From the Rabbi's Desk...
 
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
|
April 9, 2010
Fiddler in the Shul
A very dear friend and colleague, Rabbi Enid Lader, will be here tonight to add the sweet tone of her violin to our Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service.
Rabbi Lader hails from Cleveland, and will be ordained on May 13. Enid has taken a weekend off from her current rabbinical duties to be with us for Shabbat, and will be joined by skateboarding drummer, Josh Gruenwald, who will be visiting us from Manhattan.
This is a unique opportunity to participate in an enhanced musical Friday service. Bring a friend. Bring a musical instrument. Please come.
We’ll begin at 8:00pm sharp.
Healing Service
CTI will be holding a healing service Saturday, April 17 at 7:30pm.
As with past services, we will include a series of prayers and meditations both personal and communal. This will be a reflective service on behalf of those in need of healing, or those deeply concerned about others.
There will be more about this service in next week’s update.
Evening for Patricia Workman
Friends of the late Patty Workman will gather at CTI on Saturday, April 25 at 7:30pm to pay tribute to this unique and beloved Glen Cove resident.
Patty was a well known artist, community activist, and local personality who left behind a significant body of art and personal items. Many of these items will be sold that night and proceeds will be used by CTI to assist those in our community during times of mourning and other personal challenge.
The evening will also provide an opportunity for friends and family to tell stories about Patty, and to toast her life.
Please mark this date of your calendar, and please contact Patte Jordan Huberman for further details.
Programming Notes
|
•
|
Tickets are available for the Thursday, May 12 AJR pre-ordination concert at NYC’s B’nai Jeshurun featuring Neshamah Carlebach and the Green Pastures Gospel Choir. Tickets to this event are $36. Please contact me if you are interested.
|
|
•
|
Come join CTI bakers at 9:30am on April 19 and 22 for a bake-a-thon when foods will be prepared for upcoming simchas (joyous occasions) at our synagogue. Please contact Chris Swirnoff or Fredda Klopfer is you are interested in helping.
|
|
•
|
Sunday, May 2 has been designated as CTI cleanup day. Stay tuned for more details.
|
Yom HaShoah Candles
There are still some yellow Yom HaShoah candles available to take home and light Sunday evening in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust.
Millions died without anyone to light candles in their memory. We honor those gentle souls by shedding additional light into the world.
The Yom HaShoah yellow candle project is coordinated by CTI Men’s Club. You can pick up your candle between now and Sunday morning.
Every Woman Matters
Walkers and sponsors are still needed to assist in the Sunday, May 16 walk to benefit the new Katz Women’s Hospital and Women’s Health Institute.
CTI has organized a team of walkers who hope to raise significant funds for this very important cause.
For more information, please check
the flyer
then sign up to
walk or contribute
and select “Join a Team.”
Which team should you join? “CTI Cares,” of course.
Ordination and Installation
After seven years of study, I will be officially ordained as a rabbi on Thursday, May 13. The word “rabbi” actually means teacher, and I have been truly privileged to serve in this role at CTI for more than three years.
But there is one piece missing.
At the close of the Torah, there is a remarkable scene which describes Moses in his final hours, placing his hands on Joshua and asking him to continue the leadership of the Israelites to future generations. As our account of oral law, the Mishnah, then describes that Joshua then transmitted this tradition “to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, the Prophets to the members of the Great Assembly,” and from there to the rabbis.
There is a term for this “placing of hands” which is based on the Hebrew verb L’Hasmich. Hence, the word Smichah, the term for gaining rabbinical ordination.
That will take place the afternoon of May 13 at a ceremony in Riverdale to commemorate the completion of a long educational journey by eight rabbis and two cantors under the auspices of the Academy of Jewish Religion (AJR), a fifty-two year old seminary which teaches that all denominations should be honored for what they contribute to Judaism.
It means that for the past seven years I have been enveloped by a “pluralistic” tradition which holds respect for the teachings of Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and Renewal Judaism among other denominations.
Although I am a Conservative rabbi I have been privileged to have been taught by some of the greatest rabbis and instructors from across the Judaic spectrum.
The May 13 ordination service is open to any who wish to attend. A bus will be chartered by CTI and, if you’re interested in being there, please contact president Richard Lazarow.
Following ordination, the scene will shift to CTI as, on the eve of our 112th anniversary, we complete the service of installation, a ceremony binding the rabbi with the congregation. This service will be held Sunday, May 16. Clergy and other guests from the Conservative movement and from Israel, the United Kingdom, and Canada will be attending.
This series of events celebrates the good in this congregation. Indeed, CTI has helped build a rabbi. And for that, I am deeply moved and grateful.
It has and will continue to be a pleasure to serve this congregation. The next month will provide a time of personal reflection as I consider this “chain of hands” which dates back to the time of Moses.
Nothing will change. But again, everything will change.
I wanted to share and define the significance and meaning of these ceremonies as we continue to walk this road together.
You will see that same look in Rabbi Lader’s eye as she spends this Shabbat with us. It’s evidence that dreams can come true.
I am living the dream with you.
Shabbat shalom, v’kol tuv (with all goodness,)
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
|
|
|
|
|
