Review of the Week

I'm still have trouble finding time to sit down and compose, but I have been pausing at the end of every day and thinking about what I learned.

Last Friday 4/9. We had a great Leadership Team Meeting of our CE21 project. We received the data of the Congregational Conversations of the past months. Preliminarily, we need to rethink and reformulate how we create community. What worked for the first 20 years of my rabbinate was never even 75% effective, but it may be even less engaging and empowering today. It's time for new structures and experiences to connect people to new friends, sacred community and God.

Last Saturday at the Bleich Bar Mitzvah a member of the family was an old friend who I hadn't seen in many, many years, Ray Panitz. It brought back so many wonderful memories of Camp Ramah. Also listening to his career path changes - it gives me hope that when I'm ready to retire (I don't know when) there could be a life after.

Sunday 4/11 I went to Debbie Togut's funeral. For the past decade she has been the 2nd Hazzan at Bnai Israel in Rockville. I've know her for over 30 years: She was a camper of mine (I was unit head) in Camp Ramah in New England in 1977 or 78. She was this tall, beautiful, sweet, intelligent, sweet voiced, incredible davener and torah reader. There was a joy that flowed from her in everything she did. She was wonderful, also, active in planning activities (pe'ulat erev in particular) for her fellow campers. It was devastating to think that at 46 with two young children she's gone. The only comfort I had at the grave was listening to a flock of birds near the cemetery singing in a high chirp, something not far from her voice. I thought she would have liked their singing... or maybe she was even singing with them.

Monday we had long, but good Executive Committee. I am especially happy about as we reflected on the experience people are having filling in letters in our new Torah. [It's even more important than the $100,000+ we raised in pledges] Menachem Youlus, for all the bad press he's been receiving, is really creating sacred moments for our families. People are really connecting to the spiritual nature of our holy text. It's been sublime.

Tuesday I went to a mid-day meeting through AIM with the CEO of Adventist Health Care, Bill Robertson. He's honestly one of the few people I've met in the county who is a leader. He's intelligent, well read, thoughtful, understands politics, and still is spiritual. He has a vision for his institution and the county that I rarely hear anywhere else. It nice to go to a meeting and come out energized. I hope we'll be able to work with him in the short term of immigration issues, but in the long term on housing, transportation, and education.

Wednesday the 14th I had mikvah duty. Once a year, I sit on the Beit Din in the rotation of the Conservative rabbis in the area for conversions. We receive essays from the adult candidates about their spiritual journey and spend half an hour with each getting to know them a little more and then joining them to our people through immersion in the ritual bath. It's always special. We officiated for 4 adults and two children. The stories of the journey to find a connection to God and community - were beautiful and powerful. It's sad that most adult born-Jews don't have the spiritual growth experience of our adult Jews by choice. I'm once again inspired ... hearing their stories and their commitment to our faith.

Thursday - as I prepared for Bible Study in Numbers 18, I was wondering why don't we tithe anymore? And as I reviewed this section about offerings to the priests it was finally clear why. The tithe given to the Levites and priests was for their service to the Temple. Especially crucial in the aftermath of the Korach story was their responsibility to prevent encroachment with the holy - which would lead to death. Since the Temple is not standing - there is no risk of encroachment. Since the levites are not performing the protective duties - they are not paid. No one else can receive their special portions. We do give charity (and can give as much as 20%)- but not tithe without the Temple to the priestly clans.

Today - I am finishing my drash to the Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat. The Chancellor had a wonderful piece in the JTS weekly that part of the core idea. The laws of skin diseases and infestations of clothing and houses - reflect the need not only for cure, but for spiritual healing. The ancient discussion of these issues is much less concerned about cure. But, we today don't always pay enough attention to the spiritual side of illness and property damage. I appreciate now: the way the priest visits someone everyone week when their sick or their home infested and connects a family to community and God through their presence and concern. Maybe we should have more rituals for healing and after a home is restored; to nurture our quest for physical and spiritual health and realize the degree to which the emotional and the physical are interconnected.

Shabbat Shalom