Category: Announcements

What was the best thing that happened to you this past week? What was the worst?

One of the things my family likes to do on Shabbat is a game we call “high/low”. After we light the candles, we each say what our “high” moment was during the week and what our “lowest” moment was. It is often fascinating to hear what my children say. There are so many times when something I didn’t even know mattered to them, pops up as a high or a low.

Looking at this past week, I personally can name many highs – visiting my kids and the TBA kids at Camp Eisner, getting good news about a friend’s medical condition and finally being able to turn around on pointe in my ballet class. And of course I can name many lows as well. But this week, I find myself thinking more about the communal highs and lows then the personal ones. We had the absolute tragedy of the shooting at the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin. The word “low” doesn’t even come close to accurately portraying the frustration and sadness around us.

And then, there were also communal highs — Like our girl Aly Raisman winning an Olympics individual Gold Medal on the floor exercise. You notice I said “our” girl. That’s because Aly is a member of our tribe. Yes this young girl is a member of the 2012 USA Gymnastics team, but she is also a member of our team simply because she is Jewish. Her success, as seen on the cover of the NY Post on Wednesday, proudly advertised her as a “Star of David”.  I don’t even read the Post, but I had to buy this one. Her incredible success – to Havah Nagilah floor music no less – was a fantastic communal moment.

I hope you will take a moment this Shabbat to ask your family, or even just yourself, what was your high? What was you low? Were there communal highs and lows too?  And here’s to hoping the week ahead is filled with lots of joy!

Shabbat Shalom!  This week’s Torah portion, Va-et’chanan, includes a repetition of the 10 commandments.  The first time we hear the 10 commandments, we are encamped at the base of Mount Sinai, a free people for the first time. Tired, hungry, thirsty and scared we hear God’s voice say:

1. I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
2. You shall have no other gods beside Me.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother,
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

We move from our relationship with God, to our relationship with ourselves, to our relationship with the world.

This week, our Torah portion finds us encamped on the shore of the Jordan preparing to finally enter the land.  Unlike the generation that stood at Sinai, this generation is young, excited and can’t wait to conquer the Promised Land and fulfill God’s promise.  Here the 10 commandments come from Moses, who recites them verbatim, except for the fourth commandment which now becomes Guard the Sabbath, to keep it holy.

What does it mean to remember?  To remember seems to be in the past.  Is God suggesting that they don’t have to keep the Sabbath now that they are free but they have to remember what it was like?  Is God suggesting that now more than ever, as they wander through the desert, that if they are not careful it will be difficult to remember to observe Shabbat at all?

What does it mean to guard?  Who are we guarding it from?  Who are we guarding it for?

What is the difference between remember and guard?

To remember/guard the Sabbath is the commandment that moves us from our relationship with God to our relationship with ourselves.  What are you going to do this Shabbat to remember or guard the Sabbath?

Join us for Shabbat services at 7:00pm as we remember and guard as a community this most holy day of the week!

Music fills me up inside to overflowing.  I love the sounds.  I love the words.

If I like the music enough, sometimes the lyrics don’t have to matter but I do appreciate when they make me think.  Lyrics can give us a voice when we might not have our own and connect us to something bigger than ourselves.

Music has always been an important part of my life.  I used to sit in my room for hours, listening to albums over and over again.  I would read the lyrics inside the album covers or on the record sleeves.  (I have to give a shout out to the album art.  I spent as much time copying it into my sketch pad as I did listening to the songs.)

My friends and I would write down our favorite lyrics on notebook paper and at school the next day, during class, we would pass our folded notes to one another.  More connections.

44.

That’s how many days there are between this moment and the opening day of Sunday school in the fall. (We begin September 9^th for those of you who would like to double-check my math!).  I suppose I could now continue with all the usual reminders like, “If you haven’t registered your kids for school, do so asap” (which of course you should) or “Don’t forget to have your kids look at some Hebrew this summer!” (which of course they should).

But actually, I am looking at the 44 days in a different way. I see it as a midpoint.

There are approximately as many days of summer behind us as there are ahead of us. So I invite you all to take a moment, as I have done, to ask yourselves “What was it I said I was going to do this summer?” Was this the summer you were going to organize that pesky linen closet? Start exercising? Finally get to the dentist? Learn to play tennis? Clean out the garage? Read? What was it that you set as your goals for the summer of 2012?

As someone who works 6 days a week the rest of the year, I can tell you for certain that this summer, like all the others, came with a long list of things I wanted to accomplish: Read the stack of books that have accumulated on my nightstand; overhaul my ridiculously messy office; Go for my checkups at the doctor and dentist; learn to play the guitar sitting in my attic; Sew the pile of clothes that have tears and missing buttons. The list goes on. And so being at the midway point does make me a little nervous because summer is flying by and although I have (check!) read most of the books and (check!) sewed all the clothing, I am still only halfway through the office overhaul, nowhere with my guitar, and haven’t even made appointments with the doctor or dentist.  So I now realize that I have 44 days to get my act in gear. It feels like a lot of days but we all know that labor day will be here in a moment.

I hope all of you have been able to check off some of the items on your summertime checklist. And if you haven’t, then use this as your reminder to get started.

We’re halfway there. 44 days to go. Make each one count!

Nope, it’s a sanctuary. But it sure has that Sukkah feel with the wires hanging down from the ceiling, doesn’t it? A lot of progress was made this week, but it’s not easy to tell cosmetically because it’s at the not-very-pretty stage of infrastructure fixing/building/improving. But, very soon all those wires will be in the ceiling where they belong (meaning we’ll have a ceiling soon!)

Nestled in the Berkshires at Camp Eisner, our teen, Benjy, learned tons: archery and martial arts, tennis, photography, guitar, and pottery.  He has lived with friends, biking, hiking, swimming, dining, camping out, immersed in Jewish communal spirit 24/7.   For inspiring sights and sounds, check out http://eisner.urjcamps.org/video/

Benjy also helped lead a Shabbat service in an amazing outdoor sanctuary, volunteering to chant a verse of Torah.   We are proud that he developed these skills at our Temple Beth Abraham from dedicated clergy and teachers.  Even more thrilled that, in an era where folks lament ‘teaching to the test,’ our students have a deep understanding of what they are doing.  They have skills they can call on and thus, they can be called upon to lead.  What skills or values have you or your family gained as a result of being part of a Jewish community?

I had the privilege last week of welcoming Shabbat in the synagogue in Marrakech with a handful of the remaining Jews of Morocco.  It was remarkable to be unable to communicate with most of the worshippers, and yet be able to pick up a siddur and pray with them.  I tell all our b’nei mitzvah students that one of the goals of their training is that they will be able to walk into a synagogue anywhere in the world and feel connected – and my experience in Marrakech is exactly what I mean.  Some of the melodies were familiar, though most were not.  They sang Mi Chamocha to the tune of Jerusalem of Gold, and Yigdal to Hatikvah.  But we were able to follow along and join in.  And at the end, the warm wishes of “Shabbat Shalom” were very familiar.

The 100 or so Jews of Marrakech struggle to put together a minyan each week, and they wonder how much longer they will be able to do it.  Helping them made me appreciate again the size and the vibrance of the Westchester Jewish community. We generally take it as a given that minyans – and even synagogues – will be here when we need them.  I encourage you to take advantage of – and to support – our local prayer community!  I promise that the melodies will be familiar, and you’ll have a wonderful experience.  Join us this Friday and Saturday!  Shabbat Shalom!

What a difference a week makes!  You can see the outline of the new bimah from the photos below. During our board meeting last week, we all took a peek and were generally surprised about how small the sanctuary seemed without furniture from the back wall to the lobby door, but how high the ceiling was!

As a member of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) TBA has received many benefits.  Rabbi Holtz and I are both graduates of Hebrew Union College which is the movement’s seminary.  Many of our kids are involved in the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) and attend URJ summer camps.  As part of their reorganization they have reached out to our very own Allison Fine to help them become more relevant and effective.  As a member of TBA you receive their publication Reform Judaism(RJ) magazine and I hope that you have already read about the “God” Survey.  If not here is what you need to know so that you can participate:

The “God” Survey

As you may know, Reform Judaism magazine is conducting The God Survey-a survey of the personal God beliefs of Reform Jews-which we plan to report on in a future issue. Thus far, nearly 750 people have taken the survey, which was adapted from Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro’s survey of his congregants at Sinai Temple, Springfield, Massachusetts. Click to read his article.

If you haven’t yet filled out the survey and would like to be part of the official results, the RJ magazine staff asks that you please take a couple of minutes to complete it. They can speak from experience that it makes you think.  It’s also anonymous. And it will provide important information about where Reform Jews are theologically today. Please forward this survey link to congregants, friends, and colleagues.

Do you read your copy of RJ magazine?  What has been your favorite topic or article?