SYNAGRAM September-November 2017
Elul 5777-Cheshvan 5778
“BUT RABBI, PRAYER IS NOT MY THING” A friend said those words to me a while back and I have been thinking about it, especially as we head into Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, days on which prayer takes center stage. While some of us find great meaning in prayer, others simply do not connect with it. Sentiments of the machzor (High Holiday Prayer Book) seem foreign, from a time when people thought in terms of kings and servants. The book’s reflections on themes such as reward and punishment do not make sense to all. And then there is Hebrew. Some cannot read it. Others can read it and enjoy reminding themselves of its shapes and sounds but by the time they are fluent, Yom Kippur is ending! Even excellent Hebrew speakers are challenged by the SAT word vocabulary of the prayers. Of course, there is God. We gather together on the holidays (and on Shabbat and at weekday minyanim) with people who believe deeply and gain great comfort and strength from their relationship with God, with those who question, and with those who do not believe in God but do believe in the Jewish people and in community. The Hassidic master, Abraham of Slonim, also known as the Slonimer Rebbe, offers some advice to those who are challenged by prayer. He notes that praying was once something you did in your field and orchard and not in shul. Farmers plowed, sowed, and irrigated and knew that it’s up to forces beyond their control to determine how successful the growing season will be. And so they prayed- hoping that God or the gods would grant them the miracle of abundance. Once, prayer was the most natural thing in the world. (Continued on page 2)
HIGH HOLIDAYS 5778 SERVICE SCHEDULE INSIDE (pages 6-7)
HEBREW SCHOOL BEGINS NEW YEAR ON SUNDAY SEPT. 17 The Marsha Dane Stern Hebrew School at CSAIR – the largest and fastest growing Hebrew School in Riverdale – begins its new year on Sunday, September 17 at 10:00 AM. The school strives to create a dynamic Jewish experience for all students and their families, and stresses parent involvement, community building, mastery of Hebrew reading, and knowledge of Jewish prayers and traditions. The first day of class will welcome the entire family and feature a brief service, introduction to the Hebrew School program and a social action project. Prospective students and their families are invited to join us for opening day, September 17th, from 10 AM – Noon. The CSAIR Synagram is published by the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale (Richard Sacks, editor). Please send all submissions by email to sacks.richard@gmail.com. If you have any questions, please call the Office at 718-543-8400. The submission deadline for the next issue is October 24, 2017.
CSAIR • 475 West 250th Street, Bronx, New York 10471 Tel: 718-543-8400 • www.csair.org