Thursday, July 28, 2011

Prayer: A Wonderful Essay by Conservative Movement Leader Arnold Eisen

Meaningful Tefillah in the Synagogue July 26, 2011 / 24 Tammuz 5771

Arnold M. Eisen, Chancellor, The Jewish Theological Seminary

Tefillah does not come easily to most contemporary Jews. Standing before God, sensing God’s presence, speaking to God, and "hearing" God speak in return: these may be the most difficult acts that our tradition asks Jewish adults of this generation to perform. I know the difficulty involved—and can attest to the reward. The blessing conferred by the effort is beyond measure.
Research establishes, and personal evidence confirms, that yearning for God remains widespread in our "disenchanted" age. Gratitude to God wells up in many modern hearts. Pleas for life and healing have in recent years become standard in almost every synagogue service. Jews of my acquaintance seem resigned to not understanding how a good God could allow so much evil to take place in the world—a problem at least as old as Job—and in particular how God could permit the Holocaust and so many other horrors of our era. And still we pray, or try to pray. Though our modern minds do not invoke God when explaining natural events or history, and few of us are skilled in the discipline of prayer, the search for God continues. “God-wrestling” is widely practiced and respected. Many hearts still burn with the sparks of faith.
It is thus not surprising that the synagogue remains the signature institution of Conservative (and some other forms of) Judaism, even if most Conservative Jews do not come to shul on a regular basis. Worship—particularly the Shabbat morning service—seems more than ever to be the event by which Conservative synagogues are most often judged. The quality of tefillah in our Movement demands urgent, sustained, honest, and impassioned attention.
To a significant extent, I think, the issues that many Conservative Jews have with tefillah are a function of the lack of fit between their religious situation and the inherited design of the synagogue service and the sanctuaries in which worship transpires.
We come to shul seeking deeper connection to community, tradition, our innermost selves, and God, and often enough sit in large spaces that work against intimacy, preclude any sense of togetherness, and drown out devotion.
What is more, Conservative Jews do not agree on what they would like to see happen in synagogue. Some want greater participation in prayer by the congregation, even at the expense of quality in music, discourse, or kavanah (intention, mindfulness). Older congregants tend to value formality, traditional melodies (sung solo by the hazzan or with choir), and sermons on issues of the day. Others favor short divrei Torah or open discussion of the Torah portion among the congregants. Partisans of musical instruments are matched by opponents who oppose this on aesthetic or halakhic grounds. Fewer and fewer Conservative Jews of any age or taste are comfortable in the Hebrew. The "regulars" resist change, laugh about three-hour services to which many (most?) congregants arrive at the half-way point, and recognize that the status quo does not promote communal or individual devotion. Many rabbis, cantors, and ritual committees feel trapped, while most congregants vote with their feet. The great majority of Conservative Jews rarely come to services.
I do not minimize any of these difficulties—and will address them in next week’s post—but I fear the problem (and so the solution) goes deeper still. We are talking about tefillah, after all: depths of soul, stirrings of the heart, challenges to the mind, powerful ambivalences, relationship to God.
In shul, in prayer, we find human beings at their most vulnerable and inchoate. Conservative Jews may sit with hands folded, rise obediently when the rabbi requests them to do so, and politely join in responsive readings or communal song. But strong emotion accompanies them to shul. It comes into view when they call out the names of the loved ones for whose health they pray, or choke back tears as they recite the mourner’s kaddish, or crowd the aisle to kiss the Torah as it passes on its way from or to the ark, or beam at the celebration of life-cycle events.
Daven in a Conservative congregation on the High Holy Days, join in the fervent chant of the last avinu malkeinu after 25 hours of fasting and soul-searching, dance round after round of hakafot on Simhat Torah, feel the joy rising up from the pews when b’nai mitzvah or couples about to be married are called to the Torah, participate in singing the affirmation that Torah is a "tree of life" as it is returned to the ark, and you will know that genuine tefillah does take place in Conservative sanctuaries. Gratitude, petition, fear and trembling, joy and reflection on life’s meaning are at times intense. Holiness is sought—and found.
I don’t think Abraham Joshua Heschel was quite fair to the American synagogue when he said that it had become "a graveyard where prayer is buried" and "suffered from a severe cold." I have been to synagogues where Jews "pray by proxy"—we all have—but I have also been part of prayer communities that, at their best, bring those who participate to heights and depths otherwise unattainable.
It is true that many Jews in Conservative pews today are unlettered in the fine points of Judaism, far from punctilious in their observance, unsophisticated in their personal theologies, and unsure of whether and how God commands action and hears prayer. Yet, they are utterly sincere in their search for holiness and the Holy One. We do not need to romanticize or idealize these Jews (my parents were among them). They are good enough as they are. We just need to serve them better: to provide experiences of tefillah that, through music, words, and artful silence, usher them into encounter with God, their fellow Jews, and themselves.
I am confident that we can do this in Conservative synagogues because we do so now on a regular basis in dozens of shuls. In next week’s post, I will explain how I think we can facilitate a greater measure of devotion in tefillah with greater regularity. Print This Essay

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Parashat Ma'asei:You can't do everything -- but you need to do SOMETHING

This week’s Torah portion is Ma'asei.  It concludes the fourth book of the Torah, Numbers.  There are two issues which might help up frame our congregation's priorities, assisted with a quote from Pirkei Avot.

First the quote from Pirkei Avot:  In chapter two, verse 21, Rabbi Tarfon used to say: lo aleycha homlacha ligmor, v’lo atah ben chorin l’vatel mimenna … You are not obliged to finish the task neither are you free to neglect it.

Now to the two points laid out in this week’s Torah portion.  In Chapter 34 of Numbers, God speaks to Moses and lays out the boundaries of the Land of Canaan, and where the Israelites will settle. Without context, we just take in this information at face value.  But remember, Moses has already been told by God that he is not going to get there.  So one could imagine that from Moses’ point-of-view, why should he care?  He is not going to get to enjoy the fruits of his labor.  BUT MOSES DOES CARE.  He did not begin the process of leaving Canaan and coming down to Egypt.  That was Joseph’s story.  He will not be involved in conquering the land of Canaan, that will be Joshua’s story, and King David’s story, and King Solomon’s story.  Moses knows he is part of a larger narrative, but he must do his part.  Like running a relay race, the baton was passed from former generations to Moses, he got 120 years to run with it, and then he will pass on the baton to the next generation.

We are no different.  No one reading this blog was involved in establishing this Conservative synagogue in Wilmington back in 1923, as an option to the already established Orthodox and Reform synagogues in Wilmington.  Very few if any congregants were involved in the decision to move our synagogue from Washington and 18th Streets, and erecting a new and improved synagogue at 18th and
Baynard Blvd.
, back in the early 50’s.  We are the generation of congregants who received the baton 50 years later, to revive and restore both the physical building, and more importantly, the congregation it houses.  We are responsible for retiring our Capital Campaign debt, to create an endowment for the future, to put the synagogue operational budget on a secure footing, to create a way forward with future Board leadership through outreach, and to maintain and grow our membership, with great religious, educational and social programs.  Like Moses, or even like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who in 1968 would quote Moses, we may not see the Promised Land, just as the people who started Beth Shalom back in 1923 could not have imagined this beautiful, environmentally friendly, barrier-free, welcoming building which we have remodeled and built.  But just as Moses did his part, we must do our part, to ensure this synagogue for our children and our children’s children.  Or as Rabbi Tarphon said: “you are not obliged to finish the task, neither are you free to neglect it.

Finally, lest we become overwhelmed with our task in this year and the years to come, let us remember the beginning of this week’s Torah portion. In Chapter 33 of Numbers, God takes us on a review of all the places, all the stages, we passed through in the past 40 years, from our fleeing from Egyptian slavery to this moment, on the east bank of the Jordan River, overlooking the Promised Land.  It is important for God to remind the people of everything they have already accomplished, all the challenges they already successfully faced and overcame, to get to this moment.  So, too, as we support our Capital Completion Campaign in retiring a three million dollar debt and deal with all the financial, membership and programmatic challenges which lie in front of us, it is essential that we take stock in everything each of has already accomplished in getting to this point, and taking pleasure in all the things that are working well for us.  What we need is perspective, and this Torah portion shows us the way.  We have signed contracts for our Cantor and our Rabbi, in a year that is going to be full of bnei mitzvah, our busiest bnei mitzvah year in decades, owing to the real growth and generational turn-over in this congregation, with an ever-younger demographic boding for a nice long future for this synagogue.  We just signed a new contract with our Education Director, ensuring continuity as our Hebrew School constantly grows and adapts to meet the ever-changing needs of our families.  Our custodial staff, directed by our Executive Director, continue to care for and maintain the beauty of our synagogue building, including this week’s painting and interior touch up to interior surfaces.  Our Accountant is diligent and our front office staff is professional and welcoming.  We have an ambitious financial plan, guided by one of the foremost economic planners at T.Rowe Price.

I could go on, but like the Torah portion, there is so much we have already accomplished. So rather than be intimidated by the task ahead, let us find strength in all the places we have already been, and let us use these experiences to reach our Promised Land.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Harry Potter Shabbat 6 pm Butter Beer Happy Hour & 6:30 pm Service + Light Fare

     Missed the premiere tickets for Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows Part II ?
No worries.  In our attempt to stay relevant and timely, Congregation Beth Shalom presents:
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALLOWED SHABBAT.
    We will begin our culinary and spiritual adventure with a happy hour, this Friday night at 6 p.m., featuring kosher Harry Potter-themed appetizers and beverages, including both an adult and children's version of Butter Beer, the drink of choice when visiting Hogsmeade (a non-kosher sounding village, adjacent to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry).
     Services will commence at 6:30 p.m., with Rabbi Albus Dumbledore and his trusty wand in charge, featuring some of your favourite Shabbos melodies, a theme-appropriate sermon exploring witchcraft and wizardry in the Torah, as well as the age-olde debate: are Jews more like wizards or muggles, and the relationship between portkeys and Jewish ritual objects.  Services will end with a rousing rendition of Adon Olam set to the melody of John Williams' version of the Harry Potter theme song.
      Following services, we will retire to the Hogwart's Grande Hall (aka the Beth Shalom attrium) for a light Shabbat fare consisting of Harry Potter-inspired kosher delicacies, catered by that professional catering team of Meri Weiss and Dennis Schnee - the rabbi's son.
      Clearly an evening only Muggles would overlook.  Do come.
      Congregation Beth Shalom -- where we are CONSTANTLY thinking out of the box.