Simchat Torah, Shmimchat Torah

We do not have services at the temple on Simchat Torah. We do not have services at the temple for Shemini Atzeret even though they traditionally include Yizkor. We do not have services for the first day of Sukkot. I would be more accurate to say that we didn't this year (or last). Sure, we'll have a special service on Friday night to celebrate the essence of Simchat Torah - we finish Deuteronomy and start right in to Genesis. We'll present consecration certificates to our newest religious school students. We'll march around with the Torah and dance to the rhythms of our Shabbat Hallelu band. It will be great. But, technically, Simchat Torah is tonight and tomorrow day. On one hand, our offices are closed in observance of the holiday but on the other, we have a board meeting tonight. On one hand, we celebrate the cycle of Torah reading, on the other, we don't do it on the "right" day.

Why all the ambivalence? Good question.

At a Reform temple like ours, we try to balance tradition with contemporary pragmatism. As a rabbi, I try to balance my personal beliefs and practices with the culture of the congregation. I firmly believe that this is not my temple; it's your temple. Sure, my voice carries weight and you look to me for guidance and leadership. I believe that Simchat Torah is tonight. I believe it's important to celebrate Simchat Torah. I also believe we should try to avoid hypocrisy or ambiguous standards. I also believe that we should not tilt at ritual windmills. We tend to have scant participation in weekday festival observances. We get more involvement and better quality engagement with the rituals when we do them at a time that draws people in. It doesn't seem right to cancel a board meeting because of the importance of the festival's date when we don't also hold service for the same reason? That seems like the decisions of pure convenience that are usually the target of stereotypical critiques of Reform So we're left with this quandry: simchat torah, shmimchat torah. Does it really matter when we observe it? And if we don't have services, should we still "observe" the holiday in other typical ways - i.e. closing the building and cancelling meetings?

I know what I'll do for myself. I'll find a place to go to services tonight. That's easy because it's my personal practice. But what about the community? How do we shape a practice for the community that hews to the traditions of Judaism, responds to the realities of today, and doesn't sell either one short?

scripted

I had on my desk a stack of certificates to sign for presentation at an upcoming ceremony. I do this almost every week - bar mitzvah certificates mostly, but also an occasional Certficate of Appreciation, Eagle Scout Certificate or some such thing. Come to think of it, I sign my name a lot considering the letters and thank you notes my office generates weekly. With about three certificates left to sign, I noticed that I always wrote "Rabbi" in print but signed my name in script.

As a child I had very good penship. And I began to think of Mrs. Polio, my first grade teacher, and her penmanship lessons. I actually don't remember the lessons so much as I remember the tests. After spending a more intensive few weeks on penmanship, she gave us a test that, she said, would be sent out for evaluation and grading. We would be evaluated both individually and as a class. Gold seal was the highest honor followed by gold star then darker colored stars with red star indicated the worst. I shuddered to think of who could possibly get such a red star. Who, after all, couldn't write the letters neatly enough to warrant some measure of gold?

I decided that I would do the last three certificates with my full signature in proper script - title and all. Mrs. Polio - not to mention my first grade self - would have been mortified to see that I could did not write "Rabbi" in gold seal script. I had grown so accustomed to making the "R" in print that I began with a print "R." The worst problem, however, turned out the be the lower case b's. Halfway through the first one, I realized I could not finish the letter without thinking about it. The pause produced a jarring dent in the letter and the following attempt to compensate completely butchered it. Not only had a failed a first grade level task, but I had ruined the certificate. How do I explain to our staff that I needed a new certificate because I could not remember how to sign my name on the first one?

(This is a work in progress.... Have you ever experienced this kind of memory lapse? Something so basic but, it turns out, more complicated than "riding a bike?").

Avodah Yom Kippur - Working towards Synaplex?

We had a very interesting and (by most accounts I've heard so far) successful Yom Kippur afternoon program. We did not hold the service that we had run in previous years at temple. Instead, we offered four simultaneous programs: a healing service with Cantor Clissold, a text study and discussion of the Book of Jonah with me, a screening of the short film, Pigeon, with discussion led by Lisa Calderwood and Jay Wiesenfeld, and seminar-style talk with NJ Superior Court Judge Bette Uhrmacher on the image of God as Judge.

One of my teachers, Rabbi Herring (executive director of STAR) likes to remind us not to worry about the numbers of attendees at a program but about the quality and depth of their experience in it. I think we succeeded by both measures. The number of people in attendance equaled or exceeded our usual afternoon Yom Kippur turnout (and we didn't need to lure anyone into coming by giving them special parts). More importantly, so many of the attendees reported outstanding experiences in their sessions. Most complained that they could not decide which option to choose because all looked so good.

This program was a small taste of the model used by STAR's Synaplex initiative. What's Synaplex? STAR's website describes it like this: "While most Jews think of a synagogue as Beit Tefilah (a house of prayer), a synagogue is also Beit Midrash (a house of learning) and Beit Knesset (a house of gathering). It is these three classical functions of the synagogue that inspire Synaplex. Through innovative and concurrent programming that include Beit Midrash and Beit Knesset, in addition to Beit Tefilah, Synaplex synagogues strive to offer programming that is relevant, inspirational and significant so that more people will want to come to synagogue on Shabbat. The underlying goal is to strengthen Jewish Identity and build community." Maybe it's time to try this model on Shabbat - or on a few Shabbatot. Maybe we could actually bring together more of our community and make it more meaningful for them.

Sure, synagogues have been trying to do exactly that through gimmicks and "new" ideas throughout history. There's nothing new under the sun? If Yom Kippur was any kind of test case, I think we can use Synaplex to make our congregation an even stronger Jewish communal center for its members. Let's check it out.

"This is the fast..."

Yom Kippur starts tomorrow night and, if you are anything like me, you are weaning yourself off the caffeine and avoiding salty foods (too much salt before fasting makes it more difficult). You also probably have a list: dozens of bagels to pick up in one place, juice and milk in another, babka in a third.

These tasks have become common pre-Yom Kippur rituals and I wish you Godspeed in getting them all done. But don't lose sight of the essential meaning of the holy day. Regarding the fast and all the traditional rituals of the day, our prophetic teacher exhorts us: don't do the rituals without making the world a better place. Specifically, don't starve yourself without feeding those who go hungry everyday. Don't recite the prayers for this to be a good year without reaching out to those whose situation is worse than you'll ever know. Isaiah: "Is this the fast that I desire? For you to starve your bodies? NO! This is the fast that I desire... To share your bread with the hungry,and to take the poor and desperate into your home; When you see the naked, to clothe him,and not to ignore his suffering…"

You can be part of this effort by helping me with CROP Walk. CROP Hunger Walks help children and families worldwide - and right here in the U.S. - to have food for today, while building for a better tomorrow. Each year some two million CROP Walkers, volunteers, and sponsors put their hearts and soles in motion, raising over $16 million per year to help end hunger and poverty around the world - and in their own communities. And you can be part of it!

Click here to go to my CROP Walk page and JOIN THE TEAM or donate by credit card.

Have an easy fast, an easy pre-fast errand run, and may you be inscribed for a good year!