9.30.16 A Present For the World

On Rosh Hashanah we celebrate the creation of the world.  It is majestic and awe inspiring.  It is our gift.  How have we nurtured this gift?  How will we preserve this gift? What do we gain and what do we contribute?  What will we do differently this year in order to truly make peace a reality?  Let this be our gift to the world.

Looking forward to celebrating together.

Shabbat shalom u'mevorach,
Laurie


"The Birthday of the World"

On the birthday of the world
I begin to contemplate
what I have done and left
undone, but this year
not so much rebuilding
of my perennially damaged
psyche, shoring up eroding
friendships, digging out
stumps of old resentments
that refuse to rot on their own.
No, this year I want to call
myself to task for what
I have done and not done
for peace. How much have
I dared in opposition?
How much have I put
on the line for freedom?
For mine and others?
As these freedoms are pared,
sliced and diced, where
have I spoken out? Who
have I tried to move? In
this holy season, I stand
self-convicted of sloth
in a time when lies choke
the mind and rhetoric
bends reason to slithering
choking pythons. Here
I stand before the gates
opening, the fire dazzling
my eyes, and as I approach
what judges me, I judge
myself. Give me weapons
of minute destruction. Let
my words turn into sparks. 

Marge Piercy

Shabbat shalom u'mevorach,

9.23.16 "Put in Our Hearts"

Have you registered for High Holy Days?  
How will we take them Higher if you aren't with us?

In 2015 the first Jewish, Christian, Muslim prayer book, "אדון השלום(Adon Hashalom), Lord of Peace, رب السلام" was published in Israel, by Idra Press.  It's a collection of poems and prayers for peace from all three traditions. The entire collection is written in all three languages - Hebrew, English and Arabic. Our three faiths have so much in common and yet from the media it seems like we have nothing connecting us to one another.  It's a shame.  This prayer book stands a tangible reminder that religion is based on a foundation of love, peace and kindness for all.  

In a time when it seems like the world is moving farther and farther away from the "Golden Rule" of treating others the way we hope to be treated, we need more of these tangible reminders.  

As we draw closer to Rosh Hashanah, the start of another New Year, five thousand, seven hundred and seventy seven, we have another opportunity to bring love, peace and kindness back to the foreground.  We have another opportunity to demand that we will not stand for a world where these love, peace and kindness are not the priority.

Here's a poem from the prayer book to help us get in the mood.

"Put it in Our Hearts to See the Virtue of Our Friends"  by: Rabbi Elimelech of Lezajsk.
Note:  He understand "friend" to mean anyone who is "other".

Put it in our hearts
For each of us to see the virtue of our friends and not their flaw
And for each of su to address his friend in a way that is right and desirable to Thee
And may no one harbor hate to his friend in his heart
And may our bond to Thee grow every stronger in 
Thy love
As all is known and clear to Thee
so that all shall be pleasing to Thee
Amen, may it come to pass.

As we move into Shabbat let us make the choice to see the other as our friend.  Let us choose love, peace and kindness over all else.

Shabbat shalom,
Laurie

9.16.16 JUDY - "It's Not Mother's Day" Tribute

Join us for our end of season "Under the Bridge" - Shabbat celebration in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1.  6:30pm BYOPicnic.  

Today would have been my Imma's birthday.  "Imma" means "mom" in Hebrew and what she loved to be called.  I loved calling her "Mamma".  Judith Ann Phillips would have turned 78.  "Happy Birthday Imma/Mamma!"

Today's Torah is a tribute to her.  In this season of preparing for the High HOLY Days, I am confronted with my own personal reflection around the past year, who I am and who I want to be in this coming year.  This is a powerful time to get back in touch with my true self.  It takes effort and honesty.  I am able to do this (some years better than others) because of my mom.

I am grateful beyond measure for having been her daughter and extremely blessed to have known her.  She was always honest, always present and always supportive (even when she didn't agree with my decision).  She was also always late and always searching for the "thing" she was looking for.  She didn't bake cookies.  In fact she told me when I was very young that at school when the class starts planning a party I could only volunteer to bring napkins (sometimes plates but only if necessary).  My mom was the smartest person I have ever known and she always lived in accordance with her values, no matter what.  She had this incredibly ability to not care if speaking the truth would make others uncomfortable or make her unpopular.  This made me very uncomfortable when I was younger.  As an adult, I try hard to emulate this quality.  My mom always helped the "other" and most of the time she didn't say anything. She was incredibly competitive.  When we played Monopoly, she used to tell my younger brother that Baltic (dark purple) was better than Park Place (dark blue).  He believed her for a while.  She was ruthless at Scrabble and crossword puzzles.  My mom didn't have to be right, but she pretty much always was.  She loved her family, antiquing and flea markets, travel, puzzles and dogs. 

She continues to be present and inspires me to be my best.  I love you Imma/Mamma.

Who inspires you to be your best?  Who enables you to be present in this season of reflection?  If they are alive, tell them.  If they aren't, tell someone about them.

We are a People of people.  Our connections to the other enable tremendous capacity for growth and accomplishment.  

What will we do together in the coming year?  How will use this time and the changes we make as tools for bringing us closer to one another and closer to achieving our goals?

Shabbat shalom u'mevorach - 
May Shabbat be filled with rest and blessing.
Laurie

9.9.16 Are you ready?

Are you coming to dinner?  Let's celebrate Shabbat together with great people, rich melody and delicious food! Details below.

How is your ELUL check-in going?  Are you taking time to reflect?  Are you breathing into the narrow places?  Are you getting ready for the Holy Days?

Love is powerful.  It can elevate us to great heights.  It can provide meaning and depth.  In order to fully love, we must first love ourselves.  The month of ELUL gives us four weeks to engage in the intentional practice loving ourselves.  This can bring us closer to being able to fully love the other.

A poem by Leonard Nimoy.  This poem is part of a longer work that was published in 1973 that included a blend of poetry and black and white photography.

I am not immortal.
Whatever I put off for later
May never be.
Whoever doesn't know now
That I love them
May never know.
I have killed time.
    I have squandered it.
            I have lost days...weeks...
As a man of unlimited wealth
Might drop coins on the street
And never look back.
I know now, that there will be an end,
A limit.
But there is time
Valuable and precious time
To walk,
        talk,
            breathe.
Time to touch,
        taste,
            care.
To warm the child
Who is cold and lonely.
There is time to love
I promise myself...
            I will.
I am
I am ready
I am ready to give
I am ready to give and to receive
I am ready to give and to receive love

Shabbat shalom u'mevorach.  Wishing you and yours a Shabbat filled with rest and blessing.

Laurie

9.1.16 Welcome Back and Welcome To...

Welcome Back SHABBAT BEINEINU!  Remember?  Fantastic musical, everybody welcome, everybody friendly services followed by a fantastically yummy dinner?  It's back!  Friday, September 9th. All Angels' Church - details below.  Register now.  Yes!  Right now! 

Welcome back "a little Torah".  It's been some time since we last engaged.  I hope your summer has been filled with relaxation, refreshment and joy.  For those of you who are making a face because your summer was filled with everything but R&R, you are in luck!

Welcome to ELUL.  In the Torah it is simply referenced as the sixth month in the calendar. It is the last month in the Jewish calendar and is thought to originally come from the Akadian word "harvest".  Some commentators say it comes from the Akadian root which means "search".  "Thank You!"  Wikipedia. This will make sense in a moment.  This is a very special month in the Jewish calendar (Shhh!  Don't tell the other months.) Elul is our kick off into the season of our High and Holy Days.  This evening, marks the start of our formal countdown, actually more like a "countUP".  We have 29 days to get ourselves ready for the start of 5777.  We have 29 days to reflect and refresh.
ELUL is also an acronym.  In Hebrew it is spelled aleph - lamed - vav - lamed; אֱלוּל.
Aleph = ani = I am 
Lamed = l'dodi = to my beloved
Vav = v'dodi = and my beloved [is]
Lamed = li = to me

Perhaps the "countUP" is a path to our beloved and will then lead our beloved to us.   If we engage in a process of reflection and refreshment we will come that much closer to encountering our beloved.  But how?  It's easy to say "reflect"!  "Refresh!"  But how do we go through a meaningful process?  According to tradition there are a few ways; we are supposed to listen to the shofar blasts every morning, recite Psalm 27, give tzedakah and engage the process of repentance.  Too much to do to wait until Yom Kippur to start.  This last one is truly transformative.  If you haven't ever formally repented, I highly recommend trying it out.  The first step is the hardest; identifying the "sin".  That's a pretty harsh word because this is about pretty harsh actions.  We aren't talking about that one time when we might have judged someone's outfit harshly or arrived 20 minutes late for lunch with a friend.  We are talking about heavy duty sinning.  We all have 'em.  And now it's time to come clean, first with ourself and then with the one we harmed.  We need to name, regret, acknowledge the damage and resolve never to repeat the sin in the future.  This takes guts and this takes time.  I believe that seeing ourselves as beloved (to ourselves and to others) enables us to take on this challenge.  

Rosh Hashanah will come whether we choose to move through the month of Elul with intentionality or not.  The High Holy Days are coming regardless of our practice of reflection and refreshment.  But, imagine how much more meaningful and how much richer our journey will be if it begins now.

Mekor Ha'Chayiim, Source of Strength, as we enter the month of Elul and move through Shabbat, may we see ourselves as beloved.  May we have the courage we need to begin our process of repentance with intentionality.  

Shabbat shalom u'mevorach.  Wishing everyone a peaceful and blessed Shabbat,
Laurie