From the Rabbi's Desk...
 
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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March 5, 2010
Shabbat Across America
Tonight we will be celebrating Shabbat Across America as we join tens of thousands of Jewish people across North America in a communal observance of our holy day of rest.
This week’s Torah reading, Ki Tissa, reminds us that it is important to take a day out of our rushed routine and to “stop creating” for a short period of time.
For Jewish people that means pulling back from work, from technology and stress, and devoting some attention to our families, friends, and to our own spiritual wellbeing.
There are many interpretations of how far to go with Shabbat, particularly within the Conservative and Reform movements, but overall the message is simple. If we do not take some time for ourselves and those we love and reflect on the week that was, then all days remain the same and the routine grinds us into the ground.
Tonight’s Shabbat Across America service will be a bit lighter than in previous years, since most of our organizing attention is being focused on our upcoming communal Passover Seder on Tuesday, March 30.
Tonight we will symbolically light the Sabbath candles, and recite blessings over challah and wine. We will also sing some of the traditional melodies of Shabbat before beginning our regular Friday evening service.
We will begin at 8:00pm sharp. As always, everyone is welcome. Musicians are also encouraged to join in.
Second Seder
Our CTI family will again come together during the second evening of Passover for our annual community Seder.
This is a remarkable community event which each year has attracted more than a hundred congregants and friends, including clergy from other faiths in Glen Cove and the surrounding area.
We will, as in past years, be following the complete Haggadah, but we will be including songs and stories, and universal messages of freedom.
Tuesday, March 30 is the date. Cost is $49 for adults; $18 for youth between seven and eighteen. There is no charge for children up to age seven. This is based on the caterer’s charge to the congregation.
However, as in past year’s, no one will be turned away due to lack of resources. We take seriously the phrase from the Haggadah “all who are hungry, come and eat.” Please contact me privately if challenges prevent you or someone you know from paying all of part of the Seder cost. You will be welcomed with open arms.
Our main goal is to ensure that we celebrate freedom with our friends and community, and that lessons of hope and Tikkun Olam (healing the world) reverberate for generations to come.
Tuesday, March 30 is the date. Information will be forthcoming via snail mail and can be
downloaded.
Chevrah Kadisha
In recent months, I have been giving considerable thought to the subject of funerals within our community.
In recent years, it has been our tradition to work with Jewish funerals homes within the region, or to cooperate with homes here in Glen Cove and Glen Head.
We want all funerals associated with CTI to be meaningful and in accord with traditions, with focus on grace, respect, and dignity.
When someone calls us with the sad news of a passing, Cantor Gustavo and I stress three traditions: a plain casket, tahara (ritual washing), and the recitation of psalms in the presence of the deceased.
We will support families to the fullest extent, no matter what their funeral decisions are, but we feel it is our responsibility to explain Jewish traditions in this area.
I have also been thinking about our congregation becoming more directly involved in pre-funeral rituals, in particular, tahara.
This involves a small group of caring persons who, according to ancient sacred traditions, cleanse and bless each part of a person’s body in preparation for burial.
There will be a speaker coming in April to talk about Jewish burial rituals, in particular tahara. I do have a goal in mind to establish a Chevra Kadishah (a holy funeral society) within our congregation.
Bonds between friends at CTI run so deep and strong. I see this as an opportunity to bring another life cycle event closer to home with the love and care that CTI is known for.
If you are interested in learning more about being part of a Chevrah Kadishah, please contact me.
I also will be attending a lecture this Wednesday at 11:00am in Riverdale on tahara and the establishment of burial societies within Conservative and Reform congregations. I have received permission to bring a guest. Please contact me if you are interested, or if you have any thoughts on this matter.
This ’N That
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CTI’s Knit and Knosh program begins Monday, March 22 at 7:30pm at the home of Fredda Klopfer. If you are a beginner, please bring number nine or ten needles plus two skeins of worsted weight yarn to make a scarf. If you have any questions, please contact Fredda. Everyone is welcome.
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Drumming Circle with Kyle Essex will continue on Sunday, March 21 at 10:15am.
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A member of our extended CTI family recently lost a family member and needed to spend $1,200 to travel abroad on short notice. We are accepting donations to assist. Please make any donations payable to the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund.
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Golden Calves In Our Lives
This is the week in our Torah reading when we witness the controversial story of the Jewish people and the Golden Calf.
The Torah tells us that soon after receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, with Moses away from the camp, the people became restless and melted their jewelry to form a Golden Calf to worship.
As Moses descends Mount Sinai he sees the entire nation in a frenzy and wonders whether the people are celebrating or mourning following a military battle. When Moses realizes the people are worshipping an idol, he throws down the Ten Commandments in a fit of rage.
God is not pleased either. God tells Moses that perhaps it is time to destroy this stubborn disobedient people, and begin a new race beginning with Moses.
But in spite of his own anger, Moses pleads with God to forgive. And God does, reciting the famous sentence of forgiveness which we recite in particular during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
“The Lord, the Lord, a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin…..”
It is a cycle which, says our tradition, has repeat itself countless times within Jewish history. Repeatedly during the past three thousand years, the Jewish people have turned to materialism to fill their inner void.
Indeed, it is often much easier to worship material objects, and to be obsessed with our own appearance, rather than focus our attention to God, the meaning of life, the pain of others, and making this world a better place.
Too often in our own lives, we worship things. Last year’s television, computer, or vehicle needs to be replaced with a newer, faster model. Meanwhile we avoid some of the principal questions of life, often waiting for sickness, hardship, or death to ask ourselves and God “why?”
It is no accident that the story of the Golden Calf is read as we begin to prepare for Pesach. Within contemporary Jewish culture, we spend a lot of time on fancy meals, spring cleaning, and ridding our homes of Chametz (leaven).
But that is only part of the story.
Our Kabbalistic tradition also tells us that this is the time to rid ourselves of Chametz in our souls.
Are we too stubborn? Are we too proud? Do we hold on to opinions or hard feelings? What yeast are we carrying in our souls?
Some commentators say that the sin of the Golden Calf was that the Jewish people, when they became impatient and insecure during Moses’ absence, turned towards materialism and self indulgent, behavior rather than reflecting on others, and the invisible questions of life.
As we begin preparing for Passover, perhaps there is wisdom in asking ourselves, “what are we worshipping, and how can we reflect on the truly important things in our lives, without sickness, death, and travail pushing us there?”
With a bit more than three weeks left before Passover, let us ask ourselves, “Where is the Chametz in our lives?” From now to then, can we work on one stubborn part of our personality?
Our mystical tradition says that when we rid ourselves of our own idols, then we will be truly ready to celebrate this glorious festival of freedom and family with a pure and clean heart. Indeed, where is the Golden Calf in our lives?
Best wishes to everyone for a Shabbat shalom. I hope to see you tonight for Shabbat Across America.
Have a peaceful and meaningful Shabbat.
Shabbat shalom v’kol tuv (with all goodness)
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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