Chair Rabbi Les Bronstein Vice Chairs Rabbi Jonathan Berkun Rabbi Fredi Cooper Rabbi Tina Grimberg Rabbi Frederick Klein Rabbi Larry Kotok Rabbi Steven Lindemann Rabbi Jack Luxemberg President Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt Rabbi Eli Weinstock Honorary Chair Rabbi Matthew Simon Director, JFNA Rabbinic Cabinet Rabbi Gerald I. Weider JFNA Chair, Board of Trustees Michael Siegal JFNA Chair, Executive Committee Diane Feinberg JFNA President/CEO Jerry Silverman The Orchard Published by: The Jewish Federations of North America 25 Broadway, Suite 1700 New York, NY 10004 Email: [email protected] Spring 2015 – Nissan 5775 Published in cooperation with the Rabbinic Cabinets of local Jewish Federations The Orchard Spring 2015 – Nissan 5775 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS The Jewish Federations of North America Rabbinic Cabinet…………………………. 4 Passover Dinner Prayer……………………………………………………………………… 5 Passover Greeting from the Chair of the Rabbinic Cabinet…………………………… 6 Rabbi Lester Bronstein Passover Greeting from the Director of the Rabbinic Cabinet……………………….. 7 Rabbi Gerald I. Weider Passover Sermonic Thoughts Pride In Israel And Jewish Values…………………………………………………………. 8 Rabbi Richard Plavin The Ten Plagues, The Four Prayers Or, Prayer For the Egyptians………………….. 11 Rabbi Joel Finkelsten Celebrating Yom Ha’atzma’ut On Erev Shabbat…………………………………………. 12 Rabbi Paul Citrin Je Suis Juif……………………………………………………………………………………... 14 Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt Passover, The Bread Of Faith, And The Dynamics Of Relationship…………………. 17 Rabbi Frederick Klein Yom Ha’aztmaut – “Israel’s Home Court Advantage”................................................ 21 Rabbi Jonathan Berkun America Is The Biblical Israel……………………………………………………………….. 24 Rabbi Emeritus Amiel Wohl A Modern Passover Tale……………..………………………………………………………. 25 Rabbi Morley Feinstein When We Are In Pain…………………………………………………………………………. 27 Rabbi David Zucker and Rabbi Bonita E. Taylor Pesah Yizkor………………………………………………………………………….............. 28 Rabbi Wayne Allen France Loses If Jews Leave………..……………………………………………………….. 29 Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso and Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso The Revelation: We Were There Then, We Are Here Now………...…………………… 31 Rabbi Andrew Bossov Values And Meanings of Pesach…………………………………………………………… 33 Rabbi Sergio Bergman Let My People Go: Freedom, Slavery, Work, and Worship……………………………. 35 Rabbi Neal L. Joseph Loevinger Poems………………………………………………………………………………………….. 36 Rabbi Adam Fisher Joint Distribution Committee……………………………………………………………... 39 Jewish Agency for Israel…………………………………………………………………… 41 The Orchard Spring 2015 – Nissan 5775 3 THE JEWISH FEDERATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA RABBINIC CABINET SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES 1. Raise the level of knowledge about The mission of the JFNA Rabbinic Cabinet JFNA in the rabbinate and community. is to unite rabbis of all ideologies in the work 2. Stimulate and support rabbinic of Kiyum ha’umah, Jewish continuity and participation in, and relationships with, JFNA and local federations. tezdekah, acquaint and involve the North American rabbinate with the goals and 3. Assist with and participate in the Federation Annual Campaign by activities of JFNA, and bring the talents, enlarging the scope and intensity of resources and perspectives of the rabbinate synagogue involvement. to JFNA and the Federation movement. 4. Upgrade rabbinic giving and increase rabbinic solicitations. The cabinet serves as the rabbinic arm of 5. Strengthen the rabbinic, congregational, JFNA, the major agency of North American community, agency and Federation partnership. Jewry for tzedakah. It promotes the unity of the Jewish people in its efforts to support the 6. Engage the next generation or rabbis. needs of Jews everywhere by including 7. Continue education. rabbis from every movement in North 8. Develop programs and educational American Jewish life. materials about Israel, the Jewish tradition and Jewish peoplehood/community. The Rabbinic Cabinet further seeks to inform colleagues about the most current 9. Serve as teachers and spiritual resources to the leadership and developments in Jewish life, the needs of constituencies of JFNA, local our people and the techniques for effective federations and the Jewish community. utilization of rabbinic leadership within local STANDARDS FOR MEMBERSHIP communities. In addition, the Rabbinic Members of the Rabbinic Cabinet should: Cabinet endeavors to apprise the lay leadership of the concerns of the rabbinate, 1. Be involved in local Federation and campaign activities, support federation infuse Jewish values and content into the work and engage synagogues in the work of local federations and serve Israel community campaign. and the Jewish people with rabbinical 2. Pledge a minimum of $1000. Rabbis involvement and support. who were ordained less than five years ago should pledge at least $500. 3. Participate in JFNA missions. 4. Attend the Annual Meeting of the Rabbinic Cabinet and/or regional conferences and special meetings. The Orchard Spring 2015 – Nissan 5775 4 PASSOVER READING FOR THE SEDER Tonight we celebrate the festival of Passover As we relive the Exodus from Egypt at our Seder with Jews across America, in Israel and around table, we pledge our commitment to our the world. In the best and worst of times in beloved State of Israel, the national expression Jewish history, the Seder has provided a sense of Jewish peoplehood. We pray that our of family, purpose, peoplehood and hope. brothers and sisters who live there will continue to build a just society based on the precious Tonight we eat matzah and maror to remember values enshrined in our Hagaddah, even as it that slavery still persists in our world. We eat defends itself against every modern-day karpas to rejoice in the rebirth of our people. Pharaoh who would rise to do it harm. We enjoy haroset to savor the sweetness of Jewish life in our time. “May this Passover inspire us to renew our commitment to the Torah of Jewish values and We proclaim, “let all who are hungry, come and learning and to dignity, harmony, and peace for eat” to remember our obligation to “do justly, all humankind.” love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” In that spirit, we pledge our devotion to tikkun Amen olam (the repair of our world through good deeds), to the principle of freedom for all peoples, and to the obliteration of poverty, and hunger throughout the world. The Jewish Federations of North America Rabbinic Cabinet The Orchard Spring 2015 – Nissan 5775 5 PASSOVER GREETING FROM THE CHAIR OF THE RABBINIC CABINET RABBI LES BRONSTEIN “WORDS” Within days, our people across the globe will turn to the familiar words of their Haggadot for both inspiration and comfort. Inevitably, they will see those loaded words and images not just as a commemoration of their heritage, but also as an invitation to reflect on the state of the world. Words matter - both the sacred language of our tradition and the new utterances of anyone who dares to be part of it now. As such, we rabbis need to play our old but still relevant role. We need to speak in the language of the tradition, and also - somehow - to speak about the present crisis. The world teeters on environmental disaster. Iran and ISIS compete for control of the militant Islamic revolution. Russia fires away at Ukraine, and our own Jewish cousins in the FSU, caught in the crossfire, suffer immense physical and emotional damage. Israel battles its attackers and hunts for Hamas tunnels, even while it struggles within itself to accommodate competing - some would say antithetical - visions of the Jewish state. In all of this, our Jews want to hear from us. They want us to speak about making Jewish life meaningful and workable, and they want us to tell them what we think Judaism can give us to make sense of our confusing world. We rabbis need to keep sermonizing. We need to share our sermons and speeches with one another, to give each other chizzuk as we each try to find our rabbinic voice. We need to help each other find the balance between distorting the tradition’s message by overstating it for our own purposes, and cowering in the safety of its confines so as not to risk upsetting our baalabatim. We need to have both integrity and courage. We need words. The Orchard gives us a place to share each other’s words, to learn from each other’s skillful framing of the message that binds us all together. I wish you a joyous Pesach and a successful season of preaching and teaching. Rabbi Les Bronstein, Chair JFNA Rabbinic Cabinet The Orchard Spring 2015 – Nissan 5775 6 PASOVER GREETING FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE RABBINIC CABINET RABBI GERALD I. WEIDER An underlying theme of Passover is that of rebirth and growth through the regenerative power of a seasonal change from winter to spring. This certainly ties into the events of the Exodus when the Jewish people emerged from slavery unto freedom. They were a beaten down people reborn through the leadership of Moses and the miraculous power and intervention of G-d. The Rabbinic Cabinet is the place where all the streams of Judaism can, and do, come together for the betterment of the entire Jewish community. It is the only place where our partisan Jewish outlook is parked at the door as we join together to work for the enhancement of our local Federations and overall Jewish community here in North America and abroad. This truly does make a difference for us as rabbis. As we enter into the rebirth of spring, I call upon all the members of the Rabbinic Cabinet to join together in support of our Federation movement and of each other as spiritual leaders within our communities. Our rabbinic voices, when raised in tandem, can make a difference in fostering an appreciation for the concept of k'lal Yisrael within our local and national communities. If we can do this, we will then be leaders in the Mosaic tradition who lead our people into a promised land of cooperation and acceptance for all of the Jewish people. Rabbinic Cabinet Mission to Argentina April 26 - May 2 As this issue of the Orchard goes to press the Rabbinic Cabinet is making final plans for the upcoming mission to Argentina.