Friday, January 26, 2001

Shabbat-O-GramJanuary 25, 2001

 Shabbat Shalom!


Today (Thursday) is Rosh Hodesh Shevat.  This Hebrew month contains the New Year for Trees, Tu B'Shevat, a signal to all of us that, despite the snow and ice, Spring is not too far away...  To learn more about this environment-friendly celebration, hug a tree at the JTS Web site, 
http://learn.jtsa.edu/tubshevat.  And for those who impatient, my officiial, authoritative Super Bowl prediction is found at the bottom of this e-mail.

A SPECIAL WELCOME
This week, our e-mail list has almost doubled in size, with the addition of over 175 congregants who provided e-mail addresses for the recently published congregational directory.  From here on, any member who provides us with an e-mail address will automatically be included on the list, just as we would automatically send snail mail to all members who provide us with a land address.  Naturally, anyone wishing to be deleted from this list simply has to click on reply and write "unsubscribe."  In keeping with the pledge that we have made in the past, we will not inundate you with e-mail, sending this weekly Shabbat-O-Gram, plus occasional important announcements (including funeral notices) as necessary, and we will keep your e-mail address private.  Now that we have the capacity to reach more than half of our membership online, it will add to the feeling of open, two-way communication that the Internet can provide, as we strive to become, by every measure, a synagogue without walls.  If you know of congregants who are not yet receiving this, including college students, young adults or teens who might wish to be included on our special lists for those groups, please let me know.

JUST THE FACTS

Candle lighting Friday
: 4:48 PM (8 minutes later than last week. Fret not; spring is on the way!)
Kabbalat Shabbat service: 8:00, in the chapel
Shabbat Morning: 9:30, in the LOBBY (dress can be casual, as we do with our lobby services) -- this is a change from our original calendar, by popular demand, and it is a "Family Service," one of our monthly services led almost entirely by congregants.  It will be followed by a scrumptious lunch, prepared exclusively by congregants.  The lunch is free, of course, but if you would like to sponsor it to mark a simcha, or just like that, contact Roberta at execdir@tbe.org.
Children's Services: 10:30 (in the Chapel and Kindergarten room).  Last week's special parent-child service led by Laura Berman was very enthusiastically received.  We will be doing more of those, with the schedule to be announced soon.
Daily Minyan: Sunday at 9, weekday mornings at 7:30, in the chapel

This Week's Torah Portion: Va-Era
The "Learn Torah With" commentary on this portion can be found at
http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/here__/LTW_5761/LTW_5761_Va-Era/ltw_5761_va-era.html

BDT: BRIEF D'VAR TORAH: Speaking Truth to Power...and Hope to the Powerless
Last week I introduced you to the "Table Talk" series, an excellent way to bring Torah discussion to your Shabbat dinner table.  It's located at http://uahc.org/shabbat/#table. Here is one question raised there in regard to this week's portion:

Several years ago, Eli Wiesel spoke to then President Reagan concerning Reagan's planned visit to the Bitberg Cemetery in Germany which included graves of Nazi airmen. Wiesel discouraging Reagan's visit said, "I must speak Truth to Power." Moses was speaking truth to power when he spoke with Pharaoh. How do you speak truth to power when it comes to parents? To teachers? To other people in authority? What might be the cost of telling the truth?

This question is even more relevant, given Wiesel's heart-felt and courageous op-ed in the New York Times this week about Jerusalem, found online at http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/24/opinion/24WIES.html.

Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Laureate, has spent the better part of half a century being the conscience of the Jewish people.  His comments to Reagan carried immense moral weight, as did his defense of innocent Moslems in Bosnia at the time when the Holocaust Museum was dedicated.  His comments this week, though directed more at us than others, are equally powerful.  Moses had a doubly difficult job in encountering Pharaoh.  He had to convince Pharaoh that he (and God) meant business, and then he had to convince his own people to believe.  And to do this, all God gave Moses was a couple of two-bit joke store gimmicks; you know, the old rod-turns-to-snake-trick.  In the end, neither Pharoah nor the Israelites were easily convinced. 

Now Wiesel faces a task as daunting as Moses faced.  He's already succeeded in speaking truth to power, but he now needs to speak the calming words of faith to this own people, powerless as we are to change the bitter reality of perpetual strife in Israel.  His charge: to give realistic hope to the hopeless.  First, that means speaking the truth, the bitter truth, that it looks like Oslo has run its course.  In fact, Oslo did much of what it was supposed to do: it exposed the true intentions of Arafat before it was too late.  But the red line that the Palestinians now insist that we cross is Jerusalem, and Wiesel reminded all of us, including those who would give almost anything for peace, just why Jerusalem is our heart and soul.  Some of his historic references (specifically to 1948) are now hotly debated among historians, but no one can question his love for Zion and love for peace, and that that combination has sustained all of Israel through decades of war and rejection.

It is not enough to speak the truth to the powerful.  Wiesel's brilliant piece also gives us hope, reminding us that, for the Jewish people, a quarter century is just the blink of an eye.  And maybe, if peace is built incrementally, a quarter century from now we'll be able at long last to find a way to share even the holiest of holy places.  Maybe then, but not now.  Maybe an interim agreement now that will help to separate the populations now, but not there.  Not Jerusalem.  Not yet.  Maybe not ever. 

To understand the depths of Wiesel''s feelings, you have to have walked the streets of the holy city.  Israel is aching for tourism, and I would implore you to consider going on one of the solidarity tours being offered by the United Jewish Communities, among other groups, or on your own.  All reports I hear from people who have been there recently are that the country is as beautiful as ever, but that the people definitely need a morale boost that tourism could bring.  My own schedule has made it difficult for me to go this year, but our Birthright Israel Teen Tour is still a "go" for this summer (see below), and some quickly arranged solidarity trip of adults might be possible here if there is interest.

Here's another hopeful sign: If ever we felt that some things can never change, all we have to do is look eastward for some solace.  No, not to Jerusalem, but to, of all places, the Kremlin.  Yes, the fortress of Stalin and Lenin has made its kitchen kosher in preparation for the visit of the Israeli President, just a quarter century after Sharansky and the other Prisoners of Zion (whom Wiesel once called "the Jews of Silence") began to speak truth to power at the very same Kremlin.  If that can happen, well, ANYTHING can happen, even peace between Israel and her neighbors.  A Kosher Kremlin?  Who would've thunk it?  Add another "Shehechianu moment" to the list!

IMPORTANT DATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Israel Teen Tour
On Thursday, Feb 1, from 7:00-8:30 PM, there will be an informational meeting for our Israel 2001 Teen Tour.  Parents and teens will be hearing from Dr. Joe Freedman, director, Ramah Programs in Israel.  He'll address the questions that are on everyone's mind regarding security and discuss itinerary changes that have been implemented in light of recent events.  Once again our federation has been selected as a Birthright Israel pilot community, meaning that extensive scholarships of approx. $1,500 will be available to participants.  It is quite possible that these scholarships will not be available in the future.  Given this, and in light of the phenomenal success of last year's tour, it is vital that we give this tour every chance of succeeding if it possibly can.  So, if you have any interest at all, this Thursday is the time to come, to listen and to ask.

Sisterhood Shabbat is being held on Feb. 10, with a special emphasis women's issues, the crossing of the Red Sea and Tu B'Shevat.  Come and see a dramatic presentation, "The Great Gender Shift."

Atid (grades K,2) Havdalah and movie night, this Saturday, Jan. 27 at 6:30 (rescheduled from last week)
Board, Ritual Committee Strategic Planning Retreat, Sunday, Jan. 28,  9:30 AM (at Mark Lapine's office)
Tot Shabbat, Feb. 2, at 7:15 PM
Grade Four Shabbaton, Feb. 2-3
Children's Concert (Rick Recht), Feb. 4
Kesher (grades 3-5) Goes Vertical: Feb 4
Special Shabbat Service for Young Couples, led by our student cantor, Laura Berman: Feb 9, at 8:00 PM

DO A DRASH
Want to learn how to interpret the Torah? Always want to know who Rashi really was?  Even if you never wish actually to stand up in front of people and pontificate, you can still learn how to "Do a Drash" at a special one hour seminar I'll be leading on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 10 AM.  If the group wishes, we might expand the class into a more substantial workshop on later dates -- but first things first.  Let the school office know if you are interested.

They told me to add Saturday March 3 to this "save the date" list.  Don't know why.  Must be because the Teen Service will be that morning.

BETH EL CARES ISRAEL WRITING PROJECT
Pick up Beth El Cares note cards in the office and write a note of support and friendship to an Israeli soldier.  Bring it back here and we will send it over to Israel. where the cards will be distributed among the embattled troops.  Adults and children can participate, in English or Hebrew, or, for young children, a simple picture will be just fine.  Special thanks to Rabbi Holman's fourth grade class at the Bi-Cultural Day School for their participation in this project.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS
A week ago, I mentioned that following the Shabbaton, some people had suggested that we gather a small group of people who might be interested in discussing our struggles in building meaningful Jewish lives for ourselves and our families.  I received about a dozen enthusiastic responses immediately, primarily from couples with babies or slightly older children, and we are now planning a get-together in the near future for those families.  There was some (but not yet enough) interest expressed by singles and empty-nesters.  I'd love to help plan more of these, for all groupings, including possibly ones for interfaith couples, singles of various age groups, and anyone else.  If you would like to be part of such a gathering, let me know.   

ADL SPEAKER ON ANTISEMITISM
...In fact, we already have such a discussion group and it has been active for over 30 years. This Sunday at 7:30 in our library, the Beth El Discussion Group will be hosting Joel Kay, an attorney for the Anti-Defamation League, whose topic will be, "The Global Anti-Semitic Scene."  All are most welcome to attend.

REQUIRED READING ON THE WEB (If you find something exciting of a Jewish interest (including relevant non-Jewish sites), send them along!

1) FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE

Remember "Friday Night Live" with Craig Taubman?  We hosted it exactly a year ago, and here's a recent article from the Forward on what FNL is accomplishing back in L.A. now: 
http://www.forward.com/issues/2001/01.01.19/news4.html
The spirit of FNL lives on here, in that we'll be hosting a special, contemporary-style service especially for young couples on Friday, Feb. 9 at 8:00.  It will take place in the lobby (our regular service will be held in the chapel as usual).  This service will be led by our student cantor, Laura Berman.  If it proves successful, undoubtedly we'll be expanding the program to offer it to other groups, including singles.

2) DEAR PRESIDENT BUSH...
Check out Sh'ma, an excellent journal of Jewish discussion, for this month's dialogue, at http://www.shma.com
I especially liked the letter to President Bush penned by Susan Weidman Schneider of Lillith Magazine.  From Sh'ma you can click right to one of its sister publications...

3) SOCIALACTION.COM
...at http://socialaction.com/torahteach.html.  There you'll find some excellent, action-oriented Torah commentaries.  This effort is being coordinated by Rabbi Sue Fendrick, who was our guest at an in-house Shabbaton we held here two years ago.  (Does that make the last one an "out-house" Shabbaton?)... 

4) JEWZ
...And while you're at it check out the brand new online hub of Jewish activity, http://www.jewz.com/, which is also part of the Jewish Family and Life network of Web sites.  It is just about to launch but already you'll find lots there for families, kids, teens, young adults in their 20's and 30's, interfaith families, you name it.  Definitely worth a look.

5) JBOOKS
One more of this JFL network of great Jewish sites is this new one, featuring the latest in books of interest to Jewish readers.  It's at http://www.jbooks.com/ and this issue features a review of our own Alvin Rosenfeld's recent book, "Hyper-Parenting" (which was also featured in this week's Newsweek).  This site was launched in November. 

6) JEWISH WEEK
If you are interested seeing in my latest column in the Jewish Week, it's at http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=1008.  Some of you may remember the context of the piece from my Kol Nidre sermon.  While you are there, something else of interest is just a click away, at http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?sec=Books

7) BETH EL IS FEATURED
Thanks to Sherry Shamir's publicity efforts for the recent Cantor's Concert, we have been chosen as a featured community this week at the statewide home page at http://www.ctnow.com. Go there, click on "communities," and look for us!

FINALLY: GIANTS OR RAVENS?  QUOTH THE MAVEN: HERE'S THE JEWISH VIEW...
There are different ways to approach this.  Which city has more Jews?  Baltimore or New York?  Or is it Baltimore or Hackensack? One thing for sure, Baltimore and New York couldm well be the most densely populated Jewish communities in the country (Of course, Bostonian Jews are far less dense).  But, even assuming population matters, would God wish to have the city with more Jews celebrate -- or suffer? 

So let's look to the sources for guidance.  Ravens and Giants play important roles in our history.  In the Torah, the raven (o'rev) is mentioned among the unkosher birds in Leviticus 11:15 (so the Giants can't eat 'em for dinner), and Noah sent out a raven from the ark to scout for dry land. It "went to and fro until the waters dried from the earth."  Sounds like a solid air attack. The raven did all the dirty work, and the dove, which went out only after the waters had subsided, got all the credit.  Did you know that meal spikes were placed on the roof of the Temple in Jerusalem to prevent ravens, undoubtedly attracted to the remains of the sacrificial offerings, from sitting there and disturbing services with their raucous cries.  If the Giants wear metal spikes on Sunday, that could be a good omen for them.  Isaiah (34:11) saw the raven as a sign presaging bad tidings, but ravens actually fed Elijah when he hid in a brook (Kings 17:2-6). 

Giants are called both Nefilim and Anakim in the Torah.  The Nefilim were mythic humanoids that filled the earth before the flood, much like the Titans of Greek mythology (a Giant-Titan Super Bowl would have been a doozy), while the Anakim petrified the Israelite spies who went to scout out the land in the book of Numbers.  There is one other giant of note in the Bible.  His name was Goliath and the less said about him, the better for Giants fans.  But it isn't just Goliath who bit the dust, folks.  When Rashi tried to explain the term Nifilim, he related it to the Hebrew word "nafal," "to fall."  The Nefilim, then, are the "fallen ones," men of renown who led society toward the depravity that resulted in the flood, which brought us Noah, which brought us that unsung hero of the whole thing, none other than the raven.

You can see where this is heading. It says here -- which in Hebrew is "poe," as in Edgar Allan -- that I'm afraid, from the Jewish perspective, that it looks as if it will be "Once upon a midnight dreary" for the Giants, who will na-fall to the Ravens.  Now, what about the points?  Of course I do not advocate betting, but since the Nefilim are mentioned in Genesis 6, and the raven is mentioned two chapters later, I look for a 2-point difference.  How will it happen?  Listen to Poe: "While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping."  So, late into the night, if there is poe-etic justice in the universe, the Ravens will win on a last-second toe-tapping field goal of 47 yards and then dedicate their victory to Scott Norwood.  Who is he?  Well, ask any Giants fan.

So, to reiterate, Quoth the Maven, "Ravens by 2."

I will make one prediction that is an iron-clad sure-thing.  The game's MVP, from either team, will say he's going to Disney World, then will assure us that Jesus was rooting for his team to win all along.

A Super Shabbat Shalom
JH
---------------------------

This Shabbat-O-Gram goes out weekly to about 425 congregants and others, plus to a college student list of about 60.  Please feel free to forward it to your friends, and if you know of any congregant, college student or anyone else who might wish to be included, please have them e-mail me at my temple address, rabbi@tbe.org.
To be taken off this e-mail list, simply click on "reply" and write "please unsubscribe" in the message box.






Tuesday, January 23, 2001

The Same Page (Jewish Week)




The Jewish Week, January 23 2001

I have an alter ego, a person whom I’ve never met whose life has been the mirror image of mine. I’m a rabbi/ journalist who’s just written my first book, about rediscovering family and seeking spirituality in cyberspace. He’s a journalist who also recently wrote his first book, about the rediscovery of family and seeking his own spiritual roots. Our first names are Joshua. I’m Hammerman and he’s Hammer. He writes for Newsweek. I used to dream of doing just that. Now, through an astonishing series of discoveries, I’ve found that, in so many other ways, we’re on the same page.

I’d been casually following my double’s life for a few years, ever since I first glimpsed his byline. When I saw it, I blinked in amazement, thinking it at first a misprint, then as an eerie reflection of my own double life. You see, twenty years ago, desperately needing to escape the mind-spinning esoterica of rabbinical school, I ditched the ivory tower a few nights a week and headed downtown to N.Y.U’s journalism program. By day I immersed myself in hair-splitting dialectic about the proper preparation of Matzah, and by night I covered the murder trial of Jean Harris and suicides at Rikers Island. I was living in two time zones, caught between the world as it is and the world as it ought to be. I loved it and dreamed both of becoming an influential religious leader and a globetrotting correspondent for Newsweek, sort of a Hunter Thompson meets Gandhi.

Then reality intervened. I completed both programs and had to decide: Would I be covering fires in Podunk (in the hopes of ending up back in New York), or training Bar Mitzvahs in Peekskill (in the hopes of ending up back in New York)? The rabbinate was the more comfortable option. My father, a cantor, had succeeded in the religion biz and had raised me to follow suit, although the choice ultimately was mine. To an extent, then, like any good Gore, Bush, or Griffey, my path was environmentally preordained.

It was one thing to see Hammer’s byline and laugh off the irony of his living out my journalistic dream. But about a year ago, when friends began to congratulate me on a book I hadn’t written, I decided to pick up a copy of Hammer’s memoir, began to read, and things got serious. I discovered that not only do we share nearly identical names, we have lived nearly identical lives. His autobiography held a mirror up to my own story, distorted slightly, but even then in analogous ways. We were born and became Bar Mitzvah months apart, went to Ivy League schools (Hammer to Princeton, Hammerman to Brown), and then entered the family business – his father was a journalist. In the early ‘80s we lived in Jerusalem at exactly the same time, frequented the same Old City hummos joints and encountered the same annoying Jewish evangelist at the Western Wall.

Hammer’s book chronicles his developing relationship with a very secular and rebellious brother, who became far more observant while in Israel and later moved to Muncie, N.Y. My sister followed a similar path, though she ended up on the West Bank. At the time we were all in Jerusalem, however, our siblings lived in the same quaint neighborhood, the tiny enclave of Nachlaot. I could well have bumped into my other self at the corner pita stand.

When I finished the book I thought about contacting Hammer to share some of these amazing coincidences. After a couple of half-hearted attempts to track him down, I gave up. What, after all, could I have said? “Hello, you’ve lived my life,” just didn’t seem appropriate.

Then, when my book came out several weeks ago, I proudly clicked onto Amazon.com to revel in my immortality. The book was there, but the author was listed as…Joshua Hammer. I emailed my publisher frantically and then started checking other book outlets on the Web. Barnes and Noble? Joshua Hammer. Borders? Joshua Hammer. For several days, the cyber-gods apparently had determined that the author of my book would be my alter ego. The mess was eventually cleared up; but then, three weeks later, it was Hammer Time again back at Amazon – this time with a twist: my name was there too, listed alongside. Hammer and Hammerman: the two Joshuas, on the same page at last.

I wondered how this might impact sales. What a novelty! Two authors, one name. If the co-author listed had been Stephen King, I might have let the matter rest. But this was getting ridiculous. I was beginning to wonder who I really am, when, as I was writing down these thoughts – and I kid you not – my refreshingly precocious 9-year old, Ethan, walked into the room, looked over my shoulder and asked, “Who is Joshua Hammer? Is he the same as you?”

Yes, I thought. He is the same as me. He journeyed where I might have gone, had not my upbringing conspired to steer me toward a different place. Yet, somehow, we ended up on the same street in Jerusalem and on the same Web page on Amazon, side by side, co-authors of a story not yet fully written.

With all that we’ve shared, Joshua Hammer has probably never heard of me (until someone sends him this article, I suppose). I’d love to meet him, but maybe it’s enough to know that our lives already have touched. I’m beginning to understand that we Joshuas are not the only ones living on Hammer Time. Inevitably, there are no degrees of separation. Ultimately, all parallel universes converge.

Friday, January 12, 2001

Shabbat-O-Gram, January 11, 2001

This Shabbat-O-Gram goes out weekly to about 250 congregants and others, plus, on occasion, to a college student list of about 50. If you know of any congregant, college student or anyone else who does not get this mailing and might be interested, please have them e-mail me at my temple address, rabbi@tbe.org.

Shabbat Shalom!  A special welcome back to campus for our students on the college list, including a few new ones that I've dug up since last semester ended. 

By popular demand (actually, one person requested it, but what the hay), we begin with...

JUST THE FACTS

Candle lighting Friday: 4:32 PM
Kabbalat Shabbat service (here): 8:00
Shabbat Morning (here): 9:30
Children's Services: 10:30 (there will be one consolidated children's service only this week, led by Bert Madwed in the chapel)
We celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Jonathan Koretz.  Mazal Tov to Jonathan and his family!
Torah Portion: VA - YECHI

The Learn Torah With D'var Torah can be found at
http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/here__/LTW_5761/ltw_5761_Va-Yehi/ltw_5761_va-yehi.html
This commentary on the portion by Dr. Neil Gillman of JTS is a moving tribute to his mentor, Abraham Joshua Heschel, whose yahrzeit is commemorated this week.  By extension, any tribute for Heschel also evokes the memory of his friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday we also mark this weekend.

Shabbat ends on Saturday night at 5:32 PM

LOBBY SERVICES

Our experiment with less-formal Shabbat morning services in the lobby has proven to be a big hit, so much so that the ritual committee this week decided to schedule a few more during the winter.  Also, when we are in the main sanctuary (on a non-Bar/Bat Mitzvah week), we'll now be roping off the sections near the windows to promote more "togetherness" in the central sections.

SHABBATON

Nearly 150 of us, a virtual sellout, will be spending part of the weekend on our first congregational off-site Shabbaton.  Check-in begins at 3:30 PM on Friday at Holiday Hills.  To whet our appetites for the speaker, Dr Jack Wertheimer, here is a review sent by a rabbinic colleague of Jack's appearance at his synagogue just last weekend:
"He was incredible.  Our event attendance started out at “incredibly good” at his keynote presentation, and just got better and better over the weekend.  People are already asking to bring him back.  The presentations all were top-drawer quality; we addressed the realities of the Conservative Synagogue, the conflict between Jewish and American values, and the latest information relating to intermarriage.  In short, there was not a single lightweight presentation to be had. Not only did Jack wave the flag, people stood and saluted."
Of course, our attendance will not vary from beginning to end -- but there are still a few openings available for last-minute reservations.  If you were looking for something to nudge a fellow family member over the fence, show 'em this review. 

D'VAR TORAH (courtesy of Rabbi Brad Artson)

Today’s Torah
By: Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson
from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Jews have always been a community drawn together by virtue of Torah. No matter where you may be, we welcome you to the Ziegler community through Today’s Torah e-mail.

Shabbat Parashat Vayechi
January 13, 2000 - 18 Tevet 5761
For the Love of a Patriarch

Put yourself in Jacob’s place.  Laying on his death bed, he is filled with apprehensions about the special way of understanding God and the world that his grandfather, Abraham, established.  It wasn’t so long ago, he must have mused, that everyone worshipped a multiplicity of deities, that people sacrificed children to their gods, that they gashed themselves with knives as part of a religious fervor, that cultic prostitution was an integral part of worship.

Abraham’s insight changed all that.  By recognizing that the diversity of nature is only apparent, that beneath that variety is an underlying unity, Abraham was able to recognize that all things are linked to that one source of life, and that Source, God, demands justice, morality and compassion.  He and Sarah were able to transmit that heritage to only one of their sons, to Isaac.  Isaac and Rebecca were able to pass this vital truth on to only one of their sons, to Jacob, who was also known as Israel.

And now, nearing the end of his life, the weary patriarch must have feared for the future of this precious insight.  His twelve sons were an unlikely source of religious heroes.  Marred by their propensity toward violence, their explosive tempers and their jealousy, they had given Israel abundant cause for alarm throughout their young adulthood.  Could he trust them to hold fast to the central legacy of Judaism, one God who is passionate about ethics, who infuses moral fervor with ritual profundity?

Just before he is about to die, Jacob summons his children to gather around his bed.  He tells his sons, “Come together, that I may tell you what is to befall you in days to come.”  Then, rather than beginning his list of predictions, he interposes the comment, “Assemble and hearken, O sons of Jacob; ve-shim’u el Yisrael avichem (Hearken to Israel, your father).”

The Rabbis were struck by the unexpected disruption.  Why didn’t Israel simply continue with his predictions for each son?  They also noticed that the language of this digression sounded very much like one of Judaism’s most famous declarations, “Sh’ma Yisrael.”  That had to be more than coincidence.

Midrash Devarim Rabbah makes explicit why Israel digresses, and why this verse echoes the lines of the Sh’ma.  From where did the Jewish People merit to recite the Sh’ma?  From the death of Jacob, who called all the tribes and said to them, “Perhaps after I perish from the world, you will worship other deities?”  The sons responded to their father, “Hear, O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai alone.”

The Rabbis used the fact that the third patriarch, Jacob, was also called Israel.  Thus, the Sh’ma could be understood as addressed not to the Jewish People, but to Jacob himself.  The use of similar language between the Sh’ma and what Jacob says to his sons confirms that reading.  So the midrash develops a dialogue between the Patriarch and his descendants.

Fearful that they maintain a superficial loyalty to Judaism out of deference to their father, he asks them whether they will turn from Judaism once he has died.  In unison, the sons respond, “Listen, Dad, Adonai, the God our great-grandfather recognized as the exclusive sovereign of the world, is our only God.  We’ll stick with it, not for your sake, but for our own and for God’s.”
In response to his sons’ fidelity and conviction, Jacob exclaims, “Baruch Shem Kevodo l’olam va-ed (praised be God’s glorious sovereignty throughout all time).”  The Sh’ma, then, becomes a living drama in which the latest generations of Jews promises those who have come before us that our loyalty is undimmed by years, that our faithfulness to the covenant of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, Rachel and Leah still motivates our deeds and informs our identity.

How many Jews remember keeping a kosher home to care for an observant grandparent or parent!  And how many have allowed those precious practices to evaporate, the  inheritance of millennia past vanishing in the short space of a single lifetime?  Isn’t it time to stand with the children of Jacob, swearing our renewed loyalty to the Jewish calendar, the sacred deeds and practices of our ancient heritage, to renew our loyalty to the God of Israel?

Can we, in honesty, conjure the memories of Bubbes and Zeydes, of childhood Rabbis and the great scholars, martyrs and leaders of our people throughout history and tell them that their God is still our God, that their legacy is apparent in the food we eat, the rituals we observe, and the deeds of lovingkindness that we practice?  Can we give Jacob the same assurance and comfort that his sons were able to provide?

Shabbat Shalom.


Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism, a rabbinical school for the heart, mind and soul.

REQUIRED READING: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem...

Our own Jan Gaines wrote a terrific and passionate op-ed in the Stamford Advocate this week which unfortunately is not available at the Advocate's online site.  Seek it out!

From David Hartman in the Jewish Week, a noted dove, this dispassionate evaluation of peace prospects:
http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=994

From the Boston Globe, this history lesson:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/008/oped/When_Jerusalem_was_divided+.shtml

And a letter sent by Conservative leader in Jerusalem known to many of us (he spoke to a couple of our Israel tour groups several years back), Rabbi Paul Freedman, on the huge rally that took place in Jerusalem this week.  My only regret about the rally, aside from not being there, is that the organizers did not bring in all of Israeli society.  Although the event was not overtly partisan, the omission of the entire left wing of the Israeli political spectrum from any official representation, as well as a large segment of Diaspora Jewry, lent the false impression that Jerusalem is sacred only to the right wing.  What could have been a unifying and reaffirming expression of love was tainted in that way.  Nonetheless, the fact that such a massive rally was peaceful stands in dramatic contrast to the cries coming from the throngs in Gaza and Ramallah.

Dear friend:

It is quite unprecedented for me to write to you in such a short space of time , but last night’s gathering in Jerusalem by the Jaffa Gate , was such an extraordinary experience that I just have to communicate with you while the glow is still here.
It was not a demonstration .It was , quire simply , an expression of the will of the Jewish people. Young and old , Sabras and new immigrants , Jews from abroad , religious and secular , people who had no interest in politics and those from the left and the right . No politicians , unless you count Ehud Olmert  , the Mayor of this wonderful ancient , thriving city , who spoke better last night that we ever heard him before.

According to the police at the event last night , there were between 350,000 and 400,000 people there. The crowd stretched all the way from Jaffa Gate to King George Street , and we were able to see the speakers since Nina and I arrived at 4:15 P.NM>? and stayed till the end .

It was quite clear.: the love of the Jewish people for Jerusalem and its holy sites has not only not diminished: it has increased. Speaker after speaker , those whose great  grandparents had come from Yemen in the early days of the last century , those who had come from the Former Soviet Union, those from the United States , all gave the same message: If I forget Thee , Oh Jerusalem…
And within the crowd , people who had traveled all over the country to be there , everyone sharing their life experiences and in true Israeli fashion their strong opinions , all united for once.

There was absolutely no violence. The event was superbly organized from start to the ending with HaTikvah , which all 400 , 000 sang with full hearts. What really brought tears to my eyes , in the end , was the sight of four young Israeli high school girls , their arms around each others , their shining eyes raised to the ancient walls , singing their hearts out. And every one of us knew , that all the Jews , all over the world who could not be there last night , were there in spirit. May it so continue , and may the Almighty bless His people, and all people everywhere, with His peace.
From Yerushalayim
Paul Freedman

For the latest on Israel, check out the Kol Yisrael English news, updated twice daily, at
http://www.israelradio.org/english.html

AND FINALLY, SOME "GOOD AND WELFARE" Hot off the presses....

Mazel Tov to Hazzan & Sandy Rabinowitz on the birth of a grandson,Samuel Edward (Ilan Dovid), born today to Alissa & Ed Locke.  This Brit Milah will be on Thursday in Virginia.

AND IN MEMORY OF DRS HESCHEL AND KING: A Pre-Shabbaton Meditation
From the collection of Heschel's essays, "Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity" (p.55):

"To live as a Jew means to feel the soul of everything, in others and in our own existence.  And this soul requires spiritual elevation.  Everything that has within it the spirit of life longs for repair.  (We are) like candles waiting to be lit... The soul in us will not find satisfaction merely in physical fulfillment.  In each of us flckers the longing for Shabbatness, for beauty, for serenity.  Anyone who chains and represses these longings and allows the powers of the soul to disperse to no good end not only contaminates the self, but contributes to the world's destruction....

The purpose of Judaism is to destroy the instinct toward madness which lurks at the gate of the human soul, (and) to cause something of this world of divine nobility to dwell in this world....Judaism teaches that beauty which is acquired at the cost of justice in an abomination."

Amen, and Shabbat Shalom
JH

Friday, January 5, 2001

Shabbat-O-Gram, Jan 5, 2001

 Shabbat Shalom


This Shabbat-O-Gram goes out weekly to about 250 congregants and others, plus, on occasion, to a college student list of about 50.  If you know of any congregant, or anyone else, who does not get this mailing and might be interested, please have them e-mail me at  my temple address, rabbi@tbe.org (my home address will be phased out shortly).  For congregants who wish to be "in the know" about what's going on here, it is vital that they be on our list.

A MINOR FAST -- A MAJOR LESSON

Today is the 10th of Tevet, a minor fast day in the Jewish calendar.  In 587BCE, the Babylonians began their siege of Jerusalem on this day.  Given the current situation, it pays to look back at why Jerusalem fell back then and whether it was inevitable. 

At that time, Babylonia was by far the greatest power in that region and Jeremiah the prophet was convinced that they could not be defeated.  Judah was already a vassal state and was craving a return to independence.  Many of the King's military advisors felt that Judah could prevail over Babylonia in battle and urged Zedekiah to challenge the great empire.  Jeremiah called these advisors "false prophets" and dramatized his call for strategic conciliation by walking through the streets of Jerusalem chained in an ox-goad, symbolizing the yoke of Babylon.  Jeremiah's warnings were not heeded, a disastrous confrontation ensued, King Zedekiah fled, was eventually captured and made to see his sons slaughtered before being blinded and led in chains to Babylonian exile.

Not a pretty picture and one that gives us pause for reflection.  Are there lessons to be learned for our situation?  Back then, the militants expected God to come to Judah's salvation, as had happened (in their eyes) a century earlier when the Assyrians were knocking at the door, only to be turned back by a plague that struck their camp.  The Jews could not conceive of their Temple being destroyed, their Jerusalem in ruins.  And us?  As dire as things are becoming, it is equally impossible for us to imagine Israel's downfall, especially in light of the seemingly miraculous victories of 1948 and 1967.  So two lessons are apparent: 1) Don't count on miracles and 2) Yes, it could happen.  Israel is not invincible.

But is the route to salvation conciliation, even at the steep price offered by the current proposals?  I'm no Jeremiah, but it's tough to discount the fact that not once but twice in our history, the path of the zealot proved to be the wrong one, while the path of the pragmatic capitulator turned out to be right.  Jeremiah advocated giving in to the great power in his day, and Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai did exactly the same thing in his.  Because he did not challenge the sovereignty of the Romans in the year 70, Yochanan was given permission by Vespasian to open an academy at Yavne. From that academy emerged a new, rabbinic, Temple-free Judaism that allowed our people to survive 2000 years of exile.  While Jerusalem burned, Yochanan fiddled in Yavne -- and for that we are grateful.

This is not to say that Israel should capitulate to the Palestinians on all counts.  But we all must recognize that, powerful as Israel is,  its only hope of survival is in its special relationship with the US, which needs to be sustained virtually at all costs.  What I fear most about Ariel Sharon is that he, like Zedekiah, seems to believe that Israel can go it alone.  Maybe Sharon is a changed man in his senior years.  Given the current polls, after next month's election he will most likely have the chance to show us.

-----------------------------------------

JUST THE FACTS

Candle lighting tonight: 4:25 PM
Tot Shabbat 7:15.; Main Kabbalat Shabbat service: 8:00
IN THE EVENT OF SNOW, WE WILL NOT BE CANCELLING EITHER SERVICE.  PLEASE LISTEN TO THE RADIO AND USE YOUR OWN JUDGMENT IN DECIDING WHETHER TO COME.
Shabbat Morning: Psukey d'Zimra meditations: 9:15
Shacharit: 9:30
Children's Services: 10:30

Torah Portion: VA - YIGASH 
We'll have a discussion on gender-role issues that apply to this portion.  Good preparatory material can be found in this week's Learn Torah With, at
http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/here__/LTW_5761/LTW_5761_Va-Yigash/ltw_5761_va-yigash.html
We'll be hearing about an obscure women of legend and lore, Serah bat Asher, and we'll ask the eternal question, "Did Joseph and Jacob eat quiche?"

SHABBAT MORNING SERVICES WILL BE HELD IN THE LOBBY AND IT IS ONCE AGAIN "SWEATER DAY," WITH CASUAL BUT SHABBAT-APPROPRIATE ATTIRE ENCOURAGED. 

(Believe it or not, we had four people show up for services during last Saturday's blizzard; still we decided to add another lobby service to the schedule this week, since many could not get here last week)

SATURDAY NIGHT: Sisterhood Family Pasta Night, with Bingo and Havdalah (what a combination: we end Shabbat and immediately start gambling! I love it!), 6:30.  It looks like well over 100 people will be attending this fun annual event. 

SUNDAY
Senior's luncheon, 1:00 PM
Kesher (grades 3-5) trip to the New Haven Knights hockey game, 3:30PM. 

SHABBATON AND MAKING MEMORIES: SOME PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
We're set to go next weekend to Holiday Hills.  There are still about 5-6 spaces left!   If you are interested in joining us, or if you have signed up but didn't receive your registration packet, please let Barb know immediately (eddir@tbe.org or 322-6901 X305).  The more I think about this event, the more I am looking forward to it. 

There are basically three types of programs in synagogue life: 1) programs that fail, and I define failure as a program that evokes primarily negative feelings among those who attend, or that generates little response to begin with; 2) Programs that have good attendance and are well-received but have little lasting impact; and 3) Programs with legs, ones that are remembered far into the future.  This Shabbaton will be that rarest of occurrences, the third type of program.  Ask yourself how many synagogue events you can recall from ten years ago?  Odds are that this Shabbaton will be on that list ten years from now.  It will be recalled by our children long after they've forgotten any particular lesson learned in Hebrew School this year.  And it will be recalled by adults long after the topic of my High Holidays sermons has been relegated to the sub-conscious (it was the Shehechianu, by the way).  We are in the business of making memories; that's why our program emphasizes these informal, fun, out-of-classroom Shabbatonim for our kids, and now, at last, for the rest of us. 

And how do I know that a Shabbaton is such a high-impact event?  Because I went on them as a teen, have led them for many groups since, and I remember them all.  Does this mean that someone who attends our retreat next weekend will be a rabbi some day because of it?  Who knows, but that's not the point.  It does mean that everyone who comes will see being Jewish, and being part of our Beth El community, in an entirely new light.        And for all of us, kids and adults alike, it means that a decade from now, one very powerful memory will make us smile whenever we think about it.  With one stroke we'll have won a major victory in the quest for Jewish continuity, without even realizing it.  We'll just remember how fun it was and how good it felt to go away with 150 fellow congregants, and how by the end, we became an extended family.

So what were we waiting for?  There actually have been adult and family Shabbatons here before.  I led a few back when I was Assistant Rabbi and we've had two in-house Shabbatonim more recently.  But frankly, we weren't ready to go away together until now.  Now we are, and the proof is in the numbers, both of those attending (about 3 times the number of our most recent in-house Shabbaton), and those involved in the planning.  There are too many to thank here, but special thanks go to chairperson Eileen Rosner, who simply gets things done, to our president, Mark Lapine who has supported and believed in this project from the start (and will be sending his wife Jennifer as his personal envoy since he'll be out of town and unable to attend), to Penny and Michael Horowitz, sponsors of our guest lecturer, and Caryl and Peter Poser, sponsors of our guest song leader.  We'll be celebrating Caryl's birthday at Holiday Hills.  I also received several substantial donations that enabled us to reduce the cost significantly for all attending.  Thanks to all our donors.  And the biggest thanks must go to Barb Moskow, who has seen this through from beginning to end, combining a broad vision with meticulous attention to detail.

The only question that remains from here is not what will happen B.S. (before the Shabbaton), but how time will be measured A.S.(after it).  For one thing, when will we have the next one?  And, since it is a given that most of the 150 who go this time will want to go back, how will we be able to accommodate all the rest of us, all of us equally anxious to create long-term positive Jewish memories for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren? 

WEB SITES OF THE WEEK (Courtesy of Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins)
Learn about Kabbalah:
http://www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/nok/intro.txtsantmat@z...Kabbalah : http://kabbalah-web.org/engkab/mhtkabeng.htmsantmat@z...Kabbalah : http://www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/index.htmsantmat@z...Kabbalah: Jewish Mysticism :
http://www.well-being.com/BRESLOV/


Hebrew College - Campus in Cyberspace - Spring 2001
This fall, Hebrew College launched its Master of Arts in Jewish Studies via distance learning the first MA in Jewish studies degree available online.
We invite you to join a learning community that features a full offering of master’s-level courses, ongoing interaction with other students, one-to-one mentoring by faculty (not teaching assistants), and expert technical assistance.  We believe that this program including learning via the Internet, e-mail, interactive video, summer on-site programs, and other forums represents a new chapter in Jewish studies and education.  Find out more about this exciting new way to earn a master’s degree, advance professionally, and deepen your knowledge of Jewish texts and Hebrew language.
Hebrew College has been providing outstanding undergraduate and graduate training in Jewish studies and education since 1921 from its campus in Brookline, Massachusetts.  Now, through its trailblazing distance learning degree program, the College’s premier educational programs taught by its world-renowned faculty are open to anyone, anywhere.
For information about Hebrew College’s Online Master of Arts in Jewish Studies, please visit 
http://hebrewcollege.edu/online/degree.
For information about Spring 2001 Semester courses, please visit
http://hebrewcollege.edu/online.

MI-SHE-BERAKH:
If you wish to have a name, in English or Hebrew, added to the list for our healing prayer on Shabbat morning, please e-mail it to me  by mid-day on Thursday. Or just attend Shabbat morning and announce the name when I ask for it after the Torah reading.  We would be delighted to help along the healing process in any manner possible -- and this prayer helps.

BETH EL CARES ABOUT ISRAEL

Beth El Cares has begun a letter writing campaign to the soldiers in Israel to let them know we care and are thinking of them. You can write whatever is in your heart.

Cards are available in the synagogue office, or you can use your own stationery or cards. If you have children, they, too can participate. If they are old enough, they can write a card, or if they are too young to write, they can draw a picture.

Because the Israeli government cannot give out names, you can address your letter or card to “Dear Friend” or whatever salutation you choose.

Please bring your cards and letters back to the synagogue office where they will be sent collectively to Israel.
I look forward to your participation.

Sandy Golove
Chairperson, Beth El Cares Israel Writing Project 322-0295 (evenings)

Because of the situation in Israel leading rabbinical authorities have suggested saying this prayer every day:
Aheinu kol beit Yisrael ha-n’tunim b’tzarah, HaMakom y’rahem alayhem v-yotzi’em mitzarah lir’vahah u-me’afela l’ora, vnomar Amen.
May the Almighty grant mercy and strength to our family the Household of Israel who struggle for peace, and bring them out of trouble into safety, out of darkness into light.
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has requested that all Jews around the world recite chapter 142 of Tehillim (the Book of Psalms) daily for Jews held captive in Iran:
Asher ben Shaltnat, Nasser ben Poren, Yaakov ben Mohatram, Farhad ben Hamdam, Shahroch ben Shahnaz, Paramaz ben Aseret, Farzad ben Aseret, Arash ben Zolkah, Negat ben Nosrat, Daniel ben Suryah, Omid ben Suryah, Ramon Farzam, Ramon Namati.

TO UNSUBSCRIBE -  Send reply to this message and in Subject line write: UNSUBSCRIBE

Shabbat Shalom! 

JH

Monday, January 1, 2001

On the Same Page (Jewish Week)

 On the Same Page

The Jewish Week 1/01
By Joshua Hammerman

I have an alter ego, a person whom I ve never met whose life has been the mirror image of mine. I m a rabbi/ journalist who s just written my first book, about rediscovering family and seeking spirituality in cyberspace. He s a journalist who also recently wrote his first book, about the rediscovery of family and seeking his own spiritual roots. Our first names are Joshua. I m Hammerman and he s Hammer. He writes for Newsweek. I used to dream of doing just that. Now, through an astonishing series of discoveries, I ve found that, in so many other ways, we re on the same page.

I d been casually following my double s life for a few years, ever since I first glimpsed his byline. When I saw it, I blinked in amazement, thinking it at first a misprint, then as an eerie reflection of my own double life. You see, twenty years ago, desperately needing to escape the mind-spinning esoterica of rabbinical school, I ditched the ivory tower a few nights a week and headed downtown to N.Y.U s journalism program. By day I immersed myself in hair-splitting dialectic about the proper preparation of Matzah, and by night I covered the murder trial of Jean Harris and suicides at Rikers Island. I was living in two time zones, caught between the world as it is and the world as it ought to be. I loved it and dreamed both of becoming an influential religious leader and a globetrotting correspondent for Newsweek, sort of a Hunter Thompson meets Gandhi.

Then reality intervened. I completed both programs and had to decide: Would I be covering fires in Podunk (in the hopes of ending up back in New York), or training Bar Mitzvahs in Peekskill (in the hopes of ending up back in New York)? The rabbinate was the more comfortable option. My father, a cantor, had succeeded in the religion biz and had raised me to follow suit, although the choice ultimately was mine. To an extent, then, like any good Gore, Bush, or Griffey, my path was environmentally preordained.

It was one thing to see Hammer s byline and laugh off the irony of his living out my journalistic dream. But about a year ago, when friends began to congratulate me on a book I hadn t written, I decided to pick up a copy of Hammer s memoir, began to read, and things got serious. I discovered that not only do we share nearly identical names, we have lived nearly identical lives. His autobiography held a mirror up to my own story, distorted slightly, but even then in analogous ways. We were born in the same year, became Bar Mitzvah in early 1970, went to Ivy League schools (Hammer to Princeton, Hammerman to Brown), and then entered the family business his father was a journalist. In the early 80s we lived in Jerusalem at exactly the same time, frequented the same Old City hummos joints and encountered the same annoying Jewish evangelist at the Western Wall.

Hammer s book chronicles his developing relationship with a very secular and rebellious brother, who became far more observant while in Israel and later moved to Muncie, N.Y. My sister followed a similar path, though she ended up on the West Bank. At the time we were all in Jerusalem, however, our siblings lived in the same quaint neighborhood, the tiny enclave of Nachlaot. I could well have bumped into my other self at the corner pita stand.

When I finished the book I thought about contacting Hammer to share some of these amazing coincidences. After a couple of half-hearted attempts to track him down, I gave up. What, after all, could I have said? "Hello, you ve lived my life," just didn t seem appropriate.

Then, when my book came out several weeks ago, I proudly clicked onto Amazon.com to revel in my immortality. The book was there, but the author was listed as&Joshua Hammer. I emailed my publisher frantically and then started checking other book outlets on the Web. Barnes and Noble? Joshua Hammer. Borders? Joshua Hammer. For several days, the cyber-gods apparently had determined that the author of my book would be my alter ego. The mess was eventually cleared up; but then, three weeks later, it was Hammer Time again back at Amazon this time with a twist: my name was there too, listed alongside. Hammer and Hammerman: the two Joshuas, on the same page at last.

I wondered how this might impact sales. What a novelty! Two authors, one name. If the co-author listed had been Stephen King, I might have let the matter rest. But this was getting ridiculous. I was beginning to wonder who I really am, when, as I was writing down these thoughts and I kid you not my refreshingly precocious 9-year old, Ethan, walked into the room, looked over my shoulder and asked, "Who is Joshua Hammer? Is he the same as you?"

Yes, I thought. He is the same as me. He journeyed where I might have gone, had not my upbringing conspired to steer me toward a different place. Yet, somehow, we ended up on the same street in Jerusalem and on the same Web page on Amazon, side by side, co-authors of a story not yet fully written.

With all that we ve shared, Joshua Hammer has probably never heard of me (until someone sends him this article, I suppose). I d love to meet him, but maybe it s enough to know that our lives already have touched. I m beginning to understand that we Joshuas are not the only ones living on Hammer Time. Inevitably, there are no degrees of separation. Ultimately, all parallel universes converge