Tuesday March 15 2011

9 Adar Bet 5771

Shalom Kol Tzedek Hevre (community),

 The days approaching Purim are among the most joyous of the year.  Even so, I cannot help but have a heavy heart given the realities of our world – especially those events that have occurred within this past week.

Many of us have been watching the footage regarding the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan with shock and horror.  Especially concerning is the crisis that has emerged as a result of meltdowns of nuclear reactors.  In a situation like this, we often feel so incredibly helpless.  While it is frustrating to say that the only thing we can do is to donate money, giving tzedakah (charity) is a concrete way we can help those on the ground who are aiding the survivors and continuing the search and rescue efforts.  The excellent website “Charity Navigator” has compiled a listing of best charities to help with relief efforts: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1221. Among those charities highlighted (and also recommended by the great organization American Jewish World Service) is the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a non-for-profit that works in more than 70 different countries to alleviate hardship and hunger and to assist those victims of natural disaster such as this.  Go to www.jdc.org to learn more and donate.

 In Israel and the West Bank, there has been news of another tragedy.  I was and remain horrified and saddened by the weekend’s news of a massacre of family members at Itamar, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.  I mourn for those slain: 10-year-old Yoav Fogel, Udi Fogel, 37, Ruth Fogel, 36, four-year-old Elad Fogel, and three-monthold Hadas Fogel.  While my shock and dismay at the murders is great, so is my pain and frustration regarding the way in which Prime Minister Netanyahu and other religious and political leaders are leveraging this incredible tragedy to further political aims, including further shutting down a potential for a peace process and promoting settlement expansion.  Whatever our political views regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—and there are many varied ones in Kol Tzedek—I pray we can acknowledge the pain and fear of this loss and also strengthen our resolve to work toward a brighter future for all people who live in the region. 

I want to offer a thoughtful essay by Rabbi Donniel Hartman of the Shalom Hartman Institute of Jerusalem, http://hartman.org.il/Opinion_C_View_Eng.asp?Article_Id=644 and also encourage you to utilize the Israeli newspaper Ha-Aretz as a news source. Ha-Aretz (www.haaretz.com) is a wonderful resource that reflects various viewpoints and perspectives within Israeli society. 

Toward the end of the Purim megillah (scroll, story), it says, “The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor” (Esther 8:16).  As it was for our ancestors, so may it be for us.  May the coming days and weeks bring us more joy, more light, and more hope.  May this Purim lift our spirits and help us to celebrate life, even in the midst of pain.

 L’Shalom,

Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann

We invite all individual members and supporters of the Kol Tzedek Community to sign the Jewish Community Pledge to Save Lives, organized by Keshet, a national organization working for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, trasngender Jews in Judaism.  Sign up at: www.jewishcommunitypledge.org.

This is the pledge:

As members of a tradition that sees each person as created in the divine image, we respond with anguish and outrage at the spate of suicides brought on by homophobic bullying and intolerance. We hereby commit to ending homophobic bullying or harassment of any kind in our synagogues, schools, organizations, and communities. As a signatory, I pledge to speak out when I witness anyone being demeaned for their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. I commit myself to do whatever I can to ensure that each and every person in my community is treated with dignity and respect.

Passover is often referred to as a "Night of Questions" because the greatest sign of our liberation is our ability to think, to struggle, and to question.  The Four Questions are actually mere examples of the kinds of questions we should be asking on Passover!  In fact, as one KT member pointed out to me yesterday, it used to be that if others at the seder asked questions, one was not even obligated to recited those specific four "Ma Nishta-nas".  Passover is a night for exploration, exploring the questions in our history and life  regardless of whether or not we find concrete answers.  

Here are some of the questions that Kol Tzedek members have been thinking about in preparation for Passover. In all the torah school classes and in our 20 week Judaism for Everyone class, Kol Tzedekers have been using their sechel (wisdom, mind), coming up with questions to foster interesting conversation as we prepare for and sit down for seder. A document of questions is attached for you to bring to your seder table if you choose!

Why do we have a cup for Elijah and a cup for Miriam on our seder table?

Do people have free choice? 

What kind of choice and responsibility do we have to take ourselves out of a bad situation?

How do we keep conversation civil during a heavy theoretical and theological discussion?

During the story of the Exodus, we read that the Israelites wanted to leave

If you take God out of the story, how does it change?

What are the numerous ways the story can change if we ask “what if” questions?

What can you do at a seder where people have short attention spans?

How can we use Passover and the themes of slavery and freedom to relate to other groups of people?

How can a person celebrate Passover if he/she is not free? 

Why do we sing in Hebrew?

Why do we have a seder on Passover?

Why do we wash our hands with a bucket on Passover?

Why do we celebrate Passover?

Why do we ask the 4 questions?

Why do we call them the 4 questions, if there is only one?

Do you have to say the 4 questions?

Why is it always the youngest person who asks the questions?

 Why was Pharaoh so mean?

Why are there no more Pharaohs?

Why was God so harsh?

Why were people more spiritual then?

Why don’t we believe in God the same way now?

Why do we keep all the traditions?

Why do we tell stories on holidays?