blog of The City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in New York City

"..identity is the major issue...for children of interfaith marriages".

2011-11-07T18:15:00.001-05:00

"...being happy is the only worthwhile pursuit": A Paean to Ecclesiastes

2011-11-06T08:06:00.001-05:00

Ten years ago I learnt the book of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet) by heart in honor of the holiday of Sukkot, when it is traditionally read. It is a marvellously anomalous book in the annals of Biblical literature, full of heretical sentiments, which despite being hidden by a later and more conventionally pious redactor mischievously shine through.

Ecclesiastes doubts that the destination of human spirit is heaven, or that there is any celestial justice; we are but dust and to dust we will return. He urges us to pray seldom, since God has little need for our prayers. Because life is so fleeting, he suggests that being happy is the only worthwhile pursuit. Indeed words to live by!

A Paean to Ecclesiastes

One day greets another in a burst of song

But at night, at night there is only anguish

The sun whirls round and round

Fruitlessly pursuing

A tarnished bride

Shedding sparks as she flees

I gather these poor orphans into my bosom,

O these tears of loneliness,

I sing when the day comes

But at night there is only anguish

יוֹם לְיוֹם אַבִּיעַ זֶמֶר: מֵאֵת צֶמַח לַפּידוֹת לְבֵית יוֹרֶה

יוֹם לְיוֹם יַבִּיעַ זֶמֶר

וְלַיְלָה לְלַיְלָה שֶׁבֶר

סוֹבֵב סוֹבֵב רוֹדֵף הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ

אַחֲרֵי לִבְנָתוֹ הַמְחֻלֶּלֶת

יְלָדֶיהָ רְסִיסֵיהָ

הִיא מַפֶּלֶת

אֶת יְתַוֹמָיו מְאַסֵּף אֲנִי לְתוֹךְ חֵיקִי

אֲהָהּ דְּמָעוֹת הַיְחִידִי

יוֹם לְיוֹם אַבִּיעַ זֶמֶר

וּבַלַּיְלָה שֶׁבֶר

Tzemah Yoreh, PhD

IISHJ Rabbinical Candidate

"...the reading of biblical chapters in synagogue serves an important pedagogical function..."

2011-11-04T20:53:00.000-04:00

In my liturgical compositions I like to follow the structure of the traditional prayer book, though I go my own way when it comes to content. One of the most problematic sections for me in the siddur is quite understandably, the section dedicated to God’s praises - pesukei dezimra (literally song verses).

The way I dealt with this was by adding snippets of my own verse between the chapters taken from the book of Psalms, which serve as guides on how a humanist Jew may read these Biblical compositions. Now one may legitimately ask why I would like to preserve these psalms, which are odes to God’s power and glory, and as such are not pertinent to the humanist experience. As someone committed to educating people about the Bible, however, I think that the reading of biblical chapters in synagogue serves an important pedagogical function, since the synagogue is where most Jews come to learn about their cultural heritage, which includes the Bible.

We may not want to read the same chapters each time, but it is important that Biblical compositions are featured in synagogue ritual. I include my introduction to pesukei dezimra (the songs of praise), where I grapple with the content of these songs, first in English translation then in Hebrew.

I pour my heart out,

Into a broken vessel,

The God of my youth has abandoned me,

Where art thou my lover,

Where art thou my soul, the wind in my sails?

Were you but a dream?

My viscera roil

My liver leaks unto the ground

My heart is broken,

O God, why don’t you exist for me?

I looked, but there was no helper;

I gazed bewilderedly, but there was no one to sustain me;

Can my own arm bring me victory?

Can my wrath sustain me?

But I am not alone, I can depend upon my community,

Upon my friends

They are the rock that preserves me.

אשפך לבי

אך למי?

עזבני אל/תי בן/ת בריתי

איך רעיתי איכה דודי

איך נשמתי איכה רוחי

היית או האם היה זה רק חלומי?

חמוץ מעי

נהפך כבדי

שבור לבי

מדוע – ויי לי - מדוע אינך קים לי?

וארא כי אין עמדי

ואשתומם כי נשארתי לבדי

מה תושע לי זרועי

ואיה תמיכת אמתי

ואתפללה אל א-נשי שלומי

כי רק הם סלעי ומבטחי

Tzemah Yoreh

IISHJ Rabbinical Student

Northeastern Humanistic Jews get together Saturday-Nine Congregations participating.

2011-11-02T19:07:00.000-04:00

Ice Breakers, Music, Workshops, Lunch, Havdalah, Camaraderie !

Cost: $10 which includes lunch.

Locale: Community Unitarian Church of White Plains; 468 Rosedale Avenue; White Plains, NY 10605. (A few blocks off theHutchinson River Parkway, Exit 25)

Housing Coordinator for out-of-towners wishing over-nights:

Michael Witkin, 917-951-6554 michael.witkin@gmail.com

Program Coordinator: Cary Shaw, 203-849-8978, caryshaw@optonline.net

Open to all members of the Society for Humanistic Judaism and its congregations.

PROGRAM

Intro

Assemble. Coffee/tea

Music for and with everyone - Ruth Levy-Schudroff, music leader at Westchester CHJ

Ice Breakers – Gladys Maged, Board Member of Boston’s Kahal B’raira

Lunch

Workshops – Cycle 1

Programming – Lucy Katz, Program Co-Chair, and Ritual Chair of CHJ-CT.

Developing programs to suit the diverse interests within a congregation

Finance – Devera Witkin with Michael Witkin, Treasurer of The City Congregation

Financing the Congregation’s activities, how obtained, how allocated.

Extending Teen Involvement -- Barry Dancis

Do Class B'nai Mitzvahs Cause Premature Evacuation at Our Schools?

What works best?

Social Break

Workshops – Cycle 2

Leadership – Jon Levine, Co-Chair of SHJ’s Leadership Committee,

and Dana Preis, President of CHJ-Connecticut

What’s the pathway for leadership in congregations?

How do members become leaders?

Based on survey results, what is the demand for rabbinic leadership?

Integrating Interfaith Families – Rabbi Frank Tamburello, Westchester CHJ

Bringing people together. How do diverse families and individuals experience

connection with Judaism and humanism?

Coming Together

Workshop summaries

Day’s overall wrap-up

Havdalah - Rabbi Frank Tamburello, Westchester CHJ

& the Committee of the Whole

Optional dinner out with group afterwards. Please indicate level of potential interest to Rhoda Kleiman(irkleiman@verizon.net).

And here’s detail on some of the sessions:

PROGRAMMING facilitated by Lucy Katz.

Lucy Katz is Program Co-Chair, and Ritual Chair of CHJ-CT.

What programs bring your community together? How does your programming meet the needs of different groups, for example young parents, singles and elders? How do you balance Jewish content with content of general interest? What are your most successful programs? Least successful? Where do you get speakers? Extra funding if needed? Do you collaborate with other organizations on programs? What programming problems has your congregation met and how were they resolved? What help would you like from SHJ for your programming? How do you publicize programs?

LEADERSHIP facilitated by Jon Levine and Dana Preis.

Jon Levine is the head of SHJ’s Leadership Committee, and the SHJ Rep for Boston’s Kahal Braira. Dana Preis is President of CHJ-Connecticut.

Who are the leaders in your congregation? How do members become leaders? Who chooses them? Who trains them? What happens when they burn out? Is rabbinic leadership the congressional promised land? Is it a way station(s) on the road to congregational identity?

How much does it cost to have a madrikh write and lead a service? What are the issues when a member of the congregation moves into a Madrikh position? Based on survey results, what is the demand for rabbinic leadership within the society?

EXTENDING TEEN INVOLVEMENT facilitated by Barry Martin Dancis

This workshop will look at ways to keep teens actively involved in Sunday school programs until they graduate from High School as well as look at activities such as Class B’nai Mitzvahs that signal teens that their schooling is over. Keeping teens longer is likely to impact school curricula and suggestions for addressing the impact will be discussed. There also will be time at the end to share what works and does not work at your own institutions.

"One of the more prominent features of Jewish law is its dichotomies...you’re either a Jew or a Goy, you are either a believer or a heretic".

2011-10-28T11:36:00.001-04:00

One of the more prominent features of Jewish law is its dichotomies. You are either pure or impure, your food is either kosher or non-kosher, any action of yours is either permissible or forbidden, you’re either a Jew or a Goy, you are either a believer or a heretic. This is most apparent in the traditional havdalah (end of sabbath) ceremony, which ends by blessing “He who distinguishes between holy and unholy, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between the six days of the week and the Sabbath…”

As many thinking people, I am disturbed by black and white dichotomies. As comforting as it is to know where one stands in any particular instance, most situations fall under the Rabbinic legal category of ספק (uncertainty). What should one do when one encounters a situation in which the law code we choose to follow is unclear or deficient? A famous rabbinic maxim, which has sadly fallen into disuse in Israel’s polarized society, is דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה – “Moral conduct supersedes Torah” (or more generally law). Each of us should become a moral philosopher, judging our everyday conduct by our internal compass, and charting our own courses. My own havdalah liturgy relates to the problems of dichotomous thinking, and I present a snippet of it, first in the English translation, then in the original Hebrew.

A paean to pain

For without it there is no joy

Better that we hold one another

until the seizure passes

I fear

being splayed betwixt imperatives

revolving manically, thoughtlessly

tied to poles

But the middle, the abyss in between

I avoid it, it is uncertain unclean

I think

And thus I continue to hop in agony

Hoping you are with me

הַבְדָּלָה בֵּין הַבְּתָרִים

וְשִׁבַּחְתִּי אֲנִי אֶת הַכְּאֵב

אֲשֶׁר בִּלְעָדָיו אֵין שִׂמְחָה

טוֹב אֲשֶׁר נִאֱחֹז זֶה בְּזֶה

וּבְזֶה תַּנִּיחִי אֶת ידך עָלַי

יָרֵאתִי מִן הַקְּטָבִים

נִקְרַעְתִּי בֵּין גְּזֵירוֹת בתריהם

הָאַחִים הֵם,

שֶׁהָאֶחָד מֵת וְרֵעוֹ מְיַבֵּם!?

אַךְ הָאֶמְצַע, האין, בֵּין הַבְּתָרִים,

הוּא אָבִי אֲבוֹת הַטֻּמְאָה

הִיא אֵם כֹּל הַהֲבָלִים

וְלָכֵן עוֹדֶנִּי פּוֹסֵחַ עַל שְׁנֵי הַסְּעִיפִים

אֲנִי מקוה שֶׁתִּהְיִי אִתִּי לַמְרוֹת הַיִּסּוּרִים

Tzemah Yoreh, PhD

IISHJ Rabbinical Candidate

"Jewish identity is the major issue...In this day and age, we can have multiple identities".

2011-10-27T21:06:00.003-04:00

Rabbi Miriam Jerris, Rabbi of the Society for Humanistic Judaism on issues facing children of interfaith marriage:

The Bible is not an impossibly long text.... It is merely as long as War and Peace or one of Robert Jordan’s fantasy novels." Friday was Simchat Torah

2011-10-23T15:33:00.001-04:00

The last of the major holidays in this festi-full month is Simchat Torah. In traditional synagogues the story beginning in Genesis 1, is completed. Deuteronomy 34 is read and if one has been vigilant about going to synagogue throughout the year, one will have heard the entire Torah read.

Humanist Jews are divided as to whether Bible should be read as a public ritual. One side of the argument is that the Torah reflects an antiquated value system, both patriarchal and theistic, and that reading it publicly perpetuates its validity. The other side of the argument is that synagogue is the place people come to learn about Jewish texts; the Torah is the most important of these and whether or not we are sympathetic to the value systems therein, if we identify as Jews, it is part of our cultural heritage.

In a highly religious society such as the United States not knowing the bible also renders us vulnerable to literalist readings perpetuated by fundamentalists, which continue to exert a very persistent force on society. Reading this you can probably guess what side of the argument I am on, which is not surprising at all, considering that I was once a professor of Bible.

The Bible is not an impossibly long text, and knowing what it says is not an impossible dream. It is merely as long as War and Peace or one of Robert Jordan’s fantasy novels. It is full of fascinating stories and beautiful poetry and can be appreciated simply for its literary merit. The synagogue is the place where people come to connect to their Jewish culture, the Torah is a very important part of this culture, let the Torah be heard!

Tzemah Yoreh, PhD

International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism

IISHJ Rabbinical Student

"All of the Jewish people’s great modern achievements have been a direct product of secularism."

2011-10-23T15:26:00.000-04:00

Josh Mintz, in Haaretz, takes a long view of secular Judaism

Philip Roth, Carl Reiner and Julia Pascal are just three names from a long list of today’s Jewish treasures. Despite being a novelist, entertainer and playwright respectively, all three are bound by one thing; they are chicken soup Jews.

Roth’s novels encapsulate New Jersey’s Jewish community and its traditions in a way that no history book could hope to, Reiner’s films and stage shows are the absolute archetype of modern American-Jewish humor and Pascal’s plays bring the classic Jewish folk-tales of Golems and Dybbuks to life for new audiences.

Yet, despite this, all three are atheists; they are self-confessed ‘chicken soup Jews’ whose Judaism is based in a cultural, not religious grounds.
The formative power of these artists’ heritage on their identities and work is testimony to their connection to Judaism, flying in the face of the widely-held Jewish convention that cultural Judaism cannot survive without its religious counterpart.

Read more...

A Lamentation for Isaac

2011-10-19T13:37:00.000-04:00

Rosh Hashannah is one of those rare times of year when my scholarship into biblical criticism has a direct bearing on the rituals of a holiday. I speak of the sounding of the shofar, which is meant to evoke the memory of Abraham and Isaac's greatest sacrifice, and I do think it is a sacrifice and not a binding - I will relate to this in a subsequent post. This biblical episode also has very personal significance to me, since one of my best friends, Isaac, was run over by a truck four years ago. I composed a lamentation in Isaac's memory which I will share below. The God character's betrayal of Isaac and Isaac Meyer's death cemented my personal non-theism - a moment described in this poem.

ויהי ביום השמיני
ניצב עלי אלהים
שמאלו תחת ראשי
ובימינו הסכין

ואני לוחש
ולעתים צועק
הראית אילי
הראית את רעי?
מציץ אט מחרכי הסלעים
לרקום לנו לאבלי ציון...
הראית את רעי את יצחק!!!

And behold on the eighth day
God stood over me,
His left hand supported my head like a lover
and in his right hand was a knife

And I whisper
and sometimes cry
Have you seen O God / My ram
Have you seen My companion
He reveals himself between the cracks in the rock,
To weave for us, for the mourners of Zion...
Have you seen My companion, have you seen Isaac.

The eighth day in this text is the day after the shiva, it is also the day Nadav and Avihu were burned by God. God's left hand supporting my head is an allusion to the song of songs, where a lover supports his loved ones head.In the poem though, God betrays me and offers me a knife.

Tzemah Yoreh

BiblicalCriticism.com

"There is no heresy or philosophy which is so abhorrent to the church as a human being."

2011-10-19T13:28:00.002-04:00

(James Joyce - 1902)

Many Jews believe in God, but not all.

2011-10-17T17:23:00.000-04:00

Atonement, secular-style

Rabbi Binyamin Biber of secular humanist congregation Machar, right, participates in a High Holidays candle-lighting ceremony with Deb Godden, Machar’s madricha, or ordained ceremonialist.
Photo by Gary Peck

Rabbi Arthur Blecher of secular humanist congregation Beth Chai makes a point from the podium.
Photo courtesy of Beth Chai

by Richard Greenberg
Senior writer
Like Jews worldwide, Arlington resident David Wittenberg atoned for his sins last weekend during Yom Kippur - but with one noteworthy difference.
He would never use the word sin. "That would imply that one is offending God," said Wittenberg, who does not believe in God.
Yom Kippur without God might sound like an oxymoron, but not according to Wittenberg, 69, a proudly nontheistic Jew, who marked the Day of Atonement with contemplation, self-examination and good deeds - all of it informed by time-honored Jewish values. But prayer was conspicuously absent from the service.
"We sounded the major themes of the holiday, but not in the traditional religious way," said Wittenberg, a retired teacher and a member of Machar, the Washington Congregation for Secular Humanistic Judaism. "But those themes resonated with us in the same way as with traditional Jews."

Read More........

Sukkot and the Wandering Jew

2011-10-14T15:19:00.000-04:00

The first mention of the holiday of Sukkot (the holiday of booths) in the Bible is in Exodus 23, where a short comment is made about the harvest festival (often identified with Sukkot) as one of the three times one should make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Later texts in Numbers and Deuteronomy elaborate upon the offerings one is supposed to make on this festival and legislate definite dates of observance. Only the latest layer of legislative texts in the Bible (found in Leviticus 24) makes any mention of the booths one is supposed to reside in for the duration of the holiday, as well as the four plants (arbaat haminim) one is supposed wave in a complex pattern throughout the seven days. It is quite interesting to the Biblicist that the most noticeable features of the modern holiday of Sukkot are its latest elements (in fact one of the latest books in the Bible, the book of Nehemiah, written in the fifth century B.C.E provides one with the first glimpse of how the holiday was actually celebrated).

The biblical holiday of Sukkot ostensibly centers around theistic observances, but that is only a very superficial reading of the text. If one digs deeper it is apparent that this holiday fulfills some very deep human needs. The holiday of Sukkot began as an harvest holiday, an event celebrated all over the world and in many different cultures. Since the exact time of Sukkot fluctuates based on the Hebrew calendar we have the opportunity to celebrate the harvest of many different types of bounty. This year the holiday is right on time for apple-picking, last year it was at the height of raspberry season. More specific to Jewish culture the holiday of Sukkot is a potent cultural memory that for so much of our history we wandered from country to country without a homeland, living in makeshift circumstances, sometimes in booths (sukkot). Now we are lucky, and for the most part live safely and securely. Reminders of homelessness, however, await at the entrance of most subway stations. May this be the holiday when we think of how we can alleviate the plight of the homeless, our country is big enough and rich enough that no one should want for a secure place to rest their head.

Tzemah Yoreh, PhD

IISHJ Rabbinical Student

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"kol Nidrei...is totally non-theistic."

2011-10-07T13:44:00.000-04:00

Kol Nidrei, the enigmatic “prayer” that will be recited in synagogues all over the world tonight is unique among traditional prayers in that it is totally non-theistic. Despite the lilting voice of the cantor reciting the Aramaic words, this “prayer” is not actually a prayer at all, it is a release form.

According to Rabbinic law it is exceedingly easy to make an inadvertent vow and this first ritual on the eve of Yom Kippur is meant to absolve one of all vows made since last Yom Kippur. Despite Kol Nidrei’s connection to Rabbinic law’s oversensitivity to vows it can be quite meaningful today. We all make promises to ourselves, to diet, to stop drinking, to read more books, to treat our loved ones better. Promises we sometimes don’t keep.

As the Latin saying goes, “To err is human”, and if we can’t forgive ourselves for promises we haven’t kept and more generally for mistakes we have made, it is difficult to achieve personal growth. Human repentance, the goal of Yom Kippur begins with forgiving oneself.

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Days of Awe

2011-10-05T23:12:00.001-04:00

Rabbi Miriam Jerris is the Rabbi of the Societyfor Humanistic Judaism and Associate Professor of Professional Development at the Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism. Rabbi Jerris holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies and Masters Degrees in Near Eastern Studies and Humanistic and Clinical Psychology. She was ordained with the second rabbinic class of the IISHJ in North America.

Judgement Day

2011-10-05T23:11:00.003-04:00

Are Humanistic Jews Spiritual?

2011-10-05T17:33:00.000-04:00

Here is a reading from our Rosh Hashana service, arranged by Rabbi Peter Schweitzer:

Living Spiritual Lives

When we lift up the fallen,
When we comfort the bereaved,
When we feed the starving,
When we look beyond ourselves,
Then we live spiritual lives.

When we let others comfort us,
When we let others teach us,
When we let others guide us,
When we open ourselves up to others,
Then we lead spiritual lives.

When we cherish our roots,
When we treasure our heritage,
When we teach our children,
When we look to our past and our future,
Then we live spiritual lives.

"My spouse, however, is more conventionally religious"

2011-09-28T15:27:00.003-04:00

As anyone who has been reading my posts can tell, I am quite traditional and despite a lack of belief in the supernatural, I derive human meaning from some of the rituals Jews have been practicing for thousands of years.

My spouse, however, is more conventionally religious (conventional is probably not the right word here, since she is definitely not conventional, and that is one of the many things I love about her), she prays to a supernatural being three times a day and constantly utters blessings to this entity throughout the day, thanking him for the food she eats, the water she drinks, and even for a well-functioning gastrointestinal system. (I am thankful for these things as well, but articulate my gratefulness in different ways, as is evident from my liturgical project).

There are situations, however, when her worldview and my worldview clash, especially when there are public expectations to participate in what I can ungenerously term ritual hypocrisy. Common situations include, singing songs with theistic content at Shabbat meals, being called up to bless the torah, or to read from it, participating in the blessing after meals, and the list goes on and on.

The synagogues I attend these days are either Reform or non-denominational, but still theistic and one may somewhat legitimately ask why I go to these shuls, isn't that hypocritical as well? An important part of my personal Judaism is the people with whom I interact, i.e. the community within which I happen to be living. Sadly, the type of community I'd feel most at home in simply doesn't exist (my ideal community is one in which all members are atheist or agnostic, scripturally educated individuals who like me have serious ties to traditional Judaism and are willing to engage in ritual and liturgical experimentation - I doubt that such a community will every exist), and thus I must make do with what does exist.

Most of my friends in the communities I've lived in as an adult know of my theological positions, and so when I sing a song about a fictional God saving his people or creating the world in seven days, it is not really dissonant to them, they know I don't accept this at face value, and that when I do utter these words, I am doing it out an aesthetic appreciation for the poetic imagery, it is therefore not that hypocritical when it comes right down to it.

But what about when I'm visiting somewhere and I am granted the honor of being called up to the Torah which involves uttering a theistic blessing, do I refuse - what if I can't politely refuse? Do I make a point of saying I can't accept this framework because it is theistic and walk out of the synagogue? If I really thought that, I wouldn't have entered the synagogue to begin with. In my mind there are two competing values here, not embarrassing my hosts and remaining true to my faith (or lack thereof). When it comes to this type of ethical dilemma I will always err on the side of not embarrassing people. In my mind this is the humanist response - since God doesn't exist he won't particularly perturbed if I acknowledge him or not, and I can always explain to my hosts about my theological positions after the fact.

"to be right with one’s God was particularly important when he was deciding when and whether to send the rains"

2011-09-28T14:59:00.000-04:00

The High Holidays: A Brief History

By Rabbi Adam Chalom

Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation

Originally published as a brochure by the Society for Humanistic Judaism

Origins

At the beginning of human history counting, the passage of years was less important than the changing of seasons and the harvests of animal and plant. Thus in some of the earliest passages describing the Jewish Holidays, they are the festivals of harvest: The Feast of Ingathering (later Sukkot), The Feast of Harvesting (later Shavuot), and the Feast of Matsa (later Passover). It was only later that the greater demands of civilization required that people mark the beginning and end of a year.

As far as we can tell, the Jewish New Year used to be in the spring: Passover is described at taking place “In the first month on the fourteenth of the month” (Lev. 23:5). And the first kernel of what was later designated as the Jewish New Year was described as taking place in the seventh month:

In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you will have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing horns [Teruah], a holy gathering. . .Also the tenth day of the month is the Day of Atonement [Yom ha-Kippurim]; it shall be a holy gathering, and you will afflict your souls, and make a fire offering to YHWH. (Lev. 23:23-27)

So a ten day period was marked in the seventh month, and the end of it was a day of self-affliction. But this wasn’t the end of the holiday: on the fifteenth of the month, a festival of seven days called Sukkot is decreed. Why the seventh month, and why all of these holidays in a row? Some speculate that it was connected to the priestly fixation with the number seven (for example, the average week), but that doesn’t explain the solemnity. In fact, this period marked the beginning of the rainy season in Israel, a real matter of life and death for ancient farmers. Thus to be right with one’s God was particularly important when he was deciding when and whether to send the rains. And it was later that the large fall festival was divided into three parts.

As the Holiday developed, it became one of the major festivals of the Jewish Year, and the most important moment of the year would occur during the Yom ha-Kippurim service at the Temple in Jerusalem: Having assembled the people by blasts of the Shofar, a traditional instrument, the High Priest would pronounce the sacred, ineffable name of Yahveh and enter the Holiest of Holies to sacrifice directly to the throne of Yahveh. The High Priest would also cast lots on two goats, assigning one to Yahveh as a sin offering and one to “Azazel” to be driven out into the wilderness and later thrown off a cliff (thus the origin of the ‘scapegoat’). By this time the beginning of the year had been moved to the fall, so this really marked the tail and head of the calendar.

Rabbinic Observance

Under the Rabbis, the High Holidays took on a new name: Yamim ha-Noraim, “The Terrible/Fearful Days.” And Yom Kippur also got a new name: Yom ha-Din, or Judgment Day. And the theme of judgment became the central theme of the New Year celebration. Here we see the idea of the Book of Life: in it is written by God or angels who will live in the next year and who will die; its opening is marked on Rosh Hashanah by the first shofar blast, and its closing by the last shofar blast in the last Yom Kippur service. The prescribed attire for Yom Kippur is the white burial shroud, and the special service for the dead reminds the living that “there but for the grace of God go they.”

Many traditions and rituals became part of the rabbinic observance of the New Year. Fast days were declared during the ten-day period, including on Yom Kippur itself. It became traditional to eat fruit (especially grapes or apples) dipped in honey for Rosh Hashanah, to bring in the new year with a sweet taste. On the day before Yom Kippur, a special chicken called a kapporet was obtained to be slaughtered and swung over the head to take away sins. On Rosh Hashanah it became traditional to read the story of the binding of Isaac, emphasizing that the importance of absolute faith at a time of judgment, and on Yom Kippur the story of Jonah proclaimed that it was never too late to repent and return. On Yom Kippur, Jews would also walk by flowing rivers and empty their pockets of breadcrumbs in a ceremony called Tashlikh, casting their sins out into the water which would carry them away. Finally, one of the most emotionally powerful rituals of the Jewish New Year became the singing of Kol Nidre (All my vows). Originally a legal formula intended to absolve the individual of vows that had been agreed to in good faith but for some reason or another had not been completed, the text of Kol Nidre became inseparably connected in Ashkenazic Judaism with a beautiful, haunting melody. For most Jews today, Yom Kippur without the music of Kol Nidre simply is not Yom Kippur.

Humanistic Judaism

Clearly, Humanistic Judaism demands some creativity and innovation to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. For many years, secular Jews in fact abandoned them as un-redeemable, holidays that were Jewish but too unchangeably pious and theistic to preserve. Today, Humanistic Jews celebrate the High Holidays for a variety of reasons:

Y They are a powerful way to connect with Jewish Life and have become one of the strongest public signs of Jewish Identity.

Y They provide an opportunity for reflection on our actions of the year before and resolution for improved conduct in the year ahead.

Y The celebration of a Jewish New Year in addition to the general New Year shows their commitment to Jewish Identity.

Y The High Holidays, with their symbols that remind us of times past like the Shofar and the melody of Kol Nidre, make us feel connected to our past in a powerful way.

How do Humanistic Jews celebrate the High Holidays? Many recall the origins of the holiday as part of the holiday, celebrating the changes and developments in Jewish life throughout history. Some of the symbols and metaphors, like the kapporet ritual and the fear of judgment, have been dropped, but there is a variety of practice for the other symbols. Some Humanistic Jews fast, some are comfortable using the metaphor of the Book of Life, and others celebrate the High Holidays in their own, innovative way. In general, Humanistic Jews also have dropped the concept of being judged by the cosmos in favor of judging ourselves and making good our obligations to others. Most importantly, the High Holidays provide the opportunity to celebrate what makes us Humanistic Jews. Just as the traditional High Holidays celebrated the fundamental beliefs of traditional Jewish religion, that God will judge and keep alive those who behave, so too our Humanistic High Holidays can celebrate our commitment to Humanistic Judaism. In this way, we preserve our connections to our past and celebrate ourselves at the same event. And that is really the essence of Humanistic Judaism.

"Schlepping Nachas at Google's Bar Mitzvah", or is that Bnai Mitzvah?

2011-09-27T18:11:00.000-04:00

Quoted from THE JEWISH CHRONICLE ONLINE today.

Mazel Tov Google, today you become a man.
The internet search giant is celebrating its 13th birthday today and has marked the occasion with a party-themed version of its iconic logo.
The company was founded by two Stanford University students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both of whom came from Jewish families.
They met in 1995 and began collaborating on computer research, officially launching their site on September 27 1998. The name came from a mistake in the spelling of the mathematical term for a large number.
In 13 years, the company has made its mark in almost every area, from email service Gmail to Google Maps and video sharing site YouTube, which was acquired in 2006.
There is an Israeli version of the site and its translation service can turn an English phrase into Yiddish and vice versa.
The verb "to google" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006, meaning: "To use the Google search engine to obtain information on the internet."

Jennifer Lipman, September 27, 2011

Follow Jennifer on Twitter

With... "a rising rate of interfaith marriage among American Jews, it’s safe to say that Jewish-Muslim relationships are rare"

2011-09-26T23:27:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Doug Chandler

Special To The Jewish Week

Her father fled Nazi Germany before World War II, arriving in New York as a refugee; her grandparents and an aunt were murdered at Auschwitz; and another aunt, now 92, somehow survived two years of hiding in Berlin.

His grandfather built a life in India as a renowned Islamic and Persian scholar, a teacher and an imam at the local mosque, and his Muslim family continues to live in South Asia.

With two such markedly different backgrounds, the chances of Helene Lauffer and Muzaffar Chishti meeting, much less falling in love, could be seen as remote by many observers.

Large numbers of Jews and Muslims eye each other with suspicion over events in the Mideast, creating fear, mistrust and even hostility between the two groups locally and around the world. But Lauffer, 52, and Chishti, 59, not only married 16 years ago, but are now raising two young daughters who consider themselves both Jewish and Muslim.

Read complete article

What is the point of self-deprivation on Yom Kippur when God is not there to judge?

2011-09-25T18:26:00.000-04:00

There are six fast days on the traditional Jewish calendar. The fasts on the seventeeth day of Tamuz (often late July), the fast on the tenth of Tevet (in early winter) on the ninth of Ab (usually sometime in August), and the Fast of Gedalyah on the day after Rosh Hashannah, all commemorate the destruction of the temple and the loss of Jewish sovereignty. This leaves two other fasts, the fast commemorating Esther’s determination vis-à-vis King Xerxes (Achashverosh) when it came to saving the Jewish Diaspora from ruin, and Yom Kippur, which I spoke about in an earlier post. What I want to talk about is whether as Humanist Jews we should fast or not on any of these days.

Fasting is difficult, and though the long-term health affects of fasting for one day are virtually non-existent, one may legitimately ask, if you take God out of the equation what’s the point? What is the point of fasting in remembrance of a destroyed temple dedicated to a God who demanded animal sacrifice? What is the point of self-deprivation on Yom Kippur when God is not there to judge? and - What is the point of commemorating the loss of Jewish Sovereignty when the Jews have returned to their ancestral homeland?

Well there is a point, and it’s a humanist point, five out of six of the fast on the traditional Jewish calendar are in remembrance of human tragedies. If one reads the book of Lamentations, written following the destruction of the first temple the temple is mentioned, but the focus is definitely the extraordinary human tragedy: the hunger, the sickness, the exile, and the death. The fact that the Jews have returned to Israel doesn’t mean we should forget our long and often tragic history.

One may legitimately ask, why should fasting be the way we commemorate these historical events, there are many other ways to do so. I agree that fasting shouldn’t necessarily be the way we commemorate these events but it should at least be considered; it is a tradition that is almost 2600 years old. Since hunger was one of the privations that Jews suffered during the days the fasts are commemorating, perhaps ritual hunger is a fitting remembrance. If one decides that fasting is a fitting tribute, I submit that it should not be the beginning and the end of one’s commemoration. The 6th century B.C.E (Deutero) Isaiah illustrates what an acceptable fast should look like:

58:6 Is not this the fast that I choose:  to loose the bonds of injustice,  to undo the thongs of the yoke,  to let the oppressed go free,  and to break every yoke?  58:7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,  and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them,  and not to hide yourself from your own kin?  58:8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,  and your healing shall spring up quickly;

Indeed, in recent history the hunger strike has emerged as a very potent weapon of the powerless and the disenfranchised all over the world in their struggle for social justice. Jews, throughout history have been on the disenfranchised side of the equation too many times to count, the loss of sovereignty following the destruction of the temples is just a local nadir. Thus, I submit that if one chooses to fast on these days (or others) one may want to focus one’s thoughts on improving the lot of the powerless - it is a humanist tradition.

BiblicalCriticism.com

International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism

Holiday Greeting from Rabbi Peter Schweitzer

2011-09-23T22:57:00.000-04:00

Kaddish - Remembering Our Deceased

2011-09-22T08:48:00.000-04:00

The most common prayer in pretty much every denomination of Judaism is the Kaddish prayer, the prayer commemorating the dead, but does it (commemorate the dead)? If one actually takes the time to read the Kaddish closely one quickly realizes that it does nothing of the sort. Its focus is actually the sanctification of God and the coming of the redemption, the Kaddish doesn’t mention the dead at all, not even once! There are several different types of Kaddish, but even the Kaddish designated as the mourner’s Kaddish doesn’t focus on deceased human beings, this is because Kaddish wasn’t originally a prayer to commemorate the dead, it was a prayer Rabbis said after learning, which was gradually expanded to other settings. It only became a mourner’s prayer in the 13^th century.

I’ve never quite comprehended the hold the Kaddish prayer has on otherwise secular Jews, but I got an inkling, when I participated in a shiva call (a visit to a mourner’s house) to a secular friend’s house in Israel. They asked me to translate the words of the Kaddish that they’d just uttered over their relative’s grave, and were disproportionally grateful when I elucidated the Aramaic words. I began to understand that people generally recite the Kaddish as a magic mantra without understanding what the words mean. As someone interested in meaning what I say, that is untenable, but I guess for some, the cadences are calming.

One way of tackling this issue is copy-editing theistic sentiments out of the Kaddish, this may be a little difficult since the focus of the prayer, as I said above, is God’s sanctification. Even if one manages to do this, are we necessarily left with a memorable prayer with which we can commemorate our deceased loved ones? I suggest that this is one place where personal choice should be exercised, I chose a song that was particularly meaningful to me – the Partizaner Himn (the Partizan Anthem) by Hirsch Glick, but I am sure every person has a piece of poetry, a song or a text that for them evokes remembrance.

Tzemah Yoreh, PhD

Making Scripture Relevant at:

www.biblecriticism.com

Rabbinical Student

"I wish to show respect for my foremothers and forefathers, who worshipped God with sacrifice and hardship".

2011-09-21T18:47:00.002-04:00

Literally millions of Jews have died uttering the following six words: שמע ישראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד – Hear O Israel, the Lord is Our God, the Lord is One. These words from the book of Deuteronomy, open the Shma prayer, and are, perhaps, the most important theistic utterance in the Jewish canon. It is, however, not only a theistic utterance but a deeply human utterance. It was the Jewish cry of defiance as we were mercilessly butchered at so many points in our checkered history – you may kill us they said to the Romans, to the Crusaders, and to the Nazis, but our spirit (in the metaphorical sense) will live on.

How as non-theists are we to relate to this text – one way would be to employ its cadences but change the words, thus recalling the defiance without using words which we don’t hold as true. Indeed, a couple months ago, there was a lengthy back and forth between Rabbis of the movement, where people offered their versions of the Shma, in which I participated.

As an erstwhile professor of Bible, I have a somewhat different take on Biblical texts and their ritual utterance. Though, I would be the first to say that the Bible doesn’t not reflect my system of values, I think knowing what it says is of paramount importance, especially in religious countries such as the United States and Israel. If we don’t know what it says then we can’t do battle with the narrow literalist readings which continue to exert such a powerful influence on our society. Even more importantly in my mind, the Bible has pride of place in our literary and cultural cannon, and as cultural Jews, relating to the Bible can be intellectually rewarding. This being said, I can totally sympathize (but not agree) with people who see the Bible as a toxic text and want to have nothing to do with it; luckily our cultural canon is so rich that there many more benign options to choose from.

Since I regard knowledge of the Bible as very important (and I am admittedly quite biased here). I prefer to offer appropriate introductions to the biblical passages in prayer, explaining how we as humanist Jews can relate to them, rather than expunge them or rewrite them, in this vein I introduce the Shma with the following words:

יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁבִּקְרִיאָה זוֹ, אֲכַבֵּד אֶת אֱמוּנַת אֲבוֹתַי וְאִמּוֹתַי, אֲשֶׁר עָבְדוּ יהוה בְּיִרְאָה וּבְהַקְרָבָה. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינִי יָכוֹל לְתַנּוֹת שִׁירִי לֶאֱלוֹהַּ אֲשֶׁר תַּבְנִית זָכָר לוֹ: כַּכָּתוּב: "פֶּן תַּשְׁחִיתוּן וַעֲשִׂיתֶם לָכֶם פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כָּל

סֵמֶל תַּבְנִית זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה" תּוֹרָתָם צְרוּפָה בְּלִבִּי כְּשָׁמִיר.

With the reading of this passage, I wish to show my respect for my foremothers and forefathers, who worshipped God with sacrifice and hardship. And though I can offer no song or prayer to an anthropomorphic god (or to any god), as it says: “Be careful lest you make yourselves an idol or any image of a male or female”, their traditions are engraved upon the tablet of my heart.

Tzemah Yoreh

Humanistic Jews acknowledge the Sources of food we eat

2011-09-18T13:47:00.001-04:00

As an auditory learner in a religious home the first thing I knew by heart was Birkat Hamazon – the blessing after meals. When I was two, I didn’t know why I was saying and I didn’t know to whom it was addressed. Unfortunately, this situation persisted for some twenty-five years. Why was I thanking God for food grown by farmers, packaged by factory workers, shipped by truckers, displayed by super market proprietors, sold by cashiers, purchased with money my boss paid me, and prepared by me or my spouse? It seemed that there were many individuals to thank for the food none of whom were God. Not one these parties is acknowledged in the traditional blessing after meals.

Yet the blessing after meals remains one of the most popular rituals at communal meals, at camp, at Kiddush in synagogues – and it should be, but different words need to be substituted to actually make it meaningful to the present day and age. Below you’ll find an excerpts from my blessing after meals (first in translation then in Hebrew):

The sweat off a farmer's brow trickling watering the earth making seedlings grow, rising to my plate.

If I forget thee o laborer, may I forget my right hand. Truly I am blessed.

זֵיעַת אִיכָּרִים תָּרִים מֵעָפָר מַאֲכָל, בָּרוּך/ה אֲנִי, אָך מְבוֹרָך מִכֹּל הַסַּבָּל

Tzemah Yoreh

Thank you, Michael Bloomberg

2011-09-11T20:44:00.001-04:00

Atheist Nexus issued the below message reminding us to thank Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

A message to all members of Atheist Nexus

Before I get down to business, I want to ask you to do me a favor.

You know that today marks the tenth anniversary of the tragedies of September 11, 2011. However, you
may not know that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the controversial decision to keep
today’s memorial services completely secular. No clergy—from any religion—will be allowed to
publically use this event to pray or proselytize.

Unfortunately, we in the nontheist community are continually on the defense. Daily, all over the world,
our rights are trampled and we are told to shut up and let the religious use public gatherings as they
please. Yet, how often do we take time to be thankful to those who uphold our civil liberties?
Please join me in thanking Mayor Bloomberg. If he only hears the complaints from the religious, the
decision might not go to our favor next time.

Mayor Bloomberg’s contact info:

Email: Online Contact Form Phone: 212-639-9675 Fax: 212-312-0700

Can the month of Elul mean anything to secular Jews?

2011-09-08T23:36:00.001-04:00

Rabbi Miriam Jerris of the Society for Humanistic Judaism thinks it can.

Eating Meat, Enjoying the Taste, Acknowledging the Suffering

2011-09-08T10:16:00.000-04:00

In 2007, I read a series of articles in Haaretz on how livestock are treated, I came close to regurgitating the hamburger I was eating. As my shock deepened as I found out more and more about this industry: about the feedalots polluting our oceans, about the antibiotics injected into cows to keep them alive long enough for me to eat them, about the rain forests being cut down for grazing land, about the way slaughterhouse workers were treated.

It is quite clear to anybody even somewhat informed of environmental issues that eating meat at the rate we are eating it is unsustainable, the world simply can’t support it indefinitely. As humanists we have a responsibility to ensure that the world our progeny will inherit is as livable as possible. For these reasons, I resolved then and there to change my eating habits. Though it has been hard, I now consume about a fifth of the meat I used to and most of it is organic and grass-fed.

I am not a preachy kind of guy and this is not my clarion call to change your eating habits. Quite frankly, I believe that there will come a time when we will be forced to change our eating habits whether we like it or not.

Jewish tradition can function as a guide here. A Jewish value - preventing cruelty against animals is first legislated in the Bible, and elaborated upon by the Rabbis. Farm animals are accorded a day of rest just like their human counterparts, and the sharpness of a knife is a factor in kosher slaughter to insure a quick clean death. In the priestly sections of the Bible, any blood, whether it be animal blood or human blood is treated with reverence.

When I eat meat I utter a special blessing. While my taste buds dance and sing, I dedicate a moment to remembering where it came from:

Your thighs glisten with golden beads of sweat teasing my tongue

I try imagining the pain you went through

And for a moment I taste ashes

בְּאַגְלֵי שׁוּמָן שׁוֹקַיִך מְסֻלָּאִים, כְּאֵבֵךְ יִמָּלֵא כְּרָסִים, עֵינִי יוֹרְדָה מָיִם אָךְ חִיקִי יַבִּיעַ רְנָנִים

Tzemah Yoreh

Let the terrors of nature function as catalysts for bravery...

2011-09-06T23:14:00.001-04:00

People who experienced Hurricane Irene’s full force may wonder how to relate to the destruction left in the hurricane's wake. This is of course connected to the larger question of how a non-theist relates to natural disasters and the undiscerning havoc they wreak. At first glance, it seems like strong-minded theists have the advantage here. They can always attribute the disaster to God. An overwhelming majority of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina found solace in this and report that their belief in God was all the stronger following the disaster. Sam Harris ridicules this and claims that this affirmation is akin to spitting upon the graves of their deceased loved ones. It is Sam Harris who is being simplistic here, not the survivors. People who attribute the death of their loved ones to God are trying to find a reason for their loved ones’ death, attributing it to an inscrutable but just deity is their way of doing this.

Non-theists like ourselves have more trouble here, we attribute the senseless destruction to the unfair vagaries of chance. There is little comfort in that. I think that one way of coping with disasters is to relate to them as catalysts – catalysts to make sure that the next disaster is not nearly as costly or destructive. Let us build structures more resistant to earthquakes; let us build bridges and roads that will not be washed away in flash floods; let us stop the excessive greenhouse emissions that are leading to the freak weather patterns.

One Jewish way of acknowledging the awesomeness and awfulness of these events is through blessing. Traditionally, when one hears thunder (and if one is a theist) one utters: Blessed is He whose power and virility fill the earth. Mine is different of course (the original Hebrew follows the English)

Let the terrors of nature function,

As catalysts for bravery,

Triumph over destruction

בא גד, תמריץ לגבורה, ולא לשמד

Tzemah Yoreh

International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism

Washing Hands; a modern norm, a Jewish innovation

2011-09-04T16:57:00.001-04:00

In modern western culture we take washing one’s hands before eating or after going to the washroom as a prerequisite of polite society. This wasn’t always the case. Up until modern times this habit was not entrenched. Queen Victoria famously said that “one takes a bath once a month whether one needs one or not.”

The habit of washing one’s body when in contact with contagion or impurity is well documented throughout the Bible. In rabbinic times the practice became even more widespread and included washing one’s hands prior to eating and after relieving oneself. A Rabbinic adage states: “Hands are very busy (and therefore must be cleansed)”. When the black plague hit Europe, Jews were blamed because the incidents of the epidemic were markedly lower in their communities. At that time no one thought that personal hygiene was a factor!

As Jews, we should be proud that we were among the first cultures to promote this type of cleanliness. An acknowledgement of this historical link can take the form of a blessing (at least it does for me). A scriptural image that speaks to me personally is clean hands as a symbol for upright behavior, and thus I frequently say the following after washing hands:

“We are moral obligated to remain unsullied, and thus in poetic harmony we cleanse our hands.”

(It sounds better in the original Hebrew)

הָבָה נִתְקַדֵּש בְּנִקְיוֹן כַּפַּיִם – וּכְאוֹת אֱמֶת נִטֹּל יָדַיִם.

Tzemah Yoreh

Religiousatheist.com

Fall Open Houses-Learn More about Secular Humanistic Judaism

2011-09-04T16:43:00.000-04:00

Location: 15 W. 86th St. (SAJ)

RSVP by calling 212-213-1002

or email info@citycongregation.org

RETHINKING THE HIGH HOLIDAYS FOR SECULAR JEWS

Rabbi Peter Schweitzer will explore how secular Jews can celebrate the High Holidays and how Humanistic Judaism and the City Congregation give us a way to maintain our Jewish identity. Learn about our community at this general information session.

Wednesday, Sept. 14, 7:30pm

Sunday, Sept 18, 1:30pm (childcare available)

GENERAL OPEN HOUSES

These sessions provide a general orientation to Humanistic Judaism and our congregation and are not just aimed at KidSchool.

All are welcome.

Sunday, Sept. 25, 1:30pm, childcare available

This is the first day of KidSchool. Children and parents are invited to stay for music during Kehillah Circle (3:00-3:30pm) and then visit KidSchool classes (3:30-5:15pm). Parents get-together at 4pm.

Sunday, Oct. 16, 1:30pm, childcare available

Children are invited to stay for music during Kehillah Circle (3:00-3:30pm) and then visit KidSchool classes (3:30-5:15pm).

Adults are invited to attend the Adult Perspectives session at 3:30 with Ellen Meeropol discussing her novel House Arrest. Her topic is: ALL IN THE FAMILY: Engaging our Parents' Politics.

Reflections on Hurricane Irene

2011-08-31T11:07:00.004-04:00

Rabbi Peter Schweitzer

In 1967, there was a three-week period between the Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal into the Sinai Peninsula and the outbreak of the Six-Day War. That stretch of time became known as tkufat hahamtana or the “waiting period.” The final few days were particularly nerve-wracking as soldiers sat in their tanks primed and anxious to go into battle.

Waiting for Hurricane Irene can’t compare to the experience of those soldiers, but I was reminded of that earlier event in the days before the storm arrived. The build-up of anxiety and the frenetic energy of preparation while anticipating the howling winds, the battering rain and the storm surges was exhausting.

Not unlike those soldiers, who were preparing for the inevitability of war, some people were cautiously waiting to experience the severity of the storm, provided they got through it okay, but we should not be disappointed that it passed us by. Relatively speaking, New York City was unscathed. We should have no regrets that we don’t qualify to wear “I Survived Irene” t-shirts that were quickly put up for sale.

But what is unnerving is that our good fortune was not earned any more than the bad fortune of others was a punishment. Weather is amoral. It strikes at random. A slight turn to the left or to the right and we would have had a totally different outcome. The hurricane was not a message from God about the state of affairs in our country. Likewise, it was particularly scandalous just a a week earlier when a rabbi attributed this summer’s east coast earthquake to God’s wrath for New York’s approval of gay marriage.

Along the way, we heard debates about whether the mayor and governor were overly cautious. Were they taking unnecessary steps to batten down the city and protect its residents? Or were they using their best judgment and erring on the side of “better to be safe then sorry”?

The Weather Channel, likewise, was called to task for scaring people too much, yet when Hurricane Irene was downgraded from level two to level one the broadcasters responsibly cautioned people not to get complacent and have a false sense of security. The level of a hurricane, as we soon learned, is based on wind speed and does not correlate to a storm’s potential ferocity.

This reminded me of 1930s Germany and the rise of fascism and ultra-nationalism that started out as ideology and rhetoric, became “operationalized” as restrictive laws and acts of persecution and vandalism, and ultimately led to death camps and gas chambers. How did one know how seriously to take the signs of what was coming? Especially when a genocide on the scale of the holocaust was not yet imaginable? Was this a storm to outlast or a time to evacuate for safer harbors? I’m certainly grateful my grandparents sent my father here in 1937 at age 16 and then took steps to get out themselves, along with my father’s twin sister, in 1939.

Just one day later after staying hunkered down, in New York City one would never have known there had been anything to worry about. It was warm, the sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Did a hurricane really show up the day before and wreak havoc up and down the coast? Yet millions were still without power and suffered major destruction and horrendous flooding – particularly some entire towns – and were trying to get their lives back together again. It proves yet again how mercurial the weather can be, sparing a major center like New York, and unleashing its fury on the least suspecting hamlets and villages.

I am reminded of the classic story about the town that was threatened by torrential flooding. The Catholics gathered in their church and the priest offered final confession. The Protestants gathered in their church and sang psalms to bring them comfort. The Jews gathered in their temple and the rabbi, a secular humanist and a realist, repeated an age-old lesson. “A flood is coming. There is no time to escape. But we do have an hour left before the waters come, so use the time to learn to breathe underwater.”

It’s an encouraging point of view and need not be exclusively Jewish, but now that I’ve seen footage of the flooding of those towns in New York, New Jersey and Vermont the joke is no longer funny. The devastation and loss of life brought about by Hurricane Irene makes one pause.

Furthermore, as I began writing these lines we were anxiously waiting to hear word from my step-daughter, Blair, who was on her way back to her new rental home in Plymouth, North Carolina that she had evacuated a day ahead of the storm. She had been hired to teach high school history as part of the Teach for America program and had only moved in a few weeks earlier.

Plymouth was directly in the line of the storm and a few tornadoes touched down nearby. It is located on the Roanoke River, which feeds into the Albemarle Sound about seven miles away. Throughout the early hours of the hurricane we nervously monitored what was happening on WITN, a local North Carolina television station that we found online.

We have since learned that a large part of Plymouth lost power and a nearby town has significant flooding. Though inconsequential compared to all the enormous damage done elsewhere, one of the trees on her property had fallen and narrowly missed hitting a neighbor’s house. Blair’s school will continue to be closed today. Some schools in the district were still without power and flooding in some areas has made it impossible to transport the students.

Blair did not have electricity when she returned on Monday and it was restored last night. While we were comforted by that and how well she has managed this series of events, we are distressed that so many on the East Coast are still without power and many are facing great hardships, heartbreak and tragedy.

Welcoming a New Day with a Poem

2011-08-30T14:00:00.000-04:00

Many people cope with Monday doldrums with a nice hot shower or a cup of coffee. Personally, I find that a great way to greet a new day is with a snatch of song or a finely crafted poem.

Traditionally the first thing Jews said in the morning were the dawn blessings, these blessings were uttered privately before going about one’s day and interacting with the world. The first prayer begins with the words, “I thank you O Lord.” Though thanking the Lord is no longer part of my prayer regimen, I feel that there are definitely aspects of my life for which I am thankful on a daily basis, I am grateful that my parents raised me, I am thankful for my spouse’s support, I am happy that I have enough to eat, and that I have a roof over my head. All these elements are present in the traditional liturgy, in my mind they just need to be liberated from their theistic contexts, here are a few snatches from my morning prayers (first in translation, then in the original Hebrew):

The Lover’s Kiss:

Piety blows from the sky in ephemeral gusts

Never reaching my soul

Instead I am filled with my love’s kiss,

Uncontained, like a mighty phoenix,

It bursts out of me

Hovering for a moment it gazes at me tenderly

Welcoming me into the world

נְשִׁיקַת הָאוֹהֲבִים

כִּי כַאֲשֶׁר תִּזַּל הַיִּרְאָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם

וְשָׁמָּה לֹא תָּשׁוּב כִּי אִם בְּהַבְלֵי הָרוּחַ

כֵּן נְשִׁיקַת הָאוֹהֲבִים

תְּהַבְהֵב בְּדִמְדּוּמֵי לַבַּת עוֹלָתָם

וּלְרֶגַע קָט בֵּין שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ

תִּלְחַשׁ

בָּרוּךְ שֶׁאָמַר והָיָה הָעוֹלָם

Tzemah Yoreh

Religiousatheist.com