MARCH 2020 – ADAR / NISAN 5780 BULLETIN RABBI JOSHUA FRANKLIN | CANTOR/RABBI DEBRA STEIN | RABBI EMERITUS SHELDON ZIMMERMAN DIANE WIENER, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EMERITA DR. JOEL M. HOFFMAN, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION Mark your calendars with these special Purim events! MARCH 4 | PURIM FAMILY CELEBRATION MARCH 8 | KIDS PURIM PARTY MARCH 9 | WHAT’S YOUR MEGILLAH? MARCH 10 | YOUNG PROFESSIONALS PURIM PARTY SEE PAGES 4-5 AND VISIT JCOH.ORG/PURIM FOR DETAILS! NO GATES OF JEWISH LEARNING: Sunday, March 15 & Sunday, March 22 for Spring Break A MESSAGE FROM RABBI JOSHUA FRANKLIN Purim as a Spatula One day when I was living in Jerusalem, I felt a little homesick. I decided to make some American comfort food for breakfast, which for me, was pancakes. The only problem was that I didn’t have a spatula, nor any ingredients in my apartment. While I knew how to say “eggs,” beitzim, and “flour,” kemach, I had no idea about the Hebrew word for “spatula.” This was before the days when you could pull out an iPhone and simply look it up, and I didn’t think to grab a Hebrew-English dictionary from my library shelf before I headed to the market to purchase eggs, flour, and a spatula. On my way over, I used my Hebrew grammar to construct a word that I believed would mean ,meaning to flip, combined with the grammatical construct for a tool ,הפך spatula.” The root“ which judging by the person’s ,אני מחפש מהפך should yield “spatula.” At the market, I asked someone ,(mahpach) מהפך perplexed face, I knew did not mean what I thought it meant. I was asking for a a revolution. מר marit), which is derived from the Aramaic) מריט The Hebrew word for “spatula” is actually ,(mahpach) מהפך .mar), meaning a garden spade. That day, I learned two new words in Hebrew: 1) marit), a spatula. Both words offer us insight into understanding the) מריט .a revolution, and 2 upcoming holiday of Purim. When we read from the Megillah, one of the key lines that has stood out for generations reads: nahafuch hu), the opposite happened” of everything that Haman had intended. Haman) וְ נ ַ הֲפ֣ ֹו ְך ה֔ ּו א“ sought to execute the Jews, whereas he and his family ended up with the fate he decreed for them. Purim has thus become a day of opposites, where, like a pancake, everything gets flipped upside down. Or perhaps, to put it another way, Purim is the ultimate spatula (marit) of Jewish holidays. It flips everything we do upside down. But most importantly, Purim flips us upside down. One custom on Purim is that Jews are supposed to become intoxicated. The tradition offers that Jews should drink to the point that we don’t know the difference between Haman and Mordechai. In other words, drink so much that we become our upside down selves. And of course, we are supposed to dress up on Purim. But maybe dress “up” is not the right turn of phrase. On Yom Kippur, and at other major life events, we dress “up.” In other words, we dress to be more like ourselves, or better versions of ourselves. The rabbis note that Yom HaKipurim (Yom Kippur) is the nahafuch, the opposite of Purim, because on Yom Kippur we dress up, but on Purim, we dress to be the opposite of ourselves. We aren’t masking ourselves, rather, Purim transforms us into someone we are not. You might simply conclude that we dress up because it’s enjoyable. After all, it’s novel and fun to pretend to be someone that we are not. And, yes, Purim is to a large degree about having fun. But the rabbis again note the similarities not just in name between Purim and Yom HaKipurim. Both holidays, they point out, teach us about who it is that we really are. When things in our lives get turned upside down, we discover a truer sense of what is really right side up. continued on Page 3 → 2 A MESSAGE FROM RABBI JOSHUA FRANKLIN / KABBALAT SHABBAT / MAZEL TOV Ask anyone who has gone through an experience in their lives when the world seemed turned upside down. The story will likely end with a conclusion of self-discovery. The Talmud tells a story that echoes the experiences of many people whose lives get turned upside down through death, illness, injury, or some other catastrophe. Rabbi Yosef becomes critically ill and goes into a coma. Miraculously, he comes to, and makes a full recovery. His father asks him, “What did you see when you were unconscious?” “I saw the world upside down (olam hafuch),” he responds, “What was above was below and what was below was above.” His father said to him, “My son, you have seen an olam barur (a clear world), you have seen the world clearly (Talmud Bavli, Pesachim 50a).” As we approach Purim, I want to encourage you to use the holiday as a spatula for flipping your life upside down. It’s not supposed to be comfortable, though it may be a little fun. Be someone you are not for the day, or just for the evening. Purim may seem like a kids holiday, but it isn’t. No one is too grown up for Purim. We could all use a little nahafoch hu, life turned topsy turvy at least one day of the year. Rabbi J osh Franklin Friday Nights | 6:00PM Join us Friday nights for Kabbalat Shabbat services as we welcome Shabbat together, followed by a warm and friendly Oneg. For information on sponsoring an Oneg, please visit jcoh.org/giving or contact the Jewish Center Office at 631-324-9858. MAZEL TOV • Sheldon & Mindy Geller on the birth of their granddaughter, Jade Harper Slawsky, to parents Suzy & Jeff Slawsky. Please let us know as your children and grandchildren receive notice of their acceptance to college. Your whole JCOH family would love to kvell and rejoice with you. E-mail [email protected] or call 631-324-9858. 3 PURIM FAMILY CELEBRATION IN MANHATTAN / KIDS PURIM PARTY PURIM FAMILY CELEBRATION IN MANHATTAN at The | 1109 5th Ave at 92nd Street, NYC WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 | 5:00PM The Jewish Center of the Hamptons and Morah Jessie Tutors present a Purim celebration with masks, hamantaschen, storytelling, and community. The third event in our yearlong series, this 90-minute program offers parents and their children a unique window into the exuberant joy of Purim. Dinner will be served. Join us! $15 PER CHILD / $30 PER FAMILY NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR GOJL/MJT STUDENTS QUESTIONS? Dr. Joel M. Hoffman [email protected]( ) Jessie Schreiber ([email protected]) RSVP at jcoh.org/purim or call 631-324-9858 KIDS PURIM PARTY Bowling and Purim celebration SUNDAY, MARCH 8 | 10:30AM Come in costume Prizes awarded for best costume THE CLUBHOUSE 174 DANIELS HOLE ROAD, EAST HAMPTON Brunch provided FREE for Gates of Jewish Learning students and members of JCOH $10 admission for others Parents/guardians are required to attend RSVP at jcoh.org/purim or call 631-324-9858 4 WHAT’S YOUR MEGILLAH? / YOUNG PROFESSIONALS PURIM PARTY WHAT’S YOUR MEGILLAH? MONDAY, MARCH 9 | 6:00PM | CANTOR'S HOME We will once again gather at the Cantor’s home to read Megillat Esther. There will be plenty of nosh on hand throughout the evening. This year we will share stories and memories about growing up Jewish. Your stories should be on Purim, triumph, survival, favorite recipes, and memories of being raised Jewish. Each story should be no longer than three minutes and preferably written out. We will weave these stories into the reading of the Megillah, and create what should be a joyous and meaningful evening. Sign-up to join us at jcoh.org/purim YOUNG PROFESSIONALS PURIM PARTY TUESDAY, MARCH 10 | 7:30PM KYMA | NEW YORK CITY PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE WWW.JCOH.ORG/PURIM OR CALL 631-324-9858 15 WEST 18TH STREET, NYC 5 TU B’SHVAT WINE TASTING / GOJL POTLUCK HAVDALLAH 6 TU B’SHVAT WINE TASTING / WOMEN’S DINER AROUND / GOJL POTLUCK HAVDALLAH 7 BOOK CLUB / HISTORY OF ANTISEMITISM WITHBOOK CANTOR/RABBI CLUB DEBRA STEIN MONDAY, MARCH 9 | 11:00AM To attend, please email [email protected] The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dovekeepers and The Museum of Extraordinary Things: a forbidden love story set on the tropical island of St. Thomas about the extraordinary woman who gave birth to painter Camille Pissarro; the Father of Impressionism. HISTORY OF ANTISEMITISM TUESDAYS | 12:30PM FRIDAYS | 12:15PM BEGINS MARCH 10 BEGINS MARCH 13 MANHATTAN EAST HAMPTON The term antisemitism may only be a little over a hundred years old, but the phenomenon of antisemitism dates back millennia. Learn about the many heads of this historic hydra, and discuss how we might be able to fight the recent resurgence of it that we have seen around the globe. Pre-registration is required. Please call 631-324-9858 to register. 8 WOMEN’S WINTER DINE AROUND / WOMEN'S WINTER DINE AROUND THURSDAY, MARCH 26 | 6:00PM Join your JCOH “girlfriends” in a fun dine around. We will meet at restaurants at 6:00pm, and enjoy each other’s company with a glass of wine (first glass compliments of the Cantor) some fine food, inspiring and uplifting conversation. To join us, RSVP no later than Thursday of the week prior so we can let you know where we are meeting. We need not always meet at restaurants, it’s more about being together.