From the Rabbi's Desk...
 
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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August 13, 2010
Israel Trip
Has it always been your dream to visit Israel, or has it been too long since your last time there?
If so, then please consider joining us Sunday at 7:30pm for the first meeting of our Israel 2011 group.
The first draft of our 2011 itinerary is in and, although the price for the trip has yet to be finalized, it appears it will be slightly less expensive than in 2008. Plus it will include one extra day as well as an optional excursion to Petra, Jordan and Eilat.
At our initial meeting we will review the initial itinerary and fine tune some of the details.
CTI's second Israel trip will run from June 29 to July 11, 2011 and will be led by master guide and archeologist Tikva Levine.
High Holiday Mitzvah
As in past years, we are asking those members who will not be here for one or more days during the High Holidays to contact the office so that we can reassign your tickets.
There are some members of the community in need, or others who are currently "shul shopping."
This program has assisted a number of local residents in need, and has helped attract a number of new members.
Please contact Esther at 676-5080 if you wish to turn back any tickets.
Membership List
This week at the CTI Board meeting, seven new members were approved. That brings our current list to 213 families.
Shabbat Services
With the high holidays approaching, we are finding that there are new or perspective members attending at each Shabbat service.
With many of our regulars on holidays, it would be helpful if those who are in town attempt to join us for Friday night or Saturday morning services.
Your attendance gives us extra voices and extra hands to welcome newcomers to this very warm community.
Services begin tonight at 8:00pm, and continue tomorrow at 9:30am.
If that isn't reason enough, we will be joined this Shabbat by my 19-year-old nephew Mitchell Huberman, who is visiting from Ottawa and will be backing us up this evening on guitar.
Young Family Services
A special Shabbat service aimed at young families will be held this evening at 5:30pm.
The service will include a pasta/pizza meal and Shabbat songs and games.
This program is perfect for pre-school children, but everyone is welcome.
Gift Shop News
One of the latest trends sweeping schools and playgrounds is "silly bands."
These are packages of colorful plastic shaped elastics worn as wrist bands.
CTI's gift store received a shipment of Jewish themed silly bands this week. There is a wide selection at the gift shop including silly bands shaped as shofars, Jewish stars, dreydls, doves, Noah's arc, and much more.
Cost is $4 per pack.
CTI Featured in the United Synagogue Calendar
We are extremely proud that CTI will be featured in calendars distributed to 700 Conservative congregations around the world.
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism calendar for 5771 was released this week, and our gorgeous Eitz Chaim (Tree of Life) stained glass display is featured for the month of April 2011.
The photo was taken by President Mike Swirnoff at the request of executive director Kim Schweitzer. It was entered in a movement-wide contest and accepted.
A number of calendars will be arriving shortly.
Sermon on Ground Zero Mosque
I have been asked by some congregants to make last Saturday's sermon regarding the proposed mosque near Ground Zero available to members of the congregation.
While I am reluctant to post the Shabbat sermon on our web site, I will send it on a personal basis to anyone who requests it.
Overall, while I favor religious tolerance, I feel that a fifteen story $100 million complex is not the way to promote healing. Just as Pope John Paul II requested that the Carmelite nuns move back a proposed worship center from the edges of Auschwitz, so I believe it should be for Ground Zero.
Religious expression and tolerance are the cornerstones of a free society. However, I believe religious expression can take place with sensitivity and with respect for the pain of others.
E-Mail
Over the next few months I will be moving my primary e-mail account from the current rebirwin to RabbiIrwin@ctionline.org.
I will be checking each address frequently. It will take some time for the transition to be completed, but please begin sending shul related e-mails to the new address.
Justice Justice
It is said within our tradition that God does not waste words.
Through the generations, one apparent extra letter or word in the Torah has sent scholars scrambling for answers.
"What did God mean by that?" rabbis have asked. "Why did God say that twice?" These questions have inspired volumes of commentaries and midrashim (rabbinical legends) for thousands of years.
This week's Torah portion contains one of those classic repetitions.
At the beginning of this week's reading called Shoftim (Judges), God instructs lawmakers and magistrates to judge the people "righteously."
Judges are commanded to never take bribes or to be swayed by a person's financial status. "For a gift can blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous."
The use of money and gifts is so much a concern in society that most governments maintain strong conflict of interest guidelines. Although there are always abuses within these guidelines, the basis of this commitment towards true justice is rooted in the words of this week's reading.
Within Shoftim, the Torah provides us with one monumental sentence which hangs in the offices of many judges and lawyers in the United States.
"Justice, justice shall you pursue."
Over time, rabbis have asked, "why does the Torah mention justice twice?"
Our tradition approaches this from two perspectives. First of all, judges are reminded that a person's financial status should not influence how justice is dispensed.
Indeed, within the judicial process, once we begin making exceptions, the very fabric of society erodes.
However, other rabbis remind us to never lose sight of the fact that within society, every person is unique.
In the early twentieth century, Felix Adler wrote that "justice is the awe inspired respect for the personality of others and their inalienable rights."
Judaism tells us that a human being cannot be treated as chattel, a thing or a number. Each possesses a personality and a unique perspective on the world.
That is why, according to our tradition, the word "justice" is mentioned twice.
Sometimes it is tempting for us to stereotype a person according to the worst characteristics associated with their race, religion, or class. It would also be easy for judges or others in authority to either punish or forgive according to a person's socioeconomic status.
But the Torah says "no." Just as God doubled up on the word "justice," we must pause in our homes and our workplaces, in our courts and our legislatures, to ensure that each case and each person is judged on an individual basis.
It is written in the book of Isaiah that "God is sanctified by justice." Tradition tells us that we are all sparks of God and that the pursuit of true justice as an ideal is holy.
As we approach Rosh Hashanah, passing through this reflective month of Elul, let us all pause to look at the way we judge others in our own lives.
Is there someone in our own lives to whom we have been unfair in judgment? Have we allowed our own biases to brand a certain person or group?
"Justice justice shall you pursue" is a message from the Torah that justice is linked to the pursuit of charity, fairness, and lovingkindness. In this manner, we can bring out the best in others, and in the end create a just society under God's heaven.
Let us all use this month of Elul to, in the words of the Prophet Micah, "do justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with your God."
It begins with justice, and it ends with justice. And that is why this week we read this sacred word twice in succession.
Best wishes for a peaceful Shabbat. May this be a time of reflection and renewal for us all.
Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
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