Temple Israel & JCC Tel: 201-444-9320 Fax: 201-444-9855 Temple Talk www.synagogue.org May 2012 Iyar-Sivan 5772 Dr. David J. Fine, General Membership & Elections Rabbi Wed., May 9 @ 7:30 PM Temple Israel Caitlin O. Bromberg, Please join us for refreshments, ask questions of current officers, and Cantor vote for next year’s officers and trustees Sharon J. Litwin, Associate Rabbi Family Service Denis Vogel, Friday, May 11, 7:00pm President Families with children of all ages are encouraged to attend Those without children are also welcome! INSIDE THIS ISSUE: There will be lots of singing, ruach, stories, dancing and more! Nominating Slate Page 2 We look forward to davening with the whole family! Rabbi’s Message Page 3 Kitah Aleph Siddur Presentation President’s Messages / Page 4 Ceremony Barry H. Glick Chesed Saturday, May 12 at 9:00am NNJJA Director’s Sponsored by the Amsterdam Family Endowment Page 5 Message Fund & the parents of our Kitah Aleph Students Milestones / Oneg & Page 6 Kiddushes /Circle of Lag B’Omer BBQ Adult Education / Open Mic & Maccabeats Page 7 Membership Sunday, May 20 at 11:30 am Music Page 8 Join us for music, hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, beer, wine, soda, bonfire, games and general good times Tikkun Olam Page 9 Soulebration Pages 10-12 Nosh & Drash Saturday, May 26 Men’s Club Page 13 Our drasher is Evelyn Auerbach Sisterhood Page 14 9:00 to 10:00am Preliminary Service and Shacharit Youth Happenings Page 15 10:00 to 11:00am Light Kiddush Breakfast and Communal Torah Study Men’s Club Golf Outing Page 16 11:00am to 12:30pm Torah Service and Musaf Donations Page 17 Shavuot 5772 Opportunities for Giving Page 18 Saturday, May 26 8:00 PM Services Community Information Page 19 9:00 PM Tikkun Leyl Shavuot Sunday, May 27 Calendars Pages 20-21 9:00 AM Services Monday, May 28 Advertising Back Cover 9:00 AM Services 10:30 AM approx Yizkor NOMINATING SLATE 2 FROM THE RABBI’S STUDY When to Stand and traditional Conservative synagogue where I grew up the When to Sit congregation did stand, I have not seen the congregation stand for that page in any of the Ashkenazic Orthodox communities I have visited here or in Israel. I can only There is an old joke about a suspect that the custom of standing began at some point in congregation where half the order to draw the congregation’s attention to the repetition worshippers stand for the Kaddish and end the noise that is perhaps caused by chatter after Shalem and half sit. A visitor asks the the conclusion of the silent Amidah. I consulted the rabbi, “Why do half the people Shulhan Arukh, the authoritative sixteenth century code of stand?” The rabbi answers, “Because that’s tradition.” Jewish law, where it says that there are some customs of The visitor asks: “So why do half sit?” The rabbi answers, standing for the entirety of the repetition, in order to give “That too is tradition.” The visitor exclaims, “But how it gravitas. In fact, the Sephardic custom is for the can you have a shul where half sit and half stand.” “Ah!” congregation to stand for the entirety of the repetition. says the rabbi. “That is the tradition!” The Shulhan Arukh and the various commentaries explain that “all is according to custom.” But while there is a There are almost as many variations on when to sit and custom to stand for the entirety, I have not been able to when to stand in Jewish liturgy as there are pages in the find a source (although that is not to say that it does not prayer book. I would like to take this space to discuss a exist!) for the custom of standing only for the beginning of few of those places where I invite sitting or standing but the repetition but then sitting after the Kedushah. From a where there are other customs to the contrary. liturgical perspective, the pages after the Kedushah are no less important than the one before. It is for these various There are certain places where the motion of standing reasons that I recommend to the congregation to sit after seems to me to be tied to a key word in the text. I will the completion of the silent Amidah. point out three examples here. One of those is when we rise in anticipation of the Shaharit amidah. In the Shabbat prayer book this appears on page 114. Some traditions As in all cases of standing and sitting, “all is according to call for standing at the start of Mi Khamokha. In my custom” and anyone who chooses to sit or stand when opinion, it is better to stand at Tzur Yisrael because of the others in the congregation are doing otherwise because of third word kumah, which means “rise.” Also, there are variant custom should of course be respected. I will some traditions to stand at the start of the repetition of the conclude these reflections with an image that I will always Amidah. I prefer the custom of rising especially for the carry with me of when I was a college rabbi and used to Kedushah (page 116), and this because of the word lead Friday night services. The student congregation I had marom, meaning “above” referring to the heavens where was made of roughly half who grew up in Conservative the angels praise God. Through the Kedushah we imitate synagogues and half in Reform. The Reform have the the actions of the angels. Finally, on page 141 when the custom of standing for the Shema (because of its central sifrei Torah are held facing the congregation just before importance in the liturgy) whereas we do not (because it the processional, after the Shema and Ehad, we all bow at is essentially a reading of Scripture rather than a prayer Gadlu but I notice many ending their bow before I do. As addressed to God). Also, the Reform have the custom of I learned it, one rises only at uneromema, which comes all standing for the Mourner’s Kaddish (in solidarity with from the same root as marom meaning “height” as in we the many losses in the Holocaust with no survivors to will raise up (“exalt”) God’s name. mourn), whereas we do not (in order to build solidarity among the sub-community in the congregation who are in At a Ritual committee meeting a few months ago I asked real mourning, and to reserve the “power” of that the committee for its endorsement of my recommendation experience for the times that none of us look forward to). to the congregation to be seated for the first page of the So, in my student congregation, whenever we did the Cantor’s repetition of the Amidah prior to the Kedushah. Shema and then at the end of the service the Mourner’s Apparently, that was the earlier practice at Temple Israel Kaddish, half the students would be standing and the other but was changed in more recent years to standing from the half would be sitting. When I think back at that image, I beginning of the Amidah. I have mentioned above why I am reminded of the ideal that we must always strive to feel it is powerful to stand just leading into the Kedushah. understand and appreciate the differences in prayer This is one of those many areas where customs differ, customs and that bydoing so we will come to better although I believe that the custom of not standing for the understand each other. first page is the more traditional one. Although in the 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Community building is a difficult task. Ask ten people their thoughts on the subject and you will get 27 opinions (2.7 opinions per Jew are fairly accurate). Two recent events at Temple Israel were perfect examples of what it means to build community and the positive results they produce. Every year on the Shabbat of Passover, we celebrate Torah Club Shabbat, an event and program unique to Temple Israel. We let Torah Club participants and alumni take over the sanctuary and run our service from top to bottom. Sometimes we take for granted that our youth possess such a remarkable degree of synagogue skills. It is a credit to our education system, our clergy and our leadership that this is possible. We make our synagogue a hospitable place for all. It is a place of learning where all have the opportunity to participate and grow. Our children are fortunate that our community culture nurtures and encourages such learning. Sometimes I feel quite fortunate to be able to sit on the Bimah and watch as our children and community grow together. That brings me to another recent event. Barbara Schneider recently celebrated a significant birthday ( I think it was 30 or something like that). She chose to celebrate it by challenging herself and reading Haftorah for the first time. She shared the joy of her achievement and her life cycle event with the entire congregation. I would like to encourage more of you to do the same. Not to necessarily read Torah or Haftorah, though the achievement is admirable and noteworthy, but to celebrate your lifecycle events with the community. We want to share in your joy and be part of your lives. I was honored that Barbara chose to include the Temple Israel community in her celebration. Please honor us with yours. We have another chance to grow together as a community.