Shabbat-O-Gram for June 6

Shabbat Shalom

In this minute and a half between Shavuot and another fantastic Shabbat and weekend, where do I begin? 

• Let’s begin with Shavuot.  On Tuesday night, over 80 people from our community joined together for what turned out to be a five-hour Shavuot jam session for the heart, body, mind and soul.  We sang, ate cheesecake, talked, meditated and studied Ruth together, dissecting the question of the shifting definition of Jewish identity, with a special focus on conversion, assimilation and patrilineal descent and marriage equality in Israel.  I thank especially my rabbinic and cantorial colleagues from Temple Sinai, Selah and the UJF, and everyone who participated.  You can watch the Shalom TV broadcast of the panel on civil marriage in Israel that sparked our discussion.  Also see the source sheet from the panel discussion, containing an open letter to Chelsea Clinton about the identity of her child, Ruth the Moabite’s “application” to make aliyah, some rabbinic midrash and, oh yes, the Nuremberg Laws.  Jewish identity is a complicated thing! I really cannot overstate how great this evening was.  

• We also had two enjoyable morning services for the festival, and I thank our lunch sponsors on Wednesday, the Essenfeld and Winarsky families. 

• Now, onto tonight:  We’ll be getting a sampling of some of the cutting edge music that we will be hearing at the Cantor’s Concert on Sunday.  And we’ll hear the next in our “This American Jewish Life” series, this week featuring recent U of Maryland grad, Joelle Peikes, who will be telling us about her experiences as a Jew in Morocco.  I can recall a time that seems not so long ago when Joelle sat in my office explaining why she wanted to become a bat mitzvah.  She came to our Hebrew School relatively late in the game, but this young student was so persuasive and passionate in her desire to explore her Jewish identity that, well, I just couldn’t say no.  I chalk that up as one of my wiser decisions.  If you join us on Friday evening you’ll find out why. 

Speaking of the series, please let me know if you would like to participate next year.  We are working on the calendar this week.  And stay tuned for more exciting news about “This American Jewish Life.” And speaking of exciting news, SAVE THE DATE of Sept. 16for the Hoffman Lecture, featuring acclaimed author and columnist, Ari Shavit. 

• Mazal tov to Zachary Rubin and family as he becomes Bar Mitzvah here this Shabbat! And check out last Shabbat’s commentary by Alyssa Goldberg, on parashat Naso.  Also on Shabbat morning, we’ll be hearing from several of our Bi Cultural 8^th graders who recently spent a month in Israel. 

• As we prepare for our own cantor’s concert this weekend, I received an invitation from Cantor Deborah Jacobson for participation in the creation of a new CD of healing music.  For those who are interested, here is the link to her Kickstarter page.  And by all means, plan to join us ours on  of to our congregation.

Our First Fruits - and Israel’s Greatest Opportunity

This week’s portion of Beha’alotcha teaches about the dangers of unbridled consumption during Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness.  It also introduces us to a new source of energy, the menorah:  Rashi explains that its lamps did not face out to maximize the illumination. Rather, they were turned inward toward the menorah’s center, as if to indicate that we should cultivate an inward light. So let’s take a few moments this week to review an momentous year for us, for Israel and for the planet.

This coming Tuesday, history will be made at TBE, with the delivery of the first fruits of our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.  Over fifty TBE families are participating in the first Jewish CSA in our area.  We are purchasing produce from alocal farm, which will have a positive impact on our community economically, environmentally, nutritionally, and spiritually.  All the leftovers will be donated to the local food bank, so this will be a big-time tzedakkah project too.  Combined with our solar panels (and our national recognition as a “Cool Congregation”) and Mitzvah Garden, we are making an enormous statement on the urgency of combatting climate change and healing our planet.  Incidentally, the garden has already yielded its first fruits - and just in time for Shavuot, the festival of first fruits - a head of lettuce was picked, which, I was quick to announce at services, gives an entirely new meaning to the expression, “Lettuce Pray.”

While we have been doing our part, a growing crescendo is attesting to the growing impact of our warming earth, melting ice caps and rising seas.  We’re no longer talking about things to come in the future.  The future is now.  Many of the themes of last Rosh Hashanah’s sermon and Senator Blumenthal’s message have been echoed in a number of recent articles and major documentaries, including the series “Cosmos” and, most notably, Showtime’s devastating series, “Years of Living Dangerously,” which concludes this Monday.  Also, see this article from the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, where an Orthodox rabbi discusses the issue from the perspective of Jewish law.

Which brings me to Israel.  Doesn’t everything seem to bring us to Israel?  But in fact, one way Israel can fulfill the Zionist vision of people like David Ben Gurion, and be a light unto the nations, would be to help nations to light that very light - to lead the way in providing solutions for the environmental dilemmas of our age. 

Water shortage?  Check.  Israeli “water-tech” is doing amazing things all around the world.  What began with drip irrigation decades ago has advanced to massive desalination projects and even creating water out of thin air! 

"We have all the water we need, even in the year which was the worst year ever regarding precipitation," said Avraham Tenne this past week, head of the desalination division of Israel's Water Authority. "This is a huge revolution."

As reported by Ha’aretz, since 2005, Israel has opened four desalination plants, with a fifth set to go online later this year. Roughly 35 percent of Israel's drinking-quality water now comes from desalination. That number is expected to exceed 40 percent by next year and hit 70 percent in 2050.

Look at how climate change is contributing to drying up water supplies all over the world, beginning in places like Yemen.  The Showtime series revealed that Yemen ‘s second largest city receives fresh water only two days out of every 40. The country is drying up.  ‘Aint no salmon fishing going on there right now, that’s for sure. 

  

Take a look at this chart, and you can see Israel’s water expertise could be a geopolitical game changer in its relations with the Arab world.

Alternative energy sources?  Israel has long been a leader in developing solar power.  About a month ago eleven new solar projects were inaugurated in the Negev, which, in case you haven’t heard, has lots of sun.  Check out the Israel 21c website for more exciting developments on this front. 

There is still much to do, and Israeli environmentalists are always wary of urban development run amok, roads destroying wetlands, fragile bird sanctuaries and lots of other dangers.  But perhaps the greatest environmental challenge to the Zionist enterprise lies miles offshore, in the enormous natural gas fields that promise to provide Israel with that energy independence that has eluded it since the founding of the state.  Natural gas is much cleaner than fossil fuels, but as we are discovering here in America, there are concerns about methane leakage that could in fact be far worse for climate change even than coal.  Investigations are ongoing, but recent discoveries in the US are not encouraging.

I’ve seen no reports of methane leakage in Israel’s natural gas fields, nor have I heard of any new technologies or methodologies being devised to stop them.  Israel has more immediate concerns, such as the risk of sabotage by terror groups (as happened not long ago in Sinai), which could simultaneously create a geopolitical and an environmental disaster.   But if Israel could do for natural gas pipeline methane leakage what it has done for desalination and water conservation, that would perhaps be the greatest game changer of all, for Israel, for Zionism, and for the planet.

But if not - if the natural gas bonanza turns out to be an environmental Trojan horse filled with methane, some very difficult decisions lie ahead.  Should Israel plow ahead and drill, baby, drill for short term gain and energy independence but at an enormous environmental risk - or not?  

What would Ben Gurion do? 

Right now BG’s descendants of all parties are so giddy over the offshore discovery that they hardly seem to have considered the environmental risks.  Israel’s been working onconverting organic waste into cleaner gas, which will reduce methane seepage from agriculture, but nothing seems to be in the offing on preventing pipeline seepage offshore.  Meanwhile, Israeli methane emissions continue to grow.

I’m personally hoping Israel puts its best foot forward to become a worldwide leader in developing the cleanest energy options and fighting the effects of climate change.  One way to do that would be to elect Yosef Abramowitz (nicknamed “Captain Sunshine”) as its next President.  The solar energy pioneer is running, and just as with Shimon Peres, Abramowitz would continue to send a message of global concern from that ceremonial position.  It would be a great opportunity for Israel to signal its readiness to take leadership on the crying issue of our times.  And given some of the other candidates(including the Prime Minister’s current favorite, Reuven Rivlin, who called Reform Judaism “idol worship”).

In the meantime, while we give the Israelis time to perform another miracle in underwater methane detection and pipeline safety, we here in America need to continue to do our part for the environment.  Unfortunately, few Jewish congregations have followed our lead.  Read down the list of congregations honored along with ours by Interfaith Power and Light.   Nearly fifty houses of worship, and we are the ONLY synagogue (one other Jewish organization is mentioned, Camp Ramah in California).

I’m proud of what we’ve done, but no time for self congratulations.  We need to continue to proclaim to the world, and most urgently to our own people - that the future of the planet is a very Jewish issue.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

Welcome Home from Israel, Dan!

The prodigal son returns. Welcome back from your semester in Jerusalem, Dan! As we came into the house from JFK an hour ago, he was greeted by a barrage of kisses from Chloe.  Read Dan's blog from his travels here.

Tbe Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Alyssa Goldberg on Naso

Shabbat shalom.

Today, we're going to talk about people who always go above what's expected and try to achieve something greater.

Theodor Herzl had a famous quote, " If you will it, it is no dream." What he means by this is that you can't just sit around waiting for your dreams to come true, you have to fight for them, and work hard. Once you start going after them, they're no longer a far away dream, but something that can be accomplished.

Here's a funny story about Theodor Herzl: On my trip to Israel, we went to the Independence Hall Museum. We sat in what seemed like a small theater, and a picture popped up on the screen. The worker asked, "Can anyone tell me who this is?" So me, being the overly excited person I am, practically jumped out of my seat with my hand raised. "Abraham Lincoln!" I screamed. Thanks to my rabbi and friends, I've never been able to forget that story.

In my Torah portion, it talks about Nazerites, a perfect example of Jews going beyond what's expected. For example, it's okay for Jews to drink wine.  Despite this, the Nazerites still don't drink any wine, and as a matter of fact, they even refuse to eat grapes.  They go way beyond the minimal requirement.  And because of that, they are able to do remarkable things.  My haftarah tells the story of Samson, who was a Nazerite from birth and because of that he became incredibly strong.

When you think of how tiny the Jewish population is, it's hard to believe how much we e accomplished. So many Nobel prizes, great writers and even Adam Levine! And Israel has gone way beyond what Herzl could've ever dreamed.  Its now a thriving state, with a powerful defense force and all different types of people.

However, this not only applies to the Jewish community or Israel.  Every day, people are striving to achieve something greater, to be better than they already are.

Music has always been the center of my life, I even used to have a YouTube channel called irevolvearoundmusic. I'm always trying to learn more, because I always want to be better at what I'm singing or what I'm playing on the flute or piano. I mean, just last week I had one of the lead roles in my school play. It added a lot of extra stress, but I knew I could do it, because I believe you can never do too much of what you love.

But enough about me.

Lets talk about my mitzvah project. I've chosen to raise money for the Emunah Afula Children's Center in Israel. When I visited there in 2012, I felt an immediate connection with one girl. She wasn't very eager to work on the art project, but slowly we made a masterpiece together. I knew then that I wanted this organization to be my mitzvah project.

Earlier this year, I looked up the Emunah website, and I found that they have programs that people can donate towards.  It seemed like a perfect match when I found that they're trying to raise money to buy instruments for the kids. I'm now raising money for their music program, because I believe every kid should have a chance to have music in their life.  Music is such a huge part of mine.  I don't know what I'd be doing without it, so I want to give all of those kids a chance to love it as much as I do.

Shabbat-O-Gram for May 23

Shabbat-O-Gram

 Mazal tov to Susan and Mark Plotzky, who are sponsoring this week's Shabbat announcements in honor of Rachel's Bat Mitzvah.  Mazal tov to Rachel too!

Mazal tov also to our 7^th graders, who graduated from Religious School at Thursday evening's Aliyah Ceremony. See photos below and

Click here for more photos from our end of year school events.

   

From Thursday Night's Aliyah Ceremony

  

 7th Graders in Bar Mitzvah party attire

  

Some of our all-star lineup of teen Madrichim

  

All smiles for some of our younger Beth El'ers

Mitzvah projects spiced up the final day

  Some students sent cards, cookies and plants to residents of the Jewish Home

SPECIAL TEMPORARY HOUSING REQUEST:

I am a retired professional woman, former congregant, looking for a furnished room for a month, June, 2014 in an area closer to downtown Stamford than to the Merritt or North Stamford but will consider all possibilities.  I can be reached until May 28 at 215-925-1607 or 203-898-4174 until then and thereafter. 

Maccabi's Big Week

I watched Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv's miraculous Euroleague basketball title on both American and Israeli TV last week, and the Israeli version was much more fun.  (see English highlights of the thrilling semi final win over CSKA Moscow  and highlights of the final against Real Madrid, won in overtime. Then watch the Hebrew version of the semis.) It was a storybook run. 

Israel went gaga after the victory.  Understand that this team was considered a mediocre shadow of its former glory.  In Israel they had struggled mightily, losing to teams like Nes Tziona, (imagine the Miami Heat losing to the Miami Hurricanes).  Their coach, who was nearly fired a year ago, except that the team could not afford to pay the severance plus hire another coach, is now a national hero.  They overcame a dozen point deficit with a couple of minutes to go in a qualifying game just to get into the final four; and against Moscow they were down by as many as 15 points well into the second half.  They have no superstars and most of their players cannot understand Israel's national anthem.  This is not a national team, but a private club built primarily from NBA wannabees.

Yet here they were, celebrating on the court and the whole country was wearing Maccabi yellow, even those who ordinarily are bitter rivals of the team. President Peres and PM Netanyahu raced to call the coach right after the game.  Every other news story took a back seat as the team flew home and stopped in to visit the Prime Minister on the way to the big celebration. 

The adulation got to the point where even the ultra-Orthodox took notice, one of themlabeling Maccabi as a modern day "Golden Calf." "They made basketball and soccer a symbol of national pride instead of our rich Jewish culture," he said. "The team is imported from around the world. They are not Jews, but Israelis don't care as long as they win." Another, Aryeh Deri, attributed the victory to the "Jewish brain." 

A slew of anti-Semitic tweets greeted the victors, as if to highlight the veracity of the ADL's recent survey.  This despite the fact that so many of the players are not Jewish. But this week it didn't matter.  On some level it normalized Israel, to be able to win on a major international stage. And at the same time, it played into the narrative of the resilience of the Jewish people and the Israeli nation.  Nes Gadol Haya Sham.  Not only did we win, but we won spectacularly, avenging the Spanish Inquisition and the Russian pogroms in one fell swoop.  Take that, Torquemada!  Take that, Czar Nicholas!  I wonder if Vladimir Putin was watching.  This was an exercise in Jewish power and Israeli pride, albeit perpetuated by non Israeli, non Jewish players.

Whatever it was, it felt good and Israelis felt unity and pride - a lot more unity than they will likely feel this week on Jerusalem Day, which has become nearly exclusively a right wing celebration, or when the Pope slips into town for a quick visit this weekend. 

Foxman on Civility

Abe Foxman of the ADL slipped into Stamford this week, speaking as part of a continuing series held at the Ferguson library called "Civility in America."  I went to the lecture "Civility in Politics and Public Life: A Current Challenge," expecting to hear a vintage Foxman regaling on his wide ranging areas of expertise.  What would it be?  Iran's nuclear program?  White supremacists?  Bullying in schools?  The ADL's recent bombshell worldwide survey on anti-Semitism?  His own retirement, which was announced recently, setting off a feeding frenzy of rumor as to whom his successor will be?

Amazingly, Foxman spoke about none of the above.  He spoke about - get this - civility in America! (Read Advocate coverage here)

Reading from notes, he lectured for 45 minutes on the impact of the internet, the scourge of anonymity and our polarized political system on the stunning lack of civility in this country.  He spiced it up with personal anecdotes about a commencement address he recently delivered and his reaching out to a Palestinian student who had asked him not to come.  It was very moving.

Toward the end, Foxman asked and answered a key question: Why had he accepted this particular speaking engagement? The answer: No one had ever asked him to speak on this subject before.  It was hard for me to believe that the head of the ADL had never been asked to speak on civil discourse before - but he then went on to say that to his knowledge, no community other than ours is hosting such a series.

So kudos to Stamford and our series on civility.  May our community continue to be a shining example in the art of getting along.

  

A Billion People Hate Me - Do I Hate Myself?

So, what of the ADL's landmark survey?  I'm still digesting it, but I promise, over the coming weeks, we'll have a chance to discuss it.  So in the meantime, take a look at it and let me know your impressions.

One stat that jumps out at me: According to the survey, there are over 1 billion anti-Semites in the world (a lot, but still less than the number of McDonalds hamburgers served).  Fully 27% of people who have never met a Jew nevertheless do not like us.  Shockingly, 77%, of those who hate Jews have never met one. The survey also found an inverse relationship between the number of Jews in a country and the spread of anti-Semitic attitudes there.  As a general rule, the fewer the Jews in a particular country, the more numerous the anti-Semites. There are exceptions to that, especially in Southeast Asia, where they seem to like us a lot.

So it's time to take your non Jewish neighbors out to lunch. To know us is to love us - or at least to hate us a lot less.  (Read: Hating the Jew you've never met | The Times of Israel.)

The first thing we have to do to slowly begin to improve those staggering numbers? Rent a villa in far, far off Papua New Guinea.  And fly Donald Sterling there.  There was a point where we could accuse the media of making too much of Sterling's Jewish background.  But then Sterling went on  Anderson Cooper's show.  Really.  Donald.  Stop. Dragging us all into this.

The second thing we need to do to reduce anti-Semitism: keep rabbis off the front pages.  In the wake of a number of rabbis-gone-wild scandals these past few weeks, includingextortion and kidnapping charges on an Orthodox rabbi involving a recalcitrant husband, and then the scandal involving a Boston area Conservative rabbi that seems to get more sordid every day.  It is terrifying to read about these things, because they engender an atmosphere conducive to an increase in anti-Semitism and to the erosion of trust between Jews and their leaders.  These accusations, if true, especially involving a long time, trusted rabbi, bring shame to all rabbis and to all Jews.

It's enough to make a Jew anti-Semitic.

Andrew Silow-Caroll writes in today's Times of Israel that there are parts of the ADL survey that he himself would not have "passed" - and he edits a prominent Jewish newspaper.   He lists the questions.  See how you might have scored.  I'll bet there are more anti-Semitic Jews than we ever could have imagined.  Or, perhaps the ADL survey, in its desire to create headlines, bit off more than it could chew. Perhaps simply thinking Jews have a dual loyalty to America and Israel does not make one anti-Semitic.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Memorial Day (read A Rabbi's Sermon on Iwo Jima), and Jerusalem Day too.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Rachel Plotzky on Bamidbar

Shabbat Shalom!

Those of you who know me, know that I have a passion for crime shows, like NCIS.  I started watching them when I was about 10.  Why?  Well, because my mom liked them.  It was something we could do together because she was not interested in watching Disney shows with me. 

I slowly got into it and then I REALLY got into it.  I started with NCIS, and then I went on to CSI, Law and Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, NCIS: LA and about every crime show out there. 

Part of the reason I love these shows is that math is my favorite subject.  Every crime is like one big math problem to solve.   Every piece of information needs to be accumulated and stored away. Even the things that may not seem important now, might become really important later on.

So it’s fitting that my portion is the most mathematical portion of the entire Torah – it’s a census, but not only that: It’s the first portion in what we call the book of Numbers.

My portion is about counting people - even though, I must add, that in this census, the women are left out – WE COUNT TOO GOD!!!!

There’s an expression that’s used when someone dies, especially when they die because of a crime or disease.  They become what is known as “a statistic.”  When people are dead, they often become just a number.  In the Holocaust, the Nazis tried to turn the Jews into numbers even before they murdered them.  Part of the process of killing, was taking away their identity, their name and their humanity – and that was started by tattooing a number on their arms and eventually killing a large population of Jews. About six million.  They saw this as a great accomplishment.

Judaism makes it very clear that every human life is of infinite value.  Even a census is seen as dangerous – ONLY, if God gave permission could one be held.  This is because it limits the full potential of the Jewish people.  However, my Haftorah begins with an important line to counter what’s in the Torah portion:  “The number of Israel, shall be greater, than the sands of the sea.”

Now back to my regularly scheduled program on my crime shows.  What I’ve noticed is that when someone is murdered, it’s because the killer has stopped seeing the victim as fully human.  Instead, his life has a price, and his death, a certain fixed value.

For example, when a person hires a hit man, he takes away that person’s humanity.  The price that is paid becomes the price for his life.   Essentially, he becomes the value of that number.

     

  Once you’ve seen someone as being less than fully human, it becomes easier to build up a reason to justify killing someone.  Many psychopaths think everyone’s out to get them. In that situation, it’s easy to convince themselves that the murder is in self defense.  It’s just like what happens in the “Tell Tale Heart,” by Edger Allen Poe.  When the narrator makes himself think that he should kill the man with the vulture eye, because he feels like the vulture eye is digging into his soul. 

It’s not just in the world of murder mysteries where you learn that life should be of infinite value.  My Mitzvah project teaches that too.  Kids in Crisis is an organization that demonstrates that every child should be cared for, that everyone counts.  I’ll be donating all of the money I have raised and the board games I have gotten for them – Which are in my bimah baskets and will be on the tables at my luncheon.  If you would like to donate any money or purchase any candles, please see me later.

Taking this a step further, two summers ago, I took an amazing trip to Israel with the temple.  In Jerusalem we went to Mount Herzl, a cemetery, where Israelis mourn their soldiers not as statistics but as human beings.  In Israel, each soldier is special and unique.  They each have their own story.  Their humanity has not been striped in death.  Here in America, this is Memorial Day weekend.  We also need to remember all those who have fought and died for our country.  Those soldiers have allowed us to appreciate the freedom we have.  We should remember each soldier as more than just a number as they gave up their lives for ours.

For Jews, this is the most important lesson taught by the book of Numbers.  And it’s an important lesson of my crime shows too.  As Peeta tells Katniss in Suzanne Collins’ book “Mockingjay.”  “To murder innocent people,” Peeta states, “It costs everything you are.”