Freedom – the underlying subject of the Jewish celebration at Passover – also gets a lot of exposure in contemporary American culture.

     In Judaism, we have a very firm idea of freedom, specifically the freedom presented in the Five Books of Moses. We speak of freedom from slavery. Once free from slavery, the ancient Israelites take a while to realize that without oppression, their freedom still needs some thought, even some restrictions.

     Without the presence of the divine and Moses, as the Israelites wait for Moses to come down from Sinai, they demand another divine presence, even if it is an idol – the golden calf crafted by Aaron. Once chastised by Moses, even though the Israelites don’t ever entirely reform their ways, they do engage in a relationship of responsibility with the divine – accepting a covenant that enumerates our responsibilities as Jews, and the divine responsibility to us as well.

     The idea of a covenant at the center of Jewish thought clearly tells Jews what we think of freedom. Judaism talks about us achieving freedom from slavery or oppression, allowing us to become free to enter the covenant, which is a relationship governed by responsibilities for building a better society, and thus a better world.

     Sometimes Judaism curtails freedom quite severely. The Levites, an entire tribe, and a group within that tribe, the high priesthood, have no choice in their careers. They give up this freedom in order to hold onto the privilege of running the system of worship in the Temple.

     The Jewish social system we inherit gives us a clear understanding of the importance of valuing our freedoms of choice on the one hand, while recognizing that such freedoms come with responsibilities to the societies that preserve them.

     In the last three decades, Americans have mostly pursued a freedom to do, but more importantly, to possess anything and everything that we want. While many identify the American Dream as the opportunity to grant greater freedom to choose ways of life to one’s descendents, our culture seems to have been consumed by a desire to have no restrictions on the things that we might own, use, or consume, regardless of their impact on our country and the world.

     This idea contradicts the principles of American freedom outlined in our Declaration of Independence – “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” being essential, these are not necessarily creature comforts and worldly possessions. Furthermore, the notion that we can be free to have all things, without any regard for how such ownership might be unsustainable for ourselves, much less our descendents, emphasizes how simplistic our common understanding of freedom has become.

     In the coming season of Passover, I hope all of us can help contribute to a more thoughtful understanding of freedom in all contexts – that freedom from oppressions, and freedom to choose paths in our lives, trump freedom to have things every time. In this climate of economic hardship, it seems harder and harder to substantiate possessions over substance in our lives, and I believe that the celebration of Passover serves as a convenient reminder of the great value we already possess, in terms of freedom, even when we find the cost of our lives to be burdensome.

     Temple Bat Yam will celebrate freedom through the Passover Seder on Thursday, April 9, at 5:45pm. Dinner will be served by 6:45pm, following the discussions and singing of the ritual Seder. Everyone is welcome – tickets are $50, and all the information can be found at www.templebatyamtahoe.org.

     May all of us have a spring season of celebrated freedoms to do and think and contribute to the improvement of ourselves and our diverse communities.

 

Really?

Here's an excellent response - worth the three minutes:

American Jews get understandably wary when asked about our “faith”, or addressed with the question: “What do you believe?” Currently, we face a situation in our country when such concepts, Jewish and non-Jewish, go extensively unquestioned and unexplored.

     These words, “faith” and “belief”, so powerful in English, have much less of an impact in Hebrew. In the Hebrew Bible the word for “religious”, with regard to a personal characteristic, exists only in a phrase that translates better as “in awe of the Divine” – what the older English translations render somewhat inaccurately as “God-fearing” (fear and awe share the same root in Hebrew).

     The word for belief in Contemporary Hebrew shares the same root as the word that we say as “amein”. This may be a good place to start on Jewish belief. To what do we respond “amein”?

     Strictly speaking, in a prayer service, when a prayer has been recited by anyone as communal leader, we as a community respond with “amein” – a communal assertion of consent and approval for the blessing that came directly before saying “amein”.

     Similarly, as a way of expressing our communal norms, I can say that: Jewish belief generally frowns upon eating pork, praying to idols, and working seven days a week; and Jewish belief generally promotes honoring one’s parents, a healthy sex-life between married partners, a healthy awe for the universe, and pursuing justice.

     I also assert that Jewish belief asks us to read the Hebrew Bible metaphorically, not literally.

     Interestingly enough, we can easily debate as to how Jews believe in God, whether or not Jews believe in Heaven and an afterlife, whether or not Moses received the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) word for word at Mt. Sinai, and if Jews believe the Hebrew Bible condones or condemns same-sex marriage. These debates form some of the lines of disagreement between the different movements in contemporary Judaism.

     As can be seen from these examples, Jewish faith gets best expressed in advocating certain behaviors. A Jewish perspective easily asserts that what we believe can best be reflected in our actions. Consequently, Jews spend less time discussion the theory of faith, or theology, in favor of the practical details required in producing righteous behavior. Thus, amongst Jews, discussions of personal spirituality are often seen as invasive and less pragmatic.

     An essential aspect of all of these “faith” or “belief” issues in Judaism is that they are open to discussion. When we say “amein” in a prayer service, it can be heard as: “We agree with the sentiment of that blessing.” When we say “amein” to a concept of Jewish belief or faith, we can be heard to say: “Yes, that does seem to be an aspect of our community’s consensus on that issue – let’s discuss the details and ramifications.”

     Most Jews do not believe that we can force other Jews to believe exactly as we do – where’s the interesting discussion in that? Just because our religion, or any central “faith” or “belief”, proclaims it, doesn’t mean we get to close it off from discussion. When religion becomes an excuse to impose practices on people who don’t share them we must, as Jews, and even perhaps American, delve more deeply, and discuss it, even though it might be difficult or uncomfortable.

     Jews often find ourselves feeling disrespected when approached with “belief” and “faith” questions. Given my emphasis on discussion as central to Judaism, we must in turn be careful to respect those with strongly held and expressed beliefs and faith ideas. Our adherence to open discussion may be seen as disrespectful to others’ strongly held ideas about their own truths. Sensitivity in these discussions, even when we often feel that we don’t receive it in turn, especially must be emphasized.

     Our tradition teaches that the Hillel School’s opinions are held over the Shammai School’s not because they were better argued, but because Hillel students always were courteous, and presented Shammai students’ arguments before their own. An open attitude towards discussion asks us all the more so to be respectful and sensitive.

     How do we reconcile our tendencies towards open discussion and pragmatic action? When communities want to act in a way that represents a reasonable consensus, discussion is required – the constant Jewish quandary continues to be, how to move from discussion to action. With this, I can tell you, many Jewish communities struggles valiantly.

     I wish all of you a winter filled with discussions that spark us all to think, speak, and do more about the difficulties around us.

Just began reading and discussing this - I highly recommend it! Friedman's Fables - link in the books section...

 

Having returned from Israel two weeks ago, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the issues with the latest conflict in Gaza.

First and foremost, it is clear that Hamas needs to go, from the Israeli perspective - where and how is a bigger question.

From the internationaly perspective, the world needs to become a real partner in helping out with the welfare of the Gazans - Israel cannot be responsible for keeping open borders that the Gazans use to transport explosives into Israel.

More to come soon.

We all know that when we do business – whether completing our check out at the grocery, or getting a mortgage – our relationship with the person on the other side of the deal makes a difference. We talk a lot about how our friendliness improves everyday interactions, and our ethical integrity plays a significant factor in the business we conduct too.

     During the third week of November, the Parasha, the weekly reading, Chai-yay Sarah, chronicles Abraham’s purchase of the land for Sarah’s burial plot. When discussing this, a number of us began to look at Abraham’s willingness to pay full price for a piece of land that he could have gotten as a gift as an understanding of the long term nature of his potential relationships with his neighbors. Abraham knew that were he to take advantage of his neighbors, he might not be able to count on them as good neighbors for long.

     Ginny noted that in Abraham’s case he took an ethical stand on a business position, and this got us to her point that our current economic woes may indeed be ethical woes. Getting beyond the idyllic picture of It’s a Wonderful Life, where Jimmy Stewart plays a local banker, loaning out money so that people can buy their homes – literally, personally investing in his community – we can still see that when we sacrifice the ethics in a relationship, we may end up also sacrificing the good business outlook of the relationship.

     The greater the distance in a relationship between buyer and seller, between financier and debtor, the less likely each individual will look out for a mutually beneficial conclusion. When banks have no investment in people’s mortgages, walking away from a foreclosure seems like an alright option for someone who can no longer afford their home. If there were w relationship there, both parties would be thinking about how their actions affect the other’s welfare.

     This idea lies at the heart of ethical and community-oriented behavior – there is a greater good to be had, and sometimes that requires a different view than one that supposes, “What is best for me at this very moment.” When everyone looked as fees as a more important source of income than the long-term servicing of a mortgage, people chose to be brokers over bankers – their relationship became with the profit they made in making more transactions, not better ones. This short-term thinking avoids all the work that goes into building trusting relationships.

     When our business analysts tell us about a crisis in credit, they mean a crisis in trust. A credit default swap asks people to insure each other in the event that a loan, or another company, fails. Instead of taking a direct interest in the success of companies, we have entire businesses funded, and now over-committed, through the sale of insurance on those companies’ financing.

     Cary Sarnoff led me to read a fascinating book, Negotiation Genius, by two Harvard MBA professors. They advise all of their students, many already successful executives, that lying in negotiations leads to bad outcomes. The authors, Deepak Malhotra and Max Bazerman, back up their conclusions with the latest in studies of outcomes and psychology, and give us the same wisdom, a few thousand years more updated, that Abraham starts us off with. Namely, that good business means relationships that last, and that we pursue lasting relationships through ethical behavior. Having a reputation as a shrewd businessperson, or negotiator who lies, seldom leads to long-term profitable relationships.

     When we enter into an exchange with another person, we all need to aim to be our best. We can continue to make positive impacts in our communities, our country, and in the world, if we remind others of this as well. We must all promote the long-term thinking that comes with an ethical outlook that places the communal good as a priority of our personal good.

     Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season and a Chappy Chanukah!

What if we prepared ourselves for every family event by forgiving all the perceived wrongs done to us?

 

More than that, what if we prepared ourselves by thinking of all the things we liked about each of our family members?

 

Could you even imagine what that would look like?

 

Next time we show up to a family occasion, look each of our family members in the eye, and think only about them in terms of what we like about them.

 

Peace is right there - waiting for us to grab it.

As we head into May, I have been deliberating issues of freedom and responsibility – the themes for my sermons in April, and of course, the main theme for Passover.

     Every year, we tend to bemoan even more the sinking of our American culture into a situation where people demand rights, and seem less concerned about the costs of those rights in terms of responsibility to each other and our communities. In the realm of just how we as individuals can assert our responsibilities for each other in a positive way, I recall a story I heard on NPR recently (here is the link).

     To sum it up, Julio was coming home after work and got off the subway at his normal stop en route to his favorite diner for dinner. Julio was accosted by a mugger, brandishing a knife, demanding his money. Julio, not fighting him, handed him his wallet, and as the mugger walked away asked him if he wanted his coat too. The mugger, a little stunned, asked Julio why he would do that, and Julio responded that if the mugger would be out all night robbing people, he might be cold without a coat, and subsequently invited him to dinner with him.

     The mugger accepted, and was amazed and how everyone treated Julio so nicely at the local diner. Julio explained that he comes there all the time, and the mugger continued to be shocked that Julio was even nice to the busboys. Julio said that he was taught to be nice to everyone, and the mugger exclaimed in disbelief that he didn’t think anyone actually did that. When the check for dinner came, Julio turned to the mugger and asked him to pay for it, since he had Julio’s wallet. The mugger returned the wallet, and Julio handed him $20 in exchange for the mugger’s knife.

     This kind of action, where a person stands up for their values, even in the face of violence, exemplifies the idea of responsibility that we stand to lose in this country. Julio understood that the mugger needed much more than his wallet, he needed to see himself as connected to people. When we see ourselves as more than individuals, suddenly our place in the world becomes quite clear, we are all connected.

     Americans, all of us, complain about our situations, but seldom do we realize just how much we can do about them. Julio understood that crime in the Bronx is a problem of people, not a problem that should be left to the authorities. By extending his hand to the mugger, Julio proved to the mugger that victims are people too, and that there are indeed people who live in the way that we have all been taught to as kids.

     In our community of TBY a number of people have stood up and taken responsibility in recent months – you need only look at our president’s message this month as Joel recounts all the people who are stepping up to make TBY into an even better Jewish community.

     Have you been a long time participant in one of our activities, and you would like to see it improved or more to your taste? Let us know, and we will work on it. But, if you really care about something, help out – volunteer to make that activity better not just for you, but also for all of us. Our extended family runs on participation at every level.

     Have you been coming to TBY events for a long time, but not joined as a member? Why not? Membership is not about money, it is about claiming one’s identity as a participant in our TBY family. While TBY does need membership dues, what membership really means is inclusion in the group of people that call ourselves extended family. Consider your responsibility to the privileges that TBY offers, and think about whether or not you already are a member of our family in all but name. If you would like to affirm that membership, contact anyone of us listed in this issue of the bulletin, and see how easy it is to become an “official” member of our family.

     Let us all have a spring of standing up and taking responsibility for our communities – the improvements available to us when we work together will be greater than ever.

                During the third week of April Jews will celebrate Passover, the annual remembrance of the Hebrew slaves’ liberation in ancient Egypt. This celebration of freedom, observed by 8 days of abstaining from eating any grain product that has been leavened at all, leaving Jews who observe Passover no bread products, pasta products, and for many, no rice or beans either, for a little over a week, seems odd. How do strict dietary restrictions that hail back to an ancient story of fleeing oppression without enough time for the bread to rise celebrate freedom?

                An easy answer can be found by seeing that Jews emphasize freedom through restrictions – that when we give up a little freedom, in an area as irrelevant as what we eat, then we begin to recognize how valuable our freedom is in other, much more important areas. After all, while it may feel like a big deal to rid our kitchens of all the offending bread products, and avoid them for the week following, that means little when compared to the freedom to decide all the other things in our lives – who we love, where we work, where we live, and so on. Thus a small restriction lets us see how vast and significant our other freedoms are.

                And yet, there might be other ideas in Passover’s reminders about our freedoms that we could use in our communities this April. With freedom, Judaism says, throughout the Book of Exodus, comes the responsibility to build a better society, a society that protects our freedoms, but also requires our participation. We have come into a period in American history when it often feels like the issues that face us are so huge, that we can’t imagine our input making a difference. Our sense of powerlessness, however, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. For, when we submit that we are at the mercy of greater human powers – the government, big business, and environmental problems, for example, not to mention the little issues in our own community that we allow to progress without objection – we allow them to control our lives. Let’s aim for a different approach this April, for as Jews celebrate freedom, perhaps we can all learn about our own abilities to shape our community.

                Instead of hoping that someone else will take care of our needs, let us stand up and make it happen. If we are truly free, then we must make that freedom worth something. We must not let ourselves believe that someone else will do what needs to be done. There is no one out there who has our interests in mind like we do. If we see a lack, we must attend to it. If our community doesn’t serve us, then it may not serve others as well, and we should stand up and make it happen for ourselves and those others. If we see an injustice, we must work to right it. Not because we are obligated, but because we are free, and our freedom demands that we preserve it and exercise it.

                I hope that all of us have a spring season of freedom and action, so that our community, local and worldwide, benefits from our participation. Happy Passover!

This is a letter I wrote last week to the editor of the Tahoe Daily Tribune. You can find links to all of the articles that I reference here:

 

To the Editor,

Since August 2007, the TDT has published a “Free-Thinker’s Forum” alongside the “Minister’s Forum”, as if the one were a balance or counter-point to the other.

In the months since this began, the author of the “Free-Thinker’s Forum”, Damian Sowers, repeatedly attacked religion in general, and my writings about religion in specific, almost every time he wrote. I have delayed in responding, because I wanted my response to be thoughtful, not angry, since, as I will show, Mr. Sowers has been most demeaning to religion and religious thinkers.

In June, Mr. Sowers claimed religion to be a mere placebo for those in need of mental well-being, and hastily generalized Islam, Christianity, and Judaism into a “dogma” that was the bane of civilization. His argument quotes some of the most famous critics of religion today, Dawkins and Harris, neither of whom turn their critical eye against science like they do against religions. After all, it was misapplications of scientific views that led to the Nazi de-humanization of anyone they called “non-Aryan” – Catholics, gay men, Gypsies, the handicapped, Jews, lesbians, political enemies, Protestants, and the like. Science doesn’t always get it right either. And that’s OK – since it usually works we don’t throw it all out. If only critics of religion would admit that not every religious person is a dogmatic fundamentalist, and that many religions have been on the side of science for a long time.

In July, Mr. Sowers wrote a letter directly to me, questioning my claim that science and religion were compatible, by claiming that religious people would only do so when “backed into a corner”. I am not sure what I would do when backed into a corner, or what it would take to dos so. However, considering that I freely expressed an affinity between science and religion in response to no statements made by Mr. Sowers, and as a way of speaking about moderate religious views in general, I hardly feel that such a position could be identified as "backed into a corner" in the least.

Judaism has been open to questioning and doubt about the literal truth of text for a long time. How long? Maimonides, a physician and the foremost Jewish authority of his time, who lived in the 12^th century, over 800 years ago, wrote that “The paths of interpretation are not closed to us” (Guide for the Perplexed, 2:25), elaborating particularly with an example from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, that if well-established knowledge were to contradict any of the story, the story could be read metaphorically. Maimonides’ words from the Middle Ages are accepted even by the most orthodox of Jews, many of whom are scientists in Mr. Sowers’ field.

Furthermore, on that particular day, Mr. Sowers also claimed that religion “requires leaps of faith, and complete obedience”. I urge him to visit a synagogue. I guarantee that when it comes to Jews, biblically identified as a “stiff-necked people”, faith and obedience do not describe us nearly as much as skepticism and doubt.

I for one do not believe in a divinity that interferes in the physical world on my behalf or in response to my prayers. I believe in scientific method, in the veracity of evolution, and in the importance of stem-cell research. In fact, rabbis and moderate ministers in the United States almost uniformly agree with me on these positions. Unfortunately, Mr. Sowers seems so dead-set against the notion that a religious person could also be a thoughtful one, he wrote me off quite completely, dismissing all of American Judaism and non-fundamentalists in the same keystroke.

In August, Mr. Sowers posited putting “religion under a microscope”, as if the last two centuries of Religious Studies haven’t done exactly that, and then equated the clash between religious sects – like Sunni and Shi-ite Muslims in Iraq, or Catholics and Protestants in Ireland – to people potentially killing each other over different interpretations of Harry Potter. Clearly, this analysis not only demeans these religious beliefs, but it also ignores the centuries of ethnic divisions that underlie many religious conflicts.

In September, Mr. Sowers presumed that only atheists confront mystery in the universe, while religious people are satisfied with a “clear-cut, supernatural anecdote”. Considering that most religious people spend a good amount of their time contemplating that mystery, not simply claiming to have solved it, I can only guess that Mr. Sowers hasn’t spoken with many of them.

When ministers have disagreed in this space, we have done so respectfully – we have even gone out of our way to communicate with each other before printing any corrections or retractions. Considering that many of us have very different world views about religion, the divine, and the universe, that has been an amazing show of courtesy and regard for each other. Mr. Sowers admits no opinion but his own, however. Please do us all the favor of re-naming his forum, since there is no Free Thinking in it. Let it be the “Atheist’s Forum” – or, perhaps more appropriately – “The I can’t stand religion and there is nothing you can tell me to change my mind about it forum”.

My sister Liz gave birth to a healthy, thank God!, baby girl, yesterday, April 8, 2008 - here's a photo:

Sermons and a recent talk by Dr. Joan Roughgarden about Religion and Evolution in the files section - check them out!

A photographer strung together some of my words and photos of the Lake, enjoy!

 

 

                Next week Jews across the world will observe a small celebration called Tu be-Shvat, in Hebrew, literally “the 15^th of (the Hebrew month)of Shevet.” This day, on the full moon, and corresponding to January 22^nd this year, celebrates the “New Year of Trees.” While the middle of the winter may be seen as a strange time for the Jewish version of Arbor Day, the holiday’s timing reminds us that the plenty that we enjoy needs attention and care even when it is hidden during a season when things don’t grow so obviously.

                This holiday originally served as the beginning of the tax year for produce from fruit and nut trees – the “arboreal fiscal year” for determining tithes to the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Since the destruction of that Temple, in the year 70, Tu be-Shvat has undergone a transformation into a mystical and ecological celebration.

                In the years when Jews were prohibited from owning land, the tree became a symbol for many important Jewish ideas: the Tree of Life was equated to the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, the source of Jewish wisdom and practice; the tree began also to sketch the relationship between the mystical seeker and the divine – the root of all creation. In the last 50 years, as Jews became more attached to land, through Israel, and to ecology, through science and environmentalism, these mystical ideas of the tree combined with a practical understanding of the connection between our internal, spiritual, and emotional lives with the physical well-being of our planet. A well-rounded person on the inside would be one who contributes to the health of the world on the outside as well.

                So, Tu be-Shvat emerged as a day to plant trees, both locally and in Israel, and to recognize our spiritual connection to the health of the land. Jews do this by a ritual meal, or seder, that uses wine or grape juice, and different tree produce – fruits and nuts – to celebrate the plenty we receive and remind us of the attention we need to exert in order to maintain a world that sustains us. By focusing on produce from trees and vines, Tu be-Shvat asks us to eat and drink things that truly cause no harm, because none of the food requires the death of the plant from which it is harvested.

                Please join TBY’s observance of Tu be-Shvat on Friday, January 25^th, starting at 6pm, at the Temple building, 3260 Pioneer Trail. We will have a potluck dinner followed by the Tu be-Shvat ritual meal. The meal will be vegetarian, and to find out what to bring, please contact me, by e-mail: rabbijonathan@yahoo.com, or by phone, 775.588-4503.

                May all of you have a wonderful winter filled with appreciation of the hidden potential in the earth and in all of us.

Snow! We finally have snow.

 

Our prayers have begun to be answered, thank the universe!

 

 

In the folders section I just added two interviews with Howie Nave, a local radio personality and nationally known comedian here in Tahoe.

 

In one of them we discuss religion and politics prior to the High Holy Days of 2006, and in the other we chat with Reverend Ruth Wallace, a local Unity Minister, also in September of 2006.

I just added a recording of my sermon on our internal lives, or spiritual selves, and action in the world, to the files section of this space - enjoy!

 

May you have a wonderful New Year, and may you be well-inscribed for the year to come. 

I am back on task! Talking about Judaism - more photos of Jude can be found in our Picasa photo albums:

 

Meanwhile, here are some of my latest thoughts on the Days of Awe, or the High Holy Day season:

 

      Seems difficult to believe that the High Holy Days are already upon us! Indeed, with Rosh HaShanah (“The Head of the Year”) a mere week away, I am in the midst of preparing myself for the emotional and spiritual journey that entering the Jewish New Year can be.

      Personally, this time of year has always been difficult. I feel a certain sense of the need to accomplish some internal work at this time, and that isn’t always comfortable.

      Jewish traditions ask us to use the entire month preceding the holidays, the month of Elul, to begin the period of reflection before heading into the intense ten days of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur (“The Day of Atonement”). For rabbis, of course, this means attempting to come up with topics and texts for our talks, but in the attempt to also be a Jew, not merely a facilitator of Judaism, I also try to do some of the personal work that our culture asks of us.

      This work can take the form of a heightened level of personal consciousness and meditation. How has the past year gone? Where have I done right, and where not so right? Despite our heritage of guilt, Judaism recognizes that most of us attempt to do right, and it is in the missing of the mark that we transgress. One of the main Hebrew words for sin, “cheyt”, derives from archery, and is closer in meaning to “missing the mark”, than to more popular Western ideas of terribly willful transgressions, which don’t really fit into a Jewish system of thinking.

      Ideally, when we miss the mark, we make an effort to make amends immediately. Certainly if we know that we have made a mistake, those around us will likely hold us responsible until we amend the situation. The difficult situations end up being those wherein we have caused offense without knowing it, or where we have run away from a difficulty that escaped notice. Neither situation lends itself to easy resolution.

      In the spirit of working to resolve the first one though, I apologize to all of you for anything I might have done in which I missed the mark. I know that I may have been distracted, or inattentive, or insensitive, at times in the past year, and I ask that you forgive me – I aim to make up for it as soon as possible.

      Similarly, we ought to evaluate how we have done in the realm of self-treatment. Oftentimes it seems that our external behavior, especially behavior that we’d rather avoid, stems from unresolved internal issues. How do we think of ourselves? How have we cared for ourselves? Have we ignored our own needs, and made others pay for our own “missing of the mark” with ourselves?

      Looking at the Days of Awe, a better translation of the Hebrew term “Yamim haNora-im” for the High Holy Days, from the perspective of this deep inner work, we can begin to understand how our sages ask us to spend more than a month on the process.

      In fact, the main teaching about this might be something more. While we have appointed a season of reflection and repentance, the actual length of this season serves itself as a reminder that this kind of work requires the entirety of the year. In the same way that Passover, a week of abstaining from bread, reminds us of how we should appreciate the vastness of our freedom the entire year, so a season of contemplation reminds us that thought about our actions should be the norm, and that reflection on our inner lives must take place all the time.

      And here perhaps lays my own sense of pressure about this season – it might indeed remind me of all the work that I have left to the last minute the year over, both in my inner life, and between the world and me. We serve ourselves better when we attend to these things as they arise, in a timely manner, as opposed to waiting for an annual “season” to resolve them.       May all of us work to relieve that pressure on ourselves this season, and make the coming year one of continual reflection and renewal, so that the next Days of Awe will be a sources of less pressure. L’Shanah Tovah! A good year to all! 

Temple Bat Yam will be working closely with local businesses and organizations to help fund the on-going relief efforts for those who suffered losses from the Angora fire.

 

I personally want to send our deepest sympathies to all those in the region that lost homes, and faced deep difficulties when forced to evacuate not knowing whether or not their homes would survive.

 

We are pulling together, and helping those in need.

We will offically welcome Judah Ilan into the Jewish people and his community on Thursday, May 24th, at 7pm, at the building of Temple Bat Yam in South Lake Tahoe, CA - all are invited and welcome for celebration, desserts, and fun!