From the Rabbi's Desk...
 
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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July 1, 2010
High Holiday Seats
With the High Holidays barely two months away, the CTI office is now accepting requests for seats for visiting family and friends.
This is a great way to bring family and friends together for what we anticipate will be another year of engaging services.
There is an appropriate charge for adult visitors, although students (elementary, high school, and college) still officially living at home can sit with their parents at no charge.
However, as was the case last year, you need to let the office know if you need additional seats. We want to ensure that a seat is reserved for everyone. Please contact Kim Schweitzer.
Sweet New Year
CTI has a great way to wish family and friends a Shana Tova U’m’tukah (a happy and sweet new year).
In partnership with ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training) we are currently selling jars of honey with an attached new years card which can be shipped anywhere in the United States.
The cost is $10 per jar, which is decorated with a colorful L’Shana Tova label.
You can order your jars by
clicking here
and entering the group code “CTI.”
Partial proceeds from every jar will go to CTI.
Journeys Class
CTI’s Journeys class will begin during the last week of August.
This weekly class will again examine the roots of Judaism, its holidays, practices, and philosophy.
This is an ideal course for those 1) interested in conversion, 2) wanting to learn more about their Jewish spouse’s religion, or 3) current Jewish congregants looking for a refresher on Jewish basics.
Please contact me if you are interested. The class will be scheduled on the most convenience day for those who express interest.
Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Class
Cantor Gustavo and I will be offering an adult bar/bat mitzvah program beginning this fall.
There will be two graduating group: one will graduate next spring at ceremonies to be held in our synagogue, and the other will celebrate their bar/bat mitzvah along the Western Wall in Jerusalem exactly one year from now.
Please contact Cantor Gustavo or me if you are interested in either group.
Computer Needed
CTI’s new library is in need of a computer or laptop equipped with a relatively recent operating system.
Please contact the office or Susan Freelund at if you can help with either a computer or funds to purchase a basic unit.
We hope to re-open the library this fall.
Installation of Officers
Congregation Tifereth Israel’s 2010-2011 slate of officers will be officially installed at a ceremony to be held at the close of Friday night’s Kabbalat Shabbat/Ma’ariv services.
Mayor Ralph Suozzi will officiate.
Our God: Colleague or Ruler?
One of the most intriguing aspects of the Jewish religion is the relationship between God and the Jewish people.
As with anything within Judaism, there is a Machlokhet – a theological dispute.
Indeed, is God an omnipotent ruler or are we permitted to have a “Fiddler on the Roof” relationship with God, where we are permitted to throw our hands up in the air, question God, or talk to the Almighty as a friend?
In the Torah, Abraham, Moses, and others openly question God’s judgment, and even cause God to change opinion.
This “mind changing” has been the source of much debate within Judaism. Indeed, do we want a ruler as God, or an enlightened colleague?
This week’s Torah portion adds fuel to that argument.
In the weekly portion titled Pinchas, five daughters of Tzlafchad (Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah) approach Moses with a grievance. Their father has died, and the daughters make a compelling case that the passage of land from generation to generation should not be limited to males.
They wish to keep their father’s name alive by continuing the family’s rights when Israel eventually enters the Promised Land.
This male only stipulation was contained in the original Torah from Sinai.
Moses takes the daughters’ case directly to God, who ponders the claim and concludes that “the plea of Tzlafchad’s daughters is just. Further, speak to the Israelite people as follows: If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his property to his daughter.”
This desert incident is a powerful one, especially as we study the Torah through contemporary eyes.
It sets a Biblical precedent, not only for feminist challenge towards Torah and Middle Eastern customs, but also sends a clear message to us in 2010: that the Laws of Moses can be reviewed, evaluated, and, where necessary, modified.
Indeed, some of our laws, traditions, prayers, and practices would be hardly recognizable if Moses could jettison from the past into any Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform synagogue, or other place of worship.
The fact that God is willing to review the laws of Sinai and correct injustice is a powerful message to us all, not to view Judaism as a set series of unbending laws, but rather to base our practices and judicial system on the moral imperatives of lovingkindness, care, and compassion.
We are, after all, a people of conscience whose care for other people and the pursuit of justice are at the core of our beliefs.
The story of Tzlafchad’s daughters teaches us that God’s word is not cast in stone, and even God can evaluate and modify law to meet the times.
It is a challenge for us all to study, question, challenge and, where necessary, adapt.
Rabbi Harold Schulweis notes in his book, Conscience: the Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey, that Judaism, like a window, should never be closed. A closed window keeps fresh air out. And a window should never be constantly wide open, for that would fail to protect us from the storms of our lives.
Judaism must indeed be a sliding window which opens and closes according, not only to our adherence to tradition, but also according to our sense of justice and conscience.
God sets that example in this week’s Torah portion. Laws, practice, and our interpersonal relations should be subject to change and reflection, and never fixed.
We learn this lesson from five women who refused to accept the status quo, and from God the Almighty who changed Jewish law in order to do what was right.
Best wishes for a Shabbat shalom, a Sabbath of peace.
Kol tuv (with all goodness)
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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