Ruach Columns
Each month, members of the clergy author columns for Temple Isaiah's newsletter, Ruach.
by Rabbi Nicole Greninger
from the November 2008 Ruach
As Americans, we have one special day each year that focuses on gratitude: Thanksgiving. As the month of November draws near, we make plans to spend time with loved ones and literally “give thanks” for our many blessings. I have always liked Thanksgiving for its emphasis on gratitude. In our culture of greed, selfindulgence, and perpetual dissatisfaction with what we have, it is truly a pleasure to focus on the things for which we are grateful.
by Cantor Leigh Korn
from the November 2008 Ruach
I’m writing this article on my dog’s first birthday. Satchel is my first dog and has truly been a wonderful blessing in my life. Seeing that happy face and wagging tail each day as I come home brings me such joy and satisfaction. He is definitely the light in my life and I can’t imagine life without him.
I was at the dog park recently and someone noticed Satchel’s Star of David leash. She asked me cynically, “So, is your dog Jewish, too?” I thought for a second, and answered, “Well, I’m Jewish, so yes, I would say Satchel is Jewish, too.” Now, of course I know that Satchel’s philosophical perspective doesn’t go much beyond eating, fetching, licking my face, and other sundry dog activities. But I did start to wonder, what does it mean to be a Jew with a pet? So I did some research.
by Rabbi Roberto Graetz
From November 2008 Ruach
“… You shall teach them to your children…” –this is what the Torah instructs us to do. This is what we, as a community, attempt to help you—parents and grandparents—to do in order to guarantee Jewish continuity.
Parents of young children loan them to us once or twice a week for a few hours, so that through our teaching, we can reinforce the values they learn at home, the prayers you recite with them at night, and the rituals you keep to celebrate the times and seasons in our calendar.
by Rabbi Judy Shanks
from the June-July 2008 Ruach
These past few weeks, I have been traveling abroad – first with a wonderful group of Isaiah members as we explored the history and contemporary worlds of Berlin and then Jerusalem, and in the weeks following, Jamie and I enjoyed time alone to explore new cities, take beautiful hikes, talk and read a much–needed and much–appreciated mini-sabbatical – thank you!
by Cantor Leigh Korn
from the May 2008 Ruach
Theologically, Shavuot is undoubtedly one of our most significant festivals. After all, it celebrates the giving of the Torah, God’s gift to the Jewish people, which is the guide for how we are to live in this world. It is about the revelation at Sinai. These events lead us to belief in a God who cares about this world and expects us to strive in our lives to practice what is good and is just. Further, Shavuot was a harvest holiday – the festival of first fruits. And yet, Shavuot suffers from great neglect. It occurs often after religious school is over, so many of us never learned of this holiday, even in our childhood. Further, unlike Chanukah or Passover, there is no Jewish law regarding home practices or rituals on Shavuot. There are, however, practices that are the product of customs and traditions that allow us to observe this often forgotten holy day.
by Rabbi Judy Shanks
from the April 2008 Ruach
While prayer invites us to beseech God, we must also be open to what God wants from us. Rabbi Samuel Karff wrote, “Each generation must struggle to hear the call, ‘Where art thou?’ Each must choose to answer, ‘Here I am, send me.’” Each generation – not merely each individual. A siddur must challenge nar- cissism; that challenge begins by saying to a worship- per: your voice is here amidst others. To hear the call: to realize that prayer is not merely an outpouring of self; it is the opening of our senses to what is beyond our selves. Send me: prayer must motivate us to give selflessly.” (From the Introduction to Mishkan T’filah, A Reform Siddur.)
by Rabbi Roberto Graetz
from the April 2008 Ruach
We learn in the Torah that Nisan, the month during which we celebrate Passover, our Festival of Freedom. It is truly the beginning of the year. For civic, historic, and cultural purposes, forget Rosh HaShanah; that is what the month of Nisan is for.
by Rabbi Alissa Forrest
from the March 2008 Ruach
In the Talmud, Berakhot 64A, Rabbi Eleazar declares, “Don’t call them your children; call them your builders.” Without vowels, the letters for the Hebrew words for children and builders are exactly the same. I don’t think it is a coincidence that children and builders are interchangeable. As Rabbi Eleazar explains, our children are the ones who lay the foundation for our future.
Take a look down the hallways of the Talmud Torah Center on a Sunday morning or weekday afternoons. Over thirty teens can be seen dedicating their free time to building the future of our Jewish community. In the classroom, these Avodah Teaching Assistants engage the students in their Judaic learning and support them as they begin their Hebrew studies. Or look in the Youth Lounge when a Simcha or Anachnu event is taking place. Our High School staff can be seen around the room hanging out with the younger youth groupers—challenging them to a game of pool or helping the participants to form bonds.
While you are there, stay for a LAFTY event. At these, you will see the seven members of the LAFTY board lead a program that they planned with the assistance of our Youth Advisor, Alli Darrow. They create the flyers, make phone calls (or text-message) to encourage participation, plan the activities, and write the havdalah services.
And just wait for the Purim Carnival this month. This too, is being planned and led by LAFTY. At “got Shabbat?” the art activities and games are led by our teens. On Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons, you’ll see Meshorarim, our teen choir, and The Mighty Kleztones, our youth klezmer band, preparing to lead our congregation in prayer. And you definitely don’t want to miss the last two weeks of the summer, when forty teens serve as counselors and CITs at Camp Kefli. From early in the morning to late afternoon, teen counselors energize campers through singing and cheers. They comfort them when they have a tough momentum, and bond with them as they scream down the roller coasters.
At the end of this month, for the first time, you will see eighteen members of our 10th grade Confirmation class, lobbying our senators and representatives in Washington, DC, as they participate in the Religious Action Center’s L’Taken Seminar. All these leadership roles and opportunities are in addition to Wednesday nights, when over a hundred of our 8-10th graders come to study (and socialize) at Teen School.
Becoming a bar or bat mitzvah is just the beginning of teenagers experiences at Temple Isaiah. Through these unique opportunities, teens not only build positive Jewish experiences for our children, but also they learn skills to become future leaders of our community.
Let us not call them our children, for they are truly our builders!
by Cantor Leigh Korn
from the March 2008 Ruach
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Dust off your costumes, break out the groggers, and get ready to boo Haman. It’s Purim! Purim is the one holiday that gives permission to just let loose in shul.
The Jewish festival cycle is full of different moods. Pesach is full of bittersweet joy; Yom Kippur is full of awe and reverence; Simchat Torah is all about rejoicing. Each of us in our own lives experiences the same range of emotions throughout the year, and the Jewish calendar gives us many opportunities to express each of those feelings. Some of these human emotions are rather challenging for us to express – for example, joy or grief or guilt. What is especially interesting to me is that it is easier for many to feel repentant on Yom Kippur than it is for them to act foolish on Purim. Purim calls upon us to give in to the aspect of our personalities signified by the phrase ad de-lo-yada. This is the state of not knowing the difference between Haman and Mordechai, a time when rules and all our inhibitions are swept under the rug. While some do this by getting drunk, we don’t need alcohol to become blissfully ignorant of reality.
The Talmud says that we fully accept the Torah only on Purim, for only when we can mock the tradition can we fully accept it. Rabbi Michael Strassfeld writes that the threat of the mountain of Sinai hanging over our heads evaporates on Purim. All the smoke and sound of Sinai vanishes and we see clearly the Torah, its great potentials and great dangers. We accept the Torah knowing that once a year on Purim there will be a time to laugh at our own self-righteousness. We can live by the Torah the rest of the year knowing that one day we can let out our repressed feelings as we break all the rules, even turning the Torah on its head. We need Purim to laugh at what we value and therefore gain a real sense of self-worth.
So, fear not and let loose. Let the Mordechais and Hamans in your own persona mingle and rejoice. Join us to celebrate Purim on Thursday, March 20, at 6:30 p.m., children and adults alike. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to Jewish-ly express your emotions of foolishness and glee.
by Rabbi Judy Shanks
from the February 2008 Ruach
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Perachiah said: “Find yourself a teacher/rabbi, and thereby acquire a friend.” – Ethics of the Fathers 1:6
In late December and early January, I had the opportunity to attend two conferences: the Biennial of the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ) and the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis. These gatherings allow me to talk with colleagues and synagogue leaders from across the country, catch up on friendships, hear the latest ideas for worship, education, outreach, social justice initiatives, and all other parts of synagogue life. I was delighted that Temple Isaiah had close to 30 delegates to the URJ/WRJ (Women of Reform Judaism); we all came back energized with suggestions to infuse into the life of Temple Isaiah. Stay tuned!
by Rabbi Alissa Forrest
from the January 2008 Ruach
During the month of January, we read from the Torah in Exodus recalling the Israelites journey from slavery to freedom. We stand behind Moses as he goes before Pharaoh requesting “Let my people go!” We experience the terrible plagues—the bloodied water of the Nile, the land filled with frogs and swarms of insects, death of the Egyptian cattle, hail and more—when Pharaoh refuses to let them go. Finally, we travel with the Israelites out of Egypt singing and dancing as they cross the Sea of Reeds.
by Cantor Leigh Korn
from January 2008 Ruach
The Jewish calendar can often be a baffling thing. We often talk about how holidays are “early or late this year,” when, in essence, they are right when they always are. The reason things seem early or late is we always relate dates to when they fall on the secular or Gregorian calendar. This year Chanukah seemed very early and next year it falls at Christmas time. We can’t really blame anything for this odd occurrence except the moon. Even the lunar calendar is altered sometimes by the addition of a month, so that holidays would still be observed in their correct season.
by Rabbi Judy Shanks
from the December 2007 Ruach
“Turn it (the Torah) and turn it over again, for everything is contained in it, and contemplate it, and wax grey and old over it, and stir not from it, for you can have not better guide than this.” (Pirke Avot, 2-4)
by Cantor Leigh Korn
from the October 2007 Ruach
It is pretty rare that cantorial schools make the news. One might suspect (mostly accurately) that cantorial schools exist without the shadow of controversy. What could be so controversial anyway? Simply put, they train individuals in all things Jewish, musical, and liturgical, and turn singers into cantors.
by Rabbi Judy Shanks
from the October 2007 Ruach
When God called Abram (soon to be renamed Abraham) to leave his homeland and journey to Israel to establish a new covenant with God, the Torah teaches that he and his wife Sarah brought with them “all the people they had gathered to them.” When the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Torah reports that “a mixed multitude” went with them. Non-Israelites joined the band of ex-slaves to witness God’s revelation at Sinai, to enter into the covenant and, forty years later, to settle as residents of the Promised Land of Israel.
Rabbi Alissa Forrest’s column from the September 2007 Ruach
As I prepare for my first High Holy Days as a rabbi, I have been thinking about what it means to wish someone shanah tovah, a good year. Saying shanah tovah is more than wishing someone “good year” or “happy new year.” The Hebrew word shanah is translated as year, but its origin conveys a deeper meaning. The Hebrew root shin, nun, hey, from which shanah is derived, can mean “to change.” Furthermore, the root can also mean “to repeat.” For example, the fifth book of the Torah is often called Mishneh Torah, the repetition of the Torah, because Deuteronomy repeats what previously happened in the Torah. Bringing these ideas together, Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins explains, “a shanah tovah, a good year, is a year of l’shanot, of change, of doing things differently and better. And it also denotes a year of repetition, of relearning all the old lessons that our tradition of truth and wisdom has been teaching us for many centuries.”
As I prepare for 5768, I look forward to all the changes that will take place at Temple Isaiah in the coming year – from creating new programs such as a family retreat, to establishing new and stronger connections with our youth and young families. But I am also excited to carry forth the values and traditions of Temple Isaiah – a community that is open and supportive
of each other’s needs and differences; whose members are committed to lifelong Jewish learning, tzedakah, social action, and social justice; whose worship experiences deepen one’s relationship with God; a community that supports and encourages innovation and creativity.
May this shanah be a good year, one that both carries forth the traditions of Temple Isaiah and embraces new initiatives designed to strengthen our community.
Cantor Leigh Korn’s column from the September 2007 Ruach
We often translate Yom Kippur as the Day of Atonement. I was recently reading a book by Rabbi Michael Strassfeld who resyllabifies this word. He calls it the Day of At-One-ment, and I found this particularly striking. Yes, it is certainly the day that we atone for our mistakes and the times that we missed the mark in the past year. However, it is certainly a Day of At-One-ment. In fact, this could be said of the entire High Holy Days.
With whom are we “at one”? We are at one with God when we come to synagogue because we have often failed at repentance and we ask God to help us find a way to clean our slates for the coming year. We are at one with our community as we spend the whole day in synagogue recognizing that not only individually, but communally we are in great need of repair. We are at one with ourselves as we are commanded to look deep within and face the reality that we are not perfect. We fast so that we can feel that the natural course of our existence is suspended on this day and in turn learn how to better embrace life.
On these holidays, these days of At-One-ment, may you find your own way to become one with your family, your God, your community and most importantly, yourself.
Shanah Tovah.
Rabbi Shanks’ column from the September 2007 Ruach
“O God of mercy, be gracious and answer us, for we have little merit. Treat us generously and with kindness, and be our help.” At this season of the year, with the turning of the year, we too turn – inward to examine our deeds and outward to the Holy One, to seek atonement and blessing. It is a time of contrasts: humility and grandeur, reflection and celebration, remembrance of the past and resolutions for the future. The words and music of our High Holy Day liturgy, the holiday meals with family and friends, the opportunity to judge ourselves honestly, can have a profound effect on our lives. We can change. We can become who we were meant to be. We can bring deeper meaning, more balance, and more joy to our lives. Let us give each other strength and bless each other at the turning of this New Year. May God treat us generously and with kindness. May we be counted among those who pursue justice, peace and blessing for all peoples of the world.
Jamie, Talia and Mira join me in wishing you and your loved ones a Shanah Tovah, a New Year of goodness, happiness, health and joy!
L’shanah Tovah!
Rabbi Graetz’s column from the September 2007 Ruach
So, what is it that I wish for you?
That the arrival of the High Holy Days be filled with meaning giving you a chance to start anew:
To forgive and let go of petty hurts suffered;
To remember to express gratitude for every little good thing that happens in your life;
To verbalize your love to those you truly love, and not take them for granted;
To strengthen your bonds of friendship and community at every opportunity;
To have time to breathe and listen to the rustling of leaves;
To be kind and generous to those in need; respectful of the old, open to the new;
To be caring for the earth God entrusted to our care;
To be a Jew in the world sometimes swimming against the current, often counter-culture, always aware that we are “in God’s image.”
And that, my friend, is an awesome responsibility.
May your year be filled with blessings, you and your loved ones inscribed for life, for health and peace.
From our house to yours, L’shanah Tovah Tikateyvu
Rabbi Forrest’s column from the August 2007 Ruach.
When I left Temple Isaiah six years ago to begin rabbinical school, LAFTY presented me with a beautiful tallit. When you look at the tallit from afar, the design seems to be a blend of greens, purples and blues; but, upon closer inspection, the tallit is actually decorated by the outlines of dozens and dozens of hands, the handprints of the many children and teens with whom I had worked during my two years as Assistant to the Education Department and Assistant Youth Director (1999-2001). The hands represent chamsas, a Middle Eastern symbol of protection.
Rabbi Shanks’ column from the August 2007 Ruach.
No, but This Year I Want You to be Ready to Help Start a New Isaiah Sukkot Tradition!
Rabbi Shanks’ column from the June-July 2006 Ruach
I gave these remarks at the Annual Membership meeting, May 2.
Elohaynu v’elohay avotaynu v’emotaynu,
Our God and God of the generations who came before us,
Bless us on this evening of commitment and decision with the sense of Your loving presence,
Be close to us and guide us with your wisdom and Your clarity:
As we pledge our support of our leadership,
As we establish the stability and financial security
of our community for the year to come,
As we celebrate achievements past and plan for the dreams of the future.
Guide our minds and our hearts that our work might be worthy of Your praise, O God,
And worthy of the trust given into our hands to bring Temple Isaiah, this holy congregation, from strength to strength. Amen.
Column from the May 2006 Ruach
I never really imagined it would cause such a stir. It was the afternoon before Purim and I was starting to get my costume together. My sister had given me explicit instructions about what I should wear so that I would look like an authentic 1950’s greaser. I put on my Converse high tops, dark blue jeans, and white t-shirt. I slicked back my hair with the requisite amount of hair gunk, but as I looked in the mirror I realized that something was in the way of having that authentic 1950’s look. And that’s when I did it. I shaved. I never expected quite the reaction I received. Everyone had to share their opinion on it. If I were to tally the “votes,” it was a landslide – clean shaven won. It really struck me that the Jewish community had such a preference for my goatee-free look. Where had the love gone for the facially hirsute Jewish man? I thought that facial hair was practically a fixture of the prototypical male Jew. I decided to do some research into the history of the Jew and the beard.
In biblical times, the beard was regarded as a symbol of male attractiveness and virility while a shaved face was a sign of humiliation. When King Hanun accused King David’s courtiers of being spies plotting to overthrow the government, he “clipped off one side of their beards … and sent them off.” Understanding their deep humiliation, David ordered the men to hide in Jericho until their beards had grown again. Further, shaving was an indication of intense grief and bereavement. Ironically, since many Jewish men are now clean shaven, growing a beard – as opposed to shaving it – has become a sign of mourning.
The Torah expressly prohibits shaving “the side-growth of our beard.” The reason for the ban on shaving this area of the beard was to distinguish the Israelites from the priests of pagan cults, who ritually shaved certain areas of their faces to designate their sacred status. The Mishnah codified the biblical law not to “mar” the corners of the beard, while the Talmud termed the beard “the glory of the face”, a sign of maturity and piety. For the kabbalists, hair possessed great mystical significance. A man’s beard represents the beard of the Holy Ancient One, the point of Creation when divinity flows to the world. The beard is also mystically associated with God’s mercy. Thus the kabbalists prohibited even the shortening of one’s beard. The Chasidim of Eastern Europe adopted this practice.
Today, some strictly observant Jews do not shave or even trim their beards, as a sign of their devotion to tradition. Some Jews do not cut their beards or shave during the period of the Omer and for the three weeks preceding Tisha B’av, due to the mournful tone of these periods. The Shulchan Aruch ruled that as long as a single razor is not used, it is acceptable to remove all facial hair, which explains my modern Orthodox friends’ clean-shaven faces.
Well, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Judaism has a lot of differing opinions on the topic throughout our history. Where does that leave this goatee-less cantor? Do I go with the Torah, Talmud, and Kabbalists and let it grow back? Do I listen to the words of the Shulchan Aruch and continue to shave with my electric razor? I think, for now, I will listen to the other tried and true Jewish source of knowledge and wisdom – my mother, who will gleefully declare that she likes what Purim has done to my face.