Torah & Shabbat & Mitzvah & Fundraiser

7.28.16 A little break

A little Torah will return in September.

In the meantime, be kind, be patient and be present.

In blessing and friendship. Shabbat shalom,
Laurie

Written by my friend Jen Fecu on July 4, 2016.
Jen is a mom of two adult daughters, studying towards her Bachelor's degree. She is smart, beautiful, warm, thoughtful and curious. Jen is currently an inmate at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility serving "25 to Life".

"Positive"
How can I counter
the maladaptive culture
I am Immersed in
The very nature of the beast
That incarcerated me
Is to divide and conquer.
---------
Education
and sharing
and understanding
and using it wisely
to up-lift self and others is
the only weapon
we have to use
against the oppression.
----------
Education OPENS my eyes
to what is and why.
I can CREATE real growth.
Cultivated, it is developed from
within me. Immersed
IN a culture that IS violent,
HOW CAN IT NOT BE
Internalized.
----------
I brace myself
with Honesty and Integrity
to build myself up and
to lead by example, My Daughters.
---------
Can there be a greater
Purpose in this life than
to become a conscious
driving Force in the Fight
for equality amongst this human race.

7.15.16 BE KIND! The rest is commentary.

It seems we have reached a new understanding of normal. Terrorist attacks are happening daily and we only know about the ones that are carried out. There are may more attempts, I am sure.

We are saddened and shocked (but perhaps not as much as before) by the news of yet another terrorist attack in France. On July 14th, at least 84 people were killed and more than 100 injured when terrorists drove a motor vehicle into a crowd in Nice, France, that was celebrating Bastille Day.

We have a responsibility to speak out against this evil, and to stand against the hateful ideology that fuels it. As we move into Shabbat, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of France and all of those around the world who are victims of terror.

Let's start by being kind to one another and to the other. Let this not simply be thoughts in our minds or words we utter. Kindness is possible. We can all be kind - IF we choose. Let's choose to intentionally and actively show kindness throughout our day. Who knows what is possible?

Makor Ha'Chayiim, Source of Life, may we commit to action that helps ensure safety and dignity to everyone.

7.8.16 A little Israel

Hello from Israel. I hope everyone is well and able to enjoy a little R&R during these summer months.

I am writing from Israel where I am attending a 10 day study seminar at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Close to 200 rabbis from North America and Israel, are exploring the topic of Jewish identity. We are blessed to learn from a wide array of great scholars. I am looking forward to sharing my learning with all of you.

My first trip to Israel was with my family in 1978. I was ten years old. My father was a volunteer dentist on Kibbutz Nachshonim for two months. It was an incredible summer. Coming from life in suburbia, I tasted my first layer of independence. I was sleeping in the "10 yr old house", taking buses into the city of Petach Tikveh with my friends (and without any adults) and speaking Hebrew. It was heaven. I have returned over 25 times and am grateful for all of the incredible opportunities I have experienced.

I have often said that my soul was born in Israel and my body in America. I love America and I love living in New York (Go Harlem!). But, there is a part of me that feels I breathe more fully when I am here. How can it be that the place I love so deeply can also break my heart?

This past week I learned about the extensive work of "Leket Israel", Israel's largest food bank providing surplus food to hundreds of thousands of people and visited Palestinian villages in the southernmost West Bank, where most residents are poor, living in temporary structures and subsisting on farming and grazing of flocks.

To say Israel is a complex country is insufficient and simplistic. Israel experiences tremendous successes and challenges, overcomes many hardships and makes decisions that do not always demonstrate respect for all people. Successes include the invention of INTEL, Natafim - drip irrigation enabling millions to have food through developing a way to have agriculture in desert areas, and the PillCam (aka capsule endoscopy). The religious, economic and political challenges are vast and permeate all facets of society. There are many who wonder if they can ever be resolved.

My hope is that we will each find ways to be engaged and involved in Israel. My prayer is that Israel will be a place where equality and justice are available to everyone. Our commitment to be involved plays a critical role in bringing the prayer to fruition. I look forward to exploring possibilities together..

Shabbat Shalom,
Laurie

7.1.16 Perception and Perspective

Hello from Israel. This is the most complex and compelling place and for me, it is where I feel most alive and most present. I look forward to unpacking and experiencing all of the layers with all of you, back in NYC and hopefully one day in the land itself.

STEPHEN WISE FREE SYNAGOGUE - EMERGENCY FOOD PROGRAM is in need of volunteers this Saturday. Being a holiday weekend it is very difficult to find volunteers. It's early so you have the rest of the day to celebrate being an American and it's good for people of (almost) all ages. If you are available, please contact Scott directly and immediately at scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com.

This week's teaching is from my dear friend, Debbie Mukamal, Executive Director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center. Our tradition teaches "Tzaddik k'tamar yifrach," the righteous shall blossom like a date palm. Debbie has taught and inspired many, myself included, the importance of choosing our perception and perspective with care, respect and integrity for ourselves and the other. It is because of her and life's work, that I took on the mitzvah of visiting Jen in prison each month. We should not be defined by our worst action or moment. We should be seen as a whole, created in the image of the Divine.

May her words provide meaning and guidance.

Shabbat Shalom u'mevorach, may Shabbat be filled with fullness and blessing,
Laurie

D'var Torah presented by Debbie Mukamal
Congregation Beth Am, Palo Alto, CA

July 1, 2016

Shabbat Shalom. Thank you to Rabbi Marder for the opportunity to share some words this beautiful Kabbalat Shabbat.

My friend Willard grew up in Menlo Park. In true Silicon Valley fashion, entrepreneurship surrounded him from his youth. His dad owned the shoe shine business on the Stanford campus, and he has fond memories of selling hot dogs and ice cream on University Avenue, long before it was populated with start-ups. These days, Willard is the proud owner of Magic Hands, a thriving eco-friendly mobile auto detailing business. He’ll come to your home or your office and detail your car with one bucket of water, rather than the 40 gallons a traditional car wash uses. A brilliant idea that he conceived of and cultivated in a Stanford program. His only daughter, Angela, recently graduated with a doctorate in Education and works to promote diversity in educational environments. Willard takes great pride in helping his community; each Christmas he participates in a bike giveaway for kids in East Palo Alto. He is also a man of deep faith in Islam, praying five times a day. Mostly a quiet, soft-spoken man, he enjoys a good barbeque with loved ones. He suffers from bipolar disorder, which he controls with counseling and medication, like so many others.

Three years ago, Willard was sitting in a prison cell having already served 18 years of a 25 years to life sentence. Because it was his third offense, under California sentencing laws at the time, he was automatically sentenced to serve 25 years to life, despite the nature of his crime being non-violent. When he went to prison his daughter was 9 years old. They shared letters and photos on a regular basis but he didn’t see her until she was enrolled at the Stanford Graduate School of Education for a Master’s degree, and someone volunteered to drive her to the prison and visit her dad for the first time. Willard still has the box full of letters and postcards he received, as they became his lifeline to the outside and his only way to share in his daughter’s childhood.

Proposition 36 was passed in 2014, making those serving a non-violent third strike offense eligible to have their sentences recalculated. Willard faced the prison doors being open, but his future felt uncertain. He hadn’t prepared for release, and his years spent in prison didn’t give him the employment training or education he needed to succeed on the outside. He was fortunate enough to land himself in transitional housing, a home for recovering addicts, where he lived for 9 months. He didn’t receive mental health treatment for his bi-polar disorder. Having earned wages of $.09 an hour for the work he did inside, his sense of self-value had plummeted.

Willard is not alone. Tonight, more than 2 million people are incarcerated in prisons and jails in the United States, almost half of whom committed non-violent offenses. While we house 5% of the world’s population, we incarcerate 25% of the world’s prisoners. Some 12 million alone will cycle in and out of local jail this year, and only two-thirds of them will be there as punishment for crimes committed. Most will be there awaiting trial or because they are too poor to post bail. In the last 50 years, we have seen a four-fold increase in the number of people we incarcerate. Mass incarceration doesn’t affect our communities evenly. Communities of color and poor neighborhoods are most devastated; blacks are incarcerated in state prison at a rate that is 5.1 times that of whites. Put another way, while they comprise 5.7% of the state population, Blacks make up nearly 30% of the state prison population. Willard’s daughter is not alone: some 2.7 million children have a parent behind bars.

In this week’s Torah portion, Shelach (Numbers 13:1-15:41), G-d instructs Moses to send scouts into the Land of Canaan. Moses sends 12 men - one from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. After 40 days, the men return loaded with grapes, pomegranates and figs. The men report that the land “flows with milk and honey.” But they also share their concerns that the land is full of strong, formidable people, including giants. “There we saw the nefilim, the giants, descendants of the fallen ones. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” After hearing this dire assessment, the Israelites panic, crying to Moses and Aaron that they wish they had died in the land of Egypt or in the desert, rather than have to face the challenges ahead in Canaan.

Only two of the scouts – Caleb and Joshua – are optimistic about their abilities, and beseech their brethren to trust in G-d to bring them safely and successfully into Canaan. But the people refuse to listen. Understandably, G-d is disappointed in the majority’s despair, “How long will this people provoke me? How long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have performed among them?” Ultimately Moses convinces G-d to have pity on the people, which he does, but as punishment, the 10 scouts and their progeny cannot enter Canaan; instead they must wander in the desert for 40 years. Only Caleb’s and Joshua’s descendants get to enter the Promised Land.

The rabbis suggest that this week’s parsha teaches us about the importance of self-esteem, of maintaining faith in times of adversity, and of believing in ourselves, the strength of our community, and our capabilities in the wake of the unknown. Perhaps Caleb and Joshua feel empowered because they knew they had the support and strength of their community waiting for them. Had the scouts returned and believed they could and would survive, rather than falling victim to their fears, they would have been granted access to the Promised Land.

I believe that how we perceive or approach a challenge can influence whether and how we overcome it. If we channel feelings of strength and optimism, even in the wake of something unknown and difficult, we often can move through a difficult experience knowing that we’ve done something similarly challenging before, and our community is supporting us.

Like the scouts heading from the desert into the unknown and fear-inducing Land of Canaan, formerly incarcerated individuals like Willard need faith and courage, in spite of tremendous odds against them. Of the more than 600,000 people who will leave federal or state prison this year, more than two-thirds will return to prison within three years. The likelihood of their succeeding is slim. They face many barriers, including challenges in finding employment, safe and affordable housing, and effective substance abuse and mental health treatment. They also face the uncertainty of how their loved ones, their neighbors, their fellow congregants will – or won’t - accept them. And being stripped of all decision-making during their confinement can make simple acts like choosing cereal at the supermarket or selecting an entrée from a menu very overwhelming. For those like Willard, who have been incarcerated for a long time, the reliance on technology in our everyday lives is nothing short of overwhelming. They remember using rotary phones, not iWatches.

Like the spies heading into the Land of Canaan, formerly incarcerated people need opportunities to feel empowered and to feel the strength of their community waiting for them. They need opportunities to restore the dignity lost during their confinement. They need opportunities to find a job that pays a living wage so they can be self-sufficient. They need healing opportunities to reunify with their family members and to mourn those who have passed while they were away. They need restorative justice opportunities that allow them to take responsibility – not just punishment – for the crimes they have committed. In short, they need opportunities to become whole again.

As Executive Director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center at Stanford Law School, I oversee two initiatives, one very local and one statewide, whose missions are to provide critical self esteem and dignity to those returning home from prison and jail. Project ReMADE is a 4-month entrepreneurship program that teaches 50 hours of business planning classes to budding entrepreneurs. Born on the premise that individuals who have been to prison or jail are the same as those who have not: they are dreamers, they have goals and aspirations, they are capable of achieving those goals and they deserve the dignity of earning a living wage and having a real opportunity of becoming a productive member of society. It also recognizes that the path to traditional employment is often blocked to people with criminal records and self-employment – for some - might be more viable. Each Project ReMADE entrepreneur is paired with a Stanford Law School student, a Stanford Graduate School of Business student, and a Silicon Valley business executive who work with him or her to develop out a business plan. Those relationships propel the entrepreneur’s business, but also help re-build his or her self-esteem and expand his or her social capital. Coming to the Stanford campus each week helps our entrepreneurs begin the process of shedding their identities of “felon” and “ex-con” and assuming more positive labels like “business owner” and “graduate.” By graduation – which gives each entrepreneur the chance to pitch his or her business to microenterprise development organizations, most of our entrepreneurs are donning Stanford garb, and have formed relationships with their mentors and teachers of Project ReMADE that will survive beyond the duration of the program. Our graduates share that the knowledge, networking, and confidence they acquire is invaluable. As one said, “When I began thinking of my business plan, I was locked down in administrative segregation. Project ReMADE helped me bring that idea from the back of a San Quentin prison cell to the classrooms of Stanford University, and eventually on paper, as a formal business.” It is through Project ReMADE that I met Willard, and many other deserving people.

Similarly, though a collaborative initiative with colleagues at The Opportunity Institute and with the support of several foundations, we are working to increase access to college opportunities for currently and formerly incarcerated Californians. I don’t know about you, but college was the time in my life when my mind was blown open with new ideas and perspective and when I gained the tools to think more critically. Prisoners and formerly incarcerated people are no different. A college education can open up new and better employment opportunities, it can provide the tools to be a community leader and role model, and it it can neutralize the stigma of a criminal record. Having a college education also significantly lowers the likelihood of someone recidivating and returning to prison. But up until a year or two ago, California only had one in-person college program across all 35 of our state prisons. That is finally changing. We are piloting programs throughout the state, aimed at creating and strengthening partnerships between our 113 community colleges and 33 public four-year colleges and universities and our jails, prisons, and probation and parole departments. Our goal is that any prisoner who has earned a GED or high school diploma who wants to enroll in college should be able to do so, and that formerly incarcerated people can find support on college campuses if they seek to become students [Consider adding direct quote from student about power of education here].

What can our community do to help prisoners returning home? In their process of reclaiming their dignity? Of becoming whole again? How can we make sure prisoners know they have a community waiting to embrace them, believing in their capacity to change and be so much more than the worst mistake they have ever made?

What if we sent our gently used books to prison libraries or brought our no-longer needed business clothes to the Santa Clara Reentry Resource Center in San Jose? And what if we volunteered as a mentor or tutor in an education program at San Quentin prison or the San Mateo jail or at a community-based organization like Rubicon and Goodwill working to teach formerly incarcerated people how to use Microsoft Word or apply for a job online? How about supporting a piece of state legislation that increases funding for community resources to help formerly incarcerated people access substance abuse and mental health treatment? What if we helped children like Willard’s daughter be able to visit their parents in prison or jail by helping them get to the corners of the state where those prisons are located? Or asking your pro bono legal department to take on the cases of applicants who have been denied occupational solely because of decades old convictions? And think about what it would mean if our help was more spiritual: we could bench gomeil, just as we do for those who have survived other catastrophic events, for those who have returned from captivity so they know they are being welcomed home in the embrace of their community. The opportunities are vast.

Each of us has the power to decide how we are going to perceive the other, how we’re going to address the unknown. We can do it from a place of hope and optimism, as Caleb and Joshua did. Or we can be paralyzed by fear, as the other 10 scouts did. But where does that leave us? Let us as a community consider ways we can help those returning home from incarceration embrace their freedom with faith, humanity and dignity, and let us see how the Promised Land can lead us to greater possibility, greater justice, greater good.

Shabbat Shalom.

6.24.16 A little Reminder - A little Check-in

Let's begin with a portion of last week's "Little Torah":
["...We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger
We rise and fall and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love lasts long
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love
Cannot be killed or swept aside,
I sing Vanessa’s symphony, Eliza tells her storyNow fill the world with music love and pride"(excerpt from Lin-Manuel Miranda's acceptance speech at the Tony Awards)

We cannot remain heartbroken because then we will be paralyzed and that would not be helpful to anyone. We must soften our heartbreak by choosing to love the other. We can choose to respond to this hatred and to this violence with love, love for every one. That is all that matters.

Mekor Ha'Chayiim, Source of Life, Source of Breath, as we enter into Shabbat we are more aware of the fact that we are blessed to have breath. We are more aware of our gratitude to be in life. Let us use this awareness to strengthen our commitment to choose to love every one. Let us see the presence of something holy in the face of every other. Let us leave judgement aside. Let us lead with love.]

This week is time for a little check-in. How did we do? Did we lead with love? Did we put judgment aside? For one week? For even one day? Or did we just return to life/business as usual? It's hard to change. It sometimes feels impossible to do things differently than we have done for so many year, perhaps even for our entire lives. But this is what we are asked to do in the face of tragedy.

On June 12, 2016, 49 innocent people were murdered. We felt sadness, rage, shock and a ton of other emotions. These are all natural responses to such a horrific tragedy. But, what actions did we take this past week? Did we lead with love? Did we leave judgement aside?

In the very first story in Bible, we learn that the distinction between the creation of humanity and everything else is that human being was created in the image of God with Godlike abilities. Human being was given free will. This gift, this privilege, this responsibility is ours forever. It is our call to action. It is the symbol for all of our power. Every breath is an opportunity for us to activate this power. What will our intention be? This is something each of us chooses.

Mekor Ha'Chayiim, Source of Life, Source of Breath, as we enter into Shabbat, let us continue to honor the memory of the 49 innocent souls who were murdered. Let us choose to engage our free will with intentionality towards leading with love and leaving judgement aside.

Shabbat shalom u'mevorach,

Laurie

6.17.16 And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love

"...We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger
We rise and fall and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love lasts long
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love
Cannot be killed or swept aside,
I sing Vanessa’s symphony, Eliza tells her storyNow fill the world with music love and pride"(excerpt from Lin-Manuel Miranda's acceptance speech at the Tony Awards)

The tragedy that happened in Orlando shook us and left us heartbroken. Normally, I speak only for myself, but in this case, I feel confident that thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of people are feeling the same way.

It feels so strange, because I (naively and foolishly) thought that "this issue" was in the past. We had moved on from hating gay people, at least in our country. We had entered a new era of truly accepting people for who they are and not judging them because they are different. The tragic murder of 49 innocent human beings proved to me how wrong I was.

My heart is broken and I have been catapulted into a truth that I do not want to accept, and yet I must. There is hatred. There is deep hatred. Bothers and sisters are not safe. What does it take to bring the world to a time when EVERY ONE lives with dignity and safety, care and respect? What has to happen in order for hatred and violence to become part of history and remain there? What can we do? What must we do to honor the memory of the 49 innocent human beings who were murdered?

On Rosh Hashanah, nearly 10 months ago, I prayed the words of Rabbi Akiva; "Rabbi Akiva said; love your other the way you (should) love yourself. That's all that matters." This became my teaching, my prayer for this entire year. It has never felt more important than it does now.

May the memory of those who were murdered be a reminder that as long as we have breath, as long as we have life, we can choose love. We will choose love.

"...And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love..."

Shabbat shalom u'mevorach,

Laurie

May their memory be forever a blessing through the lives we live.

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old

Amanda Alvear, 25 years old

Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old

Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old

Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old

Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old

Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old

Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old

Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old

Cory James Connell, 21 years old

Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old

Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old

Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old

Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old

Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old

Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old

Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old

Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old

Frank Hernandez, 27 years old

Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old

Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old

Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old

Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old

Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old

Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old

Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old

Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old

Kimberly Morris, 37 years old

Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old

Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old

Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old

Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old

Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old

Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old

Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old

Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old

Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old

Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old

Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old

Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old

Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old

Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old

Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old

Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old

Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old

Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old

Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old