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Rosh Hashana 5781 | 2020 ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א בית כנסת מרכז קחילתי ע׳׳ש גולדשטיין McDonald International Shul ORTHODOX ASHKENAZI COMMUNITY NETANYA קהילה דתית לאומית אשכנזית נתניה
New Synagogue of Netanya 7 McDonald Street P. O. Box 1115 | Netanya 42262 | office 09 861-4591 | fax 09 887-0059 email: [email protected] | www.macshul.org
Rabbi Raphael Katz: Office 09 887-5079 | Mobile 054 767-3421
Chairman: Jeremy Rosenstein – 09 862-8328 Vice Chairman: David Marriott – 09 832-1747 Hon. Treasurer: Colin Frankel – 053 530-5751 Hon. Secretary: Barbara Cardash – 09 861-5178 Gabbaim: Israel Shapira – 09 861-7608 | Bernie Wolff – 09 834-0333
Irgun Nashim: Chair: Betty Olswang
Henry Koor Judaica Library: 09 884-0458 Open: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings from 9:30 am until noon Chair: Tsipi Wexler
Magazine Team: Therese Berkowitz, Elizabeth Dorfman, Melissa Dubinsky, Jacques Korolnyk, Monique Korolnyk, Laura Shuck, Paulette Woolf
Advertising Team: Edward Pearlman, Alegra Green, Anita Leigh, Jacques Korolnyk, Laura Shuck
Join the honorable company of our past and present community by linking your name, or the name of a loved one with the McDonald International Shul. Memorial Boards • Sponsorships • Philanthropic Donations are all available and can be easily arranged through the shul office: 09 861 4591 • Mon-Thu, 8:30 – 11:00 am
2 |Rosh Hashana 2020 ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Rosh Hashana 5781 | 2020
Contents
4 McDonald International shul 27 P esach — Alone... But Not Lonely Board Members / Committees 5781 by Laura Shuck 5 Letter from the Editor 28 M alka Fink Memorial Shabbaton by Therese Berkowitz 10/11 January 2020 6 Rosh Hashana Message 5781 by David Marriott by Rabbi Raphael Katz 30 T here’s Nothing Funny About Covid-19. Or is there? 8 From the Chairman by Paulette Woolf by Jeremy Rosenstein 32 Resilience 10 Cha tan Torah – Michael Raz by Dr Joseph Berger 11 Cha tan Bereshit – Chagai Lyst 34 G-d is With Me, I Shall Not Fear 12 One Beating Heart– by Andee Goldman תשפ׳׳א Rosh Hashana 36 T echnology Comes to Our Aid by Rabbi David Woolf by Melissa Dubinsky 15 Our Synagogue Family 38 W hen Life Gives You Lemons, 18 T he 2020 Pandemic Make Lemonade & Jewish Resilience by Tsipi Wexler by Bernie Wolff 41 Rosh Hashana Greetings 20 I srael — A Diamond 45 Judging a Book by Its Cover In My Own Backyard by Therese Berkowitz by Suzie Schwartz 23 F lare of Insight – Poem by Miriam Michaeli Feigelman 24 M usic To Our Ears – A Coronavirus Concert by Elizabeth Dorfman
3 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א McDonald International shul Board Members and Committees 5781:
McDonald International shul Board: Blank Committee: Executive: Michael Bliss Jeremy Rosenstein - Chairman Barbara Cardash David Marriott - Vice Chairman and Colin Frankel - Chair Cultural Committee Jacques Korolnyk Colin Frankel - Financial Representative David Marriott Barbara Cardash - Honorary Secretary Henry Koor Judaica Library: Laura Shuck - shul Secretary Tsipi Wexler Management: Hospitality Committee: Ivor Baum - Shammas Jacques Korolnyk Elizabeth Dorfman Al Dubinsky Good Neighbours Scheme - Shlomo Garber Volunteers who will visit Henry Hirsch housebound members Linda Hirsch Barbara Cardash Renie Hirsch Monique Korolnyk Ruth Marriott **Volunteers needed Betty Olswang - Irgun Nashim Landscaping Committee: Israel Shapira - Gabbai Susan Wolff Sharon Wilensky Bernie Wolff - Gabbai Steven Rose Therese Berkowitz Paulette Woolf Table Tennis Group (weekly): Nobby Smith
Volunteers are always welcome. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.
Directory of Advertisers Katie Woolf ...... page 34 Pronat...... page 37 Millenium Laundry...... page 40 Yochanan Nalkin ...... page 44 Pope-Geri...... page 22 Yossi Yeffet ...... page 48 back cover
We are grateful to our advertisers for their support. We encourage you to patronize these local businesses and let them know that you saw their ad in the McDonald shul magazine.
4 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Letter from the Editor Therese Berkowitz
Our tradition teaches us that the ten Hashirim. The Piyut describes the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom travails that have plagued us Kippur are a time for introspection and throughout the year and implores G-d reflection, a time to look back at the to accept our prayers. Each stanza ends year that has gone by, and... I find with the prayerful refrain: Let the year myself getting stuck right there! How and its curses conclude! The final do we look back at this year? What are stanza ends with an expression of hope: we to make of this illness that has Let the year and its blessings begin! gripped the entire planet? How do we In spite of illness and loss, isolation understand the loss and devastation and fear, there have been bright and that this contagious and deadly plague beautiful moments of community, has left in its wake? learning and connection. It is no small As bewildering as it may feel, there is accomplishment that we have found reason for hope, as we are blessed with ways to cope and recover. The stories of a tradition for which this is not new. In resilience abound. fact in a few short weeks we will read We’ve received wonderfully moving exactly that in Kohelet: and touching reflections and insights of coping and recovery. We are grateful וְאֵ ין כָל־חָדָׁש תַַחַת הַשָ ֽמֶ ׁש ...there is nothing new under the sun. to all of our contributors for sharing Our cover illustration includes their stories with us. We hope that you images of the seven species that G-d will find them as uplifting and tells us will grow in this promised land. inspiring as we have. I think of these fruits thriving in this I would like to personally thank the land as truly resilient. In connecting the magazine team—Elizabeth Dorfman, image with our theme, I searched for a Melissa Dubinsky, Jacques Korolnyk, verse that would resonate with the Monique Korolnyk, Ed Pearlman, Laura challenges of this year. I did not have to Shuck, and Paulette Woolf—for their look far. In our Rosh Hashana Machzor, patience, creativity, integrity, diligence following Mincha on the first night is a and humor. Piyut called Achot Ketanah (The Little Together, we wish the entire kehilla a Sister). We, the Jewish nation, are the year absent of curses and filled with little sister. The name is taken from a blessings! A reference made lovingly by G-d in Shir
5 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Rosh Hashana Message 5781 by Rabbi Raphael Katz
Before I share a brief Rosh Hashana and be content that the shul was, as a home. It ,בית message, I wish to record my heartfelt implied in its name a thanks especially to our dear Chairman was and is a home to all who wanted to Jeremy who during the ENTIRE period daven in a minyan and had no other of the Covid outbreak, has made a opportunity to do so. concerted and continuous effort to We have been blessed and maintain the functioning of the shul. privileged due to the founders of the From erecting a covering for protection shul to have large swathes of space—a of outdoor minyanim, to supplying free large upstairs shul, the Beit Midrash masks for those who forgot, to ensuring downstairs, the hall, the sukkah area that there is always a supply of gel, to and the amphitheater. All this allows physically constructing the “capsules” and compels us to share this bounty together with Moshe, beside a host of with all who live in or who are visiting other functions that he has done our area. Not every shul has been so single-handedly without assistance blessed. May we welcome all our (banking etc.). Jeremy receives little visitors with graciousness into ‘our– of course according to) בית כנסת ’acknowledgement but large doses of their criticism. Jeremy, yashar kochacha! regulations). To Laura, Bernie, Susan, Therese, Dr Yitzchak Fineberg, Menashe, One of the ten explanations for Edoardo, Moshe Chakimi, and of course blowing the shofar is to commemorate to Rav Taub, who zoomed the ENTIRE the destruction of the Temple. period without a break – thank you so Question: Wasn’t the mitzvah to to all who have made sound the shofar given before a Temple אחרון חביב .much up the minyan and to all who really existed?! want to come but are compelled to be at Answer: The crying sound of the home. shofar is to arouse one to realize that, on the Day of Judgement, there exists We can look as far back as Purim the potential of destruction, which may
6 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Rosh Hashana Message 5781 by Rabbi Raphael Katz
be realized or not. The winner, a graduate of a Last year as we recited “U-Netaneh Shakespearean acting academy, was Tokef”, could we imagine that Hashem awarded the trophy and prize money; decreed that the whole world order as he received his prize an elderly Jew would change in such an unexpected at the back of the audience cried out, way? Were we aware of the potential “Honored Judges, would you permit of calamity “Chas v’chalilah” or were me to deliver my ‘version’ of the we perhaps overconfident that things Psalm?” would basically proceed as usual? His request was granted and he Against the backdrop of the current walked up to the stage and started situation I am sure that the sense of reciting the Psalm in his Yiddish uncertainty will be felt acutely by all accent and broken English to the during our davening. sneers of a “typical English audience.” But by the time the Jew had finished, So, how do we relate to Hashem in the sounds of muffled sobs could be times of uncertainty? detected in the audience. I read a story, perhaps it is not true, The winner approached the Jew and but it is one of those stories for which asked, “I know I am the winner, but it makes no difference. how come my recital of the Psalm It is told that a certain competition elicited a standing ovation and yet took place in a Theatre in the East yours aroused so much more genuine End of London. Anyone able to recite emotion?” a poem in the most poignant, To which the Jew replied—“I articulate and eloquent manner happened to know the Shepherd...” would receive a handsome prize. During these uncertain times we In the final round, the competitors reconnect and bolster ourselves !simple faith—אמונה פשוטה were required to render their recital, through not of a poem of their liking, but of Psalm 23 – “The Lord is my shepherd, Ketivah v’chatima tova to you and I shall not want”. your families. A
7 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א From the Chairman by Jeremy Rosenstein
At the beginning of Adar, the used to will not be forgotten, whether it beginning of the Corona outbreak was laining outside in the shaded overseas, I sent out a letter to members courtyard, davening in the that was meant to be a Purim joke amphitheater behind the shul with telling members that they should social neighbors joining us from their distance, wear gloves and masks and windows, struggling to get a minyan in more. At the time some saw your the morning, Yom Hashoah broadcast Chairman’s Purim sense of humor, over internet, Yom Haazmaut out in the some took me seriously and some courtyard, Tisha b’Av streaming of accused me of being “meshuga”. Eicha, building capsules in the shul, Unfortunately, all that I wrote at the Shabbat Chatan and Bar Mitzvah with time humorously has become a reality only 10 people allowed in the shul and over the last seven months. As a much more. kehilla, we made a decision very We also have had some funny quickly that whether we will be open or experiences, a number 10 “minyan closed, inside or outside, limited in man” who told us at the end of the numbers, we will endeavor to keep service that he was not Jewish, services running as much as we can members sharing experiences being in within “the spirit of the law”, which has lockdown, some of the humorous changed nearly every week. masks members have been wearing, I am proud of the decisions that I the blue plastic gloves that make us made together with the Executive and look like Donald Duck, and more. our esteemed Rav to keep the shul The Yamim Noraim this year will also running and open and to endeavor to be very different to previous years, but I keep in contact with our members and am sure with support, patience, friends through Zoom, calls, and your cooperation and understanding from Chairman’s “Corona Updates”. our members we will manage to Activities that have moved to Zoom celebrate as a kehilla. We will miss our and different to what we have been members, family and friends from
8 |Rosh Hashana 2020 overseas. overseas that have been left untended Special thanks to our Rav Katz, for months and it is so sad. Laura, Moshe, Bernie, and Meir Lev None of us know when we will be who have worked so hard throughout back together with a full kehilla, the last few months to keep the kiddushim, s’machot and all we were services and shul running. used to. We will have to get used to “a Also special thanks to our “garden new normal”. angels”, Susan, Therese and Paulette Wishing all our members and who have kept the gardens so well friends, good health, and to keep tended throughout these difficult positive and smiling. A שנה טובה חתימה טובה times. I have seen pictures of shuls
9 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Chatan Torah – Michael Raz Born in Uzbekistan, then moved to “Fernanda the Spy” (about his wife). Like Poland, Michael was left in the care of his his wife, his life revolves around the grandmother when his parents were taken McDonald Synagogue, in which he has to concentration camps. After suffering found a welcoming community and a severe starvation, and escaping Jewish wonderful Rav. persecution, he and his grandmother Fernanda was born in Cairo to diplomat made their way to Israel. parents who travelled often. She was He was raised by his grandmother in educated in non-Jewish boarding schools Haifa, and attended religious school in in Egypt and at the age of seventeen was Kiryat Shmuel. He served in the army recruited as a spy by Israeli Intelligence. tank engineering corps, then received his She was caught by Egyptian authorities BA in Political Science and Jewish History and sent to prison. After escaping from at Haifa University. He served in the jail, she wandered the world for 15 years Israeli police force, then became a private becoming a singer of opera and modern investigator. He has dedicated his life to music. She spent seven years in Japan and helping free innocent people imprisoned Hong Kong studying pharmacology, and under false charges. homeopathy. Returning to Haifa, she He has written seven books on innocent became involved with Chabad, more prisoners, and one on the dangers of religious, and very active in a synagogue radiation, for which he received a letter in Ahuza, where she met and married from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of Michael. Moving to Netanya and finding England, acknowledging his work. His the McDonald community has been a current book is in Hebrew and is called wonderful gift from HaShem. A
10 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Chatan Bereshit – Chagai Lyst Our Chatan Bereshit is Chagai Lyst Shavuot in our Kehilla, and regular who has been part of the Dor learning sessions. Hemshech for 25 years. Chagai is married to Sara who is a Chagai was one of the founders of Tanach teacher in Tamar Ariel High Kibbutz Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion. He School here in Netanya. When Sara was is an agronomist and works for the younger, she volunteered in Ichilov Hadera municipality. Hospital in Tel Aviv. Today she is active He spends his spare time learning in an organization for “Shmirat Torah and for many years has been Lashon” for ladies. responsible for organizing the learning B”H, Chagai & Sara have 3 children sessions on Hoshana Raba and Erev and 2 grandchildren. A
חגי לייסט: הייתי בין מייסדי קיבוץ מגדל עוז בגוש עציון. אגרונום במקצועי ועובד בעריית חדרה. משתדל לעסוק בלימוד תורה וכן מארגן ערבי לימוד בבית הכנסת בליל הושענא רבה ואת תיקון ליל שבועות. גם בימים כתיקונם משתדל לארגן ערבי לימוד, ולעסוק בעזרה לזולת במה שניתן.ץ
שרה לייסט: מורה לתנ"ך ומגישה לבגרות בבית הספר תמר אריאל בנתניה. התנדבה בצעירותה בבית החולים איכילוב בתל אביב. כיום מארגנת ארגון שמירת הלשון ביחד עם שותפה. המשתתפות בארגון שומרות את עצמן מלדבר לשון הרע וזה לזכות אנשים הזקוקות לישועה בכל תחומי החיים. ברוך השם יש לנו שלוש בנות חתן ושתי נכדות. A
11 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א One Beating Heart תשפ׳׳א Rosh Hashana by Rabbi David Woolf
The most unified we ever were as a had not only experienced the same people was when we stood at the foot traumas and joys but that we had of Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah. Rashi persevered together. There is another time where we stood ,כאיש אחד בלב אחד tells us that we were as if we were one individual with one together in unity. Before entering Eretz beating heart. Where did this unity Yisrael, we stood together again, a come from? In reality, we were twelve people born out of the same separate tribes and over a million experiences, knowingly nodding to individuals. And yet we stood together, each other, thinking back on the as one. What was the source of our challenges and miracles of the previous 40 years and knowing that We look at each other with the knowing eyes born out we had made it. of common trauma. Loved ones lost, weddings missed, We had grandchildren not held, businesses closed, synagogues persevered closed and the list seems to go on and on. together. And we stood kulchem - all of us about to unity? What brought us together as enter Eretz Yisrael, all of us about to one? start a new chapter in our history, It is common that people who together. םאַתֶ נִצָבים הַּיֹום כֻלְכֶם לִפְני ײַאֱ ֹלקיכם persevere through shared experiences רָ א ֵ ׁשיכֶ ם ׁשִבְטֵ יכֶ ם זִקְ נֵיכֶ ם וְ ׁשֹטְרֵ יכם create bonds among them that are כֹל אִ יׁש יִשְרָאֵ ֽ ל׃ lasting and unshakable. At Sinai, we were a people who had shared both You stand this day, all of you, before slavery and salvation, together. We the LORD your God—your tribal heads, witnessed the miracles that the KB”H your elders and your officials, performed for us. We could look to our all of Israel right and our left and know that we We are in the midst of a time,
12 |Rosh Hashana 2020 perhaps for the first time since the the Shofar’s call to unity. One is the Tower of Bavel, where the entire world Teruah; the other is the Tekiya. is going through the same experience The Teruah is a sound broken into at the same time. Words like Covid-19 many pieces. The Rav says this sound is or masks or social distancing or a communal call to arms. It requires lockdown do not need to be explained unified community action in the face to anyone, anywhere on the planet. of a common danger. It unifies Everyone understands. We look at each everyone, colleagues and competitors other with the knowing eyes born out alike. In the face of a common threat it of common trauma. Loved ones lost, is natural to come together. Since weddings missed, grandchildren not Pesach, we have heard the constant held, businesses closed, synagogues staccato of the Teruah throughout our closed and the list seems to go on and community, bringing us together in the on. face of the global pandemic. Unity doesn’t only come from shared We have responded to the sound of experiences. It comes from how one the Teruah. Our community came responds to crises and HOW a together via Zoom to reach out to each community comes together. This past other, to continue and deepen our year we responded to the crisis and learning. We needed to make sure that continue to respond to it as Pirkei Avot no one was left out. We organised and told us to respond: with Torah, Prayer reorganised our synagogue space and Gemilut Chesed. several times over so that it could And now we stand together as we remain a safe place to daven and come enter into the Yamim Nora’im, the High together. We did this as a community. Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom But the Rav goes on to point out that Hakippurim. We ready ourselves for the unity brought about by the Teruah has sound of the Shofar - the call to unity. a defect. It lasts only as long as the The Rav, Rabbi Joseph Soloveichik, common threat lasts. When it passes, explains that there are two aspects to the unity crumbles. The example Rabbi continued on the following page
13 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Soloveichik gives is the Allied forces Tekiya is the unbroken sound of us during World War II. Once the war was coming together as one and to remind over and the common threat defeated, us that we always stand before the old rivalries and hatreds resurfaced. KB”H, in joy and in unity. The unity was lost and will remain lost Our Rabbis made sure that just until the next Teruah is needed. before Rosh Hashana, we always read But there is a second aspect to the parshat Nitzavim. They wanted us to sounds of the Shofar, the Rav explains. hear and understand this message: םאַתֶ נִצָבִיםהַּיֹום כֻלְכֶם לִפְ נֵי ײַאֱֹלקיכֶ ם That is the sound of the Tekiya. It is the unbroken single blast to call the Eidah, The message is that we stand, every the community, together. The Torah one of us, united and together before even tells us (Bamidbar 10:7) that the the KB”H. sound of the Tekiya is the sound that As our common threat, this global brings us together. pandemic, has not quite disappeared, we still need to continue to heed the ּובְהַקְהִילאֶ ת־הַקָהָלתִתְקְ עּו וְ לֹא תָרִֽ יעּו׃ While to convoke the congregation, you sound of the Teruah and continue to shall blow Tekiya, not Teruah. wear our masks and to social distance. It is not to face danger that the Tekiya But at the same time, we all need to unites us. Rather, we come together as remember that we conclude our Shofar a community of like-minded people service on Rosh HaShana and end Yom who share a common vision, a HaKippurim with a Tekiya Gedolah. A common mission and common goals. A long unbroken Shofar blast that Tekiya was sounded at Har Sinai when reminds us that our unity, our real we stood together as one. It was unity, is born out of common purpose, sounded every day when the Beit out of joy, and out of love. Let this HaMikdash stood and testified to God’s Tekiya be a reminder that our presence among us and will be heard at community is more than a community the arrival of the Moshi’ach (may he of convenience; it is, as the Rav said, a speedily come). community, a shul and a family of The Tekiya, the Torah tells us, needs shared values committed to each other to be sounded at joyous times, on our and to all of Klal Yisrael. A holidays and at the new moon. The
14 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Our Synagogue Family
Mazal Tov to those enjoying S’machot: Births April Sharon & Erez Azmon...... son Sonya & Lawrence Benjamin...... great-granddaughter Judy & Joseph Berger...... great-granddaughter Brenda & Michael Bliss...... great-granddaughter Elizabeth & Dov Dorfman...... great-grandson Bella Fielding...... great-granddaughter Ester & David Friede...... granddaughter Madeleine & Charles Golding...... grandson Minnie Goldman...... great-granddaughter Eliezer Greiner...... great-grandson Shana & Ephraim Katzman...... great-grandson Monique & Jacques Korolnyk...... great-granddaughter Ruth & David Marriott...... great-granddaughter Betty & Peter Olswang...... great-grandson Ev & Sigi Pugatsch...... granddaughter Renee Rabinowitz...... great-granddaughter Federica & Jack Reiss...... great-granddaughter Karen & Charlie Sacofsky...... granddaughter Laura Shuck...... great-grandson Rennie Swirski...... great-granddaughter Sadie Symon...... 2 great-grandsons Cyril Watson...... great-grandson
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Bebe Feldman...... grandson Shary & Manfred Goldberg...... granddaughter Shashi & Yaacov Ishai...... son Rennie Swirski...... grandson Betty Warach...... grandson
continued on the following page
15 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Special Birthdays Lawrence Benjamin Cyril Watson
B’hatzlacha Raba in the Army Amichai Rosenstein Avraham Yitzchak Katz
Wedding Anniversaries Ivor & Valerie Baum Linda & Ernie Hirsch Eleanor & Gerald Kirsh
Welcome to New Members Fernanda Shapiro & Michael Raz Shteinkrizer
Engagements Melissa & Al Dubinsky...... daughter Yvonne & Shraga Haber...... grandson Rita & Gerald Levy...... grandson Rennie Swirski...... granddaughter Judy & Joseph Berger...... grandson
Marriages Nina & Elhanan Diesendruck...... granddaughter Miriam & Rabbi Ed Feigelman...... grandson Bebe Feldman...... granddaughter Bella Fielding...... 2 granddaughters Solange & Pinchas Gamliel...... grandson Shary & Manfred Goldberg...... grandson Minnie Goldman...... granddaughter Linda & Ernie Hirsch...... granddaughter Anna Rosenfelder...... granddaughter Doreen Usden...... 2 granddaughters Rabbi Yosef & Marsha Wolicki...... granddaughter
16 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Sincerest Condolences to: ז"ל Miriam Cohen and family on the death of her husband, Jake ז"ל Liz Fishman (Fried) and family on the death of her brother ז"ל Charles Golding on the death of his brother, Alvin ז"ל Yvonne Haber on the death of her mother, Betty Horwitz ז"ל Son and daughter of Harvey Nyman ז"ל Evelyn Isaacs and family on the death of her husband, our member, David ז"ל Jorgen Konigshofer and family on the death of his wife, our member, Elaine ז"ל Erez Lerner on the death of his mother, Pnina Janet Lewis and family on the death of her husband and former chairman, ז"ל Warren ז"ל Suzanne Mannes and family on the death of her husband, Udo ז"ל Ellen Minaker on the death of her brother, Burt ז"ל Nobby Smith & Eric Smith on the death of their sister, Barbara ז"ל Doreen Usden on the death of her son, Warren ז"ל Betty Warach on the death of her husband and former chairman, Akiva
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Kiddushim In accordance with the Ministry of Health, kiddushim have been suspended.
Seudot Shlishit Seudot Shlishit have been suspended during the pandemic, though many generous donations have been made. We thank everyone for their generosity.
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17 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א The 2020 Pandemic & Jewish Resilience by Bernie Wolff
Hello darkness, my old friend other social events, to a complete lock I’ve come to talk with you again down. Because a vision softly creeping What we all considered a normal Left its seeds while I was sleeping shul life, now entered a deep sleep. And the vision that was planted in my However, Jews are not to be deterred. brain They become aroused and galvanized Still remains into action in extreme and life- Within the sound of silence threatening situations, and this was no In restless dreams I walked alone exception. From quiet and desolate Narrow streets of cobblestone cities, towns and villages across the ‘Neath the halo of a street lamp entire country, the sounds of street I turned my collar to the cold and damp minyanim could be heard. From When my eyes were stabbed by the balconies and open windows, from flash of a neon light gardens and entrance halls, eyes and That split the night ears were tuned in to groups of men, And touched the sound of silence Sephardim and Ashkenazim alike, fully Simon & Garfunkel – masked and spread out to maintain The Sound of Silence distancing rules. Megaphones and Internet connections could be heard Silence fell on our shul from the end booming out prayers from rooftops and of the Book of Shemot until the penthouses to happy attendees beginning of the Book of Bamidbar. standing below, enjoying their brief but The Covid-19 epidemic that had been comforting minutes together in prayer, threatening the world since Purim was in praise of Hashem. now overtaking our normal lives. So too, our own shul was not to be Within a few short weeks our shul went deterred. Immediately upon rules being from the hustle and bustle of morning relaxed to allow men to pray together and evening prayers, shiurim, lectures, outside a synagogue, our Rav and library visits, Shabbat kiddushim, and Chairman announced that a Minyan
18 |Rosh Hashana 2020 would be formed in the entrance required. Our amazing custodian, courtyard of our shul. As the morbidity Moshe Chakimi, painted the entire rate among the elderly had been exterior of the shul, and strung up a particularly severe, many of our senior canopy to protect the Minyan against members were fearful to exit their the intense sunshine and heat. Jeremy homes. In the first week, only the Rav and Moshe built “capsules” in the main and Chairman attended the outside shul to house women and extra men Minyan. However, in the next few who wanted to attend services. The Rav weeks, around 15 brave souls were set up the daily shiurim on Zoom. We attending morning and evening hosted a Bar Mitzvah and a Shabbat services on a regular basis. Chatan. A full Tikun Leyl Shavuot was We are proud to say that, since that organized by the members of the Dor first week, our shul has maintained Hemshech Minyan, and on Tisha B’Av, minyanim morning and evening, all Edoardo provided a Facebook link to throughout Shabbat, and on all allow home viewing of Megillat Eicha. Chagim. It has not been easy. First, we What an inspiring series of events. were allowed up to 50 attendees, then What will be for the upcoming Yomim it was reduced to 20, back up to 30, Noraim? Only Hashem can foresee this, down again to 20, and finally limited to just 10. The office, staffed by Laura, has but rest assured the shul will find a remained open daily. Every week the way to handle any eventuality. Every gardens have been beautifully member of our shul should feel very maintained by Susan, Therese and proud of our resilience and how we Paulette. have overcome these unprecedented Again, resilience and last four months. entrepreneurship became the order of Finally, there’s a saying that to every the day. We formed extra minyanim dark cloud there’s a “silver lining”. Our – in the main shul, beit midrash, social silver lining is that there’s been no hall, and even in the courtyard when talking in shul during davening!! A
19 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Israel — A Diamond In My Own Backyard by Suzie Schwartz
Even after the April/May 2020 have none of it and insisted that we lockdown in Israel to combat Covid-19, celebrate this milestone. She suggested the aftermath was just as uncertain. In that we go to Eilat for a long weekend. June, much to our regret, we had to My previous visit had been over 30 cancel our trip to Australia to see our years ago and it was the last place I newborn grandson. When the national would have thought of to spend my parks all over Israel started re- 60th birthday. She organized a self- opening, we decided instead to travel catering apartment that seemed well North. We spent three wonderful days appointed and included a swimming in the Golan Heights, hiking along the pool for us to enjoy. With the official Banyas stream and waterfall and rules and regulations continually in visiting Tel Dan. Discovering these flux, I wondered whether our plans gems in our own backyard of Israel would amount to anything as they made up for the disappointment of were threatening another lockdown (which they My 60th birthday was coming up in July but I realized always seemed to that because of ‘the virus’, it would most probably be a be doing). non-event. Though I resigned myself to this state of Our designated affairs, my daughter would have none of it and departure date insisted that we celebrate this milestone. arrived in mid- July and we were off—to Eilat! On having to shelve our international the way we stopped off to view Ben travel plans due to Covid-19. Gurion’s gravesite at Kibbutz Sde Boker. My 60th birthday was coming up in He and his wife Paula are buried in a July but I realized that because of ‘the beautiful spot overlooking the Negev virus’, it would most probably be a desert’s landscape. His vision for the non-event. Though I resigned myself to Negev was a bold one and a quote of this state of affairs, my daughter would his has been inscribed on a wall by the
20 |Rosh Hashana 2020 entrance to the park: ‘We shall bloom the desolate land and convert the spacious Negev into a source of Force and Power. A Blessing for the State of Israel.’ This was surely coming true before our eyes. Beersheva looked like a futuristic city rising from desert sands and all along the route, there was evidence of various developments in desert agriculture, energy, tourism and infrastructure. We whizzed past the new ‘Ilan and Asaf Ramon Airport’ which blended seamlessly and unobtrusively into canyons and follow a spring that brings the desert wilderness. It was shrouded water and life to the desert. A herd of in the same haze that smudged the ibex, or desert mountain goats, had distant mountains of Moab with blue. come down to drink and hastily made Below Ben Gurion’s grave, there is a off just as we came into sight. We winding road that leads to Ein Avdat. watched them clambering effortlessly This wadi is a designated national park up the steep, rocky side of the canyon. where one can hike along desert They were truly spectacular animals to continued on page 23
21 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א WE DO IT IN ENGLISH!
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22 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Flare of Insight by Miriam Michaeli Feigelman
What are we if not His And what is He If not our only source of Hope, courage, freedom and blessing?
The veils with which we shroud ourselves That separate us from reality and true perception Take many forms: Jealousy, anger, despair, envy, doubt
But as these veils are torn, or shorn Or ripped with blinding Light We see Who Is and Was and Always Will Be Carries us In cradled hands Through life. A
continued from page 21 watch as they easily made their way, in beyond my wildest dreams. I am so leaps and bounds, over loose stones glad and grateful that my daughter and sharp boulders to reach the top of wouldn’t let Covid-19 get in the way of the cliff. life. In Eilat, we swam with wild dolphins I now have a new tool in my toolbox: at Dolphin Reef and snorkeled among when in doubt, fear or living with the multi-coloured fish that live in the uncertainty, I just take a trip coral reef at Coral Beach. The waters of somewhere in Israel and it seems to the Red Sea were cool and refreshing in magically disappear. Because Covid-19 contrast to the relentless heat that made me stay put and at home in pushed the mercury upwards to 40°C. Israel, it gave me a chance to discover Nonetheless we had a fabulous time the diamonds that were in my own and it was a 60th birthday celebration backyard. A
23 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Music To Our Ears – A Coronavirus Concert by Elizabeth Dorfman
Pesach was over and it was Isru Chag. There was the sound of music I had made it! I had made a Seder and outside. Everything I did was slow a week of Pesach at home, and a month motion as who was rushing earlier we were tossing up which family anywhere(!), so I ambled through the to go to. I had made a liveable peace salon to our balcony which overlooks with a nasty, catching coronavirus. We the ‘Dolphin’ roundabout, curious at had indeed kept away from our the sound breaking the ‘lockdown precious family according to the silence’. Young men and women in guidelines, ordered shopping online army uniform were on an open truck, and davened over the chag at home, microphones in hand, performing and the biggest change of all. I thought we singing to the rather loud but happy had made the best of the situation ... music! It was a lovely idea of theirs to and, of course, we were indoors on entertain us but I thought, ‘Isn’t this lockdown like everyone else. the wrong order of things? We aren’t I remember exactly what I was doing soldiers on an army base or the that afternoon – sorting my collection battlefield after a day of fighting, the venue for such performances. This is Young men and women in army uniform weird!’ That’s when I were on an open truck, microphones in hand, choked up, and understood performing and singing to the rather loud but the really topsy turvy world happy music! It was a lovely idea of theirs to the coronavirus had made. entertain us but I thought, ‘Isn’t this the We, the people, had become wrong order of things? the embattled ones, and the ‘battlefield’ was everywhere. It was a moment I’ll never of unused Pesach groceries. I could forget, along with these coronavirus have made a big matzah party! days, of how touched I felt that the
24 |Rosh Hashana 2020 army entertainment corps came to to one another the music stopped Netanya. playing! The soldiers repeatedly These troops had come to entertain requested of the people to stay at a the civilians ‘imprisoned’ in their distance - and then they would resume. homes. I was still choked and couldn’t The concert continued for two hours have talked if there was someone to until the sun started going down. talk to next to me! They chose Shlomo I spotted Melissa on the roundabout! Hamelech Street. So very touching. She looked pretty small from eight Meanwhile others appeared at their floors up. I sent her a picture of herself balconies and windows. Then a few and asked her, if she didn’t mind, to brave people began gathering on the look up and take a picture of me for street, within their 100 meters allowed, posterity from her phone in return. Her and, please note, if they stood too close picture captured two other small heads
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25 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א continued from page 25 For me, Pesach is generally the busiest time of the year. Every second looking out – my neighbours on the year I make Seder for my two sons and twin balcony whom I couldn’t see their families, a total of twelve. This over our dividing wall! was my year to host. My sister and her Thank you to our army’s family of seven or more come to spend entertainment corps. I wonder if Pesach in Netanya, every year. So, any other country has had the same apart from Seder (every second year), I experience. eat with them or they with me all week. May Hashem bring an end to this I go shopping on Rosh Chodesh plague, and may He restore health Nisan and half the kitchen is koshered and peace speedily in our days. A about 10 days prior to Pesach so that I can start cooking and preparing. But not this year. I was housebound due to the Coronavirus lockdown and could not go shopping as usual. So what to do? Many people who generally go to a hotel for Pesach, could not go and bought take-away meals and throw- away dishes. But I am only one, so I did not consider buying take-away meals until, less than a week beforehand. I saw an email about take-away food for Pesach. I looked at the menu and scrolled up and down a few times. Should I or shouldn’t I? Eventually just as the final date for ordering arrived, I decided to buy the minimum possible. And it turned out to be a wonderful
26 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Pesach — Alone... But Not Lonely by Laura Shuck decision. The food arrived on the my closest family giving messages of afternoon prior to Seder. I unwrapped love as well as a greeting for the Seder the parcels, divided the food into single and the Chag. Some of the little meals and put them in the empty great-grandchildren there also were freezer. It worked out to be very prompted and urged by their parents to inexpensive as the meals lasted about wish me Chag Sameach. My son-in-law two weeks. played a short selection of tunes from Oh dear. I have to have Seder on my the Haggadah on the piano. In the own – never in all my life did I have a Seder by myself! My son In the background, a song which my eldest suggested that I join them on granddaughter had composed using a Zoom for the Seder. Somehow popular Hebrew tune for my 80th birthday ....was playing סבתא לורה אין כמוה the idea did not appeal and also, I did not have a decent camera or a mike. So, we agreed that they would open their Zoom at 5 background, a song which my eldest p.m. and I would speak to their family granddaughter had composed using a via phone. We conversed for about ten popular Hebrew tune for my 80th was סבתא לורה אין כמוה minutes, each one spoke separately birthday and as we were saying goodbye my son playing. One of my grandsons was also said, wait one minute, and he put on a singing this song when his clip was video. displayed. Can you imagine how The idea for this video came from emotional this was? my eldest granddaughter. She got her When I sat down to Seder by myself, I eldest daughter, aged 16 years, to did not feel alone. I could feel all those gather clips from each family group, children, grandchildren and great- my children and each of the married grandchildren around me. I read every children and a grandson who lives word and sang all the songs that I alone. She joined the twelve or so clips remembered in the Haggadah. together and I listened to every one of Yes, I was alone. Was I lonely? NO!! A
27 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Malka Fink Memorial Shabbaton 10/11 January 2020 by David Marriott
This unique Shabbaton was the HaShavua”. 40th Annual lecture series/Shabbaton After Kiddush, Rabbi Kimche gave a sponsored by Zvi and Carole Fink in most interesting lecture entitled “The memory of Zvi’s mother a”h, all former Inside Story of the Battle for the members of our shul. Creation of the North-West London In honour of this Shabbaton, Zvi Eruv”. He spoke of the trials and requested a list of the speakers who tribulations and ultimate success of had lectured over that period. A list was creating this Eruv over a 17-year period. prepared dating forward from 1985 to This inspired the establishment of 2020 inclusive and an artistic many other Eruvim in the UK. certificate of that list was presented at During Seuda Shlishit, Rabbi the Friday night dinner to Zvi and Kimche’s shiur was entitled “What is a Carole Fink, in deep appreciation of chumra?” their dedicated sponsorship over so On Motzei Shabbat, Rabbi Kimche many years. gave a public lecture to a large and The Scholar in Residence at that appreciative audience, the title of Shabbaton was Rabbi Dr Alan Kimche, which was “The Five Lights of Judaism. founding Rabbi of the Ner Yisrael When do we Light Candles and Why?” Community in Hendon, London and its At the end of the public lecture Zvi extremely popular Rav for 35 years. He and Carole Fink were very warmly and his wife Via had made Aliyah just thanked for their dedicated and a few months earlier. amazingly generous and longstanding Rabbi Kimche spoke on five support of our community. A occasions, commencing with the Friday evening dinner, giving a D’var Torah titled “Insights into the Friday night Kiddush”. On Shabbat morning his Drasha before Mussaph was “Thoughts on the Parshat
28 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Malka Fink Memorial Shabbaton 10/11 January 2020 by David Marriott
29 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א There’s Nothing Funny About by Paulette Woolf
Did you hear the one about Finland? and television, a disproportionately high They just closed their borders. You percentage of American, German, and know what that means. No one will be Russian comedians have been crossing the finish line. Jewish. Time estimated in 1978 that 80 percent of professional American comics Jokes (or should I say puns) like these were Jewish. Sigmund Freud considered have been making their way into social Jewish humor unique in that its humor is media since the beginning of the primarily derived from mocking of the epidemic. Not just moseying along, but in-group (Jews) rather than the “other.” running, jumping and leaping into every Among the Jewish communities conceivable venue such as Facebook, of Eastern Europe, the powerful were WhatsApp and Twitter, to name a few. often mocked subtly, rather than attacked Memes galore such as this one “I’m going overtly—as Saul Bellow once put it, to stay up on New Year’s Eve this year. Not “Oppressed people tend to be witty.” to see the New Year in, but to make sure We all grew up enjoying the stories of this one leaves.” And this gem, “Can I ,the Wise Men of Chelm. To me ,חכמי חלם enjoy COVID-19 on its own or do I need to our ability to poke fun at any tragedy is a see COVID-18 first?” matter of survival. Dark humor is our I could go on, but I think you get the way of dealing with crises – a way to point. The obvious question is this: with relieve stress under all circumstances. such a deadly virus collecting victims by And the jokes circulating during the the hundreds of thousands, how could Covid-19 pandemic are no different. Plus, people post items that are in such poor let’s be honest, there’s so much great taste? I think the answer lies in the material from which to choose. Even in resilience of humanity and specifically the political arena. Or should I say the Jewish people. especially in the political arena. According to Wikipedia, “Beginning Who can forget the early days of with vaudeville, and continuing conflicting advice: masks are critical, through radio, stand-up comedy, film,
30 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Covid-19. Or is there?
masks don’t work, only certain masks heritage sites devoid of tourists? can protect you. It’s dangerous to go “Today I was in the bank when two men outside – exercise and fresh air are vital. came in wearing masks. Everyone felt a You can only catch the virus through huge relief when they told us it’s only a person to person transmission, but bank robbery.” We laugh because we can remember the virus can live for up to 72 identify and share a bond with others, hours on certain surfaces. Whaaat????? even as we sit isolated in our homes. And the guidelines - let’s not forget As I write this, I have no idea how we about the guidelines. They literally are going to celebrate the Yomim changed from hour to hour. Noraim. Will I be allowed to You can pray with a minyan daven with my community, as of 50. No, 20! No, 10! Were I have for my entire life? Will these the instructions of I hear the mournful sound the Health Ministry or of the Shofar at the Avraham negotiating conclusion of Yom Kippur? with G-d over the I need to accept that I have destruction of Sdom? no control over any of it. I So, we either laugh or only have control over my cry. Try to see the humor in the Emuna in the Kadosh situation or give in to the despair and Baruch Hu. sense of hopelessness that engulfs us And in my ability to laugh. So, on that much of the time. Situations that were note, I’ll leave you with an Israeli joke to inconceivable just six short months ago, start off your New Year: “Israelis were are the new reality. In our lifetime, which upset that it rained in June – as though of us remembers a Seder without guests? what happened during the previous three Weddings performed for family and months was completely normal.” A friends via Zoom? Airports desolate? Broadway shut down and similar famous
31 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Resilience by Dr Joseph Berger
Some years ago in Toronto, we were people often much smarter privileged to have as a visiting intellectually—is that successful professor Gavriel Ben-Dor, a very politicians have the capacity to bounce well-known political scientist and back immediately—the next day—after former Rector of the University of they have been attacked, criticized, Haifa, who davened in my shul and shown up to be quite wrong about whom I came to know quite well. something, while the rest of us will Professor Ben-Dor was an excellent mope and feel upset for four to six speaker in English, and he became so weeks about the unjust, unfair, hurt, well-known around Toronto that a attack we have received. wealthy family from the leading reform That is an illustration of resilience. congregation invited him back each My dictionary does indeed offer as a year to give a couple of lectures, that definition “springing back” as well as always received a large attendance. “readily recovering” and “resuming”. One year, he spoke about Resilience, Applying these to Israel, we can see starting off by saying that this was a how appropriate the term is, because in quality widely possessed among many its relatively short existence on the Israelis that had enabled them to world scene, the modern State of Israel survive so many challenges. has had to bounce back from a number One of my own observations of of wars, starting on day one, as well as Resilience came from my experiences from countless terrorist attacks, as well with having patients who were involved as ‘intellectual’ or verbal assaults that, in the political arena, and my own if anything, have increased in their involvement in medical politics. vehemence in recent years. I developed a number of what I call Indeed, one of the most painful “rules” about politics, but the one that things as Jews we have to tolerate are is relevant here is that a characteristic those who claim some sort of Jewish that separates successful politicians identity, but have public platforms from the rest of people—including from which they incessantly and
32 |Rosh Hashana 2020 viciously attack the State of Israel. No major western country has not But as Jews we have had to be suffered from the ravages of the resilient from the earliest days of our horrible corona virus. In many history—whether being attacked from countries including Israel, there has the outside by Amalek and Amalek’s been at times premature boasting in wannabee successors, or from the claiming to have overcome it, and at inside by our numerous historical other times near-panic in terms of both examples of in-fighting such as Korach the physical morbidity - illness and and his followers, the anti- death - and harsh economic effects. annexationists of biblical times Overall, I think it is reasonable to say otherwise known as the ‘meraglim’, the that Israel has done reasonably well corrupt rulers of Am Yisrael such as compared to others. Izevel and Achav, the ‘protesters’ who We are mostly an Ashkenaz put a stop for some time to the community which means our ancestry rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash, and goes back to Europe, and most families of course the ‘biryonim’ who destroyed have stories to tell about survival, the stored food that could have kept the coping, and recovery, that our population of Yerushalayim alive ancestors made to enable us to be here. during the siege that led to the For our Sefardi and Edut Mizrach destruction of the first Beit Hamikdash. cousins, the same applies. Most of their Those of us who believe that our ancestors in recent years have had to inheritance is authentic, that we are leave countries where Jewish indeed the children and grandchildren communities flourished for centuries, and great-grandchildren of ancestors and they also have rebuilt their lives who preserved our wonderful tradition and their communities here. through four thousand years of history, We Jews seem to have an extraordinary therefore know that we are the capacity to bounce back, and in these descendants of people who had difficult times, it is worth remembering extraordinary levels of resilience. To still that this is a very special quality that be here today as observant Jews—after virtually all of our families have had, and everything our more than one hundred that when times are difficult for us we generations of ancestors went through— can reflect that they did it and so can we. is astonishing. It makes the casual We hope that the coming Jewish year, abandonment of our tradition and our will be a happy and healthy one for all values by the highly assimilated, of us, that we won’t have for much privileged young people, especially in longer the limits and restrictions in our North America, so truly sad. davening together as a kehilla. A
33 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א G-d is With Me, I Shall Not Fear by Andee Goldman
Coronavirus has turned the world upside down, or maybe it was always upside down, and G-d has now corrected what was lacking? We have a choice on how we will handle situations that are thrown our way. Will positive or negative attitudes determine our success, or will FAITH and TRUST in our Creator give us inner peace?
Daily we say Adon Olam in Hebrew, but do we really know, or listen to the words in English?
Master of the universe Who reigned before any form was created. At the time when His will brought all into being Then as “King” was His Name proclaimed.
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34 |Rosh Hashana 2020 After all has ceased to be, He, the Awesome One, will reign alone. It is He Who was, He Who is, and He Who shall remain, in splendor.
He is one, there is no second to compare to Him, to declare as His equal. Without beginning, without conclusion He is the power and dominion.
He is my God, my living Redeemer, Rock of my pain in time of distress., He is my banner, a refuge for me, The portion in my cup on the day I call.
Into His Hand I shall entrust my spirit, when I go to sleep and I shall awaken!! With my spirit shall my body remain. G-d is with me, I shall not fear.
When we are busy, running, chasing, it is easy to forget, G-D is with me. When we live a life full of abundance, and now things are lacking, G-d is with me. When we don’t feel comfortable to go to go to a friend’s because there will not be any social distancing, G-d is with me. When we can not travel across the world to see our children, G-d is with me. When someone speaks Lashon Hara, G-d is with me. When we are not able to go to synagogue, G-d is with me. When we are worried about our health, G-d is with me.
No matter what life throws my way, G-d is with me. The stars and moon appear every night, and the sun rises in the morning. The tide goes in and out. Faith and Trust will keep us going. May G-d bless you and keep you!! A
35 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Technology Comes to Our Aid by Melissa Dubinsky
We have all been struggling with Consider Zoom (and other similar making a new life for ourselves in this programs). Formerly, typically one time of Corona. No longer thought of as would need to go to a shul or a two month “time out” or “lockdown”, community center to hear a shiur or a the entire world realizes that things are lecture. Now we can select from not ever likely to be the same. thousands of options, from all over the Sometime along the way, most of us world, at any hour of the day, and bring started reaching out to reclaim into our the presenter into our living room via a lives people and activities important to computer or smart phone. Web based us. Many of us, raised in the pre- options allow us to visit museums and computer age, didn’t fully appreciate zoos worldwide, play bridge with our the way that technology could enhance regular partners or strangers, or learn a new skill via Formerly, typically one would need to go to a shul or online tutoring. community center to hear a shiur or a lecture. Now we While the jury is can select from thousands of options, from all over the still out on the world, at any hour of the day, and bring the speaker effectiveness of into our living room... distance learning for schoolchildren, it is undeniable our lives. We know, of course, about the that the technology now exists to computer age, space travel, Moovit, the permit this. Iron Dome, and other grand Perhaps most importantly, technological accomplishments. But technology allows us to connect closely we may not have brought the benefits with family and friends who are of technology into our own homes the scattered over the world. way we have in 2020. Once the lockdown prevented us
36 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Technology Comes to Our Aid by Melissa Dubinsky
from seeing our neighbors daily, we were challenged to fill our social calendars. How many of us are now able to use the power of technology, at no additional cost, to reach out across the world? How many of us have been able to attend a Zoom wedding or bris? We sometimes see comparisons to how our grandparents handled the wish all the Kehilla flu pandemic of 1918-1919. Really, there is no comparison. They would שנה טובה probably say they were resilient in the face of daily tragedy, and they ומבורכת .would be right Today, we would say we are resilient in coming to grips with changes in the way we travel, shop, communicate, and fill our days. Technology smooths the roughest edges of lockdown, providing us the www.pronat.co.il means to extend ourselves beyond the confines of our homes. We have only to apply ourselves to our technology. A
37 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade by Tsipi Wexler
When confronted with adversity, resilience by moving through the 7 C's: some people get stuck in the muck, chaos, community, choice, creativity, while others work their way out. I call it commemoration, consecration, and making lemonade, turning the sour celebration. into something positive. During Living beyond Terrorism: Israeli Stories lockdown, we had time to think about of Hope and Healing by Zieva Dauber Resilience, Faith, Isolation, and Konvisser. This collection of stories, Community. I am presenting a list of focuses on resilience, recovery, and books from the Henry Koor Judaica growth. Survivors of terror attacks and Library which deals with these the bereaved tell how they did not just subjects, books that focus on the continue life but moved on to a life 'lemonade'. with new purpose and they contributed to society.
Emuna Faith after the Holocaust by Eliezer Berkovits. Rabbi Berkovits wrote this book before and during the Six Day War. He speaks to people of faith yet doesn't degrade skeptics. He feels that Gentiles failed him, not G-d. The Garden of Emuna by Shlomo Arush. This book can be compressed Resilience into three sentences: Road to Resilience: from Chaos to • Everything comes from G-d, Celebration by Sherri Mandell. This including unpleasant things. primer presents guidelines for • Anything unpleasant in life is for
38 |Rosh Hashana 2020 the best; after all, it comes from G-d. yet the vignettes aren’t necessarily • One must find the good in the written by bereaved. It’s more a report unpleasantness (soul searching). of life in Israel during the Intifada and This book is a lesson in resilience an explanation of why each writer, and faith. Read it for more details and despite the difficulties, lives in Israel. stories. Miracle Nation:70 Stories about the Spirit of Israel by Israela Meyerstein. Isolation Our national community is a Fear No Evil by Natan Sharansky. patchwork of people and values; the Isolation is difficult for many people. I author collected 70 stories for our 70th admire Sharansky, not just for year of independence. Stories are about surviving isolation without Zoom and immigrants, values, justice, needy text messages, but also for his courage citizens, technology and inclusiveness and hope. for the disabled, anything positive about our country. Wishing all of you a year of Emuna, Community Resilience, Connectedness and Our country is made up of people Blessings! Shana Tovah! A who overcame their challenges as individuals. Somehow, individuals form communities and a nation that overcomes immense odds. Israel: Life in the Shadow of Terror: Personal accounts and Perspectives from the Heart of the Jewish People edited by Nechemia Coopersmith and Shraga Simmons. This collection of stories is similar to Konvisser’s book,
39 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א 40 |Rosh Hashana 2020 Shiurim on ZOOM Please check the weekly newsletter for up-to-date start times
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41 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א Judging a Book by Its Cover by Therese Berkowitz
Sacred words, which we read on a affords us a fresh perspective. It gives page or a scroll, have connected us, the us the chance to discover something we Jewish people, through millennia and might never have noticed before. around the globe. Standing in a shul in It was this experience of finding a foreign land, holding an unfamiliar ourselves in different seats in our siddur, but reading the familiar words that we would be reading were we at home, has always felt awe-inspiring to me, and immeasurably comforting. While its “what’s inside that counts”, there is importance in appearances, too. To comply with each new set of guidelines that we have received from the Ministry of Health, those who have been fortunate enough to be able to attend services in our sanctuary may have found themselves socially distancing by sitting in a different seat, a different row, or in an entirely different section of the shul. But change is good. It This siddur crumbled in my hands, but I was struck by the date: 1897
42 |Rosh Hashana 2020 TOP LEFT: A bookplate that honors an entire famlly who perished in the Holocaust—what resilience it took to make a new life in a new country without them. BOTTOM LEFT: A sketch found on an inside cover—I just love the creative spirit, spontaneity and the visual record of a moment captured in time.
sanctuary that prompted my dear friend, Susan Wolff, to suggest a new initiative for which she was requesting my help: “a siddur and chumash refresh.” I agreed. So, after a quick Shabbos discussion, we made plans to meet at shul the following Sunday. Masked and gloved, we began to open each book box, seat by seat, row by row. What we discovered was what we had sadly suspected: many of our books that had been lovingly used over the years were now no longer in good shape. Their spines were broken, covers warped and cracked, some had become completely unglued. They could no longer be easily held. Their pages were yellowed, dried out, worn or torn. We talked about our own experiences in shuls that we’d visited in our travels, both here in Israel and abroad. Then, we considered the content of our book boxes and our book shelves and the poor impression they might give to a visitor or a
43 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א returning congregant. the names for whom the books had Our goals were basic. First, we been dedicated, and then deliver the wanted to clean out the book boxes of books to the genizah. debris, remove the tattered books and It is this second-to-last step, the replace them with books that were in checking-for-bookplates-and- better condition. Second, we wanted to recording-the-names process, that create a system of social distancing by continues to blow me away. leaving alternate book boxes empty, Each bookplate conveys the story of which would be a visual reminder in another generation, a glimpse into compliance with health ministry another era—honored parents, beloved regulations. Third, we felt that during siblings, adored children and this pandemic of illness and death, grandchildren, treasured spouses. They perhaps by changing the books in our tell the stories of s'machot, milestones sanctuary, we might reinvigorate the and loss. Each book has served these positive energy of our space. And families with the reliability of its every fourth, we envisioned that when word, and bears the signs of being held congregants would finally return to with devotion through daily minyanim, shul, they would be greeted with clean, countless Shabbatot, and joyous freshly organised bookshelves and Chagim. Each well-used volume has freshly stocked book boxes that would been exemplary in its many years of confirm that our shul is a vital and service in honouring these family up-to-date house of worship. names, and now stands ready to be laid We discussed our options with the to rest. Chairman and the Rabbi and it was I imagine we have all experienced the agreed that we would prepare a sadness of burying a loved one. The preliminary selection for the Rabbi’s finality of seeing an open gravesite can review. If the Rabbi was in agreement feel unbearable. Yet, I know that there with our choices of “ready-to-retire” can be unexpected comfort derived chumashim and siddurim, we would from seeing a loved one laid to rest check each book for a bookplate, record surrounded by a selection of well-worn
44 |Rosh Hashana 2020 A worn and torn, palm-sized soft-cover soldiers siddur
prayer books and chumashim. It is this members, which I find myself coming image of these sacred books providing back to, as Susan and I proceed with one final act of consolation, one last our “refresh” project, and continue moment of inspiriatoin of resilience judging our books by their covers. A and strength for the surviving family
45 | ראש השנה תשפ׳׳א