NEW VOICE • January 2007 • CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN

rabbi’s message

Rabbi J. Rolando Matalon

braham Joshua Heschel was born in Warsaw one hundred years ago, on January 11, 2007, a descendant of distinguished Hassidic rebbes. Dr. A Heschel became one of the towering religious figures of our time as a theologian, scholar, spiritual guide, moral beacon and activist, his impact extending well beyond the confines of the Jewish community. Indeed, Heschel embodied an extremely rare combination of erudition, sublime piety, INSIDE: penetrating insights, radical ideas, inspired use of language, prophetic indignation, compassion, and commitment to action. Dr. Heschel’s teachings and 2 Social Action/Social Justice example lie at the very core of our BJ community today. Rabbi Marshall T. Still Cooking After All these Years! Meyer revered Heschel and propagated his legacy with love and passion Survey Says... BJ’s Going Green! throughout his rabbinate. Many of Marshall’s students who never even met Heschel in person adopted him as our one of our most important rebbes and 3 Marshall T. Meyer Fellowship continue to learn and spread his legacy. For the past twenty-one years BJ has Brent Chaim Spodek been shaped by Rabbi Heschel’s teachings: from the way in which we pray to our approach to Jewish law and ritual, from our study of Jewish texts to our 4 Marshall T. Meyer Fellowship wrestling with existential questions and the perplexing issues of our day, from Chen Ben Or Tsfoni our social activism to our inter-religious dialogue. The occasion of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s centennial is a great opportunity to discover him for the first 5 Announcements time or to rediscover him for the hundredth time, and to be challenged by his teachings. Heschel left many books on a wide variety of religious subjects, I wish 6 Calendar to recommend some of these masterpieces for our personal spiritual, intellectual and moral enrichment: 8 Youth and Family Education Not by might, not by power? The Sabbath: a profound, erudite and poetical reflection on the meaning of the Why not? Shabbat as holiness in time. Important Dates for January Man Is Not Alone and God in Search of Man: twin volumes on faith and on the 9 Upcoming Community Activities relevance of religion as an answer to our ultimate questions.

10 Upcoming Limud Quest for God: Heschel conveys many important rabbinic and Hassidic teachings in one of the deepest books on the nature of prayer and the experience of the 11 Donations person who prays. This small volume is indispensable for those seeking serious and meaningful prayer. 12 Contacts A Passion for Truth: Completed shortly before his untimely death, this is a study of two radically different Hassidic paths, that of the and that of Menahem Mendl of Kotzk, as well as the parallels between the Kotzker and the father of modern existentialism, Soren Kierkegaard.

The Ineffable Name of God: Man: Heschel’s exquisite poetry written during his youth in pre-World War II Europe, in Yiddish with English translation.

Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: essays edited by Heschel’s daughter, Susannah Heschel, on a variety of topics such as theology, prayer, the role of halakha, , interreligious dialogue, and activism.

As we study and celebrate the life and work of this tzaddik during his centennial year, may we merit some of the profound blessings of his legacy. !

SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org NEW VOICE • January 2007

SOCIAL ACTION/SOCIAL JUSTICE

Still Cooking After All These Years!

he Judith Bernstein Lunch Program, Platform for New York State and City 2007-2012.” We have named in loving memory of a BJ gone to the annual Food Bank conferences to learn more member tragically killed on Pan Am about the impact of hunger what we can do about it here, in Flight 103, has been serving our the richest city in the richest country in the world. T community for 20 years! And we’re not alone! We partner with organizations such as And we have grown. We have become part of a much greater the Youth Services Opportunities Program, which sends us community working to alleviate hunger. We are more aware of church and school groups from all over the country. They are the challenges of hunger, poverty, and homelessness which eager to roll up their sleeves, get to work, socialize with our face so many people in New York City. guests, and learn about Judaism.

Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer led the way in envisioning a lunch In November, we hosted a group of mentally disabled students program that treated our neighbors like honored and from the Community Action School who were fulfilling a dignified guests in our own warm, loving home. Today we community service requirement. Their teacher told us, “By provide a five-course, sit-down meal to about 600 people a doing community service my students, who are mentally month. We welcome families with children, homeless men and disabled, are able not only to enjoy giving to others but also women, seniors unable to cook for themselves, and the to improve their own life skills.” working poor regardless of age, gender, religion, ethnicity or background. Yes. We are still cooking after 20 years. We provide a unique and special volunteer experience both to BJ members and to As always, every guest is personally welcomed and served by a diverse groups of people who want to help alleviate hunger. volunteer. Guests linger to delight in the music of our We are having a small effect on the terrible epidemic of volunteer musician and singer, Doug. Most of our guests now hunger in our city, and we are learning more about how to know the words to Hava Nagila and sing along! partner with others to make a bigger difference. Come roll up your sleeves and get to work with us! ! On the way out, each departing guest receives a care package —The Volunteers of the Judith Bernstein Lunch Program from our pantry to take home. The food, caring service, and music create a bond between volunteers and guests that is far more lasting than the hour spent together. Through the stories Come Cook with Us! of our guests, we have learned about the great and unique • challenges they face, and what it might take to overcome Join our friendly and warm volunteer teams. them. We have three shifts per week: Wednesday 5:00-8:00PM, Cooking and Set-up As a congregation, BJ members contribute every Rosh Hashanah to the West Side Campaign Against Hunger Thursday 9:00-11:00AM, Food Prep (WSCAH), an innovative food pantry based in the newly Thursday 11:45AM-1:15PM, Lunch Serving renovated space at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew • (SPSA). A BJ member sits on the WSCAH board. To learn more or to volunteer, contact Susan Samuels at [email protected] or x338. BJ has also signed on to the Food Bank’s “Anti-Hunger Policy

Survey Says… BJ’s Going Green!

Panim el Panim’s Environmental Action Hevra sends a big We also found that you’re already doing a lot, but you need THANK YOU to the nearly 300 congregants who took the time help and information to do more! More than half of the to respond to our survey. Our response rate—17% of all BJ respondents have one or more compact fluorescent lights in Households – well exceeded our expectations. The question their homes. But if BJ were to make energy-saving light bulbs that evoked the greatest consensus—a whopping 84%—was, available, over 80% of you said you would or might buy them. “If I knew how to remove my name from junk mail lists, I Forty-one percent said you would consider purchasing green would do it!” And the two major motivations for BJ’ers to take power, but 20% wanted more information. Most of you would personal action were: a sense of moral obligation and a sense recycle batteries, old electronics, computers and parts and of urgency about the fate of our planet. plastics if you knew where to send them. (continued on page 4)

2 SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org NEW VOICE • January 2007

MARSHALL T. MEYER FELLOWSHIP

Brent Chaim Spodek

Brent Spodek could have made other choices. Wesleyan University. There he majored in political science and wrote for its newspaper, as well as for the Hartford Courant. He didn’t have to go to rabbinical school; in fact, he He was involved with the school’s egalitarian minyan and was already had begun what seemed likely to blossom into a guided by its rabbi, who was lesbian, Reconstructionist, and flourishing career as a journalist. He wasn’t one of those wonderful. It was there that he met the woman he was to rabbinical students who always knew what he had to do. marry, Alison Keimowitz, who went on to earn a doctorate in environmental chemistry and now teaches at Columbia. After But as he grew older, as he grew more and more willing to see graduation, the two moved to Durham, North Carolina, where the world from the outside perspective he believes Judaism Alison was able to get a job in her field and Brent became a provides, the path before him grew more and more clear. reporter for the Durham Herald-Sun. “Life was good,” Brent says. Brent, who is 31, grew up in Brooklyn—in Bergen Beach and in Coney Island. He had a childhood in some ways typical of the And yet… Jews who grew up in Brooklyn a generation or two before he did. He was not Jewishly active as a child—“Jewishness was For almost five months, Brent and Alison bicycled across the sort of everywhere and nowhere all at once then,” he said. He United States. “It was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done went to Stuyvesant High School, and it was there that his in my life,” Brent says. During that trip, out under the stars, Jewish life really began. “I had a teacher who started giving away from schedules, far from home, alone with the woman me books about the intellectual New York Jewish crowd,” he he loved, open to whatever he saw, felt, tasted, smelled, and said. “I read Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Alfred Kazin’s Walker In learned, he decided that the career path he was on was a The City.” He spent about an hour and a half on the train in good one but not for him. each direction, developing both his crossword puzzle skills and his sense of Jewishness. He went to Israel, studied at Pardes, and worked as a consultant for the American Red Cross. His work was among “I began to understand Judaism as something that stood both Jews and Palestinians; “I was very acutely aware of what distinct and possibly even in opposition to normative American it is to work out what’s right, what’s good,” he said. “And it culture,” Brent said. “It’s like learning a language—you don’t was there that I decided I wanted to go to rabbinical school. I realize that you think in English until you learn to think in wanted to spend my life simultaneously deeply involved with something else. It gave me an alternative point of view for Jewish texts and also in understanding how they might guide thinking about things, for making decisions. For example, us in trying to figure out what’s right and good in the eyes of when you grow up in America the primacy of the individual is God.” a given. That’s a wonderful and powerful thing, but it wasn’t until I started engaging with Judaism that I realized that you Brent is now a student at the Jewish Theological Seminary and could just as easily place community or family as the primary a Marshall T. Meyer Fellow at BJ. “BJ works,” he says. “It’s value.” creative and sustaining a rich religious environment. It’s almost like a Petri dish, where people’s very real and very meaningful Brent began college at the University of Wisconsin at Madison religious experiences can grow.” and spent the next year at Kibbutz Malkiah in northern Israel. The kibbutz was built on the socialist principals of the He’ s not sure what he wants to do after the fellowship, but pioneers and was a dinosaur even then. “My romance and my “what’s clear to me is that I want to live a religious life in disillusionment happened at once,” he said. At the same time, which justice and prayer have absolutely central roles,” he he fell deeply in love with the ideals of early Zionism and said. ‘I have a very good life. I feel immensely obligated to realized that he was witnessing the death throes of those God for being alive. My commitment to social justice comes ideals. It seemed clear to him that Israel’s promise as the hope out of this sense of indebtedness. God doesn’t need anything of the Jewish people and the pain it brought to the from me, so it’s only doing things for God’s creatures who are Palestinians who had lived in it were inextricably fused. suffering that can help me repay my debt, the debt I owe God for just being alive.” ! After six months on the kibbutz and six months at the —Joanne Palmer University of Haifa, Brent went back home and transferred to

SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org 3 NEW VOICE • January 2007

MARSHALL T. MEYER FELLOWSHIP

Chen Ben Or Tsfoni

When you look at Chen Tsfoni’s life, you can see Jewish so creatively, so freely, and it inspired me,” she said. She that her decision to go to rabbinical school was so was living in a moshav in northern Israel; “we started a logical that it was practically overdetermined. Still, synagogue and we started to invite people for Shabbat anyone who would have predicted such a choice when she services.” was a child would have been laughed out of the room. “It was a very liberal synagogue, without rabbis,” she Chen was born in 1963 to parents who made aliyah from Iraq. continues. “We established our own prayerbook; we were The family was flexibly Orthodox, Mizrachi style; “tradition looking for our own language. In Israel, people either are was very natural in our house,” she says. She was tapped for Orthodox or nothing. We wanted to open a space for people an intelligence unit for her army service. After the army, she who wanted spirituality but didn’t want to identify themselves went to a workshop for young leaders of the kibbutz as religious.” movement—her family had moved to a kibbutz when she was 12. “Kibbutz youth lack education about their own history,” The synagogue is growing. “Last service, we had 100 people,” she says; this program explored ways to help fill that hole, Chen said in November, just before she left Israel for New looking at three intertwined subjects, Judaism, Zionism, and York. It’s called Nigun HaLev—Melody of the Heart. communication. It was in this program that Chen met her husband, Guy Tsfoni. The two of them, building on what they Services have been led by three people, including Chen. learned at this program and later at Oranim College, were “When we started I wasn’t doing it, but then my girlfriends among the founders of Hamidrasha. said we want to have a woman, and I said okay, I can try,” she says. “I never thought of myself as someone who was leading Chen and her friends realized that Jewish identity must be service—but then it just became natural for me to lead it.” explained and taught, even in Israel; even in a country of Jews, some things are not obtainable by osmosis. After Yitzhak The next step was rabbinical school. “Around me there is no Rabin’s assassination, she says, that understanding became one who ever went to rabbinical school,” she says. “It’s not an more widespread, but when Hamidrasha began, its option. When they first heard, people were just like ‘What?’” programming was unique. Now, though, they think it’s great.

“You cannot give up on Jewish identity just because you are Chen has finished three years at Hebrew Union College in not religious,” she says. “People need it. They want to Jerusalem; she’s in New York for two years, to finish her understand their roots. Religion was a natural part of their studies at HUC here. The whole family’s moved here; Guy is a grandparents’ lives; even if they didn’t practice, they knew shaliach for the Jewish Agency and their three children, Nir, 5, what they weren’t doing. Then a generation came that didn’t Michal, 7, and Shai, 12, are at the Heschel School. know.” “We’re here for two years, and then we’re going back,” Chen Chen became a social worker. She found the work satisfying says. “Israel is our place. That’s where we want to change the but after awhile it was not enough. Then she made her first world.” ! visit to BJ. “It was a shock to find that there is a way to be —Joanne Palmer

Survey Says...BJ’s Going Green! (continued from page 2)

Food is one thing we know you care about! The survey shows lanes—and several requests for BJ to lower the air that when BJ’ers shop for food, you shop organic and locally conditioning at 88th St.! The hevra will consider all of your over 60% of the time. One-quarter are willing to join a suggestions. To get involved, write to Community-Supported Agriculture project, and 43% wanted [email protected], or call Laura at x261. more information. Half of our survey respondents sometimes purchase environmentally friendly products, but 26% said they And who responded? We received surveys from households purchase conventional products because they don’t know including 561 adults and 99 children. Two-thirds of enough about alternatives. One-third said they would respondents are female; 44% are between 40-60 years of age; definitely buy a hybrid car! and 78% live in Manhattan. Stay tuned to our environmental updates to find out how you can adopt sustainable practices in What should the Environmental Action Hevra do? We got your home, support efforts to green our synagogue, and add your suggestions for everything from getting more info about your voice to local policy campaigns. ! cleaning products to supporting efforts to create more bike

4 SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org HADASH NEW VOICE • January 2007 •

announcements

Mazal Tov

To the following members and their families on their Condolences (through November 24) bat/bar mitzvah (through December):

Jessica Hirschhorn Tai Bendit-Shtull The community of B’nai Jeshurun extends condolences to the following members and their families: Brennan Bassman Griffin Brown Frances Greenberg on the death of her beloved Anna Bernstein Melanie Blank daughter, Anne Koffler. Stuart Spivak Marge, Judah, Talya and Eilat Gubbay on the death of Marge's beloved sister, Doris Ishaky. To the following members and their families (through November 24): Miriam Herscher on the death of her beloved cousin, Stephanie and Michael Chaly on the naming of their daughter, Rina Chagy Thompson. Julia. Jonathan, Beth, Sara, Benjamin, and Adam Kern on the Gabrielle, Jonathan, Yaniv and Maya Silver-Lewis on the naming of death of their grandfather and great-grandfather, their daughter and sister, Ella Amalya. Michael Kern.

Robin Harper and Thomas, Maximilian and Louisa Eckhardt on the Amos, Andrea, Ben, and Maddie Neufeld on the death birth of their daughter and sister, Raphaelle Eckhardt. of their beloved father, father-in-law, and grandfather, Ernest Neufeld. Erin Carlin and Yonaton Koch on their recent wedding. Diego Syrowicz on the death of his beloved grandfather, Jacqueline Schatz and David Martinez on the birth of their Shilem Gajnaj. daughter, Veronica Schatz Martinez. Elizabeth and Gail Amsterdam on the death of their Nathalie, Ed, Bella, Lilly and Joan B. Kaplan on the birth of their beloved brother and uncle, Martin Burwick. daughter, granddaughter and sister, Chloe Meredith. Larry, Lisa, Michael, Hannah, and Benjamin Davidoff on Sally Gottesman and Rachel Tiven on the birth of their daughter. the death of their beloved brother, brother-in-law, and uncle, Howard Davidoff. Tony Kushner on receiving the JFREJ Marshall T. Meyer Risk-Taker Award. Howard Perlman on the death of his beloved father, Max Perlman. BJ High Holy Day musician Susan Pereira on the release of her new CD “Tudo Azul” with her group Sabor Brasil, which also includes Jeff Perlah and Pauline Nelson on the death of Jeff’s Susan's husband, BJ member Vanderlei Pereira. beloved father, Arnold Perlah.

BJ musician Matt Turk on the release of his new CD “Washington Jeff, Paula, and Eli Weiss on the death of Jeff's beloved Arms“ as well as the additional single “The Fog of War,” featuring father, Nathan Weiss. Pete Seeger on the banjo.

Todah rabbah

We would like to thank the entire Kazis family for re-kindling the four stained glass windows on either side of the bimah at the 88th Street Sanctuary in honor of the birthday of Samantha Ann Phillips, daughter of Keren Kazis Phillips and Bradley Phillips.

SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org 5 JANUARY 2007 – Tevet/SHEVAT 5767

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSD 1 2 3 4

BJHS CLOSED BJHS CLOSED BJ OFFICE CLOSED

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• 5 PM – 3rd Grade Families • 5 PM – BJHS cook for the Shelter, Gan and Alep 88th St. Frankel Hall 88th St.

14 15 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. 16 17 18 DAY

BJHS CLOSED BJ OFFICE CLOSED

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• 5 PM – BJHS Mishpaha • 6 PM – Annual Interfaith Lecture: Bet, 88th St. Dead Sea Scrolls, 88th St. (SEE P.10)

Morning Minyan (88th Street) service • Monday–Friday 7:30 AM • Sunday & National Holidays 9:30 AM

times Kabbalat Shabbat • Kabbalat Shabbat 5:45 PM 88th St. Sanctuary • 7:15 PM 88th St. Sanctuary • Additional Services January 5: Wandering Minyan 5:45 PM 88th St. Frankel Hall • Family Service 5:45 PM 88th St. Sanctuary • Additional Service January 26: Contemplative Shabbat 5:45 PM 86th St. Sanctuary

Shabbat Morning • 9:30 AM 86th St. Sanctuary • Children’s Services 10:45 AM 86th St. Chapel • Additional Services January 6, 20: Junior Congregation 10:30 AM 86th St. Social Hall

SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New 6 DAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Adult Classes 5 6 • 9:30 AM – Shabbat Morning • 5:45 PM – Family Service, Services, 86th St. 88th St. Sanctuary • 10:30 AM – Junior Congregation, MONDAY • 5:45 PM – Wandering 86th St • Introduction to Judaism, 7-9 PM Minyan, 88th St. Frankel Hall • 10:45 AM – Children’s Services, 86th St. • 7:15 PM – Kabbalat Shabbat TUESDAY Service, 88th St. Sanctuary • Bat Mitzvah: Sophie Klein • Following 7:15 PM Service – • 12:00 PM – RE-IMAGINE Family • Gems of Genesis, 8:10-9 AM Oneg Shabbat, 88th St. Sanctuary lunch, 88th St. Frankel Hall • Jewish Practice Skills Workshop: Torah Study, 7-8:30 PM • 4 PM – Study of The Sabbath (January 9,16, 23) followed by havdalah, 86th St. Social Hall (SEE P.10) • Jewish Practice Skills Workshop: Kashrut, 7-8:30 PM (January 30, February 6, 13) 12 13 • 5:45 PM – Kabbalat Shabbat • 9:30 AM – Shabbat Morning WEDNEsday S Mishpaha Service, 88th St. Services, 86th St. • Abraham Joshua Heschel: Moral Grandeur and Spiritual ph, • 7:15 PM – Kabbalat Shabbat • 10:45 AM – Children’s Services, Audacity, 6:30-8 PM (January 10, 17, 24, 31, February 7, 14) Service, 88th St. 86th St. • Bar Mitzvah: Jordan Wechsler • Following Shabbat Morning THURSDAY Services: Lunch with Rev. Flowers, • Text Study on Mekhilta De Rabbi Ishmael, 12:30-1:45 PM 88th St. Frankel Hall (SEE P.9) (January 11, 18, 25, February 1, 8, 25) • Parashat Hashavu’a, 7-8:30 PM

19 20 ROSH HODESH SHEVAT • 5:45 PM – Kabbalat Shabbat • 9:30 AM – Shabbat Morning Service, 88th St. Services, 86th St. youth Classes • Following 5:45 PM Service – • 10:30 AM – Junior Congregation, 86th St. Community Shabbat Dinner, 88th St. Monday Frankel Hall (SEE P.10) • 10:45 AM – Children’s Services, • 7:15 PM – Kabbalat Shabbat 86th St. 4-5:30 PM, K-1st Grade Service, 88th St. • Community Kiddush, 88th St. 4-6 PM, 2nd-7th Grade • Bar Mitzvah: Oliver Fisher • Rosh Hodesh Women’s Group. lunch, 86th St. (SEE P.10) Tuesday 5-7 PM, Lishma

26 27 Thursday • 5:45 PM – Contemplative Shabbat • 9:30 AM – Shabbat Morning 4-5:30 PM, K-1st Grade Service, 86th St. Services, 86th St. 4-6 PM, 2nd-6th Grade • 5:45 PM – Kabbalat Shabbat • 10:45 AM – Children’s Services, Service, 88th St. 86th St. • Following 5:45 PM Service – • Bat Mitzvah: Aviva Malz BJHS Vav Dinner, 86th St. • 4:00 PM – Learning in Memory of • 7:15 PM – Kabbalat Shabbat Shira Palmer-Sherman z”l, 86th St. Service, 88th St. (SEE P.10) ONGOING ACTIVITIES

sunday–Thursday • BJ/SPSA Homeless Shelter 7 PM

Wednesday • Kesharim 2 PM

Thursday • Judith Bernstein Lunch Program 12 PM

Candlelighting Times Parashat HaShavu’a Havdalah Times

January 5 4:24 PM January 6 Vayehi January 6 5:28 PM January 12 4:31 PM January 13 Shemot January 13 5:35 PM January 19 4:39 PM January 20 Va’era January 20 5:42 PM January 26 4:47 PM January 27 Bo January 27 5:50 PM

indicates Family Life and Hebrew School events w York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org 7 NEW VOICE • January 2007

youth and Family education

Not by might, not by power? Why not?

ur tradition, at first blush, seems full assumption that each of us was taking responsibility for of reminders that it’s what’s inside saying it in a more private setting. However, the goal for the that counts—that the soul and the summer when I was turning thirteen was for all the campers O mind are somehow more important, or to learn every single part of the morning liturgy, so each day more Jewish, than the body. Remember the Debbie Friedman for two months, I would recite this blessing aloud, sort of Hanukkah song, “Not by Might?” borrowed from the grossed-out and suppressing giggles the whole time, with a haftarah for Hanukkah, it paraphrases: group of about eighty other rising eighth graders. For years after that summer, I never gave the blessing much thought. “Not by might and not by power, But by spirit alone shall we all live in peace.” Then, about fifteen years later, on another soupy western- Massachusetts August day, it came thundering back to me. I Sitting in Hebrew School and at services, I have watched and was sprinting down the finish chute of my first triathlon, a participated as our children have learned several different little sore, very blistered, convinced I could have picked a melodies and hand motions for Modeh Ani, the prayer we say better racing outfit, and feeling nothing short of awe at what in our beds in the morning, thanking God for returning our my body had just done. Just past the finish line, through my souls to us when we awake. We sing three different melodies tears I could see my husband waiting for me, and the words for Elohai Nishama, another part of the morning liturgy, of “the bathroom blessing” all of a sudden seemed like the announcing that the soul God has given to us is pure. We are only thing to say. Because all of my parts and vessels and not about might, we are not about power, but about spirit, muscles worked together so well, here I was, not just about to about soul. We have become a religion of intangibles: of earn my first medal as a triathlete, but Standing Before You, feelings, of thoughts, of justice. Our children obediently do as it said in the blessing. I thought I was swimming, biking not draw pictures of God, do not ask why there are no and running, but all along this had been my prayer. pictures of people in our tradition, and live in a world where Shabbat, services, and religious school can be seen as Training for that first race almost felt like a secret to hide: it competition to and opposites of soccer. was so other from the rest of my life. It seemed to have nothing to do with praying, with studying, with tikkun olam. Why have we done this? Why have we written our bodies out I was not racing to raise money for charity—I was racing to of the Jewish picture, acknowledging them only as vessels or push my body to its limits and compete. And yet, I realized as vehicles for our souls? Is it any wonder that we are becoming the finish line got closer and closer, testing my body and more and more unhealthy in our bodies, both in how they doing something so purely physical was just as Jewish, just as function and how we perceive them? As Jews, we are not the much an expression of thanks and praise and awe for my only people confronting the health crisis of the twenty-first Creator, as any of the other more traditional Jewish things I century. But as Jews, we are uniquely positioned to address it did. To take the point to its extreme end, if I was a creature and to bring our bodies back into the picture. created in the image of my Creator, then a part of God was probably an athlete too. During my first summer at Camp Ramah in Palmer, Massachusetts, I learned about what was jokingly referred to Since that first race, I have begun to include more Jewish as “the bathroom blessing.” There is some dispute about liturgy into my racing, always following the national anthem whether this blessing should be recited upon relieving oneself with my whispered Sheheheyanu, using the repeating in the morning, or if one can hold it, if you’ll pardon the pun, rhythmic words of the bathroom blessing to increase my until one arrives at synagogue in the morning, wraps onself in turnover midrace, remembering Hanoten L’yaef Koah (the one one’s tallit and lays tefillin: who gives strength to the weary) after a particularly nasty fall in the New York City Marathon. “Praised are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe who with wisdom fashioned the human body, creating openings, One of my favorite Talmudic characters is Resh Lakish, a arteries, glands and organs, marvelous in structure, intricate in gladiator (really!) who does teshuvah, escapes his master, and design. Should but one of them, by being blocked or opened, comes to the study of Torah. He sort of serves as the dumb fail to function, it would be impossible to exist and to stand jock foil to Rabbi Yochanan, but he often has wisdom to before You. Praised are you, Adonai, healer of all flesh who speak, too. Aside from Resh Lakish, I was hard-pressed to come sustains our bodies in wondrous ways.” up with a list of Jewish athletes. Yes, there are Israeli athletes, and athletes who happen to be Jewish, but there are very few Most congregations, including my summer community at who see their physical achievements as fully integrated into a camp, choose to skip over this blessing—perhaps on the rich Jewish life, as an expression of their Jewish identities. (continued on page 9)

8 SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org HADASH NEW VOICE • January 2007 •

youth and Family education

Important Dates for January Family Programs Saturday, January 6, 10:30AM, 86th Street Social Hall: ...... Junior Congregation Tuesday, January 9, 5:00PM, Frankel Hall: ...... 3rd Grade Families Cook for the Shelter Saturday, December 20, 10:30AM, 86th Street Social Hall: ...... Junior Congregation

Teen Programs Tuesday, January 2, 5:00PM, BJ Office: ...... Lishma Teen Learning Program Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend: ...... 8th and 9th Grade Community Service Trip to Rebuild the Gulf Coast with JFSJ Hebrew School Programs Thursday, January 11, 5:00PM, 88th Street: ...... BJHS Gan and Aleph Mishpaha Family Learning Program Friday, January 26, following the 5:45PM Kabbalat Shabbat Service: . . . . .BJHS Vav Family Shabbat Dinner Monday, January 29, 5:00PM, 88th Street: ...... BJHS Bet Mishpaha Family Learning Program Monday, January 29, 6:15PM: ...... BJHS Staff Development Session

Hebrew School is closed for winter break through January 7, 2007. Classes resume on January 8, 2007.

Not by might, not by power? Why not? (continued from page 8)

Several years back, there was a religious basketball player at is Jewish for us to act as custodians for the beautiful world the University of Maryland, but I cannot think of so many that God created for us. I would like to suggest that while other examples. (I invite you to correct me and help me build you are schlepping the family around outside, looking at the my short list of Jewish athletes. I share with you the example trees, that you tell your children that all of the activities they of Malky, a religious girl who stood next to me at the starting do with their bodies, whether sledding, or skiing, or skating, line of the Westchester Triathlon this September wearing, I kid or running or jumping or walking, can be prayers. Yes, the you not, a skirt over her wetsuit.) souls that God has given us are pure, but our bodies are pretty great, too, and just as God-given. It’s January, and we are in the heart of the winter doldrums. Each year, Jewish educators suggest that you schlep the family And if you’re looking for a running partner, call me. I’m around outside for Tu BiShevat, looking at trees in winter, already training for Ironman Lake Placid in July! ! reminding yourself that spring has sprung in Israel, and that it —Hollis Gauss, Director of Education

upcoming community activities

Shabbat Oneg: A Taste of the World to Come! In commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday Friday, January 5 and February 2, following the Shabbat morning, January 13 late service, 88th Street Luncheon to follow with Rev. Flowers Shabbat in the 21st century doesn’t have to look like Please join us in welcoming Reverend Kenneth James Flowers the traditional meal of generations past—maybe there’s to our services on this Shabbat. Reverend Flowers will be live music, maybe there’s no Manischewitz. You bring the visiting from Detroit, Michigan where he is the Pastor at kosher wine/grape juice (we ask everyone to contribute) and Greater New Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. we’ll provide light finger food and a great space to socialize. Reverend Flowers is well known for his passion for social justice and the unity of humanity. He has visited Israel on four Community Shabbat Dinner occasions and is committed to Black-Jewish dialogue. He Friday, January 19, following 5:45PM Shabbat service, 88th initiated interfaith dialogue in his home town with an ongoing Street Frankel Hall. relationship with Temple Beth El, the oldest synagogue in Cost: Please check the Kol Jeshurun and www.bj.org for Michigan. Please join us for a buffet brunch at 88th Street further details. immediately following services. Cost $15 per person, registration required. For more information, please visit www.bj.org or call Sarah Michelson at x234.

SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org 9 NEW VOICE • January 2007

upcoming LIMUD

Shabbat: A Sanctuary in Time Looking Toward Shabbat Shira: An afternoon of learning Rabbi Jay , Chapter 3 in memory of Shira Palmer-Sherman z”l Saturday, January 6 • 4:00PM Rabbi Joanna Samuels • 86th St. Social Hall • Cost: Free, registration not Saturday, January 27 • 4:30PM • 86th St. Social Hall • Cost: Free, required. During the course of Abraham Joshua registration required. Heschel’s centennial year, we will read together as a community Heschel’s The Sabbath. On the first Shabbat Annual Interfaith Lecture: The Significance of the Dead Sea of each month, a different rabbi/teacher in our community will Scrolls for Judaism and Christianity teach one chapter through various sources. All are encouraged Dr. Adolfo Roitman to buy the book and bring it to the Shabbat afternoon sessions Tuesday, January 30 • 6:00–8:00PM • 88th St. Sanctuary (copies of each chapter will not be distributed). All sessions will • Cost: Free, registration required. Join the Interfaith Committee conclude with havdalah except for April, May and June. and SPSA as we welcome guest speaker Dr. Adolfo Roitman. Dr. Roitman is the curator of the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Jewish Practice Skills Workshop: Torah Study Museum of Jerusalem. The Shrine of the Book houses the Rabbi Dara Frimmer, Marshall T. Meyer Fellow incredible Dead Sea Scroll collection, so we are pleased he will 3 Tuesdays (January 9, 16, 23) • 7:00–8:30PM • 86th St. Chapel be sharing his wealth of knowledge with us through an • Cost: Free, registration required. What are the wide range of entertaining presentation. For more information, call the Jewish texts and what skills are used to understand them? Interfaith hotline at x379. What are some of the techniques used by the rabbis to understand the Torah and can we learn how to better dissect a Jewish Practice Skills Workshop: Kashrut Jewish text? Rabbi Dara Frimmer, Marshall T. Meyer Fellow 3 Tuesdays (January 30, February 6, 13) • 7:00–8:30PM • 86th St. Abraham Joshua Heschel: Moral Grandeur Chapel • Cost: Free, registration required. Chewing cud, split and Spiritual Audacity hooves, scales and fins, meat and milk: Come learn how to Rabbi J. Rolando Matalon navigate the vast system of rules and regulations of keeping 6 Wednesdays (January 10, 17, 24, 31, February 7, 14) kosher while uncovering principles of conscientious • 6:30–8:00PM • 88th St. Frankel Hall • Cost: Free, registration consumption and marking sacred time. required. We will mark Heschel’s centennial by reviewing some of his teachings on faith, spirituality, halakhah and social First Annual Stuart Polly Interfaith Study: activism. Introduction to Islam for Jews and Christians Rabbi David Freidenreich, PhD Lunchtime class: Text Study on Mekhilta De Rabbi Ishmael 4 Thursdays (February 1, 8, 15, 22) • 7:15–9:00PM Rabbi Felicia L. Sol • 86th St. Parlor Room • Cost: Free, registration required 6 Thursdays (January 11, 18, 25, February 1, 8, 25) This course introduces the basics of Islam: Muhammad and the • 12:30–1:45PM • BJ Office, Ansonia Building, 2109 Broadway, Quran, Islamic belief and practice, Islam from Muhammad to Suite 203 • Cost: Free, registration required. In the months when modernity, and Islam in America. It is designed for members of BJ we read and experience Yitzi’at Mitzrayim (the Exodus from and SPSA and will assume minimal knowledge of the faith and Egypt) and Kabbalat HaTorah (the Revelation of Torah), we will traditions of our Muslim neighbors. Students will be expected to do a close text study on this early midrashic work on the book attend regularly and to participate in discussion. The course will of Exodus with a primary focus on the midrashim on the be taught by Rabbi David Freidenreich, PhD, whose Columbia Exodus and the Revelation on Mount Sinai. Texts will be given doctoral dissertation dealt with comparative study of the three out in Hebrew and English, though studied in English. No prior Islamic faiths, and will feature speakers representing the diversity knowledge necessary. of Islam in the metropolitan area.

Rosh Hodesh Women’s Group for Shevat Saturday, January 20 • Potluck lunch following Shabbat morning SAVE THE DATE! services • 86th St. • Cost: Free, registration not required • Join Rabbis Felicia Sol, Dara Frimmer and Lauren Holtzblatt to The 2nd Annual “Music of the BJ Shabbat Musicians” study and pray together on this holiday traditionally associated Saturday, February 3 • 8PM with women. Please bring a dairy/vegetarian/kosher snack for everyone to share. Join us as we celebrate with our resident musicians as they gather to present their own original musicand amazing artistry. The different bands will offer an eclectic mix of styles including Middle Eastern, cocktail cabaret, classical and traditional Jewish song.

10 SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org HADASH NEW VOICE • January 2007 •

donations (through November 17)

Adult Howard and Susan Weissman in Maryline Shrat Erbibou in memory of Sherwood and Sallie Newman in Education Fund honor of the Fredman family Berthe Erbibou memory of their parents, Morris Alan and Mimi Frank Brett and Dale Yacker in honor of Jonathan and Shirley Feder in and Ida Newman and Ann and Jack Bernice Todres in memory of Mimi their daughter Weslee's bat mitzvah memory of their parents, Franklin Silverman Frank's father and Lois Sharzer's and Ruth Feder and Albert and Betty Palmer in memory of her mother Hebrew School Fund Frances Glick husband, Morris Stanger Glenn Marlowe and Judy Geller- Lisa Halprin Fleisher in memory of Deborah Pinsky in memory of Carol B’nai Mitzvah Fund Marlowe in honor of the bar her grandmother, Doris Halprin Silver, mother, mother-in-law and Susan Lerner in memory of her mitzvah of Matthew Ross Curtis B. Hayworth in memory of his grandmother to Jonathan, Orli, grandfather, Jack March father, Efraim Zalman ben Eliot and Leah Silver Homeless Shelter Fund Benjamin, his mother, Yitl bat David Deborah Pinsky in memory of Bikkur Holim Fund Tammy and Rocco Caputo, in Ha Levy, and his wife, Miriam bat Jonathan Kern's grandfather, Art and June Nislick memory of Eileen Mullen's mother, Abraham Michael Kern Marla and Harold Parnes and family Lucy Manzo Dorothy Hilf Bob Reiss in memory of Mark Lipsy's wife, Susan King Joy and Herbert Horwich in honor of Wendy S. Roth in memory of her Denyse Dolny-Lipsy Jane and Robert Baum as Kallat father, Larry Roth Judith Bernstein Lunch Program Torah and Hatan Torah Jerry and Sheila Rothman in memory Daily Minyan Fund Jack and Muriel Brawarsky in honor Leon and Judith Jacobson in memory of their parents, Ida and Jack Samuel and Maureen Mann in honor of Ida Brown of her mother, Gertrude S. Seidel Zelefsky and Helen and Philip of Ari Priven for all his hard work Glenn Marlowe and Judy Geller- David S. Katz in memory of Murray Rothman and dedication Marlowe in memory of Elana and Helen Katz Heidi Sadowsky in memory of her Robert’s father, Jordan Fendell Nina L. Kaufman in memory of her father, Norman Sadowsky Darfur Fund Glenn Marlowe and Judy Geller- grandmother, Beryl Berger Kaufman Lisa Schachner in memory of Frances Gertrude Litowitz in honor of Cecille Marlowe in memory of Lois Norman and Lenore Kaufman in Greenberg's daughter, Anne Koffler Davis on her special birthday Sharzer's mother, Sylvia Ziev memory of Lenore’s father, Samuel Helene and Seymour Schechter in Glenn Marlowe and Judy Geller- Buckalter memory of Helene's mother, Leah Etz Hayim Fund Marlowe in honor of Weslee Florence Keller in memory of her bat Sarah Helena Diamant Glass in memory of Yacker's bat mitzvah mother, Anna Glick Gittel Silverberg in memory of her Leon Levy, father and father-in-law Lorraine Korn in memory of Frances Ann Kern in memory of her aunt, mother, Pearl Taitelbaum of Mimi and Alan Frank Greenberg's daughter, Rosalie Helen Goodman Barbara Simon in memory of Eileen Samara Minkin and Trent Gegax Linsky Stephen Kippur in memory of his Mullen's mother, Lucy Manzo Ceil Kraus in memory of her mother, mother, Shirley Kippur Andrew T. Slabin in memory of his General Fund Anna Handelsman Deborah Kirschner in memory of her grandparents David and Herzlia Clain in honor of Samara Minkin and Trent Gegax grandmother, Esther Lindheim Melorra Sochet their granddaughter Sophie Merryl and Ralph Klein, in memory Sharon L. Stein in memory of Michael Browner’s bat mitzvah Marshall T. Meyer Memorial Fund of Frances Greenberg's daughter, Stein, husband and father George Kaplan and Miriam Harris- Barbara, Eric and Gwen Schwimmer Anne Koffler Mark and Robyn Tsesarsky Kaplan in honor of Sandee in memory of their husband and Carole Klepper in memory of her Amy Wachtel in memory of her Brawarsky being named Kallat father, Robert Schwimmer father, Moe Kaperst parents, and Judith Wachtel Bereshit Stefan and Mary Krieger Zelda Weiss in memory of her aunt Arthur and June Nislick in honor of Rabbi Felicia Sol’s Discretionary Fund Susan Landau in memory of her Lena Friedberg the conversion of Aaron Matan Joyce Morris in memory of Mark husband, Sidney Landau Erica White in memory of her family Brunnlehrman Lipsy's wife, Denyse Dolny-Lipsy David Lebenstein Dorothy and Jeanette Winter in Steven Price in honor of David Price's Carol Keller in memory of her father, memory of their parents, Fannie special birthday Social Action Fund Kenneth Kurt Keller and Joseph Winter Lana A. Kalickstein in honor of the Lynn and David Badain in honor of Fred and Ellen Levine BJ Sukkahfest 2006 Participants Allegra Allen's birthday Batya Lewton in memory of her Stephen and Deirdre Kessler in honor Ruth Joseph in honor of the BJ family of Sandee Brawarsky as Kallat Literacy Partners Jules and Judith Love in memory of Bereshit and her engagement to Malcolm and Estelle Newman in Judith’s father, Nathan Yoselevitz Barry Lichtenberg honor of their grandchildren Gerald and Shirley Margolis in Susan Landau and Thomas Reiner in Helene and Seymour Schechter in memory of their parents, Rose and KOL HADASH memory of Lois Sharzer's mother, honor of Seymour Schechter Harry Smiley and Tammie and Harry Sylvia Ziev Margolis New Voice Susan Landau and Thomas Reiner in Yizkor Fund Arthur and Hannah Margulies in January, 2007 honor of Fern and Dan Flamberg Myriam Abramowicz in memory of memory of Luis Feuer and Sam Membership Committee in honor of her parents, Mendel and Lea Margulies All material is the the bar mitzvah of Ira Wolfman’s Abramowicz and in honor of Robert and Iris Markewich in property of Congregation son, Perry Small-Wolfman Sandee Brawarsky memory of Iris’ mother, Anna Gross B’nai Jeshurun and cannot Abigail Moore and Leonard Sheila Bleckner in memory of her Roly Matalon and Talia Hatzor in Wasserman for the speedy recovery father, Samuel Kushner memory of Roly's grandfathers, be reprinted without of Paul Freireich and Talia Gubbay’s Irwin and Arlene Brandon in memory Elias Teubal and Moises Matalon permission. brother of Irwin’s sister, Evelyn Schecter Membership Committee in memory Abigail Moore and Leonard Ralph Brunswick and Elizabeth Genn of Ira Wolfman’s father, Aaron Editor & Designer: Wasserman in honor of the in memory of Elizabeth's mother, Wolfman Harriet R. Goren marriage of Caroline Harris and Eveline Chon Genn Inez Meisels in memory of her father, Howard Goldman Don and Rochelle Cohen in memory Samuel Zuckerman Illustration: Pam Pritchett Irene and Joe Perl of Rochelle’s mother, Libbie Hella Moritz in memory of her Heidi C. Ruzumna and Josh Lukaris in Weisbard father, Armand Henri honor of the upcoming wedding of Marilyn Danzis in memory of her Marc Newman in memory of Morris Laura Horwitz and Guy Friedman mother, Henrietta Goldstein Polisky

SYNAGOGUE: 257 W. 88th St. • OFFICE: 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203, New York, NY 10023 • TEL: 212.787.7600 • FAX: 212.496.7600 • WEBSITE: www.bj.org 11 NEW VOICE • January 2007

SYNAGOGUE: Committees & Services: Hakhnasat Orhim ...... 351 Social Action ...... 259 257 West 88th Street Accounts Payable ...... 227 Havurot ...... 222 Telephone Language Companion Accounts Receivable ...... 237 Hevra Kadisha . . . . .212-496-0616 212-721-9037 OFFICES: Adult Education Information. 233 Homeless Shelter . . 212-339-4250 Teen Programming ...... 253 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), #203 Bar/Bat Mitzvah ...... 223 Interfaith Committee ...... 379 Torah/Haftarah Reading . . . . .232 Main Telephone Number Bikkur Holim ...... 308 Kesharim ...... Ushering ...... 305 212-787-7600 BJ Reads ...... 391 212-799-7979/873-8153 Volunteer Information ...... 255 Fax Number (2109 Broadway) Conversion ...... 264 Kiddush Scheduling ...... 233 Youth & Family Education . . .244 212-496-7600 Daily Minyan ...... 232 Kol Jeshurun ...... 254 Deaf & Hard of Hearing . . . . Ledor Vador ...... 224 Website e-mail: [email protected] Lunch Program ...... 338 www.bj.org phone: 212-628-7061 Membership Information . . . .224 Development Ralph Bunche School Partnership & Donation Information . . . .242 ...... 301 88th Street Rental ...... 223 Shabbat B’Yahad Committee . 233 Family Activities: Hotline . . . .318

Rabbis: Director of Membership: Board of Trustees: Robert Imershein Marshall T. Meyer (1985-1993) Belinda Lasky, x224 David Karnovsky J. Rolando Matalon Susan Kippurº Beth Kern Marcelo R. Bronstein Director of Facilities: President Ruth Lazarus Felicia L. Sol Roma Serdtse, x350 Ted Beckerº Jonathan Litt Chair Andrea Newman Hazzan and Music Director: Director of Social Action/ Ilene Rosenthal Robin Fleischnerº Ari Priven Social Justice: Benjamin Ross Vice President Guy Austrian, x259 Stephen Stulman Marshall T. Meyer Fellows: Harriet Abrahamº Mim Warden Rabbi Dara Frimmer Director of Volunteerism: Vice President Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt Carol Dikman, x255 Honorary Trustees Irvin Rosenthalº Virginia Bayer* Brent Chaim Spodek Vice President Assistant to Rabbi Matalon: Frederic Goldstein Executive Director: Sarah Michelson, x234 Avi Lewittesº Marcy Grau* Deborah Pinsky, x254 Treasurer David Hirsch* Richard Janvey* Assistant to Rabbi Bronstein: Rabbi Rachel Cowanº Robert Kanter Director of Finance & Charles Lenchner, x240 Secretary Administration: Joan B. Kaplan Sara Moore Litt* Ron Seitenbach, x226 Assistant to Rabbi Sol: Paul Deards Naomi Meyer Amanda Schanfield, x233 Susan Etra Judith Peck* Director of Education Jeff Feig (Youth & Family): Debra Fine General Counsel Hollis Gauss, x244 Donna Freireich Jonathan Adelsberg Rochelle Friedlich Director of Development: Christina Gantcher º Executive Committee Member Aviva Raichelson, x242 Barbara Glassman * Past President

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN Non-Profit Org. 2109 Broadway (Ansonia), Suite 203 U.S. Postage New York, NY 10023 PAID Permit No. 530 New York, NY

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