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By Fred Strober, RS President
The weekend of March 4th through 6th is an important one for Rodeph Shalom. It represents a critical point in the “Visioning Initiative” that your clergy and Board of Trustees initiated last fall to help determine—with your meaningful involvement—the future direction of our congregation. Our “guide” for the weekend will be Rabbi Larry Hoffman, a leading intellectual force behind many of the changes over the past decade which have kept the Reform movement relevant.
Debbie Friedman’s (of blessed memory) pursuit of relevance and meaning, written about in the last post, “Debbie Friedman: A Spiritual Legacy,” is not only an inspiration, but also a challenge. As Pirke Avot, the Wisdom of Our Sages, instructs us to do, she “turned the text over and over again,” to rediscover meaning. When we turn the text in our quest into the ultimate questions of life and meaning, we are a part of Debbie Friedman’s legacy. Continue reading
I remember a family car ride to the end of Long Island. I was 15 years old and my father decided it was his mission for me to become involved in the Jewish youth group. So he played a cassette tape over and over until I agreed. My family sat for hours in the boxy red Volvo, listening to the tape of Debbie Friedman, zichrona livracha (of blessed memory) leading a song-session at the 50th anniversary celebration of the North American Federation of Temple Youth. Indeed, I went on to become involved in the Reform Jewish youth movement. And, like Jews across the country and even the world, I was spiritually touched and changed by the music of Debbie Friedman and that of so many leaders whom she influenced. Read the rest of this entry »
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yLDgDkCeQE&feature=player_embedded]
In honor of the news of 2 weeks ago, that the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy was finally overturned, I turn my thoughts to integrity. I’m not only speaking of the integrity of sexual identity, but that of spiritual wholeness—an integrity that should transcend gay-specific issues and be a message to us all. Continue reading
(Hanukkah blessings and songs, text and audio)
How do you light a Hanukkah menorah, or Hanukkiah? Jews have disagreed on this throughout the ages. The controversy surrounding the Hanukkah menorah lighting goes back about 2000 years. Talmudic rabbis coming from different schools of thought debated ritual practices and two schools that commonly debate one another were that of Hillel and Shammai. The school of Shammai taught that eight candles should be kindled on the first night of Hanukkah and each night, we should decrease a candle. Makes sense, right? Decreasing candles would symbolize the fact that remaining oil decreased each night. Yet, common practice sides with the school of Hillel, which taught us to increase a candle each night. The Maccabees didn’t increase the number of lights the kindled; why should we?Continue reading
A recently heard a story about a group of campers by the side of a river. They saw a body floating by. They all ran into the water, pulled the person out, performed CPR and saved the person. As they were packing up their tents, they noticed another body. Again they jumped into the water, and rescued the man. As they were getting into their cars, they saw another body come floating by. As they were saving this person, one person turned to another and asked: Maybe we better get up-river and see if we can find the source of this problem!
Yes, we’re good at attaining short term goals, but we don’t worry about what comes later. Like the campers, we’re good in a crisis, at saving people as they float by. When we see pictures of hunger on the T.V. and destruction on the front pages of our newspapers and magazines, we react. At these moments we’re good at providing food to fill empty stomachs. However, we don’t often ask what is happening up the river. We aren’t so good when the pictures disappear. When the images are no longer in front of our eyes, we forget those that remain.
Can you name the first female rabbi? It’s a trick question, because almost 20 years ago, the answer changed. Most people familiar with the history of the rabbinate or Jewish feminism would proudly answer that the first female rabbi was Sally Preisand, who was ordained by the Hebrew Union College in 1972. Recently retired, Rabbi Preisand served as a congregational rabbi in New Jersey for many years, and has been the pioneer who laid the groundwork for the rest of us. As it turns out, Rabbi Preisand has the distinction of being the first female rabbi ordained in the United States. Continue reading
By Rabbi Bill Kuhn
Passover and Yom Kippur are the same holiday. Well, maybe there is a little difference, but they share many of the same themes. It’s all about renewal, rebirth, starting over and second chances. Passover takes place in the spring of the year for a reason. All of nature appears to die in the winter, although we know it is only in a dormant state, and the gentle spring rains and sunshine will cause the earth to reawaken. Trees blossom, flowers bloom, grass reappears and the natural world seems to come back to life. All is reborn.Continue reading
By Rabbi Michael Holzman
Over my years at Rodeph Shalom I hope that I have been able to communicate my somewhat complicated relationship with Zionism and Israel. While I certainly call myself a Zionist and believe firmly that there needs to be a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, I am also pained and frustrated with the recent direction of the state. That pain comes from what I see as the corrupting influence of Israel’s amazing military and economic power. Setting this power against past and current threats to Israel’s very existence is a recipe for confusion, ethical-lapse and the abuse of the other. And now throw in the intransigent position of the greater Arab world and the particulars of Palestinian politics and that recipe becomes a potent cocktail for disaster. Continue reading
By Rabbi Bill Kuhn
On Friday evening, January 15, 2010 at our 7:30 p.m. Shabbat Service, we will celebrate the national holiday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. In what has become an annual event at Rodeph Shalom, we will share one of the most meaningful interfaith services of our calendar year as we welcome Reverend Kevin Johnson and the Bright Hope Baptist Church. Reverend Johnson will give the sermon that evening as we also welcome many members of his congregation and his choir. Those of you who have heard him speak and have heard their magnificent choir know what an unforgettable experience this is. Continue reading
By Rabbi Bill Kuhn
Now is the time to support the State of Israel as never before. As Israel is under existential threat on several fronts, it is the obligation of Jews around the world to speak up and to use every resource and means available to save our spiritual homeland.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, said in his Shabbat morning sermon at the Biennial convention in Toronto on November 7th, “When the history of Reform Judaism is written a century from now, its authors will ask…did we do enough to assure the security and well-being of the State of Israel?”
