Rabbi Michael Farbman – Page 2 – Temple Emanuel of Greater New Haven

TORAHS OF TEMPLE EMANUEL

by Peter Stolzman

For most Jews, the Torah elicits a variety of feelings and meanings. The scrolls we use in our worship services teach us the lessons and history of the Hebrew people. Some think of the Torah as the divine word of G-d, others feel it is a chronological history of the beginnings of a people.

When the ark is opened and the Torah scrolls are revealed we can look in awe. It awakens a spiritual longing in many as well as a deep connection with who we are and what we are called upon to do. However, we relate to the text it is a symbol, perhaps the primary one, of our identity.

Temple Emanuel is currently home to six Torahs. Some we know a piece of their history and some we are less knowledgeable about. The following is a brief history of our Torah scrolls.

When Temple Emanuel first came together as a community in 1962, we did not have a Torah of our own. Instead, our student rabbi, Robert Goodman, would use a borrowed scroll when needed. In 1967, using our first Torah he performed a triple bar mitzvah for Andrew Levine, Jeff Lipson and Danny Salzman at the JCC in New Haven. TE had just acquired its first Torah, the Holocaust Torah.

Written in 1880, the Holocaust Torah was used in Horazdovice, Czechoslovakia. During WW2 it was “collected” along with other articles of Jewish life, by the Nazis. The scroll’s congregation was exterminated. After the war, this Torah and approximately 1500 others were found and transported to Westminster Synagogue in London, United Kingdom. The synagogue had the room to store them and set about the task of having them restored and repaired. Once in good condition, they were given on permanent loan, to newly established congregations around the world. TE’s Lois and Paul Levine traveled to London to get ours. In 1967 we received #1178, our first scroll.

On a visit to Westminster, I was told that the restoration had been very slow and was expensive, as only trained scribes could do the work. However, in 1965 an itinerant scribe, David Brand, knocked on the door and asked if they might have any work? Twenty years later and after 770 Torahs, he had repaired all he could.

In 2007 this Torah was retired as it needed repairs. It was placed in a display case in the TE lobby until the congregation was able to restore it and return it to active service. It was returned to the Ark in 2020. Every family that wished to be invited to work with the scribe and restore a letter thus fulfilling the commandment to write a Torah. It was a wonderful experience. This Torah is easily recognized as the tallest and lightest in our ark. It is written in Beit Yosef font and is unglazed, making it lighter than a glazed scroll.

In addition to the Holocaust Torah, Temple Emanuel acquired two Torahs in 1979 from Beth Israel in Derby, and in 1981 from Temple Rodeph Shalom of Ellenville, NY. The Ellenville scroll is a small, in height, Torah. It is glazed so it is heavy and is approximately 100 years old. It is originally from Romania and is currently in our ark along with the Holocaust Torah and a medium sized Torah, on permanent loan from the Jewish Home for the Aged by way of the Jewish Federation. We received this Torah in 2021.

The Torah scroll from Beth Israel in Derby was originally from Germany and is about 100 years old. It is said to have “beautiful writing” and is housed in a separate portable ark.

The other gift from Beth Israel, is a Polish Torah. It is housed in the Rabbi’s office awaiting restoration. It is about 90 years old.

Our final Torah is displayed in TE’s lobby. This Torah is also on loan from the Jewish Home for the Aged through the Jewish Federation. We received it around 2020. It is not kosher as it is not in perfect condition and is unrepairable. While we cannot use it for services it is a welcome reminder of who we are when we enter the Temple. It also provides an up-close view of the text and how a Torah is written.

You can learn more about the making of a Torah scroll here.

Some information in this article was gathered from Congregation Beth El’s (Berkeley, CA) website and Temple Emanuel archives and interviews with past and present congregants.

Wow!

As I explained in my last column, there are times when I find it difficult to write for the Shofar. While I enjoy communicating with our congregation, a column is a one-way communication, and I miss the interaction that one gets when talking with another. This month is different – I have an idea for the column, and the words are jumping onto the page.

As President of TE, I, of course, am aware of various events taking place at the Temple. School is no exception. I am informed by Olga as to various events and happenings that will occur at the school over the coming weeks. While hearing the short-term calendar is impressive, it is incredible to hear the entire school year in review. Every April the Finance Committee of TE formulates a budget for the coming TE year. Part of that process involves a report by Olga and Rabbi Farbman concerning the school. They prepared a slide show that reviewed all the events of the current school year. Hearing and seeing them all at once floored me. The frequency and innovation of events was incredible to hear. As one of the Finance Committee members said, “I wish I could come back as a 5^th grader.” In times when the religious institutions are having trouble attracting and retaining members, TE is doing amazingly well. A major reason for this is the work of the Rabbi and Olga. Olga will deliver a report on the school as part of our annual meeting (which this year will be June 2^nd at 6 pm). I encourage all to attend, if for no other reason than to hear how well our school is doing. The framework for our school was created by Susan Pinsky Bleeks (and the work of Janet Adams). Olga has used that foundation to move forward. It should be no surprise that TE is doing well and our students enjoy going to Religious School.

Uf Gozal: Spread your wings and fly away…

Around this time of year the classic song from Israeli rock icon Arik Einstein ‘Uf Gozal’ begins to pop up everywhere I look. It acknowledges the difficult feelings for parents watching their kids grow up, mature and leave the nest. We have been the so-called ‘empty nesters’ for two years now, and I think the reality is yet to fully set in, even as we watch our kids spread their wings with pride, joy and yes, a little sadness.

This year’s crop of high school graduates has grown up at TE right in front of our eyes – I have so many cute pictures from their childhood to prove it! Many have remained active in our school as teenagers: Katie and Sarah Harper, Ava Shanbrom, Maya Katsovich, Sophia Rivkin and Beyla Ridky have had an outsized influence on the life of TE over the years, and most of them are pretty used to the extended TE family treating them as if they were our own children. They have sung in the children’s choir, and then years later they taught the children’s choir for the next generation of kids. They were our students and then became our colleagues, helping teach, tutor and inspire our current religious school students. They have written and performed Purim spiels and sat on TE boards and ran Chanukkah basket fundraisers… If I attempt to list all their achievements, this column would never fit into the allotted space! Over the next few weeks, we will get to celebrate them and their achievements, to hug them and to wish them well as they take that important leap and go off to college – I hope you all mark May 17^th in your calendars and come to Shabbat service to do just that. But first, I wanted to invite you to a special ceremony on May 5^th – and to share with you a description of two Eagle Scout projects completed this year for the benefit of Temple Emanuel.

For her Eagle Scout project, Katie Harper chose to help her community here at Temple Emanuel by building an additional four benches for the outdoor sanctuary. “I decided to expand the outdoor sanctuary because it has become a special space for me and many other members. It was a lot of fun assembling the benches, and I am pleased that the outdoor sanctuary will now be widely more accessible during services. As the weather starts becoming warmer, I cannot wait to use the benches in the upcoming weeks.”

Sarah Harper, as part of her BSA Eagle Scout Project, led a group of volunteers in restoring over 80 damaged spiral-bound prayer books at Temple Emanuel. The entire restoration process involved many steps and was completed over the course of four months.

“In Jewish tradition, any document or ritual object with God’s name on it must be buried in a special grave called a ‘genizah.’ It is the proper way to dispose of these holy objects with the utmost respect and consideration. As part of my Eagle Scout project, I have arranged for a geniza to be created on TE property, and we have collected over 15 boxes of beyond-repair prayer books and additional items from the community. I have been an active member of Temple Emanuel for over 18 years and these prayer books were the first to incite my love for attending services, studying Hebrew, and learning the different tefilot. I am extremely delighted for the newly bound prayer books to get used again and for the beyond-repair items to get appropriately laid to rest. I hope everyone in the community will be able to witness and take part in this sacred occasion along with me.”

The genizah ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 5th at 9:30 a.m. All TE families and members are invited to attend to learn about the ritual of disposing of sacred texts and objects, as well as to assist with burying the items.

TE Adult Education Series. Spirituality In Our Relationships: Hiding in Plain Sight. Wednesday, May 8, 7 PM

There’s Jewish spirituality hiding in plain sight, in the give-and-take between us. Rabbi Dennis Ross of Congregation Mishkan Israel will draw from his latest book, “A Year with Martin Buber” released by the Jewish Publication Society to discuss spiritual opportunities that so often pass unnoticed.
Rabbi Dennis S. Ross is the author of A Year with Martin Buber: Wisdom on the Weekly Torah Portion released by the Jewish Publication Society’s Daily Inspiration Series and named a Top Ten Book by the Academy of Parish Clergy. He is author of God in Our Relationships: Spirituality between People from the Teachings of Martin Buber, and When a Lie Is Not a Sin: The Hebrew Bible’s Framework for Deciding (Jewish Lights), and All Politics Is Religious: Speaking Faith to the Media, Policy Makers and Community. Rabbi Ross has written for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Forward, and other publications.
Rabbi Ross is an Intentional Interim Rabbi and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with specialized training and experience supporting congregations in transition. He is now at Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden, Conn., and has served synagogues in Manhattan, Chappaqua, Neponsit, Monroe, Lynbrook, and Albany, N. Y., Summit, N. J., Washington, D. C., and Pittsfield and Worcester, Massachusetts. He serves the Central Conference of American Rabbis as Acting Interim Program Specialist where he directs and provides training for interim rabbis and is on the Board of the Interim Ministry Network, which provides training and support for clergy in interim pulpits.

How I Overcome Writer’s Block

Writing has never been my favorite form of expression. You see, I suffer from writer’s block which often leads to procrastination. My favorite form of communication is meeting and getting to know people in person.

This column is a unilateral activity. I write weeks in advance and don’t get to hear your feedback contemporaneously. Nevertheless, I am expected to write a message. So here it is: Let’s meet and talk in person at TE!

Don’t miss the many upcoming events which fill the pages of this month’s Shofar! From challah baking to our scholar–in–residence series, TE, as always, offers something for everyone! I look forward to meeting and talking to you soon!

To life, To Life — L’chayim…

As we approach the fourth anniversary of the Covid 19 lockdown and as we look back at the last four years, it is easy to be overwhelmed by what we have all lived through, what we have learned to live with (and, perhaps more importantly, what we have learned to live without) and what challenges we faced. It has taken us all some time to begin to return to ‘normalcy,’ both in our personal lives and especially in our communal lives. We have been back in our sanctuary and our building in person for a while now, even as we continue to live stream our services and events, making sure everyone has access to much of what we do as a community.

We had many exciting plans for this year, and were going to start working on some of them after the High Holy Days— but events of October 7^th have stunned us all into a painful and anxious new reality. Every special occasion, every festival, every Shabbat comes with a dilemma: how can I find joy in traditional observances when there’s so much pain and suffering? Chanukkah lights gave us hope, and helped to heal our broken hearts, at least a little—but now with Purim on the horizon, what will our celebrations look like? What stories will we tell at our Seder table this year? How many empty chairs will we have to leave at the table?

Five years ago, a group of TE members attended a special gathering of the Holocaust Memorial Torah scrolls in New York City, bringing the TE memorial scroll (back then housed in a display cabinet in our lobby) with us. It was a profoundly moving experience. As I held TE’s Holocaust Memorial Scroll #1178, and as I marched in a quiet procession of over 70 Czech memorial scrolls, I was overwhelmed by the fact that in my arms I held not only an incredible treasure of the Jewish people that was created and lovingly maintained by previous generations of Jews I did not know, but a scroll that belonged to the destroyed Jewish community of Horazdovice, a community that perished in the flames of the Holocaust. This was not just the Torah connecting me to the Jewish past. This was a moment to acknowledge, once again, that the future of this Torah’s Jewish community of Horazdovice was wiped out by the cruelty of hate and yet somehow, miraculously, the orphaned Torah has survived and found its way into the loving hands of our community, right here in Orange, CT. Scroll after scroll paraded through the room packed with over 800 people from some 80+ synagogues in the Tri-State area, honoring the painful past and celebrating the miraculous survival of Judaism. I will never forget this moment and this feeling.

TE delegation with our Memorial Torah Scroll at the gathering in NYC

This year the Memorial Scrolls Trust celebrates its 60^th anniversary, and there will once again be a gathering of the Torah scrolls in New York on Sunday, April 7^th. This time we will return once again but as I carry our scroll in that procession, it will be a scroll that has been restored and is once again used to celebrate Jewish life as children of our community step up to the Torah celebrating becoming B’nei Mitzvah!

This year, as our calendar begins to fill up with learning opportunities, social gathering opportunities and celebrations, may we continue to be inspired by the story of our Torah scroll, by the resilience of the Jewish people, by our desire to live and build and preserve what we cherish.

We will learn with Dr. Liram Koblentz-Stenzler, as part of our Annual Scholar–in–Residence Program on March 20^th and 27^th, and engage in some challenging and timely topics. We will celebrate Purim (including, once again, a special Adult Purim party), and Passover with our Annual Second Night Seder at Temple Emanuel. We will visit the Beinecke rare books collection, and we will plan an opportunity to ice-skate together. We will march proudly with our newly restored Torah scroll, honoring the difficult past, and look towards the future. We will continue to find strength and joy in each other and in sharing our traditions. Am Israel Chai—the People of Israel Lives!

Standing with our people…

Members of Temple Emanuel at the March for Israel in Washington, DC.

On Tuesday, November 14^th, a number of TE members joined the Greater New Haven delegation and traveled to Washington, DC to participate in the March for Israel. It was such a powerful experience, standing with hundreds of thousands of Jews (and some allies) from all over the country, demanding safe return of hostages, renouncing antisemitism, and standing with Israel and with each other. To see so many friends, colleagues, current and former congregants from many different places. To hear words of support. To cry with parents of hostages, demanding to #BringThemHomeNow. It was especially moving to see the little girl working on this sign: ‘my Jewish joy is stronger than your hate.’ I have asked one of the TE march participants, Phoenix Matarazzo, to reflect on our experience:

“Last month, I had the opportunity to participate in the March for Israel with fellow TE members, Rabbi, Olga, and other members of our Greater New Haven Jewish community. It was a day that brought together Jews and allies from various backgrounds, religious observance, and political views. The atmosphere was both somber and joyous. One of the highlights for me was joining everyone in singing “One Day” led by Matisyahu and The Maccabeats. This song always resonates with me because it expresses the deep longing for a future filled with peace. However, it also reminds me that this day of peace is still not here. This yearning for justice and peace was evident throughout the entire day.

As I stood in Washington, I couldn’t help but reflect on our previous school theme of seeing the world through Jewish eyes, and this year’s theme of telling OUR story. What better way to tell our story than by actively participating in it? We are blessed to carry the strength of our ancestors, supporting each other in our happiest and darkest moments. I thought to myself, “We should do this again, during better times!” Perhaps a nationwide Shabbat dinner?

It struck me that this may be the only time in my life that I will get to sing Hatikvah with over 290,000 people. Despite our differences, we are united in our support for the safe return of our kidnapped family members and the protection of our homeland. We are truly one mishpacha, one family.

As I listened and prayed alongside the impressive lineup of speakers and artists, I couldn’t help but believe that we are on the verge of a better world, a new kind of peace, and a stronger unity among the Jewish people. We refuse to yield to the beliefs of our enemies. We stand tall in our own story, proud to live it and pass it on to future generations.

The March for Israel filled me with hope for more acts of kindness, more connection with our traditions and with each other. I hope for more dialogue with our allies and with those who may not yet understand how to be allies. I hope for more education about who we are and where we come from. I hold on to the hope that our mishpacha will be whole again, with all our family members safely home.

We Are Family

When I was young (many years ago), I used to wonder why many of the school holidays came around the same time. We have just gone through a very active period of holidays at Temple Emanuel – Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. With the holidays bunched together, it is a very meaningful period. We as a congregation have had the opportunity to spend much time together. After our long period of being unable to spend much time together, it is wonderful to share time again together.

I like to tinker. After years of trying to change our announcements from stating that we welcome visitors, I recently changed the announcement to welcome newcomers to our community. As you may have noticed over the high holy days, I have changed it once again this time to “family.” I think that more accurately sets forth what Temple Emanuel is – we are a family. We enjoy spending time together and catching up with both old and new friends, or should I say family. And do we ever enjoy participating in the services – for that I thank you.

Many of you know, I love tradition. And I love building on the foundation our predecessors have set up for us. In the coming months we will be discussing new ways to encourage our membership, our family, to be involved with Temple Emanuel. We will also be affording people the opportunity with new ways to be involved with lay leadership at Temple Emanuel. This will involve training and discussions. This teaser will be set forth in greater detail shortly.

I love my TE family. And I know you love it as well. There is a reason why we are growing, when other religious institutions are shrinking. Let us all move to the next level. Thank you.

Music to our ears…

“The individual may pray in prose or even in wordless silence; a congregation must sing or disband.” Israel Abrahams, Poetry and Religion (1920)

Music has always been a part of Judaism. From the Levites who sang the Psalms and played instruments on the steps leading to the Temple in Jerusalem, to the ancient system of cantillation, a special way to chant the Torah; from the melodic way of studying and memorizing rabbinic texts of Mishnah and Talmud to the Hassidic niggunim, often simple melodies that were credited with being as powerful as the most well-composed prayers. There are numerous Hassidic sayings about the significance of melody, as the Zohar (foundational work of Jewish mystical thought) puts it, in “opening those heavenly gates that are firmly shut except to song and tears…”

Music stirs our souls in a way that words often cannot, activating emotions within us that we did not know existed… Music is such a strong presence in Temple Emanuel’s worship style that it is almost unimaginable without it! Yet music in worship (especially instrumental music) has a complicated history in Judaism. Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE the rabbis placed a ban on the use of music in general, especially in worship, as a sign of mourning. It is not hard to imagine that having witnessed the devastation, the last thing they wanted to do was sing… Another complication was the prohibition against playing musical instruments on Shabbat – not because the act itself is a violation of Shabbat (it was permitted in the Temple in Jerusalem), but out of much more technical considerations (to prevent the carrying of the instrument, its tuning or repair, if needed, all of which were considered violations of Shabbat). Even the shofar blowing on Rosh Hashanah was suspended if it fell on Shabbat!

From the very beginning, the Reform Movement insisted on bringing the music back to worship, back to the synagogue, back to Shabbat. Music and joy were always part of Judaism, and now they were making a comeback! Synagogues installed pipe organs and commissioned talented and popular composers of the time to write music settings for services in the synagogue, giving us the profoundly inspiring music of Lewandowski, Bloch, Sulzer, and many others. The music they wrote for the services was spiritual and uplifting. It was also very modern and reflective of the 19th-century popular music styles.

As the popular music styles changed in the second half of the 20^th century, a new kind of music entered the world of the synagogue worship. The pipe organs were joined (and often replaced) by guitars and electric pianos. Temple Emanuel, founded in 1962, is a true ‘child’ of that era – from the very beginning, our services were accompanied by guitar music, with the entire congregation singing along, rather than relying on a powerful pipe organ and a professional cantor or choir to provide music for the worship experience. In fact, it is probably safe to argue that music has been one of the main defining features of the new congregation, as well as many others that appeared in the 1960s and 1970s around the country.

For more than a decade now the TE band has been a part of a further experiment with music at TE services – and what an incredible experience this has been! Under Laurel Shader’s wonderful leadership up to 22 TE members of different ages, from middle school to retirees, have played together on various occasions, giving a new meaning to ‘musical Shabbat’ at Temple Emanuel!

As we continue to bring music to our worship, with the full TE band and with small groups of musicians, with a solo guitar and even a cappella – allowing the music to nurture our souls and lift our prayers straight to heaven – I am delighted to remind you that we have an amazing musical program coming up on November 4^th! A world-renowned singer and composer, Elana Arian, is coming to Temple Emanuel! We know and love Elana’s music; it has enriched our worship at TE over the last few years, and we look forward to welcoming Elana as our Shir Magic performer this year! Shir Magic is the Annual TE Concert in loving memory of Rabbi Jerry Brieger z”l

You can get your tickets in advance right here. Please spread the word, and I look forward to enjoying this special musical evening together. The TE band will of course make an appearance, and you can hear it next at Shabbat Chanukkah on December 8^th!

P.S. Play an instrument? Want to join the band? Speak to Laurel Shader or Rabbi Farbman!

Temple Emanuel Band with Jacob ‘Spike’ Kraus at Shir Magic Concert 2018

Oops, Help, Thanks, Wow: Jewish Prayer 101

Oops, Help, Thanks & Wow!

At one point or another, all of us have said these short words. Often, multiple times a day! As you read this column shortly before the start of High Holy Days, you are most likely concentrating on the ‘oops’ part – that is the nature of ‘accounting of our soul’, or cheshbon hanefesh. This time of year we are encouraged to take stock of our lives and our actions, acknowledge our failings and seek ways to perform teshuvah, ‘return’ to the vision of ourselves that we aspire to be… And while this time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and this process of teshuvah is extremely important, I am always mindful of the fact that we should pay even more attention to our actions between Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah!

So how do we do this? How do we elevate our daily and weekly experiences to allow for such thoughtful action? One of the traditional answers to this question is to rely on the structure of services and both individual and communal prayer. Our prayerbook, also known as the Siddur, is a sacred and essential tool that guides the individual and communal worship practices. This meticulously crafted compilation of prayers, blessings, and liturgical texts serves as a gateway for expressing gratitude, seeking guidance, and fostering a deep spiritual connection with each other and with the divine.

Temple Emanuel has its own prayerbook, Seder Tefilot Emanuel. This wonderful and warm book has inspired generations of TE members – and continues to do so! It began as a loose-leaf collection of prayers in the early TE years, then became a ‘Yellow Prayerbook’ and eventually took shape that we know and love over 20 years ago. It has survived two reprints and has served our community as a truly magnificent tool. In addition, after a few years of exploration and discovery, we have adopted the Reform Prayerbook ‘Mishkan Tefilah’, to be used alongside ‘Seder Tefilot Emanuel’. Although quite different in design and content, these two wonderful books help shape the worship at Temple Emanuel. In 2018 we adopted the recently published Mishkan HaNefesh as our High Holy Days machzor, and it has enriched our experience of the High Holy Days in a profound way.

This fall we will once again get together to explore the Jewish Liturgy. In this enriching journey, we will delve into the profound world of Jewish prayer and explore the intricate tapestry of rituals, texts, and melodies that have woven the fabric of Jewish worship for centuries. From the heartfelt expressions of gratitude to the introspective moments of self-reflection, Jewish liturgy offers a remarkable insight into the spiritual essence of the Jewish people. Join us as we uncover the history, significance, and deep connections that make up the mosaic of Jewish liturgical traditions. Whether you are a curious learner or seeking to deepen your understanding, this course promises to illuminate the beauty and meaning embedded in every word, every note, and every gesture of Jewish prayer.

The new course begins on October 8^th and will run on Sundays at 11 am. Advance registration is required, please follow this link to sign up!