Category: Rabbi’s page

Building the Future…

Back in December I attended the biennial conference of the Union for Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. Six thousand people, amazing atmosphere, learning, camaraderie… When I bumped into Eisner Camp’s director, he handed me a large button which had the Camp logo and the following phrase: ‘Because of Camp I…’ and invited me to come up with my own answer and to wear it with pride. I paused for a moment, and then I wrote ‘because of camp I know the future leaders of our movement’.

Throughout the conference, people stopped to look at my button and nodded approvingly; someone even remarked, ‘I wish I said that on mine!’ Much as I enjoyed the compliment, I felt a little embarrassed. My comment was, in fact, quite literal – I was ordained at the Leo Baeck College in London and am a relatively recent ‘import’ into this country. I do not have the kind of connections with the young leaders of our youth movement I had in England and in the former Soviet Union as a result of my many years of involvement. So for me, the two weeks I get to spend at camp are not just about summer, informal education, and excited Jewish children – it is also about getting to know the song leaders and camp counselors, and the rabbinic and cantorial students who spend their summer at camp. It is about learning what matters to them, what motivates them and what the future holds for our people and our movement.

My comment was very personal, but it resonated with everyone who also happens to think that camp, one of the strongest Jewish identity builders, is a place to get to know the future leaders. This is why, along with many of my colleagues, I go to camp for two weeks every summer!

The future is very much on my mind as I write this column – especially the future of Temple Emanuel. The celebrations of our 50th anniversary continue to reverberate in my mind, especially as I continue to enjoy the wonderful collages currently displayed in our swing space. Looking back at the pioneering spirit of TE fills me up with pride, but also reminds me of the incredible responsibility I feel for helping TE continue to reach its true potential every year, every month, every week.

The last few years of transition have given us the opportunity to take a closer look at who we are, what we can achieve, and what we should aspire to be able to do. We are a small congregation with limited resources and incredible spirit – what at camp and youth movement gatherings is referred to as ‘ruach’. TE’s got it! We have a disproportionately large number of highly committed volunteers who make TE what it is – a truly inspiring community. What we need is to find a way to support all of our wonderful volunteers, to have our office serve as much more than just an office, but as a true hub of TE community.

I am delighted to welcome Nancy Weber to her newly-created position of Temple Administrator. She brings with her wonderful organizational skills and creativity, as well as a life-long love and commitment to Temple Emanuel. As we begin our second half century, as we begin to build our future, we have a wonderful team to carry us forward.

That’s the future we can all rejoice in!

Dayeinu – or What is Enough?

Passover is a time for getting in touch with our past. We look back at the history of our people; we remind ourselves where we came from – not just in one or two generations, but the very humble beginnings of our people. We remember slavery and its bitterness. We remember divine liberation and freedom. We remember that freedom required extraordinary events such as the sea parting – and extraordinary commitment from our ancestors, who had to make steps into the unknown from which there was no way back… We remember the suffering of others, not just our joy – and that is also the Jewish way…

We ask questions, not just four or five, but dozens, maybe even hundreds throughout the night. Some are trivial and others are profound, but it is the act of asking that matters the most, for it reminds us that we can never know it all, nor can we ever know too much of our own tradition and history. So we are commanded to keep the curiosity alive in ourselves and our children.

As we remember the slavery, we remind ourselves that the world we live in should be free of that plague; we re-dedicate ourselves to the great many issues that demand our attention in this world – freedom from oppression, end of human trafficking, end of modern slavery, end of hunger –  to name just a few. Each family will ask their own questions. Each one of us will be inspired by different passages from the haggadah or by different stories of people around the table.

One of my favorite passages in the haggadah is Dayeinu. Not just because of a great melody and the singing that comes with it, but because of the idea therein: even if we received fewer blessings, it would have been enough! Just freedom, without a chance of survival, would have been enough… Just survival without the land would have been enough… Just a chance to celebrate Shabbat or to have the wisdom of Torah would have been enough.

What an incredible concept! We live in a world in which nothing is ever enough. We ‘need’ bigger cars, better homes, more TV channels, latest gadgets – nothing is EVER enough for us. The world moves forward and so must we. There’s nothing wrong with that, don’t get me wrong – if we are not looking forward, we would never move forward. However, I love the idea of looking back, at least a few times a year, and having a chance to say, “Wow, look how far we have come!” and also “How blessed we are! Dayeinu…” As we celebrate the incredible festival of Passover this year, as we ask the questions and learn the answers, may we also find an opportunity to acknowledge where we are and to say ‘Dayeinu’.

Chag Pesach Kasher v’Sameach, a Happy Passover to you all!

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 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… 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 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.

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.

In the last two years we have introduced the TE band as 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 18 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. At a recent concert dedicated to memory of Debbie Friedman, Sydney Perry, the Jewish Federation CEO, had jokingly asked me if Temple Emanuel only accepts members who play a musical instrument – so impressive was the presence of our band and the music we were able to contribute to this community-wide concert!

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 March 24/25. A world-renowned singer and composer, Cantor Jeffrey Klepper, is coming to Temple Emanuel! We know and love Jeff’s music, it has for decades been one of the main musical influences in our worship at TE, and we look forward to welcoming him for a very special weekend. There will be a master class for musicians, a talk about Jewish music in the 21st century for everyone, Jeff will lead the asephah in our religious school and last but not least, he will bring much joy and inspiration to all of us through Saturday night concert. The full details of the weekend can be found in this shofar as well as on our website. All TE members get to enjoy this wonderful weekend for free, but we do need people to register (online or through the office) so that we know the exact numbers for the Fire Marshall. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity and enjoy the music!

The joys of Purim… Adar is here!

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)

The quiet months are over…

‘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 1st 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 8th. 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 50th 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 2nd 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!

Dreaming of camp…

Happy New year! May 2012 bring you all much joy and happiness – and a little fewer snow days than last year! 🙂

Together with Lew Shaffer and Bruce Spiewak I have recently attended the Union for Reform Judaism biennial in Washington, DC. The program was absolutely terrific, as always – with multiple engaging sessions, services, music and camaraderie of some 6000 reform Jews from all over the United States, as well as Israel and the UK. For the first time in our movement’s history, President Obama addressed the gathering – and if you haven’t seen his address yourself, I strongly recommend taking a look at urj.org/biennial11 – the website where videos of many of the main sessions are available.

One of the main initiatives unveiled at this historic meeting was the Campaign for Youth Engagement. It is a comprehensive attempt to address the continued trend of disengagement of teens from Jewish life and the synagogue past their bar/bat mitzvah. The campaign will attempt to better understand the reality – and to address it directly. It will not be easy. It will not be simple. It will most likely not be straight forward… But unless we address this issue head on, we are ignoring one of the biggest threats to the Jewish community in the 21st century.

I am extremely proud of our movement and I look forward to engaging with members and leaders at Temple Emanuel in trying to find ways to better serve our teens and our families. It is not a secret that I have a dream that we will once again have a very strong and vibrant, self-dependant youth group soon. Much has already been achieved and I am very proud of all our teens and parent volunteers have accomplished in the last two years, but we still have a long way to go.

One of the strongest Jewish identity builders in children is Jewish camp. Study after study shows that a few weeks at camp often do more to foster a positive Jewish identity than many other things we do. Needless to say, a summer spent at Jewish camp combined with Jewish education received at the synagogue and involvement in the life of the community throughout the year is an excellent idea! As you know, for the past two years I have served on the faculty of Camp Eisner – most rabbis, cantors and educators take turns in spending 2 weeks at camp, teaching the kids and providing wonderful Jewish experiences. Last year 4 kids from Temple Emanuel attended the Eisner/Crane Lake camps, all returning home with renewed sense of Jewish belonging and I am hoping that this year the numbers will be even greater.

First time campers are eligible for a $1000 incentive grant from the Foundation for Jewish Camping and Temple Emanuel offers additional scholarship through the David Nevis Fund. If you are interested in sending your children to a sleep-away Jewish camp, please speak to me or pick up a brochure at the Temple. I would also like to encourage those of you who would like to support the TE kids going to Jewish camp in the summer to consider the David Nevis Fund when making your next donation in honor or in memory of someone. Whether it is through Camp Eisner/Crane Lake, or a local Camp Laurelwood, I sincerely hope that you will start dreaming of a Jewish camp – even though it’s only January!

Prayer is for everyone…

There is a wonderful Chasidic story about a boy who did not know how to pray – so the rabbi advised him to recite the letters of the Hebrew alef bet. When someone protested that this would not help, the rabbi suggested that as long as the boy said the letters and put his heart and his soul in it, then God will surely put the letters in the right order… Our tradition constantly reminds us that we have to try and have both the kavannah, the intention to pray, and the keva, the formal liturgy. We struggle to bring both together, realizing that it is not always possible – and yet we try… In today’s world we also struggle with having the right balance of Hebrew and English, of music and readings, of stories and intellectual lessons. Sometimes the balance comes naturally to us, yet so often we have to make an effort to get it right.

Over the last two years I have heard many stories about various services with Rabbi Jerry at Temple Emanuel – especially from those who grew up in the congregation and attended the family services. As is often the case, there were plenty of adults who made sure they came on Friday of the family service – to hear the story, to see the wonder in the eyes of the children, to experience the joy of Shabbat in a slightly different way. As our school welcomes new young children, as we begin to have babies and young children around once again, the ritual committee has asked me to re-institute the Inter-generational Family Services at Temple Emanuel. This innovative service will be child-centered, and not just child-welcoming (as all TE services are, of course). It will be a little shorter, introduce the ‘visual tefilah’ that we have been using at our Hebrew school with much success, and will contain a story in place of a sermon – but it will also retain the full service structure and allow the mourners to say kaddish at the end. It will begin at 6.30pm, to allow more families with young children to come. To make it easier to remember when this special Shabbat service occurs, it will take place on the first Friday of every month, beginning on January 6, 2012 at 6.30 pm. (This will be the new ‘early service’, the second week of the month will return to the regular 8pm time as of January). If you have young children or grandchildren – this service is for you! I look forward to seeing you and your descendants at least once a month J. If you don’t have little children – please don’t feel that you have to stay away – the young children NEED to see adults praying, and the adults NEED to see the children learn their way around the synagogue.

As you may have noticed, our wonderful new prayerbook, MIshkan Tefilah, has arrived! We have used it for Sukkot and Simchat Torah services, as well as for Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – and now we are ready to start using it on a regular basis. As you may remember from my previous columns, the Mishkan Tefilah is not a replacement for TE ‘blue’ prayerbook, but is a wonderful addition that will enhance our prayer experience alongside our current siddur. After a thoughtful discussion at the recent Ritual Committee meeting, a following schedule has been agreed: on the first and the third Shabbat of the month we will use Mishkan Tefilah, on the second and fourth Shabbat we will use the ‘blue’ TE prayerbook. We will also continue to use the loose-leaf prayerbook for the musical Shabbat services! I suggest that to avoid confusion we will keep the Mishkan Tefilah (MT) prayerbooks on the shelf outside the sanctuary and bring them in for the assigned services, while the ‘blue’ books will remain in the usual place inside the chairs. If you are not too sure what book to use – just ask your neighbor! J Just remember – the book is only there to help us along the journey of prayer, so no matter what book you are holding on any given Shabbat, it is your voices and your prayers that matter the most!

I would like to wish you all a happy and joyous Chanukah and I look forward to celebrating it with you on December 23rd with our phenomenal Musical Shabbat Chanukah!

Building the community…

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 9th, 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 12th and Oct 19th), 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!

Slach lanu… forgive us before the High Holy Days?

Rabbi Michael Farbman


In our tradition, the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the most awe-inspiring and powerful Holy Days. In our modern reality, the High Holy Days continue to serve as a draw for the Jews who rarely set foot in the synagogue during the year, but who nonetheless make big efforts to be a part of a community on the Days of Awe. Of course, if you have not been coming to the synagogue regularly, you may find the experience alienating (and great many Jews do!), since you do not know the prayers and may not be quite as comfortable with Hebrew (or don’t know how to read), the services may seem far too long and hard to cope with. If you go to a bookstore or search online, you will quickly discover dozens of books with titles such as ‘how to survive the high holidays’, ‘Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur survival kit’ and so on.

Somehow, this most profound experience of the Jewish year is also one of the most difficult ones for the majority of modern Jews – and yet the synagogues continue to open up walls to social halls and rent additional chairs to accommodate all those who come just for those few days… For so many Jews, coming back to the synagogue to hear Kol Nidrei and Avinu Malkeinu and the sound of the Shofar is still one of the most important moments of the year. I know for certain that those who attend the services regularly feel much more at home in the synagogue during the High Holy Days, but I also know how much comfort the High Holy Day services give to everyone who comes back year after year…

The Days of Awe, Yamim Noraim are technically the ten days that connect Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is the time for reflection, for introspection. The time to conduct what the rabbis call heshbon hanefesh, the accounting of the soul. It is a time to seek forgiveness for the wrongs we have done – first from people, our loved ones, our families and friends, as well as people we barely know but may have hurt, and then from God. But as much as we all accept the need to come together and to pray and to say the words of supplication (slach lanu, mechal lanu, kaper lanu – forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement) we often forget that this process does not begin on Rosh Hashanah, the New Year – but it begins in the month of Elul that precedes it!

The Selichot prayers, the ‘prayers of forgiveness’ are recited in the month of Elul, before the New Year even begins. In Sephardi tradition the selichot are recited throughout the month of Elul, whereas the Ashkenazim begin the selichot prayers at the end of Shabbat preceding Rosh Hashanah. Traditionally, the penitential prayers are recited at midnight, physically reminding us that this is the time to look at our lives and ourselves in a different light…

For many years now the Greater New Haven area Reform synagogues have been coming together for the Selichot services. It gives us a once-a-year opportunity to share our worship with each other and to be together as part of a bigger Jewish community and family – a very special feeling indeed. This year, as we begin to celebrate Temple Emanuel’s 50th anniversary, we are also honored to host the Selichot services at TE! On Saturday, September 24th at 7.30 pm members of Reform Congregations in Hamden, Cheshire, Southbury, Madison and Chester will come and join TE members for a very special service that will help us set the mood for the upcoming Holy Days.

Professor Paul Bloom from Yale will talk about ‘Just Babies’ and share with us the results of his research into innate morality, the fascinating subject that seems to confirm some of the key beliefs in Judaism!

If you would like to sing in the combined choir, please contact Laurel Shader asap! We also need help with parking and food, please let Leona know if you are available to help, but above all, I hope we use this opportunity to come together and experience the incredible spirit of the selichot service, especially if you have not done so in the years past!

Last but not least, I hope you will take a moment to follow the link in the shofar blast (or the shofar) and tell the High Holy Day committee what mitzvoth (honors) you would like to have in the services, as well as how and when you are able to help – we really want to make sure that every member of our congregation has a chance to participate in the most meaningful way!

Wishing you all Shanah Tovah U’metukah, a sweet and happy New Year 5772 ahead!

Shiru l’Adonai Shir Chadash, Sing unto God a new song…

If favorite books are like old friends, prayerbooks are like trusted and beloved family members. We turn to them in joy as well as in sorrow, in wonder and in confusion. While holding the prayerbook in our hands, we talk to God, it helps us find the right words when our own words fail us… It bears witness to the passage of time and to the major events in our lives.

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 some 20 years ago. It has survived two reprints and has served our community as a truly magnificent tool. In the current edition of the ‘blue prayerbook’ as it is affectionately known, there is an introduction from Rabbi Brieger: “As this second printing appears, I suggest to our members that the time is here to begin thinking about what needs to be addressed for a revised second edition of this prayerbook”. These words were written back in April 1998, almost 13 years ago. Rabbi Brieger’s health and transition have prevented us from pursuing this charge. In the meantime, the Reform Movement has produced a new prayerbook – Mishkan Tefilah, a wonderful liturgical collection that reflects very well both the history of our movement and the traditional structure of Jewish liturgy. It addresses many limitations of its predecessor, the Gates of Prayer, that our own ‘blue prayerbook’ sought to address some 20 years ago.

Last year the ritual committee began a difficult task of discussing how to proceed. The love for our current prayerbook is unquestionable and a thought of replacing it is very hard to bear. Yet we cannot deny that the book in its current form urgently needs a serious update… I was asked to help the committee form its opinion of the new prayerbook and we organized an explanatory service with the few copies of Mishkan Tefilah that we have in our library. It was then decided that we should have similar introductory services conducted for the entire congregation, allowing us all to experience the prayerbook that has become a standard among most reform congregations in America, before trying to make a decision on how to proceed.

Camp Eisner is generously lending us enough copies of Mishkan Tefilah this winter. Over the next few months we will have an opportunity to explore this prayerbook. We will get a chance to flip through the pages, to see what it has to offer and to form our own opinions. A picture may be worth a thousand words, how much more so an experience of a ‘real thing’!

The first explanatory service is planned for February 4th, following a shabbat dinner. There will be more such services planned in March and April. I very much hope that you will be able to attend these services and, together with the Ritual Committee, I look forward to hearing your thoughts, feelings and comments. As we embark on this important, yet challenging journey, may we continue to listen to each other with patience and love, to express ourselves and our thoughts with wisdom and care. May we go from strength to strength.

B’shalom,
Rabbi Farbman.