Author: Rabbi Michael Farbman

Summer 2015

“First a person should put his house together, then his town, then the world.”

(Rabbi Israel Salanter, founder of Mussar)

The word for order – seder – shows up frequently in Jewish tradition. It is the name given to the evening ritual meal on Passover. It is also the root of the name of the prayer book itself, the siddur. Alan Morinis points out that “because all of creation runs on orderly principles, it is said to be mesudar – orderly – and therefore the Torah, which is the blueprint of the world, is mesudar as well.”

“Order” may seem like an odd thing to be thinking of at this time of the year when unstructured summer days stretch out before us. As my family and friends know, the Passover seder is my favorite observance during the Jewish year. It is not just the family, the friends, the food, or the ritual; it is the “order” itself which strikes a balance with the surrounding chaotic activity. Mussar teaching stresses that order is more than just a practical necessity, it is a spiritual value. Mussar practice encourages one to seek spirituality within ones daily activities. From this perspective, the order that one seeks to create on your desk, in your car, your clothes, your financial papers, or your tools, is not just good management it is all spiritual work.

So, as the TE year draws to a close, it is time to put our TE year in order. And there is much to order. If we include holiday services and Religious school events, we had something going on every week of the year. Thank you to the many TE members who led each of these projects. Thanks to Hilary, Ariette and the Rabbi for providing the professional framework within which we volunteer. We can group our activities into big categories (and this doesn’t even include our terrific fund-raisers or many other social events):

Tikkun Olam: We participated in Abraham’s tent, the CT Walk against Hunger, the People’s Climate March, the Neighbor-to-neighbor Poverty simulation, our first Red Cross blood drive, made Hanukkah baskets made for local families in need, collected food for our local pantries, collected clothes and toys for a local family after a fire, donated household goods for Columbus House, participated in the Days for Girls project, raised money for secondary school scholarships for Nicaragua, collected books for Reach Out and read, made scarves for Spooner House, and donated money to the Town of Orange Fire firefighters and Israeli firefighters

Study: We held Adult Education Shabbat afternoon sessions in member’s homes, our teens participated in “Open Doors, Open Minds: a dialogue among Jews, Christians and Muslims’” with other local teens, we engaged in weekly Torah study, hosted a wonderful Scholar in Residence weekend with Professor Kassow, watched the documentary “The Territory” with its film-maker, discussed the book “My Promised Land”, traced our roots in a Jewish Genealogy workshop, and learned Indian cooking.

Prayer (and Music): We had our first Shabbat on the beach in Milford, joined a special MLK service with Congregation Mishkan Israel, had musical Shabbat services with the TE Band, honored Rabbi Winer MBE with a special Shabbat dinner, started Tot Shabbat services with intergenerational dinners, held the Debbie Friedman memorial concert at the Taste of Honey, participated in the Interfaith Thanksgiving service in Orange and celebrated Lag b’omer with bon fires, song and dance with 5 area synagogues.

Building: The new addition is a magical reality about to be opened at the Sept 11^th BBQ, the decision has been made to put solar panels on the Social Hall roof, the new HVAC will be installed in the Sanctuary building, and our significant winter water damage will soon be repaired. Remember there is still time to make your donation to the One Campus Appeal.

With the old year “ordered”, it is easier to chart a plan for the coming year (next month’s Shofar topic). We also need a succinct way to describe ourselves to the world at large (a TE “slogan”). Perhaps by reviewing what we have done, you will be encouraged to help us create that description. Please send me your ideas. Have a wonderful summer.