It’s a different question than “Why do you join a synagogue,” right? Most people – and I am generalizing here – join a synagogue in order to receive something from it: education for a child, a B’nei Mitzvah, a wedding, funeral, or other lifecycle event, or sometimes, simply to find a place in which they can study, pray, and learn about themselves and their people. These are all good reasons to join.
If someone joins for a finite reason, most often, they leave after that reason has come to completion. The synagogue, for all its efforts, attempts, during their time there, to reveal that the synagogue can offer so much more than just what that specific member joined for. If you joined for a child to become B’nei Mitzvah, we will attempt to show you that there are events and programs here that you might enjoy as well. Once you are involved and see how wonderful it is to be a part of our community, we hope that you will choose to continue your membership long after the B’nei Mitzvah is over.
I do believe in all that the synagogue has to offer its members. However, that is not solely why I think anyone should be a part of our synagogue community. I’m not sure how many people know that a synagogue is a non-profit institution. Now, when most people think of a non-profit, they consider it a charitable organization usually worth donating to. But I’ve heard time and time again that the synagogue is a business like a gym or club and that its members want to receive something worth the money they are putting into it. The synagogue is not a gym and I am not a trainer. Sure, we may flex our mitzvah muscles and I may prepare people for certain life cycle events, and for certain, the High Holy Days seem like a marathon at times! But the big difference is that we are not a fee-for-service organization. We are a charitable non-profit institution. So what do we do to that end?
Please allow me to show you.
Multiple times each year, we make over 1,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to donate to the Interfaith Nutrition Network. During the pandemic, congregants who were able, shopped for people who couldn’t leave their homes. We arranged for lunch to be delivered and gifted to the doctors and nurses in the ER and COVID Ward at Syosset Hospital. We provided lunches and dinners to each of the Northwell Testing and Urgent care centers in both Syosset and Plainview for all their doctors, nurses, and staff. For an organization called “Neighbors helping neighbors” we sent over 1,000 diapers to those in need in Wyandanch. Every Sunday in May, we held a no contact, drop off food drive where we collected over 2000 pounds of food to donate to Island Harvest. Simultaneously for those who couldn’t go out and shop for food to donate, we collected over $6,000 of donations to distribute to various hunger relief organizations. We sent meals to the 2nd Precinct Police department to thank them for their efforts during the Pandemic as well. By November of that year, we had donated the food we collected from our High Holy Day food drive as well as winter coats to donate them to Long Island Cares. And that was all in 2020 during the breakout of COVID. In the beginning of 2021, our congregation purchased food, toiletries, cleaning products, diapers, formula and baby supplies during a nationwide shortage to many programs including, Neighbors helping Neighbors, The Interfaith Nutrition Network, Long Island Cares Harry Chapin Food Bank, Island Harvest, Baby Essentials of Long Island and the People’s Pantry of Oyster Bay. Twice in 2021 we donated Kosher food to the food bank of our local Mid Island Y JCC. We packed and donated 100 bags of paper goods and personal care items to the Hatzilu Kosher Food pantry at the Sid Jacobson JCC as well. We support Veterans with donations to the VA hospital of Northport. And we donate many necessary goods as well as snacks and treats to the children staying at “Broken but not destroyed” family shelter in Franklin Square. Through a contactless book drive we donated hundreds of books to “Book Fairies.” And every year we assemble over 400 complete Thanksgiving dinners to shelters and individual homes on Long Island. In 2021, our Mitzvah committee also anonymously adopted a toddler boy and purchased clothes and toys that he had specifically requested for the holidays. While hosting a free drive through COVID testing site, we also collected coats to be donated. When the war in Ukraine began in 2022, we held a supply drive to send much needed goods to those suffering the atrocities of war. It was picked up by News 12 and people from all over Long Island showed up with clothing, toiletries, and medical supplies. In April we hosted a Mitzvah Day where congregants came to the synagogue and made sandwiches to donate, packed non-perishable food, sorted clothing and toiletries, stuffed and decorated teddy bears and made blankets for children in the hospital, cooked and delivered meals, and so much more. In 2023, in addition to everything else we do annually, we purchased and sent medical supplies for immediate transport to Turkey to assist with the horrific earthquakes that occurred there.
Believe it or not, this is not an exhaustive list of what our synagogue does to help the community around us. And we will do more every year, because it is imperative as Jews, that we help to heal our world. It is a Jewish obligation to feed the hungry, to care for the orphan, and to supply to the needy. It is a commandment to care for our world and our fellow human beings. Whether or not, the specific holiday programs, social events, or religious rituals that our synagogue provides you as a member, speak to you, the work that we do as a synagogue, of which you are – or at least can be – a part of, should speak to us all.
I don’t know the reason why everyone joined North Shore Synagogue. I am so happy that you are here and I am honored to serve you and be your rabbi. And, in addition to walking with you through all your life cycle events – both sad and joyful – I am truly inspired by the work we do as a Jewish non-profit. We cannot do any of the work above without your support, both physically and monetarily. I hope that this small tidbit of what NSS does inspires you as it does me and you will throw your support – in any way you can – in continuing this vital Jewish work of repairing the brokenness in our world.
It may have been very cold outside but it’s been a wonderful winter at school. The children learned about what animals and people do in the winter. We learned some hibernate, some migrate and some adapt. We had a blast during hibernation day. We all wore our pajamas and went on a bear hunt. We had so much fun looking through the halls following clues and finding bears.
We also celebrated the 100th day of school on February 18, 2022. The children celebrated 100 days of friendship and learning!
The 4’s finally finished the phonics portion of the “Fundations” program. When we returned from break the children began learning how to write the sky line letters, t, b, f, l, h and k. Next they will move onto the plane letters, n, m, i, u, r, p and j.
The 3’s classes talked about different emotions and the importance of friendship. The class has been busy working on building the strength in their hands by enjoying many fun fine motor activities. They used tweezers to pick up small objects. They picked up buttons and placed them on a number chart. They practiced using scissors and tracing lines and circles with markers. The 2’s learned about dinosaurs and farm animals.
All the classes learned about community helpers. They enjoyed turning their dramatic play centers into different places in the community, such as the post office, a vet office, and a doctor’s office.
We are looking forward to celebrating Purim in March. We can’t wait to wear costumes and have our parade and party!
While it seems like summer just started, the High Holidays fall early this year and are fast approaching (and if you really want to induce panic in a clergy member just say that phrase to them.) Erev Rosh Hashanah, which always is on the first of Tishri (the Head of the Year), falls in our Gregorian calendar in the first week of September. If we rewind to the first of Elul, the month in which we begin our spiritual preparations for the High Holidays, we begin preparing ourselves on August 9th. During Elul, we recite penitential liturgy and poems that help us ask for forgiveness from God and help us get into the needed frame of mind to have our slates wiped clean and to begin anew.
Among the tasks required to receive God’s forgiveness are confessing our sins but also apologizing to those people we have harmed either through action or deed. Because it requires facing another person, this can be a challenge for people. I am reminded of a children’s book by Jacqueline Jules titled The Hardest Word. In it, a bird keeps making mistakes and asks God for help to try to fix things. God asks the bird to bring God the hardest word. The bird brings back many words to God, but none of them are the hardest. At the end of the book, it is revealed that the hardest word is indeed “sorry.”
What makes “sorry” the most difficult word to say? There are several reasons that I can think of; we are scared to admit to our mistakes and then have to own up to them, to drudge up things that may have been forgotten, are embarrassed of our past behavior and are nervous or even scared to confront someone we hurt.
In my family, we call one another and make a blanket apology for anything we’ve done in the past year and know the person on the other side of the phone will quickly absolve us. I wonder what it would look like if we actually accounted for each offense we could remember and sincerely apologized for those individual and specific deeds. Would it help deepen our relationship with one another? Maybe actually wipe away some built up resentment? Isn’t that the point? Has my family been doing it wrong all of these years?
I wonder, is “sorry” actually the hardest word to say or does it just represent the hardest process? Even though it scares me, I am going to take baby steps this year towards making the kind of apologies I believe God really wants. I send you strength and courage to do the same.
A television series titled, Picket Fences ran on CBS from 1992 -1996. I am dating myself for
sure, but it’s worth it. David E. Kelly, producer and writer of Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, The Practice and others also created this one.
Mr. Kelly writes wonderful dialogue with intelligent banter and entertaining plots. Picket Fences was his first show. In my opinion, the name itself coupled with the point of the various plots of the shows, learns it the title of his most brilliant look into the human psyche.
Picket Fences takes place in the small town of Rome, Wisconsin. Jimmy Brock, the main character is the sheriff of the town. His wife, Jill, is the town doctor. They have three children, a perfect house with a spotless lawn and, you guessed it, a white picket fence. As a matter of fact, most houses in the town have white picket fences and on the outside, their lives look perfect.
However, a lot happens in this town. As the plot centers around the sheriff and the doctor, most stories revolve around puzzling illnesses or crimes. Some more memorable episodes involve cows mysteriously giving birth to humans, a mass of murdered bodies found in freezers, and spontaneous human combustion. Mr. Kelly went to great lengths to prove that picket fences do not make a perfect community.
The white picket fence has become the symbol of the American dream. And yet our new vinyl siding, beautifully
maintained flower beds and white picket fences only give us a false sense of purity. Those expensive opaque blinds simply conceal our true emotions, our real-life blemishes – anger, disappointment, greed, gluttony.
A quick google search on picket fences comes up with “outdoor shower hiding behind a white picket fence.” People today believe that we can hide anything behind a white picket fence. And in the same way, we hide behind our outer appearances. Manicures, pedicures, make-up, expensive yet uncomfortable shoes, stiff yet
“flattering” clothing – we hide our flaws behind this structural equipment. And we spend way too much time working on them instead of working on the issues inside.
No matter how thick the siding, how white the fence, or how beautiful the flower beds; if the inside of the house has turmoil, it will seep outside. The family cannot maintain health on the outside, if, on the inside, there is pain. It is the same with our bodies. No matter how perfect the hair or make-up; no matter how muscular or
athletic, if the mind and the soul are in chaos, the body will cease to function appropriately.
I am not advocating ignoring your siding, lawn, fence, or bodily needs. On the contrary, I believe that sometimes cleaning up the outside can prompt a deeper cleanse. However, only tending to our outward needs is only doing half the job. In the book of Samuel, chapter 16 verse 7, God speaks to the prophet Samuel saying,
“For God sees not as humans see: humans look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” We are not God, but we are commanded to be Holy. Parents teach their children to “not judge a book by its cover.” Judaism teaches the same in its own way – “Al tistakeil b’kankan, eileh b’mah she-yesh bo – Don’t look at the
bottle, rather, look at what is inside.” Teachers instruct students to treat everyone fairly, not by what they wear or how tall they are. Clergy preach about equal rights for all regardless of race, ethnicity, or other outward signs. And yet, we all fall victim in some way or another to disbelieving what we ourselves teach. The more we fall apart inside, the more we attempt to gain control over the outside. The vicious cycle is soul-deadening.
We must strive to see ourselves as God sees us – from the inside out. Once we shine that light inside of us to an illustrious gleam, it will radiate such light and warmth, it will overshadow any broken boards of our picket fences, any dull pieces of old siding, any physical blemish we fear. God knows, our souls are pure, our faults are real and true, for we are only human. But to become divine, we must look inside, not out – for that is where the holiness lies.
We find ourselves living in a time rife with scientific conflict. It seems that there are camps that believe in global warming or do not. There are those who believe in vaccinations, and those who find them to be ineffective, or even dangerous. As we approach our most austere, contemplative time of the year, I would like to examine two great thinkers who challenged conventions and innovated how we view the natural spiritual world.
My first serious foray into philosophy was sophomore year in college. I remember reading Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy. In his third meditation, Descartes proved the existence of God. His ontological argument essentially stated that he knew himself to be imperfect, finite, and ephemeral. And yet, he could conceive of a perfect, eternal, immortal being which could create something else, like humans, and implant in them an awareness and consciousness. This seemed like a particularly dissonant idea when compared to The Description of the Human Body. In it, Descartes describes the body as a machine. Food was absorbed into the blood and fed the heart, which was the furnace of our body. Most of his writing was grounded in Rationalism and Foundationalism. I remember learning that his ontological argument for the existence of God was written to appease the church because so much of his writing was considered heretical. Surely, if Descartes had written his Meditations in 20th century America, he would not have had to appease the church. But because of the time and location in which he lived, his writing reflected something about himself and his environment. Descartes used his own belief system, his own style of arguing to justify the existence of God. And whether he really believed it or not, only he will know, but it certainly evolved into a popular argument for the existence of God.
Rambam, like Descartes, wrote the Mishneh Torah as a reflection of his beliefs, which were a result of equal parts nature and nurture. Rambam was raised as a traditional Jew. Proving God’s existence was never an issue. To Rambam God did exist. We know this because the first line of Chapter One of Fundamentals of the Torah states, “the fundamental principle and pillar of all science is to know that there is a First Being who has
brought everything that exists into being.” This is clearly a bold claim because if one were to refute it or disagree with it, the rest of the subsequent writing is null and void. To continue reading, to follow along with perfect faith is to accept that, “This Being is the God of the universe, the Lord of the entire world.” There is no room for questioning; Rambam makes his stance very clear, whereas Descartes started from scratch using geometry and the ideas of perfection as a way to prove that God must exist. This implies that there is room to doubt the existence of God. Rambam does not give us that room.
Rambam continues with the following claim: “It is he who controls the celestial sphere with a power to which there is neither end nor limit, with a power that is never interrupted. For, the celestial sphere is always revolving, and it is impossible for it to revolve without someone causing it to revolve; it is God, blessed be he, who causes it to revolve without using a hand or physical force.” Rambam wrote this between 1170-1180 CE. It would be another 500 years before Galileo innovated the fields of Physics and Astronomy. What the reader witnesses is Rambam’s personal theology which cannot be reconciled with the actual science of the effects of gravity because the discovery has not been made yet. However Rambam does make claims which were forward-thinking. The notion of the celestial bodies moving “without using a hand or physical force” is obviously gravity,
but Rambam likely does not know that. So the reader must make a huge leap of faith or completely buy into the first few lines of Rambam if they are going to follow his philosophical treatise. Rambam provides no deductive reasoning or arguments. It is his fervent belief in the existence of God which he knows to be true that the reader must also acknowledge to be true.
Another unique aspect to the philosophy of Rambam is how he does actually cite sources. Descartes would make his own observations and arguments, or he would cite the work of other humans. Rambam did not cite other Rabbis in this work, rather he cited God. And if we buy into his opening claim, then there is no need to cite humans when the divine, inalienable word of God is being used as a source. In chapter 1:8, Rambam uses
Deuteronomy, Joshua and Isaiah to describe God. Rambam uses quotes from the Torah and The Book of Prophets to justify his scientific claims. Simply put, Rambam’s logic is God is everywhere, and if matter cannot occupy the same space, God cannot be matter. He goes on to conclude, nothing is equal to God, thus, if God were physical, there would be no other substance like God. Again, Rambam does not go through the steps as
someone like Descartes would do. In Rational philosophy one cannot prove claims so quickly and easily. But Rambam’s case is different. We know that Rambam was writing to a specific audience. It was an audience with a similar background and upbringing as himself. So it is here we see the divergence of thought and prose that Descartes and Rambam possess. Descartes was trying to innovate and challenge, Rambam was trying to disseminate and teach.
Descartes’ work focused on the body and nature. Rambam also focused on the world around him. The difference lies in their philosophy of law. Descartes was originally going to be a lawyer but changed courses. Rambam was a lawyer and judge by trade. His epistemology was grounded in Torah which, again, comes from God. Thus, the interplay between laws, science, life, ethics and the philosophy which Rambam lived and wrote were completely interconnected.
The fundamental principle and pillar of all science is to know that there is some greater power than us which governs the universe. We cannot know what this power is. Whether it is a deity, conscious and sentient, or some other metaphysical force which we have yet to discover. But, I believe that there is something which operates the universe and all of its complexities.
It is plainly stated in the Torah that this force is God. And God is bodiless. Maybe God is the dark matter which occupies the spaces in between matter. Maybe not. If God were a physical substance He would be like other physical beings. Maybe we, all living creatures, are vessels in which fragments of this God dwell. Maybe not.
The Torah speaks the language of human beings. By this, I believe the Torah speaks truth and kindness and goodness. These stories, whether true or not, are rich with moral values and anecdotes through which we are reminded how to be decent human beings. As we approach the High Holidays, my sincere hope is that every one of us has the patience and focus to pursue truth and justice socially and scientifically.
While it seems like summer just started, the High Holidays fall early this year and are fast approaching (and if you really want to induce panic in a clergy member just say that phrase to them.) Erev Rosh Hashanah, which always is on the first of Tishri (the Head of the Year), falls in our Gregorian calendar in the first week of September. If we rewind to the first of Elul, the month in which we begin our spiritual preparations for the High Holidays, we begin preparing ourselves on August 9th. During Elul, we recite penitential liturgy and poems that help us ask for forgiveness from God and help us get into the needed frame of mind to have our slates wiped clean and to begin anew.
We find ourselves living in a time rife with scientific conflict. It seems that there are camps that believe in global warming or do not. There are those who believe in vaccinations, and those who find them to be ineffective, or even dangerous. As we approach our most austere, contemplative time of the year, I would like to examine two great thinkers who challenged conventions and innovated how we view the natural spiritual world.
Why Are You A Member of A Synagogue? (Rabbi Shalhevet)
August 14, 2023 by nssadmin • Blog, Uncategorized
It’s a different question than “Why do you join a synagogue,” right? Most people – and I am generalizing here – join a synagogue in order to receive something from it: education for a child, a B’nei Mitzvah, a wedding, funeral, or other lifecycle event, or sometimes, simply to find a place in which they can study, pray, and learn about themselves and their people. These are all good reasons to join.
If someone joins for a finite reason, most often, they leave after that reason has come to completion. The synagogue, for all its efforts, attempts, during their time there, to reveal that the synagogue can offer so much more than just what that specific member joined for. If you joined for a child to become B’nei Mitzvah, we will attempt to show you that there are events and programs here that you might enjoy as well. Once you are involved and see how wonderful it is to be a part of our community, we hope that you will choose to continue your membership long after the B’nei Mitzvah is over.
I do believe in all that the synagogue has to offer its members. However, that is not solely why I think anyone should be a part of our synagogue community. I’m not sure how many people know that a synagogue is a non-profit institution. Now, when most people think of a non-profit, they consider it a charitable organization usually worth donating to. But I’ve heard time and time again that the synagogue is a business like a gym or club and that its members want to receive something worth the money they are putting into it. The synagogue is not a gym and I am not a trainer. Sure, we may flex our mitzvah muscles and I may prepare people for certain life cycle events, and for certain, the High Holy Days seem like a marathon at times! But the big difference is that we are not a fee-for-service organization. We are a charitable non-profit institution. So what do we do to that end?
Please allow me to show you.
Multiple times each year, we make over 1,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to donate to the Interfaith Nutrition Network. During the pandemic, congregants who were able, shopped for people who couldn’t leave their homes. We arranged for lunch to be delivered and gifted to the doctors and nurses in the ER and COVID Ward at Syosset Hospital. We provided lunches and dinners to each of the Northwell Testing and Urgent care centers in both Syosset and Plainview for all their doctors, nurses, and staff. For an organization called “Neighbors helping neighbors” we sent over 1,000 diapers to those in need in Wyandanch. Every Sunday in May, we held a no contact, drop off food drive where we collected over 2000 pounds of food to donate to Island Harvest. Simultaneously for those who couldn’t go out and shop for food to donate, we collected over $6,000 of donations to distribute to various hunger relief organizations. We sent meals to the 2nd Precinct Police department to thank them for their efforts during the Pandemic as well. By November of that year, we had donated the food we collected from our High Holy Day food drive as well as winter coats to donate them to Long Island Cares. And that was all in 2020 during the breakout of COVID. In the beginning of 2021, our congregation purchased food, toiletries, cleaning products, diapers, formula and baby supplies during a nationwide shortage to many programs including, Neighbors helping Neighbors, The Interfaith Nutrition Network, Long Island Cares Harry Chapin Food Bank, Island Harvest, Baby Essentials of Long Island and the People’s Pantry of Oyster Bay. Twice in 2021 we donated Kosher food to the food bank of our local Mid Island Y JCC. We packed and donated 100 bags of paper goods and personal care items to the Hatzilu Kosher Food pantry at the Sid Jacobson JCC as well. We support Veterans with donations to the VA hospital of Northport. And we donate many necessary goods as well as snacks and treats to the children staying at “Broken but not destroyed” family shelter in Franklin Square. Through a contactless book drive we donated hundreds of books to “Book Fairies.” And every year we assemble over 400 complete Thanksgiving dinners to shelters and individual homes on Long Island. In 2021, our Mitzvah committee also anonymously adopted a toddler boy and purchased clothes and toys that he had specifically requested for the holidays. While hosting a free drive through COVID testing site, we also collected coats to be donated. When the war in Ukraine began in 2022, we held a supply drive to send much needed goods to those suffering the atrocities of war. It was picked up by News 12 and people from all over Long Island showed up with clothing, toiletries, and medical supplies. In April we hosted a Mitzvah Day where congregants came to the synagogue and made sandwiches to donate, packed non-perishable food, sorted clothing and toiletries, stuffed and decorated teddy bears and made blankets for children in the hospital, cooked and delivered meals, and so much more. In 2023, in addition to everything else we do annually, we purchased and sent medical supplies for immediate transport to Turkey to assist with the horrific earthquakes that occurred there.
Believe it or not, this is not an exhaustive list of what our synagogue does to help the community around us. And we will do more every year, because it is imperative as Jews, that we help to heal our world. It is a Jewish obligation to feed the hungry, to care for the orphan, and to supply to the needy. It is a commandment to care for our world and our fellow human beings. Whether or not, the specific holiday programs, social events, or religious rituals that our synagogue provides you as a member, speak to you, the work that we do as a synagogue, of which you are – or at least can be – a part of, should speak to us all.
I don’t know the reason why everyone joined North Shore Synagogue. I am so happy that you are here and I am honored to serve you and be your rabbi. And, in addition to walking with you through all your life cycle events – both sad and joyful – I am truly inspired by the work we do as a Jewish non-profit. We cannot do any of the work above without your support, both physically and monetarily. I hope that this small tidbit of what NSS does inspires you as it does me and you will throw your support – in any way you can – in continuing this vital Jewish work of repairing the brokenness in our world.