On One Foot: Joshua Hammerman's Blog

Author of "Embracing Auschwitz" and "Mensch•Marks: Life Lessons of a Human Rabbi - Wisdom for Untethered Times." Winner of the Rockower Award, the highest honor in Jewish journalism and 2019 Religion News Association Award for Excellence in Commentary. Musings of a rabbi, journalist, father, husband, poodle-owner, Red Sox fan and self-proclaimed mensch, taken from essays, columns, sermons and thin air. Writes regularly in the New York Jewish Week and Times of Israel.

Friday, March 12, 2021

In This Moment for March 12: One Year In....

In This Moment
"That'll be a total of Four Zuzim, Abba!"
Two newborn kids, a sign of the season - and Pesach - from the Irish Times
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Shabbat Shalom!

This weekend is Shabbat Ha-Hodesh, the Shabbat before the beginning of the month of Nisan, the original new year, the month of spring and Passover, As we mark the end of the Year of Covid, before we rush headlong (yet cautiously) into our post-plague "Plegxit," we should look back and take stock, as we await a return to normalcy, whatever that is. Here are three suggestions:

#1) The TBE Covid Memory Project

A congregant has suggested an excellent way of capturing this moment in time before it has receded into memory. We would like to create a collection of personal essays about living with Covid – 19 for the last year.

We invite you to reflect on what has inspired you, what has saved you, what has given you hope, what has been lost. What would you like to remember and record about these many months. What wisdom have you gained? What survival techniques brought you to the other side of these dark days. What gave you hope? I know that our daily minyan, for instance, has brought huge comfort to many. What did zoom services mean to you during this year?

As a brief example, Marsha Matthews wrote of our daily Zoom minyan, "It helps to anchor my day...I certainly don’t have “big”plans these days, but I often make my little plans around the minyan... I enjoyed meeting the minyan “regulars”, most of whom were unknown to me, and about whom I now know a little bit...It feels good to be part of the community...It helps me feel linked to my Judaism."

We will assemble this collection of writings and share them with our members (and we'll assume that if you send it in you are OK with publication).

Please share your thoughts. Kids are invited to take part in this as well. Submissions should be 200-500 words.

Here's another way to look back...

#2) "Oh the Places We've been!"
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One year ago, when we took our services out of the building and onto Zoom, I decided that a housebound congregation needed ways to expand its horizons, to take flights of fancy when physical travel was impossible.  

So each Shabbat - and at other times too - I've used the Zoom virtual background feature to take us to sacred places around the world. At a time when everyone was cooped up in quarantine, when even the New York Times' travel section was renamed "At Home," we needed that vehicle of escape. I know I did.

Visiting these holy places took some of the humdrum out of our day and added a sense of wonder. It also added a bit of intrigue to the service, causing people to ask, "Where in the world will the rabbi be today?" Or maybe you didn't. But for me, these fanciful flights helped me forge a new intentionality (kavvanah) as I prepared for each service. Without leaving my home, I was able to visit more places than Waldo or Carmen Sandiego. And since almost all of these photos were taken by me, each Shabbat I was whisked back to a key moment of my own spiritual growth. How better to celebrate Shavuot than to be on Mount Sinai, next to myself as a teenager. Or on Hanukkah, to be standing before the ancient temple model in Jerusalem. Or on Inauguration weekend, to be socially distant from Bernie Sanders, to celebrate our high school graduates with a trip to Hogwarts (and Rydell High too).

We communed with a cow in Varanasi, India's holiest city, on Shabbat Parah (the Shabbat of the Cow), we mourned George Floyd's murder at the Lincoln Memorial, and commemorated D-Day at the American Cemetery in Normandy and Pride Shabbat at the Stonewall Inn. We lifted our eyes to a sunrise in Nepal, and marveled at Victoria Falls; we celebrated Israel's birthday in Latrun and Yom Hashoah at Auschwitz and Terezin. Through these images, prayer was better able to lift us out of our cabin fever and send our souls soaring.

I can't wait to see more people in person - but I must confess, I'm really going to miss the ways Covid forced us to to be more creative in our worship, and we need to incorporate this into our plans as we return to our "new normal."
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I’ve collected over 30 "on-location" screen shots of these virtual backgrounds in a blog posting. Feel free to peruse them all. And then choose your top three. Which ones sent you on flights of fancy of your own back at the service when that photo was featured. Which lifted you out of a rut at just the right time, or brought back memories of brighter days. Or tell us what that location means to you now. If you are really feeling nostalgic for the Covid year, I’ve archived many of our Zoom services and events from the past year, which you can access here.

So there you have it. Two ways we can capture the meaning of this Covid year.

And now, here’s a third way to mark this sacred transition as we begin to see that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
#3) The Gomel Project
Have you recently been vaccinated or survived a case of Covid? There is a prayer for that. It's typically recited right after coming up to the Torah for an aliyah. You can read about it here.
Here's a how-to video about Gomel
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What is the Birkat HaGomel? Jewish Blessing for Gratitude
As each of us becomes vaccinated, one at a time, now in growing clusters, some kind of communal moment of thanks is called for. So each week, beginning this Shabbat morning on Zoom, we are going to reserve one aliyah for those who wish to express thanks for having been vaccinated or having survived Covid to do so. And we will join you in being grateful for your health and well-being. So join us for a Gomel moment this Shabbat.
What Awaits Us...
Marc Schulman's Israel Update - "At this point, 90% of those over age 50 have been vaccinated; and we have passed 70% inoculation of the entire adult population. The cumulative effect of our astonishing success getting shots in arms has led to the near disappearance of critically ill patients, requiring hospitalization. On Thursday, the IDF announced that 81% of soldiers are now fully vaccinated, declaring itself the first army in the world to reach herd immunity. Pfizer claimed early Thursday that based on Israeli data, its vaccine is 97% effective in blocking severe illness, and 94% effective in blocking transmission."
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Last night in Tel Aviv the bars were filled. This is what the end of Covid looks like... if we will only be very careful for just a few more weeks, we will get there too. Our congregation's - and nation's - goal is that we all get there safely.
Passover Preparations and Other Reading
Pesach 101
Rabbinical Assembly Passover Guide 5781
Online Haggadahs from Haggadot.com
6 Tips for Hosting a Solo Passover Seder
The Plagues Project
How to Host a Virtual Seder
In Eastern Europe, historic synagogues are being sold for the price of a used car (Anyone interested in TBE restoring an Eastern European synagogue?)
Finally, see below, a tribute to our Mensch of the Week, Julian Edelman, who combatted an anti-Semitic slur by another athlete in the best possible way, with this open letter.

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman
Posted by Joshua Hammerman
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Labels: coronavirus, shabbat hachodesh, Shabbat-O-Gram

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First Prize Winner in Commentary, 2019 RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence

First Prize Winner in Commentary, 2019 RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence

First Prize in Commentary, Simon Rockower Award Winner

First Prize in Commentary, Simon Rockower Award Winner
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Joshua Hammerman Online

  • Amazon Page for "Embracing Auschwitz: Forging a Vibrant, Life-Affirming Judaism that Takes the Holocaust Seriously""
  • Amazon Page for "Mensch-Marks: Life Lessons of a Human Rabbi - Wisdom for Untethered Times"
  • Articles and Sermons (many also archived on this blog)
  • CAJE 33 "Is the Internet Good for the Jews?"
  • Embracing Auschwitz: Forging a Vibrant, Life-Affirming Judaism that Takes the Holocaust Seriously
  • Is the Internet Good for the Jews? - Complete Video of Panel Discussion
  • Is the Internet Good for the Jews? Downloadable Video highlights
  • JPost on Excommunicating Madoff
  • Shabbat-O-Gram Archives
  • TBE Hammermans Video (click on HQ)
  • Temple Beth El
  • The Jewish Week
  • thelordismyshepherd.com: Seeking God in Cyberspace
  • You Tube: Gates of Jerusalem, Gateways to Judaism

Recommended Web Sites

JEWISH SITES
Temple Beth El
My Jewish Learning
JInsider Web 3.0 Jewish Portal
Jewish Virtual Library
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Storahtelling
Synagogue Transformation and Renewal (STAR)
Synagogue 3000
United Jewish Federation of Stamford
Jewish Family and Life
Jewish Family Service
Jewish Historical Society of Lower Fairfield County
Jewish Theological Seminary
Bi-Cultural Day School
Connecticut Jewish Ledger
Conversion to Judaism Home Page
Maqom
Masorti
Maven (Index)
Mercaz USA
Mishpacha: Family Education
New Israel Fund
Ritualwell (Ritual and Renewal)
Shalom Home
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Stamford JCC
Virtual Jerusalem
Westchester/Fairfield Hebrew Academy
AJCommittee Archives
BeliefNet - Judaism
The Conservative Yeshiva
Jewish Women's Archive
National Museum of American Jewish History
Nextbook
SocialAction.com
Data JEM (educational materials
Babbaganuz (great Kids site)
My Jewish Learning's Talmud section
Eliezer Siegal's Talmud Page
Jewish Vegetarian and Animal Rights
Hazon, environmentalism, food
Jews and Sports
Yiddish expressions
Hebrew Online Dictionary
Jewish Parenting Site
Jewish Gates: History, Ritual, Culture
Index for Jewish Gates
Maven: Portal
Shamash - Original Jewish Portal
Jewish History Resources (all periods)from Fordham
Online Texts Related to Jewish History
COEJL Jewish Environmentalism
Israel Campus Beat
Jewish Jokes
Conservative Responsa from Law Committee
Israeli (Masorti) Responsa
Guide for visiting the sick
Shefa Network (Conservative Movement)

ISRAEL
Interactive Map of Israel
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Tourism Ministry
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Jaffe Strategic Center
Begin Sadat Strategic Center
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
One jerusalem
Twenty Facts about Israel Myths & Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Jerusalem Archaeological Park

Media-Related Links:
Daily Update
Camera
Jerusalem Pose
JTA
Ha'aretz
Honest Reporting
Independent Media Review
Middle East Media Watch
Israel Insider
Jewish World Review
The Jewish Week
The Forward

First Prize Winner in Commentary, 2019 RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence

First Prize Winner in Commentary, 2019 RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence

Quotable Quotes: Click for full quote


Judaic Quotes from Heschel and Nachman
Everything Happens - American Proverb
The only normal people - Ancis
Take our breath away - Anonymous
Someting Inside Them - Barton Magnet
An Angel By Your Side - Blessing
Friends for Life - Blume Magnet
Believe nothing - Buddha
Live in the present - Buddha
Young. Old. Just Words - Burns
Six impossible things - Carroll
Going through hell - Churchill
These Are Great Days - Churchill
Follow your dreams - Coelho
Live In The Moment - Crosby
Open your mind - Davis
Life is Infinitely Stranger - Doyle
Dwell in possibility - Dickinson
Always Make New Mistakes - Dyson
Sunset Hold Peace - Blessing
Out Of Clutter Find Simplicity - Einstein
Finish each day - Emerson
To laugh often - Emerson
Whether you think you can - Ford
Some dream of fortunes - Fortune Cookie
Whatever you can do - Goethe
Nothing is worth more - Goethe
Fame Is A Vapor - Greeley
Irrevocable Decisions - Heinlein
May the road rise - Irish Blessing
May You Always Be Blessed - Irish Blessing
When I Count My Blessings - Irish Blessing
Wherever you are - James
A Human Being Should Be Able - Heinlein
Best & Most Beautiful - Helen Keller
Make Your Optimism Come True - Larson
Shape It Or Someone Else Will - Lew
Do Not Worry - Lincoln
Whatever you are - Lincoln
Birthdays are Good For You - Lorenzoni
Life Is Weird - Lunik
Now Is The Right Time - Lotus Sutra
True Happiness Lies Within - Mandino
Beginning Today - Mandino
The aim of life - Henry Miller
Go Into The World - MyersOnly young once - Nash
Good Cooks Never Lack Friends - Old Adage
We do not remember days - Pavese
Let Your Light Shine - Peterson
Be grateful - Proust
Champion The Right To Be - Peterson
When You Reach The End - Peterson
Try Again Tomorrow - Radmacher
Delicious Ambiguity - Gilda Radner
Do one thing - Eleanor Roosevelt
Friends Leave Footprints - E. Roosevelt
Do What You Can - Teddy Roosevelt
Easy Does It - Saying
Made of Stars - Serbian Proverb
Just Let Go, Just Be - Shields
Enjoy the Ride - Solbeam Magnet
Dance, Love, Sing - Souza
Happiness is a journey - Souza
Take Care Of Each Other - Stevenson
Every blade of grass - The Talmud
Go confidently - Thoreau
Happiness is like a butterfly - Thoreau
Live In The Present - Thoreau Magnet
Be Bold, Free, And Truthful - Ueland
Be yourself - Unknown Creating Yourself - Unknown
Everything Will Be OK - Unknown
How old would you be - Unknown
Life does not put things - Unknown
Peace... - Unknown
Shoot for the moon - Unknown
What Would You Attempt - Unknown
Too much of a good thing - Mae West
Whatever women do - Whitton
Life is too important - Wilde
Walk in The Rain - Williamson
You Will Find Love - Marion Winik
Leap - Zen Saying Magnet
No Act of Kindness - Aesop
May The Sun Keep You New - Apache
If You Have a Preference - Armstrong
Today Is The First Day - American Proverb
Try, try, again! - American Proverb
Friendship - Anonymous
May You Be Happy Always Balzac
Enough Determination - Blessing
Never Let The Odds Keep You - Brown
Doubt Everything - BuddhaGreat Opportunity - Burroughs Magnet There Are No Limits - Cervantes
Celebrate Who You Are - Chatwin
Remember What Is Important - Chinese Saying
Wheresoever You Go - Confucius
Watch With Glittering Eyes - Dahl
You Are Unrepeatable - Dellinger
What are you waiting for - De Vega
Fleeting World - Diamond Sutra Magnet
Be Gentle - Ehrmann Magnet
Universe is unfolding - Ehrmann
Never Too Late - Eliot
Break The Monotony - Emerson
Leave A Trail - Emerson
What Lies Within Us - Emerson
Greatest Earthly Blessing - Finley
Be Strong Hold On - Frey
The Meaning of Life - Frey
The Best Way Out - Frost
Two Roads Diverged - Frost
Be the Change - Gandhi
Dare to be Remarkable - Gentry
Thousands Of Tiny Miracles - Greenberg
Babies - I Know What Love Is - Hesse
Go on With The Spirit - Homer
Listen To Your Heart Above All - Kagan
A great strange dream - Kerouac
This Moment Is Your Life - Khayyam
One Door - Keller
Make A Difference - JF Kennedy
The Only People - Kerouac
Journey of a 1,000 Miles - Lao Tzu
You Have the Answer - Lao Tzu
Believe in yourself - Larson
Life In Your Years - Lincoln
Live with intention - Radmacher
You Are Pure Potential - de Maat
Risk, Care, Dream, Expect - Cadet Maxim
Walk in the Rain - Miller
Grant Me the Serenity - Niebuhr
Life Should Not Only be Lived - Osho
Walk With The Dreamers - Peterson
A Misty Morning - Proverb
Anything is Possible - Proverb
Beauty & Joy Of Each Day - Proverb
I Beg You - Rilke
Shake The Tree Of Life - Robinson
Beauty of Their Dreams - Eleanor Roosevelt
Do the thing you think - Eleanor Roosevelt
Purpose of Life - Eleanor Roosevelt
Today is a Gift - Eleanor Roosevelt
Set The World On Fire - St Ignatius
The Spirit Blooms - Santayana
Celebrate - Seltzer Magnet
Trust Yourself - Dr Spock
The Shell Must Break - Tennyson
Peace Begins - Mother Teresa
Life is Short. Eat Dessert First! - Torres
Explore, Dream Discover - Unknown
Friendship Is A Special Gift - Unknown
You May be One Person - Unknown
Love, Grace, and Gratitude - Waitley
Doubt Your Limits - Ward
Good Things Happen - Webb
You Are So Much Sunshine - Whitman
Whenever They Go - Wilde

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