There was a fire set in the entryway of the Masorti synagogue in Modi'in, Israel.  The metal doors kept the fire from spreading to the main building.  Less than two weeks ago a sign was put up saying the synagogue was affiliated with the Masorti movement.  It is one of the few non-Orthodox synagogues in Israel built with government financial help.

The police say it was teenage vandalism and not ideological, but they have no suspects yet, so how can they  be so sure?

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1246443726630

Unavailable online except to subscribers, D.G. Myers of Texas A&M (that center of vital Jewish life) has published in Commentary Mag an attack on "The Judaism Rebooters," the creative alternative Jewish culture that has grown up, mostly among 20 and 30 something Jews, in the last decade or so.  This movements, including minyans, music, and lots of culture, seems the most exciting development Jewishly of the new century.  The attacks remind me of the attacks on the Havurah movement in the 60s and 70s.  Even the New York Board of Rabbis invited several "leaders" of independent minyans to talk about the development last month.

I've seen two responses worth reading, even if the original article is not.  One is a compilation of responses by contributors to Jewschool, a collective blog by some members of this demographic.  The second is by Daniel Sieradski, founding editor of Jewschool until he was hired away by the JTA (Jewish Telegraphic agency) as Director of Digital Media. 

My nephew Jonathan signed on to Teach for America after a year with the Obama campaign.  He has co-written an article on how teaching expresses the Jewish values of Tzedek (justice/equity) and Tikkun (repair of the world).  The ideas expressed here were first expressed in his bar mitzvah drash (talk) over ten years ago.

Reality Check: Pursuing Justice Through Education

I'm often pleased and amazed how my circle of friends is not stand alone, but interconnected, like a web.  Today I spent a couple of hours eating dim sum and talking with crystalpyramid .

I met her at the house concert presented by bensong1  a couple of weeks ago.  We talked briefly, but got interrupted because Ben wanted to go over a piece they would sing together.  We both felt the conversation was worth continuing, so we got in touch and finally got together today.  It was so nice pursuing this connection with this young woman.  She is about to be out of town for two months, but I trust the connection will continue and, with luck, grow.

My daughter A, who came to us temporarily 8 years ago at age 3, is clearly staying for the duration.  She has also found a place in the Jewish community and this week she officially became Jewish.  We went to the mikvah and met with the bet din (religious court) there.  She was quite clear in expressing her desire, and she entered the mikvah (ritual bath) and became a Jew.   The rabbis were Carie Carter, rabbi of Park Slope Jewish Center, where she and I attend most of the time, Jill Hammer, who is my wife's rebbe (spiritual teacher), and Matt Carl.  A knows both Carie and Jill, and she actually knows Matt also, but she didn't really remember him.  He used to attend PSJC until he was ordained last year and moved on to serve at Mt Sinai Congregation in downtown Brooklyn.  She seemed to be flying all day.

We took a camera with us, but forgot to take any pictures, but I did take a picture of A that evening.



She already has a bat mitzvah date in June 2011.

I realize that my recent posts here have all been about either personal or political sadness.  Since Pesach I have actually attended a number of wonderful musical events.  I haven't blogged about them, partly because I had photos and even video for some of them, which was in a new camera and not yet transferred to other media. 

In late April I went to see "The Dead" play in the Meadowlands Izod Arena.  This was the first tour of all the remaining members of the Grateful Dead in five years, and it was a wonderful show.  Warren Haynes is not  Jerry Garcia, but he functions quite well filling that hole.  Branford Marsalis also sat in with them, playing various types of sax.  I was present when he played with the GD on Long Island back in the early 90s.  It added a different flavor.  I may blog more about that, especially when I have photos or video to share.


I also took my younger daughter to see Guys and Dolls on Broadway on May 5.  It was part of celebrating her birthday.  She loved it.  I was not so blown away.  I love the show, and it certainly was good, but I think I was more impressed by the version with Faith Prince and Nathan Lane of about 15 years ago.

On Sunday, May 3, P and I joined friends (and about 20,000 others) to celebrate Pete Seeger's 90th birthday at Madison Square Garden.  It was quite a line up of performers and Pete himself up there quite a bit.  His grandson Tao  has really moved into his style of performing. Two reviews, which also mention many of the performers are here and here. 





Two weeks later P and I went to hear Leonard Cohen at Radio City.  It is such a great Art Deco hall.  He was amazing and seemed to be really enjoying himself, especially since he had not toured for 14-15 years, and only resumed now, at age 74, because his "manager" ripped him off while he was spending 5 years in a Buddhist monastery.  It was a wonderful evening.  The tickets said no cameras, so I have no images and haven't seen videos of the tour that I'm happy with.  I will look some more.

Last Saturday night, on a different scale, I went to a house concert by my long time friend bensong1   It was much more low key, but a wonderful evening.

For the last 13 months I've been working as a chaplain in a NORC (naturally occurring retirement community).  It was part time but pretty well paid.  It was also an experiment, on a one year grant.  The folks who hired me didn't get it renewed or funded elsewhere, so I am out of work, except for a nursing home gig twice a month.

The NORC job was a mixed success.  I tried to have two bereavement support groups, at opposite ends of the huge complex (about 8000 apartments, I think).  One was successful and ongoing, while the other never really happened.  Some of the other things I did worked well and others didn't.  It was an experiment.  It better times, it probably would have been funded for at least another year.  Originally I was told to finish on two days notice, but I said I could not properly terminate on those terms, so they paid me for an extra week, which was this past week.  It was sad but also encouraging to finish with the bereavement group.  They talked about how much it meant to them.  They are planning on carrying on without me, with help from the pastor of the church where we were meeting.  He is a great guy, and I consider his friendship one of the best rewards of my work this past year.

Not sure what I'm going to do now.  At least my wife said "Summer is a nice time to be out of work," though we really do need the income, and in the long run I want to continue using my professional skills.

I've been going to several wonderful performances, which I hope to blog about soon, but last weekend was Mothers' Day.  We chose it to dedicate the marker on my mother Hannah Marker's grave.  I spent Shabbos in Philly with my friends Chaim and Linda, spending time at Pnai Or and Germantown Jewish Center, then drove down to Maryland on Sunday morning.

I "officiated" in my role as a rabbi.  All three sons spoke, as did our quasi-sister Judy.  All the grandchildren were there, as well as a few cousins and my mother's good friends Bea and Lucile.  Bill led the reading of "When I'm Gone."  One of my brothers noted that this was the last time we all "have" to be together, since we don't have parents to bring us together any more, but we will surely continue to gather as a family.




We then went back to David's house for more talking and family gathering.  Jonathan and Jess, who became engaged a couple of months ago, announced that their wedding will be next June.  Also met Steven's boyfriend.

Then went to Baltimore and went out for Mothers' Day dinner with Paula's parents and drove back to Brooklyn, arriving late.

PSJC developed a tradition of observing the Sabbath before Yom Hashoah as Shabbat Hashoah.  This was developed during the rabbinate of Sami Barth, developed with a committee of congregants.  The primary observance is a special Torah reading and haftorah.  The Torah reading is from Genesis, chapter 4 - the first murder.  The haftorah has two parts.  The first is Habakuk 1:1-2:4, the challenge of God's absence in the face of iniquity.  The second is Isaiah 56:1-8, a promise of fulfillment for the righteous.  Both are totally appropriate.  We also include some extra readings and songs in the service.  (This year we also had a reading for Earth Day this week)

After services we had a pot luck lunch at the home of a member where we sang songs and read poetry from and about the Shoah, mostly in Yiddish.  We are fortunate to have Deborah Strauss and Jeffrey Warschauer in our congregation.  They are performers and knowledgeable Yiddishists who put together a wonderful collection and lead the singing, explaining the context of the material.  This was at least the third year we have done this and it moves me every time.  The shul also showed a documentary about Hanna Senesh on Sunday afternoon, but I missed that.

One Monday night, the eve of Yom Hashoah, there was a joint memorial program sponsored by 7 congregations in "Brownstone Brooklyn."  There were readings, candle-lighting, and songs - all appropriate, but in previous years we had either a survivor as a speaker or a child of a survivor, speaking about personal experiences.  Without this, it really felt like it lacked something.  I realize it is harder and harder to have survivors speak, especially ones from our community who we have not heard before.

Before the holiday I volunteered to lead shacharit and Hallel at PSJC on the second day and Musaf ( and Crossing the Sea - see below).  A day or two before I was asked to do the haftorah on the 7th day, but declined, then accepted to do it the second day, which is the kind of cool story of the renewed celebration of Pesach during the reign of King Josiah.  On the first morning, just before Larry gave a d'var torah on some aspect of the haggadah, as is his custom, Rabbi Carie came over and said that no one there felt comfortable doing Musaf with the prayer for Dew, a special one time liturgy.  I said I had not prepared it and didn't really know it, but I could "fake it", so that is what I did.  Went pretty well, considering.   Pretty busy in shul  the first two days.

On Shabbos our occasional havurah met.  Hershl was in from Phoenix and led the service.  The tradition of this havurah is to do a more creative, less traditional, service than we would have in synagogue.  For the morning blessings, which is focused on the physical, he had us pair up and give each other back massages, or something else if that was more comfortable.  He also did a "laughing Buddha" meditation (hard to explain).

Lots of good food, but Sunday night we had or traditional Pesach meat lasagna, something we made up after seeing a photo maybe 25 years ago.  No real recipe, but basically make a cinnamon flavored tomato meat sauce and layer it with sauteed zucchini and matzah briefly soaked in sweet wine to soften (not too long), then baked.

On the Seventh Day(Wednesday) I led the PSJC community through the Sea.  This is a ritual I developed maybe 30 years ago.  It is centered on the Piyyut (liturgical poem) written for the day by Yehuda Halevi, which was meant to be done before the shacharit amidah, but I found early that people would show up later and be upset that they missed it, so I switched it to before Musaf.  I sing this to the civil rights hymn (and earlier spiritual) "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Set on Freedom."  (This pairing was first made by Rab Agus at Fabrengen in Washington, DC in the early '70s.)    The other inspiration was Rabbi Areyleh's chassidim in Jerusalem who form the sea and part, and the rebbe passes through (on the 7th day).

So what do we do?  First I clear space near the front of the shul.  Then I invite everyone to come up and form two lines, facing each other.  These are the walls of water, and I urge them to sway like waves.  Then we begin to sing, with people passing through the middle in pairs.  (Think sort of the Virginia Reel or "Yesh Lanu Taish" if that helps you get the choreography)   When we finish the Hebrew poem, we return to the English verses of "Woke Up This Morning..."   A few years ago my brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Nan, were here to participate and the next year sent me a bamboo mat with a big red "C" painted on it, so everyone could dance across the "Red C".  After this, we continue with Musaf.  For a concluding song, it is my tradition to sind "Oh Miriam, Don't You Weep, Don't You Mourn"  - "Pharaoh's army got drowneded"  (Don't know it?  originally you might know it as "Oh, Mary...".  We leave out inappropriate Christian verses).

Several of us in Brooklyn are friends with Ann M from Manhattan and have been trying to get together for Shabbat lunch.  We found we were all available 7th day, so we had lunch at our house.  People stayed until about 5.   Then I had invited a friend from shul for dinner at 7:30, and another friend whom we had been concerned about had called and we said come over.  He came about 10 and we fed him, of course.  He was still talking with our older daughter when we turned in, well after midnight.  A very long day.  :-)

After that, the Eighth Day was kind of anti-climactic.  Switching back all the dishes, etc. was not.  As usual we spent days saying "Where is we put x?"  BUT all together a really nice yomtov.
 

Pesach felt really busy this year.  We hosted both seders at our home.  Food was meat (chicken) the first night and fish and veggie the second.  It was delicious, but of course that was not the main point.

I led the first seder, working from the hagaddah "A Different Night" which is traditional but with lots of good commentary, alternative readings, and illustrations.   P led the second night using the hagaddah created by our friend The Velveteen Rabbi.  Both nights had lots of guests and good discussion, and felt full.  I had trouble staying awake for the part after dinner both nights, which was especially embarassing the night I was leading.  The first night included our good friend Sally(sort of family) and a friend of hers who is becoming a regular.  Then there was a woman from my synagogue with her mother and son, another friends Susan, and some people sent by P's congregation who we did not know.  (Both of our congregations work hard to make sure everyone who needs a seder gets an invitation).  The second night everyone who came was someone we know, or at least have met.  Besides Sally and friend, there was another friend of hers whom we know, my good friends A & B and their son G, along with an old friends of hers who has moved back from Israel.  I think I may have forgotten someone.  It was all fun and maningful, though a lot of work.  Sally especially pitched in cleaning up afterwards both nights.

The second night was also the 21st birthday is my older daughter, something she was not thrilled about.  She wanted to go out and celebrate either with friends or us.  We did make something of it - had a special strawberry shortcake and Sally also brought a special birthday cake.

more on other Pesach events later.

I'm sorry I never posted more about the chaplaincy conference.  It was really terrific.

I got an inquiry about my Pesach from another blogger, so I'm going to try to post about some recent events.

Birkat Hachama is an event that only occurs once every 28 years.  It's date is a theoretical construct, based on a literal reading of Genesis 1, and a more or less Julian understanding of the solar year, which now has it coming almost two weeks after it should, all things being equal, but it only makes any sense with the solar year being 365 1/4 days.  Much has been written over the last month about it, and I'm not going to belabor it further here.

Despite this, it is a nice observance, and has been transformed into a holiday of awareness of the natural world and how we are dependant on it.  This year it also took place on the morning before the first seder, which made it kind of crazy.  (This is not standard timing, since it does not follow the Jewish calendar).  I observed it at my synagogue, the Park Slope Jewish Center in Brooklyn.  Our rabbi, Carie Carter, put together a good booklet incorporating several of the resources put out this year, including a booklet put out by the Conservative movement and material from Rabbi David Seidenberg at NeoHasid.org.  We had dovened shacharit in shul, then went up on the roof of the building, which is normally locked.  That is a shame because it has a marvelous view, west over New York Harbor and east toward Prospect Park.  We read a number of psalms and other kavannot(readings to direct the mind and heart).  It was mostly cloudy, so when we got to the point when we were suppost to say the special blessing we did not say the entire formula, just Braruch Oseh Ma'asei Braishit (Praised be the Creator of the works of creation).  BUT two minutes later the sun appeared through a break in the clouds and we went back and said the full formal blessing - "Praised are you Y-H our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the Works of Creation."   50 people showed up early in the morning for this rare event.

Then we went back downstairs, studied some of the sources on the holiday, so we could have a siyyum, a special ceremonial meal, so those of us who are first born could eat on the eve of Pesach.  Then we ate some chametz, keeping it in one local area since most of the shul was already Pesachdik.  Then we went out in the yard and burned our chametz.  Rabbi Carie really enjoys using her blow torch.

This was a nice occasion, though not on the level of my experience 28 years ago.  About 300 of us went up on the roof of the Empire State building before dawn.  The service was led by my teacher, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.  With his perfect timing, we got to the Shma just as the sun came over the horizon, and someone blew the shofar.  Sometimes it seems more people claim to have been there than were actually there.  :-)

Most years I attend the conference of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains. It is a special organization in that it has rabbis (and others) from all movements of Judaism working colleagially. This year however the NAJC is meeting in Orlando as part of the Spiritual Care Collaberative, six professional organizations doing pastoral and spiritual care in various settings. We did this once before in Toronto six years ago. It is a different but wonderful experience to be with people of all kinds of backgrounds doing this work.

The first major plenary on Sunday afternoon was David Deane speaking on how our perspectives shape the way we care. He talked about how our sense of health (or ill health) is very individual, reflecting the capitalist paradigm of our society. Working through several steps, he advocated for a more communal sense of health and allocation of resources - that the health of others is also my responsibilities.

Have to go to next program, so more on Monday later.

This made me more than smile.

I was at the ordination of 10 rabbis and rabbinic pastors from the Aleph program here in Boulder on Sunday.

Our teacher, Reb Zalman, spoke both the ordainees and the audience.  One thing that struck me, even though I've heard it before, is that being a rabbi is a role and you have to have the intention to do it.  All the more so being a "rebbe."  If you are a rabbi, you have to switch into rabbi gear.  You are not in that role while you are watching a movie or at a ball game.  If you are friends with a rabbi and want a particular encounter to be rabbinic, let him or her know that is what you want, and he/she will let you know if he/she is in a place to do that right now.  Even if you are not friends, respect when he/she is in the role and when not. 

I know I was recently in a super market and someone wanted to relate to me in my professional role and it was hard to make the transition.  Zalman said back in the '70s when, before a retreat, he would be setting up chairs and other similar chores.  People would arrive and say "It is so good to see you, Rabbi!"  He would say, "The rabbi will be here later.  Now you are speaking with the shamash (caretaker)."

This would apply in other cases of course, like if you run into your therapist in the supermarket.

Addendum:  Of course, the next day in a session on boundaries and abuse, someone else said you are always a rabbi, so some caution and proper boundaries are called for.

How can they both be right?  (standard joke - they are, just in different ways)

Like many of us, I am sure, I have received many messages urging me to take sides and blame either Hamas or Israel alone for the violence taking place in Gaza and vicinity.  I have resisted seeing this as a black and white issue.  To my mind, both sides have not taken any initiative in the recent cease fire period to actively engage in diplomacy to spread the peace.  Both have more or less welcomed the return to war.

Even if you see the Israeli attacks as justified, I don't see how they are going to lead to a more peaceful or even calm situation.

Of all the responses that I have seen, the one from J Street has been the most reasonable, and I have signed on to their plea to the US government to intervene to stop the violence from both sides.  I fear that the Bush administration has neither the serious desire nor the clout to exert much influence at this stage, and Obama won't be in office for another 3 weeks.

Here is a link to their statement
http://jstreet.org/campaigns/statement-jeremy-ben-ami-executive-director-israeli-airstrikes-gaza

As I wrote in my previous post, I attended the first two days of the conference of Rabbis for Human Rights in DC earlier this week.  I'm not going to post about most of the sessions because my friend Rachel, the Velveteen Rabbi, has blogged at great length, which is indexed here.  What I will do is comment on some sessions she was not at.

On Monday there were two break out sessions, where we chose one of several workshops.  Rachel and I were in different workshops.  The first one was on "Jewish Values and the Rights of Immigrants," led by my old friend Rabbi Amy Eilberg.  I did not take many  notes on this session.  Though we talked some on Jewish values and sources, she mostly talked about having this issue made more vital for her by a visit she and her daughter made to the workers from the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, after the ICE raid last spring.   It was both personal and moving.

The second session I went to "Questions of Pinciple regarding Human Rights in the Occupied Territories." led by Anat Biletzki of Tel Aviv University, former chair of the board of B"Tzelem, an organization of Israelis concerned with the rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.

B'Tzelem always says it is "non-political," which means it is not affiliated with an political party in Israel, but is that what "non-political" really means?  The first question is "Are we against the occupation or are we trying to make the occupation more humane?"  Does a more humane occupation make it less objectionable?  Isn't it works to have an "enlightened occupation"?  Then, "If I say I am against the occupation, am I political or 'human rightist?'"  After all, occupation is against the right of self-determination.  Then, in Israel (and the American Jewish community) people tend to ask "Which side are you on?" - Israeli or Palestinian.  Even if your criticism of Israeli practice are correct, does raising them make you on "their side."  I commented that Israel can only survive, in the long run, if the Palestinians also have a state, so being pro-Palestinian is part of being pro-Israeli, but not everyone sees it that way.  Then what about the settlers?  What if they are attacked?  Should B'Tzelem be defending their rights?  What about Palestinians attacked by other Palestinians?  Ultimately Israel is responsible for the settlements, and for colaborators, so in some senses even these situations are the responsibility of Israel.  Anyway, the situation can be politically and morally complicated.

Rachel also took a break and did not attend the award banquet on Monday evening.  Awards were given to Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund;  Peter Edelman, Past President of the New Israel Fund and a life long activists for the rights of poor people in this country;  and Rabbi Gerry Serotta,  a founder and current chair of Rabbis for Human Rights - North America.  I'm not going to say much about Marian and Peter, except that it was an honor to be part of a gathering honoring them.  They are awesome role models of living your life to make the world a better place.  The most amazing thing for me was that Daniel Schorr was the presenter for Peter.  He is a legendary newsman, still commenting regularly on NPR every weekend.  His voice and his mind are strong, but I was struck by how frail he looked, even though I knew he is 92 years old.  Gerry Serotta has worked as a Hillel director and congregational rabbi, but he has been a founder of many progressive Jewish organizations in the United States over the last 35 years, or so.  I have been priviledged to be active in many of them.  He is a consumate mensch.

After the banquet, there was a concert with Pharaoh's Daughter, one of my favorite bands.  I try to hear them several times a year, but many of the conference attendees were not familiar with them.  I'm glad they got to make some new fans.  Then I caught the late train back to NYC.

As usual, it is worthwhile to be at such gatherings, sharing hopes and strategies, and strengthening eachother for the ongoing fight.

I am at the second conference of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America. I intend to blog about it later, but there is an official blog at http://rabbisforhumanrights.blogspot.com

Even better, my friend Rachel, the Velveteen Rabbi, is blogging at length at http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/

I really like the mitzvah of putting on tefillin.  It does feel like "pray straps," or something.  It makes weekday prayer more focused somehow.  Our synagogue has a minyan on Wednesday morning and other special occasions.  We've been pretty good at getting a minyan lately, but few regulars put on tefillin - the rabbi and one other woman and myself.  There is one other man who comes when he can who puts them on, I think.

The Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs has had a campaign for years to encourage putting on tefillin.  Since the growth of egalitarianism in the movement that has included women.  Every year of Super Bowl Sunday they have a special program to encourage it called "The World Wide Wrap."  Recently they have put out a video in support of the idea, the "Tefillin Wrap Rap."  I told them they need a younger demographic and more women, and the problem that, in general, middle aged white men can't rap, can't be ignored, but it still is a noble effort.

I want to post a little about Thanksgiving weekend before it is too far in the past.  My brother B and his wife N came from Baltimore.  He has not come here for a holiday for a long time.  When our mother was alive he felt he should have her either at his house or my other brother's, and she could not travel far in the last years.

It was great, and the rest of the guests were friends from other circles, and it went well.  A total of 14 people.  The food was good, made by P and myself and a friend D, who is trained as a professional chef.  My turkey came out fabulous.

Friday B&N went with A, our youngest, to Coney Island.  They had a good time.  Saturday morning they went to EMJC, the synagogue where our grandfather was president and we went as young kids.  I don't think B had been there since Grandpa died 48 years ago.  It was emotional for him.

Saturday night B,N,A and I went to see Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie and their families in their annual concert at Carnegie Hall.  Sat very high up, but it was great.  I don't go every year, but it is like a sacrament.  I got some of the last tickets.  The woman in the box office said it sold most of the tickets the first week they went on sale.  She thought it was strange, but I did not.  

A said she felt very grown up.