Category: Featured

Mishenikhnas Adar, marbim b’simchah… From the moment the month of Adar begins, we increase the joy… This ancient rabbinic dictum reminds us that we are to celebrate Purim with much joy and happiness – not only on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar (when the festival occurs) but from the very beginning of the month! That’s wonderful news, right?

For some reason, Purim seems to be a problem for many people. They view it as a festival for kids, something that takes place at a religious school if at all – kids dress up, maybe put together a purim shpiel (play), maybe have a costume parade. Grownups only need to turn up if they are a parent or a grandparent – or a rabbi :). This creates a reality of what many call a ‘pediatric Judaism’ – something reserved for kids. The result is that the minute the kids hit high school, they want to be nowhere near the celebration. Why would they, in their minds it’s only for kids! I think of this often, especially at the time of Halloween. When we take our kids trick-or-treating, I never cease to be amazed by teenagers, as well as grownups, fully dressed and having fun. Why is it, I wonder, most of us find Halloween a socially acceptable time to dress up and have fun, yet so many shun Purim as adults? Is it the deep religious message of the Halloween, perhaps, that tips the scales? 🙂

There’s another challenge. Have you read the Megillah in full? It’s blood-thirsty! It’s pretty heavy! It speaks in categories that we find challenging to say the least… You do NOT want to read the full, unabridged text of the megillah to the little kids before bed – and so we omit a few details from our story as we play it out in religious school. Combine that with the fact that we refuse to go back to Purim and the text as adults and voila – you have a problem. For years now I have been advocating that every year we should engage in serious discussion of the megillah text – with all the gory details. We should challenge ourselves and find our own answers. We should never allow ourselves to disengage from this part of our heritage. Last year we had a fabulous Purim party for adults. We read the megillah, we dressed up, we had a musical Purim spiel, had a drink or two (or three – after all, it is a mitzvah on Purim :)) and we danced the night away. Not a single person wanted to go home! This year on March 10th at 7:00pm we are doing it all over again – and we know that THIS year there will be many, many more TE members who will not want to miss this party! Please click here to sign up! Don’t forget to bring your family and friends!

Earlier that morning (Saturday March 10, 10:30 am) I invite you all to come and study the megillah in English with adults as part of our weekly Torah study group – it will be fun and it will be educational, there will be coffee and hamentaschen! Remember, Adar is the time for joy! Come yourself. Make sure the teenagers are there. Make sure they see YOU having fun – and engaging with Judaism for YOUR sake, not just for their sake. Maybe, just maybe, they will know that it’s OK to have fun being Jewish :).

Chag Purim Sameach! A Happy Purim!

Rabbi Farbman.

(this article first appeared in the monthly Shofar in March 2011)

‘Deep winter, still winter, but the days are visibly longer. The sun is visibly brighter. In the Land of Israel, it is still raining – but the rains are beginning to slacken. Already they have filled the deepest recesses of the earth. Far underground, the roots of trees are beginning to suck at earth’s replenished breasts. Their branches are beginning to grope toward the gathering light. There is barely any change to see; there is barely any change to hear. But the turn of the year has come. The still and quiet months are over; the seed is quickening, life is reasserting itself. In this hushed moment we celebrate the new year of trees, and the reawakening of the Tree of Life.’ (Arthur Waskow, Seasons of Our Joy)

The Mishnah records a disagreement between the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel. They are trying to decide when to celebrate the New Year of Trees (an important date, since it would determine the tithing system for the ancient Israelite farmers). Shammai insists it should be on the 1^st of Sh’vat, around the time when the sap begins to rise inside the trees, marking the beginning of spring – invisible to the eye yet real awakening of nature from winter slumber. Hillel suggests the 15 of Sh’vat, around the time when the first almond trees begin to blossom, providing a visible sign of spring. In the end, the tradition follows Beit Hillel and marks the New Year of Trees on Tu BiSh’vat (which means 15 of Sh’vat), this year it falls of February 8^th. On that day, it is customary to eat as many fruits that grow in Israel as one can find, some try to eat 15 different fruits (dried fruits are also OK, especially if you can get some Israeli ones!).

In his introduction to the chapter about Tu BiSh’vat, Arthur Waskow talks about the nature and life reasserting itself. ‘The quiet days are over’. In this remarkable 50^th year of Temple Emanuel, we hardly had any quiet days – but if we did, they are definitely over! Outside, the snow comes and goes, the winter is in full swing, but just like the sap begins to rise inside the trees before we ever get to see any real signs of spring, the activity begins to heat up at TE as we continue to celebrate our 2^nd Half-Century. Just take a look at the calendar: Chinese Dinner, Purim party, an incredible musician-in-residence weekend with Jeffrey Klepper, an upcoming Sisterhood variety show, not to mention Pesach and the Anniversary Gala – all of this in addition to two new adult study programs, building renovations, committee work and school programs! Our new family Shabbat service on the first Friday of the month was a huge success in January and we look forward to seeing many more families, with and without children at the early service in February. The first Torah service with Mishkan Tefilah prayerbook was in January and we continue to get used to the new prayerbook, proudly using it alongside our beloved TE siddur. We continue to improve our communications and our website, so that it can match the outstanding Shofar that we are so proud to produce every month, thanks to our wonderful team! As of this month, you can register for most of our events online, through our website, complete with payment opportunity, saving you (and our office) some precious time.

As we go through winter, and as we acknowledge the change of seasons in Israel, may we remember to take a moment and marvel at the miracle that is Temple Emanuel. I look forward to seeing many of you at all the wonderful events coming up this month and in the spring. The quiet days are over – let the fun begin!

If God does not build the house, the workers labor in vain… (Psalm 127).

There is an ancient Jewish tradition: when building a house, to leave one corner, one tiny bit unfinished. To let a little bit of brick show through plaster in the corner, to have something left not fully painted. Our ancestors did so in order to remind ourselves that the world is not complete, that there is far too much suffering and destruction in the world for us to sit comfortably in our home and think that all is good…

Over the course of this summer there was a lot of renovation activity at Temple Emanuel – the new floors were laid in the social hall and the entrance, ceiling was painted in the swing space, a new layer of shingles was added to the Sanctuary building roof, new gutters are being added to both buildings – wonderful, exciting, much needed actions to upkeep the TE physical ‘body’. This is perhaps the biggest number of projects undertaken in quick succession over the last few years – much of it delayed or scheduled maintenance. There are still things that need fixing – the social hall ceiling and acoustics, the board room in the ‘house’ that suffered major water damage and will need to be almost fully re-built to name but a few – but many of the things we did, like the floor and the roof, allow us to ‘tick it off’ as completed – a great feeling of accomplishment for TE leadership – and for all of us! There’s still plenty of ‘unfinished corners’ around TE, of course, but at least the projects that have been completed give us a sense of – well, completion!

The buildings are important, no doubt about that. Yet they are merely the tools in our real efforts: the building of a community! The relationships that are forged, the learning that takes place, the prayers that are offered, the traditions observed, the caring and the deeds of loving kindness performed daily by members of Temple Emanuel… That’s what we are REALLY building – the fabric of our Jewish present and the foundations for our Jewish future. Thanks to the generous vision of the Second Half Century fund we are also supporting our school and educational programs through new curricula and exciting initiatives, the school building is buzzing with excitement! New members join and past members are coming back – what better testament can there be to our community-building efforts?

This kind of building is at times harder to see, unlike the bricks and mortar – but it can be felt and experienced at so many things we do throughout the year! Above all, this is not the kind of ‘building’ that can ever be finished – just as relationships, the community needs what was built in the past as a foundation, but needs continued efforts to keep it alive and well.

I hope you get to see for yourself all the wonderful renovations that took place over the summer and take pride in them. I also hope that you will take an active role in being a part of the community-building that we do and find a way to engage and lend a hand. I look forward to seeing many of you as we build the sukkah on October 9^th, a temporary structure that reminds us of the fragility of our lives and our buildings, and of the strength of our human bond with each other and with God. I also look forward to continued celebrations of Sukkot and Simchat Torah, (Oct 12^th and Oct 19^th), extending the special season of High Holy Days with the joyful celebration of our heritage and our Torah!

Wishing you all a shanah tovah u’metukkah, a sweet, happy and fulfilling new year 5772!