Feb/March 2009
Interfaith Weddings: A New Stance
In the course of my rabbinate, I have worked with so many intermarried couples who have committed to raising their children as Jews, and whose non-Jewish partners have participated in congregational life to the full extent allowed. I am grateful for all those strong, dedicated people of great integrity whom it has been my good fortune to know. Granted, they are a self-selected group. I don’t get to meet intermarried couples who have not chosen to affiliate with a synagogue. Nevertheless, I have often felt that the difficulty many of them experienced in finding a rabbi who would conduct their weddings still rankles to some extent.
After a great deal of thought, over many years, I have decided that I will officiate at weddings of Jews to non-Jews under certain conditions:
-The couple must counsel with me for at least two hours well prior to the wedding.
-The Jewish wedding is to be the only religious wedding ceremony.
-I will not officiate with clergy of other faiths.
-The couple must complete a course in basic Judaism together, before the wedding.
-The couple must promise to create a Jewish home with observance of Shabbat and other holy days.
-The couple must promise to raise the children they have together as Jews.
-The couple must promise to join a synagogue.
So many of my Reform colleagues currently officiate at inter-weddings, that I can rely on their advice for crafting the wedding vows in such a way that the non-Jewish partner is swearing to a solemn and binding covenant of marriage without being made to profess Judaism.
My friend and colleague, Rabbi Michael Feshbach, quotes the Orthodox rabbi Donniel Hartman who said that if he were a Reform rabbi, he would probably perform such weddings. Rabbi Hartman looked back to Biblical times in which marriage to a Jew was a gateway into the Jewish community. It may be so in our time, as well.
For almost 30 years, American Reform Judaism has sought ways to invite non-Jews to join us. Officiation at interfaith weddings is one more way that I can extend a welcoming hand to couples. I have always felt uncomfortable telling engaged couples, “I won’t do your wedding but I will gladly welcome you to our synagogue when you return from your honeymoon.” Agreeing to officiate, with limits, will spare me the appearance of hypocrisy and disapproval. Nor do I have to appear to be forcing non-Jews into conversion for the sake of the wedding ceremony.
I look at our religious school students growing into adulthood and I know that they cannot predict whom they will meet and fall in love with. Many of you could not predict it, either, and with the best will possible to remain within Judaism, you and so many, many others bound yourselves with love, respect, joy, hope and gratitude to non-Jews. I cannot but honor your choices. Now I can respond more wholeheartedly to them.
Jewish ethnicity and peoplehood remain vital. Those intermarried couples who can make the promises I have outlined will, I believe, strengthen Judaism and their Jewish communities, rather than taking anything away from them.
I have not been in the position of turning any members of our Temple, or their children, away by my unwillingness to conduct their weddings. I guess that’s one of the benefits of serving this relatively young congregation. No one in our Temple community will be outraged that I will now do what I would not do before.
In the coming months, I will be asking some of you to act as references for me as I seek a new position. In case anyone should ask you my stance on this matter, now you will know how to respond.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Paul Tuchman
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June/July2008
MY QUESTIONS AND YOURS
In my letter to you that you received with your annual meeting packet, I told you that I will be on sabbatical in July and August. As topics of study, I've posed myself the following four questions. (Yes I know that Pesach was in April!)
1. Talmudic lore portrays Shammai, Hillel's famous contemporary, as being cranky and irascible; but he is quoted in Pirkey Avot (Wisdom of the Fathers) advising us to greet everyone cheerfully. Can this contradiction be resolved?
2. Rabbi Levi ben Gershom, who lived in southern France in the 14th century, commented on a single verse of Scripture in more than 50 different ways (which he carefully numbered). How did he find so much to write about one verse? Was he showing off, or is each interpretation substantial?
3. Can movies be used to teach Jewish values? Is it possible to find Jewish sources to correspond to the themes that come up in films and compile a sourcebook that can be used for Jewish education at many levels?
4.The last question is about geometry, not Judaism and arises out of my friendship with a quilter. There are a limited number of kinds of symmetry to apply to rectangles. Having played with these, I had a hunch that this limited number can be greatly increased. After some experiments, I'm convinced that I'm right. How far can this be taken?
I have assembled some sources on the first question, gotten my feet wet on the second, and have already done extensive work on the last two; so, I'll have plenty to keep me busy.
And now to your questions. This is the time of year when I recommend that you do some Jewish reading over the summer. But now I have another idea.
What if members of your household each asked a question about Judaism and tried to find an answer over the summer? You will all have done something Jewish and fulfilled the mitzvah of continuing Jewish education.
Try it!
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Tzedakah and Talmud
There are two things that I would like to bring to your attention this month.
Have you noticed that there is a beautiful tzedakah box in our Temple sanctuary? It is the gift of Murray Stein, who designed and constructed it. He also designed and constructed our Ark.
You may have noticed tzedakah boxes in other synagogue sanctuaries. You are invited to deposit your spare change or even larger contributions, and from time to time the box will be emptied and the proceeds will be donated to charity. No checks, please!
As you know, tzedakah is a most important mitzvah in Jewish tradition. Everyone in the Jewish community is asked to help those who are less fortunate. Even people who receive tzedakah are asked to give tzedakah!
So where is the tzedakah box? Look to the right just as you pass through the glass doors into the Sanctuary. It is mounted just there on the wall, through Marc Strelser’s ingenuity.
There is a slot in the top to receive your donations. I hope it will be full soon so that our congregation can make a sizable donation to a worthy cause. Then we will fill it up again!-------
For adult education this year, I have decided to introduce you to the Talmud.
The Babylonian Talmud is one of the most important books in Judaism. It ponders how to apply the laws of the Torah to everyday life; how to interpret the Bible; how the founders of Judaism as we know it today conducted their own lives and how they viewed the world around them.
Have you heard that the Talmud is difficult? It is! That’s why I’m calling our study “A Gentle Introduction to Talmud.” I will do my best to make sure that you understand what we read and what it means, and I will not rush you. (One of my colleagues called his course, “Talmud with Training Wheels”!)
The Talmud is difficult, but it is also endlessly fascinating. We get to eavesdrop on the deliberations of rabbinic courts and classroom lectures. We get to experience our great rabbinic sages grappling with the problems in people’s lives, and coming to terms with the really difficult parts of the Bible. Sometimes, they even tell jokes!
I hope you will join me in exploring a corner of this vast book. We will begin with some orientation on October 14 at 7:30 p.m., and continue to meet about every second week through the year.
If you can’t attend the orientation session but want to be in the class, please contact me privately and we will arrange a time when you can catch up
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May/June 2007
A Book to Read with You
As summer approaches, I hope we will all take the time to unwind, relax and stretch, and take in new experiences and ideas.
One of the things I like to do over the summer is to read a few books that I haven’t gotten to in the preceding months. And that reminds me that it’s been a while since we scheduled an evening to discuss a book that we have all read.
I’ve got two in mind, both of them novels. One is Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky. Hastily written during World War II by a woman who perished in the Holocaust, it has received enthusiastic reviews as a closely observed depiction of France under occupation. It is newly available in paperback.
The other is The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Chabon is getting raves for his fantasy of a zone of Jewish settlement in Sitka, Alaska, which is about to revert to the United States.
I welcome other suggestions. My larger point is that I would like to restore our occasional evenings of book discussions. My even larger point is that I would like to find ways of broadening our adult education offerings and making them more accessible. Over the last few years, we have had dedicated but small groups studying Jewish mysticism, the Bible and basic Jewish practices. Most of these classes have been scheduled for Sunday evening. It has been suggested to me that Sunday evening is not the best time for most of you who would like to participate.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a time and day of the week that is best for more of you. Again, I welcome other suggestions. What works for you, and what would you like to study with me? Even more to the point: what will you commit to?
On the bright side, there is a movement to start an informal discussion group on Tuesday evenings during Hebrew school; and I hear that basic Hebrew for adults is coming back next fall. Some of you who are familiar with Hebrew but did not have a bar or bat mitzvah service as a teen might like to form a class to have a group b’nai mitzvah service. (Perhaps you would like to renew the experience you had at age 13 now that you have matured.) You will remember that a class of five adults shared their b’nai mitzvah service last December, after Diane Levitus’s pioneering effort in February 2004.
Judaism has always encouraged life-long Jewish learning. I invite you to take this aspect of Judaism seriously, and to work with me to shape a program for our Temple that will help all of us thrive and build our community.
Have a great summer!
L’shalom,
Rabbi Paul Tuchman
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Yahrzeit
Friends,
I would like to raise the issue of how we commemorate our family members who have died. Elsewhere in this Bulletin you will find a list of our relatives whose names will be read on the Shabbat before their yahrzeitn--the anniversaries of their deaths. These names were supplied by all of you.
I have saved, in my files, an article written by Rabbi Samuel Karff, when he was Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Houston. He addressed a situation that we have in our own synagogue, and he was so eloquent on the subject that I decided to reprint his words for you.
*******
“There is a long-standing Jewish practice of reciting Kaddish regularly for a deceased parent during the first eleven months after death and on each anniversary thereafter. On occasion, a son may hire a pious Jew to discharge this obligation in his place. The tradition looks favorably upon such a surrogate Kaddish sayer only if legitimate circumstances make it difficult for the son to come to the synagogue regularly and participate in the mourners’ minyan.
I thought of this surrogate arrangement a few Friday nights ago as I read the names on the Kaddish list and noticed the absence of many of their kin. In Reform Judaism we make no distinction between male and female Kaddish sayers. Remembering our departed in the congregation on the anniversary of their death is a mitzvah for all who have loved and lost. When the living kin are not present for the Kaddish, the worshiping congregation becomes their surrogate.
For a congregation to embrace in sacred remembrance those departed members who have no living kin is a very moving and beautiful gesture. But I must confess to considerable discomfort with a surrogate Kaddish when year after year living relatives are notified of the yahrzeit and choose to be absent. I can understand someone who concludes: “I remember my beloved dead in many, many ways during my daily life. I find no meaning in commemoration by my presence as the name is read and Kaddish is recited in the Temple. Please remove the name from the Kaddish list.” Such a request is rare. Most of the absentees seem content to leave the name on the list and designate us as their surrogates.
There is, of course, an alternate rationale: “I don’t find it meaningful to observe the yahrzeit of my beloved in Temple, but he/she would want to be so remembered in the congregation….”
But if it would be meaningful to your beloved to be so commemorated, it would probably be meaningful to your beloved to have the name read in your presence.
Let me urge you to think through your own practice. Is it really your intent that the Friday night congregation be your surrogate on the night when your loved one’s name is read? Have you just not gotten around to removing the name from our list? Or better yet, having thought through the implications of your practice, will you resolve to attend (and encourage your kin to attend) that service and recite Kaddish on your own behalf?”
*****
Like Rabbi Karff, I hope that in this New Year and all the years to come, you will honor those you loved by saying Kaddish with the congregation when their Yahrzeitn come around.
L'shalom,
Rabbi Paul Tuchman
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August /September 2006
Adult Education for the New Year
Our Temple’s ongoing adult education class for the current year began on September 17. It is based on a wonderful book by Dr. Marc Brettler, How to Read the Bible. Dr. Brettler, a professor at Brandeis University, is a noted Biblical scholar with a refreshing modern approach to our basic Book.
As an added bonus, Dr. Brettler will speak at Congregation Or Chadash on the evening of October 29. He will also autograph his book for you at that time.
You are welcome to join the class at any session. Here are the dates of the rest of the sessions for the year. Every session will begin at 7:30 p.m.
October 8 February 4
October 22 February 25
November 5 March 11
November 19 March 25
December 3 April 15
December 17 April 29
January 7 May 6
January 21 May 20
Please buy a copy of the book, which is widely available at major bookstores. Of course, you can also order it using the Internet. You will also need a copy of Tanakh, the complete Jewish Bible. It is published by the Jewish Publication Society, and is available in either a Hebrew-English edition or all-English.
At the first session, we studied the Afterword. For the next session, please read Chapters 1-4 for background, and Chapters 5-6, along with their “Primary Reading” for discussion.
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June - July 2006
Selichot
It seems a little early to mention this, but I don’t expect to have this opportunity again before September 16.
That is the evening of our annual Selichot service, a special liturgy of preparation for the High Holy Days. (Rosh Hashanah begins on the following Friday night.) Our program for the night resembles that of many synagogues; we will begin with a movie that we can discuss over refreshments, and then we will pray the Selichot service itself.
The Hebrew word s’lichot means “pardons.” By extension, it means “penitential prayers.” The service contains prayers asking for God’s forgiveness for our sins. It includes prayers that are familiar to you from the High Holy Days, as well as prayers that we say only on that night. It concludes with the familiar blast of the shofar. All of this helps us to get in the mood for the Days of Awe that follow, prompting the soul-searching that should be a part of every Jew’s approach to this season. This service can be a powerfully moving experience.
Traditionally, the Selichot service begins at midnight; ours will begin at about 10:30 p.m., after the movie and discussion. (And no, I haven’t yet decided what movie to show.)
In previous years, attendance at the Selichot service has been low, but large enough to be viable for a service. In talking with people, I learned that not enough of you know what Selichot is and what to expect. I hope that this brief explanation will inspire more of you to participate, perhaps for the first time. I promise that it will deepen your spiritual experience of the High Holy Days.
Because we will not publish another Bulletin before Rosh Hashanah, and although I’m writing this in mid-July, I wish you and yours a blessed and sweet New Year.
L'shalom,
Rabbi Tuchman
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April /May 2006
Summer And After
Sunday sessions are over except for the annual picnic; Hebrew school has ended.
A couple of adult education sessions remain, and there will be three b’nai mitzvah services during the summer. Of course, Shabbat services, Torah study, board and committee meetings continue throughout the summer on their regular schedules.
This has been, I think, a very good year at Congregation Or Chadash. Having a building of our own has been a huge plus, and has made our membership even more enthusiastic and cohesive. We have made great strides in the beautification of our synagogue indoors and outside, and we continue to discover how to make our new quarters work for us.
But we don’t wind down the current year until we have planned for the next. We have already scheduled a full calendar for the end of 5766 and all of 5767. You can depend on much of it to unfold as it has in the past, but we are going to do a few things differently, and try a few new ones.
One of our new events will be a public lecture by a noted Biblical scholar, Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler of Brandeis University. He will be with us on the evening of October 29 to talk about his recent book, How to Read the Bible. His month-long stay in metro DC is sponsored by The Foundation for Jewish Studies, and his lecture in our Temple is through the generosity of our members, Florence and David Stein.
I’ve decided to make his book the focus of my adult education class for next year. It’s a fascinating and eye-opening tour through our Tanakh/Bible, and I think you’ll enjoy it. I hope you will get a head start over the summer by buying the book and starting to read it. When Dr. Brettler is here, he’ll autograph your copy!
I hope you have a pleasant summer. Take some time to relax, be with family and friends, count your blessings and thank God, and be refreshed to engage in a new year of activity at Congregation Or Chadash.
L'shalom,
Rabbi Tuchman
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January /February 2006
Special Shabbat Service, Next Friday Night
F rom time to time, I hear someone ask how we can get more people to attend Shabbat services. This isn’t a new problem; most Reform synagogues share this quandary.
The usual answer is to have more “special” services—to do something out of the ordinary in the hope of attracting more people on a given Friday evening, and “hooking” them into attending more regularly.
I suggest that this is not the answer.
Increasing Shabbat service attendance begins with internalizing this idea: It is Shabbat itself that is special, and observing it with the congregation makes it even more special!
Look at the texts that we invoke so often when we speak of Shabbat. Toward the beginning of Genesis we read, “On the seventh day God…ceased from all the work that He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy….” (Gen. 2:3-4) That word “ceased” gives us the word “Shabbat.”
And in the passage we call V’shamru: “The Israelite people shall keep Shabbat ….It shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days Adonai made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work vayinafash.” (Exodus 31:17) What does that last word mean?
It is often translated as “was refreshed.” It can also be connected with the word for “breath.” Because it is a passive verb, and saying that “God was breathed” makes no sense in English, we might say that vayinafash means “God took a breather.” Either way, what can it mean? How could God need refreshment or relaxation?
Rather, let us say that God sets us an example. Because God ceased creative, productive activity on Shabbat, so should we. Shabbat is a day to cease from work, from everything that preoccupies us on our “normal” days. The “extra” time that we gain is to be used for intangibles—considering the meaning of our lives and of the values we cherish.
It requires strong discipline to do this by ourselves. Very few people can manage it. That’s one reason we hold services at a set time in a particular place. We do together what we cannot achieve on our own. We pray the service, which reminds us of our basic beliefs and stimulates us to ask how they apply to our own lives. We study Torah, reconnecting with our tradition and bringing it into our own time. We sing and chant together, because music touches parts of our soul that mere speech can never approach.
And afterwards, we socialize and remind ourselves that our Jewish community expresses the values we hold most dear.
Why is low service attendance a continuing problem? There are many answers, and we’ve known them all for years.
For too long, Reform Judaism emphasized ethical principles over practical observance. Even though our Movement has long given equal weight to both, we are still reaping the unfortunate consequences of our history, by which too many Reform Jews think that observance is less important. Among many other aspects of Jewish practice, Shabbat service attendance has suffered.
The shattering of Jewish neighborhoods in most areas has also accelerated diminished observance. Except in select areas in our largest cities, most of us no longer live—and some have never lived—in a mostly Jewish environment. We can’t look out our windows and see people going to “shul.”
As I have pointed out before, America is a very seductive place for Jews. There are so many things that we can choose to do with our “leisure time,” and many of us scramble madly to do as many as possible, and encourage our children to do the same. We can look out our windows and see our neighbors rushing to take advantage of the same opportunities. We tend to choose pleasure and self-gratification over the more subtle joys of prayer, contemplation, study and community. The social pressures on us are centrifugal, away from the center that our Temple provides.
Too many of us are addicted to the passive absorption of experience; we like to be entertained all the time; think TV and IpodsTM. Some Jews enter a synagogue sanctuary mentally daring those conducting the service to inspire them, and they leave with their worst biases confirmed when that fails to happen. How many of us refer to the congregation as an “audience”?
We have—if I do say so, myself—a capable clergy and musical staff ready to work with you, not “on” you. What is more important is what you bring with you to Temple. Making Shabbat special is a question of your attitude, not your response to any particular worship experience. Making Shabbat special means committing yourself to making it different from the other days of the week.
We will, of course, continue to have our “special” services: “Family Shabbat,” often including the participation of students from our Religious School, music from our choir, Hanukah and Purim, leadership by our Sisterhood and CORY (and Brotherhood?), occasional “sermons in song,” honoring new members and teachers, and others. That list covers well over a full quarter of a year’s Friday evening services!
But every service is special, if only you will make it so. That requires a change of pace in your soul, rather than a change of pace in the service. Our synagogue and its staff can help you achieve that.
L'shalom,
Rabbi Tuchman
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October /December 2005
Beginnings
This is, as you know, the Jewish season of beginning. When you receive this Bulletin, it will be Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the year 5766. With special prayers and music, with apples and honey, with resonant Torah readings and traditions we will start the cycle of the Jewish year.
In a few weeks, we will begin the annual cycle of reading Torah at our Simhat Torah service. We will retell the ancient story of the origins of the Jewish people and refresh ourselves at the sources of Jewish observance, ethics and spirituality.
Our religious education year has already begun for children and adults alike. We open ourselves to new insights, and apply eternal truths to changing circumstances. Of course, the study of Torah continues from week to week with neither beginning nor end, and I hope that more of you will supplement what you learn at home with what we can do together at Temple.
The greatest beginning for us at Or Chadash is in having our own synagogue building. A few weeks ago, we formally dedicated our beautiful new Temple with heartfelt joy and a memorable service. As it was pointed out, the Dedication was not so much the end of a process as the beginning of a new chapter in the history of our congregation.
Now we will begin to experience the fullness of congregational life as we have never been able to before. Yes, we have been doing very well in virtually every facet of synagogue activity, but our new home will allow us to connect with each other as a community in new and abiding ways.
I am so happy to join in this exciting process with you. May the year ahead bring us growth: in numbers; in Jewish knowledge, observance and activity; and in the depth of our Jewish souls. May we overcome every obstacle and solve every problem. May we reach the year 5767 in peace and with great achievements.
Katrina joins me in wishing each of you a shanah tovah, m’tukah um’vorekhet—a good, sweet and blessed year.
August /September 2005
At the Threshold
W hen you receive this Bulletin, our synagogue building will be in the final stages of completion. This is such an exciting time in the history of Or Chadash.
Several committees and many people have been actively involved in making our dream a reality as well as planning for the transition from temporary to permanent space. There is still more to do, and every one of you has a share in it, because your use of the building will set the pattern for the future life of the congregation.
Among other events, we are planning a building dedication for September 18. Look for details elsewhere in this Bulletin and in your email and “regular” mail. I hope every one of you will be there.
Personally, I’ve never been involved in anything like this before, so this is all new to me too! I regard it as a privilege to share this experience with you.
At the same time, we are using the summer--as we always do--to gear up for the year ahead. Your professional staff and Temple committees are all working hard preparing for upcoming services, classes and social events.
We are also welcoming Lynne Fraley, our new administrative assistant. Please join me in helping her “learn the ropes” and settle into our many routines. We’re not saying goodbye to Sheila Steinhauser, we just won’t have her in the office every day. She has earned our gratitude for three years of dedicated, conscientious service to our congregation.
Once we have crossed the threshold of our new synagogue building, we will be ready to cross another threshold, the Jewish year 5766! May we reach it in peace, and may each of us--our families, our congregation, and our people--go from strength to strength.
There were a number of people who wanted to take the adult education course on Kabbalah and Jewish spirituality, but were unable to do so. Due to many requests, I’m offering it again, starting on September 25. All classes will be on Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and last about 90 minutes. With one exception, there will be at least two weeks between sessions. The remaining sessions will take place on October 9 and 23, November 13 and 20, December 18, January 8 at 8:15 p.m. (this session only) and January 22. If you want to join me on this fascinating spiritual and intellectual journey, please let me know personally by the end of August so that I can order enough books for the class.
Also, it’s not too soon to prepare for the next session of the Or Chadash Reading Group, which will be on October 16 at 7:30 p.m.
June/July 2005
Clothing Ourselves for the Royal Wedding
S habbat is one of Judaism’s great gifts to humanity. The idea that we need a day away from work to refresh our souls seems to have originated with us Jews. It is so important that it is connected with others of Judaism’s strongest concepts. It is so important that we say it is sacred.
Like so many Hebrew nouns, “Shabbat” originated with a verb: to cease. Genesis 2:3 tells us that “God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, be-cause on it God ceased from all the work of creation….” In other words, Shabbat is so important that God instituted it at the time of creation.
Shabbat is the fourth of the Ten Commandments, to “remember” it in the Exodus version and to “observe” it in Deuteronomy. The Ten Commandments, of course, are the covenantal rules that Israel agreed to abide by. If the Torah is the founding document of Judaism, the Ten Commandments are its core.
In Exodus, Shabbat is connected to the story of Creation, but in Deuteronomy it is tied to the liberation from slavery in Egypt. Slavery is the opposite of Shab-bat, the denial of rest sufficient to appreciate what God created and to re-connect our souls with God and our spiritual heritage. Slavery is the denial of Covenant with God.
Judaism is big on signs and symbols. A couple of Torah verses, Exodus 31:16-17, are a beloved part of our Shabbat liturgy. In them we say that observing Shabbat is a sign of our Covenant with God; and then there is an added ele-ment, the statement that in ceasing from work, God was “refreshed.”
I know it doesn’t say “was refreshed” in our prayer book’s English rendering of V’shamru. The very word and its connection with God seems so bizarre that even more traditional prayer books shy away from it. How could an all-powerful God need to be refreshed? The word va-yinafash has something to do with breath, and it’s a passive verb. It doesn’t work to say that God “was breathed”; it seems to say, if it were possible, that God “took a breather”! And so we must take a breather, too.
All of this is weighty testimony to the importance of Shabbat. Later Jewish thinkers wanted to attest to its beauty, as well.
Judaism is also big on metaphor. The rabbis of the Talmudic age spoke of the Jewish people as the mate of Shabbat, and so we find a rabbi calling out to Shab-bat as to a bride: “Bo’i Kallah!” This phrase is used as the culmination of the hymn “L’kha Dodi.” In the same passage of Talmud (Shabbat 119a) a rabbi en-joins his neighbors, “Come, let us go out to welcome Queen Sabbath.” The poet Bialik used this phrase in his beautiful verse which we sometimes sing. If we Jews are the bridegroom and Sabbath is not only the bride, but royal, too, then on Shabbat we Jews attain royal status. And the beginning of Shabbat is a wedding!
The Talmud uses other metaphors—solemn, profound and haunting—to emphasize the beauty of Shabbat. Two angels accompany every Jew home from synagogue on Shabbat. (Shabbat 119b) Shabbat is a spice that gives food a uniquely good flavor. (Shabbat 119a) Every Jew gains an extra soul for the dura-tion of Shabbat. (Betzah 16a)
In our time, Abraham Joshua Heschel coined a new metaphor. “Shabbat,” he wrote, “is a palace in time with a kingdom for all.” If you haven’t read his essay “The Sabbath,” please do; it has recently been reprinted.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the Talmudic Sages thought it was important to prepare carefully for Shabbat. There are rules and rabbinic anecdotes about cleaning the house, cooking special meals, bathing, changing into nicer clothes and then lighting the Shabbat candles.
Today at Jewish summer camps, similar rituals are observed. Normal activities are suspended in the middle of Friday afternoon so that cabins can be cleaned, every-one can shower and change into the clothing that camp tradition decrees (and which has been emphasized on the list of “what to pack”). At least some of this clothing is white; “play clothes” are banished for the evening and maybe even Saturday morning. Only then does the camp community gather for song, prayer, the lighting of candles and the special Sabbath dinner.
Now I’ve been leading up to something. At the most recent board meeting, there was a proposal to enact a dress code for Shabbat (and all other) services. There are members of the board who feel that some of the clothing worn to services, by both children and adults, is disre-spectful of Jewish tradition and detrimental to the spiri-tual climate we would like to achieve.
A year ago in this Bulletin, Doug Streusand suggested that “casual clothing, when it becomes distracting, can actively detract from the atmosphere of services.” He also opined that “dressing formally and sitting quietly symbolized our commitment” to the “discipline necessary to live more moral lives.” He was writ-ing of the Reform synagogue of his (and my) youth.
In our synagogue today, the prevailing atmosphere at services is informal. Most men and boys do not wear coats and ties; indeed, I am frequently the only male in the room dressed that formally. (I won’t go into details about women’s and girls’ clothing; I would surely get it wrong. Draw your own analogies.) This is fine by me; standards have changed a lot since the ‘50s and ‘60s.
I want to make a distinction between “informal” and “casual.” To me, “casual” defines an attitude of not tak-ing something seriously. “Informal” denotes a style of dress. I think that we can dress informally without treat-ing Shabbat casually. Even dressed informally, we can greet Shabbat without merely slouching into “the week-end.” Our tradition says there is an important distinction between simply ceasing work and treating Shabbat as a sacred occasion, like that wedding our Sages spoke about. It is that distinction which I would like for us to uphold.
Personally, I would rather not see us go so far as to adopt a dress code. Such an action would signal a change in the kind of synagogue community we have built and cherish, and not, I think, a change for the better. But we can all honor Shabbat in fresh, clean (and I would add, modest) clothes and leave our “play clothes” at home without having to consult a board-generated list of what is permitted and prohibited.
Many synagogues have inscribed over the Ark: “da` lifney mi atah omed Know before Whom you stand.” This is meant to inspire awe; with that injunction, who would dare enter the Sanctuary in sweats and track shoes?
But I would be satisfied with a heartfelt “Thank God it’s Friday!”
April 2005
Redemption
So you thought that Passover is the Festival of Freedom!
Not quite. Read the story of Passover in the Torah or the Haggadah, and you will look in vain for “freedom” in the Hebrew text. To be sure, the standard Jewish Publication Society Bible translation gives us God saying to Moses, “…you shall free My people, the Israelites, from Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10) But in Hebrew, God tells Moses, “…you shall bring My people out of Egypt.” Big difference!
And in God’s name, Moses demands of Pharaoh, “Let My people go so that they may serve Me!”
Whenever we refer to the Exodus, which is very often, the word we use is g’ulah which means “redemption.” We say that God redeemed us from slavery in Egypt.
A look in the dictionary reveals that redeem can mean “to set free; to rescue or ransom.” But the primary meaning is “to recover ownership of by paying a specified sum.” We also find “to fulfill,”—a promise, for example.
I’m interested in this concept of God’s recovering “ownership” of the Israelites. Torah tells us that the Israelites were so burdened by their enslavement that their connection to God had become very tenuous. In effect, they belonged more to Pharaoh than to God. God worked to recover ownership through choosing Moses and Aaron as leaders, through the wonders they displayed in Pharaoh’s court and the disastrous plagues.
So what price did God pay? If one could say it of God, God’s payment was in suffering because the Israelites were suffering, in patience with their disbelief, in nurturing Moses as he assumed extraordinary burdens. But there was another price, too.
It is often said that history is written by the victors. Torah tells our story with the emphasis on the liberation of the Israelites and the ruin of Egypt, but the references to Egyptian suffering are made without empathy. This bothered early interpreters. Some quelled their uneasiness with the hope of Israel united with its antagonists in friendship. And in a famous midrash, God rebukes the angels who are exulting over the destruction of Pharaoh’s army for singing praises while these Egyptian children of God are drowning.
I find that I have entered territory which the greatest modern Jewish scholars approach with great caution, or not at all. Redemption is not a topic they like to discuss, except perhaps to limit it to the distant past and the messianic future, or to say—and we encounter this less frequently now—that the State of Israel is God’s redemptive act for Jews today, after the enormity of the Holocaust.
I think that the best we can do is to pair Moses’s obligation to bring us out with the idea that our purpose is to serve God and not Pharaoh. Because God paid with the pain and death of human beings, losing many who could help to perfect the world, we have to pay God back with our redoubled effort to redeem—to fulfill the promises we have made to be God’s partners in perfecting the world.
Because our prayer book is the place we turn to for the basics of Jewish belief, we look in Gates of Prayer and find these thoughts: “When will redemption come? When we master the violence that fills our world. When we look upon others as we would have them look upon us. When we grant to every person the rights we claim for ourselves.”
And this: “…we wait to be redeemed into a lasting unity. Blessed is the time to come ….Until people return from their exile from each other redemption will not come….Let our hearts be moved by the misery of others and dare what must be dared.”
Passover is the Festival of Redemption. We thank God for the historical redemption from slavery. We acknowledge our present task of fulfilling our role as God’s partners in keeping the promises we chose to make for the betterment of the world. And we look forward to the ultimate redemption of peoples united in peace and compassion.
Wishing you a festive and meaningful Pesach!
February/March 2005
Retelling Our Story
The American Jewish community is in the midst of a year of celebrating 350 years of Jewish life in the United States. There are programs, exhibits and speakers all around the country.
There's no time like the present to reflect on the American Jewish story. We are living in a "golden age" of Jewish history, which far surpasses in every way the previous periods of acceptance and accomplishment which we have enjoyed.
From a difficult beginning--Peter Stuyvesant didn't want to permit the first 23 Jews in North America to settle in New Amsterdam--American Jews have scaled the heights of achievement in virtually every field of endeavor. The biographies of outstanding individuals are often fascinating, and the Jewish stories of every era and region in our country since 1654 are spellbinding.
You are a part of this grand story. The choices you make about your life as a Jew are a part of the web of American Jewish history. How we have dealt with the unprecedented degree of acceptance by the nation-at-large will be one of the great themes of Jewish history in ages to come.
Since Biblical times, one of the main tensions of Jewish life has been the relationship between our needs as Jews and our participation in the non-Jewish world. How can we contribute to the world around us, and be nurtured by it, while at the same time remaining distinctly Jewish and being nurtured by our faith and peoplehood? In some sense, every one of us is trying to answer this question which is fundamental to Jewish survival.
If you would like to learn more about our 350 years in America, you can't do better than your nearest big book store, which has lively and provocative material for kids and adults. Also, you'll want to visit this website: www.celebrate350.org. It has a great booklist, a calendar of events and a superb lineup of resource links.
And don't forget that our own Or Chadash Singers are rehearsing for a concert on March 19 in the new Strathmore Concert Hall. Joining with other synagogue choirs from Metro DC along with their cantors, they will sing selections that reflect the history of our people in this country. We will hear several languages and the ways in which non-Jewish musical influences were given Jewish inflections.
God bless America!
August/September 2004
Many Happy Returns
This Bulletin will reach you in the middle of summer. I hope you’ve been taking some time to travel, relax and spend more time than usual with those you love.
In the midst of summer and its welcome breaks in routine, it’s hard to comprehend that the High Holy Days are right around the corner. By the time we gather for Rosh Hashanah, our new year 5765, we will have gone back to work and back to school. We will return to routine.
“Return” is a major theme of the High Holy Days. Over and again, we use the Hebrew word t’shuvah. We translate it as “repentance,” but its root meaning is “return.” In repenting of our sins at this season, we are not only returning to God. Through reconciliation, we return to those whom we have wronged. And in repentance, we return to the best that is in ourselves.
We also return to the full activity of our synagogue. Although services have been held every Shabbat and the Board has been meeting through the summer, our Religious School and Sisterhood now resume their regular schedules. I hope you will take every opportunity to participate in the activities at Or Chadash.
Only five days after Yom Kippur, the harvest festival of Sukkot begins. Originally, it was a season of thanksgiving upon completing the harvest of the year’s crops. As we observe Yom Kippur, Sukkot also gives us a joyous holy day to anticipate, newly restored to God’s presence, returned and renewed.
May the coming seasons of preparation, repentance and harvest bring you great joy! Katrina joins me in wishing you every blessing in the coming year.
November/December 2004
Eight Candles, Eight Values
T o make each night of Hanukah special in a spiritual way, several writers have identified each of the eight candles—the eight nights—with a particular Jewish value. I’ve got seven of these lists on file; there must be many more.
Trying to distill the essence of Judaism into a brief statement is an ancient and ongoing spiritual exercise. Tying this pursuit to Hanukah is just one variation.
I examined the three lists that have the widest range of interest. Among them they mention 18 midot, Jewish values. Seven of these midot are mentioned twice: freedom, study, brotherhood, charity, patience, courage and peace. From the 11 that remain, I would add—hope. And I hope that, as you light your hanukiah. Hanukah menorah each night, you will take a few minutes to discuss these values before you move on to other parts of your celebration.
The midot I listed have special resonance at Hanukah. As we all know, the freedom to worship as Jews, even to identify ourselves as Jews, is at the heart of the story of Hanukah. Knowing how to pray and how to live as Jews comes through study of our sacred literature and tradition. Brotherhood—kinship—is the knowledge that we share a common fate as a greater Jewish family and within the human family, so we are responsible for one another. Enabling those in need to share fully in communal life is what charity is all about.
The goals we strive for can’t be achieved quickly, so we need patience. To overcome formidable obstacles, we require courage. The ultimate goal is peace in the full sense of the Hebrew word shalom: harmonious wholeness and comple-tion. And we could not even try to make these midot a living reality unless we had hope of success. All these midot are expressed in the story of Hanukah, and throughout the history of our people in bad times and good alike.
The story of Hanukah is timeless; every year we discover new ways in which it is also our own contemporary story. In ancient times during the Maccabean revolt, the battle was in part an internal dispute over the degree to which Greek culture could be assimilated into Jewish life. And only yesterday, a major com-ponent of the recent Presidential campaign was a dispute over whose values reflect the views of the American public.
How do we Jews fit into this American picture? Reports indicate about 75% of Jewish voters were for Kerry, and 25% for Bush. Is there some fundamental disagreement about values in the American Jewish community?
I think not. The preservation of freedom and its spread throughout the world is important to all of us. Study of our sacred texts must be combined with study of contemporary issues so that we can make our best contributions as Jewish citizens. Without the feeling of relatedness, we would isolate ourselves in selfish pur-suits. Charitable concern helps to soften our feelings to-ward those we might ignore or spurn. We need patience because we know that opinions and policies don’t change quickly, and we need courage to dare to speak out. Peace—in the Jewish sense of shalom—is our ultimate goal, and without hope we wouldn’t even make an effort to improve our nation and our world.
Where there is disagreement among Jews, the issue is how these midot are to be applied. How is freedom to be spread? Toward what opinions does our study point? What is the nature of the shalom we envision? These are all legitimate matters of discussion, and we invoke another midah: that all our disputes be l’shem Shamayim for the sake of Heaven. Our disagreements, and the way we conduct them, should reflect our Covenant with God and with each other.
The recent campaign was notorious for the venom, the abusive speech and even rampant hatred that were expressed. We Jews can make a valuable contribution to American public life by living the midot of Hanukah, and teaching by example. And so the story and observance of Hanukah renews itself in our lives. Just as we increase the light throughout the festival, so do we hope to shed increasing light on our lives as Jews and as Americans.
I’ll leave you with a question: which midot would you choose for the eight candles of Hanukah?
Wishing you a radiant Hanukah.
