CHRONICLETHE CELEBRATING 150 YEARS OF NEVEH SHALOM CNS THIS IS US! RABBI EVE: CELEBRATING CNS 150 PROFILE: THE THIS IS THE DAY THROUGH MUSIC OSHEROW FAMILY THIS IS US: ALIYAH FRED: 18 YEARS AS OUR AND MUCH MORE STUDENTS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR! ISSUE NO. 5 MAY/JUNE 2019 Connecting with Neveh Shalom Opening of the CNS 150 Exhibit at OJMCHE Build Hope: Tiny Home Build – Thank you to all who have helped! Israel360: My Israel Story Event Celebrating Purim Page 2 | The Chronicle www.nevehshalom.org God, Siddhartha, and Sarah Rabbi's Corner Susanka: Who We Are Now By Rabbi David Kosak n this issue of the Chronicle, our focus But the power of human imagination is on “this is us now.” Within these can at the least bring us closer to that pages you will encounter beautiful Divine perspective. tributes to the incredible activity oc- curring within our building, and up- In thinking about this, two very differ- Idates on the progress of our 150th Fund- ent books sprung to mind to offer some ing the Future campaign. You can “kvell” guidance. One is Herman Hesse’s 60s about Fred Rothstein, read about one of classic, Siddhartha. The other is Sarah our dedicated families, take a glance at Susanka’s best-selling work, The Not So some of our amazing b’nei mitzvah stu- Big House. Together they offer a way to dents, and hear about a wonderful up- think of Neveh Shalom as our living, dy- coming concert on June 2nd (when I un- namic community turns 150 years old. fortunately will be out of town). You will encounter, in other words, countless de- Siddhartha is a religious tale of self-discov- tails of who we are right now. In that way, ery. Even though it was published in the up or the highest good. God and destiny this issue is a wonderful snapshot of many 1920s, it became a defining book of the work in ways we can’t predict. Yet there things in which we should take pride. 1960s. As many of that era were throwing is a purpose and a trajectory to each of off societal expectations and traditional our lives and the life of our community. As I thought about this Chronicle’s life paths, this timeless tale became, if not If the founders of CNS were alive to see theme, I wondered: what would Neveh a guidebook, a manifesto of finding your who we are today, they hopefully would Shalom look like from God’s perspec- own way and being your own individual. be proud of who and what we have be- tive? This question arose because it’s come. Simultaneously, they would be much easier to talk about the past or Set in the time of the Buddha, Siddhartha shocked. There are many ways that we imagine the future. After all, if we look is a person of privilege in pursuit of spiritual are not what they imagined, a point that back at our history, time has clarified riches. His search for religious illumination Rabbi Isaak compellingly made at a syn- our community’s enduring values—and meanders. He discards the life of wealth agogue gathering a few months back. many details have also been forgotten. into which he was born, only to become If we look forward, we can imagine all rich again to prove himself to a woman he The lessons contained within The Not So we would like to become. Such dreams loves. He attains some remarkable spiri- Big House offer another take. Susanka ap- are quite safe in the present moment. tual attainments, only to abandon those peared on the national scene at a time gifts as his own journey demands he keep when America was experiencing the It’s hard to read the present accurately. moving, first entering business, then start- growth of “MacMansions.” These over- What I mean is that in the busy-ness of our ing a family, before later life allows him to sized homes on small lots maximized inter- daily week, we sometimes lack the neces- seek a quieter existence. nal square footage, and therefore, it was sary perspective to know what really mat- assumed, living space for a family. They ters. If you think about it, most of the time, As a teenager, I was bothered by this, often featured soaring entrance halls and our minds are occupied with many minor and maybe that disturbance presaged massive great rooms. Yet as our houses matters. In the heat of the moment, they my path to the rabbinate. Why would grew, many people found themselves dis- seem to have great consequence. Later, someone work so hard on their spiritual satisfied. These dream houses were not when put into perspective, many of those growth, develop genuine powers, and becoming the homes families imagined. same things have become peripheral. then walk away from that attainment? I didn’t understand. Seeing this gap, Sarah Susanka explained This is true for people and societies; what many architects always knew. It is even epochs can miss the central issue Looking back on this story, it is clearer not the size of the building that matters, of their time. Is it also true for the life of that we learn from Siddhartha that our but how the events and activities within a congregation? None of us, alas, get to life is not what we think. The destination view our lives from God’s point of view. we imagine may not be where we end Continued on next page Page 3 | The Chronicle www.nevehshalom.org This is the Day Rabbi's Corner By Rabbi Eve Posen “Zeh hayom asah Adonai, nagilah v’nismecha bo.” This is the day that God has created, we should rejoice and celebrate it. e recite these words at graduation, weddings, and so much as a part of Hallel, the more. We support each other through additional service of trauma and heartbreak, through loss and praise we add to most change. And at the end of every crazy, holidays. It reminds us stressful, or uplifting week, we come to- Wto note that this day is special, this day is gether to praise God for the joy of Shab- sacred, and we should embrace and cel- bat, of our community, of what it means ebrate it for all that it is. to be together. And we truly have much to celebrate. We Zeh hayom. Today is the day for CNS. are a community of families large and We should rejoice in the community we small, young and young at heart. We are a have built over the last 150 years and the community that supports 28 young-fam- members who hold it together. And we ily-specific events each year in addition should rejoice at what the future holds to our Tot Shabbat, Kiddush Club, and To- for the next 150. Congregation Neveh rah Troop programs twice monthly. Our Shalom is a community that embraces, youth groups provide intimate points of nourishes, and supports the next gen- connection for our young people as they eration of our Jewish community. The grow from kindergarten through high sounds of joy in our building, from the as a whole? Thankfully, at CNS we have school, and cement the learning that bustling Foundation School to the hard- youth and the spirit of youth in all ages in goes on in ALIYAH and Tichon. at-work bar and bat mitzvah students, abundance, a sign of our thriving future. are the sounds of our future. Without This is the day. We should rejoice in our As a synagogue, we rejoice with one this joyful noise, where would the future strength, rejoice in the sweetness and vi- another at new babies and first steps, be for our community and for Judaism brancy that is our community. Rabbi Kosak's Article Continued from page 3 them flow. In addition to this, the flow of child in Foundation School. A conversation synagogue kehilla; other times we content air, light, and design define space, help- between two congregants, unburdening ourselves with idling in the eddies. ing us to feel protected, energized, calm, their troubles. An $18 check to an Inclusion or satisfied. Susanka demonstrated re- Fund. These are the details that define our Life is like a river. Spiritual life most defi- peatedly how attention to many small community’s spiritual architecture. From nitely is. And you can’t really capture matters can lead to an outsized effect. God’s vantage, they are as real as our walls all that a river is, just like you can’t fully Ultimately, such small beauty is deeply or our “big ticket” programming. see the present moment. But I’d like to humanizing, and the clients who ap- imagine that when God sees our amaz- proached Susanka for help finally found Second, Siddhartha reminds us that "What ing congregational family, every person the home they were seeking all along. you search for is not necessarily the same and each journey are equally present. as what you find. When you let go of the How beautiful we must appear! Taken together, I think these two books pro- searching, you start finding." Each one of vide some deep lessons about who we are us has a path of integrity to live. Sometimes What do you think Neveh Shalom, our as a living community. First, no thing and we are seeking spiritual deepening; other little Oasis of Peace, looks like to God? no person are really small. When properly times we have to focus more closely on the What would stand out? conceived as part of the whole, they make needs of our families.