Selichot Service
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139 Winton Road South Rochester, NY 14610-2997 www.tberochester.org Vol. 92 No. 11 September 2014 - Elul 5774/Tishri 5775 Selichot Service “Music for the Soul” An exquisite evening of prayer and orchestral music to usher in the Jewish New Year 5775 Featuring Rabbi Bitran, Hazzan Leubitz, The Penfield Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Harman, the TBE Selichot string quartet and High Holy Day choir. Saturday, September 20, 2014 7:30 pm - Mincha Service 8:00 pm - Seudah Sh’leesheet (3rd Shabbat meal) 8:50 pm - Ma’ariv/Havdalah (conclusion of Shabbat) 9:15 pm - Selichot Service 10:30 pm - Memorial Plaque Dedication Champagne Reception to follow Table Of Contents 6. Rosh Hashanah & 16. Sisterhood & Men’s Club Weekly Services Yom Kippur Service 17. Tikkun Olam Page Times 2. T emple Beth El Mission, 18. Donations Shacharit: 7 thru 10. High Holy Days Vision and Values 19. Donations Sunday: 8:30 am Information President’s Message 20. Donations Monday-Friday: 7:30 am 11. Lulav & Etrog Form, 3. From Our Senior Rabbi 21. D onations & Condolences Rosh Hodesh: 7:15 am Religious School & 4. Notes From Our Hazzan 22. Yahrzeits Shabbat 9:00 am Keshet Information Religious School Corner 23. Articles & Secular Holidays 8:30 am 12 USY 5. B ’nei Mitzvah & Officers & Staff 14. Articles Mazal Tovs 20. Calendar Mincha/Ma’ariv: 15. Article Sunday-Friday 6:00 pm Temple Beth El Mission Statement Values Statement Temple Beth El is a vibrant and We are a welcoming and inclusive inclusive community of Jews who join congregation. together for prayer, education, celebration, mutual support and We value and respect each congregant and comfort, tikkun olam and acts of his or her personal journey in loving kindness. We are guided by Judaism. Torah and the principles of the Conservative movement. We are We foster a sense of connectedness with our community. committed to our community, the State of Israel, and Jews around the world. We value participation in all aspects of Vision Statement synagogue and Jewish life. Our vision is that Temple Beth El will be an in- Our congregation will be here for the entire spiring center of Conservative Temple family now and for future Judaism in which meaningful generations. experiences and memories take root and grow. Welcome to our house . PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Rituals are at the core of our Jewish lives and define the special moments in time that make us Jewish. A Jewish wedding would not be complete without the breaking of a glass, and lighting candles and saying Kiddush magically transforms an ordinary evening into Shabbat. Our rituals touch our souls in a way that words cannot; try verbalizing how you feel when you hear the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Intellectually, when we examine our history, even our recent history, we understand that our rituals are constantly changing. My sisters were not called to the Torah at their "Bat Mitzvah", instead they gave a short d'var Torah at Friday night services, we had some cake, and that was it in it's entirety. I don't think any of us would like to go back to those days! Yet emotion all y, because rituals are so much a part of who we are, any attempt at changing our rituals is usually met with immediate resistance. When I was a young child, part of the excitement of the High Holy Days was participating in the ritual referred to as "duchening", with my father. Duchening is when the Kohanim bless the congregation by chanting the Priestly Blessing from the bimah, their heads covered with their tallisim and their arms stretched upwards, fingers spread apart. Few Conservative synagogues engage in this ritual now. I assume the reason it was discontinued was because both the Rabbis and congregants felt that it no longer provided a meaningful spiritual boost to the High Holy Day Service. Two years ago, we at Temple Beth El instituted a new Yom Kippur ritual. At the Neilah Service, families are invited to come forward on to the bimah and take as much time as they need in front of the open ark to make a personal prayer. Many congregants have told me that this has been the most uplifting spiritual experience of their lives. New rituals are added and old rituals fall into disuse as each generation of Jews tries to find it's own voice in meeting their spiritual needs. Last October a large delegation of Temple Beth El members attended the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Centennial Convention. There were 5 different Shabbat Services presented at the convention ranging from a Carlebach Service, to a fully instrumental musical service, to the deeply spiritual service created by Rabbi David Ingber of the Romemu Synagogue in NYC. Each one was a valid interpretation of a Conservative Jewish service. At Temple Beth El we understand the need for ritual stability and undertake ritual change with much thought and respect for our traditions, yet we also strive to meet the diverse needs of our congregation by experimenting as well. This past summer our clergy created a "Healing Service"', a more meditative, spiritual service in response to requests by congregants. And this year, knowing that the music of the High Holy Days is critical to setting the appropriate mood, our Hazzan has been working with the Penfield Symphony Orchestra to bring us a new take on Selichot Services, our warm up for the High Holy Days . Ritual, by its repetitive nature, can easily become rote and meaningless. It must be approached with an open heart and an open mind to be meaningful. I invite all of you to be a part of this grand experiment. Experience all that Temple Beth El has to offer and then let us know what works for you and your family. May the coming year bring health and peace to each of you and the entire people of Israel. L'Shanah Tovah, Dan Glowinsky President [email protected] 2 FROM THE DESK OF THE SENIOR RABBI High Holy Day Suggestion The problem of these High Holy Days fast approaching is how shall we deal with the phenomenon of guilt? Scripture declares that there is no person on earth who is so righteous that he/she can say they have not transgressed. People who have never looked deeply at themselves may sometimes seem, in their own eyes, as wholly virtuous, but this is an illusion and a tribute to their own myopia. All mortals cross the boundary which separates right from wrong, and guilt is a condition from which none of us is free. It produces self-resentment and a mood of depression. We bear it in a sullen silence and we try as we can to put it out of our minds and hearts. The Jewish Tradition has a positive therapy by which guilt can be overcome. Instead of being a minus in our lives, which drags us down, Judaism offers a promise that guilt, properly faced and creatively encountered, can become a force for good. Through stumbling a child learns to walk. Thus, our guilt can go through a similar transformation. The Power of Teshuvah The Hebrew word for the transformation of guilt from a minus to a plus is “teshuvah.” Teshuvah has been variously translated and interpreted. Martin Buber calls Teshuvah a turning, by which he means a turning away from evil toward good. It is my view that Teshuvah, at its best, is much deeper than that. It is not only a turning away from evil, it is a turning of evil itself into a force for good. Is this not what our Tradition meant when it declared “Gedola Koach Shel Teshuvah Shezdonot Naasim Lo Kizechuot.” “Teshuvah can be so mighty that the most willful of transgressions can be transformed into merits.” This insight presents us not with a great burden of guilt, but rather with a profound challenge to channel evil into good. In the liturgy of Yom Kippur, we read a list of forty-four “al chet”-“for the sins we have committed before You.” If many of them apply to us, if the number is high, we are, in a sense, fortunate because Teshuvah will enable us to turn our sins into merits. We are not to become depressed by the list of “al chet.” The more of them that apply to us, the greater our capacity for merit, the larger our potential for more achievement, if we do Teshuvah. Inner Peace. Most of life is not lived in a state of spiritual elevation or down below hidden places. Our lives are usually in between. We seem to enjoy the peaks more than the valleys and many of us would do anything to avoid the valleys. However, the tranquility of spirit we want to achieve especially in this season, is not found in either extreme. Inner peace is one of hidden themes of the High Holy Day season. Tranquility of the soul is a direct result of that process we call teshuvah (repentance.) Entering the synagogue during this time of the year, means to unconsciously reach within us and retrieve a sense of inner peace. And though years pass quickly, we change, others also change. We still look for shalvah (tranquility) as a precious commodity. Even when we talk and have our local neighborhood conversations in shul , we do it with the intention of learning about others or letting others know what has really changed in our lives. In doing so we attain a measure of inner peace. A Story: "Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev once saw a person running to work, looking neither right or left.