TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Sophie Blomberg on Naso

Good morning folks. Shabbat Shalom. Those of you who know me know that I lead an unbelievably busy life. Check out my schedule on a random Thursday. I wake up at 6:45 am.  If needed - facetime friends to finalize studying for a test, out of the house and on the bus by 7:30, in school until 2:30, school basketball until 4:00, race to Hebrew School until 6, grab a slice of pizza at temple, meet my Bat Mitzvah tutor until 6:45 when mom picks me up and takes me to Travel basketball practice until 9.  

I arrive home around 9:15. Dinner. Homework and more Bat Mitzvah prep. No time for TV, no time to hang out. Bed by 10:30-11.

7 hours later I do it all again except delete Hebrew school and tutor and add in 1.5 -2 hours of swim practice or a private lesson.

You may think I am a bit nuts. A bit overscheduled.

You might think that this schedule would make me a little bit cranky. That is just not the case.   I get good grades, enjoy everything I do and can usually smile my way through the day.

            So… you may ask… what is my secret? I will tell you in a second… but first a word from the Torah.

My portion includes something very unusual and unexpected. There was a class of people in ancient times known as the Nazirites. Nazarites took vows to be set apart from others for the service of G-d; which required them to abstain from certain foods and beverages - including wine. They refused to cut any hair on their bodies.  They could not even visit the graves of their deceased family members because they did not want to be “ritually impure.”  They went above and beyond what others did at the time. They imposed strict order and limits on how they controlled their life and they did this voluntarily, dedicating themselves to G-d.

So, the Torah is teaching us, that in order to get control of our lives, we need to give something – and to go above and beyond the rules that are already in place.

In order to structure my time to get things done, like the Nazerite, I have chosen to give up certain things, like social media with my friends on most weekdays and, believe it or not, television.  Yes it’s true.  On most weekdays and even weekends when I have games or meets or, yes, services, I watch almost no TV.   For instance, I’m still on the second season of Grey’s Anatomy, which came out twelve years ago! 

People of my generation have found other ways to reduce their stress levels found in this chaotic world that do not require giving up something like TV.  Unfortunately for the Nazerites, they never had Fidgit spinners, Fidgit cubes or Stress balls - are all items that we use today to reduce our stress. And then there is slime…Most of you know that beginning this past March, slime was a big hit. Slime is today’s silly putty. It can consist of a wide variety of ingredients including glue, foam hand soap, shaving cream (preferably your father’s Barbisol hidden in the closet), lotions, food dye and borax.  A true slime maker will also have glitter, foam beads or sequins on hand. You may wonder why in the world anyone would want to make this gooey, sticky, substance.

Well, it accomplishes several goals.  For one thing, it drives our parents crazy, including mine.  I won’t go into detail, but suffice to say, that slime stain is still on the kitchen ceiling.  Also, I used to sell slime to my friends and made some money off of it.  But most of all, slime gives us a way to relax when we are stressed out.   If the Nazerites had had slime, their life would have been much less stressful!

I don’t know if it’s the slime or the lack of TV or the time I don’t waste online, but whatever it is, I think I’ve found the secret to being able to live a happy life with such a chaotic schedule.

In fact, I just don’t know what I’m going to do with myself now that my bat mitzvah studies are over.  I suppose I could stop by and read some Torah from time to time. Or maybe I’ll just finish Grey’s Anatomy.

(Put hands out as if weighing your options)

Torah…Grey’s Anatomy…. Grey’s Anatomy… Torah.

You know what?  I might just do both!

For my mitzvah project, I arranged for a swim event at the Westhill pool as a fundraiser for Swim Across America, helping to raise money for cancer research.  Thus far I’ve raised $2,294. 

Swimming is a great passion of mine.  I’ve been swimming since I was five and made the state meet twice; I practice five times a week for up to two hours each time and… which is why I wanted to write a dvar Torah about how to manage a very busy schedule!

Raising money for cancer research is very important to me because cancer has touched my life in many ways. I was named after my great grandmother, Estelle Klein, who died after a very long battle with cancer at age 93. I understand she was a very strong and special person who always put others before herself. She was a fighter. Although she wasn’t an athlete like me, she never gave up. Sadly, I never got to meet her but I can see that I got my strength and drive from her.

I have also been touched by a close friend’s brother, Eli Schwartz. Eli was diagnosed with cancer at age 5. Like Estelle, Eli fought hard and never gave up. As I got to know Eli, he became the little brother I never had. Eli, who is now in 4th grade is very happy - and most importantly I'm happy to say healthy and cancer free. 

Shabbat-O-Gram for June 2

 Shabbat-O-Gram

The Shabbat Announcements are sponsored by 

Jeff and Jill Blomberg in honor of their daughter, 

Sophie, becoming a Bat Mitzvah.

 

7th graders at their Aliyah Ceremony last week. (Photo by Dan Young) 

See our complete spring and end-of-year album

Shabbat shalom!

 

Mazal tov to the family of Sophie Blomberg (four generations at TBE!) and also to our ufruf couple, Jaclyn Bolno and Michael Becker.

 

A very special Mazal Tov to all our graduates, and to Brad Boyer, who is retiring from the US Navy this weekend after 30 years of service.  He will continue to serve our nation in other important ways.

 

On Sunday, TBE'ers will be well represented marching here in Stamford at the annual Hope in Motion cancer walk and in NYC at the Celebrate Israel parade.  Good luck to all our marchers.  And for those who wish to watch the parade, Stamford has a viewing area on the east side of 5th Ave. between 61st and 62nd St.

 

Next Friday, June 9, we will be honoring our graduating 12^th graders with a special blessing (and a gift) and also awarding our Men's Club Scholarships.  Additionally, I am inviting our TBE college students to return that night, particularly those who have been on Birthright Israel or wish to share campus experiences regarding Israel.  For those 12th graders who can't make it on the 9th, we're setting up an alternate night for us to see you off with a blessing, on June 30.

And mark your calendars for June 16, when TBE's Meira Rosenberg will discuss her new book, Indiana Bamboo.  Mazal tov, Meira!

Cantor's Concert Next Thursday,  June 8

 

 

Did you see the article about Steve and Lieba Lander in the Advocate?  See it here, and if you haven't yet ordered your tickets for next Thursday's Cantor's Concert, featuring our own Cantor Magda Fishman and the Divas on the Bima, with the Landers as our honorees as we celebrate Steve's 10th year as our Executive Director, you can do so here.  Tickets are going fast.

In Gal we Trust

 

 

Forgive us for going a little Gal Gadot crazy, as "Wonder Woman" opens to huge audiences and scintillating reviews.  She's been called the most significant Israeli export since Waze, and I'm wondering whether even Waze might run into some traffic trying to keep up with this former Miss Israel.  Gadot also served in the IDF, as most Israelis do, and so as result her film is being boycotted by the Lebanese.  I would call it their loss, but most will be able to buy the DVD eventually, so the boycott will have little impact.  Somehow I think even Hezbullah and ISIS fighters will be caught by their superiors streaming scenes from "Wonder Woman." 

 

Gadot's interview on Israel TV crept into that political zone and was summarily censored by her handlers as if the word "Lebanon" had been designated as classified by the FBI. But she transcends politics and brings people together, giving us something hopeful to cheer for during trying times.

 

She is primed to become the greatest Israeli superstar ever (sorry, Natalie and Bar) and Israelis are kvelling with pride.   Tel Aviv's Azrieli Towers were decked out with the words, "We are proud of you, Gal Gadot! Our Wonder Woman!"

 

To our gal Gal we say, we're proud too.

 

 

LeBron or Jordan - with a side of Curry

 

With the NBA Finals now in full swing, the question of the hour is this:  Which all-time NBA great is all-time greater?  This week, I tried to answer this question using my patented Super Bowl predicting methodology, which, as you will recall, is nearly infallible.  Yes, I was slightly off in picking the Patriots to win, 34-31 instead of 34-28, but who knew there would be overtime?

 

So which of these two basketball giants is truly the best? 

• Take a look at Joshua 4:7 (using the King James translation, of course), and you find this:  "The waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark when it passed over Jordan."

In an imaginary contest between the two, it seems that Jordan was cut off by Lebron as he drive down the lane, where Lebron, because he is taller, was able to pass over Jordan when he drove. Two points for James. 

• Look at Kings 7:4 - "In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan."  

Here, it looks like King James cast Jordan right into a series on Klay's turf, Klay being Klay Thomson of the Golden State Warriors, who often covers James.  This shows that Lebron is focused totally on the current matchup and is tossing the Jordan comparisons aside for the moment.  He says that the argument is good for barber shops, but not much else.  He is immersed in the here and now, rather than contemplating his legacy.  And it's a good thing, because the Cavs were dismantled in Thursday's opener. 

• Meanwhile, the Warriors' Stephan Curry is angling to insert himself into the argument.  He has a Hebrew tattoo stating, "Love never failed to be."  Yes, it's from the New Testament, but Hebrew counts for something. 

• Curry, incidentally, comes from the Hebrew word that means "cold."  While his shooting was red hot last night, his name means "cold" and the Jordan River is cold, so I suspect Curry would align himself with Jordan in this "who's better" argument. 

• Jordan was expert at the pick and roll.  In this video, his fans are cheering him on, singing, "Roll, Jordan, Roll!" 

So who is better?  The jury is still out. Lebron has his defenders.  Some have even claimed that James is Jewish. But in Jewish folklore, as well as Christian, it is the Jordan that inspires the most hope and faith - such as in this song by the great Israeli songstress Ofra Haza:

 

Yet to come is the day
When shalom and salaam will be established,
And the Jordan will flow
As a river of peace among us.
Yet to come
Is the day when shalom and salaam
Will be established- The day will come.

So while Lebron may be King, in my book, Jordan still rules.

 

The Mitzvah of Stewardship

 

Last week I emphasized how the world's religions have joined with the overwhelming majority of scientists, corporate leaders and nations in supporting the Paris Climate accords.  It is profoundly disappointing that President Trump has chosen to further isolate our country by aligning America with Syria and Nicaragua as the only nations on this planet not to sign on.

 

In response, it makes sense to share a few excerpts from the sermon on sustainability delivered in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, as we dedicated our award winning solar panels project (read about that project here):

 

The Hebrew word for wind is ruach, which also means "spirit."  In Judaism, the meteorological and spiritual are deeply intertwined.  The experience of a storm is a profoundly spiritual one, even in our day.  Perhaps especially in our day, since, we can pinpoint well in advance what will happen, yet we are completely powerless to stop it.  The weather is one of the few things left that reduces us to mush in the face of its power.  It makes us realize how insignificant we really are.

 

Except that we're not. 

 

We're not insignificant here.  Because we can make a difference.  We can turn the tide, in a very literal sense.  If we each take action, some of the damage of climate change can be reversed, or at least slowed.  Roxbury Road does not have to become beachfront property.  And from a Jewish perspective, what is most important is that we can fulfill God's call to Adam and Eve by preserving our planet - and we could save lives.

 

Feeling small is a cop out.  Being helpless is a crutch.  Not wanting to bother fighting for a sustainable planet because it is politically controversial for some inexplicable reason, well that is inexcusable.

 

In the words of environmental activist Nigel Savage, "You could argue that the Jewish people have been thinking about sustainable energy ever since God spoke to Moses out of a bush that burned but was never consumed. Moses was perhaps the first environmentalist: He recycled his staff into a snake, got Egypt to turn off all its lights for three days, and convinced an entire nation to go on a 40-year nature hike.  The Maccabees took a small cruse of oil and stretched it out for eight miraculous nights."

 

If Moses could do it, so can we.  If the Maccabees could do it, so must we.

 

Our sustainability efforts will continue, with our CSA, our Mitzvah Garden and of course the panels -and we plan to intensify those efforts as we look to refit our building over the coming years.         

 

Stewardship is a Mitzvah.

 

In case you missed what I shared last week:  Here is a collection of statements, organized alphabetically first by religion, then by denomination.   This list demonstrates the nearly unprecedented unity within the religious community on this important issue.

 

Baha'i

Buddhist

Christian: Anglican

Christian: Southern Baptist

Christian: Catholic - U.S. Catholic Bishops' Statement on Climate Change

Christian: Episcopal

Christian: Evangelcal

Christian: Evangelical Lutheran

Christian: Mennonite

Christian: Presbyterian

Christian: Quaker

Christian: United Church of Christ

Christian: Methodist

Hindu

Interfaith

Jewish

Muslim

Sikh

Unitarian Universalist

Academic: The (Yale) Forum on Religion and Ecology

 

Have the world's major religions ever agreed so wholeheartedly and single-throatily about anything else?  Undoubtedly a stray pastor or two will buck this overwhelming stampede for stewardship.  There are a few outliers who reject the scientific consensus, though if they've ever read the bible, it's hard to reject stewardship on religious grounds.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

The Pope's Gift

I know how President Trump felt at the Vatican this week.

When I was a kid, the kind of birthday gift I always loathed was the one that my parents got me not because I wanted it, but because they felt I needed it. While I wanted tickets for the Sox, they gave me socks.

When Pope Francis handed Trump the official papal gift on Wednesday, I could imagine a Christmas-morning anticipating building as the president unwrapped it. What would it be? An electoral college map signed by God?  Instead, Pope Francis gave him a personally signed copy of his own encyclical on climate change, entitled “On Care for Our Common Home,” the Trumpian equivalent of castor oil — or a pair of socks.

The timing of this gift was especially apt, from a Jewish perspective, because next week’s festival of Shavuot is, like many Jewish holidays, agriculturally based and very green.  Hazon, a Jewish environmental organization, suggests “10 ways to make your Shavuot more sustainable,” with number 10 shockingly suggesting, “Don’t do dairy.” The organization also provides a farmer’s take on how Jewish rituals connect to the cycles of planting, harvest, and eating. In a similar manner, the Religious Action Center implores us on Shavuot to reconnect to the Land and produce, something kibbutzim have been doing on this first fruits festival since the early days of Zionism.

But it’s not just Jews who are feeling green this week.  Next Friday begins the month-long Muslim observance of Ramadan, and Muslim environmental groups are looking to make that month-long fast greener, calling Ramadan “a once a year opportunity to tackle global issues like over-consumption, materialism, poverty, hunger, wars” and yes, global warming.” Muslims are being challenged to go beyond thinking of Ramadan as a month of abstaining from food and drink for a part of the day and binge eating at night.

The New York Times ran a series last week on how Antarctica is going green, and not in a good way.  While Americans are being distracted by Russia-gate, the world is continuing to melt at a rapid pace.  And while just about every nation in the world has jumped about the Paris climate train, one small group continues to resist, led by one world leader, which is why the Pope decided to gift him a pair of socks.

Given that one of the world’s great moral leaders has chosen to spend his precious few minutes of chitchat with the President focusing on this issue above all others, I decided to download the full encyclical and read it.

Some highlights:

For human beings… to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins….

I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all. The worldwide ecological movement has already made considerable progress and led to the establishment of numerous organizations committed to raising awareness of these challenges. Regrettably, many efforts to seek concrete solutions to the environmental crisis have proved ineffective, not only because of powerful opposition but also because of a more general lack of interest. Obstructionist attitudes, even on the part of believers, can range from denial of the problem to indifference, nonchalant resignation or blind confidence in technical solutions. We require a new and universal solidarity.

In this powerful document, the Pope deftly synthesizes the scientific and the spiritual, connecting our environmental crisis to a plethora of social and economic issues.  While I don’t agree with every point (he ties it into abortion, for instance), the depth of his passionate argumentation is astonishing.

If President Trump were to read this document on the plane ride home, perhaps he would reconsider some of the many dangerous steps his administration has taken over the first months of his presidency.  Maybe he could take a few moments to peruse a running list of environmental abominations being kept by the National Geographic. Or look closely at the 23 essential environmental rules rolled back in the first 100 days, all of this before this week’s budget proposal that would decimate the EPA, slashing it by 31 percent.

Fortunately, the Pope is not the only religious leader taking aim at policies causing harm to our common home.  Not only are Jews and Muslims joining hand in hand with Catholics to save our planet, but in fact it’s nearly impossible to find a single world religion that hasn’t expressed deep concern over the impact of man-made climate change.

Here is a collection of statements, organized alphabetically first by religion, then by denomination.   This list demonstrates the nearly unprecedented unity within the interfaith community on this important issue.

Baha’i

Buddhist

Christian: Anglican

Christian: Southern Baptist

Christian: Catholic – U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Statement on Climate Change

Christian: Episcopal

Christian: Evangelcal

Christian: Evangelical Lutheran

Christian: Mennonite

Christian: Presbyterian

Christian: Quaker

Christian: United Church of Christ

Christian: Methodist

Hindu

Interfaith

Jewish

Muslim

Sikh

Unitarian Universalist

Academic: The (Yale) Forum on Religion and Ecology

Have the world’s major religions ever agreed so wholeheartedly and single-throatily about anything else?  Undoubtedly a stray pastor or two will buck this overwhelming stampede toward stewardship.  There are a few outliers who reject the scientific consensus, though if they’ve ever read the Bible, it’s hard to reject stewardship on religious grounds.  If these outliers refuse to acknowledge science in favor of fossil fuel dollars, it’s time to “out” the liars.

From Shavuot to Ramadan to Pentecost (June 4 for the Christian world), from Jerusalem to Mecca to Vatican City, the cry to save our planet will intensify over the coming days.

The question is whether, on a single plane flying home to Washington from Europe, that cry will be heard. President Trump should try on the socks and be grateful that at least the Pope didn’t give him a lump of coal.