President’s Message

March 2013: Passover

As Passover quickly approaches, I would like to wish everyone a joyous holiday. My daughter Sara is studying abroad this college semester and she will be missed dearly at our Seder. The excitement builds as we prepare for the holiday. It is more than just spring-cleaning as we methodically remove all traces of chametz in our house. Our kitchen is transformed as we replace all of the cooking and eating utensils with the kosher for Pesach set that has been in storage all year.  I love all the different recipes we use during the holiday. I never get tired of eating matzah. I appreciate the change in our daily life even though it is for a short time. My tefillin will get an extra kiss after the holiday since I will have missed wearing them. Our lives are so structured that the Jewish holidays allow us to pause and be thankful for our precious freedoms.

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“You shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might…Bind these words as a sign on your hand, and let them be a reminder between your eyes.” These three types of love of G-d (heart, soul and might) are combined when we wrap tefillin every morning before Shacharit. Placing the yad tefillin on our arms over the brachial artery is close to our hearts, while the shel rosh (head) tefillin is in proximity to our soul. The strength of G-d is felt continuously through the binding of the retzuous (straps). We experience this love both physically and spiritually. Prayer is exhilarating and powerful but it requires a high level of discipline and commitment.  It is literally a mitzvah to wrap tefillin. The root of the word mitzvah means to “bind”.  With each mitzvot, we strengthen our connection with G-d. Tefillin reminds us how intense this relationship is. (more…)

On the evening of January 25th, we will be celebrating Tu’B’Shevat .The focus of the holiday has evolved over time as our awareness of the intertwined relationship of Judaism and the world around us increases in complexity.  Tu’B’Shevat is known as the New Year for Trees. The Torah makes over 150 references to trees with more than 100 different species. The historical etymology of the holiday is for calculating the age of trees for the purpose of tithing. Fruit after this day belong to the next year’s tithe in the seven year Sabbatical cycle. (more…)

This is a wonderful time of year when we celebrate the joyous holiday of Chanukah. I love singing Hallel and reading Torah every morning. I am thankful for the opportunity to daven with friends at daily minyans. Every time I enter the Temple and kiss the Mezuzah, I am reminded of the strong foundations that we have built. Much of this hard work is done behind the scenes, but is essential to the operation of our Shul. I am especially proud of the careful leadership of our Endowment Committee. (more…)

Thanksgiving will be here soon and I hope that everyone will have a wonderful holiday. For me, there is nothing better than a feast along with watching football. I enjoy the planning and preparation of the meal with my family. The fresh kosher turkey is ordered weeks in advance. The bird is cooked to perfection. In my family, it seems that I am in the minority of those who still appreciate meat and potatoes. Many have become vegetarians. The abundance of different vegetables has become the center of the meal. We serve the winter squash and sweet potatoes that we grew in our garden. The cranberry sauce is made from fresh local cranberries. The beauty of the meal is in the simplicity of the recipes. Linda Burghardt, author of Jewish Holiday Traditions says “Sukkot is considered a model for Thanksgiving. Both holidays revolve around showing gratitude for a bountiful harvest…stuffing one food inside another as a metaphor for abundance is the hallmark of Sukkot cuisine”. (more…)

As a young boy, this time of year I enjoyed post-season baseball. I loved going to games with my Dad. We also spent hours playing on the ball field taking turns pitching and hitting. I remember imitating the greatest hitter of that era, Mickey Mantle. Another one of my heroes was a lefty pitcher with a wicked curve ball. Sandy Koufax was the best I had seen and the best Jewish baseball player ever. They were both the best at their craft, but their approach to life could not be more different. (more…)

On Yom Kippur, during the Musaf Service, the Cantor will chant a prayer called Hineni. The translation of this tremendously powerful prayer is “Here I am”. It is the response used in the Tanakh when G-d personally calls on someone. Abraham responded with Hineni when G-d asked him to offer his son Isaac. When G-d spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai, Moses said Hineni. “Here I am, willing and able”. It is a complex and emotional statement. On a deeper level, the meaning is “Here I Stand”. It is an understanding that although it may be difficult, it is a binding commitment. (more…)

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I look forward to working together with you over the next few years. My wife Debby and I were married by Rabbi Scolnic and our children, Sara and Molly attended K’Tanim and Hebrew School at TBS. Debby has been a Kinderlach/ Primary 1 teacher in the Hebrew School over the past ten years. I grew up in Hamden. My parents were members of the Hamden Jewish Community Center in Centerville in the 40’s and 50’s and charter members of our Temple. My mother is also a member here at TBS.
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Did you know that some people consider there to be seven books of the Torah?  During one of the Rabbi’s recent Shabbat sermons, we learned that there is a portion in Numbers (Bamidbar) that is set off from the rest of the section with the letter Nun (one on each side, inverted like parentheses).  There are only a few lines in this section, and the midrash says that this would have been the final book if Israel had not committed the multitude of rebellious acts in the Sinai leading up to and around the time when Moses received the 10 commandments.  While there is a proper name for this book-that-did-not-happen, I have come to think of it as the Book of What Could Have Been. (more…)

Over the past year, the Temple Beth Sholom community has experienced a number of untimely deaths. Each of these people was an active member of our community in their own unique way, and each contributed to my personal life story and collective experience in some fashion. I think you, as members of this same community, know what I am talking about, understand the sentiment, and feel the same sense of loss. (more…)