Category: Announcements

Shabbat shalom!  “Hear oh Israel, The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”  Sound familiar?  Called the watchword of our faith the Shema reminds us to pay attention to how we live our lives and of our connection to God and Israel (both the land and people). The paragraph which follows called the v’ahavta shows us how to make those connections: “You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might.”  The shema and v’ahavta were part of last weeks Torah portion Vaetchanan.  The v’ahavta is a collection of verses from two sections of Deuteronomy. In our Reform service we recite an abridged version, “…inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and your gates.” The full version which we recite during the Conservative service includes a section from this weeks Torah portion, Eikev.  We will read “therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, and teach them to your children – reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and your gates.”  This section is both familiar and new to those who chant the Reform version of v’ahavta. What does it mean to “bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead”?  These words led to the wearing of tefillin during morning prayer as a visible sign and connection to the text and our mindfulness of our relationship to God. For Reform Jews the wearing of teffilin is not usually customary. Without a daily minyan in the Conservative tradition at TBA tefillin is not something seen often in our building. The text goes on to mention mezuzah and in the section from Numbers we get the tradition of tzitzit which leads to Tallis. Without some of these visible signs I guess the question is what are the things either around us or that we add to our lives spiritually that serve as these visible reminders of our relationship to God and our community?  Join me tonight during services at 7:30pm to discuss this question.

Thanks,

Margot

Having just commemorated Tisha b’Av, the day which marks the destruction of the 1^st and 2^nd Temples in Jerusalem, we enter into the seven weeks of consolation leading up to Rosh Hashanah.  Each Shabbat morning, beginning tomorrow, we will read a section from the book of Isaiah, written some 2500 years ago to console the Jewish exiles in Babylonia.  Isaiah promises the people that if they repent and follow the rules, God will forgive them and return them to the land of Israel.  Each year I am both comforted and troubled by these haftarah readings.  Isaiah seems to be “blaming the victims” for their situation, and putting its resolution squarely in their own hands.  It’s nice to feel empowered and in control, and to be assured that if we will just behave better everything will be alright.  But experience teaches us that life is not that simple.  So how are we to learn from this ancient text, and what message does Isaiah send to us across the centuries?

The key is in knowing the audience.  Today, we generally understand religious messages as aimed toward us as individuals.  We hear a sermon and think about what it means to our personal behavior.  Indeed, that is the focus of our High Holyday experience.  But it’s important to note that Isaiah was not speaking to the Jews as individuals; he was addressing the collective Jewish People.  From his perspective God didn’t exile the Jews from Israel because of individual sins; it happened because as so much of the society was sinning that the entire group was punished.  When enough people are doing wrong, the good suffer along with the sinners.

That’s the message to take from Isaiah.  While we need to start any type of repentance by looking at our personal behavior, that’s not enough.  If our society is doing things that are wrong, we will be caught up in the consequences, even if we are personally righteous.  Isaiah calls to each of us to lend our voices and our actions to moving society in the right direction.  Bystanding is a sin.  So, as you begin your personal accounting leading toward Yom Kippur, consider how you will be a more active part of making your community what you want it to be.

Shabbat shalom!

I’ve gotten a quizzical look from many of you as you passed me by in the TBA building the past few weeks. “It’s summer, aren’t you off?” you say, brimming with excitement for me. I truly love your enthusiasm for my vacation. But in reality, summer is not actually one big time off. True, the kids are not here in classrooms on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays so I am not technically “running” the school. However, all those things we do in the school on Sundays,  Mondays, and Wednesdays require an awful lot of planning.

I have been meeting with every teacher to talk about the past year and figure out ways to improve what we do for the upcoming school year. There are many new projects and programs we are working on and I hope you will be as excited as I am about the ways in which we are seeking innovation in Jewish education.

So in the meantime, I hope you are all enjoying your summers so far — if you’re in the building, please do feel free to stop by my office and say “Hi”. I’m here!

Pamela Barkley

Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Irvington, White Plains. Philadelphia, Valley Forge, Yorktown. All place names that say something to us. And so begins part of our torah reading this Shabbat.  As parashat Mas’ei opens, Moses recites the names of forty two locations at which the Israelites stopped during their forty years of wandering in the dessert leading from Egypt to the edge of the Promised Land. As with the list of names above, it was not necessary to say anything more than the name of the place. That was enough to stir the memories of the Israelites who heard this list. The names of our local towns mean something to our congregants who live there. The names of places important to our shared American history also have meaning for us especially at this season when we celebrate Independence Day.  The Declaration in Philadelphia led to a hard winter at Valley Forge followed by eventual victory announced at Yorktown. But just reading the place names is enough to tell the story. Similarly, when your family next gathers around the dinner table, mention some place names that they will all recognize. They might be the names of a place where you all spent a vacation. “Remember_________?” – you can fill in the blank. Suddenly, everyone will have a story to tell or a memory to share. These are things that make us a community whether it be a family unit, the TBA family, or the Jewish or American people. Since this weekend really starts the summer and vacation time, I hope that you will all have the chance to take a break from your routines, travel to a different location for a change of scenery (even if it’s close by), and create some new memories. Travel safely and bring back your new perspectives so we all can share them together.

Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbat Shalom!   It is hard to believe that the choir and I are already preparing for the High Holydays but it is even harder to believe that this High Holyday season will be  my 20^th at TBA (b’ezrat haShem, with the help of God).  As I look through my notes from past High Holydays and prepare for the next it is amazing to see that, while many things have changed, so much has stayed the same.  TBA continues to be a welcoming community with a pluralistic view that welcomes everyone with open arms.  I felt that embrace when I started at TBA and have felt it through meeting and marrying Barry, bringing Tamir into our family, and the ups and downs that will naturally occur when you are in a relationship for so long.

But I have to admit that your outpouring of love and kindness at the “Bash” in my honor this past April was an overwhelming blessing and I want to Thank You again!  The “Bash” was wonderful and I am still floating on air.  The party itself was amazing and I want to thank Jen Schwartz and her Committee for all of their hard work.  The purple paper flowers from the centerpieces are in my office and serve as a constant reminder of your tribute.  I reread some part of the journal and the scrap book daily and am overwhelmed by your kind words.  Every time I hear Anna Nalick’s “Breathe” or Adele’s “Rollin’ in the Deep” on the radio I am transported to the Ballroom at Elmwood Country Club and how much fun it was to sing with Scott Freiman’s band.  Thank you so much for letting me sit in. Thank you to Leslie Kahan for lending her talents and taking beautiful pictures that will continue to help me remember that glorious night for many years to come.  I would like to take this opportunity to share those photos with you all.  To view the pictures from the Bash either one at a time or in slideshow form click here  http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/4FfEckJi/1/6036488.  As you view the pictures feel free to download any of them that you would like to save to your computer and then either print them on your own or send them to your favorite picture printing website or retail store.  Thank you again for making me feel so loved.

L’shalom,

Cantor Margot

Tonight we are continuing a practice that we began two summers ago: holding a Shabbat evening service led entirely by congregants.  Sharon DeLevie is coordinating the 6:00pm service, which will include readings and music chosen and led by TBA members.  (We will also hold our regular 7:30pm service).  It promises to be a very special experience.  Many congregations use all or part of the summer to allow congregants to express their spirituality and love of Judaism by leading Shabbat services.  This practice also allows all of you to have a different experience of worship, and perhaps to discover new meanings.  Sometimes just having a different voice read a prayer you have heard a hundred times changes your understanding of the words.  So, while I don’t want to be the only one here at 7:30pm, I hope that as many of you as possible will come at 6:00pm to welcome Shabbat with our dedicated and talented lay-leaders.

Summer is here!

I know you wouldn’t know it from all of the rainy days we have had, but in fact in just seven day it will  officially be summertime! I hope you will all use this time to take a break from your normal routines. Eat ice cream. Go for long walks. Blow bubbles.  Watch the sun set. Sit outside with a good book.  Go swimming. Whatever it is that you enjoy, take the time to do it.  When we were all young, summer seemed to last forever, didn’t it? Well, we now know that it doesn’t  – in fact it seems to fly by. So I hope you will take advantage of every precious moment.

Wishing you all a summertime filled with long, glorious days!

Pamela Joy Barkley

A train ride into New York City afforded me the opportunity to read some Torah commentaries on this week’s parasha. And interestingly, both Reform and Conservative commentators picked up on the same point. This Shabbat we read the story of Korach and his revolt against the leadership of Moses and Aaron.  As a Levite, a member of the tribe of Levi, and like Moses and Aaron in that way, Korach was galled by the fact that Moses was in charge. He didn’t understand why Moses and Aaron should have all of the power and control. After all, we were told at various points in the Torah and contemporaneously through the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land that “The whole congregation, all of them are holy.” By this reasoning, shouldn’t anyone be able to be the leader of the Israelites? And here is where the commentators agree. As in so many instances in the Torah, a very close and careful reading provides the answer. Dr. Benjamin Sommer observes, “These verses never simply tell us, as Korach does, that all Israelites are inherently holy. Rather they command Israelites to become holy by observing the mitzvot that the Torah commands” (emphasis added). Just before giving the 10 Commandments, God says (Exodus 19:5-6), “So now, if you all truly obey Me and adhere to My covenant, you will be My personal treasure from among all nations.” Korach has overlooked the word “if” and that changes the picture entirely. His presentation suggests that we inherit holiness where the text makes it conditional. We are commanded to perform mitzvot in order to attain holiness. Each of us has a stake in creating our own claim to holiness. And part of what is required of us involves watching our speech. From the earliest moments of each morning service we are reminded of this. We proclaim, “Baruch she-amar v’ hayah haolam”. Blessed is the one who spoke (emphasis added) and the world came to be. God was able to create the world with just his words. So we all need to be mindful of the power of language. Leaving off, or including, one word at times can make all the difference.

Shabbat Shalom!

As our nation prepares to commemorate Memorial Day, I share with you the words of Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn, and suggest that you might want to read them at the beginning of whatever gathering you attend this weekend.   Rabbi Gittelsohn was the first Jewish Marine Corps Chaplain and he went ashore with the marines when they landed on Iwo Jima.  Of the 70,000 troops, 1,500 were Jewish.  After the five-week battle was won, Division Chaplain Warren Cuthriell, a Protestant minister, asked Rabbi Gittelsohn to deliver the memorial sermon at a combined religious service dedicating the Marine Cemetery. Cuthriell wanted all the fallen Marines – black and white, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish – honored in a single, nondenominational ceremony. Unfortunately, racial and religious prejudice was strong in the Marine Corps; the majority of Christian chaplains objected to having a rabbi preach over predominantly Christian graves.  Cuthriell refused to alter his plans.  Gittelsohn wanted to save his friend embarrassment. So, three separate religious services were held.  At the Jewish service, Rabbi Gittelsohn delivered the eulogy he originally wrote for the combined service:

 Here lie men who loved America because their ancestors generations ago helped in her founding, and other men who loved her with equal passion because they themselves or their own fathers escaped from oppression to her blessed shores. Here lie officers and men, Negroes and whites, rich men and poor . . . together. Here are Protestants, Catholics and Jews together. Here no man prefers another because of his faith or despises him because of his color. Here there are no quotas of how many from each group are admitted or allowed. Among these men, there is no discrimination. No prejudices. No hatred. Theirs is the highest and purest democracy …Whosoever of us lifts his hand in hate against a brother, or who thinks himself superior to those who happen to be in the minority, makes of this ceremony and the bloody sacrifice it commemorates, an empty, hollow mockery.

 To this, then, as our solemn duty, sacred duty do we the living now dedicate ourselves: to the right of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, of white men and Negroes alike, to enjoy the democracy for which all of them have here paid the price …We here solemnly swear that this shall not be in vain. Out of this and from the suffering and sorrow of those who mourn this will come, we promise, the birth of a new freedom for the sons of men everywhere.

Among Gittelsohn’s listeners were three Protestant chaplains who were so incensed by the prejudice voiced by their colleagues that they boycotted their own service to attend Gittelsohn’s.  One of them borrowed the manuscript and circulated several thousand copies to his regiment.  Some Marines enclosed the copies in letters to their families. An avalanche of coverage resulted. Time magazine published excerpts, the entire sermon was inserted into the Congressional Record, and the Army released the eulogy for short-wave broadcast to American troops throughout the world.

Rabbi Gittelsohn’s powerful eulogy reminds us of the real reason we have a Memorial Day Weekend.

Shabbat Shalom!