Jews of the Olympics/Jews of Aleppo: Looking at Current Events through a Historical Lense

Dear Chaverim,

     During the summer months it becomes more challenging to attract people to Shabbat services, so I ask you to make an extra effort to come if you are in town, knowing that your presence makes a difference.

·        Tonight, July 27, 6:30 p.m. (happy hour begins at 6 p.m.).  Sermonic topic: Jews of the Olympics & Jews of Aleppo: Looking at Current Events Through the Lens of History.

·        Tomorrow, July 28, 9:30 a.m.  Sermonic topic:

Making Tisha B’Av Meaningful TODAY

·        Tomorrow evening, July 28, 9 p.m. Erev Tisha B’Av services.  The ark is opened, bereft of our Torah, the chapel is lit with yarhzeit candles, we listen to congregants chant from Eicheh (the Book of Lamentations) and remember the destruction of the Temple some 2,000 years ago. Twenty-four fast begins at sundown.

·         Sunday morning, July 29, 9 a.m. Tisha B’ Av services with a special Torah and Haftarah service to make this sad day.

Note: During Shabbat services, you will be able to greet Cantor Elisa Abrams (and her visiting mother, Vicky) for the first time since she accepted our new position as Cantor/Education Director -- Yet another reason to come to Shabbat services.  Also, beginning on Monday, I am going to take a two-week opportunity to visit my parents and celebrate a wedding in Southern California.  Cantor Elisa begins on August 1^st. Please make a special effort to attend her first solo service, Shabbat under the Stars, next Friday night, 6:30 pm., at the JCC Picnic Area. Merrill is preparing a meat bbq Shabbat dinner.  Mark your calendars now.

Violence: From Aurora to Bulgaria--A Jewish Pespective

Dear Congregants,

I am so sorry to be writing you to you later than usual. I have been helping our former Beth Shalom President, Bruce Stargatt, of blessed memory, and his family with their needs. Please join us this Sunday, at Beth Shalom, at 11:30 a.m., as we say farewell to a real giant in our legal and Jewish community.

*Tonight, Friday Kabbalat Shabbat services, 6:30 p.m. I had hoped for better weather this evening, but we will throw a garden Shabbat party in our enclosed atrium instead of outside. We will still have Sangrias and Shirley Temples on tap, I will still be accompanying services on guitar, and we still welcome you to bring a dairy or vegetarian dish for a community Shabbat dinner down in the lower level at the end of services. My sermon topic tonight: Trying to Make Sense of Violence: From Aurora to Bulgaria.

*Tomorrow, Saturday Services, July 21, 9:30 a.m. My sermon topic: Kill All the Midianites: GENOCIDE - A Mitzvah?

Sunday, July 22, 11:30 a.m. Funeral Services for Bruce Stargatt.

Wednesday, July 25, 9 pm. CBS Screening of National Geographic Channel's America's Lost Treasures. Shot on location at Congregation Beth Shalom and featuring me as an expert on Rev. Isaac Leeser's 19th century Kiddush Cup -- will it be awarded the status of one of America's Lost Treasures. Come and find out!

Be relevant! Stay informed! Be moved! Attend Shabbat services, life cycle events, and programs at Congregation Beth Shalom!

-- Rabbi Michael

Jewish Take on Supreme Ct. Upholding Obama Care THIS SHABBAT

Dear Haverim,

     *Tonight, Kabbalat Shabbat services will be at 6:30 p.m., (happy hour at 6 p.m.).  My sermonic topic: A Jewish Response to the Supreme Court Upholding the Affordable Health Care Act (a.k.a. “Obama Care”).

     *Tomorrow, Shabbat services will be at 9:30 a.m.  My dvar Torah will be: Hitting the Rock: What Happens When You Short-Change Shiva.  I will deal with the emotional impact of mourning in light of Miriam’s Death.

Looking Ahead…

        *This Wednesday, July 4^th, please note the later 9 a.m. start time for our CBS-AKSE Community Minyan at CBS.  No breakfast that day.  Also from July 4-15, I will be at Camp Ramah in the Poconos as an educator.  Cantor Ruth and Rabbi Steven Saks of AKSE will be available to see to your pastoral needs (but I hope you have none J).

        Shabbat shalom!

        Rabbi Michael

More on Korach: 4th of July and "Wicked" reference

Tosefta: Additional Information on Parashat Korach

          During this past Shabbat’s dvar Torah on Parashat Korach, I made the point that often it is the victors that dominate the historical narrative.  On the surface, Korach’s observation that we are all a kingdom of priests,  seems much in line with the early Rabbi’s attempts to democratize our religion, moving Temple-based rituals to the home and synagogue.  Yet it is these very same Rabbis, perhaps concerned about their own early contested claims to authority, who created midrashim after midrashim vilifying Korach as a megalomaniac, keen on destroying the entire community to feed his own insatiable ego and lust for power.  We never hear from Korach himself because he is buried in an abyss.

          This past Shabbat, I shared that I was first confronted with a non-victor’s view of history when, at age 9, I encountered my visiting elderly British uncle’s view of the War of Independence.  “Oh yes, your so-called ‘Revolutionary War,’ bunch of ungrateful colonists who failed to appreciate all their mother country had done for them.  Well you were more trouble than you were worth, so we cut you off – good riddens!”  I never heard this version of the 1776 before.  It was shocking!

          I wonder, if Korach had been given the chance, how might he have narrated events found in the Torah portion named for him? When stories have clear villains and victims, perhaps we should be skeptical, and at least imagine there might be more to the story.  Even in the most obvious story of good and evil, villain and victims, like the Holocaust, to pin it all on Hitler, dupes us into a false sense of security, that it could never happen again because Hitler was an aberration.  But Hitler did not act in a vacuum.  He had many people who either helped and even more who sat back and did nothing.  Nor did Hitler act in a vacuum (and neither did Korach for that matter).  Be it a vindictive Treaty of Versailles, the evil report of the spies and a sentence to desert-wandering for 40 years, or needing a wheelbarrow full of Deutschmark to buy a loaf of bread, demagogues need the right set of circumstances to succeed.

          Finally, I referenced the words to the song, Wonderful, from the Tony-Award-winning musical, Wicked.  In the referenced scene, I described how the Wizard got the title, Wonderful.  Within the song, Elphaba and the Wizard debate the difference between lying and history.  It seemed like a great text to share with you in closing.

WIZARD: See - I never had a family of my own. So, I

guess I just - wanted to give the citizens of Oz everything.

ELPHABA(spoken): So you lied to them.

WIZARD: (spoken) Elphaba, where I'm from, we believe all sorts of

things that aren't true. We call it - "history."

(sung) A man's called a traitor - or liberator

A rich man's a thief - or philanthropist

Is one a crusader - or ruthless invader?

It's all in which label

Is able to persist

There are precious few at ease

With moral ambiguities

So we act as though they don't exist.

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/

Jewish take on Obama's Immigration Initiative & Korach: when is it right to rebel

Shalom Haverim,

     *Tonight, Friday, June 22, Shabbat services will be held at 6:30 p.m. (with happy hour at 6 pm.)  My dvar Torah will be on A Jewish Take on President Obama’s Immigration Initiative.  I will be highlighting work done by the AJC – American Jewish Committee, which has taken a leading voice in this issue.

     *Tomorrow, Saturday, June 23, Shabbat services begin at 9:30 a.m.  My sermon will be on Korach: Legitimate and Illegitimate Rebellion or Two Takes on 1776 and the American Revolution.

     *Note: This Sunday’s 9 a.m. morning minyan will be held at CBS. Wednesday’s  7:30 am community minyan will be held at CBS. Friday’s 7:30 am  community minyan will be held at AKSE.

        Be relevant.  Stay informed.  Attend Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Shalom!

     Shabbat shalom,

    Rabbi Michael

Israel Film Fest @ CBS + CBS Camping Shabbaton

Dear Haverim,

      This weekend is our annual Congregation Beth Shalom Camping Shabbaton in Bellepain State Park, Woodbine, NJ (1 Henkinsifkin Road
Woodbine, NJ 08270)

  If you cannot make the camping, and would like to come pray with us on Saturday morning at the historic synagogue in Woodbine, it is located at 610 Washington Ave., Woodbine, NJ 08270.

        Back at Congregation Beth Shalom, Cantor Ruth will be leading both Friday night services, tonight at 6:30 p.m., and on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m.  I know she would welcome your company if you are not camping in Woodbine.

        Sunday Morning Minyan, 9 a.m., will be held at Congregation Beth Shalom. (Wednesday’s Community Minyan at CBS, Friday’s Community Minyan at AKSE).

        Please attend the JFD ISRAEL FILM FESTIVAL this Monday, 7 p.m., at Congregation Beth Shalom.  We will be screening: Je T’Aime I Love You Airport.  I will both introduce and lead a post-screening conversation after the film.

        Shabbat shalom!

      Rabbi Michael

Rabbi Michael's WeekEND NOTES:Matrilineal Descent

Dear Friends,

Please note tonight's later service time.

*8 pm, Friday night service, June 8. Samantha Hughes' bat mitzvah. Sermon Topic: Matrilineal Descent: Does it still make sense in an Egalitarian Movement?

*9:30 a.m., Saturday, June 9. Samantha Hughes bat mitzvah continue! Her sermon topic: The Menorah:Source of Wisdom and Light.

Stay informed. Be relevant. Be moved. Attend Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Shalom

Shabbat shalom!

Rabbi Michael