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North Country Reform Temple
January/February 2012
Peggy FitzGerald, Jadzia Brown and I were privileged to be in Washington for the largest gathering of Reform Jews in our history for the Movement’s Biennial convention. One of the highlights of the convention was hearing President Obama’s address. Yes, he was at our convention in person and he spoke really well. He started by wishing us an early Shabbat Shalom and then launched into a discussion of the week’s Torah portion, pointing out the relevancy between it and our times today. He was personal, funny, spoke well to a targeted audience and drove home his commitment to seeing Israel remain a secure Jewish democracy with America being her strongest ally. His presence was truly electrifying and we were honored to listen to him. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the outgoing President of the Reform movement delivered his last sermon on Shabbat morning where he pointed out the many challenges facing us as Reform Jews today. He spoke personally using the religious paths his own children have chosen for themselves as an example of the difficulties we grapple with today. His children went to Jewish day schools, were obviously raised in a Jewish home and his daughter and son-in-law are members of a modern Orthodox synagogue. His son has no desire to participate in synagogue life at this stage of his life. He is in his late 20’s. The Reform Movement is working hard to roll out a new youth initiative to engage our teens and their parents and it is looking for ways to create more entry points for people in the 20’s and 30’s to come into Reform Jewish life. The newly appointed incoming President of our Movement, Rabbi Rick Jacobs is committed to finding solutions to the problems and challenges we face. We are not alone. All branches of non-orthodox organized religion is struggling with ways to stay relevant and engaging. Around 500 people attended our Think Tank Session which began at 7:00 am on Friday morning to engage in discussions and have their input shared with others from many settings around the country including our own temple. By the end of March, 2012, Our Think Tank is hoping to produce a vision statement that will be turned over to the three organizations that comprise our movements to help set a direction for all of us going forward. It has been an honor to be one of 33 people working on this project during the last year. Another highlight of the convention was listening to Dr. Wendy Mogul, psychologist and author of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee and The Blessing of a B Minus, speak twice. She talked about the challenges faced by Jewish parents in raising children, particularly teenagers today. She is bright, dynamic and has real insight into adolescent development, the expectations of Jewish parents, the burdens Jewish parents place on their children, and on understanding teenagers. I am current reading the Blessings of a B Minus and I recommend this book to any parent who has teenagers or who is raising children who are 7 and older. It will give you valuable insight and perhaps help you understand your children’s behaviors and your own in relation to them. I must say that there is something magical about celebrating Shabbat with 5000 knowledgeable Reform Jews. The music of the Services was exciting and the spirit in the room was felt throughout the 5 days. I am sure that all three of us look forward to sharing with you what we learned over the coming months. January and February are very special months for us. In addition to everything that normally happens at the Temple, some of us will be traveling on a Jewish Mission to Cuba , others to Israel where we will celebrate Julia Ostroff’s Bat Mitzvah. During the Shabbat Services that follow these trips, I will speak about our experiences on both of these trips. Grace is looking forward to seeing where 3 of her grandparents are buried and seeing if she remembers anything about Cuba, having left there when she was five. We will be visiting several synagogues, a Jewish community center, a pregnancy center and a school. Each of the participants on the Cuba trip is required to bring 15 pounds of specific items to donate to the Jewish community in Cuba and make donations which will be distributed in Cuba. I found out at the Biennial that a number of congregations are sending missions to Cuba and several are running two trips in the same year because their trips were oversubscribed. I am excited about going. I hope to see you soon at Temple. Have a happy and healthy Secular New Year!
Rabbi Dr. Janet B. Liss