From the Rabbi's Desk...
 
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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May 13, 2010
Counting Down
This week marks the end of a countdown of days which began on the second night of Passover.
We’ll talk a bit later about this weekend’s events at the synagogue but, more importantly, this week we will celebrate the giving and receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
Without Torah, and our laws, customs, rituals, and standards for ethical behavior, nothing else within Judaism is possible.
For generations theologians, archeologists, and philosophers have argued what actually happened on that day 3,400 years ago but whatever it was, it shook humanity to its core.
Thunder, lightening, fire, cosmic explosion. Was it God, nature, or both? Whatever happened that day, humanity was inspired to set a list of commandments in stone which, to this day, governs and guides the foundations of our society and our lives as Jews.
While Passover has Matzo, and Succoth has “Succahs,” Shavuot really doesn’t have a “hook” which easily brings to mind.
In recent years it has become customary to eat blintzes, ice cream, and other milk products on this festival. The reason is linked to Song of Songs, which states in a traditional interpretation that Torah is likened to milk. “Like honey and milk [the Torah] lies under your tongue.”( 4:11).
Tikkun Leil Shavoth
We traditionally study Torah on the evening of Shavuot due partially to a legend about the coming of the Messiah.
As tradition has it, the Messiah once came to a community at dawn on Shavuot, but everyone was sleeping. The Messiah returned home.
Therefore, it is traditional to study Torah until dawn, in case this is the year the Messiah returns. Our Tuesday program will run from 7:30pm to 10:00pm and feature two newly minted rabbis: Rabbi Molly Karp and me.
Rabbi Karp, who enjoys exploring some of the more forbidden zones of the Torah, will discuss “The Book of Ruth: Sacred Seduction or The Bare Truth?” and what is interpreted as a sexual scene between Ruth and Boaz. Again, Rabbi Karp will present the words, and you can draw the conclusions.
I will be presenting some excerpts from my thesis on the Talmudic tradition as it relates to e-mail, text messaging, and Lashon Hara (gossip, libel, and slander).
There will be blintzes and other warm dairy foods served, and I will remain later if anyone wishes to continue.
Shavuot Services
Shavuot services will be held Wednesday and Thursday mornings at 9:30am. Yizkor will be observed Thursday after the Torah reading.
Kosher Krossword
A dear friend from Edmonton, Marion Hoffman, produces a regular Jewish crossword puzzle that will appear in our CTI paper newsletter, is currently being developed.
Since the newsletter is still in its design stage, you can access her current Shavuot Kosher Krossword here
here
If you would like the answers, they are
here
One note: Marion originally hails from Zimbabwe, one of the clues refers to a “gran,” which is a British word for “grandmother.”
Please let me know how you enjoy the puzzle.
Ordination, Installation, and Celebration
This week marks a culmination of a journey we have traveled together.
When I first arrived in this congregation almost four years ago, I was traveling weekly from Canada to attend the Academy for Jewish Religion (AJR), a fifty-three year old pluralistic seminary in Riverdale that specializes in training second career rabbis.
What began as a three week opportunity to lead services in August, 2006 became a regular weekend stay, leading in February 2007 to a full time role as rabbi of this congregation.
This week, this journey and the paths of my life will converge as we celebrate what has been accomplished.
Thursday, rabbis will place their hands on me, as Moses did to Joshua at the close of the Torah, symbolically passing Torah and the tradition of the Jewish people from generation to generation (L’dor V’Dor). This ceremony will link ten AJR graduates to Moses and Mount Sinai.
About fifty CTI members will be making the trip to Riverdale to witness this ceremony. On Friday evening, we will celebrate this journey with a dinner and musical Shabbat, including some extremely talented hand.
We will also be joined by Rabbi Joseph Ehrenkranz, who has traveled from Israel to be with us, along with Cantor Jacky Chernett, the United Kingdom’s first ordained woman cantor. Add in many friends and relatives from Fort McMurray, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Baltimore, Kentucky, Michigan, California, Cambridge, and more --- and we have a celebration par excellence.
On Saturday, we will come together with John to mark his bar mitzvah. John has been working hard with Rabbi Zoe Zak and others to mark this important rite of passage. The Psalms teach us “Kol Hanshamah Tihallel Yah” “Every soul can praise God.” We are so proud of him, his uniqueness, his hard work, and his love for Judaism. Please join our family for this simchah.
And on Sunday, we will mark the 113th anniversary of CTI by merging “rabbi and congregation,” in an installation ceremony. This will involve the rabbi and congregation exchanging vows as we began a new phase together.
We have come a significant distance during the past three and a half years. Through a combination of care, acts of lovingkindness, respect for each other’s stories and journeys, creative liturgy, music, study, prayer, reflection, and sometimes even fun, we are building something unique.
About seven years ago, our family made a decision to leave the comfort of our “home and native land.” As the Torah instructed Abraham, "Lech Lecha M’artzichah U’memoladitchah...el Ha’aretz Asher Arekahah." “Go forth from your native land to the land that I will show you.”
At the time, we had never heard of Glen Cove, never mind Long Island. But here, surrounded by congregants and friends who have become woven into our lives, we are proud to call this place home.
The journey to become an ordained rabbi would not have been possible without your encouragement and support.
I have been blessed with good mentors and teachers, a supportive family and, of course, you.
It was extremely moving to me that when I was studying for some very grueling exit exams, a group of congregants banded together and said “Reb, teach the material to us. It will help you.” That’s how our Maimonides class came into being.
I feel very loved and comforted as we enter into this weekend. Many will say that it is the Cantor Gustavo and Rabbi Irwin team that has brought this congregation back. But indeed, it has been a true partnership as clergy has facilitated a process with you. Volunteerism and projects to facilitate the care of others are growing as we speak.
My studying at AJR has taught me that there is beauty in each denomination of Judaism, and in each person’s religious journey. I am a Conservative Jew, with tremendous respect for Orthodoxy, Renewal, Reconstructionist, Reform, and others.
Indeed, each soul has the ability to praise God in their own unique way. We call this pluralism, and it is what clergy here stands for. Indeed, we have become a gathering point for “Judaism without Borders.”
Patte and I are blessed as we enter this weekend with the many branches of our lives coming together in joy. More than thirty visitors will come to CTI this weekend from a variety of places and faiths.
My ordination as rabbi this week will serve as a culmination. But as I like to say, “we are just as good as the next thing we do.” Let us continue to move from strength to strength.
What seems to be the end of one journey, almost always marks the beginning of another. There is so much more to do.
Indeed, it takes a community to raise a rabbi. Thank you all for raising me.
Shabbat shalom v’kol tuv (with all goodness).
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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