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September, 2020 Elul/Tishrei 5780-5781 Volume 78, Issue 1

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September, 2020 Elul/Tishrei 5780-5781 Volume 78, Issue 1 Temple Beth El Shofar “Where Judaism Lives” September, 2020 Elul/Tishrei 5780-5781 Volume 78, Issue 1 Weekly Events: Mondays 6:30-7:30 Hebrew Reading Class (Zoom link given to students) Fridays 6:30-7pm Pre-Service Social Half-Hour (Zoom Room, 661 322 7607) 7-8:30pm Jewish Worship Service (Zoom Room, 661 322 7607) Saturdays 4-5pm Text Study: Pirkei Avot (Zoom Room, 661 322 7607) 8:30-9pm Havdalah (Zoom Room, 661 322 7607) Upcoming Congregational Events Friday the 11th 6pm Shabbat ShaZoom for families (Zoom Room, 661 322 7607) Tuesday the 8th 7pm Board Meeting (Contact Ilene Schechter to participate) Sunday the 13th 9:30pm Religious School Begins (Zoom link to be determined) 1-2:30pm Cooking Class with Len Epstein (Zoom Room, 661 322 7607) Services in our Zoom Room, 661 322 7607 and by livestream on Facebook Likely to livestream on YouTube, too; stay tuned! 12th Saturday 8:30pm Havdalah & Selichot 13th Sunday 2:45pm High Holiday Swag Bag Distribution Rosh Hashanah 18th Friday 7pm Evening Service 19th Saturday 10am Morning Service 20th Sunday 3pm Tashlikh/Shofar-Blowing at Mill Creek Park Shabbat Shuvah 25th Friday 6pm Shabbat ShaZoom for Families with Children 7pm Shabbat Service Yom Kippur 27th Sunday 6:30 Kol Nidrei (Yom Kippur Evening Services) 28th Monday 10am Morning Service 12pm Study Sessions 4:30pm Afternoon Service 5:30pm Yizkor Memorial Service 6:15pm Ne’ilah & Havdalah Temple Beth El is affiliated with: 2 Rabbi Jonathan Klein The Season of Turning, Return, Teshuvah: The Shofar Calls Us to Improve Ourselves One of my favorite High Holyday readings, found in multiple Machzors (seasonal prayerbooks) is titled “On Turning,” by Rabbi Jack Riemer: “Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red and orange and yellow. The birds are beginning to turn towards the South in their annual migration. The animals are beginning to turn to store their food for the winter. For leaves, birds and animals turning comes instinctively. But for us turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will for us to turn… It means breaking with old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong, and this is never easy… It means starting all over again, and this is always painful. It means saying, “I am sorry.” It means recognizing that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped for ever in yesterday’s ways. A-donai, help us to turn – from callousness to sensitivity, from hostility to love, from pettiness to purpose, from envy to contentment, from carelessness to discipline, from fear to faith. Turn us around, A-donai, and bring us back to You. Revive our lives, as at the beginning. And turn us toward each other, A-donai, for in isolation there is no life.” This approaching High Holyday season is, indeed, a season of turning. “To turn” in Hebrew, as in t’shuvah, repentance. As the seasons turn, so too, we turn—“return,” the לשוב is Lashuv same idea in Hebrew—to our essence. We “turn back the clock”—both figuratively and very soon literally—to when life was easier, when our intentions and actions were aligned, to the innocence of our youth, to our highest ideal. We engage in Cheshbon hanefesh this season, an “accounting of our souls,” of all that we have done less than ideally, all that we had hoped to .sin ,חטא achieve but didn’t, the ways in which we “missed the mark,” the literal meaning of Chet Jews have made remarkable contributions to society through so many of our people. We can take pride in our disproportionate successes in science, art, law, and so much more. 0.2 percent of the world’s population has achieved 20% of the Nobel Prizes. Why? There are many factors, and I have written about some of these, but one significant factor is that our culture forces us to reflect on our mortality, our limited lifespan, and the necessity to correct our behaviors, in an annual cycle of t’shuvah, repentance. Some say “You don’t need God to be a good person,” and of course I agree; nevertheless, one of the great gifts of our collective voice as Jews is the ritualization of our self-improvement, an annual call each Yamim Nora’im (Days of Awe) to be better people, a seasonal recitation of the many ways we fail in our human interactions and even our in our speech. We acknowledge our shortcomings in the plural, “We have sinned,” to save each of us from public embarrassment, but we grapple individually with our shortcomings, we, the people known as “Israel,” i.e. “One who wrestles with Gd” and with self. We wrestle, with God and self, to focus like a laser on how we might fix ourselves, perform Tikkun Atzmi, self-improvement. And underlying the brilliance of Judaism’s ritualized self-improvement, as manifest in our extraordinary liturgy, is twofold: 3 1. We believe that change is always possible, we can improve ourselves, l’hishtaper, so that we can do better and better. The Shofar ,שופר ,from the same root as shofar ,להשתפר shouts out loud that “Yes! Self-improvement, which is the reward more than any material bounty, is available to us if we so desire! 2. We are pulled out of stagnancy and hopelessness, reminded of our finitude and the necessity to treat each day as our last. More on this through my upcoming sermons. This year’s High Holydays will be like none other in our lifetimes—please God! When we read the Unetane Tokef prayer, the line “who by earthquake and who by plague?” will have new meaning. Yes, we will worship virtually this year, but the High Holiday Task Force plans to loan out copies to members of our Machzor and give away goodies in “Swag Bags” so you can participate in the worship service; non-members can also follow along on this flipbook. Here’s what to know: Services will be online; we will utilize Zoom (your option if you wish to participate) and Facebook Live (for observers), possibly YouTube as well for those without cameras and Facebook accounts. Some parts will be prerecorded, to reconnect with our long lost Sanctuary! Tashlikh & Communal Shofar blowing will be held in person at Mill Creek Park 3pm on Sunday, September 20th; this will be the first time since March that we are together! Masks will be required, social distancing observed, and no shofar nor breadcrumb-sharing! We will distribute honors to congregants as with past years. We will provide congregants with swag bags containing Yizkor memorial books as with past years; thanks to Larry Saslaw for his diligence in composing it! See the schedule on the cover. How can we make this a “T’shuvadik” (i.e. pensive, meaningful) experience? Let me know! Shanah Tovah Tikateivu V’techateimu, May you be Signed, Sealed, and Delivered for a Good Year! Rabbi Klein 4 President Schechter’s Perspectives Dear Chevrei, This past month has been packed with many opportunities to learn about your Judaism. Rabbi has done a fantastic job of engaging the Congregation as well as adding new members to our Temple Beth El Community! He has been busy with teaching Hebrew on Monday evenings to about 18 students both young children as well as adults. It’s been challenging and enjoyable. Also on Monday evenings he is heading up our High Holiday Task Force, which is organizing our High Holiday Services. It’s a large task via Zoom and the Task Force is working diligently to make your worship memorable. Rabbi is conducting our weekly Shabbat Services on Friday night and ShaZoom with our children every other Friday. Our services has welcomed Rabbi’s family and guests who have participated in services as well. It’s been very enjoyable to learn new melodies and be inspired by guest speakers. Comes Saturday and it’s Pirkei Avot with a hearty group of Congregants learning from Torah. It’s very enlightening and thought provoking! Then in the evening Havdalah and once a month Havdalah with our Young Professionals. Rabbi is also working with students in the Religious School and the new sessions will be starting after Labor Day via Zoom. These are the steady events that Rabbi has been involved with but it doesn’t stop there. It’s the meetings with the Congregation, the contacts with new potential members, the phone calls, the e-mails, the Zoom meetings with Temple Committees. He has a very busy schedule that has made Rabbi an integral part of our Temple Beth El Community. Yasher Koach Rabbi for being an all involved Rabbi! We have one more new family that joined Temple Beth El. Dawn and Ron Baron and their children, Lola and Lucas. We also welcome back to our Temple, Barbara and Martin Kessler. Welcome, Baron and Kessler families! Yasher Koach to all the Congregants of Temple Beth El for all you do to keep Us thriving! "More than the Jewish people have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jewish people!” Temple Beth El where Judaism lives! Shalom, Ilene Schechter 5 New Members! June: Shulamit Shroder & Josh Canepa 3 Robert & Marcy Smith 43rd July: Leah Bank David & Lillian Brust 17 Adam & Stacey Rodriquez 9th Beth Shiva Freedman 29 Scott & Sakina Hansford 12th Michael, Leora & Zachary Freedman Lindsay Pearson Sarah Weiss Aug: Ron, Dawn, Lucas & Lola Baron Marty & Barbara Kessler (returning) Prayer Book Bookplates In Honor or in memory of..
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