the family members who donated so much to you, our other family. On behalf of the Rabbis, Clergy and Professionals, thank you Toby, Claire, Michele and all those whom you represent for supporting the work we do. I would ask the rest of you to join me in honoring and thanking them as well.

Finally, thank-you to all of you who have honored me by letting me be a part of your life these past 10 years. We have shared joys and sorrow, great successes and some of the hardest of times. Each moment has been a gift you have given me.

To my team members, Ilana, Penny, Susan and Mark, Gary, David and Jackie, colleagues and the office and maintenance workers thank-you. Temple Beth Zion would be so much less without each and every one of you.

Thank-you to Reverend Tom Yorty who has been my partner and friend these 10 years just as our predecsssors at Westminster and TBZ were partners and friends. No celebration of our history could be complete without Westminster being here with us.


To Rabbi Elwell, when I showed you around HUC 30 years ago who could have imagined how our lives would intersect and that we would be together here tonight? Thank-you for representing TBZ so well through your life and work and for representing the Union and our colleagues and friends tonight. And thank-you for always being there for me when I have called upon you as a friend and colleague.

And Michele, you love me (although God knows why) you push me, challenge me and support me. Thank-you. Who could ask for anything more?

Tonight we celebrate the first 160 years of Temple Beth Zion, the first 10 years of PALS and my first 10 years at TBZ - and the best is yet to come!

To Israel with Temple Beth Zion and Westminster Presbyterian Church

Shabbat, January 15 - 16, 2010

Traveling to Israel with "first timers" is always fun and interesting and we "vatikim - old timers" are expected to help lead the way.

While there were a few glitches getting everyone checked in, we finally all boarded our flight in Buffalo for JFK where we waited for our flight. There were no glitches at JFK and El Al security was lighter than I expected.

Rev. Tom Yorty and I found similar ways of amusing ourselves while we waited for our El Al flight to Israel  while others waited patiently or dozed.

Once on board, we settled in for the long flight. Most of us were seated near each other. A few were spread  throughout the plane and got to know some of the other travelers (for better or worse).

It seems every trip I think I've lost someone only to find they are already on the bus. Last trip it was HS in Jaffa, this trip it was B and G who got their luggage, cleared customs and found our bus while the rest of us waited patiently inside the terminal for them. Finally the tour agent called the bus, found out they were there and off we went.

Our guide, Julie Baretz, was waiting for us, got the rest of us on the bus and we quickly left the airport for Tel Aviv. I could not believe my eyes. Because we landed so close to Shabbat, the roads were empty and we made it to our hotel in record time! We quickly checked in, dropped off our luggage, cleaned up and within 20 minutes were on our way to Beit Daniel, the Reform congregation in Tel Aviv for Kabblat Shabbat services.



The rabbi, Meir Azari, their cantor and the members could not have been more welcoming. We even found Buffalo connections! The president of the congregation and her husband had briefly lived in Buffalo and the daughter of one of our preschool teachers was at the service. She is part of a group of students studying here. She will finish this spring with a masters degree in management.

Following the service we went down to the oneg Shabbat where Rabbi Azari invited me to say a few words about TBZ and Buffalo and a few words it was. After 10 or sentences in Hebrew they said thank you and we went on with the blessings.

Back at the hotel, we gathered for Shabbat dinner. It was such a pleasure watching the "first-timers" marvel at the variety and deliciousness of the buffet. From vegans to carnivores we all found more than enough to eat and retired fully sated.

Breakfast was equally overwhelming. We gathered and shared stories of how early everyone had awakened. Who had walked the boardwalk at 4 AM and who went running at 6.

Julie and Yossi (our driver) met us promptly at 9:15 and we began the formal part of our tour. Heading south to Rehovot and the Ayalon Institute to see the underground ammunition factory at Kibbutz Hill where from 1947 - 48 a small group of young Israelis went 25 feet underground, everyday, to make bullets for the Israeli Army in the months leading up to the War for Independence. Their story is inspiring and heroic as they not only faced danger of discovery but also working in close quarters with tons of gun powder.

As we were leaving, A and W were picked up by some friends who used to live in Buffalo and went to their kibbutz to spend a wonderful Shabbat afternoon catching up, meeting their children and getting reacquainted. The rest of us boarded the bus and drove back north to Jaffa.

The wonderful part of this trip is that Temple Beth Zion and Westminster Presbyterian are sharing it. I can't remember all the times I've been to Jaffa (although the first was the most memorable as it was there I kissed a girl for the first time) and how many times I passed the house of Simon the Tanner. Yet this time was the first time I first noticed it. Our guide Julie is an expert in leading both Jewish and Christian tours. When we reached the house, she had Rev. Tom Yorty read the passage from the Book of Acts that refers to Simon the Tanner and his home. She then explained the significance of the place and the importance of the story in the shaping of Christianity and its divergence from Judaism. As a non-Christian, I was moved by the moment. As a Jew, my soul swelled. Here we stood at a pivotal place in the divergence of Judaism and Christianity as two congregations, now secure enough in who we are to be together without fear or self-consciousness.

After a brief tour of Neve Tzedek, the first neighborhood in Tel Aviv, it was back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon. At 6:30, we all gathered in the lobby and walked to a place where we had the city behind us and the crashing waves of the Mediterranean in front of us as we did Havdalah, the ceremony in which we end Shabbat and reenter the "ordinary" days of the week. As Tel Aviv came back to life, we reflected that while we will not have a week of Shabbat, our week will be anything but ordinary!

Tomorrow, Sunday, we begin with church services and then north to Ceasaria, Haifa and then to Kibbutz Ginosar where we will be based for the next two days.

I pray that your Shabbat was as meaningful and fulfilling as ours was here in Israel.

Shalom,

Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld