Rich's Kids!

We were worried. MRT's master of the shofar, Rich Sachs, was out of town for Rosh Hashanah and most of the days afterward. Rich and his wife, Sheila, are proud new grandparents (Mazel Tov!) and had gone to be with their family. So, yes, we worried that our shofar blowing on Rosh Hashanah would not meet the usually high levels we get when Rich coaches the shofar squad. But that wasn't our biggest concern. RoosBlog followers were surely more focused on Rich's absence from the 2nd Annual Shofar Blowing Competition at Red Bank's Beth Shalom Congregation. Rich had represented us well and took top honors at last year's meet. Who could fill such shoes this year?

Like Vader showing how the student has become the master, Zak Desaro and Evan Leifman dominated the competition this year. The ten-year old veterans of the MRT youth shofar corps have attracted the attention of tekiah connoisseurs since they first appeared on the scene just over a year ago. Desaro took top honors for the much-coveted prize of blowing the longest tekiah gedolah. He also won for original melody by blowing "Taps" on the shofar. The ever-creative Leifman blew the theme song to "Jeopardy!"

While Sachs lamented his own absence from the field this year, he expressed "great pride" that "his boys" are following in his footsteps. Well played men, well played.

See coverage and photos from the competition here on RedBankGreen.

Not to be sidelined by any circumstances, Sachs appeared on the historic bimah of Boston's Temple Israel as baal tekiah on Rosh Hashanah. Our sources at the Jewish Advocate report that trade talks are now swirling in the Boston area congregations. Sachs has ignored the chatter and gives no indication he plans to take his shofar on the road.

Sermon posted: What We Build

Rosh Hashanah Morning Sermon available here:

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or get it here (will take you to an external website called podbean).

L'shanah Tovah!

Happy and Healthy New Year!

Talking this year about the altars Abraham builds, culminating with the one he builds on Mt. Moriah. Learned this approach from Rabbi David Gedzelman during a STAR PEER retreat a few years ago when he taught us regarding Lech Lecha. The message: it is time to return to the idealism of your youth and be the person you once-upon-a-time believed you would become. There. Now you don't have to come to services tomorrow, except you'd miss the prayers and shofar and Torah reading. Okay, you should still come.

Happy New Year. See you in shul.

Say Shalom to My Little Friend

Tony Montana eat your heart out. You better bring your tickets and be extra careful this Rosh Hashanah, your rabbi may be packing more than a shofar under that tallis...

See this video from the New York Post (thanks to Steve Goldsmith and my father for tipping me off about this story) or this one from WCBS-TV.

and this article.

The story, by the way, has produced some great puns: "Go ahead, make my high holy day," and the title, "Say Shalom..." (from WCBS NY). Got a good one? Add through the comments here.

L'shanah Tovah!!

Lost Luggage

While researching a teshuvah on organ donation (believe it or not a former student emailed me seeking "Reform halakhic" guidance), I learned that personal safety is like lost luggage in certain situations. In a Responsa from 1997, Rabbi Saul Israeli (z"l) wrote:

The Torah imposes a duty to do whatever is necessary to save a person who is in
danger. The safety of such a person is considered in the same category as "lost
property:" if you encounter someone who is in danger, it is as if you have found
something that he has lost. Halacha imposes on the finder the duty to restore
lost property to its owner: "You are to restore it to him" (Deut. 22:2). This is
extended by the Talmud to include someone who is in danger, where "you are to
return his body [i.e. its safety] to him." (Sanhedrin 73a, and Rashi there).

It reminded me of the signs I just saw in the airport on a recent trip: "Please Be Careful, Bags Look Alike." Most of us are extra careful when grabbing our luggage. We check the tags and even tie unique ribbons on them for easy identification. Nobody wants to lose their luggage. Why aren't we that careful with our bodies and those of other people?