It's a strange time for me. For the second weekend in a row we are interviewing Friday Night, Shabbat morning, and Sunday Morning wonderful rabbinic students to be the next rabbi of Kehilat Shalom. They're all amazing, talented, soon to be ordained rabbis with skill sets for the rabbinate of 21st Century. It's been great emailing, shmoozing, hosting, and trying to help them think through their decision about their professional future. I hope one of them will love Kehilat Shalom as much as I have and become it's next spiritual leader.
As for me, my cover letters and updated resumes are ready to go out. After all my months of networking I'm not as interested in not-for-profit work. Primarily I'm looking to my first love, to be able to teach full time, probably Day School. I'm also exploring part-time CPE Chaplaincy with stipend, in conjunction with part-time teaching. As long as I'm teaching I know I'll be fine. I need CPE (Continuing Pastoral Education) because the one aspect of chaplaincy I have consistently found significant is hospice counseling. At some future time with proper training, I know I would be energized by supporting souls approaching the end of life and their loved ones.
Really looking forward to spending the day with my Dad in NY on Monday.
Shabbat Shalom.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Week in Review
Two highlights of this past week
1) Sunday we had a wonderful Tu B'Shevat Seder. The food, the YouTube Videos, the coloring pages, and the music all worked. Kids and adults who were present had time to think about trees and our ecosystem and just have fun.
2) Went to Adas in DC on Wednesday to participate in two conversions (I was not the sponsoring rabbi) On several levels the job of the rabbi is to "make Jews": to work with those who are born Jewish to connect to God and our tradition ... and for those who are "Jews-by-choice" to help them find their pathway to Jewish spirituality. Sitting on the tribunal is always joyful - to hear the stories of the journey between countries, on the roller coast ride of life ... to find deep meaning and joy in spiritual family, community, and tradition - is always moving and significant.
A Busy weekend coming up
Early Childhood Center Shabbat tonight
Reading the 10 Commandments in the Torah tomorrow morning
Fourth Grade Havdalah Service Saturday Night
Adult Bnot Mitzvah Class Sunday morning followed by the brainstorming session for the future of the Religious School
A full weekend of good activity
1) Sunday we had a wonderful Tu B'Shevat Seder. The food, the YouTube Videos, the coloring pages, and the music all worked. Kids and adults who were present had time to think about trees and our ecosystem and just have fun.
2) Went to Adas in DC on Wednesday to participate in two conversions (I was not the sponsoring rabbi) On several levels the job of the rabbi is to "make Jews": to work with those who are born Jewish to connect to God and our tradition ... and for those who are "Jews-by-choice" to help them find their pathway to Jewish spirituality. Sitting on the tribunal is always joyful - to hear the stories of the journey between countries, on the roller coast ride of life ... to find deep meaning and joy in spiritual family, community, and tradition - is always moving and significant.
A Busy weekend coming up
Early Childhood Center Shabbat tonight
Reading the 10 Commandments in the Torah tomorrow morning
Fourth Grade Havdalah Service Saturday Night
Adult Bnot Mitzvah Class Sunday morning followed by the brainstorming session for the future of the Religious School
A full weekend of good activity
Friday, January 20, 2012
Three highlights of the week
It's been a good week. No pastoral emergencies and some interesting experiences.
On Monday, on MLK Day, I helped facilitate AIM's Annual Retreat. We broke into small groups and role played/dramatized the issues AIM is pursuing this Spring/Fall. We hope to insure that the Dream Act Referendum does not overturn the legislation. And we are also doing House Meeting throughout the county on Senior Issues. We hope to have actions for the county to enhance the quality of life for seniors in our area.
Wednesday Morning I drove to Annapolis and on invitation from District 39 State Senator Nancy King invoked the Senate of Maryland. I had done it before about 10 years ago, but it's still cool to be in our historic capital building and set a tone for the day. I spoke briefly about Martin Luther King's inspirational leadership and how great leaders tell great stories and frame challenges which unite us in common quest for meaning and community. Thanks to Ben Goldstein-Smith, from Senator King's Staff (and who I "bar mitzvahed" many years ago) for helping to make the arrangements.
On Tuesday and Wednesday following up our Yom Kippur initiatives to re-energize our community we had orientations for volunteers to serve as Ushers/Greeters. It is important to have a caring and warm face for everyone who enters our spiritual home to worship. Thanks to those who attended the workshop and a special thanks to Howard Glassman for reorganizing the greeter/usher guidelines and leading the sessions.
This Shabbat ... Sisterhood Shabbat. Sisterhood's doing almost everything... it's almost a Shabbat off!
On Monday, on MLK Day, I helped facilitate AIM's Annual Retreat. We broke into small groups and role played/dramatized the issues AIM is pursuing this Spring/Fall. We hope to insure that the Dream Act Referendum does not overturn the legislation. And we are also doing House Meeting throughout the county on Senior Issues. We hope to have actions for the county to enhance the quality of life for seniors in our area.
Wednesday Morning I drove to Annapolis and on invitation from District 39 State Senator Nancy King invoked the Senate of Maryland. I had done it before about 10 years ago, but it's still cool to be in our historic capital building and set a tone for the day. I spoke briefly about Martin Luther King's inspirational leadership and how great leaders tell great stories and frame challenges which unite us in common quest for meaning and community. Thanks to Ben Goldstein-Smith, from Senator King's Staff (and who I "bar mitzvahed" many years ago) for helping to make the arrangements.
On Tuesday and Wednesday following up our Yom Kippur initiatives to re-energize our community we had orientations for volunteers to serve as Ushers/Greeters. It is important to have a caring and warm face for everyone who enters our spiritual home to worship. Thanks to those who attended the workshop and a special thanks to Howard Glassman for reorganizing the greeter/usher guidelines and leading the sessions.
This Shabbat ... Sisterhood Shabbat. Sisterhood's doing almost everything... it's almost a Shabbat off!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
I've changed my mind - January Bulletin article
I’ve changed my mind. In December 2006 the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement voted two papers about the “Status of Gays” in our part of the Jewish world. One opposed changing Jewish law and a second, reinterpreted Jewish law to permit the ordination of a gay rabbi. In the February 2007 Shofar, I had written my support for the paper of my teacher, Rabbi Joel Roth, which maintained the status quo and rejected the ordination of gay rabbis.
After four years of reflection and continued study I’ve changed my mind. In the same way as Rabbi’s Roth Responsa of 1984 lead to the ordination of women as rabbis, the legal ‘paper’ of 2006 lead directly to the ordination of homosexual and lesbian rabbis. In 1984 Rabbi Roth created a new legal category. In order to lead the community in public prayer one must have the obligation. Traditionally women do not. Roth posited that women could voluntarily accept the same obligation as men to worship and therefore bind themselves to pray and empower themselves to thereby daven for the community. It was a brilliant solution to a halachic barrier.
In the same way, the 2006 Responsa of Rabbis Dorff, Nevins and Reisner reinterpreted the Torah and said the Torah’s prohibition of homosexuality refers only to ‘Anal Sex’ between two men. All the other mitzvot regarding prohibitions of homosexuality and lesbians are rabbinic in origin. With regard to rabbinic law the value of “human dignity is so great that it supersedes a commandment of the Torah.” The acceptance of this “Torah” prohibition of the specific behavior therefore empowers full participation in Jewish life, even ordination as a rabbi. This is a brilliant solution to a halachic barrier. The humiliation of being excluded and the anguish of being unable to observe certain mitzvot are inconsistent with our basic respect for every soul. Instead of alienating caring and committed souls, we can welcome and enable full observance and participation in Jewish life.
For today, this is my personal commitment to state and do what I believe is the truth of our tradition. Consistent with my new understanding I would be honored to officiate at a commitment/wedding ceremony (within the laws of the jurisdiction of the ceremony).
I look forward in the coming months to continue our common quest to understand God’s teachings and truths for our community and every soul.
After four years of reflection and continued study I’ve changed my mind. In the same way as Rabbi’s Roth Responsa of 1984 lead to the ordination of women as rabbis, the legal ‘paper’ of 2006 lead directly to the ordination of homosexual and lesbian rabbis. In 1984 Rabbi Roth created a new legal category. In order to lead the community in public prayer one must have the obligation. Traditionally women do not. Roth posited that women could voluntarily accept the same obligation as men to worship and therefore bind themselves to pray and empower themselves to thereby daven for the community. It was a brilliant solution to a halachic barrier.
In the same way, the 2006 Responsa of Rabbis Dorff, Nevins and Reisner reinterpreted the Torah and said the Torah’s prohibition of homosexuality refers only to ‘Anal Sex’ between two men. All the other mitzvot regarding prohibitions of homosexuality and lesbians are rabbinic in origin. With regard to rabbinic law the value of “human dignity is so great that it supersedes a commandment of the Torah.” The acceptance of this “Torah” prohibition of the specific behavior therefore empowers full participation in Jewish life, even ordination as a rabbi. This is a brilliant solution to a halachic barrier. The humiliation of being excluded and the anguish of being unable to observe certain mitzvot are inconsistent with our basic respect for every soul. Instead of alienating caring and committed souls, we can welcome and enable full observance and participation in Jewish life.
For today, this is my personal commitment to state and do what I believe is the truth of our tradition. Consistent with my new understanding I would be honored to officiate at a commitment/wedding ceremony (within the laws of the jurisdiction of the ceremony).
I look forward in the coming months to continue our common quest to understand God’s teachings and truths for our community and every soul.
My "year" of Kaddish is done
I finished my 11 Jewish months of saying Kaddish for my mother yesterday, so hopefully I'll be back to writing at least once a week on my blog. It's been a trying year. Last year at this time we knew my mother's time was short and she did pass away in February. A few weeks later my sister-in-law died and then a week later I officiated at the funeral of a special cousin/"uncle". At the same time, in a tumultuous process, Kehilat Shalom considered it's future and after months of fractious discussion about a possible merger voted to stay independent as long as possible.
So looking back on the year it's been year of sadness and loss and stress and incredible loving support. I've attended minyan at Kehilat Shalom almost every night and at Bnai Israel in Rockville almost every morning. People at Kehilat Shalom especially in the weeks after my mom's death were incredibly kind and supportive. And the 'gang' at Bnai Israel every morning feels like extended family... I'll continue to support them as they've helped me by continuing to go every Friday morning.
I also see that my family is doing good. My son is healthy and happy at college. My wife, Diane, is OK and trying to take a little better care of herself. My sisters and their families are all doing good. My father is doing amazingly well. He's walking with a walker and his memory is good almost every day... both are tremendous improvements for previous years.
It will be good to "get back" an hour and a half every morning (early rush hour to Rockville to minyan and back) ... to sleep a hour more and go back to the gym every morning. I'll still pray at home every morning and think about my mother and the other family who I remember at every service.
A good and healthy 2012 to all...
So looking back on the year it's been year of sadness and loss and stress and incredible loving support. I've attended minyan at Kehilat Shalom almost every night and at Bnai Israel in Rockville almost every morning. People at Kehilat Shalom especially in the weeks after my mom's death were incredibly kind and supportive. And the 'gang' at Bnai Israel every morning feels like extended family... I'll continue to support them as they've helped me by continuing to go every Friday morning.
I also see that my family is doing good. My son is healthy and happy at college. My wife, Diane, is OK and trying to take a little better care of herself. My sisters and their families are all doing good. My father is doing amazingly well. He's walking with a walker and his memory is good almost every day... both are tremendous improvements for previous years.
It will be good to "get back" an hour and a half every morning (early rush hour to Rockville to minyan and back) ... to sleep a hour more and go back to the gym every morning. I'll still pray at home every morning and think about my mother and the other family who I remember at every service.
A good and healthy 2012 to all...
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Yizkor Sermon 2011
YIZKOR 5772 (Thanks to Susan Grossman)
This is my 16th YK Yizkor Sermon at KS, my 31st as the rabbi of a congregation and including my student pulpits my 34th preaching at services on the High Holidays. I don’t remember my sermons from 25/30 years ago, but I think I’ve always tried to do a sermon to prepare myself and my community for Yizkor tears. While all these sermons were ultimately about life, this year I offer something without the tears of memory.
Rabbi Naomi Levy is one of my truly gifted colleagues. Upon ordination, she became a successful congregational rabbi in California. She married a wonderful guy. They had two beautiful children. She published. Then she received the call from the pediatric specialist. / No one wants to get a call like this. That story is in her third book, Hope Will Call.
The results were in. Her daughter, Noa, had a terminal degenerative disease called, ironically, A-T, which stands for Ataxia-telangiectasia, (the-lan-jick-tay-sha). Most of its victims are wheelchair bound by the age of ten and die before they turn twenty.
Second opinions were ambiguous. At best though, they wouldn’t know if Noa had A-T until she was older.
Rabbi Levy’s whole world narrowed to trying to “fix” her daughter. There were medical and therapy appointments and fighting the insurance company for coverage.
She spent every waking moment focused on her child. She stopped working. She stopped writing. / Can we blame her? Yet she blamed herself. She felt lost. / She stopped praying. Where was God anyway? / The fear, pain and anger bubbled up inside her.
How did she find her way back? / To herself? To God?
It was a long journey that begins with a story: A story about a homeless man named Bo who wanted to study Bible with Rabbi Levy: “One day in late October as I was [waiting for Noa,] sitting in a waiting room, watching my life slip away from me, I flashed a memory of Bo…”
“Bo was a person who told his story: ‘I could have had it all: a home, a wife, kids. I could have been a teacher. But I was running away and chasing after other gods. / I traded it all in for the drink and the needle.’
In a conversation Noami said to Bo, ‘Do you know where Jonah finally found God? Right in the belly of that whale. It’s time for you to find God, Bo.’ Bo got very excited. He said, ‘God’s with me in the belly of the whale.’
“Watching Bo, I so wanted to believe he could turn his life around. I wanted to believe that it’s never too late to change. I thought about the ways we all run from the call of God or the call of our souls. But Bo’s life had spun out too long and too far. Bo began the process of changing his life, but he could never get out of the belly of the whale. He died of AIDS.
“Sitting in that waiting room, I saw myself inside Bo’s whale. I couldn’t figure out how to keep things in perspective. I couldn’t figure out how to get my life back on track again. Fighting for Noa’s health had become my obsession.... Thinking of Bo I whispered to myself, ‘It’s never too late’ is a lie. / Suddenly I saw the danger of putting things off, of dropping out of life the way I had. I understood that if you wait for the right moment to appear, it might never come. I told myself: You’re waiting to be saved from above, but transformation requires effort from below. You keep telling yourself you’ve got plenty of time to get back on track, but time has better things to do than to stick around waiting for you…”
In her story Rabbi Levy’s miracle was also subtle. Her angel? / A bald man, another waiting room parent. One day, he commented to Rabbi Levy that her daughter Noa was something special. These words began to open Rabbi Levy’s eyes to the good before her, in her own daughter. Despite all her pain and weakness, all of her learning challenges, Noa bubbled with enthusiasm, optimism and ideas about how to live her life the maximum within her challenges. She exudes a joi de vivre – a joy in living every moment which is tangible.
One day, as she was cleaning out Noa’s backpack, Rabbi Levy found a spiral notebook filled with entries Noa had written. She couldn’t help but read them.
Rabbi Levy writes: “Where did this come from? That voice…that depth. I slid to the floor of her bedroom and read on. My tears were dripping on her words…barely legible…words full of wisdom and encouragement…Did she know she was talking to me?...”
“I asked Noa for her permission to share them with others…I call them ‘Noa’s Twelve Rules for Living a Rich Life…’
“1. Be Adventurous: You can sit at home and be grumpy and life will mean nothing to you. Or you can go on an adventure through life and try stuff you never thought you would do and life will be exciting for you. You shouldn’t just sit around and do nothing because there should be some pretty cool adventures in life.
“2. Be Kind to Yourself: If you’re mean to yourself, others will be mean to you. So respect yourself. It’s a good thing. People will see your positive outlook and add to your happiness.
“3. Make Mistakes: If you don’t do anything you will never make a mistake. If you don’t make a mistake you will never try anything. So make mistakes; it will be good in the end.
“4. Laugh: When you are in a bad mood and someone makes you laugh, it gives you a jump start on your day. My friend once hurt her head and I said something funny that made her laugh and then that really cheered her up.
“5. Lift Your Own Spirits: If you are sad or down you have to will yourself not to be down anymore. One morning, I was driving in the car to school and I said to myself, ‘I don’t have any talent,’ and I really got sad. Then I thought, ‘I can blow Shofar,’…(and) my sadness went away. So remember you can wish yourself up.
“6. Play to Your Strengths: If you can do something, don’t let it get involved with what you can’t do. I can’t do math so well but I can do reading really well if I try. So I don’t get my good reading mixed up with my bad math. So don’t let your good get mixed up with your bad.
“7. Ask Yourself for Help: If you are having trouble with something, think first before you ask someone for help… Once my mom was having trouble writing a sermon. Before asking anybody for help she thought about it some more and wrote a great sermon. So think before you ask for help. It will be better.
“8. Live Up to Your Dreams: If you have dreams they’re probably not going to happen if you don’t live up to them. None of my dreams are going to happen if I don’t stick with them and believe they’re going to happen. So follow your dreams. What can go wrong? Most everything will come true.
“9. Be a Friend: Nobody is ever perfect, so your friends have to learn to look past your faults…Someone isn’t going to like you because you know everything. They’re going to like you because you truly care…True friends are the people who really care for you when you need them.
“10. Don’t Let Mean People Shake You: If someone is being mean to you, it’s probably because they have there own problems…At my old school there was this girl and she was always mean to me and talked about me behind my back. That mean girl said I was so weak. She said I couldn’t do anything. Now, I wasn’t going to sit there and take her rudeness. I went out there and proved I could do it. You can do anything you want to do. Don’t let some negativity hold you back.
“11. Forgive: If someone hurts your feelings, you will be offended, but it can be fixed…I once had a big fight with my friend at school…We finally made up and became good friends again. You know you can’t change the past, but you can change the future.
“12. Stand Up to Peer Pressure: You know who you are. You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are…[you] don’t have to do what other people tell [you you] should do. Be strong! Be smart! Make good decisions!”
Did Noa know she was also talking to each of us? These 12 rules encapsulate how to make the most of our journey through life. Be Adventurous. Be Kind to Yourself. Make Mistakes. Laugh. Lift Your Own Spirits. Play to Your Strengths. Ask Yourself for Help. Live Up to Your Dreams. Be a Friend. Don’t Let Mean People Shake You. Forgive. Stand Up to Peer Pressure.
Some miracles are so subtle they begin with barely legible words scrawled in a young girl’s spiral notebook.
Noa’s 12 Rules for Living a Rich Life speak to how we can hold onto hope. How we can see the good before us. How we can reach out a hand to another and be strengthened ourselves thereby. How the power of transformation comes from within us and we should not wait too long to begin.
But Noa certainly is wise enough to play to her strengths and make the most of her journey through life. It is the journey that matters most.
How do we make the most of our journey? / How do we hold onto hope in the dark belly of the whale? / How do we see the good before us? / How do we reach out our hands to others and strengthen ourselves thereby? / How do we embrace the wisdom that the power of transformation comes from within us and we should not wait too long to begin?
We are all hikers on the trail called life. We, too, can find ourselves alone in the dark, beset by storms, facing exhaustion, and despairing of hanging in there until the sun again shines.
How we weather those storms depends on our attitude. How we hang onto hope, even in the dark, depends on our ability to see the good despite the bad. How we rise above our exhaustion depends upon our ability to reach out to others and be strengthened thereby.
It is not where we start from, nor where we end up, that is most important. It is not what we are going through, nor how long we have, that is most important. It is the journey itself that matters most.
The quality of that journey, where we find joy and where we derive strength, is up to us. Our lives can be filled with pretty cool adventures. God’s subtle miracles are all around us, if we open our eyes to see them. The ability to transform ourselves, even in the belly of the whale, is within us whenever we choose to start. Let us not wait too long to begin.
It’s the journey to life and of life that matters most.
This is my 16th YK Yizkor Sermon at KS, my 31st as the rabbi of a congregation and including my student pulpits my 34th preaching at services on the High Holidays. I don’t remember my sermons from 25/30 years ago, but I think I’ve always tried to do a sermon to prepare myself and my community for Yizkor tears. While all these sermons were ultimately about life, this year I offer something without the tears of memory.
Rabbi Naomi Levy is one of my truly gifted colleagues. Upon ordination, she became a successful congregational rabbi in California. She married a wonderful guy. They had two beautiful children. She published. Then she received the call from the pediatric specialist. / No one wants to get a call like this. That story is in her third book, Hope Will Call.
The results were in. Her daughter, Noa, had a terminal degenerative disease called, ironically, A-T, which stands for Ataxia-telangiectasia, (the-lan-jick-tay-sha). Most of its victims are wheelchair bound by the age of ten and die before they turn twenty.
Second opinions were ambiguous. At best though, they wouldn’t know if Noa had A-T until she was older.
Rabbi Levy’s whole world narrowed to trying to “fix” her daughter. There were medical and therapy appointments and fighting the insurance company for coverage.
She spent every waking moment focused on her child. She stopped working. She stopped writing. / Can we blame her? Yet she blamed herself. She felt lost. / She stopped praying. Where was God anyway? / The fear, pain and anger bubbled up inside her.
How did she find her way back? / To herself? To God?
It was a long journey that begins with a story: A story about a homeless man named Bo who wanted to study Bible with Rabbi Levy: “One day in late October as I was [waiting for Noa,] sitting in a waiting room, watching my life slip away from me, I flashed a memory of Bo…”
“Bo was a person who told his story: ‘I could have had it all: a home, a wife, kids. I could have been a teacher. But I was running away and chasing after other gods. / I traded it all in for the drink and the needle.’
In a conversation Noami said to Bo, ‘Do you know where Jonah finally found God? Right in the belly of that whale. It’s time for you to find God, Bo.’ Bo got very excited. He said, ‘God’s with me in the belly of the whale.’
“Watching Bo, I so wanted to believe he could turn his life around. I wanted to believe that it’s never too late to change. I thought about the ways we all run from the call of God or the call of our souls. But Bo’s life had spun out too long and too far. Bo began the process of changing his life, but he could never get out of the belly of the whale. He died of AIDS.
“Sitting in that waiting room, I saw myself inside Bo’s whale. I couldn’t figure out how to keep things in perspective. I couldn’t figure out how to get my life back on track again. Fighting for Noa’s health had become my obsession.... Thinking of Bo I whispered to myself, ‘It’s never too late’ is a lie. / Suddenly I saw the danger of putting things off, of dropping out of life the way I had. I understood that if you wait for the right moment to appear, it might never come. I told myself: You’re waiting to be saved from above, but transformation requires effort from below. You keep telling yourself you’ve got plenty of time to get back on track, but time has better things to do than to stick around waiting for you…”
In her story Rabbi Levy’s miracle was also subtle. Her angel? / A bald man, another waiting room parent. One day, he commented to Rabbi Levy that her daughter Noa was something special. These words began to open Rabbi Levy’s eyes to the good before her, in her own daughter. Despite all her pain and weakness, all of her learning challenges, Noa bubbled with enthusiasm, optimism and ideas about how to live her life the maximum within her challenges. She exudes a joi de vivre – a joy in living every moment which is tangible.
One day, as she was cleaning out Noa’s backpack, Rabbi Levy found a spiral notebook filled with entries Noa had written. She couldn’t help but read them.
Rabbi Levy writes: “Where did this come from? That voice…that depth. I slid to the floor of her bedroom and read on. My tears were dripping on her words…barely legible…words full of wisdom and encouragement…Did she know she was talking to me?...”
“I asked Noa for her permission to share them with others…I call them ‘Noa’s Twelve Rules for Living a Rich Life…’
“1. Be Adventurous: You can sit at home and be grumpy and life will mean nothing to you. Or you can go on an adventure through life and try stuff you never thought you would do and life will be exciting for you. You shouldn’t just sit around and do nothing because there should be some pretty cool adventures in life.
“2. Be Kind to Yourself: If you’re mean to yourself, others will be mean to you. So respect yourself. It’s a good thing. People will see your positive outlook and add to your happiness.
“3. Make Mistakes: If you don’t do anything you will never make a mistake. If you don’t make a mistake you will never try anything. So make mistakes; it will be good in the end.
“4. Laugh: When you are in a bad mood and someone makes you laugh, it gives you a jump start on your day. My friend once hurt her head and I said something funny that made her laugh and then that really cheered her up.
“5. Lift Your Own Spirits: If you are sad or down you have to will yourself not to be down anymore. One morning, I was driving in the car to school and I said to myself, ‘I don’t have any talent,’ and I really got sad. Then I thought, ‘I can blow Shofar,’…(and) my sadness went away. So remember you can wish yourself up.
“6. Play to Your Strengths: If you can do something, don’t let it get involved with what you can’t do. I can’t do math so well but I can do reading really well if I try. So I don’t get my good reading mixed up with my bad math. So don’t let your good get mixed up with your bad.
“7. Ask Yourself for Help: If you are having trouble with something, think first before you ask someone for help… Once my mom was having trouble writing a sermon. Before asking anybody for help she thought about it some more and wrote a great sermon. So think before you ask for help. It will be better.
“8. Live Up to Your Dreams: If you have dreams they’re probably not going to happen if you don’t live up to them. None of my dreams are going to happen if I don’t stick with them and believe they’re going to happen. So follow your dreams. What can go wrong? Most everything will come true.
“9. Be a Friend: Nobody is ever perfect, so your friends have to learn to look past your faults…Someone isn’t going to like you because you know everything. They’re going to like you because you truly care…True friends are the people who really care for you when you need them.
“10. Don’t Let Mean People Shake You: If someone is being mean to you, it’s probably because they have there own problems…At my old school there was this girl and she was always mean to me and talked about me behind my back. That mean girl said I was so weak. She said I couldn’t do anything. Now, I wasn’t going to sit there and take her rudeness. I went out there and proved I could do it. You can do anything you want to do. Don’t let some negativity hold you back.
“11. Forgive: If someone hurts your feelings, you will be offended, but it can be fixed…I once had a big fight with my friend at school…We finally made up and became good friends again. You know you can’t change the past, but you can change the future.
“12. Stand Up to Peer Pressure: You know who you are. You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are…[you] don’t have to do what other people tell [you you] should do. Be strong! Be smart! Make good decisions!”
Did Noa know she was also talking to each of us? These 12 rules encapsulate how to make the most of our journey through life. Be Adventurous. Be Kind to Yourself. Make Mistakes. Laugh. Lift Your Own Spirits. Play to Your Strengths. Ask Yourself for Help. Live Up to Your Dreams. Be a Friend. Don’t Let Mean People Shake You. Forgive. Stand Up to Peer Pressure.
Some miracles are so subtle they begin with barely legible words scrawled in a young girl’s spiral notebook.
Noa’s 12 Rules for Living a Rich Life speak to how we can hold onto hope. How we can see the good before us. How we can reach out a hand to another and be strengthened ourselves thereby. How the power of transformation comes from within us and we should not wait too long to begin.
But Noa certainly is wise enough to play to her strengths and make the most of her journey through life. It is the journey that matters most.
How do we make the most of our journey? / How do we hold onto hope in the dark belly of the whale? / How do we see the good before us? / How do we reach out our hands to others and strengthen ourselves thereby? / How do we embrace the wisdom that the power of transformation comes from within us and we should not wait too long to begin?
We are all hikers on the trail called life. We, too, can find ourselves alone in the dark, beset by storms, facing exhaustion, and despairing of hanging in there until the sun again shines.
How we weather those storms depends on our attitude. How we hang onto hope, even in the dark, depends on our ability to see the good despite the bad. How we rise above our exhaustion depends upon our ability to reach out to others and be strengthened thereby.
It is not where we start from, nor where we end up, that is most important. It is not what we are going through, nor how long we have, that is most important. It is the journey itself that matters most.
The quality of that journey, where we find joy and where we derive strength, is up to us. Our lives can be filled with pretty cool adventures. God’s subtle miracles are all around us, if we open our eyes to see them. The ability to transform ourselves, even in the belly of the whale, is within us whenever we choose to start. Let us not wait too long to begin.
It’s the journey to life and of life that matters most.
Kol Nidray Sermon 2011
KOL NIDRAY 5772 (Thanks to Jack Reimer and Mark Greenspan)
Let me tell you the story of a person from whom I learned a lesson this year. Her name is Talya Glazer, and she is a member of the pre-school class of the Jewish Community Center of Harrison, New York.
Harrison is an upper middle class community that is located in Westchester County, not far from White Plains and Scarsdale. Talya is a rabbi’s daughter, and she taught me a very important lesson.
Rabbi Glazer and his wife have a custom that many other parents have as well. Whenever they go for a walk with their daughter, and they pass a fountain, they give Talya a penny, and they tell her to throw the coin into the fountain and make a wish. They did that one day this year, they passed a fountain, and so they gave Talya a penny and they told her to throw it into the fountain and make a wish, say a prayer.
She thought, and she thought, and she prayed, but did not throw the coin into the fountain. A minute went by, two minutes went by, three minutes went by and still she did not throw the penny into the fountain. They could see that she was thinking very hard. And then finally, finally, finally, she threw the coin into the fountain.
Her parents asked Talya: What took you so long? And what did you finally wish for? What did you pray for? And she told them: She said: I was concentrating so long and thinking so hard, because I really, really, really wanted my wish to come true. They asked her: so what was your wish? And she said: I wished that I could see my friend, Eddie.
Eddie was Talya’s best friend. They went to the same Pre-School together in Harrison. But Eddie & his parents recently moved from Harrison to Philadelphia, & Talya missed Eddie very much. And so she held on to that penny for a long time, and then she threw it into the fountain. And the wish was that she could see Eddie again sometime soon.
Now I ask you: What do you do when your child makes a wish like that? Her parents looked at each other, and they both had the same thought at the same time. And so, when they got home, they called Eddie’s parents in Philadelphia, and invited them to come back to Harrison for Tot Shabbat. And they invited them to stay at their home, so that Talya and Eddie could have the play date that they both wanted to have so much.
When I heard that story, I learned from Talya the power of friendship. In contrast, you probably know the story of Mark Zuckerberg who founded Facebook of how he is now one of the richest men in the world, but has lost almost all the friends he had before his amazing business success. But in some ways Talya is richer than he, because he may have invented Facebook and the social network, but he himself had no friends, whereas Talya had only a penny, but she was fortunate enough to have a real friend. And therefore, I think that in some ways she is richer.
At its best that is what Kehilat Shalom has meant. We made friends who supported us in hard times and celebrated with us at simchas. When we needed a friend we had a circle of friends who had been through the ups and downs of life with us. Many of us still have those kinds of connections and for those who do not yet enjoy that core experience I’ll have some suggestions in a few moments.
There is another kind of friendship that is about conversation. We all have friends we trust to listen and shmooze and advice us. We have circles of people we enjoy learning with and from. We have havurot after services or on pick up from schools with whom we share our thoughts and feelings. We are not alone in our common quest for not just social connection, but open and honest conversation.
But there is another level of friendship conversation, which has been damaged, in the past year. One of the things that joins us a human beings in sacred quest for Jewish meaning is a shared vision of the future for our community. It’s friends who share an outlook on life.
That’s what so much of today’s liturgy reflects. From the rituals, to the words of the confession and prayers of forgiveness, it’s not about me, it’s always “WE”. Yom Kippur is a day of AT-ONE-MENT. It is not simply a matter of saying 'I'm sorry' and resolving not to sin anymore. It's a day on which we're challenged to reconnect with God, with family, and with one another. It is a day when we become a community, united by our weaknesses and strengths. In prayer and confession, we become each other's advocates. It is not our own sins for which we seek forgiveness but the sins and failings of those sitting around us. The most common word in the Yom Kippur liturgy is "WE."
But we've lost how to be a community. There was a time, not so long ago, when the emphasis in Jewish life was on peoplehood. Our parents and grandparents may have had doubts about faith and observance but they knew who they were and to what people belong. They didn’t just build houses of worship - they built "community centers" like the "Kehilat Shalom." Then, there was a sense that Jews around the world shared a common destiny, or at least a common enemy. In 80s, a quarter million Jews descended on Washington, DC and half a million in NY for a mass rallies calling on the Soviet Union to allow unrestricted emigration of Jews. I don’t think we could do that today.
The High Holy Days may be the last bastion of communal solidarity. We come here to be with one another on a day of AT-ONE-MENT. There's something powerful that happens when we come together in prayer and celebration during the Yamim Noraim. We see old friends. We reconnect with something larger than ourselves. We feel a sense of warmth and community as we raise our voices in song and prayer together. We speak of shared values and visions.
But community can't exist once or twice a year, or only when it's convenient. You have to sign on and be a constant part of the community for the community to be part of you. Either you're an active member of the community or not, either you're part of the Jewish people or not. There must be give and take.
How do we re-create that shared dream of a thriving, loving community? I spoke on RH of the governance tasks needed to continue to be a caring community. But we also need to meet each other by living Jewishly to reconnect ourselves to our roots and our spirituality and to each other.
CE21 has worked for three years and we’re ready to implement WITH YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT some fun, exciting and holy experiences for all ages
Show cards – didn’t pick up on your way in … fold down on your way out
Sukkah Raising – need help putting up your sukkah… we’ve got a team to help
Shabbat Guests – want to make a friend … break bread together
If you can stomach eating and talking with someone … bond
Invite people to your home to share Shabbat meal… teach how to enjoy at least one meal a week when we slow down, don’t rush, and eat and talk about life
Personalizing our Directory with Pictures – enhance with pictures
Shabbaton/Retreat –
Immersion experience: camp, USY, - live Jewishly – create lasting positive connection
Spend a day living, eating, learning, praying, schmoozing, playing…
Le Dor Vador Shabbat –
For a number of years we’ve celebrated a Grandparents Shabbat
But we have lots of grandparents whose grandchildren are not around or who don’t have grandchildren. Kind of intergenerational programming that is what community is about
Expanded Round the Table
Last year through the RS families did Jewish learning together with text and activities coordinated by the School – opportunity to do and to learn together
Not only for RS students and families- but for all ages and backgrounds to experience and learn together
Bracha University – On Jan 22 with BSO we’re going back to enjoy our old University Model of Learning. Dozen of workshops by age and by family – cognitive, experiential, food, doing… learning about blessings to use our daily lives
Ushers/Greeters: for many years we’ve had a friendly face say hello and help you when you come to Friday Night and Saturday Morning Services. We need more people to help with putting a welcoming face on coming to our community and to empower those who volunteer to know and feel comfortable with what they’re doing
CE21 Taskforce Members Stand. Stop for a minute … fold down … ask a question….
Volunteer Pledge Cards explanation…
So this is my wish for our synagogue: In this coming year may whoever comes in here, wherever they may come from, and for whatever reason they may come here, may they enter as strangers and may they leave as friends. For if we can achieve that, if we can create the kind of synagogue where the stranger is welcomed when he arrives, but where the stranger leaves as a friend, then I believe that this synagogue will grow and prosper, that it will have no financial problems and that it will be in truth a Jewish CENTER, a place where people will come on their spiritual quest, and to meet each other, and it will be a place where God’s Presence will delight to dwell.
And my second wish is for each one of you is this: May you acquire a friend in the only way that anyone ever acquires a friend, which is by being a friend. Because, if you do, I promise you: your joys will be twice as sweet, and your troubles will be half as heavy. I ask you to acquire a friend—by being a friend, because if you do, your life will have meaning, and your days will be blessed. This is my wish for you today.
And if you don’t believe me, then listen to the words of my friend, Talya, who taught me by the way she thought and thought and thought before she threw her penny into the fountain, that friendship counts for so much in life.
I wish you a good year, a year of friendship between you and me, and between each other, and between us and our Parent who is in heaven.
I wish you a good year, a year in which there will come true for us the words that we say on the eve of every new month, but don't need to say on Rosh Hodesh Tishrai because it is already understood:
Haverim kol yisrael. - May all of Israel be friends. And to this, let us all say: Amen.
Let me tell you the story of a person from whom I learned a lesson this year. Her name is Talya Glazer, and she is a member of the pre-school class of the Jewish Community Center of Harrison, New York.
Harrison is an upper middle class community that is located in Westchester County, not far from White Plains and Scarsdale. Talya is a rabbi’s daughter, and she taught me a very important lesson.
Rabbi Glazer and his wife have a custom that many other parents have as well. Whenever they go for a walk with their daughter, and they pass a fountain, they give Talya a penny, and they tell her to throw the coin into the fountain and make a wish. They did that one day this year, they passed a fountain, and so they gave Talya a penny and they told her to throw it into the fountain and make a wish, say a prayer.
She thought, and she thought, and she prayed, but did not throw the coin into the fountain. A minute went by, two minutes went by, three minutes went by and still she did not throw the penny into the fountain. They could see that she was thinking very hard. And then finally, finally, finally, she threw the coin into the fountain.
Her parents asked Talya: What took you so long? And what did you finally wish for? What did you pray for? And she told them: She said: I was concentrating so long and thinking so hard, because I really, really, really wanted my wish to come true. They asked her: so what was your wish? And she said: I wished that I could see my friend, Eddie.
Eddie was Talya’s best friend. They went to the same Pre-School together in Harrison. But Eddie & his parents recently moved from Harrison to Philadelphia, & Talya missed Eddie very much. And so she held on to that penny for a long time, and then she threw it into the fountain. And the wish was that she could see Eddie again sometime soon.
Now I ask you: What do you do when your child makes a wish like that? Her parents looked at each other, and they both had the same thought at the same time. And so, when they got home, they called Eddie’s parents in Philadelphia, and invited them to come back to Harrison for Tot Shabbat. And they invited them to stay at their home, so that Talya and Eddie could have the play date that they both wanted to have so much.
When I heard that story, I learned from Talya the power of friendship. In contrast, you probably know the story of Mark Zuckerberg who founded Facebook of how he is now one of the richest men in the world, but has lost almost all the friends he had before his amazing business success. But in some ways Talya is richer than he, because he may have invented Facebook and the social network, but he himself had no friends, whereas Talya had only a penny, but she was fortunate enough to have a real friend. And therefore, I think that in some ways she is richer.
At its best that is what Kehilat Shalom has meant. We made friends who supported us in hard times and celebrated with us at simchas. When we needed a friend we had a circle of friends who had been through the ups and downs of life with us. Many of us still have those kinds of connections and for those who do not yet enjoy that core experience I’ll have some suggestions in a few moments.
There is another kind of friendship that is about conversation. We all have friends we trust to listen and shmooze and advice us. We have circles of people we enjoy learning with and from. We have havurot after services or on pick up from schools with whom we share our thoughts and feelings. We are not alone in our common quest for not just social connection, but open and honest conversation.
But there is another level of friendship conversation, which has been damaged, in the past year. One of the things that joins us a human beings in sacred quest for Jewish meaning is a shared vision of the future for our community. It’s friends who share an outlook on life.
That’s what so much of today’s liturgy reflects. From the rituals, to the words of the confession and prayers of forgiveness, it’s not about me, it’s always “WE”. Yom Kippur is a day of AT-ONE-MENT. It is not simply a matter of saying 'I'm sorry' and resolving not to sin anymore. It's a day on which we're challenged to reconnect with God, with family, and with one another. It is a day when we become a community, united by our weaknesses and strengths. In prayer and confession, we become each other's advocates. It is not our own sins for which we seek forgiveness but the sins and failings of those sitting around us. The most common word in the Yom Kippur liturgy is "WE."
But we've lost how to be a community. There was a time, not so long ago, when the emphasis in Jewish life was on peoplehood. Our parents and grandparents may have had doubts about faith and observance but they knew who they were and to what people belong. They didn’t just build houses of worship - they built "community centers" like the "Kehilat Shalom." Then, there was a sense that Jews around the world shared a common destiny, or at least a common enemy. In 80s, a quarter million Jews descended on Washington, DC and half a million in NY for a mass rallies calling on the Soviet Union to allow unrestricted emigration of Jews. I don’t think we could do that today.
The High Holy Days may be the last bastion of communal solidarity. We come here to be with one another on a day of AT-ONE-MENT. There's something powerful that happens when we come together in prayer and celebration during the Yamim Noraim. We see old friends. We reconnect with something larger than ourselves. We feel a sense of warmth and community as we raise our voices in song and prayer together. We speak of shared values and visions.
But community can't exist once or twice a year, or only when it's convenient. You have to sign on and be a constant part of the community for the community to be part of you. Either you're an active member of the community or not, either you're part of the Jewish people or not. There must be give and take.
How do we re-create that shared dream of a thriving, loving community? I spoke on RH of the governance tasks needed to continue to be a caring community. But we also need to meet each other by living Jewishly to reconnect ourselves to our roots and our spirituality and to each other.
CE21 has worked for three years and we’re ready to implement WITH YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT some fun, exciting and holy experiences for all ages
Show cards – didn’t pick up on your way in … fold down on your way out
Sukkah Raising – need help putting up your sukkah… we’ve got a team to help
Shabbat Guests – want to make a friend … break bread together
If you can stomach eating and talking with someone … bond
Invite people to your home to share Shabbat meal… teach how to enjoy at least one meal a week when we slow down, don’t rush, and eat and talk about life
Personalizing our Directory with Pictures – enhance with pictures
Shabbaton/Retreat –
Immersion experience: camp, USY, - live Jewishly – create lasting positive connection
Spend a day living, eating, learning, praying, schmoozing, playing…
Le Dor Vador Shabbat –
For a number of years we’ve celebrated a Grandparents Shabbat
But we have lots of grandparents whose grandchildren are not around or who don’t have grandchildren. Kind of intergenerational programming that is what community is about
Expanded Round the Table
Last year through the RS families did Jewish learning together with text and activities coordinated by the School – opportunity to do and to learn together
Not only for RS students and families- but for all ages and backgrounds to experience and learn together
Bracha University – On Jan 22 with BSO we’re going back to enjoy our old University Model of Learning. Dozen of workshops by age and by family – cognitive, experiential, food, doing… learning about blessings to use our daily lives
Ushers/Greeters: for many years we’ve had a friendly face say hello and help you when you come to Friday Night and Saturday Morning Services. We need more people to help with putting a welcoming face on coming to our community and to empower those who volunteer to know and feel comfortable with what they’re doing
CE21 Taskforce Members Stand. Stop for a minute … fold down … ask a question….
Volunteer Pledge Cards explanation…
So this is my wish for our synagogue: In this coming year may whoever comes in here, wherever they may come from, and for whatever reason they may come here, may they enter as strangers and may they leave as friends. For if we can achieve that, if we can create the kind of synagogue where the stranger is welcomed when he arrives, but where the stranger leaves as a friend, then I believe that this synagogue will grow and prosper, that it will have no financial problems and that it will be in truth a Jewish CENTER, a place where people will come on their spiritual quest, and to meet each other, and it will be a place where God’s Presence will delight to dwell.
And my second wish is for each one of you is this: May you acquire a friend in the only way that anyone ever acquires a friend, which is by being a friend. Because, if you do, I promise you: your joys will be twice as sweet, and your troubles will be half as heavy. I ask you to acquire a friend—by being a friend, because if you do, your life will have meaning, and your days will be blessed. This is my wish for you today.
And if you don’t believe me, then listen to the words of my friend, Talya, who taught me by the way she thought and thought and thought before she threw her penny into the fountain, that friendship counts for so much in life.
I wish you a good year, a year of friendship between you and me, and between each other, and between us and our Parent who is in heaven.
I wish you a good year, a year in which there will come true for us the words that we say on the eve of every new month, but don't need to say on Rosh Hodesh Tishrai because it is already understood:
Haverim kol yisrael. - May all of Israel be friends. And to this, let us all say: Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
