bulletin Beth Tzedec Bulletin volume 63, no. 1 | tishrei 5774 • september 2013 | www.beth-tzedec.org In this issue: Welcome our new Shinshinim, Maya and Barak—see p.9 Visiting Scholar Avishai Margalit October 7-9—see p.38 BTTeens Hurricane Sandy Relief Trip October 10-14—see p.22 International Personality Danny Siegel October 18-22—see p.30 Jews in Sports Series—see p.28 2 commentary Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl Signal and Noise As we approach the Days of Awe, we are more conscious of the din of daily life and the imperative to screen out noise as i watch my granddaughter move from babble to discern signal from noise. Skilled physicians listen to to speech, I am again entranced by the way we humans hundreds of patients describe all sorts of symptoms and acquire language. What begins as goo and ga, moo and must be alert for the one piece of information that might ma will become more developed sounds, distinct words, be critical. Similar sorting occurs in law, commerce and short sentences and full conversations. Linguistic in our most intimate relations with our loved ones. research indicates that children are born with the Moneyball, the book and film, explored the use of capacity to learn language, gaining necessary skills by statistics to project player performance in baseball. A listening and practicing the words they hear. But how do more advanced form of this was developed by Nathaniel they know what is language and what is simply sound? Read “Nate” Silver, an American statistician and writer. While some thinkers contend that language is an More recently, Silver applied his methodology to politics. innate, human ability (perhaps a “deep grammar” built His blog, FiveThirtyEight.com, correctly predicted the into our genome), others contend that children learn results in all fifty states in the last American presidential syntax from the linguistic input of their environment and election. In his book, The Signal and the Noise, he writes, their interaction with other people. Over time, children “The signal is the truth. The noise is the distraction.” distinguish between the confusing clatter and clamour of I think of S/N when I recall the Biblical narrative of the world around them and meaningful signs, gestures Elijah at Horev: And [God] said, ‘Go stand upon the and words intended to convey messages of significance. mountain before the Eternal. Hineh, the Eternal will They learn the difference between signal and noise. pass by’. There was a powerful strong wind that split the In communications science, signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) mountains, and broke the rocks… but the Eternal was compares the level of a desired signal to the amount of not in the wind. After the wind, an earthquake; but the the background noise. Signal-to-noise ratio can also refer Eternal was not in the earthquake. And after the earth- to the quantity of useful information in relation to quake a fire; but the Eternal was not in the fire. And extraneous, erroneous or intentionally false data after the fire a quiet, silent voice (kol de’mamah transmitted via conversation, messages or other forms of dakkah). When Eliyahu heard it, he wrapped his face in communication. his cloak, went out, and stood at the entrance of the In online discussions, off-topic posts are the noise cave. And hineh, a voice (kol) spoke to him and said, that interfere with the signal of appropriate comments. ‘What are you doing here, Eliyahu?’ (1 Kings 19.11-13). If you have ever attended a lecture and rolled your eyes As we approach the Days of Awe, we are more as you listened to a lengthy, irrelevant statement conscious of the din of daily life and the imperative to masquerading as a question, you know the difference screen out the noise in order to listen to signals of between signal and noise. spiritual significance. We often ask ourselves, “What are As we try to sift important email messages from we doing here?” Even in Synagogue, we have to filter the spam, significant phone calls from telemarketers and noise of the crowd—strangers and family—in order to valuable news from background information, we all seek hear the “quiet, silent voice”. 3 beth tzedec bulletin Fall continued Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl Volume 63, Number 1 There is another sound during these Days of Awe. It is not quiet. It is Tishrei 5774 • September 2013 actually encoded within what appears to be noise. It is the core mitzvah of Editorial Council Carolyn Kolers, Dena Libman, Debbie Rothstein, Ted Zittell Rosh Hashanah. With its staccato, short and long blasts, this most ancient mystical, magical and majestic sound signals us each year. We listen to the kol, the voice of the shofar summoning us to reconsider our lives, reconfigure our actions, restore our bond with the Jewish people and return to a relationship with the Holy One. To those unfamiliar, the shofar sound may appear to be Beth Tzedec Congregation noise, but to the person that understands, it is a signal, a “gesture of generations” 1700 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario (Sacred Attunement, Fishbane), calling to us. Canada M5P 3K3 There are so many claims on our attention and time. So much noise. During Tel 416-781-3511 / Fax 416-781-0150 www.beth-tzedec.org the Days of Awe, we are reminded to be God’s children (God becomes “aveenu malkeynu” and we become children, “anu vanekha”), just learning the language President Carolyn Kolers [email protected] of life. We listen to the sound of the shofar. We try to discern whether it is simply another noise or a signal of spiritual significance. Chair of the Board Dena Libman [email protected] We follow the shofar service on Rosh Hashanah with the words from Psalm 89.16: “yode’ey te’ru’ah, Blessed are the people that understand the blast [of klei kodesh & educational leadership shofar]. They shall go forward with your light [signal].” Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, Anne and “The signal is the truth. The noise is the distraction.” Max Tanenbaum Senior Rabbinic Chair Josette and I thank you for your good wishes on the occasion of the recent ext. 228, [email protected] marriage of our son, Amir, to Amanda Schneider. We hope that 5774 will be a Rabbi Adam Cutler year of blessing for you and those you love. ext. 219, [email protected] Cantor Simon Spiro ext. 223, [email protected] Cantor Sidney Ezer ext. 296, [email protected] Ritual Director Lorne Hanick ext. 240, [email protected] Would you be interested in joining Director of Education and Family Rav Baruch Frydman-Kohl for a Programming / Congregational School Bar/Bat Mitzvah Family Tour to Israel Principal Daniel Silverman ext. 231, [email protected] in December 2014? Youth Director Aily Leibtag ext. 239, [email protected] To learn more, contact Lynn Levy at 416-781-3514 ext. 227 or [email protected]. administrative & program support Executive Director Randy E. Spiegel ext. 211, [email protected] Executive Assistant Terri Humphries ISRAEL ext. 212, [email protected] @ BETH TZEDEC Beth Tzedec: Israel Engagement Receptionist Avital Narvey 416-781-3511, [email protected] We are continuing our joint UJA Federation-Synagogue Events Coordinator Florence Bendelac initiative to examine the ways in which Israel is woven into our ext. 213, [email protected] Communications Coordinator Cara Edell Synagogue’s services, educational programming and other activities, ext. 214, [email protected] and to develop ways to acknowledge, broaden and deepen those Senior Program Coordinator / Librarian Zina Glassman connections. Throughout this edition of the Beth Tzedec Bulletin, ext. 225, [email protected] you will find many opportunities to engage with various aspects of Museum Curator Dorion Liebgott ext. 232, [email protected] Israel. Look for our Israeli flag icon (pictured above) which highlights Membership Coordinator Sheri Federman our Israel-themed programs and events. ext. 220, [email protected] TO CONTRIBUTE YOUR news, congratulations, member updates or other listings, send an email to [email protected], call 416-781-3514 4 ext. 214 or fax 416-781-0150. from the president Carolyn Kolers A Year of Growth share your views For us as individuals and for Beth Tzedec U about programming at Beth Tzedec. Email Carolyn at [email protected]. despite rav baruch’s reminder in june that there were only • Learn new Jewish Skills. There is no better time to 10 weeks left until the High Holy Days, I remained con- commit to learning to lead services (which will vinced that there was plenty of time to enjoy the summer. enable you to support members of our community As I finally sit down to write this column, it is clear that during shiva) or to chant Torah or Haftarah (for summer has come to an abrupt conclusion, and the High example, by participating in our returning Adult Holy Days are upon us. Now is the time to take stock of Bar/Bat Mitzvah program). You will hear from a the year that is ending and focus on the one that’s about member of our Klei Kodesh who will help get your to begin. learning started. Rosh Hashanah Tab Cards – Volunteering at Beth Tzedec If you didn’t tab down your card, all you have to do is When you opened the envelope with your High Holy send an email to our new Membership Coordinator, Day tickets, you will have seen that we are once again Sheri Federman, at [email protected], and she inviting you to get involved in our Synagogue commu- will ensure that you are set up.