February 26, 2010

Tetzaveh Ex. 27:20-30-10                                                                              

Dear Friends:

What do these great pairs have in common: Rogers and Hammerstein, Gershwin and Gershwin, Stameshkin and Levine? Great Jews producing great entertainment! Once again, thanks to the script of Stameshkin, the musicianship of Levine, the supreme patience of both, some really talented performers, and OK, face it, some really not very talented performers too, we will present our annual Purimshpiel on Sunday. The day includes a family friendly abbreviated Megillah reading at 11:15, and the shpiel at 1:00. Hopefully many of you have ordered lunch in between. Creative graggers (noise makers) for the reading are encouraged, and costumes are absolutely expected. Bring your friends!

But now to the serious. With the new format of Newsweek (not a big hit in my mind) we have the opportunity to read the work of columnist Julia Baird. In a recent column, she made reference to Mahatma Gandhi and his understanding of the seven social sins of humans: commerce without morality, politics without principle, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, education without character, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice. I was intrigued by the list, and realized how relevant these are in the context of our congregation. I would like to propose that there are meaningful Jewish teachings to be applied to each of these categories, and that our social justice agenda can well be defined by this list without entering into party politics. But I’ll deal with social justice in the future. For now, let’s focus on the last of the seven, worship without sacrifice.

It is no great revelation to say that we live in a world that expects immediate gratification, and wants quick fixes. There are many religious groups, including some within the Jewish world, that promote just this kind of thinking. The problem with quick fixes and immediate gratification is that the good feeling may be intense, but it is not often enduring.

Of course, Gandhi’s choice of the word “sacrifice” is interesting. Does one “sacrifice” something by spending time with the congregation in prayer, visiting with a family sitting Shiva, cooking a meal for someone recently out of the hospital, driving an elderly congregant to services, or attending an adult education class? The traditional Jewish answer would be that there is no sacrifice there at all. My dear friend and colleague, Sarah Messinger, used to remind our campers almost 30 years ago that “you don’t get points for things you’re supposed to do.” On the other hand, in at least one statement, our ancient text, Pirkei Avot, says that just the opposite is true. “The reward for doing a mitzvah is [the opportunity to perform] another mitzvah.” Rather than sacrifice, we tend to understand worship as work. The word Avodah that was used for worship in the ancient world is now used for work. We don’t just receive, we work for what we get. No quick fixes. Elsewhere Pirkei Avot says, “According to the labor is the reward.” You only get what you put in.

Let’s work and worship together—this Shabbat and every Shabbat. Together we’ll reap the rewards.

Shabbat Shalom u’m’vorach. Have a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Paskoff,

Rabbi

February 19, 2010

Terumah Ex. 25:1-27:19  

Dear Friends:

Do you remember the movie, Yentl? Great music, and a great cast, featuring Barbra Streisand and Mandy Patinkin, based on the story by Isaac Bashevis Singer? Among the scenes that I enjoyed were the ones that took place in the yeshiva. Streisand, dressed as a boy since girls would never be admitted to the yeshiva, appears for her admissions interview. Before long, she is the one asking the questions instead of the Rosh Yeshiva (head of the yeshiva). He is overwhelmed, but admits her to the school, saying something to the effect of: “We learn more about our students by the questions they ask than by the answers they provide.” We are a questioning people. Some would suggest that we are argumentative. It is with this in mind that I invite you all to services tonight. Come prepared to ask questions. We will move fairly quickly through the service to allow plenty of time for questions. Ask about the service, ask about the Torah, ask about our history, ask about our customs. Let’s learn more about each other and about our faith by the questions that we explore together.

In a way, the theme will continue at services on the 26th. I’m very proud that for the second year, my son Gadi is the Religious and Cultural Vice President of SSTY. Knowing that our SSTY led service was coming, we were speaking a few weeks ago about a meaningful theme for the service. Since Gadi took up wrestling in school this year, we discussed the theme of wrestling for our service. We talked about wrestling with God (even though we are a number of weeks past that parasha), and we talked about the things that our young people wrestle with in general. I hope many of you will share with us to learn more about our young people and their struggles, and to join in a service of their creation that I am confident will be expertly run for us. These kids are our future. I hope that you will invest some time to be with us next Friday night to show your support and your interest.

And now, I ask you. What are the things you wrestle with? In November, when I was at our movement’s North American biennial convention, I went to a workshop that began by our being asked to discuss with someone near us the issues that keep us awake at night. Specifically, what do you lose sleep over? I am interested in hearing your individual answers to that question. Is it your health? Is it the economy? The state of your relationships? The state of our world? Homelessness? Poverty? Many of you have heard me make reference to an old story. Two Russian peasants are getting drunk together. They talk about their friendship of many years. One declares to the other how much he loves him. The other turns serious, asking the first, “Do you know what makes me hurt?” The first is confused. The second says that he can’t speak of love for him if he doesn’t know what causes him pain. To borrow a phrase from that convention workshop, I want to start a “Sh’ma” campaign. I want to create opportunities for me to hear about who you are, what you struggle with, and what keeps you awake at night. Now, you just need to invite me in. Please be in touch so we can find a time to meet.

My greatest hope for all of us is that we can find peace this Shabbat, genuine respite from our struggles, even if it is only for 24 hours. Let’s celebrate that peace together, with the hope that our struggles will be just a bit more bearable when we pick them up again at the end of this Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom u’m’vorach.  Have a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Paskoff,

Rabbi

February 12, 2010

Mishpatim Ex. 21:1-24:18  

Dear Friends:

Last Friday night, as the snow started to fall, as we tried our best to make for a meaningful Shabbat for the Litofsky family as they celebrated Justin’s becoming a Bar Mitzvah, David Stameshkin presented the assorted Temple gifts to Justin. David spoke to him about the gift of snow as it guaranteed that most of us would have a full day off that we otherwise would not be inclined to take for ourselves. (Of course, some of the effect has been lost since many of us can work remotely from our homes thanks to the Internet.) I thought about how wonderful that true Shabbat is, even when it comes in the middle of the week as it did this week.

First of all, this week especially, our snow reminded us of all the things with which we are blessed. The shelter has been at our congregation this week. I watched women show up by 3:00 in the afternoon because they had nowhere else to go. I saw the desperation in women on Tuesday night as they tried to imagine where they would spend the day on Wednesday. This snow, as Shabbat should be, was a call to responsibility to care for all that God has created in the world.

Two weeks ago, I also had a conversation with one of our members, a regular at Shabbat morning Torah Study and services. She shared with me that she sometimes feels guilty about not coming on Friday nights, but that she and her husband have created a wonderful Shabbat eve ritual that she doesn’t want to sacrifice. I told her to stop feeling guilty, that I envied her, and that I would love to have everyone create such meaningful Jewish moments in their homes, especially if they then join with the community on Shabbat morning.

So consider this e-mail your mid-winter invitation to Shabbat. Here are all the things we have coming up:

February 19—Learners’ Shabbat. Come, ask questions, learn more of what the service is all about.

February 26—SSTY service. Our high school students will lead the service and share with us the things they wrestle with in their lives and in our world.

February 27—Children’s Havdalah for our youngest members and students.

March 5—1st Shabbat. 6:00. After services, we invite you to bring a Shabbat picnic for your family—indoors! After dinner, we will have the opportunity to learn Israeli dancing. We’re all beginners. Don’t be intimidated to try.

March 19—Scholar in Residence with Rabbi Jan Katzew.

Together, let’s enjoy the rest, the blessing, and the peace of Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom u’m’vorach.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Paskoff,

Rabbi

February 05, 2010

Yitro Ex. 18:1-20:23  

Dear Friends:

While I try to use this weekly pre-Shabbat message as a time for inspiration, I need to depart from that format today to share something of concern with you.

At almost every session of our 9th and 10th grade class, I ask the students if they have any ethical dilemmas they are facing in their lives, or anything they would like to discuss. The latter has often brought up topics dealing with the realities of being a small minority in their schools. This past Sunday, though, added an interesting twist to the situation. One of the students commented that in her school, anyone who is annoying in any way, Jewish or not, is called “Jew” by other students. Variations include, “Don’t be such a Jew.” Needless to say, I was taken aback. I asked the other students, representing at least four different high schools, if they had similar experiences, and almost all of them did. I told them that I remember when the word “Jew,” as a verb, was a pejorative, as in “to Jew someone down,”—http://www.dictionary.com still gives this usage in its list of definitions—but that this usage of “Jew” as a noun was new to me. Many of the students reported that when the term was used in their presence, there was often an apology offered, to which I asked, “an apology that the comment was made, or that you heard it?” Almost universally, the students felt that there was little remorse that the comment was made, only that a Jew actually heard it. The part of this conversation that was most challenging for me was the fact that our students were not up in arms about this. They felt that it was a trend that would go out of style as quickly as it came into style, and it was mostly something they would endure until that time. Remember that all of this is going on in a day and age when two of the key buzz words of education are multiculturalism and diversity.

I try to be very judicious in crying out that something is anti-Semitic. There is the old joke about the man with the severe stutter who applies for a job as a radio disc jockey and screams anti-Semitism when he doesn’t get the job. I don’t want to be that person. Nevertheless, our history has taught us that anti-Semitism is rarely a trend, and that ignoring it rarely helps it disappear. To accept the name of our faith and our people as an insult is unacceptable and it must be addressed. It must be addressed with the schools our children attend, and it must be addressed with our children. We need to help them feel more confident speaking up, we need to remind them to be vigilant, and we must do all of this without making them panic. More than that, when others are using the word “Jew” as a put-down, we must remind our kids to wear it with pride. I want to encourage all of you to begin this conversation with your children and grandchildren and their schools. If I can provide any guidance or resources, please feel free to call on me.

Even in sharing this with you, I want to remind you that Shabbat should still be a time of joy for all of us. Please remember that services both tonight and next Friday will begin at 6:00 for First Friday and shelter opening respectively.

Shabbat Shalom u’m’vorach. Have a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Paskoff,

Rabbi