Confinement Vs. Authenticity on Coming Out Day

For parents of grade school children, it is Back to School Night season.  This week, as my husband and I squeezed into the little 4th-grader chairs, we learned from our child’s teacher about a class-bonding activity they experienced.  The children created pictures to represent themselves as they are known to others.  Then they created pictures to represent themselves in a way that is unknown to others.  With great bravery, students presented their hidden selves to the class.  One shared her cerebral palsy, another, his parents’ divorce.  Students felt the support of teachers and classmates as they shared what might be hidden.

Even in the most supportive environment, authentic expression to others — and even just to ourselves —  can be a challenge.  It is natural for human beings to create labels to understand one another.  Yet, all too often these categories limit possibility, even humanity.  This is not new.Continue reading

Climbing into Their Skin: To Cultivate Abundant Kindness

delivered by Rabbi Jill Maderer Yom Kippur afternoon    

A man backs his car out of the driveway, and stops short to avoid running into a young boy, riding his skateboard on the sidewalk.  Annoyed, the man drives to the local cafe to pick up his morning coffee, and a woman parks her car in the spot he was eyeing.  Irritated, he walks into the store, only to see he needs to stand on a long line.  When he finally makes it to the front of the line, the person who was standing in front of him, returns to add a cookie to his order.  Exasperated, as if the world around him is irresponsible, incompetent and inconsiderate of his needs, the man sits down to wait for his coffee, and to reflect on how the world is everyone else’s oyster.

At that moment a stranger approaches him, and silently hands him a pair of eyeglasses.  When the man slides the glasses onto his face, his perspective changes.  Through this magical eyewear, the man can view a caption that follows each person in sight. Backtracking through his morning, he starts to see differently.Continue reading

From Personal Lives to the Jewish Community in the Wake of the Iran Deal: If We Can Harm, We Can Heal

 

delivered by Rabbi Jill Maderer Yom Kippur morning       

So… Who lives in the Pope traffic box?  Me, too.   Although logistically complicated, I appreciate that this is a momentous occasion, for our Catholic friends and for our city, and I am intrigued about how we in the Jewish community might find meaning in the Pope’s visit.

On this sacred day, we open to atonement, change, repair. Pope Francis serves as an extraordinary model of faith in repair.Continue reading

High Holy Day Service Options for Families at RS

High Holy Days Services for Families with Young Children


Contemporary Multi-generational Morning Services

Requires a “pass”; please contact Catherine Fischer cfischer@rodephshalom.org to become a member or prospective member and get a pass.

Rosh Hashanah: Mon., September 14, 8:30 am

Yom Kippur: Wed., September 23, 8:30 am

A full service for adults; yet a family-friendly atmosphere with children of all ages. Clergy, congregational choir, and guitar lead accessible music, encouraging participants to join in. Designed for all ages, the informality provides a comfortable setting for families with young children and there are activities for the children during the sermon.

Tashlich Service at Fairmount Waterworks
Mon., September 14, 1:30pm
640 Water Works Drive Philadelphia, PA 19130
Cast away your sins with breadcrumbs.  Open to all.

Afternoon Mini-Service for Families

Open to the community; no charge, please just bring photo ID for security.

Rosh Hashanah: Mon., September 14, 3:00 pm
Yom Kippur: Wed., September 23, 8:30 am

A very brief service for families of very young children and their parents and grandparents.

Our Common Home: The Pope’s Encyclical in the Jewish Community

by Rabbi Jill Maderer

So… Who is in the box?  Who’s home falls in the Center City travel box when our special guest, the Pope, visits Philadelphia this fall? Me, too.  Although still not complete, this week’s transportation and security update began to feed my hunger for a better understanding about how my family will function, how emergencies will be addressed, and of course, how we are going to get the Jewish community to synagogue.  As complicated as the Pope’s visit will be from a logistical perspective, I am intrigued about how we in the Jewish community, might find meaning in this historical moment.Continue reading

Demand Fair School Funding Tomorrow: Interfaith Shabbat Service in Harrisburg

Saturday, June 20: Prayer Service in Harrisburg

Rabbi Eli Freedman will lead Shabbat morning prayer and people of faith from across the state will gather to at our State Capitol to demand a moral budget that fully funds public schools. Participants from Rodeph Shalom will be carpooling from the synagogue. Contact Rachel Thomas (rthomas@rodephshalom.org)  about making arrangements for either driving or riding to Harrisburg.
10:30AM | Shabbat Service | Steps of the State Capitol
12PM | Interfaith Ceremony | Steps of the State Capitol

#rsgrows: A Building Expansion Fueled by Purpose

It has been so exciting to see the expansion go up here at Rodeph Shalom.  And now here we are, almost complete, with the May 17 Dedication happening this month!  In last weekend’s Sunday seminar, our expansion chairperson Michael Hauptman taught that the master planning for the space began in 1992!

The meaning of our new addition is certainly not limited to bricks and mortar.  The power of the renovation and expansion has been that, every step of the way, our leadership’s decisions have been mission-driven, fueled by our vision of the people and purpose who will fill its space.  Not once has this congregation set out to create a museum; this is a center for living Judaism, where we honor the past, celebrate the present, and shape the future of Jewish life in Philadelphia.

And so it made sense when, about a year ago, a congregant suggested we consider a Jewish text, that might appear on the external Broad Street wall.  Continue reading

On Public Shaming, a Compassion Deficit and Monica Lewinsky

by Rabbi Jill Maderer

This week’s Torah portion, Shmini, describes what can serve as a korban–a sacrifice.  And when the wrong thing is used as a korban, tragedy results.

Recently, Monica Lewinsky has made the news, because she has begun to speak publicly about the media storm that consumed her identity.  Now at the age of 41, the former Whitehouse intern reflects back when she was 22, and made serious and foolish mistakes, when she began a relationship with her older and exceedingly more powerful boss, the then president of the United States.  Lewinsky’s boss abused his power and her friend violated her trust.  Still, the most painful part of the experience for Lewinsky was the public humiliation she endured.

In 1998, our society allowed the wrong thing to be used as a korban–a sacrifice– when Monica Lewinsky became the first person to be publicly shamed in the age of the internet.  Everyone knew her mistakes, many seemed to derive joy from degrading her, ostracizing her, reducing her to her faults, and exaggerating them beyond recognition. Continue reading

Anti-Muslim or Anti-Jew, It’s All Bigotry

I recently coordinated a panel on global anti-Semitism. Participants learned about the efforts of the U.S. State Department and the American Jewish Committee in their work urging foreign governments to crack down on the perpetrators of anti-Semitic attacks.   I was struck by a comment from US Department of State Team Leader of Anti-Semitism and Europe in the Office of International Religious Freedom, Stacy Bernard Davis: “What used to be fringe is now voted into Parliament.”

Sadly, I believe Davis’ message can be extended.  What used to be fringe is now… published in the mainstream press… used for votes… sponsored as bus advertisements.Continue reading

Reminder Days: LGBT Movement’s 50th Anniversary

This month, the National Constitution Center and the William Way LGBT Community Center announced a partnership for an exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first LGBT protests in the nation. In 1965, and for the next 4 years, gay rights activists gathered outside Independence Hall carrying picket signs and demanding legislation that would secure the rights of LGBT Americans. Thirty-nine people attended the first picket.  These early annual protests, called “Reminder Days” did just that– they reminded our nation that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were not yet accessible to all Americans.

This week, as we begin the book of Leviticus, we learn about animal sacrifice from parashat Vayikra: “Make the offering a male without blemish.”   Zachar tamim.  The word for male, zachar, shares the same Hebrew root for the word, memory.  A creative translation might read: Make the offering a memory without blemish.  Or, Remember, and make no mistake.  Continue reading