Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Starting to recharge even before vacation
It's been scary not being able to read except for work requirements for several months. June has quieted down - to normal busy and I've been able read for myself now for several days. I'm really enjoying Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals." I've always been fascinated by Abraham Lincoln. The story of his political early failures, rise to leadership and ability to work with his former opponents under the incredible stress of the Civil War is truly inspiring. I knew he was one of our greatest Presidents, but reading about his humor, his ability to inspire, to listen to disagreement and see the essence - I wish I had some of these wonderful leadership skills. As I begin my vacation tomorrow I hope finish the book and maybe compose some more comments when I'm done.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Torah Portion: Spies
Painful portion in the Torah reading this week
Israelites on the verge of going to conquer the Land of Israel are filled with self doubt and inferiority – they would rather go back to Egypt that face the challenges of living on their own
The consequence … is the ultimate punishment – they will die and not enter the Land
I would have thought the Golden Calf was a more evil, more fundamental sin
But not understanding how to worship God is different from denying God’s spirit in one’s life
I paraphrase what our Bar Mitzvah said in his speech: you can’t live without hope – if you feel that life is futile, where do you find the strength to find joy in life.
Strangely: The Torah answers this existential question with information about sacrifices, the dough offering, sin offerings, the Shabbat breaker and tzitzit. Huh?
My old answer: these are things to be done when Israel enters the Land. It’s a message of hope – to those hearing it: you may not go in yourself, but your children will and do all these things.
As I was thinking about this strange juxtaposition in the portion … and baseball, … and came up with a different answer
What happens when you mess up? We all make mistakes.
Sometimes the mistake is devastating – a community believes the 10 spies, elects a Hitler … it goes down the road of its own destruction – for at least that generation.
Sometimes you do something wrong and you know it’s wrong – the community knows you can’t gather wood on Shabbat and make a fire and you’re warned and you still do it. Normally you just get cut off from the spirituality of rest – but not in our portion. It’s a capital sentence here. Another example hopefully not fatal: If you (the Bar Mitzvah) practiced a new, difficult gymnastics routine without a spotter – you’d certainly be putting yourself at risk of serious injury. Doing something you know is wrong (smoking, overeating) is just dangerous.
However: Most of the time our mistakes are not intentional – they’re inadvertent.
We’re driving and pick up our cell phone and boom.
Sometimes you’re an umpire in the 9th inning of a perfect game and you’re in position, but somehow you blow the call?
What do you do – when you just weren’t focused on what you’re doing and you blow it?
I think you do what Jim Joyce, the umpire, did Wednesday night. First you own up. If you can’t admit you did wrong – you’ll never be able to avoid the same mistake again. In this case, there’s nothing you can do to make it right, but one kind of forgiveness is possible … from admitting you’re wrong and then doing it right from that moment on.
You also hope (but there’s no guarantee) that if you’ve hurt someone else – when they know you and know you’re sincere that they can say – I could have made that mistake, I’m not happy, but I do understand. I think that’s what Armando Galarraga felt and it was certainly what he said. He was classy and gracious and because of that both the pitcher and the umpire have earned a tremendous amount of respect – not because their athletes, not because they’re great at their jobs, but because the both saw the humanity of the other person. I hope that because of what happened that Gallarraga’s perfect game will be as famous a Don Larsen’s or Harvey Haddix’s 12 inning masterpiece even though he then lost.
I think: That’s why the portion talked about the sin offering. You didn’t intend to mess up, but you did and then you realize later what you did. If it’s on purpose you can’t bring the sacrifice – you can’t do something symbolic to increase your mindfulness. When it is inadvertent you can… it’s a means of saying, I’m going to do better in the future. I’m going to pay attention to my life. Help me to do that God.
I also think that’s what the tzitzit are designed to do. Clothing doesn’t change who we are, but it can remind us of who we are and what we’re doing. Think about what we’re doing. Don’t walk through life thoughtlessly. Be mindful of what you say and do. Concentrate on what you’re doing. Be in the moment. Do what you believe is right – because you study and reflect. Slow down – live. Feel the wonders of life. Make the time to share your life with people you love. Maybe even feel the connection to the life flow of the Universe. It’s how you stand in the Presence of God.
Israelites on the verge of going to conquer the Land of Israel are filled with self doubt and inferiority – they would rather go back to Egypt that face the challenges of living on their own
The consequence … is the ultimate punishment – they will die and not enter the Land
I would have thought the Golden Calf was a more evil, more fundamental sin
But not understanding how to worship God is different from denying God’s spirit in one’s life
I paraphrase what our Bar Mitzvah said in his speech: you can’t live without hope – if you feel that life is futile, where do you find the strength to find joy in life.
Strangely: The Torah answers this existential question with information about sacrifices, the dough offering, sin offerings, the Shabbat breaker and tzitzit. Huh?
My old answer: these are things to be done when Israel enters the Land. It’s a message of hope – to those hearing it: you may not go in yourself, but your children will and do all these things.
As I was thinking about this strange juxtaposition in the portion … and baseball, … and came up with a different answer
What happens when you mess up? We all make mistakes.
Sometimes the mistake is devastating – a community believes the 10 spies, elects a Hitler … it goes down the road of its own destruction – for at least that generation.
Sometimes you do something wrong and you know it’s wrong – the community knows you can’t gather wood on Shabbat and make a fire and you’re warned and you still do it. Normally you just get cut off from the spirituality of rest – but not in our portion. It’s a capital sentence here. Another example hopefully not fatal: If you (the Bar Mitzvah) practiced a new, difficult gymnastics routine without a spotter – you’d certainly be putting yourself at risk of serious injury. Doing something you know is wrong (smoking, overeating) is just dangerous.
However: Most of the time our mistakes are not intentional – they’re inadvertent.
We’re driving and pick up our cell phone and boom.
Sometimes you’re an umpire in the 9th inning of a perfect game and you’re in position, but somehow you blow the call?
What do you do – when you just weren’t focused on what you’re doing and you blow it?
I think you do what Jim Joyce, the umpire, did Wednesday night. First you own up. If you can’t admit you did wrong – you’ll never be able to avoid the same mistake again. In this case, there’s nothing you can do to make it right, but one kind of forgiveness is possible … from admitting you’re wrong and then doing it right from that moment on.
You also hope (but there’s no guarantee) that if you’ve hurt someone else – when they know you and know you’re sincere that they can say – I could have made that mistake, I’m not happy, but I do understand. I think that’s what Armando Galarraga felt and it was certainly what he said. He was classy and gracious and because of that both the pitcher and the umpire have earned a tremendous amount of respect – not because their athletes, not because they’re great at their jobs, but because the both saw the humanity of the other person. I hope that because of what happened that Gallarraga’s perfect game will be as famous a Don Larsen’s or Harvey Haddix’s 12 inning masterpiece even though he then lost.
I think: That’s why the portion talked about the sin offering. You didn’t intend to mess up, but you did and then you realize later what you did. If it’s on purpose you can’t bring the sacrifice – you can’t do something symbolic to increase your mindfulness. When it is inadvertent you can… it’s a means of saying, I’m going to do better in the future. I’m going to pay attention to my life. Help me to do that God.
I also think that’s what the tzitzit are designed to do. Clothing doesn’t change who we are, but it can remind us of who we are and what we’re doing. Think about what we’re doing. Don’t walk through life thoughtlessly. Be mindful of what you say and do. Concentrate on what you’re doing. Be in the moment. Do what you believe is right – because you study and reflect. Slow down – live. Feel the wonders of life. Make the time to share your life with people you love. Maybe even feel the connection to the life flow of the Universe. It’s how you stand in the Presence of God.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Last week of April in review
Highlights of the Week
Last Sunday there was a wonderful meeting of the area Conservative synagogue in Baltimore to honor Young Leaders. Kehilat Shalom honored Karen Klemow who has run our Wine Tasting Program for several years and has chaired our CE21 Educational Experiment for the past 2 years. It was wonderful to thank her for all her intelligence, talent to engage others, and hard work. The centerpiece of the evening was a panel discussion about the future of prayer/worship in synagogue communities. The questions were, of course, better than the answers. How do we make worship exciting, engaging, accessible and inspiring? What works for one person doesn't work for the next. The one service 'fits all model' is dysfunctional for too many in the community. I'm sure I'll write another time on my ideas and some directions we'll be taking short-term and long-term.
Monday I took my first day-off in weeks.
Tuesday I introduced an interesting project to the Upper School (8-12 Grades). There is a legal case on-going in Georgia between the State and the American Civil Liberties Union about the Kosher law in Georgia. The law requires food sold as kosher to meet "Orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements." One of my Conservative colleagues who does kosher supervision would be breaking the law in his work since he's not Orthodox. Many state have laws to guard against fraudulent kosher stores. Yet, in general, we believe in separation of Church and State that the government should not get involved in matters of religion. Should the government in the public interest impose one religious standard on everyone? The students are taking the opposite sides of the case and will debate next week in front of a lawyer - cool!
Both Wednesday and Thursday, not the highlight but, the focus of the day was counseling people experiencing illness in their families. There are no black and white answers on dealing will infirmity and the challenges of care-giving. Several things stand out in both conversations. 1) Make sure that your house is in order: financially, physically, spiritually - because no one knows for sure what tomorrow may bring. 2) Medicine is a "artsy" science - our bodies are so complex, each of us is different - that absolute diagnoses and prognoses are not possible. Reading good information, asking the right questions, listening carefully, and then making the best decision possible with our loved ones is sometimes all we can do. 3) There is a spiritual side to sickness beside the spiritual. We know this but sometimes forget. Sometimes there is no cure. But with support, kindness, communication, meditation and love - there can always be spiritual healing. We can be sick, but we can be surrounded by the love of friends and family ... and God
Thursday Night: the CE21 Task-force met. We starting looking at the trends of our congregational conversations. Seven conversations with nearly 70 people were held in February and March. We're not done looking at the data - but there are already some interesting insights about where our community is, what & where they want to do, and from there we should be able to do some creative, experiential activities to meet the needs and dreams of our community.
Today: I've been getting ready for honoring our Educational Directors. We're celebrating Amy & Mindy with the participation of students in the service, the presentation of gifts from the classes, and a thank you from the School Board. It promises to be a lovely service and evening.
Shabbat Shalom.
Last Sunday there was a wonderful meeting of the area Conservative synagogue in Baltimore to honor Young Leaders. Kehilat Shalom honored Karen Klemow who has run our Wine Tasting Program for several years and has chaired our CE21 Educational Experiment for the past 2 years. It was wonderful to thank her for all her intelligence, talent to engage others, and hard work. The centerpiece of the evening was a panel discussion about the future of prayer/worship in synagogue communities. The questions were, of course, better than the answers. How do we make worship exciting, engaging, accessible and inspiring? What works for one person doesn't work for the next. The one service 'fits all model' is dysfunctional for too many in the community. I'm sure I'll write another time on my ideas and some directions we'll be taking short-term and long-term.
Monday I took my first day-off in weeks.
Tuesday I introduced an interesting project to the Upper School (8-12 Grades). There is a legal case on-going in Georgia between the State and the American Civil Liberties Union about the Kosher law in Georgia. The law requires food sold as kosher to meet "Orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements." One of my Conservative colleagues who does kosher supervision would be breaking the law in his work since he's not Orthodox. Many state have laws to guard against fraudulent kosher stores. Yet, in general, we believe in separation of Church and State that the government should not get involved in matters of religion. Should the government in the public interest impose one religious standard on everyone? The students are taking the opposite sides of the case and will debate next week in front of a lawyer - cool!
Both Wednesday and Thursday, not the highlight but, the focus of the day was counseling people experiencing illness in their families. There are no black and white answers on dealing will infirmity and the challenges of care-giving. Several things stand out in both conversations. 1) Make sure that your house is in order: financially, physically, spiritually - because no one knows for sure what tomorrow may bring. 2) Medicine is a "artsy" science - our bodies are so complex, each of us is different - that absolute diagnoses and prognoses are not possible. Reading good information, asking the right questions, listening carefully, and then making the best decision possible with our loved ones is sometimes all we can do. 3) There is a spiritual side to sickness beside the spiritual. We know this but sometimes forget. Sometimes there is no cure. But with support, kindness, communication, meditation and love - there can always be spiritual healing. We can be sick, but we can be surrounded by the love of friends and family ... and God
Thursday Night: the CE21 Task-force met. We starting looking at the trends of our congregational conversations. Seven conversations with nearly 70 people were held in February and March. We're not done looking at the data - but there are already some interesting insights about where our community is, what & where they want to do, and from there we should be able to do some creative, experiential activities to meet the needs and dreams of our community.
Today: I've been getting ready for honoring our Educational Directors. We're celebrating Amy & Mindy with the participation of students in the service, the presentation of gifts from the classes, and a thank you from the School Board. It promises to be a lovely service and evening.
Shabbat Shalom.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Funeral for an infant
The focus of last week for me was going to Boston to officiate at the burial of a one-day old. Born on Friday to a lovely couple I had married in 2005 (the bride was in our Confirmation Class in 1997), the baby boy died suddenly Saturday.
When I was called on Sunday, I was filled with sadness for them. A century ago infant mortality was still relatively so common, that Jewish law indicating that we just bury, but don't mourn, made sense. Today, in the liberal Jewish world, pregnancies are few and any loss before birth or shortly after birth is a traumatic experience. I feel lucky that my son is healthy and grown - but I could certainly empathize with feeling life, seeing new life, and experiencing new life for 24 hours and then losing that child ... what an excruciating anguish.
It also brought back memories of my middle sister losing triplets who could not be brought to full term 22 years ago. In those days there was no liturgy, no format to ritualize one's grief. I feel lucky today, especially due to my female colleagues, that there are rituals and prayers and poetry to assist with mourning the loss of an infant.
As I preached yesterday I found only small measure of comfort in the rituals and prayers.
I found incredible holiness in the words and actions of the couple. They supported each other, they communicated their sadness to each other - the souls intertwined to cope with the moment and share the loss together. I also felt God's presence in the support of family and friends. They were grieving too, but they surrounded the couple with God's unconditional love. And last, I was amazed, moved and inspired by the OBGYN and nurses from the hospital who attended the burial to support the couple and to also find healing for themselves.
It wasn't easy. It was only the beginning of recovery. But it was an honor to facilitate a moment of healing and a small, holy connection in death back to life.
When I was called on Sunday, I was filled with sadness for them. A century ago infant mortality was still relatively so common, that Jewish law indicating that we just bury, but don't mourn, made sense. Today, in the liberal Jewish world, pregnancies are few and any loss before birth or shortly after birth is a traumatic experience. I feel lucky that my son is healthy and grown - but I could certainly empathize with feeling life, seeing new life, and experiencing new life for 24 hours and then losing that child ... what an excruciating anguish.
It also brought back memories of my middle sister losing triplets who could not be brought to full term 22 years ago. In those days there was no liturgy, no format to ritualize one's grief. I feel lucky today, especially due to my female colleagues, that there are rituals and prayers and poetry to assist with mourning the loss of an infant.
As I preached yesterday I found only small measure of comfort in the rituals and prayers.
I found incredible holiness in the words and actions of the couple. They supported each other, they communicated their sadness to each other - the souls intertwined to cope with the moment and share the loss together. I also felt God's presence in the support of family and friends. They were grieving too, but they surrounded the couple with God's unconditional love. And last, I was amazed, moved and inspired by the OBGYN and nurses from the hospital who attended the burial to support the couple and to also find healing for themselves.
It wasn't easy. It was only the beginning of recovery. But it was an honor to facilitate a moment of healing and a small, holy connection in death back to life.
Friday, April 16, 2010
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
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
Thursday, March 25, 2010
NEW TORAH STORY AND VIDEO IN THE GAZETTE
You can read the whole story and see the video at:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/03242010/gaitnew192508_32549.php
Story:
Elisa Linowes picked up a turkey quill to write on holy scrolls her synagogue will use for generations.
"It's neat that it will be here for many years," the Germantown resident said. "Who knows? Maybe if our kids get married and they have children and they stay in the community and continue educating their children in our synagogue, they will have the opportunity to read from a Torah that we've actually helped [to write]."
Linowes, her husband, Richard, and her four children worship at Kehilat Shalom Synagogue on Apple Ridge Road in Montgomery Village. The synagogue's leaders started The Torah Project to raise funds and help build community while fulfilling a holy commandment. The Torah, or Jewish sacred text, includes 613 mitzvah, or commandments, one of which calls on Jews to write a Torah during their lifetime.
"Torah is the wellspring of Jewish life," Rabbi Mark Raphael said. "On some levels, we believe that it is God's words to us. And we search it and we interpret it for insights to how to live a good life."
In October, Kehilat Shalom commissioned a scribe, or sofer, in Israel to write a new Torah for the synagogue, an effort that costs between $40,000 and $50,000, said Carrie Ettinger, a congregant helping to manage The Torah Project. The Torah is written with more than 304,000 letters and the scribe left open almost 2,000 letters for congregants and their extended families to fill in.
Officials are still taking pledges, with plans to cover costs of the Torah and raise additional funds for Torah repairs and educational programs, Judith Kranz, executive director of the synagogue, said. Families or individuals can sponsor a word, a letter, a line or a verse. Donations range from $18 for a word to as much as $1,000 for a passage, or parcha.
The full Torah includes 62 panels and will not arrive in Montgomery Village until September, Kranz said. Congregants are now helping to complete two panels, the first and the last of the sacred scrolls.
This Torah is the fourth Raphael will dedicate in his life, and it is unique, he said. The previous three were refurbished; this is the first Torah the 57-year-old will write in.
The year-long project will be completed at a Sept. 26 dedication ceremony during the holiday of Sukkot, and officials hope that all 267 families who worship at the synagogue will write in the Torah, Ettinger said. So far about 75 families have participated, Kranz said.
Rabbi Menachem Youlus is leading monthly educational programs on the Torah, which is written on special parchment, Ettinger said. Writers use a turkey feather quill, special ink and special fonts.
"They don't use anything with metal because metal is used to create weapons," she said.
The new Torah is expected to last several hundred years, Linowes said.
"We have spent our life raising our children and doing Shabbat and doing these rituals, so now here is something that we are doing together as a family in public to create for the community," Linowes said. "This is something that is in front of the community, but it's also for the community. It's not a self-focused thing. It's outward."
Her son, Jeremy, 14, who made his bar mitzvah at the synagogue, daughter Dahlia, 9, and son Nathan, 8, joined her and Richard on March 14 to write in the Torah. Daughter Selia, 16, was out of town.
To participate, contact Kehilat Shalom Synagogue at 9915 Apple Ridge Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20886 or 301-869-7699. Educational programs are set for Sunday, April 11 and Sunday, May 16.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/03242010/gaitnew192508_32549.php
Story:
Elisa Linowes picked up a turkey quill to write on holy scrolls her synagogue will use for generations.
"It's neat that it will be here for many years," the Germantown resident said. "Who knows? Maybe if our kids get married and they have children and they stay in the community and continue educating their children in our synagogue, they will have the opportunity to read from a Torah that we've actually helped [to write]."
Linowes, her husband, Richard, and her four children worship at Kehilat Shalom Synagogue on Apple Ridge Road in Montgomery Village. The synagogue's leaders started The Torah Project to raise funds and help build community while fulfilling a holy commandment. The Torah, or Jewish sacred text, includes 613 mitzvah, or commandments, one of which calls on Jews to write a Torah during their lifetime.
"Torah is the wellspring of Jewish life," Rabbi Mark Raphael said. "On some levels, we believe that it is God's words to us. And we search it and we interpret it for insights to how to live a good life."
In October, Kehilat Shalom commissioned a scribe, or sofer, in Israel to write a new Torah for the synagogue, an effort that costs between $40,000 and $50,000, said Carrie Ettinger, a congregant helping to manage The Torah Project. The Torah is written with more than 304,000 letters and the scribe left open almost 2,000 letters for congregants and their extended families to fill in.
Officials are still taking pledges, with plans to cover costs of the Torah and raise additional funds for Torah repairs and educational programs, Judith Kranz, executive director of the synagogue, said. Families or individuals can sponsor a word, a letter, a line or a verse. Donations range from $18 for a word to as much as $1,000 for a passage, or parcha.
The full Torah includes 62 panels and will not arrive in Montgomery Village until September, Kranz said. Congregants are now helping to complete two panels, the first and the last of the sacred scrolls.
This Torah is the fourth Raphael will dedicate in his life, and it is unique, he said. The previous three were refurbished; this is the first Torah the 57-year-old will write in.
The year-long project will be completed at a Sept. 26 dedication ceremony during the holiday of Sukkot, and officials hope that all 267 families who worship at the synagogue will write in the Torah, Ettinger said. So far about 75 families have participated, Kranz said.
Rabbi Menachem Youlus is leading monthly educational programs on the Torah, which is written on special parchment, Ettinger said. Writers use a turkey feather quill, special ink and special fonts.
"They don't use anything with metal because metal is used to create weapons," she said.
The new Torah is expected to last several hundred years, Linowes said.
"We have spent our life raising our children and doing Shabbat and doing these rituals, so now here is something that we are doing together as a family in public to create for the community," Linowes said. "This is something that is in front of the community, but it's also for the community. It's not a self-focused thing. It's outward."
Her son, Jeremy, 14, who made his bar mitzvah at the synagogue, daughter Dahlia, 9, and son Nathan, 8, joined her and Richard on March 14 to write in the Torah. Daughter Selia, 16, was out of town.
To participate, contact Kehilat Shalom Synagogue at 9915 Apple Ridge Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20886 or 301-869-7699. Educational programs are set for Sunday, April 11 and Sunday, May 16.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Videos
I haven't posted much recently but hope to get back into the routine of writing regularly. I have posted a handful of videos on You Tube over the past months. I hope to post more soon.
Included are:
Blessings before the Haftarah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7rVxpG9V_U
Doing an Aliyah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdnd15trhvk
A piece about Writing in the Torah for Mitzvah 613 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEWk7oTO7Y
How to Do Hagba http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gxFqMOhFqo
Included are:
Blessings before the Haftarah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7rVxpG9V_U
Doing an Aliyah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdnd15trhvk
A piece about Writing in the Torah for Mitzvah 613 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEWk7oTO7Y
How to Do Hagba http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gxFqMOhFqo
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