December-January/Kislev-Tevet -Shevat 2011-12/5772 Rabbi’s Message Reb Moshe Dear Ones, In the Books of the Maccabbees the celebration of the eight days of As we approach the Hanukkah (dedication) are established winter in New England to replace the eight day celebration of it’s important to gear Sukkot and Shimini Atzeret, the ultimate ourselves both Temple observance, that was internally and externally. not able to be celebrated Externally we are blessed because of the occupation with shelter from the storms of the Temple by the Syrian- we should expect. Greeks. Internally there may still be The Rabbis displeasure with work to be done. the Maccabees derives from the results of the A bright spot at the end Maccabeean revolt and of December will be our the establishment of the celebration of Hanukkah. Hasmonean monarchy. (I call them the Gang of Five.) How can we use the lights of Hanukkah to brighten our perspective? The early pre-Rabbinic teachers of Torah, who would later be called ?hkwnj yam the Perushim, the Pharisees, were Our Sages ask in the Talmud: proponents of two essential ideas: the What is Hanukkah? interpretation of torah beyond its literal meaning and the desire for all Jews to In order to diminish the role of the engage in practices of ritual purity that Maccabees military victory the Rabbis were normally reserved for the Kohanim, emphasized the miracle of the one the priesthood. Inside: cruse of oil, enough for only one night, that lasted for 8 nights. The Hasmonean rulers persecuted these Co-President’s teachers and asserted their authority Message.................pg. 4 The Books of the Maccabees were not from a strict interpretation of Torah included in the Biblical canon. which established their authority. These Rav Claudia’s priests were later called Tzedukim, the These accounts of the military campaigns Message.................pg. 5 Sadducees. and the victory of the few against the Adult Learning...........8-9 many is not ignored. It is included in the Another factor that may have influenced Al HaNisim mysynh lu paragraph that we Calendar .......pgs. 10-11 the Rabbis who composed the Mishna add to our amidah during the 8 days of and Gemara, which comprise the Yeladim .........pg. 14-15 Hanukkah. Continued on page 2 TBZ Koleinu Newsletter December-January/Kislev-Tevet-Shevat 2011-12/5772 (continued from page 1) turn Hanukkah into a Jewish Christmas decidedly goes Talmud, is that they experienced the against the true meaning of Hanukkah and its message of brutality of the Roman occupation. This liberation from the forces of assimilation. occupation began about 80 years after the The struggle against assimilation is first and foremost an Maccabean revolt. The Roman involvement internal one. It reaches into an insecurity that many have with Palestine began with the Maccabees about our core identities as Jews. It is fed by feelings of reaching out to the Romans for aid against inferiority vis a vis our surrounding culture. There are still the Syrian-Greeks during the revolt and the later many who do not affirm the counter-cultural aspect of Romanization of the Hasmonean monarchy. Judaism. The longevity of the Jewish people has been This also led to close to a century of corruption of based on our capacity to acculturate, that is, to take in the Temple leadership before the Destruction of the nutrients from the surrounding culture that enhance Jerusalem and the Temple. our capacity to survive and prosper as Jews. These The results of this destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple feelings of alienation derive, for the most part, from our meant the end of the priestly class, the Sadducees, and lack of knowledge of our traditions. the rise of what we call Rabbinic Judaism. All streams We here at TBZ provide antidotes to these feelings. Our of contemporary Judaism see themselves as heirs to the path of joyous celebration, contemplation and study Pharisees, the Sages of the Talmud. offer opportunities to do the internal work that has, over This is a story that few of us know. It involves the realpolitik the millennium, given us the fortitude to survive the many of the entire ancient Mediterranean region. storms our people have experienced. It is the story of the little oil that could that is most accepted I will be posting a number of video messages before as our reason for Hanukkah and it is this story that carries Hanukkah to discuss what brought this minor non-Biblical the potent message of the necessity for light in the darkest celebration into such prominence. of times in the year. It also points to the use of light to I hope that you will visit our website www.tbzbrookline.org illuminate our own dark places. to see these videos. I hope that you will find that this format The Festival of Lights has become known as the Festival of communication will provide greater accessibility to our of Freedom. But what does this “freedom” entail? It is not ongoing relationship in the congregation. a freedom that leads to a lack of rules, but rather that freedom to return to one’s core identities as Jews. This is an essential ingredient of our celebration and it happily coincides with the American experience that allows us to remain authentic to our tradition. The coercion to Reb Moshe Mazel Tov! Where’s ? • To Dan Bresman and Liz Sosland on the birth of their son, Jonah. • To Zsolt and Dasha Mark on the naming of their daughter, Avah. • To Eliza Scharfstein on her bat mitzvah, and to her parents, Waldoks? Sarah Feldman and David Scharfstein. This year Reb Moshe will begin • To Casey Corcoran and Margie Skeer on the naming of communicating with us via video. their daughter, Ariella Dani. Check out his messages on our newly designed and absolutely • To Isabelle Sinclair on her bat mitzvah, and to her spectacular website, parents, John and Paula Sinclair. tbzbrookline.org • To Alma Bitran on her bat mitzvah, and to her Page 2 parents, Iris Berent and Saul Bitran. And many thanks to th • To Sue Kahn and Dan Kirschner on their 5 Amy Schottenfels for her many hours anniversary. of inspired work building the site. • To Steve Lewis on the anniversary of his bar mitzvah. TBZ Koleinu Newsletter December-January/Kislev-Tevet-Shevat 2011-12/5772 TBZ Koleinu Newsletter December-January/Kislev-Tevet-Shevat 2011-12/5772 Officers and Board Members Our Rabbis Past Presidents Finance Reb Moshe Waldoks, Rabbi Gabriel Belt Fran Kantor Rav Claudia Kreiman, Irwin Pless Synagogue Practices Associate Rabbi Howard Cohen Lauren Garlick Co-Presidents Myra Musicant Molly Silver Jonathan Klein Enid Shulman Jay Zagorsky Membership Fran Adams David Cherenson and Vice Presidents Synagogue Staff Jenni Seicol Bob Perlman, Executive Director David Cherenson • Dinners: Ginni Hamburg Jenni Seicol Jeralyn Ellowitz, Office Manager Ed Kleiman, Bookkeeper Kiddush/Oneg Treasurer Ava Berinstein Fran Kantor Yeladim Program Becky Wexler Garden Secretary Joanna Lubkin Rick Bankhead Roger Zimmerman Suzie Schwartz Israel Committee Elected Members Evelyn Frankford Beit Rabban Staff Term Ending April 2014 LGBT Steven Lipman Becky Wexler, Joanna Lubkin, Rachele Rosi-Kessel Suzie Schwartz, Laura Held, Mark Blogier and Lisa Lovett Amit Segal Miriam Diamond, Micah Shapiro Hesed Mona Strick • Bikkur Cholim: Deborah Stang Elected Members Committee Chairs • Senior Outreach: Katie Britton Term Ending April 2013 Social Action House and Capital Projects Evelyn Frankford • Tikkun Olam: Leora Faiber Sue Kahn Ken Wexler • Family Table: Ilana Bikel Larry Kraus Adult Learning • Literacy Project: Kim Meyers Reggie Silberberg, Vice Chair Reggie Silberberg Yeladim Elected Members • Jewish Book Club: Dave Woodruff Katherine Gergen Barnett Term Ending April 2012 • Men’s Study Group: Steve Lewis Evonne Meranus David Breakstone Development Deborah Chassler Sue Kahn Koleinu John Daniels Carol Kamin Enid Shulman, Editor Molly Silver Condolences Thank You • To Linda Brodt and Paul • To Marilyn Paul and David • To Phyllis Brawarsky for cleaning the torah Katz on the death of Linda’s Stroh on the death of covers. father, Albert Brodt. Marilyn’s father, Norman Paul. • Elise Dwortzan for delivering the Koleinu to • To Barbara and Bob Katz on bulk mail the death of their son, Dr. • To the family and friends Raphael Rubin. of TBZ member of Evelyne Thank you for helping us with the TBZ Sukkah! Feinson. • To the family and friends of • To Jill Feblowitz for helping with the longtime TBZ member, Ed • To Alane and Lester Gardner lighting, Hurvitz. on the death of Alane’s mother, Ruth Kassoy. • To Jack Daniels for putting up the • To Sue Goldberg on the schach, death of her mother, Pearle • To TBZ member Mishy Lesser Goldberg. and her husband, Chris Ives, • To the Posternak family for on the death of Chris’ father, decorating, and to Meredith • To Sheine Wizel on the death Edward Lee Ives. Joy for coordinating. of her aunt, Sely Tenenbaum. May their souls be bound up in Page 3 • To Anne Freeh Engel and the Bonds of Eternal life. Samuel Engel on the death of Anne’s mother, Katherine HaMakom yenakhem Freeh. otam im shear avlei Tziyon vYrushalayim. TBZ Koleinu Newsletter December-January/Kislev-Tevet-Shevat 2011-12/5772 Co-Presidents’ the coming year and “sign up” for other electronic screens (25), lighting personal spiritual growth as well as Shabbat candles at home (51) and Message contributions to TBZ, both volunteer saying Kiddush and motzi blessings based and financial. We put it out at home (37). 19 people plan to Fran Shtull Adams & there, and you responded! attend a Nishmat Hayyim mini-retreat Jonathan Klein on a Shabbat afternoon. And we Here are some of the ways YOU want We are still glowing from know that far more than the 51 who to enrich your own spiritual life and the uplifting High Holiday punched that chad will join us for the TBZ community as a whole: services at TBZ.