“You haven't changed a bit!” That's what several people exclaimed to me with big smiles and hugs at a recent reunion. Happy to see me after all these years (and stunned that I showed up), they all meant it as a big compliment. It was a reunion of folks who'd worked for a newspaper where I was a reporter in the '90s (I used to be a reporter before becoming a Cantor). And I guess they were surprised that I still had most of my hair, teeth, and marbles.
But later on, their comments really got me thinking.... Was it true that I hadn't changed a bit? I hope not!
Through years of soul searching, personal growth, hard work – and some very lucky breaks along the way – I had undergone enormous changes in my life. I was now the Cantor at a beautiful Temple, leading a congregation of marvelous people in prayer to God every week. Hopefully, I had become a kinder, wiser, and better human being than I was 20 years ago.
“You haven't changed a bit!” struck a nerve with me that day ... and that's a good thing. Each year on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (and even each week on Shabbat), we Jews are supposed to take time out from the bumpy ride of daily life and examine our lives.
Are we becoming the people we are truly supposed to be?
Are we living up to the highest ideals of Judaism?
Have we made maximum use of God's precious gift of life?
Do you think that when you come to High Holiday services this year, that God will embrace you and gladly say, “Great to see you ... you haven't changed a bit!" I don't think so!
I want Him to say, “Welcome home ... you've changed so much!” The Bulletin
May - June 2010
All Americans know that Memorial Day is the last Monday in May. But did you know that Israel has its own Memorial Day? It's called Yom HaZikaron, which means The Day of Remembrance.
Yom HaZikaron is always commemorated the day preceding Israel Independence Day. The Hebrew date for Yom HaZikaron is the 4th of Iyar, which fell on April 18th this year.
Yom HaZikaron is different in character and nature than America's Memorial Day. It begins at sunset (as do all days and holidays in the Jewish calendar) with a two-minute siren that is heard throughout the entire state of Israel.
Anyone who has ever been in Eretz Yisrael for Yom HaZikaron will never forget it. When the wailing siren roars at 8 pm, signaling the start of the holiday, everything comes to a sudden halt. All daily activities and traffic come to a complete stop. It is an unforgettable experience to see traffic come to a halt, and drivers get out of their cars and stand silently in prayer.
The next morning at 11 am, the second siren sounds ... and again all activity is stopped for two minutes, as a holy silence overcomes Eretz Yisrael. There is a feeling of awe and sanctity in the air. Following the second siren, memorial prayers are said in public ceremonies throughout the land. All day long, radio and TV stations broadcast memorial programs, and the entire Jewish nation is in mourning.
Having lived in Israel for a year following graduation from college, I will never forget the mood and feeling of Yom HaZikaron on the kibbutz where I was living, Kibbutz Sdot Yam. Everyone gathered for a memorial service in the Dining Hall, which was adorned with huge black-draped portraits of the community's fallen soldiers in Israel's wars dating back to 1948. Relatives and friends spoke about the fallen heroes, especially a 21-year-old soldier named Kobi Kahane, who had been killed in action in Lebanon just a few weeks before.
I was good friends with Kobi's mother, Ahuva, and I will always remember those sad days and what it does to a family to lose someone in war. Overnight, my effervescent red-headed friend, Ahuva, aged 30 years and her hair turned white with grief. Hundreds of mourners, myself included, walked behind her son's flag-draped casket as he was buried in the kibbutz cemetery.
When sunset arrives on Yom HaZikaron, the flags flying at half-mast are returned to full mast, and the celebrations of Israel Independence Day, Yom HaAtzmaut, begin.
The connection between the two days is felt by all. Freedom isn't free ... and the Jewish people have indeed paid a very steep price for their homeland.
More than any other nation on earth, Israel yearns for peace, and the chance for all to enjoy God's blessings of life and freedom. May peace soon come for our brothers and sisters in Israel, and for good people everywhere.
And this Memorial Day, let's emulate Israel ... and stop and honor those Americans who gave their all so that we may live in freedom in our beloved United States of America.
Quite often people come up to me in the temple and ask all sorts of questions, so I thought it might be fun to answer some questions about laws, customs, and ceremonies in the Jewish tradition. Here are a few that I thought might be interesting for everyone: ******************************************************** What exactly is the Haftarah that we read on Shabbat and holidays after the Torah reading?
A commonly asked question, especially by parents of our Bar and Bat Mitzvah students.First of all, in America it is commonly pronounced as HAF-TORAH, leading many to believe that it's part of the Torah, when it is nothing of the sort. Simply put, the Haftarah is a reading from the Prophets that supplements and follows the Torah reading.
The custom of reading the Haftarah dates back to the 2nd Century B.C.E. when King Antiochus forbade the Jews to read the Torah in public. In fact, it was this very struggle, and the defeat of the Syrian-Greeks and their attempt to spiritually annihilate the Jews, that we celebrate at Chanukkah.
Since the writings from the Prophets (like Jeremiah, Isaiah and Hosea) were not banned, it became the custom to read them in public, and in time the rabbis assigned particular passages from The Prophets to each Torah portion, finding some meaningful connection between the two each Shabbat.
You might be surprised to learn that The New Testament tells of Jesus reading a Haftarah from The Book of Isaiah during a Shabbat service in Nazareth.
Why is the word "Amen" used during worship services?
The Talmud states that the word "Amen" is an acrostic formed from the first letters of the three Hebrew words El Melech Ne'eman, meaning "The Lord is a trustworthy King." Amen is also said to mean "truly" or "so be it."
When the Jews worshiped in The Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the response to the blessings of the High Priests was "Blessed be His glorious name forever and ever." But after the destruction of The Second Temple in 70 A.D., "Amen" was used instead.
What is the Talmud? The comments and interpretations of the Jewish Bible made by rabbis in Israel and Babylonia during the first five centuries of The Common Era. Since the Babylonian Talmud was completed after the Jerusalem Talmud, its decisions are the more accepted ones. Why must a synagogue have windows?
This requirement is stated in the Talmud, where it is stated that the sky inspires reverence.
Why aren't there any statues or sculptures in synagogues?
Because the second of The Ten Commandments decrees that no graven images be made and that "thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve them." Only decorations and art that are not three-dimensional are allowed in a temple.
Why is kneeling rarely seen in Jewish worship services?
When Christianity adopted kneeling as a posture of prayer, the rabbis forbade it for Jews. But bowing and kneeling were an integral part of the rituals and ceremonies in the Temples in Jerusalem. Still today in Orthodox and Conservative synagogues, the cantor kneels and prostrates himself on the floor when an account of the ancient Temple service is read on Yom Kippur. |
