In This Moment: Soul Searching in Elul; Sarah Sherman...Rabbi? Standing Up for Kaddish; Railing About the Tel Aviv Light Rail

 

In This Moment Shabbat Shalom! Though much is happening in the world around us, as we turn the corner to Labor Day, with the new year just two weeks away, it's time to turn inward. So I've collected some classic resources for doing just that, and we'll continue this focus right up until the new year. As we dive into Labor Day Weekend and the beginning of fall, we think about the important role of labor in our tradition. It’s important to note that the Hebrew expression for work, avoda, also means worship.    As Rabbi Michael Strassfeld puts it, "Avodah connotes service. (It is also the word for slavery, which is involuntary service.) Work is not only a necessary part of life, it is a form of service to the world, to the rest of humanity, and to God. We are meant to be of service, to be partners with God in the ongoing creation of the world. Yet even as we serve God, we also serve our fellow human beings." I’ve written, regarding my own profession: "It is no coincidence that the Hebrew word for work, avodah, is also the word for worship. Our work is nothing less than our supreme offering to God, whether we are a rabbi, doctor or welder. Each of us must try to discern the cry of the times, perceive this mission and act on it. I see my task as being analogous to that of the ancient biblical prophet, of whom Heschel wrote, 'He is neither a singing saint nor a moralizing poet. His images must not shine, they must burn.'" Here are some packets to help us as we proceed with our Elul and Labor Day reflections:  Can We Judge Ourselves? Jewish spiritual practices to assist in self care and soul searching. Here's a collection of sources on Jewish labor law created for the Magen Tzedek program that certified kosher food, taking into account treatment of workers and animals. Also see a Power Point on the initiative.  Parsha Packet on Psalm 27, which is recited daily during the penitential season. Preparing for the High Holidays Heshbon ha-Nefesh - Character Development As we approach the High Holidays, take a look at Maimonides' Laws of Character Development (Hilchot Deot). An annotated except can found here and the entire work in translation here. Click here to find a complete version of Maimonides' Laws of Teshuvah (Repentance) online. Here, with English commentary, is chapter two of those laws. See below Goldie Milgrom's guidance on soul searching from her book, Reclaiming Judaism as a Spiritual Practice Accounting of the Soul: Equanimity. Ability to live in balance. Tolerance. Growing pains lead to knowing gains. Orderliness. Allocating time for living life fully with integrity. Decisiveness. Acting promptly when your reasoning is sure. Cleanliness. Modeling dignity in your ways and space. Humility. Know you will always have much to learn and more opinions than answers. Righteousness. Conducting your life such that you are trusted and respected. Economic Stability. Safe guarding enough resources for yourself to live without debt. Zeal. Living with gusto focused on purpose and care. Silence. Listening and reflecting before speaking. Calmness. Giving your needs and thoughts gently while being respectful and clear. Truth. Speaking only what is fully confirmed in fact. Separation. Focus on each strand in its own time, avoid multi-tasking. Temperance. Eating and drinking for good health, not dangerous excess. Deliberation. Pausing before acting, consider consequences, integrate heart and mind wisely. Modest Ways. Eschewing crude, lewd and boastful mannerisms and practices. Trust. Living in the spirit of knowing there is abundance in the universe and you are in the flow. Generosity. Finding satisfaction in making much possible for others. First take any one of these qualities and reflect on its degree of presence and activity in your life. Now, go into yourself and notice where in your body this quality resonates. The mind/body connection creates a short-cut to knowing. Is it lodged somewhere? Rather than thinking about the quality, listen to it, discover what your body knows about it. Then, take the information and gently set it before you and return to see if there is more, something new about this quality you can learn inside yourself. What is your desire with regard to this quality? Sit quietly with this question until a clear image forms, til you imagine a real probability. Invite strength and support for this intention from the great dynamic flow of all possibilities in creation. Standing During Mourners Kaddish at TBE (1993 Bulletin Article) Click for enlarged pdf One of the major changes of my first year at TBE was to encourage mourners to stand for the Kaddish, but not direct the rest of the congregation to do so. People could if they wished to, but for reasons cited below, I felt that this more traditional approach would be more in line with normative practice in Conservative shuls. i also felt it was more sound psychologically and for fostering community, for reasons cited below. The article is excerpted from Joseph Telushkin's Jewish Literacy, with some insertions by the 1993 version of me. Tel Aviv's New Light Rail - Should it Run on Shabbat? Tel Avivians can be justifiably proud of their new light rail line, the first stage of which has just opened - it's the red line above, You can see a clearer, bi-lingual version of this map and more maps at https://ckonovalov.com/nta). But this being Israel, there is controversy, and as so often is the case, it comes down to religion. In a Jewish state, and in the world's first all-Jewish city (originally, not now), should the trains run on Shabbat? In Israel's most secular city, where parking is always at a premium, how could they not? Just last week, a "compromise" was reached, allowing the light rail to run for an extra hour after Shabbat, but not on the day of rest at all. The decision came after a large public outcry after the light rail service commenced its operations at 9:30 p.m. during the preceding week. ceasing operations within a narrow two-hour window. 9:30 PM is barely mid-day in the city that never sleeps. At the time of the state's creation, David Ben Gurion established a status quo agreement with regard to religion, enabling mixed Arab-Jewish cities like Haifa to maintain bus service on Shabbat, but to eliminate public Shabbat transport in most of the rest of the country. And there is something to be said for not having excess bus traffic on the roads on Shabbat....except that having no public transportation actually increases traffic on the roads, especially in Tel Aviv, where Shabbat is a prime beach day. If you could create your own Jewish state - a state with a 20 percent non-Jewish minority population and a mix of secular and observant Jews, what would you do? How about running it like alternate side parking in NYC? Bus service on the first and third Shabbat of the month, no service on the second and fourth. Too confusing? How about no buses but yes for metro trains, which don't clog the roads and make relatively little noise? But what will not work at all is to have the Haredi authorities impose their narrow and extreme interpretations of Judaism on the entire population and tell their secular cousins and non-Jewish citizens to stuff it. That is basically what has happened here (along with a host of other affronts, including enshrining the principal that Torah study is equivalent to national service in the IDF. In Israel, the culture wars have gone off the rails. A while back, Tel Aviv implemented limited free bus service on Shabbat and last September, the prior, moderate Israeli government opted to regionalize the matter, leaving it up to local authorities. The religious parties were not happy and now they are in charge. Last week, the Orthodox deputy mayor of Jerusalem vowed to put an end to a free minibus service recently launched providing transport from the capital to Tel Aviv on Shabbat. No one seems to be in the mood to compromise, especially when an open rail system on Shabbat would be just the thing to help get protesters into the city to rail at the government every Saturday night. Whether or not to be on on Shabbat is one thing. But closing down quickly on Saturday night, after Shabbat is over, is a direct provocation. No status quo covers that. The plan is environmentally wise and a great example of urban planning at its best. But the reality on the ground - and underground - is something else entirely. Recommended Reading  Today's Israeli Front Pages Yediot Achronot Ha'aretz (English) Jerusalem Post In preparation for the High Holidays this year, we'll be using this study guide from Pardes to discuss the nature of Teshuvah (repentance). Download it for your own study and bring it to services on the next two Shabbat mornings. Is it Jewish to forgive? The Mitzvah of Teshuvah - study guide for discussion this Shabbat morning. Screen grab from Netflix trailer We Watched Netflix's 'You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah' And Have Many, Many Feelings. See also: 'Bat Mitzvah' is Adam Sandler, Netflix's perfect, awkward Jewish movie And about Sarah Sherman: An Actual Rabbi's Thoughts on Rabbi Rebecca From ‘You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah’ - I would also be so thrilled to have a treadmill in my office. I mean, I was lucky to score a standing desk, but a treadmill would be a whole new level of efficiency and so, so good for me as a rabbi who can’t really sit still. Rabbis are, after all, people, too. And I appreciate the degree to which Sarah Sherman’s Rabbi Rebecca from “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” exemplifies that often overlooked reality. Palestinian rams truck into group of Israeli soldiers, killing one and injuring five (JTA) The Story behind Israel’s Diplomatic Overture to Libya (TOI) - Last week, the Libyan foreign minister Najla Mangoush met with her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen in Italy. But after Israeli officials announced that the meeting had taken place, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh first insisted it was a chance encounter, then fired Mangoush and claimed that she orchestrated the meeting of her own accord—which she denies. Protests subsequently broke out in Tripoli and a few other cities, leading Mangoush to flee the country. Complicating the situation is the fact that Dbeibeh only governs the western part of Libya, and is locked in a civil war with the Russia-backed warlord Khalifa Haftar, as well as various jihadist groups. Justice Elron panned for challenging seniority system for Supreme Court president (TOI) Ahead of High Holidays, Israel warns travelers of Iranian kidnapping threats Iran claims to foil major Mossad attempt to insert defective parts into its missiles "Golda" is a triumph (RNS); See also: Did Golda Meir let the Yom Kippur War happen? See also: Get to Know Golda Meir (MJL) History And Memory | My Jewish Learning - As we look at our past, we consciously or unconsciously edit out the most painful parts. But some traumas refuse to go away Temple Beth El 350 Roxbury Road Stamford, Connecticut 06902 203-322-6901 | www.tbe.org    A Conservative, Inclusive, Spiritual Community

Temple Beth El | 350 Roxbury Road, Stamford, CT 06902

And The Word Shall Go Forth From Tel Aviv

And The Word Shall Go Forth From Tel Aviv

Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Joshua Hammerman
Special To The Jewish Week

I spent a few weeks in Israel this summer and couldn’t help but notice a fascinating trend developing, one that might help those of us back here to overcome our uneasiness about Jerusalem, with its fundamentalist leanings and shady politics.

It occurred to me that maybe we’ve been mistaken in looking exclusively toward Jerusalem for moral guidance and spiritual inspiration. Granted, our Eternal Capital is as beautiful as ever, despite the blight caused by uncontrolled growth — in particular the corruption-plagued Holyland project, an urban stain that has turned a majestic hillside into the Tower of Babel.

So when I had a few extra days to spend in the country, I opted for Tel Aviv, a city with zero holy sites and that a century ago was just a bunch of sand dunes. For all its grime and flatness, though, this quintessentially secular city has some sacred lessons to share. Holiness can happen even in a place where Habima is a theater and not a pulpit. While the Torah may still come from Zion, a woman holding one in parts of Jerusalem will be subject to arrest.

(for more on the Women of the Wall being banned from sounding a shofar as well, see Echoes of a Shofar, 80 years later – The official Women of the Wall website )

Not so in Tel Aviv.

It seems that even the ultra-Orthodox agree that Israel’s commercial mecca is gaining some serious spiritual street cred. Recently the highway between Israel’s two central cities was plastered with signs featuring a photo of a black bearded man declaring that the messiah is from, of all places, Tel Aviv. According to the “Mystical Paths” blog, the photo portrays the 5th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Shalom Dov Bear of Lubavitch, who died around 1920, and the sign’s purpose is to draw attention to the apocalyptic expectations that have become rampant in Israel. According to this theory, Tel Aviv is mentioned to heighten curiosity even more.

While some are awaiting apocalypse, others are simply looking for a quiet evening by the seashore, and that’s where I found the Torah that emanates from Tel Aviv. For the past few years, the reconfigured Tel Aviv port has become a cool hotspot for young couples and families, and now, each Friday in the summer, an outdoor Kabbalat Shabbat service, of all things, has become a huge hit in this bastion of secularism. Along with many hundreds of others, I attended one of the services, which are coordinated by Beit Tefila Israeli, a pluralistic, non-denominational group that seeks to meld Tel Aviv’s creative spirit with ancient Jewish traditions. Its prayer book does just that, interspersing the traditional prayers with selections by Bialik, Heschel, Naomi Shemer and a number of other Jewish and particularly Israeli sources. The congregation wants its service to be considered an indigenous expression of modern Israeli culture, not an import from elsewhere, and it is most definitely succeeding.


North American visitors will recognize the influence of non-Orthodox centers of Jewish spirituality in the U.S., but it is reassuring to see such recognition happening in Israel, far from the back rooms of the Knesset, where politicians appear determined to ban all expressions of Judaism save one. Almost everything about this Kabbalat service would have been prohibited near the Kotel: the mixed seating, the female prayer leaders, the many men in the congregation not wearing kippot (and the women who were), the exotic musical instruments, and the hints of Eastern spirituality combined with ballads of great Zionist poets.


As we turned to greet the Shabbat bride, with the setting sun splashing into the blue sea before us, I realized that we had been praying the entire service facing the water — in other words facing west, with our backs to Jerusalem. I smiled. Outdoors, it really was a no-brainer to face the soothing Mediterranean rather than the fast food restaurants across the way, or the juggler a few hundred yards down the pier. But this is also the best possible response to the Rotem Bill on conversion — not to shun all of Israel, but turn away from the sickness of Jerusalem’s corrupted, forbidding, vindictive brand of Judaism and seek better models elsewhere. The view from Tel Aviv that Shabbat was simply delightful.

The congregation’s siddur states: “My God — here we have no Wall, only the sea. But since you seem to be everywhere, you must be here, too. … And maybe I was created so that from within me you can see the world you created with new eyes.”

Jerusalemites are beginning to take their cultural cues from their neighbor to the west. The most popular spot in town is now the upscale, very Tel Avivian outdoor mall in the Mamila quarter, right outside Jaffa Gate. Who could have imagined that Jerusalemites would flock to Hilfiger, Prada and the Gap? And in the hit Israeli TV series “S’rugim,” which portrays the lives of single modern Orthodox 30-somethings in Jerusalem, one of the most poignant scenes of the first season involved one character’s experience of an exhilarating Shabbat, not at the Kotel but on the beach in Tel Aviv.

Non-Orthodox forms of Jewish expression are thriving in Israel and places like Beit Tefilah Israeli are not going to fade away. It reminds us that throughout Jewish history, great religious innovation could take place only at a safe distance from the watchful eyes of the Jerusalem elites. Places like Yavne, Tiberias and Safed gave rise to the Judaism we know today, while Jerusalem corroded and crumbled under the weight of its own ossified hubris.

As we stand facing east over the coming days, toward all of Israel, recall that Torah is being renewed, with new eyes, in Tel Aviv.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman is spiritual leader of Temple Beth-El in Stamford, Conn.

Happy 100th, Tel Aviv

See below a tribute: Tel Aviv celebrates its centennial - from ISRAEL21c. Then read about Tel Aviv's origins and historic sites. Also see some background fior walking tours here. Download the map of Tel Aviv from here. This map is marked with many hotspots. Click on each hotspot to get updated review on hotels in Tel Aviv, attractions and other point of interest.

If this video whets your appetite to visit Israel's most exciting city, join us on our TBE Israel Adventure next December. Download the interactive itinerary and trip details here.

Happy Birthday, Tel Aviv!