From the Rabbi's Bunker: April 12: Opening Doors and Unlocking the Yearning Heart

From the Rabbi's Bunker Happy Easter to our Christian Neighbors... Here's a screen grab from one of history's most famous Zoom Seders Tweet courtesy of MythAddict  If you missed last night's star-studded "Saturday Night Seder," here it is. It was terrific from beginning to end, but if you have only time to hear one part, head right to 45:06, where Stephen Schwartz plays his hit, "When You Believe," sung by Cynthia Erivo (who played the female Moses, Harriet Tubman) and Shoshana Bean of "Wicked" -- and they doubled up on Elphabas, with Idina Menzel pitching in with the Four Questions. ---------------- Below are some screen shots of our first TBE Zoom Seder. Click here to see the outline of the Seder   Our guests also included Peter, Paul and Mary... And survivors of the final Passover Seder in the Warsaw Ghetto  ----------------------------------- WE SAY "HAVE A SWEET (ZISSEN) PESACH... ...WE ALL COULD USE A LITTLE SOMETHING TO SWEETEN THE MOOD... From Israel... Israelis Taking their Seders to their Balconies  Israeli Comedy Sketch: Fauda vs. Corona  Moses and The Israelites at the Red Sea: What REALLY Happened And finally, some humor of a more local flavor  Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy Explains Passover With His Dad And two more immortal works of art, adjusted for social distancing.... The First Draft of History I hope your Passover has been thus far safe and, to the greatest degree possible, uneventful.  Our TBE Zoom Seder was among the most satisfying events I can recall here.  The virtual room was filled with people from here to Hawaii, from Florida to San Francisco, some of them multiple generations of the same families.  Zoom technology enabled me to "invite" to our Seder vintage eye-witnesses to Passovers past.  We added readings relevant to this Passover and used the chat box liberally to solicit responses to questions we never had thought of asking before; like, how the ritual of washing hands has changed us, how can we find signs of God's presence in the face of illness and suffering, and what activities (or ceasing of your normal activities) have you found to be reviving during these days of quarantine? You can see an outline of the Seder by clicking here, along with links to the extra material I shared. Please send me screen shots from this Seder and your family Zoom Seders so we can put together a montage of our extended congregational family.  Some of you already have - and I'd love to collect lots more.  Try to collect your thoughts in writing too, and send me reflections on your Seders and Passover 5780. We are living witnesses to a challenging time that some day we will recall with both sadness and pride.  As part of TBE's 100th anniversary, help us to write the first draft of history. You can see what I have in mind by looking at this collection of responses from the Forward, which asked readers to chime in about their Seders.  One respondent replied: Instead of the 10 plagues, we did the 10 blessings. We normally diminish our cups because we feel the pain of the Egyptians who suffered, but this year we aren't diminished by sharing the pain of others, so with each blessing - which I asked each person to repeat after me in English, just like in the 10 plagues - we added some wine to our cups. The blessings were: We are healthy. We are volunteering. We are reaching out. We are learning new technologies. We are innovating. We are slowing down. We are staying home. We are supporting local restaurants. We are appreciating the arts in new ways. We are paying attention. Then we made a l'chayim and drank! Will do again! Please send your Zoom Seder reflections to rabbi@tbe.org Also, the Jerusalem Post is inviting readers to submit Covid-19 memorials from the Jewish world in conjunction with Yizkor commemorations taking place this week.  See https://yizcor.carmel6000.com/#/. And don't forget Sunday's weekly healing and hangout at 1 PM https://zoom.us/j/866408956 How Many Plagues are Left? As if the tumultuous nature of these times was not already confounding enough, did you hear about the rumblings of an awakening volcano in Iceland that has not erupted since the 10th century, (and when it did back then, it kept on spewing for 300 years)? Or this story from the weekend papers... Locusts? Really? Do yourself a favor and don't enlarge the photo. It's not pretty. And so, OK, it's true that locusts are used as apocalyptic imagery in the Bible (specifically by the prophet Joel). However, they are also kosher (though some debate just how kosher they are), and for Jews from some parts of the world, a delicacy. So think of them less as an apocalyptic omen than as a sign that we'll never go hungry. Does that help? An Important Message from our Beloved Elders   An important message from residents of a seniors facility, from the Washington Post. Opening Doors and Unlocking the Yearning Heart: A Look at Nachman of Bratzlav's Haggadah The pandemic has brought out the generosity of so many, including artists and publishers.  Over the past week, I've been able to download two classic Haggadahs that are invaluable to the Haggadah collector.  The Koren Haggadah, by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, one of this generation's great rabbis and former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain; and  The Breslov Haggadah, by the renowned 19th century Hasidic leader, Nachman of Bratzlav. (If that link doesn't work, you can download it through this link.)  I've taken some brief excerpts from the Bratzlav Haggadah which, while two centuries old (he died in 1810), is an exceedingly contemporary commentary.  In the view of his biographer Rodger Kamanetz, Nachman's storytelling was clearly designed to reach out to people who otherwise would not be interested in Jewish mysticism or in serious religious Judaism.  "I think what's most modern about Rabbi Nachman is his consideration of the problem of extreme doubt and extreme nothingness - of descending into states of mind where he felt that he knew nothing, which he frequently proclaimed to his followers.... To dramatize and live out the reality of doubt is an extraordinary feat for a figure like Rabbi Nachman, who clearly was deeply devout and deeply religious." So he was a very traditional figure, though he lived in the infancy of a very radical movement, Hasidism, and he was addressing an audience with increasingly modern sensibilities.  No wonder his Haggadah commentary feels like it was written just for us, as we grapple with living in Coronaville, 2020. Commenting on the verse from the Haggadah, "God will bring us out of Egypt with a strong hand and outstretched arm," a section of word-by-word analysis that rabbis go gaga over and everyone else at the table typically wants to skip, the Bratzlaver shares thoughts that echo in our current experience, of the need to bear our suffering, see beyond it and never lose hope.  While we ruminate over our current predicament, Nachman's point would be that we always need to be aiming for self improvement and lessons learned, even when so much is out of control.  There are things we can control: how we read danger signs, to what degree we socially distance ourselves and influence others to do the same, and how and when we raise voices in protest.   The next commentary that I've excerpted ends with words that have never been more prophetic.  As the Israelites shed themselves of the crust accumulated from centuries of superstition, cynicism and lethargy, God "opens doors" for them, releasing them from their Egyptian quarantine.  They are now keenly aware of the miracles they've witnessed, enabling them to overcome their despair.  We too have been awakened to the miracles of our families, our community, the goodness in people and the gift of life.   And we too yearn for the opening of doors.  The journey from Passover to Shavuot this year, from Egypt to Sinai, the traditional And we too yearn for the opening of doors.  The journey from Passover to Shavuot this year, from Egypt to Sinai, the traditional counting of the Omer, will be a time of counting and growing such as we've not seen since the Exodus itself.    As an aside, see this essay comparing the Omer counting to Coronovirus quarantine, and see the counting of the Omer as described in our Lev Shalem Siddur Here are those first two commentaries:     Here's Reb Nachman's take on the Four Children - a fascinating psychological study in which all four of them in fact reside within each of us.   In the commentary below, we read Nachman's take on the Matzah as the "Bread of Experience" and how the Seder itself, as embodied in the matzah, is sort of a Rorschach test of one's openness to Jewish experiences.  In light of this past week's once-in-a-lifetime Seder experiences, it is hard to imagine that anyone was bored!  If this was, for you, just another Seder, please take two Nachmans and see me in the morning.  I'd love to hear your Seder stories from this week, especially if you happen to be among those that Nachman was talking about, the person who usually is heard saying countless times, "Are we there yet?" before we've even broken the middle matzah.  What moved you this year?  How was this Seder experience different from all others?   And finally, here's a small snippet of the book's extensive introduction, where Nachman tells the story of the Exodus, from the very beginning of Genesis.  We read in this excerpt a fascinating psychological study of Pharaoh, the defeated despot - that first paragraph is a keen analysis of autocrats, then and now -  and how the Israelites endured the night of terror with joyous expectation of their pending liberation, so joyous that even Pharaoh's own daughter was enticed to join them. For a guy who lived decades before Freud, he was speaking in the language of Freud and Kafka...and us. Hag Samayach! Rabbi Joshua Hammerman 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 SafeUnsubscribe™ {recipient's email} Forward email | Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by rabbi@tbe.org

Hag Samayach!

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

Coronavirus Update March 22: Some Welcome Wonderful News; "I Vant to be Alone"

From the Rabbi's Bunker

EXTRA! EXTRA!

In the midst of all our sadness and stress, some wonderful news. Ariel (Shindler) and Antony Wilshaw have informed me of the birth of Adora Mae Wilshaw, born at 9:49 pm on 3/12/20, weighing 5 pounds 12 ounces and 18 inches long. Mazal tov to them and to grandparents Steve and Karen Shindler. Ariel and Antony remarked, "We are both over the moon with our little gift." And they will have quite a tale to tell Adora when she is a little older!

 

Shavua Tov (A Good Week)!

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed our Zoom Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday.  At its peak, we had nearly 70 in the "room" with us.  I especially loved the chat messages and seeing so many smiling faces. We've all been yearning for connection. Special thanks to Stan Friedman for his facilitation and of course to Beth Styles.  The one thing missing is the sound of all of us singing together, but it is a small sacrifice considering what we are all facing right now. 

Thanks to Leslie Heyison for the photos from Kabbalat Shabbat

 

Let's move to something to lighten the very serious situation we all face...

Here's a nice diversion, suggested by Alan Sosnowitz 

I was a big fan Lehrer fan back when he was a one-man SNL - 

before there was SNL

 

Tom Lehrer, "I Got It From Agnes"

Have you filled out your bracket?

An Israeli mom lets loose on distance learning.  Hilarious!

And below, minyans from adjoining balconies - from the Jerusalem Post.

SUNDAY AT 1:00 PM HEALING PRAYERS AND CONVERSATION

with me and Katie Kaplan....

Topic: Healing and Conversation

Time: Mar 22, 2020 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/530487668

Join by phone: (646) 558-8656, Meeting ID: 530 487 668

Make America Greta Again!

  

I've received some heartfelt thanks from some who prayed with us on Friday, including and especially from people who live alone.  No one should feel alone at a time like this. 

Only Greta Garbo "vanted" to be alone - though the precise quote is, "I want to be LEFT alone."  But either way, she wasn't exactly looking for the nearest minyan.

So this a good time to think about aloneness in Judaism, especially as it relates to nature and technology.  

We can all be alone and together at the same time, and technology is facilitating that. The way I see it, the only way to strengthen the bonds of community, paradoxically, is to strengthen ourselves individually, even if that means separating a little, creating a space for oneself. Kabbalists, after all, believe that even God withdrew into Godself, in effect creating space for the world to evolve. It is a complicated concept called Tzimtzum, but basically it means that God, like any good parent, backed away voluntarily so that the children could mature on their own. That's how they could begin to explain the preponderance of evil in God's world. 

True, Pirke Avot says, "Al tifrosh min ha'tzibur" - "Do not separate yourself from the community." I think that at this point in time, we need to amend that: "Don't break from the community, but, like God, do create a modicum of personal space so that you and others may grow."  And there are times, such as this week, when the act of separation from community is the most community-affirming thing we can do.

 

"Personal space" is a very contemporary term. Do yourself a favor some Sunday when this virus thing is over, and go down to the tenement museum on the Lower East Side, see where so many of our great grandparents lived, and imagine great uncle Yossel kvetching about a lack of "personal space." But the fact is that we often feel that walls of humanity are closing in on us, much more than they felt it back at the turn of the 20th century, when they were living ten to a room. If you don't believe me, go to Fenway in Boston and try to squeeze into the seats in the right field grandstand. The problem was addressed in recent years, but it makes one wonder how much the American tush increased in size since 1912. 

Or have we become less tolerant of those sitting next to us and more needy of space?

 

We do need that space. At times it seems that the entire world is encroaching on us. We must recognize that the best way to become a more cohesive community is by allowing each individual to shine and flourish, each in his or her own way. 

Now, we have that chance.  For the foreseeable future, we will have plenty of time to be alone, whether we "vant" it or not.

Reb Nachman of Bratzlav never had a problem reconciling Judaism's instinctive herd mentality with the need for personal space.  This prayer that he wrote - which I recited at services on Friday evening - has gained a completely new meaning during this Season of our Isolation.

Reb Nachman's Prayer for Nature

 

Grant me the ability to be alone;

may it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees

and grass - among all growing things and there may I be alone,

and enter into prayer, to talk with the One to whom I belong.

May I express there everything in my heart,

and may all the foliage of the field - all grasses, trees, and plants -

awake at my coming, to send the powers of their life

into the words of my prayer so that my prayer and speech

are made whole through the life and spirit of all growing things,

which are made as one by their transcendent Source.

May I then pour out the words of my heart before

your Presence like water, O Lord, and lift up my hands to You in worship,

on my behalf, and that of my children!

We need to become comfortable within our skins and in our shelters - but at the same time, we need to continue reaching out.  We'll continue to provide opportunities to escape the confines of this unceasing spiritual quarantine.

As this lovely poem suggests (thank you for calling it to my attention, Irma Ross), perhaps when we look back, our isolation will at least in part have been a blessing.

And The People Stayed Home, by Kitty O'Meara

 

And the people stayed home

And the people stayed home.

And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art,

and played games, and learned new ways of being,

and were still. And listened more deeply.

Some meditated, some prayed, some danced.

Some met their shadows.

And the people began to think differently.

And the people healed.

 

And, in the absence of people living in ignorant,

dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways,

the earth began to heal.

 

And when the danger passed, and the people

joined together again, they grieved their losses,

and made new choices, and dreamed new images,

and created new ways to live and heal the earth

fully, as they had been healed.

Recommended Reading

The Doctor Who Helped Defeat Smallpox Explains What's Coming (Wired)

Epidemiologist Larry Brilliant, who warned of pandemic in 2006, says we can beat the novel coronavirus-but first, we need lots more testing. One of the more informative pieces I've read. Doesn't leave you reaching for the panic button.

 

Virtual pastoring, and the texts that give them comfort: 19 rabbis (and 2 cantors) on spiritual leadership through coronavirus (Jodi Rudoren, Forward) 

Happy to be included in this collection.

Katie Porter's sister, a doctor, breaks down how staying in can save lives during the COVID-19 crisis (video)

Another poem sent my way by Irma Ross....

Kindness, by Naomi Shihab Nye - 1952 (click here for the complete poem)

 

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow.

You must speak to it till your voice catches the thread of all sorrows

and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,

only kindness that ties your shoes and

sends you out into the day to gaze at bread,

only kindness that raises its head

from the crowd of the world to say

It is I you have been looking for,

and then goes with you everywhere

like a shadow or a friend.

 

Online Learning Opportunities from MyJewishLearning:

A Daily Dose of Talmud: This daily email series offers a teaching from a page of the Talmud, timed to the Daf Yomi cycle, a global project of learning a page of Talmud every day. (If tackling the entire Talmud feels like a lot, try starting with this email series on just the first tractate.)

The Deeper Side of Prayer: This weekly series offers unique insights, perspectives, history, pronunciation guides and more about individual pieces of Jewish liturgy.

Discovering Jewish Spirituality: From movement to creativity to kissing (yes, kissing!), this series will introduce you to various ways to enhance your Jewish spiritual life.

Choosing Judaism: Are you considering conversion? Do you know someone who is? This series will guide you through all the steps involved, from the initial decision to convert through the conversion ceremony and beyond.

Getting Comfortable in Synagogue: Do you find synagogue attendance intimidating? This series can help by introducing you to the basic structure of a synagogue service and diving deeper into the meaning of the most common prayers.

 

Online Learning from Hadar - some excellent classes and taped lectures; perfect for quarantine.

Hartman Institute Learning Opportunities

And finally, some excellent advice, via Roni Lang.

And finally, this sign spotted in the Wisconsin Dells, from the Milwaukee Journal

See you on Zoom at 1!

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

Coronavirus Update, March 16. The Mitzvah of Social Distancing; What Will Happen to Bar Mitzvahs? Healing of Soul, Healing of Body

From the Rabbi's Bunker

Homebound Israelis singing on their balconies 

(a practice originated in Italy), 

a familiar and very appropriate song: 

B'Shana Ha'ba'ah

"Next year we'll sit on our porches 

counting the migrating birds. 

Kids on a holiday will play Tag

Between the house and the fields

You will see, you will see

How good it will be

Next, next year"

 

https://lyricstranslate.com

בשנה הבאה נשב על המרפסת. דווקא עכשיו!

Thanks to Irma Ross for sharing this one...

 

No Large Gatherings?  What About Bar Mitzvahs?

Monday, March 16

This morning I wrote to our 2020 B'nai Mitzvah families, including the adult b'nai mitzvah class.  With state regulations now restricting gatherings to groups of less than 50, what was abstract and theoretical has suddenly become all-too-real. The eight week time frame recommended by the CDC takes through the first bar mitzvahs of the season us right up to our adult b'nai mitzvah, scheduled for May 16.  

If the current restrictions hold, we will soon be faced with a decision as to whether to postpone B'nai Mitzvah services or scale them down significantly.  The possibility of streaming video does exist - but for those with Sabbath observant relatives it may not be ideal. 

If we choose to postpone, which is the most likely scenario, the first question people will ask is whether all that study of a particular Torah portion or haftarah will be for naught.  Let me offer a rabbinic ruling that could decrease at least that concern. 

For bar and bat mitzvahs postponed during this crisis, I will allow the student(s) to read from the portion they have prepared, at whatever Shabbat the service is rescheduled for.  

So, for example, if the student has prepared a reading from the portion Behar, and the service is rescheduled for the week when we read the portion Re'eh, we will take out two Torahs and read selections from both portions.  The haftarah will be the one that the student has learned - plus perhaps a verse or two from the actual haftarah for that day.

This ruling will stay in effect only for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.

I hope this very unusual - but necessary - response at leasts puts some concerns to rest.  With all the anxiety that this disease provokes, at least we can try to lessen the strain on families of B'nai Mitzvah.  So, students and adults can continue to prepare with Cantor Bear and Judy Aronin, and at least one thing in life can remain stable and constant.

I know that for the kids there must be lots of disappointment in the possibility of postponing their big day (though no doubt for some a little relief as well), but it will enable us to see their celebration as a way of marking our emergence from this coronavirus ordeal every bit as much as it marks the emergence of a child into adulthood.  These postponed post-coronavirus B'nai Mitzvah will be among the most joyous we'll ever share! 

Social Distancing: the Mitzvah

 

Considering not social distancing? Read these ten profiles from Buzzfeed of people you are endangering with your callousness, people with compromised immune systems and other risk factors.  It's just the opposite of the kind of love we are seeing shared all over the world right now - love for people we have never met, yet now we feel that our lives are inexorably intertwined.  See this incredible Twitter thread that brought me to tears.

   

All over the world, we share the same destiny, the same fears, and the same desire to love our neighbor as ourselves...

 

Reb Nachman's Ten Healing Psalms

Source: Tikkun Klali According to Rebbe Nachman

Before our hands can fix, we need to care. Before we can care, we need to become aware. But how can we remind ourselves to perceive and sustain our sensitivity and capability for compassion? We can shy from the pain that comes with empathy, and we can shy from the pain that comes with taking responsibility for the suffering we cause. But there are consequences to shying away, to disaffection and callous disassociation. If there is any hope, it is as Rebbe Naḥman explained so succinctly: "If you believe that you can damage, then believe that you can fix."

The Psalms or Tehillim in Hebrew, are the core of Jewish liturgy; its poetry believed to be a treasury of the Power to heal. Power to bring about intervention, if only in our own awareness. If every one of us is like a lonely world unto ourselves, then perhaps some shared songs can unite us, and reconnect us to the world we share together: healing it, liberating it, redeeming it with renewed compassion. This is the hope and promise of a devotional practice of reciting lyrics to songs with long lost and ever rediscovered melodies. Melodies which we can only discover through our own private readings of these ancient songs.

According to Pesaḥim 117a [2] there are ten kinds of songs in the Tehillim: Ashrei, Beracha, Maskil, Nitzuach, Shir, Niggun, Mizmor, Tefilla, Hoda'ah, and Halleluyah. In the early 19th century, Rebbe Naḥman, a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, taught that the recitation of ten psalms, each representing one of these categories, could act as a Tikkun (remedy).[3] Their recitation would help in a process of t'shuva leading to an awareness of the divine presence that permeates and enlivens this world.

On April 1810, Rebbe Naḥman revealed the specific ten psalms of this Tikkun to two of his closest disciples, Rabbi Aharon of Bratslav and Rabbi Naftali of Nemirov. 

Click here to see those ten psalms.   You can also find them here 

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

I'm planning to do study sessions revolving around these ten Psalms.  Times to be announced.  A great resource for this study is the book Healing of Soul, Healing of Body, by Rabbi Simkha Weintraub, which can be ordered on Amazon.  He looks at each of these psalms through the eyes of contemporary teachers.  Together, we can find comfort and inspiration in this study.

Stay safe

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman