Author: Rabbi Michael Farbman

Joy/”Simcha”

IMG_9867-001“Real joy comes not from ease or riches, or from the praise of man, but from doing something worthwhile.” — Sir Wilfred Grenfell (1865-1940), English medical missionary

 

January’s trait is “joy”.  Amazingly when one starts to look into this character trait, Christian wisdom literature seems to have more to say than the Jewish view.  But Jewish tradition encourages us to cultivate the conditions that will lead to more joy, more often. “Ivdu et HaShem ba’simcha”—serve God in joy.  Alan Morinis says this of joy:  “Moments come when the heart dances in the light. So much more than the experience of fun or even happiness, joy erupts when the inner sphere scintillates in its completeness. An experience touches us to the depths of our souls, and in that moment we are graced with a vision—if only fleetingly—of the flawless wholeness and perfection of it all. Then the heart fills and flows over, even amid the brokenness of this world.”

Joy is not syrupy or sappy, sentimental or seasonal.  Joy is not happiness, because happiness depends on what happens to you. Joy is also not the absence of sorrow. Joy is a vivid emotion of pleasure or the state of being highly delighted:  the birth of a child, marriage. Joy is dependent on spiritual insight and connection. Joy occurs when we close the gap between the high ideals we hold in mind and the living truth of how we act in life.

So, how does a congregation know joy?  By being together for life-cycle events, by healing the world, by creating a joyful noise unto the Lord (as the Psalmist says).  Our projects are off to a fabulous start this year: wonderful music with our children’s choir, a fabulous Chanukah basket project, a re-energized  look at Tikkun Olam. On that note, last month the TE Board approved a renewed commitment to help the hungry by supporting MAZON. Founded in 1985, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is a national nonprofit organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. MAZON began soliciting donations by encouraging American Jews to donate a portion of the cost of life-cycle celebrations (weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, anniversaries, and other joyous occasions), a modern interpretation of the ancient rabbinical tradition of not allowing a celebration to begin until the community’s poor and hungry were seated and fed.

Beginning in January, TE will send MAZON 3% of the total spent on the food for any event that occurs at TE. We used to do this regularly in the past. We commit to do this now. We join nearly 1,000 synagogues and tens of thousands of individual donors, all of whom share our commitment to ending hunger once and for all.

This month, come experience the joy at TE.

The power of music and the legacy of Debbie Friedman

IMG_0425 - Version 2Music 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 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, and 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 is sing…IMG_0470

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 service 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.

Never a dull moment!
Never a dull moment!

As the popular music styles changed in the second half of the 20th 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.

debbie4blogThe music of Debbie Friedman had defined that generation – and after some four decades it continues to touch the souls of so many Jews all around the world. But it’s not only her music and her talent that has completely transformed the music in the synagogue – Debbie, along with Jeff Klepper and a few others, had ignited the spark of creativity in generations of young Jews. She inspired them, she nurtured them, she challenged them – and they have completely transformed Jewish worship and Jewish music. Every year since Debbie’s untimely passing in 2011 we gather for a Debbie Friedman memorial concert around her yahrzeit. We sing and we play and we honor her legacy. This year please join me and the TE band as we honor Debbie’s legacy with our annual concert as part of the “Taste of Honey”, a community-wide celebration of Jewish learning at the JCC on January 31st at 7pm. I can think of no better way to honor her legacy than to share our gift of music with the wider community.

 

Chanukah Gift Giving Program a big success!

IMG_0843Temple Emanuel was abuzz with activity on Sunday, December 14th. Our religious school children and parents enjoyed an asephah filled with Chanukah songs and learning, followed by an adult study of the origins of Chanukah story with Rabbi Farbman, while the children went back to school for an hour. Then we gathered back together with other members of the congregation for a snack and to pack over 100 gift baskets filled with books, toys, art supplies, hats, scarves and gloves as well as baby items. These baskets will be distributed by ‘r kids Family Center, Fair Haven Community Health Center, Cornell Scott Hill Health Center and Jewish Family Services. Many members contributed items for the baskets, and there was a wonderful feeling of cooperation and giving in the social hall. Hopefully we have touched the lives of a number of children with these baskets. Thanks to all who participated!

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Matt McDermott from CONECT, Sunday Dec 21 , 10AM

Matt McDermottMatt McDermott, CONECT’s lead organizer, will return to TE  on Sunday, Dec 21st at 10 am, to engage in a deeper conversation about Tikkun Olam with TE members, following his very engaging talk at TE on Friday, Dec 12.

CONECT (Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut) is a non-partisan, multi-faith organization of 27 congregations in Southern CT that through building grass-roots relational culture fosters a powerful civic moral voice to affect change in the areas of social and economic justice and for the common good.

December 13 at 4PM. TE Adult Education series presents: The Territory, 2013 (USA/Israel), 42 min. Russian, Hebrew, Arabic with English subtitles.

me at esh kodeshThe Territory is an intimate look into the lives of Israelis from the former Soviet Union who made their new home in the West Bank settlements. While some residents move to the settlements looking for cheaper housing, others are motivated by Zionist ideology; and all are influenced by their past experience of being an oppressed minority in the Soviet Union.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/50307975
Dmitriy Khavin began his film career at the Odessa Film Studios in Ukraine. Since 1992 he has lived in the US, where he works as a director, editor and cinematographer. Dmitriy will join us for discussion of the film and share his insights as part of the screening.

High Holy Days Food Drive results are in!

food drive 2014 (2) food drive 2014We divided the food we collected into two equivalent piles and both places picked up the food during the week following Sukkot. Apparently JFS weighs the donated food and said we gave them a whopping 931 pounds.  That means that we collected a total of close to a ton of food this year!  JFS calculates that the food we gave them is the equivalent of 665 meals and estimates that value to be worth $1,545.  While, of course, we should all be very proud of this mitzvah, let’s not lose sight of the fact that the need is very, very real, with many people in our own communities living food-insecure lives and on the financial edge.  Many choose between buying medicine and buying food or between paying their rent and buying food.  In fact, JFS estimates that they distribute close to 6,000 pounds (3 tons) of food to the needy each month.  While they are greatly appreciative of what we gave them, more is needed.  With that in mind, we’re now considering multiple food drives throughout the year.  You’ll hear more from us as the details are worked out.
Thank you,
Will Sherman

And the Youth Shall see visions…

2014-10-19 11.48.05I hope your first post-Thanksgivukkah Thanksgiving was a wonderful time to reconnect with family and friends. If you missed the latkes at your table, no need to panic – Chanukah is almost here!

Over the last few years we have spent a lot of time and effort building up the TE programs for our post bnei mitzvah teens. There was a gap left by the demise of Makom, our local community high school, but even before it disappeared, only a few TE teens would join its programs every year. Our Confirmation program continued to attract students, and we had a few teens stay on as teacher’s aids in school, but majority of our teens did not find it easy to engage with TE.

Two years ago we added a leadership course for our madrichim (teacher aids). Once a month they met with Olga Markus, learning leadership skills, discussing relevant topics and preparing to be a better presence in the classroom. This year, we added a new cohort of teens, while ‘graduating’ the first class to the level 2 of training -together with Olga they continue to explore the ongoing challenges and opportunities of Hebrew school classroom, run individual programs within our school, serve as excellent substitute teachers and teach our weekly Story House preschool class! In the meantime, yesterday’s bnei mitzvah students have become an excellent addition to our school, as they learn to help our younger students with Hebrew and activities. I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of all our teen helpers, our wonderful madrichim, and the leaders they are becoming right in front of our eyes!

While school leadership program is extremely successful, it is also important to acknowledge that this kind of a program is not every teen’s choice – and so we have added a ‘Rabbi, How do I…?’ video class, expertly led by Noah Simon, himself a TE teen, where teens create short videos on timely Jewish subjects – we are currently working on displaying their work on TE website.

Last but not least, our joint program for teens with Congregation Mishkan Israel and Temple Beth David continues to go from strength to strength – this year’s: ‘Open Doors, Open Minds: a dialogue among Jews, Christians and Muslims’ brings the teens from our three communities together once a month, exploring the very important reality of interfaith work and providing a welcome opportunity to get to know Jewish teens from other communities. On December  7 we will make our first  interfaith visit to St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in Orange, where we will attend the service, meet with teens to learn about Greek Orthodox religious traditions and have a chance to ask questions of Fr. Peter Orfanakos.

I am extremely proud of all of our teens, and grateful to all TE members who continue to encourage and support this most important work for the future of our people.

Look forward to celebrating the Festival of Lights with you all at our annual Shabbat Chanukah on Dec 19 at 6pm – don’t forget your chanukkiah and let’s fill our sanctuary with light! Make sure that you sign up for dinner too, so that we have enough food for everyone!

ENTHUSIASM

Bessinger“If not now, when” —Pirkei Avot

Now, anyone who knows me at all has likened me to the “Energizer Bunny” of battery fame. So, I believe I am in a good position to discuss this trait.

Enthusiasm in Mussar tradition speaks to spiritual energy. It says that enthusiasm is the foundation of all the traits. This makes sense because your energy level can affect everything else in your life. How can one be generous if you lack the motivation to carry through on your intentions? Are acts of loving-kindness even possible without energy?

The Hebrew term for enthusiasm is “zerizut,” which can also be translated as zeal or alacrity. Acting with alacrity means springing forward without hesitation or obstacle. It does not mean rushing forward without thought. Instead it means that no rationalizations slow you down. You don’t put off what you need to do until another time. To do that you must have defined your priorities and know what is really important in your life and what is secondary or even expendable. Then it is possible to know what is worthy of attention and what is not. Enthusiasm also requires single-mindedness. Mussar teachers have described that the trait of zerizut depends on an inner experience that is uncluttered, clear and focused.

If we look at TE through a Mussar lens, now is the time that the Temple Emanuel community must respond with “Enthusiasm.” We are about to embark on an amazing journey of building. But this is no longer a response to a future need, but a reality of our growing and thriving community. We need to do this project in one phase and without any mortgage obligations. We must raise approximately $525,000 for the project. A monumental amount for such a small community! However, under the expert guidance of Dr. Alan Kliger, 85% of this amount has been promised by some very generous TE donors and the Federation. This means that if each of our 150 member-units contributes to the project, we will reach our goal. I know this might be a real stretch for some families, but it is what we all need to do, together. Please respond with “enthusiasm” when a member of the Board or Alan Kliger approaches you. Even better yet, approach them first. Let us all find our own inner “Energizer Bunny” to meet this challenge.

Joint MLK Jr. Shabbat service at Congregation Mishkan Israel, January 16 at 7:30PM

Forum Debate: Religion and Politics: David SapersteinOn January 16, 2015 at 7:30 PM the entire Temple Emanuel community will join Temple Beth David and Congregation Mishkan Israel for a very special MLK service. Congregation Mishkan Israel will begin the celebration of its 175th anniversary with the MLK, Jr service.  This year our guest will be Rabbi David Saperstein, the Director of the Religious Action Center in Washington, DC.  He was recently nominated as the US Ambassador-at-large for Religious Freedom and awaits Senate confirmation.

We hope you can join us for this very special Interfaith service, bringing together members of our three congregations, as well as spiritual leaders of many local faith communities.

The service will take place at Congregation Mishkan Israel,  785 Ridge Rd, Hamden, CT.

Bring a burst of sunshine into your winter! The TE citrus sale is back!

Citrus Here Earlier!!! New Deadline for orders: December 8, for December 21st delivery.

Bring a burst of sunshine into your winter! The TE citrus sale is back!
If you received the traditional ‘citrus envelope’ you can make your order and return the form with your check to the Temple office, or you can save yourself a stamp and place your order right here!