tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73674455872229894352024-03-12T21:42:55.591-06:00Rabbi H's Rabbinic JourneyMusings, commentaries and experiences of a Reform RabbiRabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-15835059811637550382022-08-14T16:08:00.002-06:002022-08-14T22:56:13.168-06:00A Trip From The Past To The FutureIt had been 51 years since I last stepped foot in the cities of Lod/Lydd/Lydda and Ramla. I was 16, and along with 20+ other teens was living just down the road for the summer at Ben Shemen youth village. We were exchange students through what is now called <a href="https://hellerhigh.org">Heller High/EIE</a> and would walk to Lod, or if feeling lazy, take the bus to one of those towns for the afternoon. We studied Hebrew as a group, but worked in the fields with the residents of Ben Shemen as we prepared to spend the fall semester with our Israeli families.<div><br /></div><div>Lod and Ramla were exotic. Arabs and Jews living together. We never even thought about whether the waiters in the cafes were Muslims, Christians, or Jews. We practiced our broken Hebrew on them and they smiled at our efforts (or maybe they were laughing at us.) I kept that idyllic 16-year-old’s vision of Lod and Ramla until about 9 years ago when I read Avi Shavit’s book <u>My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel</u>.</div><div><br /></div><div>In his book, Shavit describes the 1948 massacre and expulsion of the Arabs in Lod, perpetrated in part by Israeli soldiers, some of whom were from Ben Shemen. He talks about the thousands of Palestinian residents of Lod who were forced into the main mosque and St. George's church. He places us in the mind of the scared teenage soldier, who fired a rocket into the mosque killing hundreds of men, women, and children. The idyllic vision was shattered. So, when I saw that one of the field trips included in my program at the <a href="https://www.hartman.org.il" id="id_c0d3_78c3_a48d_d7ca">Shalom Hartman Institute</a> was going to Lod, I immediately signed up.</div><div><br /></div><div>Physically, Lod had barely changed in 51 years, but the reality on the ground had. We met our guide Dror Rubin at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MosaicChicagoCommunityCenterLod/">Lod Chicago Community Center</a> in the Ramat Eshkol (the old city neighborhood of Lod.) Dror is the Director of Inter-Community Partnership for the Center and since 2016, he has been a senior facilitator for “Search for Common Ground”, one of the world’s largest organizations for peace building. After a brief introduction and history lesson, we walked to the newest public building and museum in Lod, The <a href="http://lodmosaic.org/center.html">Mosaic Museum </a>which embodied much of the reality of today’s Lod, even though it is not the mission of the museum.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>When contractors were excavating to lay a new water line twenty-five years ago, they discovered a large, intricate mosaic from the period when Lod was the headquarters of the Roman Legion. Archeologists determined that it was from the house of a merchant who lived next door to the headquarters. You can see the damage the excavator did in the pictures, but fortunately, it was left largely intact. The mosaic was preserved and some American donors decided to build a home for the Mosaic in Lod, near where it was found. The museum was completed and ready to open when <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/hateful-rioting-in-lod-gives-way-to-cautious-rebuilding-but-unease-persists/" id="id_824a_b3e4_24d3_a9d9">the riots of May 2021</a> began. Here in the city where St. George, who Christian tradition says slew the dragon is buried, the dragon fires burned again. Responsibility for the riots and the atrocities that were committed, lay with both Palestinians and Israelis and some tensions simmer to this day. Early in the riots, the windows of the Mosaic Museum were shattered and Molotov cocktails hurled inside. What was supposed to be a symbol of unity and a home for some economic growth, was shattered. Thankfully the damage was minimal but it took 14 months for the museum to finally open. We were among the first visitors from outside the city.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRXazLJQ5ececDoZRcTNHCcUROBO0kzEU3WKMrMOgYVu2zXpPpSkuNplpMAD5DUfh7W8vGDKw9fWycq_6uSgs5oFfUlxlcDON5wnTamL6MFKbzZvKR52mrSdbGPLBa_mjap6sAgBfZ49r0jhjYPJXjOJwbtG4h842yFK1O1sWVGv59OVzg2ej34HNYg/s4032/IMG_4472.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRXazLJQ5ececDoZRcTNHCcUROBO0kzEU3WKMrMOgYVu2zXpPpSkuNplpMAD5DUfh7W8vGDKw9fWycq_6uSgs5oFfUlxlcDON5wnTamL6MFKbzZvKR52mrSdbGPLBa_mjap6sAgBfZ49r0jhjYPJXjOJwbtG4h842yFK1O1sWVGv59OVzg2ej34HNYg/w205-h273/IMG_4472.JPG" width="205" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqKrvjbe4pwk8qcKSNwRlGv_zIPjyGkRR_QIHSgzIWAwaIJQzYjJsTqYB71fDtihUA0Y2842dJTVj2b62_QGHAOp8q3aZ9Nxxy9laLAPK30HJSfyXUjfMHCqQSKKFQCB0HoKXkBVNfCuripyN_S3Pj3-rPuqRDPKp9vfD_Xkpz9zz85cd4xLIqwuRBcA/s4032/IMG_4470.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqKrvjbe4pwk8qcKSNwRlGv_zIPjyGkRR_QIHSgzIWAwaIJQzYjJsTqYB71fDtihUA0Y2842dJTVj2b62_QGHAOp8q3aZ9Nxxy9laLAPK30HJSfyXUjfMHCqQSKKFQCB0HoKXkBVNfCuripyN_S3Pj3-rPuqRDPKp9vfD_Xkpz9zz85cd4xLIqwuRBcA/w150-h200/IMG_4470.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Standing outside the museum, we met Hilda Kadasa Bahalul,<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdu0DwQGFcRjLaquZLBQoJI_gpB0IjM3uuRJ_cL-ZFCxbGf2hVjroKNj50v57pwCbfXis4q-6LE4M4Q2HmI71GLsMA4o5oYRm6jT2vQFN7m5QsCCMhhzevn2byO1kiCqmDFAMeMPHdyqe6gxB1Qy3k9hmzL3kZVHoEJOjXdSQ7EHiN7WWSmTXfYs0txQ/s4032/IMG_4485.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdu0DwQGFcRjLaquZLBQoJI_gpB0IjM3uuRJ_cL-ZFCxbGf2hVjroKNj50v57pwCbfXis4q-6LE4M4Q2HmI71GLsMA4o5oYRm6jT2vQFN7m5QsCCMhhzevn2byO1kiCqmDFAMeMPHdyqe6gxB1Qy3k9hmzL3kZVHoEJOjXdSQ7EHiN7WWSmTXfYs0txQ/s320/IMG_4485.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /> who for the past twenty years, has been working as a consultant and facilitator of women's groups. For the past ten years, she has been working as a community coordinator for the Arab community in Lod. She is an amazing woman who creates activities for Arab women and works for civil rights for Palestinians that live in Israel but are not citizens. While she is an Israeli citizen, because she was born in Gaza, she has an understanding of the issues the non-citizens face. She told us uplifting stories about women whom she had helped leave abusive relationships, and about a program she created to teach young girls and women how to ride bicycles.</div><div><br /></div><div>She also talked about the struggles she and other Palestinian women have faced. At age 52 she is about to complete her B.A. in Humanities at Ariel University3d and is helping others like her find advanced educational programs. Hilda also spoke to us about how her daughter has had to postpone her wedding because neither family could afford a venue large enough to hold the celebration. </div><div>Spontaneously, twenty plus "wealthy" American rabbis were pulling 100 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_new_shekel">NIS</a> notes to help her pay her tuition and for her daughter's wedding. She refused to take the money unless we told her it could be used to help pay for the programs she runs. We readily agreed to let this remarkable woman use the funds as she saw fit.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back at the community center, we heard from three other speakers. Rami Younis, who is making a film entitled "Lydd in Exile" that describes the events of 1948 from a purely Palestinian perspective. He was forthright in telling us that his film was totally biased and one-sided.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lod, and other small Israeli towns, are seeing the establishment of Zionist-Religious settlers (i.e. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haredi_Judaism">Hardi</a> Jews) moving in. Their stated goal is to buy homes and property from Palestinians and make these cities 100% Jews. Lod is a major focus of these settlers and this, in part, contributed to the May, 2021 riots. Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, principal of the settlers’ high school came to talk to us and it felt like he came from a different reality. From his perspective, there was no conflict between Arabs and Jews in Lod, and there never had been. While he did not use the term "fake news", it was implicit in his words that any talk of conflict was just that, fake news. He claimed that they were moving into Lod because housing there was cheaper than the cities, especially nearby Tel Aviv, which is true, but he totally ignored the reality that they only bought property that belonged to Arabs, often at higher than normal prices to incentivize the Palestinians to sell their homes and leave town.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our final speaker was Mine Abu Luban, a Palestinian member of the Ramla city council. He talked about Ramla as a different reality. years before the Zionist-Religious settlers began arriving in Ramla, the community had established a religious leadership council consisting of the local Muslim, Christian, and Jewish senior clergy. Thus, when the settlers began to arrive and advocate for free reign in moving out Arabs from their homes, the religious leadership council stepped forward as a united body to oppose them. This slowed, but did not stopped the takeover by the settlers, and, when the May, 2021 riots began, the council was able to promote dialog and minimize the rioting and its impact. We did not go to Ramlah, but our tour leaders reassured us that what he said was true.</div><div><br /></div><div>We concluded our time in Lod with a walking tour back to our bus. Normally, St. George's Church (1260 C.E.) is closed to the public, but a group of Christian pilgrims were visiting so it was open and we were able to see the incredible beauty that was within. Unfortunately, we were not able to see St. George's tomb.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39Za1KjpirN_3fQX5nETMN7F4-QP6o8OwIVF4jv1QNYISz0iJ0zAP6CFP9myRBZ2QjWV7EcLGK_opz1JKKgVz3rl3TJMr8g-vw83VPhy5QgJeV4wIhO_dh0c2LSV5HrYWQC-pVSh9RGfsKdTMpYZT-UU96PCCqL5VjI2vq_diFrdu0vFRKjjR3pFRng/s4032/IMG_4488.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39Za1KjpirN_3fQX5nETMN7F4-QP6o8OwIVF4jv1QNYISz0iJ0zAP6CFP9myRBZ2QjWV7EcLGK_opz1JKKgVz3rl3TJMr8g-vw83VPhy5QgJeV4wIhO_dh0c2LSV5HrYWQC-pVSh9RGfsKdTMpYZT-UU96PCCqL5VjI2vq_diFrdu0vFRKjjR3pFRng/s320/IMG_4488.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /> St. George's is next door to one of the main mosques in Lod and down the street from a row of synagogues representing the different ethnic Jewish communities of Lod, Ashkenazi to Sefaradi, Bene Menashe to Yemenite. Fifty-one years ago, one of the most moving times at Ben Shemen was when our leaders took us to Lod on Tisha B'Av and we went from synagogue to synagogue experiencing the rich diversity of the Jewish communities there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Three-quarters of my life have passed since I was last in Lod. My memories of seeing it through the eyes of an idealistic, "innocent" 16-year-old will never leave me. In 1971, I learned to see Israel, not in black and white, but rather in grays. Through the years, I have learned to see Israel through a prism and take in the multitude of colors that is its reality; the glory and the tragedy, the incredible progress and how much work still needs to be done.</div><div><br /></div><div>May Israel and her residents know shalom uv'racha - peace and blessings.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-25942292796192210532022-07-04T06:38:00.001-06:002022-07-04T13:07:38.653-06:00Back Home In JerusalemAs I sit here on the hotel patio under the shade of an umbrella and feel the refreshing Jerusalem breeze, I marvel that it has been over three years since I was last in Jerusalem. I signed up to attend the Shalom Hartman Rabbinic Summer Program for the summer of 2020, which thanks to COVID, was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021. Arriving here last Friday, I let out a long held breath and an ease began to settle on me. A feeling of being in my second home.<div><br /></div><div>Since classes do not start until tomorrow (July 5,) I have been free to just walk the city. Much has changed here in these past three years, let alone in the 46 years since I lived here. On the simplest level, as the city has grown, the number of bus routes has grown exponentially. Most of Jaffa Road has been taken over by the light rail. Yet, Jaffa Rd. also remains the same, even from 46 years ago as many of the same stores are still there and open for business.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have spent the past three days re-exploring the parts of the city I’ve always loved. From Machaneh Yehudah to the interior of the Jaffa Gate, from the dozens of parks just off King David Street to the cafes along King George, to First Station (the old Jerusalem train station). The aromas and flavors are the same, The languages have changed. I’ve heard no Russian so far, and not as much English.</div><div><br /></div><div>To prepare for this summer, I’ve been taking online Hebrew lessons through the Rosen School at Hebrew University. Today I had a real blessing. The class starts at 8:00 PM Albuquerque time which is 5:00 in the morning in Israel. For some reason I woke up about 4:30 this morning so I decided to sign into the class and am very glad I did. None of the other students signed on so our teacher and I spent the hour just talking. Unlike walking the streets here where I’m immediately spotted for the American I am and people default to English, Ronit and I spent the entire hour conversing in Hebrew. The conversation showed me both how much Hebrew I’ve actually retained over the years as well as reinforcing how much Hebrew I’ve forgotten. As they say, use it or lose it. </div><div><br /></div><div>While I have reconnected over dinner with colleagues I haven’t seen in decades, essentially I am here alone as Michele doesn’t arrive until the 13th. Over the past three days I’ve walked over 20 miles and today is not over yet. The sounds of the city remain the same. Okay, to be honest, there is more traffic noise. What a pleasure to be someplace where it is safe to walk most everywhere. The drivers may honk impatiently at each other, but if you are waiting at a crosswalk, the drivers proactively stop to let you cross. Even the so-called rude Israeli drivers respect those of us who travel by foot.</div><div><br /></div><div>Memories and reminders are flooding back. Not just the places I frequented over the years but more reminders of people. I stopped for a soda at a restaurant that a kind older colleague invited me to join him and his daughter after Shabbat services. I walked by the old Bezalel Academy buildings and thought of a former student who took his year abroad to study in their dance program. Sweetness fills the air.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is good to be back home and odd to not be home. But that is the way it is here in a place which is still struggling with own multiverse of identities. The air is sweet, the memories sweeter, and the promise of new experiences even sweeter yet.</div>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-82983223780772233942022-03-01T13:40:00.006-07:002022-03-01T14:26:24.400-07:00Antarctica part 3 - Life on a Zodiac<p>My apologies for taking so long to post part 3. Internet on the ship was very limited and the journey home took us 23 hours. </p><p>I begin the meat of the post, I want to acknowledge our ships crew, especially the captain, Andriy Domanin. Captain Domanin is from Ukraine. I can only imagine his, and the other Ukrainian crew's feelings and concern for family, friends, and country when the ship received the news of the Russian invasion. Our hearts were with them all.</p><p>Our four days going up and down the Western Side of the Antarctic Peninsula consisted of two zodiac trips a day. On the first and last days one of the trips was just touring up and down the coast and around the islands. All the other trips involved landings.</p><p>The first trip was pretty miserable. It was a zodiac tour around some islands in Cierva Cove. Everyone was pretty miserable. It rained, snowed, and sleeted the whole trip as we navigated through 5 foot swells. My waterproof gloves were not waterproof enough and my rain pants, that I'd had since Alaska, were so old they shredded. Thankfully, I was able to get some duct tape to hold them together until the ship could find me an alternate pair! Thankfully, my long underwear and wool socks from my Anchorage days were great. </p><p>That afternoon we arrived at Mikkelson Harbour, the home of an Argentinean research station. The sun was out, the seas were calm and the seals and penguins were everywhere as we first step foot on the seventh continent. Our faith in the decision to take this trip had been restored!</p><p>Rather than try and describe the beauty of the trip, here are the list of other stops we made and the rest of the post will be photos and videos: Lion Sound, Useful Island, Neko Harbour, Cuverville Island, Davis Island, and Hydruga Rock.</p><p>And now the videos and pictures!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBrcylkS3bFX40VZxn3I3jkIwN9XQ0-uCIstgYQYzPVgP1MS1UHqcgSOXwHYSJgKrs8AKXOs0ATjFxSs29gCR_djWVmIM76Dv68SdmtxpaTrXiHl4HnlUywzgChSsfDBlMXmi1wKcMAd4agT7pWb6qkqW6jQ0Qw7DgfjL9r3YhSRnIubkQm0U1lu8XMw=s4032" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBrcylkS3bFX40VZxn3I3jkIwN9XQ0-uCIstgYQYzPVgP1MS1UHqcgSOXwHYSJgKrs8AKXOs0ATjFxSs29gCR_djWVmIM76Dv68SdmtxpaTrXiHl4HnlUywzgChSsfDBlMXmi1wKcMAd4agT7pWb6qkqW6jQ0Qw7DgfjL9r3YhSRnIubkQm0U1lu8XMw=s320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyles9qaV_QMZnzfACW9qmhg8loUMqtNimkMSIsgsxjnAhxMHI6gdBWRA5qTmI1YqD1vCPKIiyd_BGFyFctkQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyvhE4FD2shtPY7WFWjrcJBJb28DiOpnLbhu3V0T6ANLmE-cIp1uFaf1w2rwM0PHpyBmUEtCh5g7xoNuHUoBA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0373J58GF+JF-68.823495999999992 -67.6763125-82.538041245022953 -102.8325625 -55.108950754977037 -32.520062499999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-48665074865630864172022-02-24T11:42:00.001-07:002022-02-24T11:43:28.637-07:00Antarctica pt 2 - The Drake PassagePeople on the SilverSea passenger Facebook page warned us that to cross the Drake Passage we would need scopalene patches, wrist bands and seasickness pills. We got patches before we left, applied them the evening we were leaving the anchorage off Puerto Williams and went to sleep as the ship began its entry in to the Passage.<div><br></div><div>The night was a bit rough and a few times thought I would roll off the bed. Fortunately, it wasn’t an issue. At both breakfast and lunch, we noticed that people were missing and overheard several people say their roommate skipped the meal because they weren’t feeling well. Sometime after lunch, I realized my patch had come off in the shower. Even though I felt fine, I replaced it before dinner.</div><div><br></div><div>At the pre-dinner briefing, people reported seeing several whales. We are terrible spotters and saw nary a whale or any other mammal. People said birds were plentiful but all we saw was one lone albatross.</div><div><br></div><div>The passengers are mostly older, like us, but there is one father with a couple of 20 something children, and what may be two or three younger honeymooners. There are also some folks in their 40’s-50’s. </div><div><br></div><div>The second day crossing the Drake Passage was just like the first without the one albatross. Again, I lost my patch in the shower but this time didn’t replace it and I was fine. Michele is more talented than me and her patch didn’t come off until she consciously took it off the next day.</div><div><br></div><div>We went to sleep to the gentle rolling of the ship as we finished our passage through the Passage, awakening the next morning to our arrival at the Antarctic Peninsula.</div>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-85759857736208994362022-02-22T11:54:00.001-07:002022-02-22T12:06:24.888-07:00Antarctica Part 1Knowing I would be retiring in the summer of 2022, I decided that for my “retirement trip” I wanted to go to Antarctica. I had wanted to go for a number of years but with working, never seemed to have the time. So, in early 2021, Michele and I worked with our cruise consultant, Ross Spalding at Crown Cruises, and decided we would sail to Antarctica on the Silver Explorer. We decided on the Explorer because it is a smaller ship which would enable everyone on board to land on the continent multiple times.<div><br></div><div>In 2021, when we booked the cruise, we were still dealing with the idea that the COVID Pandemic was still upon us. So we booked the second last cruise of the season, leaving Argentina on February 16, 2022. Even without COVID, we get trip insurance for these kinds of adventures. So between the insurance and the timing of the trip, we felt prepared in case, by some odd chance, the pandemic was still upon us. </div><div><br></div><div>Within weeks, we received word from SilverSea that, because of Argentina’s closure due to COVID, we would not be leaving from Argentina, but rather from Puerto Williams, Chile. Fortunately, we had the foresight to buy our airfare through SilverSea so that was not a problem.</div><div><br></div><div>As the trip got closer, COVID still raged and Chile imposed some pretty strict entry requirements. We had to be fully vaccinated (easy.) We would need a negative PCR test within 72 hours of boarding our connecting flight to Santiago. That was a bit more difficult as most tests in Albuquerque were taking 72 - 96 hours, and we would need to take the test on the weekend. Fortunately, we found that the Albuquerque Sunport has a facility to get test results within 24 hours. It’s more expensive but necessary. Upon arriving at the Santiago Airport, the Chilean Government would do another PCR test and SilverSea would put us up in a hotel to quarantine until the results came back, which they did within 12 hours. Oh, and upon arrival at the hotel, SilverSea administered another PCR test. We never heard, but since we are on the ship and not in quarantine, we are assuming that test was also negative.</div><div><br></div><div>So after leaving Albuqueque on February 14, flying overnight to Santiago, quarantining for a night there, it was finally February 16. We were transported back to the airport for the charter flight to Puerto Williams to board the Explorer. Much to SilverSea’s credit, it was the most organized boarding of a cruise ship of our 20+ cruises. I’m sure there only being 73 passengers helped, but the ship’s staff was wonderful.</div><div><br></div><div>Aboard and unpacked, we were ready to cross the Drake Passage, the last leg before arriving on the southern most continent. But, alas, the winds were against us and there were 10 - 15 meter swells in the Drake so we anchored in the Puerto Williams harbor for a full 24 hours before we could begin our crossing. Finally, the swells were down to 4 - 5 meters and our journey began.</div>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-34305231339814453092021-08-09T09:25:00.000-06:002021-08-09T09:25:07.962-06:00Elul Thoughts<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 1, 5781/August 9, 2021</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c0297712-7fff-6039-b94c-7388d45ffdcf"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi David N. Young</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Welcome to Elul Thoughts 5781!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year our High Holy Day celebrations will look different from any other. Last year we were all watching and leading from our own homes or from empty synagogues. This year some of us will be home, some of us will be in our sanctuaries. Perhaps it could be phrased, “Who by live shul and who by Zoom?”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wherever we will be, we can be sure that it will not be the same as it was in 2019, and not quite as isolated as it was in 2020. 2021 will be something different, something perhaps temporary, something that might inspire new practices or may even teach us what we hope to never do again. No matter what our services look like, we acknowledge that we are in transition this year. As such, this Elul (which is often a time of spiritual transition) we have gathered 18 rabbis to offer our thoughts on transitions: an auspicious number that will hopefully imbue our year with life! We hope that you find meaning, comfort, and inspiration from our teachings, and we all wish you a very safe, happy, and healthy last month of 5781.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 2, 5781/August 10, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Brad Levenberg </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our most impactful Jewish moments occur during the period known as </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bein hashmashot</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, or twilight. It is twilight when we kindle our Shabbat candles, indicating that the Sabbath is about to begin, and it is at twilight that we prepare for our Havdalah ritual where we prepare to sunset the sacredness of Shabbat and embrace the sacredness of the week to come. Twilight brings about our most celebrated Jewish holidays and prepares us for our days of holy days devoted to mourning. Neither day nor night, twilight, that in-between time, that time of transition, delights our souls with anticipation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These days of Elul are also days of twilight. Preparing as we are for the close of one year and the start of the next, we transition from yesterday to tomorrow, from memory to hope. May these days of transition, informed by our experiences of the past, make our hearts flutter at the possibilities of unwritten tomorrows.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 3, 5781/August 11, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Hebrew, the Book of Numbers is called Bemidbar. Midbar means wilderness. The Plaut Torah commentary, like most English versions of Torah, translates Bemidbar as: “The wilderness of Sinai” (The Torah: A Modern Commentary: Revised Edition (p. 899). CCAR Press. Kindle Edition.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, “in the wilderness of Sinai” is an incorrect translation. A literal translation would be: “in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wilderness of Sinai.” Together, the Israelites wandered through Sinai. More importantly, each individual was in his/her/their own personal wilderness as they transitioned from being slaves to being free.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With each transition in our lives, we each find ourselves in a wilderness that changes as we, and our circumstances change. In the past 18+ months, we have gone into, and are almost out of (we hope) the COVID-19 pandemic. We wandered through the wilderness of quarantine and isolation. As the pandemic waned and waxed and waned, our wilderness seemed endless and then suddenly almost over. Now, with the waning of the pandemic, we think we are transitioning back to life before COVID. But, we know that with transition we cannot go back to what was. We are transitioning into a changed, new world with its own challenges. A new wilderness for us to traverse.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are blessed with these Days of Awe, a time of transition. May these 40 days from 1 Elul through Yom Kippur enable us to transition, once again, from one wilderness to the next.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 4, 5781/August 12, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Alan Cook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1979, singer Harry Belafonte appeared on season three of The Muppet Show. Though I didn’t know of Mr. Belafonte at the time, I did watch the show regularly. Thus I was introduced to a song by Mr. Belafonte, reportedly based on an African melody he had learned during his</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">travels. The song “Turn the World Around” was widely acclaimed; Jim Henson considered that</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Muppet Show segment to be some of his best work. Jewish musician Dan Nichols has adapted the song, updating the lyrics with a verse about Torah.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The refrain “Turn the World Around'' reflects many possible meanings. It could suggest that it is our responsibility to consider the world from a variety of perspectives—that we must be mindful of the fact that others may experience a particular situation differently. This echoes the teaching of the sage Rabbi Ben Bag-Bag in Pirkei Avot: “Turn it [the Torah] and turn it, for everything is in it.” The more we return to Torah, and consider the world in which we live, the more we learn new things.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lyrics might also mean that each of us has the power to Turn the World Around, finding strength from the world’s resources to create powerful transitions that will serve l’taken olam b’malchut Shaddai, “to transform the world under the Sovereignty of God.” Fire, water, mountain, Torah all give us the tools we need to make a difference. As we work to do good in the world, as we “see one another clearly,” may 5782 be the year in which we Turn the World Around.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 5-6, 5781/August 13-14, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every Friday we send a double portion of Elul Thoughts so that those who choose not to be on the internet over Shabbat can read Saturday’s offering in advance. Shabbat Shalom!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Laurence Malinger</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Time to Heal</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If this season is going to bring healing, we have to open up our hearts and share our pain with God and with others. The opposite course of action, denying our pain and keeping it to ourselves, only creates distance between us. We all carry pain through the course of our lives – the kind of pain that we keep well hidden, sometimes too well. If we yearn for the closeness of God, we have to acknowledge our pain and allow ourselves the opportunity to heal.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life is unfair. Sometimes it hurts, really hurts, but it often is in the depth and the agony of the hurt that we find our way. This enables us to have the power to heal – to heal ourselves and to help others heal. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This season encourages us to feel our hearts, as we hear the haunting words and melodies of the liturgy as they penetrate our souls. We begin the process of healing when we allow ourselves to feel the warmth of our being, for the heart and soul of every Jew is warm with life. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thus, every Jew, no matter how despondent or removed he or she may be, can be healed with strength of hope. Let’s allow the healing hand of this season to feel our hearts and touch our souls, so that our spirits, our bodies and our minds may be revived and refreshed — ready to take on the challenges of a new year with energy, compassion and love.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Benjamin Sharff</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This summer I took the opportunity to watch ESPN and Netflix’s documentary, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Last Dance</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, about the Bulls final championship run in 1998. As a big NBA fan in the 80s and 90s, I can remember so many of the incredible moments depicted in the docuseries. However, it was the end of 10 episodes that really struck me as it focused on the last time players like Jordan, Pippen, Kerr, Rodman, and the others would ever play together.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of the series (spoiler alert), when the Bulls had defeated the Utah Jazz for the second consecutive NBA finals, the Bulls’ coach, Phil Jackson gathered all the players together to say farewell. Each of the players wrote something meaningful about the run to them and then placed it in a can that was then lit on fire.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been thinking about that moment in reflecting upon the theme of transition. As we are transitioning to a new world, a new life, a “new normal,” it is incumbent upon us to create rituals for this transition. What has this past year and a half meant? How did it hurt? Who did we lose? What did we gain? What did we learn? What do we hope to take with us? What do we hope to leave behind?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So many of our hopes and dreams have been challenged and changed, some for the worse and some for the better. In this time of Elul, we ask ourselves, what can we do to get ready? And what can we light on fire to let go, so we can transition into a better tomorrow?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 7, 5781/August 15, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Stephen Wise</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have heard the word resiliency used a lot this past year, the ability to adapt to new circumstances and then go back to where we were, like a giant elastic band. This might have been more helpful had the pandemic lasted a few weeks or months. But a year and a half later, we are not likely to go back to March 2020. We are in a new world, and it is time to examine how we have adapted to the new reality and that this is the new normal. We might always be more aware of our health and how it affects others and actually stay home when sick. We might always mask in public places and keep more physical distance. But what about our new Jewish reality? We found new ways to pray and learn with community online, zooming to Jewish places we never thought we could see, studying with incredible teachers all over the world, and praying among rows of digital faces. But nothing replicates being together with people for the spiritual highs of our life. Moses had incredibly powerful moments alone – think about him floating down the river as a baby alone, facing the Egyptian taskmaster alone, standing before the burning bush alone and encountering the divine. But eventually he used all those experiences to build up towards the greatest communal moment in the history of the Jewish people – when we all stood together shoulder to shoulder to receive Torah at Mount Sinai. I hope and pray we can find that balance in our new world, health and happiness, alone and together time, doing Jewish virtually and also praying, celebrating and living Judaism in the flesh, side by side, united as one community. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 8, 5781/August 16, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Neal Katz</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Numbers 24:5, we read: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ma Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov, Mishkenotecha Yisrael</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - “How lovely are your tents, Jacob - your dwelling places, Israel.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The text is a curse-turned-blessing and Jews recite this blessing every day in the morning service. These six simple Hebrew words offer a powerful lesson during Elul.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We notice that the biblical patriarch Jacob is associated with “tents,” and his later identity, “Israel,” is associated with “dwelling places.” Follow the growth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tents are flimsy, portable, open, and vulnerable to the weather. We contrast this with the next stitch which says, “dwelling places.” A dwelling place is a house, a home, permanent, built upon a strong foundation, and in our dwelling places, we are not vulnerable to the elements. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jacob is a character that is beset by many flaws and trickery during his life. Jacob is likened to these “tents,” - weak, flimsy, deceitful, portable, and vulnerable to retribution from those he deceived.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But he becomes Israel - a stronger, more resolute character – making peace with his family, buying land, and renewing the covenant. While not always perfect, Israel resembles a more stable, permanent, stronger person. Israel resembles a “dwelling place.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all move – from tents to dwelling places. We start out as Jacob and strive to become Israel. From youth to old age, from confusion to understanding, and from immaturity to maturity. In this season of Elul, let us hear the words of Mah Tovu as a call to become better versions of ourselves.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 9, 5781/August 17, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Simone Schicker</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our tradition chose to follow these words, and therefore each time the sun sets a new day is born. It is one of the more confusing things for those who are not part of the Jewish community to understand, but I find it beautiful to trace the tradition of welcoming a new day from darkness to light to the very beginning.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Transitions, from day to day, month to month, year to year are all marked through our tradition. Every significant moment, from the birth of a baby, to Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh (New Moon) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), to a Yahrzeit is marked. Each one a transition of some kind – some personal, some communal.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each transition comes with guidelines for how to mark it. And each one gives us the opportunity to change how we envision transition. How we take the rituals and guidelines given to us by our ancestors and make them new again for us and for those in our communities.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As our communities transition into a new reality, having experienced so many transitions over the past eighteen months, let us each take this opportunity to bring a little of what we have learned and loved into our new realities. Let each of us contemplate what we would like to bring with us into the New Year and what we would like to leave behind.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 10, 5781/August 18, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Eric Linder</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are Never Closed</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here in Athens, our building was closed for a good portion of this last year. I imagine that many of you can relate, as services and life-cycle events have been (and perhaps still are) attended virtually. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the beginning of our closure, I was clear that although our building is closed, our community doors are wide open. The warmth and open-ness of a community does not depend on a physical structure. Our synagogues are not the highlights of our Jewish lives - our synagogue communities are. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During this past year, we all found creative and meaningful ways to be in each others lives without the ability to be physically proximate. As Judaism teaches us that </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kol Yisrael aravim zeh ba zeh, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Each Jew is responsible for the other,” we know that caring does not depend on geographical nearness.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As this time of COVID hopefully continues to transition toward a time of herd immunity and health, I pray that we remember that our buildings and sanctuaries and offices are there to serve a higher purpose; namely, to support and care for one another, and to continue strengthening the bonds that enable our communities to remain being fully “open."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 11, 5781/August 19, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Michael Birnholz</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes it is worth taking Jewish wisdom literally. As we enter this month of Elul and are called to do Cheshbon Nefesh, we do acts of reflection as part of the accounting of our soul. I am challenging myself to, quite literally, take out a mirror. This act of reflection will happen in two dimensions. I will set aside the same time each day and then one day during the month where the reflection will happen at the top of each hour. This act of physical self-reflection will be a challenge to look at myself and around myself. What is the quality of light? Where is the place that I am sitting? In this mirror I can identify things I don’t like or elements of my appearance that I am proud of. Something I can change? Something that is permanent? As I consider appearance, I will try holding the mirror at a different angle. Does that impact my perception?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of us journal or leave notes behind so we can see how we have changed in the past year. I feel like it is easy to go to the extremes of dismissing one’s appearance or being too harsh. In this month of Elul, I seek to make the image of my appearance into a path of soul reflection and transcendent connection.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Baruch atah Adonai, sheasani b'tzelem Elohim... Praised to You, Eternal One, as we seek You in our reflection….</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 12-13, 5781/August 20-21, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every Friday we send a double portion of Elul Thoughts so that those who choose not to be on the internet over Shabbat can read Saturday’s offering in advance. Shabbat Shalom!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi David N. Young</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. Betsy Stone, retired psychologist and adjunct lecturer at Hebrew Union College, reminds us that dealing with the past year has had the same effect on our minds and bodies as any other trauma. According to Dr. Stone at a lecture I attended in June, adults have gained an average of 13 lbs in the past year; Americans have bought more junk food, alcohol, and firearms during the last year than any other prior year on record; addiction is on the rise--to alcohol, drugs, food, and technology.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every year on the High Holy Days we have the opportunity to take stock and work on fixing our bad habits from the past. This year it seems very likely we have picked up some extra bad habits along the way. The process of Tshuvah is more difficult some years than others, and this year more difficult than most. So as we move from a traumatic year to a year that is still unknown, it is important to forgive the most important people we should have on our list--ourselves.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Try looking in the mirror, right into your own eyes, and say, “I forgive you.” Say it out loud or silently, but mean it. Once we forgive ourselves, transitioning to forgiving others can be much easier.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Erin Boxt</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Transitions, 5781</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It may have seemed like we were traversing in the desert, or BaMidbar. As we have moved from one day to the next, from one month to the next, we have been faced with decisions regarding our health, our safety and what the new normal would look like or feel like. As more and more people have become vaccinated, many of us have felt confused, unsure, or just terrified of what it would mean to gather again outside. And, yet some are overjoyed to take their lives back into their own hands and move forward, never looking back. As our ancestors traveled from Egypt to Eretz Yisrael, they had their own transitions to work through. There were many decisions that had to be made to ensure the Children of Israel would have a future and that future generations would prosper. Each and every day of Elul, the month leading up to our yearly Transition, the High Holy Days, we must look back upon the previous year, reflect on who we were and where we came from. We move forward each day by learning from any mistakes we made along the way. Each step takes us further into BaMidbar and also one step closer to Eretz Yisrael. The changes we make today will lead us to a better and newer tomorrow; do not forget the past…live in the present and make room for the future.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 14, 5781/August 22, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Ben David</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Swimming is all about transitions. You transition from outside to inside the pool. You transition from the warmth of the air above to the coolness of the water. You transition, stroke by stroke, kick by kick, from one wall to the other.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I watched recently, on a Shabbat afternoon in Jerusalem, as a woman swam gradually to the waiting wall as she completed another length. Her movements were measured and careful. It was clear she had been swimming for years. As she approached the wall, though she couldn’t see them at first, there were a handful of teens blocking her way. Would they move? Would her momentum be interrupted? At the last possible second, they parted and created space for her. She touched the wall, turned around, and continued back down the pool.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These holy days are about making space. We make space for others. We make space for reflection, for atonement, for quiet. During this time of year, as we swim from one year into the next, we are called on to make space for a better self, more forgiving, more empathic, more patient. We make space for the various transitions happening around us, from weather to busier schedules, to a place of newfound hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I pray that this coming year, length by length, brings us all a greater sense of peace and faith. May we love and be loved and remember to keep swimming.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 15, 5781/August 23, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Brad Levenberg </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In his first year at Jewish summer camp, my son went with eager anticipation to his first day with his cabin. No stranger to the camping culture, he looked forward to making friends, to “being brave,” and to smiling throughout his day.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Later I saw him crying.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I approached again. “Why are you crying?” I asked. “I need to go back with you for some down-time...I’m just not ready for this long of a day.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though he thought he was ready, it turns out that he was a bit more overwhelmed than he realized. He needed to take some time to prepare himself differently; the experience he had did not fully match the experience he had imagined.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so it is with us. Our period of transition is often filled with expectation at what will come. At times, we can be so focused on the destination, that we neglect to realize that our plan is no longer on track. Transitions become the key that allows us to match our current situation with our dreams. They become the gift we give ourselves to make sure that we are still on the right path, that we are taking the time to appreciate the moment, that we are listening to our bodies, to our hearts, to our thoughts, to our souls.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May we appreciate – and embrace – the gift of a good transition in all that we do.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 16, 5781/August 24, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Laurence Malinger</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #fefefe; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reflection--A Time of Transition</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's the thing about transitions: Most of the time you don't know you are about to go through it until it has already happened. Nobody ever knows the name of the period of time they are actually living through until someone decides that that period is over. The one thing they did not have in the biblical period was a Bible. Once they had a Bible, then the biblical period was over; it could have a name, and it was called the "Biblical Period.” Nobody woke up in the late Roman Empire and said to their beloved spouse, "Honey, you know, I was feeling Late Antique last night, but it is definitely Early Medieval this morning!" </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We typically mark transitions when it is too late to mark them, and then we can't do anything about them. With this period of reflection during Elul, we mark a transition while it is happening. The great gift that Judaism holds out to us it to be mindful of the phases of our lives, so that we don't rush through them thoughtlessly, so we take a moment to think about what it is we are going to need for the phase of life that is opening up before us, what is it we need to do to close the loose ends that are behind us. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we prepare to celebrate the new year, what are your dreams? What are your concerns? And how are you going to make the transition needed to address these and other issues?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 17, 5781/August 25, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Daniel Fink</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the midst of challenging transitions, it is always tempting to turn back—even when that trodden path is, by most measures, completely untenable. Almost immediately after their miraculous passage to freedom at the Red Sea, the Israelites bitterly long to return to Egypt. Like Lot’s wife, we know we should keep moving forward, but can’t help looking back.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While this sacred season of Elul calls us to change course, most of us find that work difficult. The future is unpredictable; with the past we have the illusion of control. This is the great power—and danger—of nostalgia.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the central prayers for the Days of Awe acknowledges that feeling’s potent pull: “Chadesh yameynu k’kedem—Renew our days, as of old.” It’s easy to read this petition as a reactionary retreat from the future-facing path. Yet the word </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">k’kedem</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is closely related to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kedimah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, meaning “Onward!” I like to think that when we offer this prayer, rather than just yearning for a bygone age that never was, we are first and foremost reminding ourselves of the possibility of renewal. We look to the past for courage to embrace the future; just as the Holy One empowered our ancestors to press on into the unknown, despite their fears, so, we pray, may we find the strength and inspiration to stay the forward course.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or as Carly Simon famously put it, “Stay right here, ‘cause these are the good old days.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 18, 5781/August 26, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Alan Litwak</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I," "We," and "You"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do we transition our mindset? We change our language. When we speak differently, we have a greater chance of committing to act differently. This works in our interactions with colleagues, friends, customers, and spouses. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the accolades are coming in, instead of saying "I,” try "we."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the poop hits the fan, instead of saying "we," try "I."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, when you are tempted to lessen the impact of your actions, try looking at the person and admitting it affects "you."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 19-20, 5781/August 27-28, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every Friday we send a double portion of Elul Thoughts so that those who choose not to be on the internet over Shabbat can read Saturday’s offering in advance. Shabbat Shalom!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Simone Schicker</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the first chapter of Joshua, God says to Joshua “I charge you: Be strong and resolute; do not be terrified or dismayed, for Adonai your God is with you wherever you go.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the message we were given upon entering the Promised Land. That wherever we go God is with us. This is the message I fall back upon when struggling with transition. Transition is often hard, transition is often unwanted, even when needed, and transition too often leaves someone behind. If we take the charge God gives Joshua, we can learn that even when we have to transition, we can continue to hold onto those people and things in our lives that bring us comfort, support and hope.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We can hold onto the lessons of our ancestors, while transitioning to a more accepting and welcoming community. We can hold our deepest truths, and learn a new way of interpretation and understanding. Transitioning does not mean we leave behind the good but rather that we grow through our interactions and experiences for the betterment of ourselves, our families and our communities.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God is with us, in the good times and the bad. As we work through this moment of transition, as we move from summer to fall, from one year to another, may we continue to hold tight to the aspects of ourselves that make us who we are. May we continue to transition throughout our lives with the guidance and support of our tradition.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Cassi Kail</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2840000239285554; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For six months, my son had devoted time every day to the story of a young wizard coming into his own. He had grown as a reader and learned just how capable he was of reaching his goals.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2840000239285554; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His delight was palpable as I tucked him in that night; it lasted just fifteen minutes. Suddenly I heard crying coming from his room. They were not soft sobs but loud expressions of pain and distress. “What’s going on, buddy?” I asked him. “I finished the books,” he whimpered, “I am done. What do I read now?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2840000239285554; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was not ready for the experience to be over or for a new one to begin. He was in the in-between, and he found it rather unsettling.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2840000239285554; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consistent routines are comfortable, but transitional moments define us. Rabbis teach that prayers are more likely to be heard at twilight and sunset, the in-between moments of our days. These moments of pause give us room to reflect on our past while envisioning our futures. They implore us to embrace the endless possibilities and take responsibility for the next step in our journey.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2840000239285554; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rabbis were wise to expand upon and bring holiness into two small moments of transition. Like pianist Arthur Schnabel, they recognized that “the pauses between the notes…is where the art resides.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2840000239285554; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I pray we will find new passions and opportunities to grow in the in-betweens as we prepare to enter a new year.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 21, 5781/August 29, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Benjamin Sharff</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the hardest transitions in our tradition took place when Moses had to hand over the mantle of leadership to Joshua. It was hard not only because Moses had been the steady guide of the Israelites for the past forty years, but also because Moses was not allowed the reward of entering the Promised Land. Though in retrospect we understand it. For Moses, it was an unexpected transition.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Transitions sometimes occur as a natural process of growing, or age, or circumstance. Other times transitions are thrust upon us in ways that may appear arbitrary and capricious. The question is not so much about why transitions happen, but instead, how we handle, or cope with, or manage, or move on from these transitions.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moses, seeing his stage of his work completed, was then buried, knowing that his people’s journey would continue on without him. Though we mostly remember Moses for his leadership and his guidance, perhaps we too can learn from the graciousness for which he accepted the transitions in his life.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Change happens. The question is: how do we embrace it, and how do we prepare for the next</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">step in our journeys especially during these uncertain times of transition?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 22, 5781/August 30, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Talmud teaches in Tractate Rosh Hashanah 16b and Bava Metziah 75b: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mishaneh Makom, Mishaneh Mazal</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Changing where you are changes your luck.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moving to a new place is ubiquitous in our society. We or our ancestors, and people today, moved to these shores looking to change their luck for the better, hoping to find “streets paved with gold.” We continue to move to new locations toward new opportunities, or fleeing a place that was less than welcoming.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, changing where we are, does not guarantee that the change in our luck will be for the better. There are no guarantees and the luck we find may be bad luck.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More importantly, “Changing where we are” is not just about physical location. We continually change and grow hopefully for the better. Our Judaism gives us an opportunity every year during these 40 days, to change ourselves For the better.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. Eugene Mihaly taught that Judaism survived because, everywhere Jews have left and arrived at, through the reforms that Judaism experienced, we remain moored to where we started. Being moored does not hamper change, rather it allows us the stability to grow and change our luck for the better.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who moors you to the past so that you can move forward? Who can you call after many years and it is as if you were never apart? Who moors you to your past and at the same time propels you toward fulfilling who you can become?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 23, 5781/August 31, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are times when it can seem hopeless. We go through this every year. Stop, reflect, repent, do better. To do better we have to change and people don’t like to change. We don’t like to change. It’s hard to change. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judaism asks us to do many hard things. It’s our sacred responsibility to offer hospitality, to be honest, to avoid gossip and evil speech (in person, on social media), to do acts of loving kindness, to comfort mourners, to allow people to think differently, to make peace between individuals, to judge others fairly, to feel and express gratitude, to pray and study regularly. This is just a small list of mitzvot – sacred obligations.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judaism does not teach us to do these things because everyone else does them. We do them because even though they are hard, they are at the core of who we are as Jews. Out of our relationship with God, our relationship with our People, the wisdom of our tradition – in some way they address us and point us in the right direction. Such teachings point the way to become a mensch – a full human being.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s not hopeless to strive to do better. It’s not hopeless to stop doing what’s easy and instead make every effort to become the person we hope to be. It may not be easy, but it is among the most important things we can do.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 24, 5781/September 1, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Stephen Wise</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In September of 1996 I’m sitting in a classroom with 20 students all of whom are embarking on an MA in Jewish Studies. I had no idea what I was doing there. Everyone else seemed so confident about the next steps in their career and this degree would help them achieve their goals.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That first day we were asked to take a large piece of butcher paper and trace our body on it. We were told to make it like a road map with pictures and stops along the way, each one important steps. We didn’t have to write what happened, just list them as points. After we finished the professor told us to leave space at the bottom and create a path into the future. What I most remember about this exercise was the value of looking back and marking the important stops along the way in my life that led me to where I was.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the book of Numbers, chapter 33, God does this same exercise with the Israelites, listing the 42 stops they made from Egypt to the promised land, forcing them to remember each step and what happened along the way. If you were to try this exercise today, what would the milestones be in your life journey? This is the season of taking stock of where our life has taken us and then where we hope to continue. Let's use these days of Elul to sharpen our focus and find the signposts for the year ahead.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 25, 5781/September 2, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Alan Cook</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1991, Transitions brand adaptive eyeglasses were introduced to the market. They were designed to make it more comfortable for glasses wearers to move from bright outdoor sunlight into gentler indoor lighting (and vice-versa) by quickly darkening or lightening as needed.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These lenses capitalize upon the physical properties of the plastic from which they are constructed in order to quickly change. In our lives, we are not always so agile when it comes to adaptation. A disruption in our routine, a change in expected norms, can be tremendously upsetting. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps this is why the rabbis ordained that we spend the month of Elul in contemplation and preparation for the majesty and splendor of the High Holy Days: they understood that suddenly being summoned to stand before the Divine throne or being asked to enter into </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teshuvah</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> without full contemplation of our past missteps might be too awe-full for us to bear. Hearing the sound of the shofar, being attuned to changing melodies in our liturgy, seeing the Torah covers change to white, engaging in mindful contemplation all can help to smooth the transition into a new year so that the moment is not disjunctive from past experiences, but rather a meaningful continuation of this wonderful mystery we call life.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 26-27, 5781/September 3-4, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every Friday we send a double portion of Elul Thoughts so that those who choose not to be on the internet over Shabbat can read Saturday’s offering in advance. Shabbat Shalom!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Ben David </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took up surfing last summer. It was a way to get away, commune a bit with nature, and reflect amid the summer months of the pandemic. I learned quickly that surfing is all about transitions: onto the board, onto your feet, riding a wave to the shore. It's about moving from one place to another. Resting to working. Prone to standing. Balance to imbalance. And then all over again. But it's also about moving to a place of humility and abounding patience. It’s a good metaphor for us, and a good metaphor during this holy day season, as we feel myriad transitions play out all around us. We enter a new year. We prepare for the start of school, the start of autumn, maybe a new chapter in life. Some of these transitions come easily, some less so. Especially this year, wearied by these past months of hardship and angst, our transitions are loaded. Are we ready to take off our mask? Is it safe to go out? Will praying in person feel scary or rejuvenating? Is it ok to be anxious, still? Like surfing, we must take our time with these transitions, be kind to ourselves, and exercise as much patience as possible.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Andrew L. Rosenkranz</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isn’t it interesting that transitions almost inevitably cause anxiety and concern, while at the same time our Jewish tradition reminds us that transitions are almost always to be moments of joy and celebration?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hebrew calendar is marked with fixed times that commemorate changes that we are experiencing, whether it’s a change in the season or a change in our personal lives. Rather than fear such transitions, our tradition teaches us to embrace such times and recognize the goodness that can come out of them.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sukkot’s set time coincides with the annual agricultural harvest when we are commanded to rejoice before God. The laws of mourning are suspended or cut short by certain holidays and festivals, because the mitzvah of rejoicing supersedes the change we are experiencing over the loss of a loved one.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The message is clear. While something new may suddenly be introduced in our lives, God’s overall intent for humankind is to celebrate the gift of life. Sometimes we know ahead of time that change is coming, while other times it hits us from out of nowhere. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we continue to experience the changes in our own lives, may we always be reminded that ultimately God wants us to celebrate with one another and exult in simply being alive in order to experience all that God has given us on this earth!</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 28, 5781/September 5, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Eric Linder</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Ever-Journeying People</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Jewish people are no strangers to transition. Abraham, left everything he knew to become the first Jew. We endured slavery for over 400 years before celebrating our freedom from Pharaoh. Then, we wandered in the desert for 40 years before entering the promised land. Jewish history is replete with transitions.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every Rosh Hashanah marks a personal transition as well, as we move forward into the new year, and into a holier version of ourselves. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year, the transition is both communal and personal, as many of us are transitioning away from the past year that has had its fill of journeying, unease, and uncertainty.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we hear the unifying shofar call of the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tekiah g’dolah,</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I pray that all of us continue to transition toward communal responsibility, celebration, and </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shalom.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elul 29, 5781/September 6, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Laurence Malinger</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Preparing for the Transition of a New Year”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do we need as we stand on the precipice of a transition into the start of a New Year; a year that has never existed before following a year that was among the most difficult of years?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We need to share our principles and our standards so that all can understand them. We need to be educated, so that we know what it means to be a Jew, and so that we can remember to live and abide by those standards wherever this year takes us. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p></span>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-83095594406349670402021-08-08T18:52:00.002-06:002021-08-08T18:52:59.220-06:00Welcome to Elul - A time for reflection<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); white-space: pre-wrap;">The text below was written by Rabbi David Young. Thank you David for the creativity, time, and effort you put into this project each year. It adds meaning as we approach the Days of Awe.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hebrew month of Elul is the last month of the Jewish year. As such, it is considered a month of spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days. Special meditations are added to the </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">daily service for some, known as S’lichot, or penitential prayers. (*The Saturday before Rosh Hashanah is also known as S’lichot, and it is used as a night of contemplation and study.) For several years, a group of Reform clergy and educators has collaborated on a series of Elul Thoughts, shared with our congregations in a daily email. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c2820240-7fff-e0a4-81ba-49799467a204"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #232323; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is with great honor and wonderful blessing that we once again bring Elul Thoughts to our congregations across the United States and Canada this year. We have been sending Elul Thoughts to our congregations since 2008 when I worked with Rabbi Alan Litwak at Temple Sinai in North Miami Beach, FL. This project was his brainchild then, and it has taken on a renewed life again and again as we connect with colleagues and friends who want to contribute. Every year we invite cantors, rabbis, and educators. Some years we invite congregants or teachers from other areas of expertise. This year a wide swath of invitations were sent, but only rabbis responded. So for the first time in many years we are able to present an all-rabbi Elul Thoughts for you.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year’s Elul Thoughts include contributions from:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Michael Birnholz, Temple Beth Shalom, Vero Beach, FL</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Erin Boxt, Temple Beth El, Knoxville, TN</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Alan Cook, Sinai Temple, Champaign, IL</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, TX</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Ben David, Adath Emanu-El, Mt. Laurel, NJ</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Daniel Fink, Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel, Boise, ID</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Cassi Kail, Temple Beth El, San Pedro, CA</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Neal Katz, Congregation Beth El, Tyler, TX</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Brad Levenberg, Temple Sinai, Atlanta, GA</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Eric Linder, Congregation Children of Israel, Athens, GA</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Alan E. Litwak, Temple Sinai, North Miami Beach, FL</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Laurence Malinger, Temple Shalom, Aberdeen, NJ</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld, Congregation Albert, Albuquerque, NM (ret)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Andrew Rosenkranz, Temple Beth Torah, Wellington, FL</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Benjamin Sharff, The Reform Temple of Rockland, Upper Nyack, NY</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Simone Schicker, Temple B'nai Israel, Kalamazoo, MI</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Stephen Wise, Shaarei-Beth El Congregation, Oakville, ON, Canada</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi David N. Young, Congregation B’nai Tzedek, Fountain Valley, CA</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can follow any of us on Facebook or Twitter.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have missed any of these daily emails or want to go back and remember something from earlier in Elul, feel free to read them all at</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://tinyurl.com/elulthoughts" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://tinyurl.com/elulthoughts</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-78524615107513989492021-07-20T14:12:00.000-06:002021-07-20T14:12:45.068-06:00Reflections On Tisha B'Av: A Moving Day Or A Day Of Moving Forward<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For decades, I have had mixed feelings about Tisha B'Av. At camp it was a day we marked but not with fasting. At home it was a day ignored. In class it was a day to learn about and parse out what horrific events actually occurred that day and which were "assigned" to it. As a teen in Ramla, Israel it was one of the most moving Jewish experiences of my life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My mixed feelings swarm around the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E, and the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. While I certainly mourn the deaths of so many and lament the exile and yoke of slavery that fell upon so many others, a large part of me sees the upside. If we had not been exiled to Babylonia, we would not have redacted the Torah or created the synagogue as an alternative to the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem. These two consequences of the Babylonian's destruction of the First Temple and the Exile, set up our ability to survive and even thrive in the wake of the Roman destruction of the Temple centuries later.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Roman destruction and exile created two realities that sustained us as a people and continue to do so now and into the future. First, the exile brought the fulfillment of the promise to Jacob that his descendants will burst forth over the face of the earth. There is no place on earth that Jewish feet have not trod. The exile, so far and wide, brought into Judaism a rich cultural diversity that could not have been achieved else wise. Yes, exile often brought suffering. But, as I learned from Leonard Fein z"l, the exile brought into Judaism a richness that we would otherwise never have known.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Second, the Roman destruction of the Second Temple brought an end to sacrificial service. As I have often put it: no longer do have to bring our cute, cuddly, lambs to slaughter. Prayer replaced sacrifice just as the synagogue replaced the Temple.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Maimonides expounded on this by pointing out that in essence, Judaism was forced to mature from killing animals to expressing our communal and personal thoughts and prayers directly to God. We did not disappear into the annals of history, as did so many other peoples. We evolved into a new iteration. We were stateless but with a closer connection to God and each other.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In a class through the <a href="https://www.hartman.org.il/">Shalom Hartman Institute</a>, my teacher, Rabbi Gordon Tucker, showed me a new way of looking at the existence and final destruction of the Temple.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The final construction of the Biblical Tabernacle included many, many curtains which divided it into various areas blocked off from each other and ultimately the outside world. Both Temples in Jerusalem followed a similar construction only substituting unhewn stones for the majority of curtains. But some of the curtains remained, especially between the inner and outer sanctum and between the inner sanctum and the Holy of Holies which represented, as it were, God's home on earth just as it had in the Tabernacle in the desert. Through the use of various texts, Rabbi Tucker shows that, regardless of intent, all these curtains and walls effectively separated the people from God. By destroying the Temple, the Romans allowed for the reestablishment of the people's direct connection with God, just as they had at Sinai. The difference being that unlike at Sinai, the people were no longer afraid of the intimacy of the connection.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rabbi Tucker showed us how beautifully Leonard Cohen's "Lover, Lover, Lover" expresses this thought, especially in the fourth verse:</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"I never never turned aside," he said, "I never walked away.<br />It was you who built the temple,<br />it was you who covered up my face."</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">(Click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYkJuAb0mMk">HERE</a> to hear the whole song.)</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">As we come out of the Pandemic and begin to return to our synagogues, it is time to ask ourselves if our synagogues have replaced the ancient Temple as the curtain, the barrier, between us and God. If so, how do we remove the barrier and maintain our sense of community and peoplehood.</span></span></p>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-63794615394340589982021-01-30T11:51:00.001-07:002021-01-30T11:51:38.889-07:00The Shabbat After The Insurrection - January 8, 2021<p><span style="font-family: Georgia;">In Pirkei Avot 1:2 we read: Al shlosha d’varim haolam omeid. Al haTorah, al ha’avodah, v’al gemilut chasadim. The world stands on three things. Upon Torah, and upon worship and and upon acts of loving kindness. This Mishnah, this passage, has become an overused trope. It is used in the mission statements of hundreds of synagogues across America, including our own. We sing it to a simplistic melody without thinking about the import of the words. The overuse of this trope has stripped its meaning of any depth.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">What we never or rarely read is just a few mishnayot later in 1:18. Al shlosha d’varim haolam omeid. Al hadin, v’al ha’emet, v’al hashalom. The world stands on three things. Upon justice, and upon the truth and upon peace. This Mishnah, in America, has been forgotten just at the moment when we need it most.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The insurrection, the rebellion, the seditious, traitorous invasion of our Capitol, called for and supported by our political leaders, whom we allow to be there, they are our political leaders, weighs heavily on me, many of you, and as it should, on every American. Seeing these traitors who adorned their bodies and clothing with Nazi symbols, anti-Semitic and racist slogans, carrying the battle flag of the Confederacy, the ultimate symbol of treason against America, still tears at my soul. How could any of this have happened? Because, I have allowed, you have allowed, we all have allowed the pillars of justice, truth and peace to be shattered. It feels as if our world is tumbling out of control.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The time has arrived for us to rebuild and shore up these most important pillars.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Justice: We need to move beyond just doing gemilut chasadim, acts of lovingkindness and build a society that is just. A just society is built to ensure that all have equal opportunity, that wrongdoers are punished to the same standard across the board, and the good have the opportunity to benefit from what is good for all. We need to challenge ourselves to work toward that world, and to hold our leaders, formal and informal, to the same standard to which we would hold ourselves, if not higher.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Truth: Parsing what is true and what is fiction has become harder. We lie easily. We believe lies even more easily. When the surest truths of science are called lies, how much easier it is to discount and disbelieve historic and current truths. We need to find the truth by using that most ancient, and often annoying, Jewish practice, questioning. We question and when we find the truth based on fact, test it again, then hold on to it, promote it, cherish it.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Peace: How many times have you heard me define peace as inner wholeness. When we are whole within ourselves, we can be at peace with ourselves. When we are at peace with ourselves we can be at peace with others. But, as we are taught by Maslow, unless our basic needs are met, we cannot find peace within ourselves. To ensure peace in the world, we have the obligation to ensure every human being has their most basic needs met and has the opportunity to strive for more. In other words, we need to create a world held up by the other two pillars, justice and truth.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This week, our American peace, our inner individual peace sustained blows that threaten to shatter us. Tonight’s service is designed to help us begin to heal, to rebuild our inner peace. There are no slides tonight. Just one video of our children lighting candles. I want us to see each other as we pray. So please turn on your cameras. I want us to feel the connection with each other letting the words and melodies calm our souls so we can find that Shalom on this Shabbat. Why then have the one video? Simple, what is more healing than seeing our young people carrying on our most positive traditions.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I want us to find rest and peace this Shabbat, rebuilding our inner strength to be able to heal our country and our world, for there is no harder work than to establish justice, truth and peace.</p>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-31785995965990912542020-09-29T13:24:00.001-06:002020-09-29T13:27:44.719-06:00Yom Kippur Morning 5781 - Cancel Culture vs. Teshuvah<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia;">I would like to personally thank the Albuquerque Journal and Dan Piraro, the author of the Bizarro comic, for giving me in yesterday’s paper the perfect opening to this morning’s sermon .</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Joell, can you please share the comic please.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhxBvYa2dN_Dec_ICqd2bn5c_hQDBRjhwskkC6KWuNEuzL8Rb54B_yhC66neyhBzNH8YYVfkWywx88_4kXwsovj6mIRNMW-ImMGQosb2ChzFjVhbUuxQlj_7Ib1i-tOI5ZILTEQAIMWg2/s1536/img.php.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1041" data-original-width="1536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhxBvYa2dN_Dec_ICqd2bn5c_hQDBRjhwskkC6KWuNEuzL8Rb54B_yhC66neyhBzNH8YYVfkWywx88_4kXwsovj6mIRNMW-ImMGQosb2ChzFjVhbUuxQlj_7Ib1i-tOI5ZILTEQAIMWg2/s320/img.php.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thank you Joell. You can take it down now.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is how I know I’m getting old. About two months ago, something popped up in my Facebook feed about Cancel Culture and I had to Google it to find out what it means (actually I use Duck Duck Go) . For those of you who still do not know, here is the definition from the Urban Dictionary: “<span style="color: #21282e;">A modern internet phenomenon where a person is ejected from influence or fame by questionable actions.</span>”</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In other words, someone does something, or says something, that crosses a line that is considered to be offensive and others call for a boycott of that person. Even if the person recognizes what s/he did was offensive and sincerely apologizes, they remain “cancelled” to many. I am not speaking here of acts that violate the law, but rather, legal acts that are deemed to be offensive. It is the most un-Jewish phenomenon, especially at this time of year.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let me be clear. I am not saying Cancel Culture is anti-Semitic. I am saying that it violates the Jewish value of <span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">תשובה</span> – repentance - as it does not allow for any consideration of sincerely repenting and change in behavior.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is not a new phenomenon, although with the growth of technology, it has become more pervasive. In the past, Cancel Culture has involved, censorship, not tolerating flip-flopping, and dozens of other supposed sins.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some examples. Growing up in the sixties and seventies, there were, and still are today, calls to remove various pieces of classical literature because in our times they are culturally insensitive. Often, these works accurately represent the values of their times. Back in the day, as it were, there were calls to remove the works of Mark Twain from my high school’s English curriculum. I remember my friends and I, then seniors in high school, working to keep the books in the curriculum. We believed, and I still do, that learning the values of the past, with an eye on the values of today, can teach us about how far we have come, how far we have yet to go.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cancel Culture in its multiple forms has been a part of our politics throughout my life. Politicians whose positions have changed with time are vilified and cancelled. In presidential politics, both President Bush’s, Presidents Clinton and Obama, and innumerable candidates, most memorably John Kerry and John McCain, were labeled flip-flopper. I yearn for politicians who are open enough to the thinking of others, that they regularly reevaluate, and even change their positions. Today it is worse. Any politician perceived as being less than ideologically pure, is ostracized, cut off, Culture Cancelled.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If we were to do a true self-reflection during these Days of Awe, could any of us honestly say that we have not said or done anything that could get us cancelled? Of course not.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cancel Culture eliminates the possibility of Teshuvah, personal or communal, and thus eliminates the need for this Day of Atonement.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Rabbis recognized that emotional wounds run as deep, if not deeper than physical ones. The Talmud, as well as later Midrash and commentaries are replete with reinterpretations of stories about our Patriarchs and Matriarchs explaining how, contrary to the Biblical text, they did not emotional harm each other. From Sarah laughing at the possibility that Abraham could father a child at age 100, to trying to explain how Joseph really did not tattle on his brothers, the textual acrobatics boggle the mind.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In each of these reinterpretations, one finds the Rabbis leading us on a path to see that Teshuvah is possible, even if, as in the case of Jacob and Esau or Joseph and his brothers, it takes decades.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If, instead of quickly cancelling someone whose words or deeds offend us, we engage with the person and explain the emotional impact upon us, we open the possibility for repentance. We open the possibility of personal and societal growth for all.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Wrapped in our personal pain, we forget that emotions help set societal norms. As soon as we share them, our emotions have a communal impact. Social media allows us to spread our emotional pain around the globe, raising awareness, and increasing the possibility for positive change and growth.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Imagine the society we could build if, instead of using our pain to cancel, we engage with each other, take the time to actually hear each other, and allow room for repentance, change and growth.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That is the message of this Day of Atonement, the call of these Days of Awe. Let us commit to using our pain not to cancel but to recognize the power of repentance and engage to bring positive growth and change to our world.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">G’mar Chatimah Tovah</span></p>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-67640478007505042682020-09-29T13:05:00.002-06:002020-12-28T14:35:05.656-07:00Yom Kippur Evening 5781 - Who Can Be A Member of Our Community<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Some of you have wondered, and the bravest among you have asked; what am I going to talk about during my last High Holy Day sermons. As one person said to me: “It’s your last High Holy Days here. You can say whatever you want!” What are they going to do, fire you?</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">I smile at that because, as many of you have chastised me over the years, I always speak about whatever I want. This Yom Kippur, I would like to leave you with a part of my vision of the inclusiveness a Jewish community should embody.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tomorrow, as we do every year, we will read: You stand this day, all of you, before the ETERNAL your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your women, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One of the many reasons the early leaders of the Reform Movement chose to read this passage on Yom Kippur morning is the inclusive definition of who is a part of the Jewish community. But, in the 19th Century, they could not envision how to include “the stranger within your camp” into the Jewish community. For them, it was a community made up solely of Jews who looked like them. But, this Torah text and others are clear, not only Jews are a part of the Jewish community, non-Jews are as well.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Our portion is crystal clear in its definition. Everyone, from the highest officials to those who have the least, regardless of gender or age, race or ethnicity who stand with the Jewish community, constitute the Jewish community.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Today, we are comfortable welcoming, the LGBTQ+ community and every racial, every ethnic group as members of Congregation Albert. We welcome into membership non-Jewish spouses and partners regardless of their religion. They can even choose to remain members of Congregation Albert after they, and their Jewish spouse/partner separate, or the Jewish partner dies. But, what of the non-Jew exploring Judaism with the potential of conversion? What of the non-Jew who comes to study with us, pray with us, congregate with us, who wants to be a part of our community but does not want to convert, who wants to be a part of our community. If you are on Zoom, look at the participant list, I guarantee that there are a significant number of non-Jews participating with us on this Erev Yom Kippur.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The question is <b>not</b>, <b>who is a Jew</b>, <b>but who can be a part of our Jewish community and our congregation</b>.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are three definitions of membership in a community. 1) Memory, 2) Covenant, and 3) Holiness.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1) Memory. We are united by a common meta-story, the Exodus from Egypt and revelation at Sinai. Every year we recount the tale of our transformation from slaves to free people and the forging of our community. We ignore that we were not alone. Others joined us as we crossed the Red Sea and chose to transform ourselves at Sinai. Exodus 12:48 specifically commands to include the stranger who lives among us: <b>“as a citizen of the country.”</b> A non-Jew, who lives as a part of the Jewish community is not Jewish, but, is a full part of the community.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This inclusiveness is reinforced in the first piece of Jewish liturgy found in Deuteronomy 26:11 and recited each year in the Passover Seder: “You shall rejoice in all the good that the ETERNAL your God has given to you and to your house, you the Levite <b>and the stranger who lives with you</b>.”</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Logging into, and downloading the memory, is a conscious choice. There are Jews who choose to forget and separate themselves from the Jewish community, and non-Jews who choose to remember and cleave to us.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2) Covenant. Torah also teaches that membership in the Covenant with God is porous. In each generation we have to choose to be a part of the covenant. Ritually we have four ceremonies for Jews to express that choice: Brit, entering the covenant at birth; Bar/Bat Mitzvah upon at age 13; Confirmation at the beginning of young adulthood; Conversion to Judaism for adults. The ritual of Conversion is for the non-Jew who wants to be Jewish. There is not now, nor has there ever been, a ritual or ceremony to admit a non-Jew to the Jewish community without converting. <b>They were just welcomed.</b></span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">3) Holiness. Tomorrow afternoon we will read Leviticus 19, the holiness code from our Svihov scroll which survived the Shoah. Upon my arrival at Congregation Albert, I chose to have us read this passage from this scroll as a reminder to each of us that being holy means acting Godly, even when the rest of the world does not. The Holiness Code commands us to act in ways that are kind and benefit Jew and non-Jew alike. In this way we become holy as God is holy. Holiness is feeding the hungry, clothing the stranger, paying workers their earned wages, caring for those in our community, Jews or non-Jews, who cannot provide for themselves. We are called upon to love our fellow Jews, not always easy, and to love the non-Jews who choose to live among us.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Teens, and adults, love to point out to me that these laws are basic moral, ethical principles of living. They are not exclusively Jewish behaviors, non-Jews value them and do them too. <b>Yes. That is the point.</b></span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Membership in the Jewish community is multidimensional. One can claim membership through Memory and/or Covenant and/or Holiness. One can be Jewish and be a part of the community. One can be <b>non</b>-Jewish and a part of the community.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet, even in this open, pluralistic vision of the Jewish community, there <b>are</b> boundaries in which every member of the Jewish community, Jew or non-Jew must fall within.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One cannot be a part of the Jewish community if s/he believes is a believer in another religion, believes in more than one God and/or believes the Messiah has come. These people can be our closest friends, yet, cannot be a part of our Jewish community. Our partnerships with the multitude of religious groups in Albuquerque attests to this. But they cannot be counted among those who dwell among us. <b>But</b>, many non-Jews fall within these boundaries and should be counted as members of our Jewish community, if they so desire.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Our By-laws state: “Any person of the Jewish faith or such person’s non-Jewish partner, eighteen years of age or older, who wishes to associate with the Congregation and accepts the responsibilities of membership will become a member on approval of such person’s membership by the Board of Trustees. In the event of the death or divorce of a Jewish member, the non-Jewish partner may continue his or her membership.”</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We already allow non-Jews who have Jewish partners, even if they are members of another religion to become members and remain so as long as <b>they</b> want. We count among our members practicing Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Even so, there are many non-Jews who fall within these boundaries, they do not believe in more than one God and that the Messiah has not yet come. are not married to Jews but want to be a part of our Congregation Albert. Why do we exclude them?</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the Galilee you can see the ruins of synagogues that date from the 1st Century BCE through the 2nd Century CE. On the surviving walls and columns you can see the names of the donors who contributed to sustaining those synagogues. Yes, the tradition of donor plaques dates to antiquity. Among those names, you will find a plethora of non-Jewish names. In those days, non-Jews who did not want to formally convert to Judaism were members of those shuls. When the Romans made associating with Jews and studying Judaism punishable by death, the practice stopped. Today, that threat no longer exists.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">What if we were to begin a conversation about changing our membership criteria to read: “Any person of the Jewish faith, or who is not a practicing member of another faith, or is the spouse or partner of a Jewish member of the Congregation, who wishes to associate with the Congregation and accepts the responsibilities of membership will become a member on approval of such person’s membership by the Board of Trustees.”? I believe these non-Jews who, through memory, covenant, or holiness, belong to the Jewish community, would enhance our congregational family with their energy and talent. We currently have appropriate policies that certain lay positions can only be filled by Jews, for example President or the chair of the Religious Practices or School committees.<br />
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On page 328 of our Yom Kippur prayerbook, there is a quote from Isaiah 2:2-3, which has been in every Reform prayerbook since 1898.</span></p>
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<p dir="rtl" style="font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ בְּאַחֲרִ֣ית הַיָּמִ֗ים נָכ֨וֹן יִֽהְיֶ֜ה הַ֤ר בֵּית־יְהוָה֙ בְּרֹ֣אשׁ הֶהָרִ֔ים וְנִשָּׂ֖א מִגְּבָע֑וֹת וְנָהֲר֥וּ אֵלָ֖יו כָּל־הַגּוֹיִֽם׃ וְֽהָלְכ֞וּ עַמִּ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים וְאָמְרוּ֙ לְכ֣וּ ׀ וְנַעֲלֶ֣ה אֶל־הַר־יְהוָ֗ה אֶל־בֵּית֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יַעֲקֹ֔ב וְיֹרֵ֙נוּ֙ מִדְּרָכָ֔יו וְנֵלְכָ֖ה בְּאֹרְחֹתָ֑יו...׃</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“It shall come to pass, in the fullness of time, that the mountain of the House of God shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Then many <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b><i>peoples</i></b></span> shall say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Eternal, to the House of the God of Jacob. And they shall say: Teach us Your ways, that we may walk in Your paths.”</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is time for us to open our doors to anyone who is not a practicing member of another faith who wishes to join us.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Only then do we fulfill the words of tomorrow morning’s Torah Portion, the challenge at Sinai, and the prophecy of Isaiah.</span></p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">G’mar Chatimah Tovah</span></p><div><br /></div>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-35264279563297483062020-09-21T16:55:00.001-06:002020-09-21T16:55:45.517-06:00Rosh Hashanah Morning 5781 - U'netaneh Tokef: A Call To Be Great<p class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span dir="LTR" style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div align="center"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Blood<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1pt; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 22pt;">דָּם</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 22pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Frogs<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 20pt;">צְפַרְדֵּעַ</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Lice<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 20pt;">כִּנִּים</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Flies<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 20pt;">עָרוֹב</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Pestilence<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 20pt;">דֶּבֶר</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Boils<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 20pt;">שְׁחִין</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 25.7pt;"><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; height: 25.7pt; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Hail<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 25.7pt; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 20pt;">בָּרָד</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Locust<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 20pt;">אַרְבֶּה</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Darkness<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 20pt;">חשֶׁךְ</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p class="TableCell" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Killing of the First Born<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in; width: 3in;" width="288"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-size: 20pt;">מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת</span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: גלבוע; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span dir="LTR" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 20pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, I know it is Rosh Hashanah not Pesach, but it is hard to ignore the parallels Between the beginning of the redemption from Egypt and the past few years.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Nile turning to Blood - 2015 The Animus River turns orange from a toxic waste spill.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Croaking Frogs - The loud sounds made by those who have been oppressed for centuries.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Lice - Remember when this was the major worry of parents about their kids going to school? Now it is violence and disease.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Flies - Gathering around the bodies of the slaughtered in ethnic violence around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Pestilence - As of yesterday, the 6,656,799 cases of COVID in the US and the 30,751,369 cases world wide.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Boils - The sores of those still suffering from ebola and other diseases.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Hail - The growing number and strength of storms coming from the sea and the plains bringing destruction and devastation to our shores and our world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Swarming Locust - 2015 and 2019 in Israel and here in the west.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Oppressive Darkness - The growing depression, isolation and loneliness infecting so many during this time of physical distancing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Death of the First Born - As of yesterday, the 197,116 COVID deaths in the US and the 957,360 deaths worldwide.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Our High Holy Day liturgy includes any number of <i>Piyutim</i>. Liturgical poems written to guide our thoughts inward for self-reflection on where we have done well and, more often, where we have fallen short.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In the top five most well known of these <i>Piyutim</i> we find the U’netaneh Tokef. Erroneously attributed to Rabbi Amnon of Mainz during the crusades, it is much older. The words haunt us each year with a surface theology and philosophy we yearn to reject. The image of God sitting high above, pen in hand, with the Book of Life lying open before the throne of justice. God writes who shall live and who shall die, and how they shall die. As we will read sing: “Who by fire? Who by water? Who by illness? Who by sword? And as we will hear, Leonard Cohen adds: <span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Who for his greed, who for his hunger?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">If we reject the theology of the Piyut, how then do we deal with these words which seem to be at the essence of these holy days?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Without revealing her name, Rabbi Harold Schulweis of blessed memory, published a letter from a woman with cancer, who left shul on Rosh Hashanah in the middle of U’netaneh Tokef. In part she wrote: the “... liturgy was binding my fate to my behavior; that my illness, seen in this light, has been the result of some terrible unknown transgression, and that the ultimate punishment for failure to discover and correct it could be my death.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">This woman identifies the core problem with the premise of the prayer, that we are responsible for all the harm that befalls us. She got cancer because of some unknown, unrecognized, and thus not repented for, sin. The cancer that ravaged her body was not caused by exposure to cancer causing chemicals she knowingly or unknowingly came into contact with. It was not caused by a simple mutation of her cells. No, this woman brought the disease upon herself. Blame her. It was her own fault.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">On the surface, U’netaneh Tokef promulgates this world view of blaming the victim. Today, blaming the victim infects our our society every time a man of color driving is pulled over for having the audacity to drive a nice car. Every time men catcall a woman who dares to dress nicely. Every time a child is bullied in school because their family religion is not our own. Our society defaults to a starting position of blaming the victim. Is this who we want to be?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">True, we do bear the responsibility for the consequences to ourselves and others when our choices and actions miss the mark. Before we forgive ourselves we must ask forgiveness from those whom we have wronged. Leonard Cohen’s Who By Fire calls us to this modern understanding of no longer blaming the victim and accept the responsibility of our own choices, our own sins.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">But like Kol Nidre or Kaddish, the words of U’netaneh Tokef are less about the meaning and more about the sound and the tradition. The melody and the rhythm in which we intone the words, like Avinu Malkeinu and Kol Nidre help us feel the awe of these Days of Awe, so too, U’netaneh Tokef<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Matti Friedman, in his 2012 Times of Israel article; “A Yom Kippur Melody Spun from Grief, Atonement, and Memory” tells us the story of kibbutz Beit Hashita and the Yom Kippur war. Eleven kibbutz members were killed during that war. The day after the end of the war, eleven trucks, bearing eleven bodies came through the kibbutz gates, for 11 simultaneous burials.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Beit Hashita was and still is a secular kibbutz. But in 1990, Israeli songwriter, Yair Rosenblum came to Beit Hashita and felt ongoing the pain of those deaths. He was moved and wrote a new melody for U’netaneh Tokef. On Yom Kippur 1990, the prayer was sung. Friedman describes what happened as a kibbutz member began to sing: “The song was sung at the end of the ceremony on the eve of Yom Kippur…. ‘When Hanoch Albalak began to sing and broke open the gates of heaven, the audience was struck dumb.’… ‘It was like a shared religious experience that linked the experience of loss… the words of Jewish prayer… and the melody.’… ‘When I sang, I saw more than a few people crying,’ Albalak recalled.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“In Israel, it is now one of the most widespread melodies used for the prayer that marks the height of the (Rosh Hashanah and) Yom Kippur service.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Pain, memory, prayer and song melded to move hearts, to heal hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Toward the end of U’netaneh Tokef, there is a another passage in that is difficult for us in a different way. It reads, “Human beings come from dust, and return to dust, expending their lives in their labor for their food. they are like broken earthenware, like withered grass…”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Admitting that we are broken pieces of pottery and withered grass may flow from the tongue, but is hard to swallow. We love to see ourselves as whole. Sure, we each have some level of physical or mental or emotional impairment, but we yearn to see ourselves, and have others see us with a level of perfection that can only come from being created in the Divine image. The angst created when we fear others may see us as imperfect, serves to further impair us. We fear they will restrict us, hamper us, mock us, take advantage of us. We often end up causing our imperfections to fully define us and feel unworthy of the respect and love of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">But that should not be the case. Somewhere in the fifth to seventh centuries, Rabbi Alexandri commented on the U’netaneh Tokef in the Pesikta d’Rav Kahana. He wrote: “all of God’s work is done with broken earthenware vessels.” Those broken vessels are us: you and me. We ,who are co-partners with God in creation; We, who solve the mysteries of the world; We are the ones who through art, music, and science bring healing to a world increasingly broken.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">When we remember that God’s best work is done with broken tools, i.e. us, then we understand that U’netaneh Tokef calls us to strive to reach higher and heal ourselves through Repentance, Prayer and Tzedakah. In Actuality, this Piyut is a statement of the strength of the human spirit itself. Through that spirit, we embody the potential</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> to heal a world we fractured.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Shanah Tovah<o:p></o:p></span></p>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-71755617418591039102020-09-21T16:52:00.002-06:002020-09-21T16:52:38.730-06:00Erev Rosh Hashanah 5781 - Sacred Time vs. Sacred Space<p> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">This is not how I thought I would conduct my last High Holy Day services before I retire. Cantor Finn and I expected to be able to greet you in the Kaufman Foyer; shake your hands as we walk in or out of the sanctuary; have in person, face to face conversations with you. Since Albuquerque is our home, Michele and I hope to greet you in person over the coming years.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">I know most of you share this sense of disconnect as well. We are together while separated by miles. It is disconcerting this new, different, and odd way of being together. Can we find ways to deepen the spiritual feeling, the holiness of these Days of Awe? I believe we can.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">How can I be so sure? Our inability to worship together in our sanctuary is temporary. We do not know when, but we do know we will be back. Our ancestors were not so blessed. When the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the Roman’s permanently exiled us from our holy of holies. In response, our ancestors created something greater, the synagogue. Unlike the Temple the synagogue was, and is, much more than a place of worship. In addition to prayers, we fill our synagogue with learning and community.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">For us, the pandemic keeps us physically apart but it also breaks down other barriers. Through FaceTime, Skype, Zoom and other technologies we can spend our holy times together with family around the world. Each Shabbat it is gratifying to see many of your out of town family joining you for our services.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Our synagogue, our sanctuary, our chapel are sacred space because of the memories we created there. But spaces are vulnerable. The Temple was destroyed. Our synagogue is currently unavailable to us, so, following the example of our ancestors, we find new ways to come together, create new memories, create new holiness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Why do we miss our sanctuary so much? Why do we feel that these holy days will be less without being present in it? Does absence from a place make the heart grow fonder?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In a 1977 article entitled “A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction,” a group of architects wrote: “What is a church or temple? It is a place of worship, spirit, contemplation, of course.” They then go on to describe why it feels holy: “…we do believe that one fundamental characteristic is invariant from culture to culture. In all cultures it seems that whatever it is that is holy will only be felt as holy, if it is hard to reach, if it requires layers of access, waiting, levels of approach, a gradual unpeeling, gradual revelation, passage through a series of gates.” The Pandemic separated us from our holy space creating more layers of access and waiting. Making it harder than ever to access. Making it feel even more holy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In his seminal work “The Sabbath”, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel writes about the holiness of time verses the holiness of space. To paraphrase: “Judaism teaches us to be attached to <i>holiness in time, </i>to be attached to sacred events, to learn how to consecrate sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificent stream of a year… According to the ancient rabbis, it is not the observance of the Day of Atonement, but the Day itself, the ‘essence of the Day,’ which, with a person’s repentance, atones for the sins of the person.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Seen in this light, if we are feeling lost by being outside the synagogue, it is because we see the holiness of Judaism in our spaces. We feel something is wrong. We feel something is missing. But, if, especially this year, we follow Heschel and see Judaism as creating holiness in time, it still feels different, but we can experience an ever-deeper level of holiness than if we were focused on the space of our sanctuary.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Again, to paraphrase Heschel: “Judaism is a <i>religion of time</i> aiming at the <i>sanctification of time</i>. Unlike space-minded people to whom time is unvaried, iterative, homogenous, to whom all hours are alike, qualitiless, empty shells, the Bible senses the diversified character of time. There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">This year, let us focus on this blessing we have been given to move from a focus on sacred space, to a focus on sacred time and transform these High Holy Days into the holiest, most sacred Holy Days we have ever known.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Shanah Tovah<o:p></o:p></span></p>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-54517121913254746402020-04-07T02:34:00.000-06:002020-04-07T02:34:04.913-06:00My Commentary for the World Union For Progressive Judaism on Pesach<br />
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Pesach 5780 for WUPJ</div>
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Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld</div>
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Congregation Albert, Albuquerque, NM USA</div>
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Perhaps, this year, the question we should be asking at Seder is:</div>
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<span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">מה</span><span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">נשתנה</span><span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">הפסח</span><span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">הזה</span><span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><i>Ma nishtanah haPesach hazeh</i>? – Why is this <i>Pesach</i> different from all other <i>Pesachs</i>?</div>
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With the COVID-19 pandemic there are some obvious answers. </div>
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<li style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Going out to buy <i>Pesadik</i> foods will give us pause. Some will go and shop. Some will have others shop for them. Others will shop online.</li>
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<li style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Many families separated by distance can, for the first time, share Seder online.</li>
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<li style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">For the first time, families separated by distance can share Seder online.</li>
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But there are other answers as well. Torah teaches us that if someone is in a state of ritual impurity s/he can bring the Pesach sacrifice on Pesach Sheini (a second Pesach) - 14th of Iyar. Perhaps then we can wait to celebrate Pesach and move our Seders to Thursday evening May 7th, the 29th day of the Omer. But if the plague hasn’t abated would we need a Pesach Shlishi (third Pesach) or even a Pesach Rvi’i (fourth Pesach).</div>
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I am going to take a different path this year and follow an example of our ancestors. My household will have Seder on 14 Nisan as we do every year and “keeping Passover” for the proscribed week. Then we are going to follow the example of our mystic tradition and have Lag B’Omer style celebration. (<a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/lag-baomer/"><span style="color: #0000fe;">Click here for information about Lag B’Omer</span></a>) This celebration may not fall on the actual date for Lag B’Omer, tMonday night May 11. But, as soon as we are freed from our self-isolation, we should have a grand celebration. Picnics, campfires, singing, and Israeli Dancing.</div>
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Yes, we will mourn those who died from COVID-19. We will also celebrate those who heal and survive. We will remember the lessons we learned. Lessons on how to handle a future challenge like the one we face now, and lessons on how to transform our traditional synagogues into the synagogues of the future.</div>
RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-48198285379437043432020-04-07T02:31:00.000-06:002020-04-07T02:34:28.385-06:00Pesach Resources and Virtual Sedars<div style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
Dear Friends,</div>
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I titled my Pesach column for the World Union For Progressive Judaism (WUPJ): Why is this Pesach different from all other Pesachs? While every Pesach is different, in the midst of this pandemic, we find ourselves physically distanced from our families of origin and our families of choice.</div>
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Most of us here in The Land of Enchantment understand being distant from friends and family. For some of us, and the vast majority of our children, the only Judaism we have known has been here in Albuquerque and, in particular at Congregation Albert.</div>
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Instead of looking at our isolation as a plague, perhaps for these first nights of Pesach, our forced isolation can be a blessing. We have the opportunity to connect online with family, friends and strangers around the world.</div>
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Below you will find resources to use with your own personal seders, as well as opportunities to experience Pesach in the many places Jews live.</div>
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Be creative. Use these resources or find your own.</div>
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I will be leading a brief Pesach evening service at 5:00 on Facebook Live on Wednesday evening</div>
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As we read in Torah and in the Haggadah, “My father was a wandering Aramean.” Let us wander together to wondrous places for Pesach.</div>
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Chag Samei’ach</div>
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Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld</div>
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Cantor Finn and I were honored to participate in the: <span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><i>The Middle Matzah Haggadah: A Digital Telling for a Time of Brokenness</i>.</span> Dozens of Rabbis, Cantors, and lay people from across the country and Israel collaborated in creating this unique online Haggadah. You can use it with your own Seder or just watch it during the holiday. Just click here: <a href="https://youtu.be/GvEECSy0tRA"><span style="color: #0000fe;">https://youtu.be/GvEECSy0tRA</span></a>.</div>
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Here are more resources for you. Just click on the titles to follow the links</div>
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<b>Union for Reform Judaism</b></div>
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<a href="https://reformjudaism.org/how-make-your-virtual-seder-lively-engaging-and-meaningful">How To Make Your Virtual Seder Lively, Engaging and Meaningful</a></div>
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<a href="https://reformjudaism.org/blog/2020/03/20/how-hold-passover-seder-year-coronavirus?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20200324&utm_campaign=Feature&utm_medium=email&utm_content=2020_3_24">How to Hold a Passover Seder in the Year of Coronavirus</a><span style="color: black;">`</span></div>
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<b>Alma</b></div>
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<a href="https://www.heyalma.com/how-to-host-a-virtual-passover-seder/">How To Host a Virtual Passover Seder</a></div>
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For those who want some in depth learning about Pesach:</div>
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<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.sefaria.org/">www.sefaria.org</a></span></div>
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<b>From the American Jewish Committee</b></div>
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<a href="https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2020-03/AJC_Haggadah_Supplement_2020.pdf?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20.03.30%20NJ%20-%20AJC%20Rabbinic%20Opportunities%20-%20A%20Seder%20Supplement%20(1)&utm_content=%20">AJC Passover Prayer in the Age of Coronavirus</a><span style="color: black;"> </span></div>
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<b>From WUPJ, Seders around the world. Contact each synagogue/organization for times.</b></div>
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<b>St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands</b></div>
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St. Thomas Synagogue, Charlotte Amalie<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https://zoom.us/j/263565592?fbclid=IwAR2zlpU6dNVIcIaAlrzjY-dNtmT3uwLwlusxaKYbOAR6DOku9gFA7JYeqA0&h=AT30ZZpLmpNsV60A91-QIBluQ2VirJ7KwEqPZMo5uy3yS7eiE0f8RTyJfppV066L9xF1yNccC5HvUi3RcUNGZUcSFyWegkEFSPJalZyqUUJCndUPA5uWpowtS0gSz_NMqMN6u6452JeoE322eRTIPfRXWDTwXQ7z1w"><span style="color: #0000fe;">https://zoom.us/j/263565592</span></a></div>
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<b>Australia</b></div>
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The <a href="https://upj.org.au/index.php"><span style="color: #214eb1;">Union for Progressive Judaism</span></a> has a <a href="https://upj.org.au/index.php/news-and-events"><span style="color: #214eb1;">special page</span></a> that lists online services, Passover seders, and classes using online meeting platform<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">s.</span></div>
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<b>Japan</b></div>
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Jewish Community of Tokyo<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="http://www.jccjapan.or.jp/"><span style="color: #0000fe;">www.jccjapan.or.jp</span></a></div>
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<b>Shanghai</b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Kehilat Shanghai<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://www.kehilatshanghai.org/"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">www.kehilatshanghai.org</span></a></span></div>
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<b>Belarus</b></div>
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<span style="color: #1f2021;">Beit Shimcha: Simcha, Sheket,<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/grisha.abramovich"><span style="color: #0000fe;">www.facebook.com/grisha.abramovich</span></a> </span></div>
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and Tamar</div>
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<b>Russia</b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Le Dor va Dor<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>, Moscow<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ledorvadormoscow/live"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">www.facebook.com/ledorvadormoscow/live</span></a></span></div>
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Shaarei Shalom, St. Petersburg<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://zoom.us/j/434959761434959761"><span style="color: #0000fe;">Zoom Meeting</span></a></div>
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<b>Ukraine</b></div>
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Shirat ha-Yam, Odessa<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://us04web.zoom.us/j/745077936?pwd=dWsyb2w5a3R2c05qcGxpTVpCbFhxZz09"><span style="color: #0000fe;">Zoom Meeting</span></a></div>
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<b>Israel</b><span style="color: #1f2021;"> </span></div>
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The <a href="https://www.reformjudaism.org.il/"><span style="color: #214eb1;">Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism</span></a> has created this <a href="https://www.reformjudaism.org.il/k-passover"><span style="color: #214eb1;">Hebrew resource page</span></a> with information, educational links, and more. </div>
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<b>Brazil</b></div>
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Congregação Israelita Paulista Sao Paulo<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://cip.org.br/aovivo/"><span style="color: #0000fe;">www.cip.org.br/aovivo/</span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #1f2021;">SIBRA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sinagogasibra/live"><span style="color: #0000fe;">www.facebook.com/sinagogasibra/live</span></a></span></div>
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<b>South Africa</b> </div>
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<b>Johannesburg</b></div>
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Beit Emanuel Progressive Synagogue<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://zoom.us/j/661458450"><span style="color: #0000fe;">Zoom Meeting</span></a></div>
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Beit Luria Progressive Shul<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://zoom.us/j/2867366382?fbclid=IwAR2r8y1a_XVLYmEc2rV_Qmb3_mpXFRFZoRGzqIbmATlNC0oQTJYQpLlY9oY"><span style="color: #0000fe;">Zoom Meeting</span></a></div>
RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-88112015002187956922019-11-12T15:17:00.001-07:002019-11-12T17:03:21.014-07:00My D'var Torah for the World Union for Progressive Judaism on this week's portion, Vayera<div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
In this week’s Parasha, Vayera, it is as if we meet two different Abrahams. One a man of faith and strength, willing to stand up for justice, even against God. The other a man of faith who blindly follows God, regardless of the justness of the command.</div>
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Throughout my childhood, and in Rabbinical school, I only learned about the Abraham who begins a defining trait of Jewish tradition; the questioning of God. Moses carries on this tradition, as do the early Rabbis, the early Chassidic masters, and our own Progressive Jewish Movement. To this day, that is the Abraham I try to emulate and encourage others to do the same, by questioning injustice.</div>
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But, we cannot ignore the “other Abraham”. That is the Abraham that twice allows his wife Sarah to be taken into the harems of kings. The Abraham who twice sends his son Ishmael into the desert, perchance to die, because Sarah asked him to. The Abraham who meekly follows God’s order to take his son Isaac to the mountain top and kill him as a sacrifice.</div>
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In the case of Isaac, the text tells us that God was testing Abraham. The question is: what was God was testing? </div>
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I believe that God was not testing Abraham’s inherent faith but rather, the need for even a great person like Abraham to repent his sin and be sure he understood of the value of human life. It is obvious from earlier parts of this week’s and last week’s Parshiyot that Abraham lacked the understanding that the preservation of human life supersedes nearly all other commandments and was willing to murder his own son Ishmael by sending him out into the desert to die. Abraham, who stood up to God in defense of Sodom and Gomorrah did not stand up to his human wife and twice banished Ishmael and Hagar.</div>
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We know that a central part of our repentance involves a commitment to not repeat behavior that falls short. Now the test begins to make sense. Has Abraham repented his near murder of Ishmael? Obviously not. Abraham obediently takes Isaac up the mountain, binds him on top of the altar, and reaching for the knife prepares to slaughter him. Abraham fails this test of the sincerity of any repentance or remorse of leaving Ishmael to die in the desert.</div>
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How can we know Abraham failed? Because God never again speaks to Abraham. “And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son. “Then a messenger of the Eternal called to him from heaven: Abraham! Abraham! And he answered, Here I am. And the messenger said, Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. …</div>
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The messenger of the Eternal called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, By Myself I swear, the Eternal declares: Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your favored one, I will bestow My blessing upon you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore; and your descendants shall seize the gates of their foes.</div>
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All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed My command.” (Genesis 22)</div>
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Yes - Abraham tried to obey God’s command and in doing so earned a blessing for himself and his descendants, but failed the test. God never speaks to Abraham ever again even though he lives for several more decades. Their personal relationship has come to an end even though Abraham always put faith and obedience to God first and foremost in his life. Abraham fails the test because he forgot that each person, including his sons, is made in the image of God and his or her life is precious. In his old age Abraham has become a fanatic. He hears God tell him to kill his son and, even though in the end he stays his hand, he loses everything. He never sees his wife Sarah until she dies and he needs to bury her. Isaac and Ishmael, the sons he tried to kill, never see him until he dies and they come to bury him.</div>
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While Abraham eventually remarries and has more children and wealth, but what of Isaac? Here I agree with the poet Barbara D. Holender who, in her poem “The Binding” writes:</div>
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“Of course Isaac was sacrificed--</div>
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what else can you call it?</div>
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Three days on the road and no answer, </div>
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and then the answer--the knife,</div>
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no need to plunge it in….</div>
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They say it came out right</div>
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at the last minute,</div>
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it didn’t really happen.</div>
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I say the wounding lasted forever.</div>
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So Abraham came down from the mountain</div>
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and went on his way.</div>
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And Isaac? He’s still up there</div>
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trying to figure out</div>
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who can you trust in this world.”</div>
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May we never fail the test. May we follow the example of our Jewish and Progressive forebears and always stand up for justice and call those who commit unjust acts to account, regardless of their position, even if it is God.</div>
RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-30486537041294313382019-10-21T09:12:00.000-06:002019-10-21T09:12:56.642-06:00Erev Yom Kippur 5780 Change vs. Transition<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Why do we spend forty years wandering the desert after the Exodus?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Why do we need the period of the judges before we can have our first king – Saul?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Why could Saul’s reign not be successful or David’s kingdom remain whole after the death of Solomon?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Let’s review the answers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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 <i>change</i> is external (the different policy, practice, or structure that the leader is trying to bring about), while <i>transition</i> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Bridges then outlines the three processes of transition: Saying Goodbye or endings; The Neutral Zone (explorations); and Moving Forward (new beginnings.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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<i> any</i>) 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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-57371403416331436422019-10-02T13:31:00.000-06:002019-10-02T13:31:29.235-06:00Responsibility, Faith, Forgiveness - Erev Rosh Hashanah 5780<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I cannot remember ever struggling with writing a sermon as much as I have with this one. If I ever did it was long ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">In part, my struggle writing this is a reflection of the exhaustion from dealing with the pain and angst engulfing our country and much of the world. Every day endless media streams bombard us with images and sounds of people fighting for their own benefit, fighting for their own egos, instead of for the common good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">In part, my struggle writing this is a reflection of the pull of optimism that calls us to hope that our community is truly on a positive upswing. We want to hope. We yearn to believe. Yet, we struggle with the fear that we will be disappointed yet again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">In part, my struggle writing this is a reflection of the difficult year it has been for so many of us in both our private and public lives. I have been honored that you have shared with me your stories of pain, disappointment, loss and angst. I have been honored that you have shared with me your stories of joy, happiness and fulfillment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">In part, my struggle writing this is a reflection of the wave of disbelief, disillusionment, and betrayal that continues to suffuse our beloved Congregation Albert. Led by our President, Dale Atkinson, we are taking all the right steps to recover from the embezzlement while continuing to grow and become an even more positive force in your lives and our community as we recover from the shattering of our trust. Yet, we still hesitate to trust. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We call this time the Days of Awe, because we are tasked with doing the awesome. We are called to dig deep to forgive, let go of our pain, and begin again to trust. We are called to dig even deeper, to step up and own our responsibility, not because we trusted too much, but in not trusting each other even more and allowing Congregation Albert, our safe haven, to be fractured.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, through his book <u>To Heal A Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility</u>, gave me reminders of, and new understandings of, the strength that Judaism gives us to move past our feelings of betrayal and the shattering of our ability to trust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">He reminds us that book of Job is among the hardest books to understand. The book makes no sense. We find Job, a totally righteous person, suffering <b>because</b> of his righteousness. Job, his family before they die, his friends, all ask the unanswerable question: “Why me?” “Why Job?” Rabbi Lord Sacks writes: “The question most often asked by theologians and philosophers is: how, given what we know of the world, can we be sure that God exists? The question asked in the book of Job (as in later rabbinic midrash) <b><i>is the opposite</i></b> (emphasis mine): how, given what we know of God, can we explain that humankind exists? Why did a wise, good, all-knowing, all-powerful Creator, having constructed a universe of beauty and order, introduce into it one form of life, <i>Homo Sapiens</i>, capable of destroying the beauty and creating disorder?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">His answer: “The question answers itself, and the answer is profoundly counterintuitive. <i>The Bible is not humankind’s book of God; it is God’s book of humankind. </i>It takes for granted that God can construct a home for humankind. The question that endlessly absorbs it is: can humankind construct a home for God?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">My answer to that question is yes. Regardless of the many different theologies in this sanctuary tonight, we can continue to build Congregation Albert into, as Sacks puts it, “a home for God.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">But what is “a home for God”? In my mind it is a place where we act Godly. Please put aside, for at least a moment, your particular understanding of, or belief in God and see these for the examples they are. What does it mean to act Godly? Judaism teaches that it means we are to imitate God by following God’s example of how to act as we are taught in Torah. God clothed the nakedness of Eve and Adam, so too are we to clothe the naked. God visited Abraham as he was recovering from his self-circumcision, so too are we to visit the sick. God buries Moses on Mount Nebo, so too we accompany the dead to their final resting place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">But, as Jews we are called to go to deeper in acting Godly. First, Torah teaches us that when God brought us out of Egypt it created a symbiotic, albeit unequal relationship. In Exodus chapter 6 God says, “I will be your God and you will be My people.” That phrase is repeated several times throughout the rest of the Tanach – the Hebrew Bible. Through the various forms of the covenant between God and the Israelites there is one constant. We are responsible to God <b>and</b> for God, and God is responsible for us and <b>to</b> us. Our tradition takes this monumental concept and calls upon us to implement it within our own lives, within our relationships with each other. In the Talmud, tractate Shavuot (page 29a) we are taught: Kol Yisrael aravim zeh bazeh – Every Jew is responsible for, and accountable to, every other member of our community. <b>Just as we have a covenant with God, we have a covenant with each other. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">What does it mean to be responsible for and to each other? On the surface we have an obligation to care for each other’s physical needs for food, shelter, clothing…. But on the deeper level, when one who is a part of our community sins, we all share a degree of responsibility for allowing that sin to occur in our midst. We all have the responsibility for doing Teshuvah, repentance for our part in the sin. We all have the obligation to ensure that there is no opportunity to repeat. Thus, during this season of repentance, all our confessional prayers are plural: “For the sin <b>WE</b> have committed…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The other way that we need to imitate God and act Godly is through faith. Judaism does <b>not</b> mandate faith in God. Judaism mandates faith in each other as individuals and in humankind. Again, as Rabbi Lord Sacks writes: “In making humankind God was taking the risk that one of his (sic) creations might turn against its Creator. Even for God, creation means the courage to take a risk.” I extrapolate from this that we are to be in relationships with each other and that involves risk. Further, if God’s creating humankind was a risk, then God had faith in us that, for the most part, we would choose to do good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If God, as it were, could have faith in us, how much the more so should we imitate God and have faith in each other, even after one of our own turned against us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Torah is the story of how our people turned against God over and over, and yet each time, God had enough faith in us to reinforce and keep the covenant. We have been betrayed. One of our own turned against us. Now, as we are taught God did in Torah, no matter how hard it may be, we have to have faith in each other. Again, as Sacks writes: “<i>Faith does not mean certainty. It means the courage to live with uncertainty.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Rabbi Menachem Mendl of Kotzk told this story: For days, a person was wandering lost in the woods losing faith and hope of ever returning home. Finally, seeing another, the first person asks: “Do you know the way out of these woods?” The second answers: “I do not. But hold my hand and we will find our way through the woods together. And so, they walked, arm and arm, with hope and faith that they would find their way through the woods to a better place.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Can we do any less?</span></div>
RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-91387100907858352372019-08-12T11:29:00.003-06:002019-08-12T11:29:19.389-06:00My Commentary for the WUPJ (World Union for Progressive Judaism.)<header class="post-header pt-0 mb-3" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #292b2c; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-top: 0px;"><h2>
<span style="font-size: small;">Do We Ever Reach The Promised Land? | Parashat Va’etchanan</span></h2>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://congregationalbert.org/rabbi-harry-rosenfeld/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a65bf;">Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld</a></u></em><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;">|</em><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://congregationalbert.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a65bf;">Congregation Albert</a></u></em><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;">, Albuquerque, New Mexico</em></h2>
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<a href="https://wupj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/torahfromaroundtheworld_vaetchanan2019_illustration.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a65bf; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="alignright wp-image-13990 img-fluid" height="281" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" src="https://wupj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/torahfromaroundtheworld_vaetchanan2019_illustration.jpg" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: right; height: 281px; margin-left: 24px; max-width: 817.5px; vertical-align: middle;" width="500" /></a>Va’etchanan begins with Moses’ lamenting to the people that because of his action of disobeying God at the Waters of Bitterness God punished him by not allowing him to enter the land of Canaan (see Parashat Chukat, Num. 20.) Moses would not see his efforts beginning in Egypt leading the people from slavery to freedom, and through the trials in the wilderness, reach it’s culmination in the restoration of the Israelites to the land of Canaan. In Va’etchanan, Moses does not accept that his actions brought on his punishment. Rather, he blames the Israelites for his punishment. “But the Eternal was angry with me on your account and would not listen to me” (Dt. 3:26)</div>
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In what seems like a further punishment, God commanded Moses to ascend a mountain and see the land which he would never enter. This part of the punishment seems as if God inflicts a measure of cruelty upon Moses. Perhaps that is why Rabbi Bachya ben Asher (Translation by Eliyahu Munk, 1998) writes in his commentary “Our sages in the Midrash and the Talmud (Shemot Rabbah 3,19) are on record that originally ‘the sela (rock) dripped blood’ i.e. that when Moses hit the rock it first produced blood instead of water.” Even the rock felt the heaviness of the punishment that would rest upon Moses.</div>
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Is God’s showing Moses the land he would not enter in fact cruel or even a punishment? He may not actually enter the land but, Moses gets to see the reality of the land that would be the Israelite’s. Is it because he is the greatest of all the prophets as it says: “Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses.” (Dt. 34:10)</div>
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As we look at the prophets and leaders in the Tanakh, not a single one sees the actual fulfillment of his/her prophecy (although a case may be made that Deborah did. See Judges 4 and 5.) How much the more so for us?</div>
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No one ever gets to finish the task. Reality teaches us that in every aspect of life, as soon as we reach what we think is the “Promised Land” the next step looms before us, and ultimately falls to our successors. Moses does not lead the people into Canaan, that is Joshua’s task. Joshua does not finish the settlement of the land, each of the Judges moves that process forward. David does not get to build God’s Temple in Jerusalem, that is Solomon’s to build. The list is endless.</div>
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This is true in our own lives, especially in our congregations. In fact, we in the Liberal community understand this phenomenon and encourage it. Our synagogue leaders, lay and professional, work to fulfill their visions of the perfect congregation. We adapt our practice. We modify our liturgies to make them relevant to our generation. We derive new interpretations that resonate within us. We understand that among our 1200 WUPJ congregations, spread throughout 50 countries, we have sculpted our Judaism for who we are and where we live.</div>
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Their term expires or their contract ends and the next “generation crosses the Jordan.” Those leaders move on and the next “generation” works to “settle the land.” The new leaders change, update, modify, and reinterpret for their generation. The progression moves forward on and on through the generations. The earlier leadership never seeing the physical goal, as Moses got to, albeit from afar.</div>
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As Progressive Jews, we understand another important lesson. We stand on the shoulders of those who preceded us. We have not abandoned the Judaism of our ancestors as we have changed and moved forward in time. Rather, we openly acknowledge that we stand upon their shoulders. Without what they taught and practiced, we would be creating our Judaism ex nihilo.</div>
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Our predecessors taught in the Talmud, Menachot 29b that when Moses ascended to heaven, God told him that a scholar would be born far in the future named Rabbi Akiva. Moses asks: “Ruler of the Universe, show this Rabbi Akiva to me. God replied turn around.” Moses found himself in Rabbi Akiva’s classroom “and did not understand what they were saying. When Rabbi Akiva arrived at the discussion of one matter, his students said to him: My teacher, from where do you derive this? Rabbi Akiva said to them: It is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. when Moses heard this, his mind was put at ease, as this too was part of the Torah that he was to receive.” (quoted text from www.sefaria.org)</div>
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Like Moses, our ancestors may not recognize our Progressive Judaism. Like Rabbi Akiva, we understand that we could not have our Judaism with out theirs. When we pass on our leadership to the next generation and are like Moses, not recognizing the Judaism they create, may our successors be like Rabbi Akiva and us. May the understand that they stand upon our shoulders and the shoulders of all those who come before us.</div>
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Shabbat Shalom.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ).</em></div>
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RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-37669676805878479132019-01-02T09:32:00.002-07:002019-01-02T09:32:54.871-07:00Invocation for the Inauguration of New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
Governor Lujan Grisham, Lt. Governor Morales, All New Mexicans, and guests.</div>
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On this day, as you begin your tenure as the leader of our Land of Enchantment may you continue the leadership you have exemplified throughout your life.</div>
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May you remember that leadership is service to all the people of our State.</div>
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May you remember to balance justice and compassion.</div>
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May you continue to have the humility to listen, the vision to dream, the understanding to implement, the strength to admit when you are wrong.</div>
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And, adapted from a poem by 17th Century Anglican Bishop Thomas Ken:</div>
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May the doors of your administration be wide enough to receive all who need love and care, and have hopes to nurture</div>
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May the doors of your administration be narrow enough to shut out envy, pride, hate, and enmity.</div>
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May its threshold be low enough to be no stumbling-block to children, to those without power, or to people with differences, but high enough to turn back complacency, harshness, and the temptation of power:</div>
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May your administration be a gateway to all who seek a better future.</div>
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And as we say in my tradition:</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">ברוך אתה יי, אלהינו מלך העולם, שהחיינו, וקיימנו, והיגינו לזמן הזה.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, shehechiyanu, v’kiyimanu, v’higiyanu lazman hazeh.</span></div>
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We are blessed to have reached this day filled with life and strength.</div>
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Mazal Tov! - Congratulations Governor Lujan Grisham, Lt. Governor Morales and all New Mexicans.</div>
RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-56129056858701342062018-12-14T10:21:00.002-07:002018-12-14T10:21:37.869-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>AN IMPORTANT LETTER FROM THE RABBIS OF EL PASO, TEXAS</b></div>
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With which I fully agree.</div>
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December 13, 2018 </div>
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Dearest Friends and Colleagues:</div>
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We write to you from the Texas border city of El Paso, Texas to express our concern for the stranger and the sojourner. Our moral responsibility, individually and collectively, calls upon us to carefully consider the situation of the United States’ immigration/asylum system(s), especially with regards to the detention of migrant children in our neighboring city of Tornillo, Texas. </div>
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We are distressed that there are many from around the country who look at our region from afar and seek to use the Tornillo camp as a lightening rod for protest, anger and rhetoric. Their efforts, while well intentioned, seem to us to lack the broader thoughtfulness and self-awareness that our tradition would require of us when we seek to confront an injustice. Here in El Paso, we are keenly aware that the treatment of the stranger has been inhumane and antithetical to Jewish and American values for a very long time. </div>
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Aware that there is a desire amongst many of us to see the Tornillo camp closed as quickly as possible, we are fearful that much of the horrifying reality migrants face in our immigration system is being missed. Immigrants are approaching the border and, despite the law, are being turned away. Families with children are being held in ICE holding cells for weeks at a time, only to be dropped off on the street and left to fend for themselves. Almost 15,000 lone migrant children are being detained around the country for periods that far exceed safe or reasonable despite the physical care that they might be receiving. </div>
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What seems clear, regardless of where we fall on the American political spectrum, is that we are currently looking at the downward spiral of a broken system which is incapable of handling the needs of modern migration. This brokenness is leading to unnecessary trauma, suffering and disturbing injustice. The lack of efficiency and effectiveness of the current model is hurting people (including children) where it could be healing. </div>
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The existence of camps like those in Tornillo, Texas (over 2000 children currently detained) and Homestead, Florida (around 1300 children currently detained) is indicative of a broken system. A system which, if not fixed, will only require more such “band-aids” with questionable transparency and limited resources. So, here in El Paso we are confused by efforts to “shut down Tornillo,” which do not seem to advocate for a more strategic approach to re-ordering our immigration system. These efforts may gain brief victory, but only ensure such camps re-open under similar circumstances and without sufficient regulation, oversight or transparency. We are concerned that Tornillo will be shut down, only to find some similar “last-minute need” in the days or weeks ahead that leads to a repeat of injustices which violate all we hold dear. </div>
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We seek to remind you that closing Tornillo and Homestead should be the result of efforts and changes which will <i>keep </i>such camps closed forever. What is needed is the ordering of an immigration system which can handle with dignity and humanity each child who approaches our border in need, every asylum seeker or refugee who looks to our country with hope. This system should decide who gets citizenship and who does not with fairness, equality, compassion, efficiency and expediency. That is a system which can handle the waxes and wanes of modern migration without finding itself in crisis and sacrificing norms or regulations to detain children. </div>
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Our Judaism inspires us to see all that our country is capable of. We are keenly aware that we live in one of the greatest and most prosperous countries on earth. We are therefore morally obligated to show dignity and care to those we exert power over. We are aware of the trauma that occurs while children sit and wait to learn of their fate. Drawing out that process needlessly for even an hour is a cruelty which violates our core ethics and flies in the face of our moral obligations. </div>
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We encourage those from outside our region to stop treating Tornillo as the sole problem in our immigration system. While many are aware that Tornillo is a symptom, such simple, single-minded advocacy blinds many to the real injustices human beings are facing. If blind advocacy against Tornillo is purposeful, that is <i>geneivat daat </i>(purposeful deception). </div>
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We call upon all people to exercise moral leadership, thoughtfulness, intelligence and compassion in the conversation about how we handle immigration and migration in our country. We urge our political leadership to create a strong, transparent and just immigration system which can manage the modern realities our country faces on the border. </div>
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We believe in our country and remain optimistic that thoughtful changes to our immigration policies can enhance America’s economic, intellectual and societal strength while treating human beings with dignity and sanctity. We believe a system to handle immigration which can adapt to the realities faced by those in other countries is possible. We believe there are ways for us to work together to solve the problems of our generation in ways which will encourage our children to reflect positively on our righteousness and compassion. And we encourage all of our fellow clergy, Jews and Americans to believe with us. </div>
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Until such time that our overall system is improved, if you would like to help us work with those who are providing direct services to asylum seekers (including those being dropped off by ICE on the streets of El Paso), we have included a list of these organizations with this letter. </div>
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B’vracha, </div>
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Rabbi Ben Zeidman, El Paso, Texas, Member: Central Conference of American Rabbis </div>
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Rabbi Scott Rosenberg, El Paso, Texas, Member: Rabbinic Assembly</div>
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<b>Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center </b></div>
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http://las-americas.org </div>
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You can help Las Americas who is providing direct legal services to the asylum-seekers. </div>
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<b>Annunciation House </b></div>
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https://annunciationhouse.org </div>
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You can help Annunciation House who provides refuge and hospitality to migrants. </div>
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<b>Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services </b></div>
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http://www.dmrs-ep.org </div>
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You can help DMRS who is providing direct legal services to immigrant children. </div>
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<b>Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee </b></div>
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https://dmscelpaso.wixsite.com/dmscelpaso </div>
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You can help the Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee who is helping pay immigration bonds that release migrants from detention. </div>
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<b><br /></b>RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-7552669019065357132018-11-21T10:52:00.003-07:002018-11-21T10:52:30.490-07:00<div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
Dear Friends,</div>
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We still have room on our trip to Jewish Spain October 10 - 20, 2019 and I’d love it if you could join us. For the Itinerary, Brochure, and Registration Forms, please email me at <a href="mailto:rabbi@congregationalbert.org">rabbi@congregationalbert.org</a>.</div>
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<b>We extended the registration deadline to December 15, 2018.</b></div>
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I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. I have also copied our tour agent Nir Nitzan on this email. Feel free to contact him directly for more information.</div>
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I really hope you will join us.</div>
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Happy Thanksgiving!</div>
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RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-1200786648438946462018-10-08T11:38:00.003-06:002018-10-08T11:38:56.164-06:00<div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
The one thing that the vast majority of Americans seem to agree about is that our country is more polarized than ever. We ask the question: “What ever happened to civil discourse and the ability to argue our position without demonizing those who disagree with us?”</div>
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Jewish sages of the past dealt with this problem. They argued their point vociferously and yet were able to understand that both sides were concerned with the betterment of the Jewish community and Judaism. Click on the link below to view this short video talks about the 4 principles they followed. It would serve us well to follow their example and encourage our politicians to do the same.</div>
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<span style="color: #0433ff; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.bimbam.com/machloket-lshem-shemayim/?utm_source=BimBam+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=95b1cafb81-20180722BimBamedu&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c22949c1b5-95b1cafb81-392866685&ct=t(20180722BimBamedu)&mc_cid=95b1cafb81&mc_eid=e1bc10a9bb">Machloket L'shem </a></span><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><u>Shamayım</u></span></span></div>
RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-11343860799203567512018-09-19T13:27:00.000-06:002018-09-19T13:27:33.496-06:00Yom Kippur Evening, 5779: We Were Strangers<div style="color: #0432ff; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
“My sweet daughter-in-law, I love you as if you were my own blood but, you cannot come with me it is illegal.”<span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #ff2600;">“Mother, I will not leave you. I will risk the danger of crossing the river. Whatever the future holds, I will not leave your side.”</span><span style="color: black;"> </span>“But my daughter!” <span style="color: #ff2600;">“Hush, I know the danger but I trust in you, your family, your people.” </span>“It will not be easy child. The only work you will find will be picking crops.”<span style="color: black;"> And so they traveled together. The young daughter-in-law seduced a man. They married and had an anchor baby. Who had a son. Who had a son who became the greatest leader in our nation’s history.</span></div>
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Too subtle? Ruth the Moabite, a people that Torah law states should never be allowed in our community, flaunts that law to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi. Eventually her great grandson, David, rises to the kingship of Israel and, becomes the progenitor of the Messiah. Why was Ruth’s great-grandson chosen for this honor? Because he knew our people’s story of being aliens in a foreign land, and his great-grandmother’s story of being an alien in our land.</div>
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We Jews, of all peoples on this planet, should not need commandments to welcome the stranger, to love the stranger as ourselves. Why? Because, as we say each Pesach, we were aliens in the land of Egypt and we know the heart of the stranger. Thus, our hearts and our actions must reflect our understanding of the needs of others who must flee their homes to escape oppression, or rape, or death, or to provide a better life for their families.</div>
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If there is one thing I miss from Gates of Repentance, it is the listing of the sin of xenophobia, the sin of fear of strangers. As I said on Rosh Hashanah: “We are all guilty of this….You know you are guilty of this. I know I am…. We all, without exception, make assumptions about people who are from other countries, people who are poor, people who are rich, people who are a different race,… The list goes on.”</div>
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We are not only Jews, we are Americans. It breaks my heart seeing hope in America being shunted aside and, xenophobia, rule. We began to shut our doors with the immigration laws of the early 1920’s. These laws were specifically designed to keep out Southern and Eastern Europeans. In their immediacy, these new immigration laws kept out Jews trying to escape the Communist revolutions and counter revolutions. Later, our the United States used these immigration laws to turn away Jews escaping the coming horrors of the Shoah, the Holocaust.</div>
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A true story. On Thanksgiving eve 1938, Secretary of State Harold Ickes, a Christian and a Republican in Franklin Roosevelt’s cabinet, gave a speech proposing a plan to resettle Jews on farmland outside Anchorage, Alaska. He said this could be: “a haven for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_refugees">Jewish refugees</a> from Germany and other areas in Europe where the Jews are subjected to oppressive restrictions."</div>
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Bills were introduced in the Senate and the House but never passed. The charge to defeat the resettlement was led by Alaska Territorial Governor, Ernest Gruening, a Jew. Gruening did not want these kinds of Jews with their strange dress and accents in his state.</div>
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A year later, in 1939, the United States turned away the ship St. Louis, forcing its Jewish passengers to return to Europe and the Nazi’s final solution. Even those who survived the camps and the war suffered fear and trembling. Can you ever forget the pictures of those Jews crowding, beseeching, on the St. Louis’s deck?</div>
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In 1942, fear, especially xenophobia, again raised its ugly vile head as President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing the round up of people who were at least 1/16 Japanese and placing them in concentration camps. Close to 60% of these internees were American citizens by birth or by naturalization. 1/16th, Japanese means having a Japanese great-grandparent. That number 1/16th should echo in your souls. King David was 1/16 Moabite. Hitler determined that anyone who was 1/16th Jewish would be subject to the final solution. </div>
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Incredibly, many of the interned Japanese Americans volunteered to fight in the war. The military established the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and sent them to fight in Europe. The 442nd became the most decorated unit in United States military history. It also suffered large numbers of casualties.</div>
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I learned this story about one of the casualties, Sgt. Kazuro Masuda from Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom in California. Sgt. Kazuro enlisted while interned at Manzanar Concentration Camp in Orange County, California. In Italy, on the night of July 6, 1944, he turned back two major counteroffensives and inflicted heavy casualties after firing at the enemy for twelve hours. Eventually, Sgt. Masuda was killed in action. In 1945, General Joseph Stilwell, flew to the Manzanar concentration camp. There, on the porch of the shack in which the Masuda family was forced to live, General Stilwell pinned the Distinguished Service Cross on Sgt. Masuda’s sister Mary.</div>
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At that ceremony was an army Captain who spoke these words: “The blood that has soaked the sands of a beach is all of one color. America stands unique in the world; the only country not founded on race, but on a way and an idea. Not in spite of, but because of our polyglot background, we have had all the strength in the world. That is the American way.”</div>
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Forty three years later, that Captain, Ronald Reagan, now President signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 providing redress and restitution to the Japanese who had been interred in the camps. At that ceremony he said: “… (W)e gather here today to right a grave wrong. More than 40 years ago, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living in the United States were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in makeshift internment camps. This action was taken without trial, without jury. It was based solely on race, for these 120,000 were Americans of Japanese descent.<span style="font-size: 9px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">” </span>He then told the story of being present for the presentation to the Masuda family. Two years earlier, President Reagan, signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 which reformed our immigration system, allowing thousands upon thousands of people to come out of the shadows with no fear of being forced to leave their homes in America.</div>
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President Reagan, the archetypal Republican, decided that, when it came to people who made it to our shores, America should be built on hope and not on fear and hatred of the other. Quoting John Winthrop on the Mayflower President Reagan said: “We shall be a city upon a hill….” He continued: “America has not been a story or a byword. That small community of Pilgrims prospered and driven by the dreams and, yes, by the ideas of the Founding Fathers, went on to become a beacon to all the oppressed and poor of the world.”</div>
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My family’s story while similar to many of yours. has a unique twist. My grandfather immigrated to Canada from Russia sometime before 1913. There he met my grandmother, also a Russian immigrant. They married and, in 1913 had a son, my father, to go with my grandmother’s two daughters from a previous marriage, his half sisters, Lil and Mae. Six months after my father’s birth they moved to Philadelphia to be with the rest of my grandfather’s family and had a second child, my aunt Ruth. Several years later, my grandfather applied and became a United States citizen. My father and his sister were minors and therefore were naturalized under of their father’s citizenship.</div>
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My father spent 18 years of his life serving in the military both overseas and in the States. After serving in the Pacific theater for the entirety of World War II, he was honorably discharged in 1945.</div>
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In the fall of 1971 I spent a semester in Israel. My father, who had never left the United States except under the auspices of the United States military, decided to visit me in Israel. In the spring of 1971, taking his birth certificate and his naturalization papers, he applied for his first passport. His application was denied. The reason? He had been naturalized on his father’s papers and not on his own. The Government, after 58 years of living in America, 18 of which were in the military, declared he was not an American citizen. I will never forget the pain in his voice and on his face when he told me what happened that day. Thankfully our Rabbi reached out to our Congressman who arranged another interview for my father. Before the interview he had to obtain sworn and notarized affidavits from his two older half-sisters, Lil and Mae, and others who had known him throughout his life to swear that he was in fact the Nathan Rosenfeld who arrived in America at the age of six months, and that he had never become a citizen of another country. A year later, long after I was home, he finally got his passport which sat in a drawer unused until the day he died.</div>
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When I read last week that our government started revoking the citizenship of Americans born in Texas, stripping the citizenship of people who were legally naturalized, and established a “Denaturalization Taskforce,” I felt a hot poker pierce my heart and soul. We have surpassed the sin of xenophobia and moved to the sin of hating the stranger, the one who is different that lives among us. We learn from the easy way the Nazi government revoked the citizenship of German Jews, that one day it could be us. While first it may be people from our southern border, unless we and our neighbors publicly draw a line and stand up for the strangers living among us, it could easily one day be us in this sanctuary. How do I know? Just ask Gwyneth Barbara of Fairway, Kansas. On September 10, a mere eight days ago, in an interview on KCTV Ms. Barbara told how she was denied a renewal of her passport because she was born at home and not in a hospital her birth certificate, with its official raised seal from the county, did not constitute proof of being born in the United States. The passport office in Houston told her that she could submit any of the following as proof of citizenship: “Border crossing card or green card for your parents issued before your birth.” She had neither as both her parents had been born in the United States, as had her mother’s family since the 1600’s and her father’s family since the 1700’s. The passport office also said she could provide early religious records or a family Bible as proof of citizenship. Her family was not religious so she did not have those either. In America, a government official decided a Bible or Baptismal record was better proof of citizenship than a birth certificate. Finally, she turned to her Republican Senator Jerry Moran’s office for help. A few days later she received her passport with no explanation or apology. If the government can deny Gwyneth Barbara’s citizenship, it can certainly deny yours or mine. Suddenly it is no longer just about the stranger, it is about our neighbors and us.</div>
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We know the heart of the stranger for we have been the stranger. We are commanded to love the stranger as we love ourselves. We are not commanded to fear, hate, or oppress the stranger, as we have been feared, hated and oppressed.</div>
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We are taught that atonement, does not come from our prayers on Yom Kippur. Atonement only comes when we take positive action to change ourselves and undo the wrong we afflicted upon others. Let us stand up to fear. Let us confront bigotry and hatred. Let us rebuild hope and kindness within ourselves, within our nation and our world. Paraphrasing Isaiah: Let my house, my country, my world be a house of hope for all peoples, not just those like us.</div>
RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7367445587222989435.post-33237406854461706102018-09-10T20:20:00.001-06:002018-09-10T20:20:37.656-06:00Rosh Hashanah Morning 5779<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
As we do every Rosh Hashanah we will read in this morning’s portion: “And it came to pass after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham; and he said, Behold, here I am. And God said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you.”</div>
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I have told you before, I believe Abraham failed the test. At the pivotal moment, Abraham stands over Isaac bound on the altar, knife in hand, ready to strike the final blow. Were it not for the Messenger of God, Abraham setting his ethics aside, would have murdered his son because God commanded it.Thus he failed the test. How do we know? While Abraham continues to grow in wealth, remarries after the death of Sarah, and has more children, God never speaks to him again. Let us take a closer look at this story and its implications for our world today.</div>
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Last night, I spoke about Rabbi Donniel Hartmann’s book: P<span style="text-decoration: underline;">utting God Second: How To Save Religion From Itself</span>. In his old age, Abraham suffers from the other auto-immune disease of religion; what Rabbi Hartmann calls God Intoxication.</div>
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According to Rabbi Hartmann: “For the God-Intoxicated person, the awareness of living in the presence of the one transcendent God demands an all - consuming attention that can exhaust one’s ability to see the needs of other human beings. This religious personality is defined by strict nonindifference (<i>sic)</i> to God. The more we walk with God , the less room we have to be aware of the human condition in general , and consequently , our moral sensibilities become attenuated. <span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">(Hartman, Donniel. Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself (pp. 45-46). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition.)</span></div>
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In this morning’s Parasha, Abraham suffers from God Intoxication. The Abraham we are more comfortable with is the younger Abraham who argues with God to save Sodom and Gomorra. The older, God-Intoxicated Abraham does not argue, does not object he unquestioningly obeys.</div>
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God-Intoxication explains much going on in our world and our country. For most of us what readily comes to mind is ISIS or Al Qaeda, suicide bombers, Islamic terrorists.</div>
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But do not think that God-Intoxication only infects some Muslims. It infects Christians who believe everyone needs to structure their lives to follow their idea of Christian morality. They work to enshrine their morality as the law of our land.</div>
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God-Intoxication infects Jews. The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by a Jew, the slaughter of Muslim worshippers in Hebron and the Al Aqsa Mosque by Jews. The domination of the Orthodox Rabbinate in Israel. The calling of non-Orthodox Judaism not real Judaism by some Orthodox Jews in America. The calling of Orthodox Judaism anachronistic by some non-Orthodox Jews, constitute just a few examples in the Jewish community.</div>
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In fact, Judaism has a long history of God Intoxication from Abraham to the present day. All of us here have been guilty of it. The God-Intoxicated follow the verse: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” <span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">(Lev. 19: 18)</span> They love God and only only those who are like themselves. In their xenophobia they ignore the verse: “you shall love the stranger as yourself for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” <span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">(Lev. 19:24)</span></div>
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You know you are guilty of this. I know I am. Using the derogatory names Goyim, Shiksa, Sheigetz, when speaking about people of other faiths. We all, without exception, make assumptions about people who are from other countries, people who are poor, people who are rich, people who are a different race, people who are a different gender or different gender identity, people who belong to a different political party, people who have jobs we look down on, people who have physical or mental illnesses or disabilities. The list goes on.</div>
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In our society God-Intoxication has a new sibling, America-Intoxication. Just like different people are intoxicated with their own God, we are intoxicated with our own Americas. Surveys show conservatives only watch Fox News and liberals MSNBC and CNN. Conservatives see liberals wanting to destroy all boundaries and liberals see conservatives as always trying to add restrictions. We hear endless lamenting about the absence of civil dialog. How can there be civil dialog when we do not live in the same America? How can there be civil dialog when, to paraphrase Rabbi Hartmann: America-Intoxication creates individuals who yearn to show indifference to themselves and others as evidence of their nonindifference to America.</div>
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As Jews we are blessed. Our tradition calls upon us to put ethics and good deeds over God. Next week, we will read the Yom Kippur morning Haftarah from Isaiah 58. On the holiest day of the year, while supposedly deep in prayer to God and self reflection Isaiah conveys the message that ethical behavior takes precedence over religious practice. Isaiah quotes God saying: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the fetters of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free...? Is it not to distribute your bread to the hungry, and bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him...?”</div>
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Rabbi Hartmann writes: “Isaiah’s message can be summarized in this way: Your prayer and fasting are worthless to me (<i>sic</i>) as long as there are hungry, poor, homeless, and naked people suffering just outside with walls of your religious sanctuary. Get out of synagogue and create a society of justice!” <span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">(Hartman, Donniel. Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself (pp. 56-57). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition.)</span></div>
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For me, saddest part of the High Holy Days is the necessity of the annual food drive. Because of the pervasiveness of hungry people in our community, we must feed them. But feeding the hungry is like putting a band-aid on a cut that needs dozens of stitches. It is no where near enough. We should be working together to solve the root causes of poverty and hunger, working to put the food pantry at Shalom House, the Storehouse, Roadrunner Food Bank out of business. We should be on the phone with our leaders, working together to eliminate the scourge of hunger, coming up with solutions that defy political concerns and focus on ideas that will actually work.</div>
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When we read <span style="font-family: "New Peninim MT"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">ובכרת בחיים - </span>“choose life that you and your descendants may live” (Dt 30:19) we need to understand it as choose ethics and justice above God or nation. To do otherwise is to turn God into an idol or a nation into a god.</div>
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The thought of trying to solve the large problems of our world can seem overwhelming. Not feeling up to working to solve hunger or poverty? This is a true story.</div>
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One of our families was driving to Shabbat morning services with their son who was celebrating becoming Bar Mitzvah that morning when they saw a woman on the other side of the street trip and fall. On the one hand, God was calling them to worship like God called Abraham to worship by murdering Isaac. On the other hand, a woman needed help. Unlike Abraham, they put ethics and justice above God and made a u turn to help the woman.</div>
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What would you like to think you would have done?</div>
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What would you have actually done.?</div>
RabbiHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12098752989230188536noreply@blogger.com0