Friday, May 31, 2013

Shabbat-O-Gram for May 31


Shabbat Shalom

I am SO looking forward to services at Treetops this evening at 6 (download directions here).  A very special thank you to the Brownstein family for inviting us into their little taste of paradise on what promises to be a beautiful midsummer type evening.  Right now the place looks like a scene right out of "Mary Poppins." Lisa and Don really have outdone themselves with their hospitality and we are most grateful.  Plus, Lisa will be accompanying the cantor on the harp.
------------------

Young children flourish when allowed to enter the world of real work that surrounds them: from picking up toys or feeding the cat to grating carrots for salad.   Read Ronnie Brockman's blog entry for this week, Let's Put Our Children to Work  - and spread the word about Shorashim!

On Shabbat morning we honor our volunteers - and we could not exist without their love and dedication.  And on Sunday evening we honor our Volunteer-in-Chief ...


A Little Known Fact About Eileen Rosner

By now most of you know that we will be honoring Eileen Rosner at this Sunday's Cantor's Concert at 7 PM.  And most of you know about at least some of the things Eileen does and has done for our congregation and community.  You've heard about her legendary ushering at services, her work with the cemetery, Shorashim, Hebrew School, Jewish Historical Society, Ferguson Library...and oh yes, she was president of the synagogue - and so much more.
  
What many don't know is that she has been a treasured family member for clergy families here and in particular for their children.  For my kids, she has been there for 

brises,

  

graduations,

  

and bar mitzvahs
  

not to mention every birthday party.

She never missed a single one, until last week's college graduation (I told her I had to pay $200,000 to get into to that one).  I know that has been also the case for Cantor Mordecai's children (minus the brisses and bar mitzvahs), and for other clergy and staff who have been here.  Eileen has been family to us and she is family for everyone.  She, like Frank before her, is the glue that connects us all, one to another.

Later today, look for an email with a link to the online journal that has been produced in Eileen's honor.  Fortunately, this journal is still a work in progress, so there is time for you to submit a last-minute ad and message.  The final document will remain online and a hard copy will be presented to Eileen in the near future.  I hope to see everyone here Sunday night.  And BTW, it's going to be a terrific concert, featuring the talents of a number of local cantors, many of whom are near and dear to us, most especially our own Cantor Mordecai.  My thanks to him and to all the talent that will be assembled.


The 16 Percent Solution: "State of the Synagogue" Report

This week's portion of Shelach Lecha is perfect for a time of transitions.  Moses sends forth a dozen spies, much the way we send forth dozens of bar mitzvah students in a given year. But we hope for better results than he had.  For Moses, ten out of twelve failed to come back with a positive report.  Imagine what would have become of Moses in the corporate world, with a success rate of 16 per cent. 

But 16 percent is all Moses needed - just two spies out of twelve had the potential to grow into new leadership.  One of them, Joshua, became the next leader.  And by the time Joshua was ready to step aside, the whole nation was firmly ensconced in the Promised Land and ready to take its place in history.  Sometimes 16 percent isn't so bad.  If we manage to achieve 16 percent of our programming or visioning initiatives, that's far from perfect.  But it would be 16 percent more than we would have achieved had we tried nothing new at all. 

We are on the verge of finalizing a new strategic plan - one that codifies the vision that has been coalescing here for a number of years.  Yes, we know that as soon as the ink dries, it will already be time to adjust it.  But that's the beauty of the culture of TBE - we never stop growing, we never stop trying new things - we never stop moving forward, even when it seems like things are working 16 percent of the time.  We're actually doing much better than Moses did.  But that's not the point.

The point is that when you have a culture of adaptation and innovation, you are immunized against institutional paralysis and fear.  When something doesn't work, we just go on to the next.  When services in the chapel aren't quite right, we come down to the lobby.  When this isn't right, we go back up there.  We are adaptable - that isn't merely the story of TBE - it's the story of the Jewish people.  It's the secret to our survival.

So what do we need to do now in this increasingly challenging environment?  One thing we have determined collectively is the need to re-emphasize the centrality of Shabbat in the life of this congregation.  We may differ as to how best to do that, but the goal has been set and is now enshrined as key pillar of our strategic plan.
In fact, we've been doing this work for a number of years, in different ways.  Over the past three years, since the arrival of Cantor Mordecai and his amazing music, we have succeeded in completely transforming our Friday night experience.  This transformation cannot be measured in numbers alone, but we now can expect a solid 50-plus each week, without any bar mitzvah or special event - a core that is growing - and for a reason.  I was talking to someone just yesterday, a newer member who has suffered harsh personal blows and he just couldn't stop talking about how soothing and healing our service is for him.  It is for so many of us.  I have no doubt that we will continue to grow on Friday nights - and I believe that service is primed to take off in a big way.  And for Shabbat morning, we will continue to push the envelope, with the goal of engaging far more of our congregants, far more often.
Our new strategic plan emphasizes the importance of repairing the world to our mission. And what  aren't we doing to make this world a better place? 
  • This isn't the largest 7th grade we've ever had, but look at their photo and you will see the kind of diversity, ethnically, culturally, and religiously, that makes this a better world. 
  • Look up to our roof and in a few short weeks there will be over 800 solar panels generating 70 percent of our electricity and we will become, arguably, the greenest synagogue in the country.
  • We have taken the lead in a number of key areas of tikkun olam, world repair this year, including interfaith dialogue and service to those who are in need of visitation or support, with our new in-reach organization called Reyut.
  • We responded to Hurricane Sandy and the Newtown tragedy in meaningful ways, opening our doors to those in need of a warm hug and a hot meal, as featured on NPR, and generating support for meaningful gun violence legislation.  We've become very good at reaching outward and inward simultaneously, especially on Shabbat.  While on Friday nights we reached inward to touch our souls, on Shabbat mornings we focused on projecting God's love outward to the world. We recalled the plight of Soviet Jewry 50 years ago and the plight of the bumble bee today.  We dialogued with a Muslim educator and a learned about a Palestinian prisoner turned peace activist, blessed our animals and heard from our teens who marched in Poland, lobbied in Washington, built schools in Central America and danced at the Kotel.   We took an active role in advocating for our community's public schools - an existential issue for the future of our synagogue. 
Of course there is so much more.


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


Brown Graduation Weekend, '13

 
Below are some photos capturing some of the pomp (and parental pride) of the Brown graduation last Sunday.  I could not be more proud of Ethan - and of my alma mater.  
You can watch the video of the college ceremony herefeaturing a beautifully poetic invocation.

And the larger university ceremony can be seen here, featuring a moving student oration by Tanayott Thaweethai, who stated that in life"we will find ourselves faced with a seemingly infinite number of doors. Some of these will be ornately decorated and lined with great salaries and generous 401(k)s. Others will be run-down and wearing at the hinges. Some will lead you halfway around the world and others will lead you back home. Some of us, inevitably, will build our own doors. But as you reach for the handle, remember this: Do not walk through a door just because it is open. Find the door you refuse to let close. That, I promise you, is the right one." 

And then there is the Baccalaureate Service, a kaleidoscope of cultural and spiritual diversity that is so perfectly and uniquely "Brown."  You can see that here

People have been asking me how it feels to be the parent of a college graduate. Ben Affleck mentioned that when he told his young daughter that he was getting an honorary degree from Brown, she asked him how he could be getting a diploma when he did none of the homework.  And it's true, as a parent, I did none of the homework (though a full share of the sweating).  The only thing I could do at commencement was reflect back on all the years since I took that exact same walk through the Van Wickle Gates   So much has happened, so much that I could never have predicted back then, so many doors have opened and closed behind me.  And one of those doors led my son to exactly the same place, at a very different time.

I am reminded of "Laurie's Song" from the Aaron Copland opera, "The Tender Land." It's sung by a girl graduating high school, but the sentiments are similar.  Many of our graduates are feeling this way right now.

Once I thought I'd never grow tall as this fence.
Time dragged heavy and slow.
But April came and August went before I knew just what they meant,
And little by little I grew,
And as I grew, I came to know how fast the time could go.
Once I thought I'd never go outside this fence.
This space was plenty for me,
But I walked down the road one day, and just what happened I can't say.
But little by little it came to be:
That line between the earth and sky came beckoning to me.
Now the time has grown so short; the world has grown so wide.
I'll be graduated soon. Why am I strange inside?
What makes me think I'd like to try
To go down all those roads beyond that line above the earth and 'neath the sky?
Tomorrow when I sit upon the graduation platform stand,
I know my hand will shake when I reach out to take that paper with the ribboned band.
Now that all the learning's done, Oh who knows what will now begin?
Oh it's so strange, I'm strange inside.
The time has grown so short; the world so wide.


The horizon beckons, the possibilities are endless and the choices daunting.  It is a time that we parents recall both with a shudder of fear and a twinge of envy.  Many of our most fateful choices have already been made, and in a world far less complex. The horizon before us is far less wide, now, but we too feel strange inside, reminded at each commencement that choices still abound, even as we watch the product of so many thousands of our choices step forward to receive his diploma.  

At this time of year, with so many transitioning, we can be guided by the compass of Deuteronomy, which reminds us to set a single parameter that can guide us in every choice we make. Whenever confronted with a key decision, we should choose life.

That choice is explained by Rabbi Yitz Greenberg in this commencement address at Sacred Heart University a few years ago (BTW a great new site dedicated to Yitz's work has just been launched):  

"In sum, there is no neutral act in life and there is no moment without choice. Not to choose is to choose. Therefore graduates...in the name of humanity which waits upon your choice, and for the sake of God who years for your choice in love, go forth and choose life." 

Click here for photos from last Sunday's Brown graduation.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

The 16 Percent Solution: The State of the Synagogue

Below is a slightly edited version of my report given at last night's TBE Annual Meeting:

This week’s portion of Shelach Lecha is perfect for a time of transitions.  Moses sends forth a dozen spies, much the way we send forth dozens of bar mitzvah students in a given year. But we hope for better results than he had.  For Moses, ten out of twelve failed to come back with a positive report.  Imagine what would have become of Moses in the corporate world, with a success rate of 16 per cent. 

But 16 percent is all Moses needed – just two spies out of twelve had the potential to grow into new leadership.  One of them, Joshua, became the next leader.  And by the time Joshua was ready to step aside, the whole nation was firmly ensconced in the Promised Land and ready to take its place in history.  Sometimes 16 percent isn’t bad.  If we manage to achieve 16 percent of our programming or visioning initiatives, that’s far from perfect.  But it would be 16 percent more than we would have achieved had we tried nothing new at all. 

We are on the verge of finalizing a new strategic plan – one that codifies the vision that has been coalescing here for a number of years.  Yes, we know that as soon as the ink dries, it will already be time to adjust it.  But that’s the beauty of the culture of TBE – we never stop growing, we never stop trying new things – we never stop moving forward, even when it seems like things are working 16 percent of the time.  We’re actually doing much better than Moses did.  But that’s not the point.

The point is that when you have a culture of adaptation and innovation, you are immunized against institutional paralysis and fear.  When something doesn’t work, we just go on to the next.  When services in the chapel aren’t quite right, we come down to the lobby.  When this isn’t right, we go back up there.  We are adaptable – that isn’t merely the story of TBE – it’s the story of the Jewish people.  It’s the secret to our survival.

So what do we need to do now in this increasingly challenging environment?  One thing we have determined collectively is the need to re-emphasize the centrality of Shabbat in the life of this congregation.  We may differ as to how best to do that, but the goal has been set and is now enshrined as key pillar of our strategic plan.

In fact, we’ve been doing this work for a number of years, in different ways.  Over the past three years, since the arrival of Cantor Mordecai and his amazing music, we have succeeded in completely transforming our Friday night experience.  This transformation can’t be measured in numbers alone, but we now can expect a solid 50-plus each week, without any bar mitzvah or special event – a core that is growing – and for a reason.  I was talking to someone just yesterday, a newer member who has suffered harsh personal blows and he just couldn’t stop talking about how soothing and healing our service is for him.  It is for so many of us.  I have no doubt that we will continue to grow on Friday nights – and I believe that service is primed to take off in a big way.  And for Shabbat morning, we will continue to push the envelope, with the goal of engaging far more of our congregants, far more often.

Our new strategic plan emphasizes the importance of repairing the world to our mission. And what aren’t we doing to make this world a better place? 

  • This isn't the largest 7th grade we've ever had, but look at their photo and you will see the kind of diversity, ethnically, culturally, and religiously, that makes this a better world. 
  • Look up to our roof and in a few short weeks there will be over 800 solar panels generating 70 percent of our electricity and we will become, arguably, the greenest synagogue in the country.
  • We have taken the lead in a number of key areas of tikkun olam, world repair this year, including interfaith dialogue and service to those who are in need of visitation or support, with our new in-reach organization called Reyut.
  • We responded to Hurricane Sandy and the Newtown tragedy in meaningful ways, opening our doors to those in need of a warm hug and a hot meal, as featured on NPR, and generating support for meaningful gun violence legislation in our state.  We’ve become very good at reaching outward and inward simultaneously, especially on Shabbat.  While on Friday nights we reached inward to touch our souls, on Shabbat mornings we focused on projecting God’s love outward to the world. We recalled the plight of Soviet Jewry 50 years ago and the plight of the bumble bee today.  We dialogued with a Muslim educator and a learned about a Palestinian prisoner turned peace activist, blessed our animals and heard from our teens who marched in Poland, lobbied in Washington, built schools in Central America and danced at the Kotel.   We took an active role in advocating for our community’s public schools – an existential issue for the future of our synagogue. 
  • Out in the community, I also taught a 6th grade class this year at Carmel Day School and sent off 8th graders to Israel from Bi Cultural. Not only is it true that Beth El Cares, Beth El matters, in so many ways, across the community and around the world, and we proved that once again this year.
The strategic plan speaks of TBE excelling at the human touch. Engagement is so important to us that we have staff position dedicated to it, but the human touch is central to all our relationships here.  We now have active women’s and men’s discussion groups.  Over the past few months I’ve begun spontaneously calling congregants we haven’t seen here in a while, to see how they are doing. I’ve already seen some nice results from those calls.
Finally, our new strategic plan will continue our longstanding focus on Israel – with a primary goal being to get people there.  I’m pleased to announce tonight that our next TBE Israel Adventure will take place toward the end of July 2014.  Even before the trip has been officially announced, we already have a solid 15-20 people on board.  We are also going to be looking for more opportunities to bring people to Israel and elsewhere in the Jewish world over the next few years.

So yes, I think we are doing better than Moses did with his spies.  For one thing, we have a much better staff (Moses’ staff, as you may recall, was inanimate.)  I want to personally thank Al Treidel and Rabbi Michelle Dardashti for all they have given us – and they have given us so much - and I wish them success in their future endeavors. They’ve brought so much to us. Over the past few years, I’ve come to see why people call Ronnie Brockman the best nursery school director around.  Talk about the human touch!  Shorashim is a true gift to the community and we are duty bound to help it prosper for years to come. Steve Lander continues to be the best executive director in the business.  I call him my right arm, but truly, since I’m a lefty, he’s my left arm.  He does all the hard work so I get to do all the fun stuff. We can’t recognize him often enough for the heart and soul he pours into this labor of love known as TBE.  The office and maintenance staffs are an extension of that left arm.  They’re dedication and skills are unmatched.  I have to include Eileen in that, although we’ll have more to say about her at the concert this weekend.  I also want to mention Lisa Gittelman-Udi, our new Education and Youth Director.  I’ve been working extensively with her over the past couple of months and I can only say that we are in for a treat.  I see great things ahead both for our Hebrew School and for our teens.  My partnership with Cantor Mordecai could not be more enjoyable.  There is no better cantor around and, I humbly add, few more fruitful better cantor-rabbi partnerships.  You are a precious jewel for this synagogue. We make beautiful Torah together and I hope that continues for a long, long time.

And finally – none of this could happen without great lay leadership.  I would love to thank each of you individually for the incredible amount of care and time and effort you put into something that for you is clearly a labor of love.  For the past two years we’ve been led by Peter, who has earned his place on that TBE Mount Rushmore, right next to his immediate predecessors Eileen and Gary.  It’s one thing to put your money where your mouth is – that is expected of any leader.  But Peter put his feet there too.  No, I don’t mean that he put his foot in his mouth, but that he walked the walk – all the way to Israel, last summer, to a comprehensive class on Judaism, last year, and to services, a heck of a lot more often than he might ever have expected.  We will always be grateful for his cool hand under pressure and his ability to listen to all sides – often for hours - before a decision was made.


Peter, you have been a great president. We are in a better place – maybe as much as 16 percent better! And because of your work, our work, we have made the world a better place too.  And the work has only just begun.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Brown Graduation Weekend, '13

Below are some photos capturing some of the pomp (and parental pride) of the Brown graduation on Sunday.  I could not be more proud of Ethan - and of my alma mater.  

You can watch the video of the college ceremony here, featuring a beautifully poetic invocation.



And the later, university ceremony can be seen below, featuring a moving student oration by Tanayott Thaweethai who stated that, in life, "we will find ourselves faced with a seemingly infinite number of doors. Some of these will be ornately decorated and lined with great salaries and generous 401(k)s. Others will be run-down and wearing at the hinges. Some will lead you halfway around the world and others will lead you back home. Some of us, inevitably, will build our own doors. But as you reach for the handle, remember this: Do not walk through a door just because it is open. Find the door you refuse to let close. That, I promise you, is the right one." 





And then there is the Baccalaureate Service, a kaleidoscope of cultural and spiritual diversity that is so perfectly and uniquely "Brown."  You can see that here

People have been asking me how it feels to be the parent of a college graduate. Ben Affleck mentioned that when he told his young daughter that he was getting an honorary degree from Brown, she asked him how he could be getting a diploma when he did none of the homework.   And it's true, as a parent, I did none of the homework (though a full share of the sweating).  The only thing I could do at commencement was reflect back on all the years since I took that exact same walk through the Van Wickle Gates   So much has happened, so much that I could never have predicted back then, so many doors have opened and closed behind me.  One of those doors led my son to exactly the same place, at a very different time.

I am reminded of "Laurie's Song" from the Aaron Copland opera, "The Tender Land."  It's sung by a girl graduating high school, but the sentiments are similar. 

Once I thought I’d never grow tall as this fence.
Time dragged heavy and slow.
But April came and August went before I knew just what they meant,
And little by little I grew,
And as I grew, I came to know how fast the time could go.
Once I thought I’d never go outside this fence.
This space was plenty for me,
But I walked down the road one day, and just what happened I can’t say.
But little by little it came to be:
That line between the earth and sky came beckoning to me.
Now the time has grown so short; the world has grown so wide.
I’ll be graduated soon. Why am I strange inside?
What makes me think I’d like to try
To go down all those roads beyond that line above the earth and ‘neath the sky?
Tomorrow when I sit upon the graduation platform stand,
I know my hand will shake when I reach out to take that paper with the ribboned band.
Now that all the learning’s done, Oh who knows what will now begin?
Oh it’s so strange, I’m strange inside.
The time has grown so short; the world so wide.


The horizon beckons, the possibilities are endless and the choices daunting.  It is a time that we elders recall both with a shudder of fear and a twinge of envy.  Many of our most fateful choices have already been made, and in a world far less complex.  The horizon before us is far less wide, now, but we too feel strange inside, reminded at each commencement that choices still abound, even as we watch the product of so many thousands of our choices step forward to receive his diploma.  

At this time of year, with so many transitioning, we can be guided by the compass of Deuteronomy, which reminds us to set a single parameter that can guide us in every choice we make. Whenever confronted with a key decision, we should choose life.

That choice is explained by Rabbi Yitz Greenberg 
in this commencement address at Sacred Heart University a few years ago (BTW a great new site dedicated to Yitz's work has just been launched):  

"In sum, there is no neutral act in life and there is no moment without choice. Not to choose is to choose. Therefore graduates...in the name of humanity which waits upon your choice, and for the sake of God who years for your choice in love, go forth and choose life." 

Below are photos from last Sunday's Brown graduation. Click to enlarge.  






















Thursday, May 23, 2013

Shabbat-O-Gram for May 24, 2013




Shabbat Shalom, a Meaningful Memorial Day, and Mazal Tov to all our TBE graduates, including Sophie Koester (above), who graduated from Kulanu this week.  Thank you to Aviva Maller for the photo.

Following the devastating tornados of this past week, our federation has set up an Oklahoma relief fund

See our photo album from last week's K'tanim and Hebrew School moving up ceremonies.  Please send me additional photos and video to include in that album. Also see prior albums for the  7thgrade class wedding, Temple Rock Cafe and our Passover programs and Interfaith Seder.  And don't forget Ronnie Brockman's blog, to see what kids can learn from "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (just in time for the every-17th-year invasion of millions of very hungry cicadas).


TBE in the News

TBE’ers have been in the news this week.  See this moving interview on CNN featuring Jill (Rothkopf) Steinberg and others, describing their experiences in light of Angelina Jolie’s decision to undergo a double mastectomy in light of her genetic predisposition for breast cancer.  And Rabbinic Pastor David Daniel Klipper was the subject of a Wall Street Journal feature on midlife career changes from the world of finance to more spiritual pursuits.

Scouting and Outing

Yesterday's decision by the Boy Scouts  to lift the ban on gay youth highlights the dramatic journey American society has taken on this issue.  While the decision does not go far enough (there is still still discrimination in hiring gay adult leaders), the "evolution" in attitudes is still remarkable.  In 2001 I addressed this issue in a column entitled "On Scouting and Outing," a piece that highlights my own evolution, and the Conservative Movement's, on this issue.  But I proudly stand behind most of what I wrote then, while maintaining pride in the many positive effects scouting has had on American life, including the lives of some children here at TBE.  

I wrote then:

Admittedly, the question of sexual orientation and religious values is not a simple matter.  My congregation is at odds with many in my movement in that we do not discriminate based on sexual orientation in our hiring policies or in selecting board members. I also advocate the ordination of gay and lesbian rabbis, although I can understand the concerns of those who do not.

The issue here for me, however, is not whether the Torah is endorsing a particular sexual orientation; it is a question of simple discrimination. Yes, there are times when boundaries must be drawn -- the Pope should not be accepted to rabbinical school, for example, without first converting, nor should I be admitted to the College of Cardinals. But this is not one of those times. Jews, of all people, understand the pain of prejudice, and the combined afflictions of AIDS and violent gay-bashing are wake-up calls that all of us must hear. Further, while I do not subscribe to the notion that everything stemming from the religious right is evil, this is a case where Christian fundamentalists are trying to impose their own perception of God's will on the boy scouts and on the rest of us. Therefore, I support the resolution issued in January by the leadership of the Reform movement, calling upon local scouting chapters to publicly amend their charters to affirm non-discrimination.

I have no illusions here that even a mighty cry of Jewish protest will change this policy. It won't. Scouting, like the American flag -- and like God, for that matter -- should belong to all of us, not merely the religious right. But the B.S.A. is right now a captive of Ashcroftism, and we aren't going to change that. Nonetheless, like the lone prophet outside of Sodom, we protest not so much to change the policy as to ensure that this policy doesn't change us.

In the end, the world has come to realize that what was once thought to be a moral choice and a mere lifestyle selection is, quite simply, not that.  When the light bulb went on and people realized that, one of the most contentious issues of the day dissolved into thin air.  There are still dangers out there - hatred and narrow mindedness beyond belief (as evidenced last week in the East Village), but barriers are falling everywhere, in Rhode Island and Minnesota most recently, and even the N.B.A.

Now that the B.S.A has righted one wrong, we can go about the very hard work, all together, of teaching our boys and girls to make the right moral choices, including the choice not to bully other kids and the choice to dedicate their lives to repairing the world.

Veni, Vidi, Kvetchy

This week’s portion of Beha’alotecha chronicles the Israelites’ adventures in the Wilderness, with the running theme that carries us through the rest of the book, and indeed throughout the rest of Jewish history to this day:  “They came, the kvetched, they conquered,”  or as Julius Caesar famously put it in Latin,Veni, Vidi, Kvetchi.”  For every step forward, and there were many, there were two kvetches backward.  Most of the kvetches have to do with nostalgia, longing for those bygone days in the shackles of Egyptian slavery.

But nostalgia is not the only culprit at play here.  There is also envy.  In describing the manna, the Torah makes it seem like the tastiest thing this side of Entenmann’s crumb doughnuts -  the glazed ones.  Yet even that was not good enough for the Israelites. Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz, a 17th century sage from Krakow, noted that the Torah is trying to make a statement about human nature here. People will not be satisfied even with a daily dozen of Entenmann’s crumb doughnuts, if their neighbors are enjoying the same thing.  In order for people to feel fulfilled, they have to have more than their neighbors.  It’s sort of the opposite of Dayenu.  It’s never enough, unless I have more than the guy next door.

This lesson came to mind this week as I plunged into the zeitgeist by seeing the current 3-D version of “The Great Gatsby” and then heading to Broadway to see the revival of the musical “Pippin” One main character shouts "I want things! Lots of things!” while the other wants to be extra-ordinary and to find his corner of the sky.   Both productions are dazzling 21st century remakes, pumped-up-on-steroid versions of the originals.   It’s disturbing that current films and musicals need to be so over-the-top in order to hold our attention.  Subtlety is SO 20th century. 

But the main message remains for both “Gatsby” and Pippin,” and it is the same one that the Torah is teaching us.  The so-called American dream is not that different from the Jewish dream, and it’s not about having more, being better or reinventing oneself from scratch.  Those dreams are doomed to go up in flames (and Pippin’s pyrotechnic finale takes on a whole new meaning in an era of suicide bombings) or to be beaten back by relentless tides of disappointment.   The only enduring dream is one where people come together in communities that care about one another, where individuals are satisfied with what they have.  The Judaic dream discovers the extraordinary within the ordinary, so that the ordinary becomes extraordinary.  God is found in the everyday encounters that comprise community, in patching the roof and pitching the hay.  Sanctity is discovered in the everyday acts of eating and working and loving.  Salvation is attained through simplicity – and commitment.  It’s found in the act of reciting 100 blessings daily.



Ecclesiastes 5 puts materialism in it’s proper place: we should enjoy what we have earned and treat it as a gift.  There is little else that matters, as Sarah McLachlan reminds us:




I’ll be counting my blessings this weekend as I attend Ethan’s college graduation.  For those of you  who remember....

this  this
this  and

we’ve all counted our blessings together while watching our families grow together.

On this Memorial Day, what better time to reflect on the many things that endure and the many gifts we share.  Let’s do that, without complaint or envy.  

Please pass the Entenmann’s.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman