Shabbat and Service Times Rabbi’s Teaching February 18-19 As the Jew Turns: Coming Home to Jewish Roots Shabbat Ki Tissa Candle Lighting 5:14 P.M., Even if you haven’t read Exodus 32 to 34 recently, you may Shabbat ends 6:17 P.M. know it from Cecil B. DeMille and “The Ten Friday Night Service 6 P.M. Commandments.” It’s a raw and powerful scene. Hundreds Saturday Sanctuary Service, 9:30 A.M. of thousands of frustrated Israelites, waiting at the foot of Mt. Singing Service 9:30 A.M. Sinai for Moses to come back down, decide that he has Sunday Minyan 9 A.M. abandoned them. With Aaron, Moses’ brother, they build the Golden Calf. Idolatrous revelry breaks out. G-d is enraged, February 25-26 and threatens to destroy the people. Moses himself smashes Shabbat VaYakhel two sacred, divinely crafted tablets. Candle Lighting 5:23 P.M.; Shabbat ends 6:26 P.M. Moses pleads successfully for G-d’s forgiveness. The Friday Night Service 6 P.M. covenant is restored through Moses’ eloquent prayers for G- Saturday Sanctuary Service, d’s continued Presence. In fact, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, a 9:30 A.M. Talmudic giant, concluded, “The people of only made Youth and Family Services the calf to open up possibilities for Ba’alei Teshuva (sincerely 11:15 A.M. remorseful, penitents).” Sunday Minyan 9:00 A.M.

In the time of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, and for most of Jewish history since, a Baal Teshuva (literally, master of repentance) was a Jew who had lived a pious life, went astray, and then returned to observance. cont., p. 4

Rabbi’s New Mini-Course: How To Give A D’var Torah, A Torah Teaching Sharing the wisdom of Torah can really help us, and you don’t have to be a Rabbi or scholar to do it. This course will help novices navigate the Torah text so they can impart their own understanding to others in what we call a D’var Torah, a brief Torah teaching. We will meet on three Wednesday evenings, March 23, 30 and April 13, 7:30-8:45 p.m. No Hebrew or Jewish background required. There is also no charge but we would appreciate your dropping us a line at [email protected], if you’d like to come.

Don’t Pass Over Kane Street Pesach Candy Drive If you have not already received an email with the sweet details, please see the Kane Street Website at www.kanestreet.org under Upcoming Programs to view the brochure of the Barton’s pesadich goodies and order form. You can order through the form or on-line at www.misschocolate.com. Enter the Kane Street code of 700210 at checkout. You can also help a or Kane Street Kids student win prizes by referring your sales to him or her. Please have all orders in by March 2. Contact Jill Rose at [email protected] or Mindy Sinyak at [email protected].

Give the Gift of Purim Wish your Kane Street Synagogue friends – or the entire congregation – a happy Purim with beautiful Mishloach Manot packages filled with hamentashen and other gourmet kosher treats. Mishloach Manot will be distributed during our Megillah reading and Purim celebration on Saturday, March 19 and Sunday, March 20. Donations will also support Kane Street programming. Email us at [email protected] before the Friday, March 4 deadline, and indicate whether you want to contribute $180 to help send Mischloach Manot to the entire congregation and staff, or provide $10 donations for each individual household you’d like to specify. Donations will be billed via your synagogue account. For more info, Contact Ro Johnson via [email protected]

Scholar in Residence To Lecture on Passover Haggadah, March 11 and 12 Dr. Joshua Kulp, the METNY United Synagogue Scholar in Residence, will join us at Kane Street on Friday night and Shabbat morning, March 11 and 12, to lecture about the text and history of the Passover Haggadah. The rabbi is co- founder of the Conservative in Jerusalem where he has been teaching for 14 years. He is also author of “The Schechter Haggadah: Art, History and Commentary”. We gratefully acknowledge the Conservative Yeshiva and a grant from the Temple Zion Israelite Center in Miami for making Dr. Kulp’s visit possible.

Items Needed for Purim Display Have a ceramic Hamantaschen gathering dust in your library? Lend Purim items to the shul for a holiday display in the lobby! We need about 12 items. They could be anything from a large Gragger (noisemaker) to a painting that represents Mordecai in all his glory. Contact Fred Terna at 718-636-1955.

We Want YOU For Havdalah! Havdalah service followed by performances and jamming by you and other synagogue members, Saturday, March 5, at 7 p.m. Bring your instrument or voice and prepare one piece to perform. The Kane Street Synagogue Youth Klezmer Band will also perform. Dessert will be served. No charge. No need to RSVP.

This Friday, February 18! Eat, Pray, Love at Monthly Celebrate Shabbat Service and Dinner 5:30 pm schmooze and nosh. 6 pm services. 7:15 pm dinner (baked ziti, spinach pie and more from Amnon’s Kosher!) Dinner is $10 for adults, $5 for kids. Please RSVP this month since it is at the beginning of a vacation week. Email or call Valerie at 718-875-1550 x117 or [email protected]

We Bid Thee Well at Kane Street Auction, March 6 Going once, going twice, sold on attending the auction! Mark you calendar for one of the shul’s most important fund-raisers, March 6. ONLINE bidding begins Feb. 19, featuring select items not available at the March 6 main event. You can also bid early for silent auction items.

Learn To Chant Haftorah or Torah Kane Street member Miryam Wasserman, an experienced teacher and Torah reader, is offering her time to both adult and traditional bar/bat candidates for Haftorah/Torah reading. You will sing her praises! To schedule lessons with Miryam, call 917-648-8074.

Soles4Souls Shoe Collection Drive Continues in February Drop off your new and gently worn shoes for those in need in the Goldman Center Lobby bin (with $1 in the toe to help defray the cost of shipping). Soles4Souls http://www.soles4souls.org/ asks that donations be "shoes that you would still wear. They should have solid soles with no holes, laces if applicable, clean (no mud)."

Todah Rabah: Many Thanks for Your Donations Thank you to everyone who has made special donations to our shul. We will update this list approximately every other week. Please let the office know if you believe your name was inadvertently omitted. Special Contributions to Kane Street Synagogue (from Jan. 1, 2011):

Paul and Nancy Fink for the General Fund In honor of Benjamin Zalman’s birthday

Dr. Stanley Friedman and Shira Scheindlin In honor of Bob and Gloria Blumenthal’s anniversary In memory of Irving Bennett

Evelyn Rubenstein Martin Gringer and Barbara Zahler-Gringer Seth and Judith Greenwald In memory of Milton Mandel Jay Brodsky and Naomi Berger Marion Stein William and Susan Rifkin*

In honor of Paul Fink’s birthday In memory of David Trager Dr. Stanley Friedman and Shira Scheindlin Leonard Wasserman Seth and Judith Greenwald In honor of Sam Rubenstein’s engagement Julia Hirsch Dr. Stanley Friedman and Shira Scheindlin William and Susan Rifkin*

In honor of Eva Lytal Phillips In memory of Maier Perlman Andre and Rena Schklowsky Seth and Judith Greenwald Seth and Judith Greenwald In memory of Trude Mayer Marion and Ronald Stein Seth and Judith Greenwald William and Susan Rifkin* Evelyn Rubenstein In memory of Miriam Schmerler Seth and Judith Greenwald In memory of Rosalind Roses Dr. Stanley Friedman and Shira Scheindlin In memory of Pearl and Herman Greenwald June Posner In honor of Doron Fried Andre and Rena Schklowsky In honor of Ari Blumenthal’s engagement Arnold and Barbara Badner Evelyn Rubenstein Seth and Judith Greenwald Marion and Ronald Stein William and Susan Rifkin*

* Donation to the synagogue’s Building Fund.

Rabbi’s Teaching, cont. Over the last half-century, we have seen an entirely new kind of “Ba’al Teshuva.” As Rabbi describes in his masterful book “Teshuva,” the new returnee is not coming back to “to some earlier, personal point of departure, rather he returns to a home which in a practical daily sense the Ba’al Teshuva has not ever known.” He or she enters a whole new world.

These returnees are a blessing. Because of them, the wisdom and power of Mitzvot are no longer the secrets of a few, but raise the spirits and lives of many. The returnee, however, often faces difficulties in taking on customs, diets, schedules and commitments that are strange and demanding. Here, then, are seven useful guidelines for the Baalei Teshuva.

1.“Gei f’meilach.” Go slow.

Sensitive souls can easily become impatient. There is often a tendency to look on as an all-or-nothing affair. You observe either 100 percent or not at all. Such an approach is false and dangerous. Every positive step, however small, is important.

2. Begin where you are. It’s best to first take on Mitzvot that are close to your heart. If you are passionate about hospitality, begin by having guests over for Shabbat, join the Synagogue membership committee, or volunteer at our Homeless Shelter project. If you are attracted to the world of prayer, read “Jewish Meditation” by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, start to don a kipah and say blessings at mealtime, or recite the Sh’ma morning and evening. It is especially important to take on complex Mitzvot, like Shabbat and Kashruth, in a gradual fashion.

3. See it as a romantic thing Remember that the Mitzvot were given by G-d not to burden Israel but rather to perfect humanity through a partnership of Jews and G-d. The Rabbis understood Mitzvot as a way to build a relationship with G-d, just as we build relationships with other people. Loving other people means taking concrete steps to express and renew the feelings of love. The sense of being metzuvah, obligated, lessens the possibility of taking the relationship for granted.

4. Have rachmunis, compassion on yourself. In becoming observant, the Baal Teshuva does not just change behavior. He or she takes on a whole new worldview. In the concept of being commanded by G-d, we encounter something that is not found in secular Western culture. In fact it flies in the face of the American emphasis on autonomy and independence. While human life is sacred, we are not all important. There is something beyond us. Jewish spirituality is rooted in personal humility as well as in self-affirmation. Don’t feel badly if it takes time to get comfortable with this outlook.

5. Return with a community. Everyone who has made their way into Judaism experiences at times internal impediments and difficult phases. The Ba’al Teshuva may feel tempted to give up, or feel ill-equipped to explain his/her practice to secular friends. Observance, as it becomes habitual, can begin to feel humdrum. It is very important to find a supportive, social context, a joyous, observant community to stabilize and strengthen one’s new lifestyle. The community’s momentum keeps the returnee on the right path.

6. Remember, everyone struggles. As resistance and questioning set in, you may start to feel that being observant is full of privation and conflict for you, while it comes easily to others. This is not true. Even people who have spent their entire lives in supportive observant environments have their difficulties. So confide in others. As in other personal matters, deep relationships are formed between people who share not only their knowledge and achievement, but also their struggle and questioning.

7. Keep smiling. A grim and fearful attitude will help a life of observance no more than it helps anything else. Remember, as Chassidus teaches, sadness is not a sin, but it brings you where no sin can bring you. And happiness is not a commandment, yet it takes you where no commandment can take you. Keep a sense of proportion.

Judaism can change our lives and heal the world. That’s why I’m a Rabbi. But the transformation is rarely quick and never simple. Marrying our modern technological lives with the wisdom of an ancient religious tradition is a complex task. Patience, persistence and humor are the essential tools.

Shabbat Shalom

About Kane Yirbu: Kane Yirbu, the Kane Street Newsletter, comes out on Thursday of every other week. Submissions are due the Thursday prior to publication at 5 pm. Please send submissions to editor Ron Dicker at [email protected].

Next deadline for submissions is Feb. 24.