In the early 20th century, Reform congregations in America were toying with the idea of moving the main weekly service from Friday or Saturday to Sunday. For the few congregations who followed through with the idea these Sunday services did not replace Shabbat. Instead, the prayers typically recited on Shabbat were switched for the weekday language. The reason some synagogues did this was to be like the churches down the street. This way, Jews and Gentiles would pray at the same time, on the same day, and afterwards they could all go out and enjoy bagels and lox together in their Sunday best. The idea caught on in a couple of congregations around the country; eventually, however, Sunday services died out. Still, synagogue education takes place on Sunday for a similar reason-so Jews and their Christian neighbors could spend Sunday afternoon together. As Jews in America, we are used to bending our customs and traditions to live fully as Americans and as Jews. Sometimes, however, the … [Read more...]
Israeli Political Advocacy
We are a Reform Zionist congregation. The Peoplehood of Israel and Zionism are pillars of what we do here at Temple Emanu-El. We whole-heartedly support the safety and security of the State of Israel, and the right of the Jewish people to have self-determination in our historic homeland. That is why your rabbis engage in Israel advocacy work with AIPAC. Just last month we watched our bi-partisan efforts play out in Israel's favor when the U.S. House of Representatives voted 420-9 to replenish funding for Iron Dome (HR 5323). The big push to contact elected officials in the lead up to the vote on HR 5323 encouraged Rabbi Max to reach out to our local AIPAC office. Further talks inspired the idea to bring together younger/associate/assistant rabbis in the area for a workshop to strengthen our political and advocacy training. Through this training, the younger/newer cohort of Atlanta rabbis will learn about the powerful role clergy can play and how to best cultivate and strengthen … [Read more...]
We Are The Torch
In Torah we Jews are called, Or LaGoyim, A Light unto the Nations. It is both God's description of who we Jews are at our very core, and an aspirational challenge from God of what we might yet become. But it doesn't just happen. We have to do the work to make it so. In my mind, Or LaGoyim, A Light unto the Nations, evokes the visual imagery of a spotlight cutting through the dark night, its peak melding into the heavens, its source right here on the ground. We at Temple Emanu-El are part of that source. Or, perhaps, the imagery for Or LaGoyim is a lighthouse, meant to guide against the winds of storm and rocky shores. We can be that light. However, I most like the light imagery for Or LaGoyim of the Havdallah candle, which is really several candles intertwined so that when lit, the wicks combine to become a torch. Burning bright. All of us together. A sense of purpose. Connecting us to our family, our people, our history, our destiny, and to Our Source. Here at Emanu-El, those wicks … [Read more...]
Relative Justice
The other morning, I was listening to National Public Radio, when I heard a story about Charles and Willa Bruce. The Bruce Family used to own a beachside resort in the town of Manhattan Beach, California that was a haven for black Californians who faced endless restrictions under the racist Jim Crow laws of the time. After enduring countless acts of terrorism and racism at the hands of the KKK, in 1924, the California state government exercised eminent domain over the property at the behest of the white neighbors, stripping the Bruce's of their land, their business, and their fortune-a grievous act of injustice. A week ago, nearly a century after the state took the property, the California state legislature issued an apology and returned the property to the descendants of Charles and Willa Bruce. Certainly, that was the right thing to do even though it took far too long. This story brought me to a topic of our Torah portion this week, Noach, that we often study. Noach is considered … [Read more...]
We Begin Again
Ecclesiastes (and Peter Seeger) are famous for reminding us that "to everything there is a season." Our sacred text continues…the Ecclesiastes one… A time for being born and a time for dying, A time for… planting and a time for uprooting the planted; slaying and a time for healing, tearing down and a time for building up weeping and a time for laughing wailing and a time for dancing throwing stones and a time for gathering stones, embracing and a time for shunning embraces; seeking and a time for losing, keeping and a time for discarding; ripping and a time for sewing, silence and a time for speaking; loving and a time for hating; war and a time for peace. We will move through these experiences as we begin again. We begin Torah again. As we rabbis like to say, "We re-read the Torah every year, and the text does not change, but we do." Life doesn't thrive only in the planting or the uprooting, the wailing or the dancing. Life is what we do in between all that brings … [Read more...]
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