Kol Beth El ELUL-KISLEV 5779
SEPT/OCT/NOV 2019
Hartman Torah: Ahdut (Unity) Bringing Together Jews of All Kinds By Rabbi Michael Schwab
INSIDE THIS ISSUE President’s Corner...................... .2 Shabbat & Holiday Schedule..... .3 Notes from Hazzan..................... .4 Informal Education..................... .5 Formal Education........................ .5 Cultural & Learning Center........ .6 Folk Art Paper Cut Exhibit.......... 6 Development .............................. .7 Pre-School.................................... .7 Youth Community....................... .8 Membership................................ .9 Sisterhood.................................... 10 Sisterhood Gift Shop.................. 10 Men’s Club................................... 11 Hazak............................................ 12 Intergenerational Weekend....... 12 High Holiday Schedule............... 13 High Holiday Boot Camp............ 14 Selichot......................................... 15 Festival Service Schedule........... 15 Social Action................................ 16 Todah Rabbah............................. 17
All in the Family........................20 B’nai Mitzvah............................21 Events at a Glance....................22 Laura’s recipe...........................24 North Suburban Synagogue Beth El 1175 N. Sheridan Road Highland Park, IL 60035 (847) 432-8900 www.nssbethel.org
Over that last three-plus years I have been honored to participate in the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Through this wonderful Fellowship, I have had the opportunity to engage in intensive study with over twenty-five fantastic rabbis representing all of the streams of Judaism. I have learned from them, shared ideas with them, and created deep friendships with each, as both colleagues and as people. The scholarship of our teachers has been of the highest level and the environment created by Hartman for meaningful and substantial dialogue, through text study, is unparalleled. At the end of July, I returned from my final summer of the program, having “graduated” (yes, I have a diploma) and I am now a lifelong Fellow of the Institute. While I will surely return for their annual open rabbinic study programs in the future, I wanted to share some of the core lessons of what I learned while participating in this leadership cohort, which I think can apply to everyone. First, the best way for diverse Jews to connect is through studying Torah. Torah study is one of our most important, long-standing and valued activities as Jews. Further, through Torah study one encounters substantial topics about
which one can dialogue and even argue, safely and respectfully. In hevruta (study partnership) the goal is to seek truth, clarification and understanding through dynamic conversation and disagreement. There is no ultimate value placed on either agreement or “winning” the debate. By contrast, in panel conversations I find that one feels pressure to “best” the other panelist who holds the opposing opinion. Thus, through Torah study, incredible sharing can take place between diverse people about meaningful relevant topics without creating an antagonistic dynamic. Second, Hartman has taught me that one key to maintaining unity with our fellow Jews, even the ones we disagree with the most, is to find connection in our understanding that we are all trying to find solutions to the same problems. For example, before the inception of modernity there were not really different movements of Judaism. However, with the onset of the scientific study of religion, the universality of citizenship not based on religion and many other factors, Orthodoxy, Conservative and Reform offered different answers to this new reality, all in the attempt to preserve Judaism and allow it to flourish in this new environment. Starting with a respect for the origin of one’s choices allows the other to continued on page 9
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