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Jacksonville Jewish News • August 2013
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PERSPECTIVES
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JEWISH NEWS Diane Rodgers, Communications Director 904.448.5000, ext. 212 Advertising Representatives Sam Griswold • 904.540.7954 Barbara Nykerk • 904.733.4179 Eta Perras • 904.629.0466 Communications Committee Jon Israel, Chair Shirley Bielski Helen Hill Michele Katz Joan Levin Andrea Mail Rachel Morgenthal Marsha Pollock Gail Sterman Federation President Hal Resnick Federation Executive Director Alan Margolies 8505 San Jose Blvd. • Jacksonville, FL 32217 The Jacksonville Jewish News is published monthly. All submitted content becomes the property of the Jacksonville Jewish News. Announcements and opinions contained in these pages are published as a service to the community and do not necessarily represent the views of the Jacksonville Jewish News or its publisher, the Jewish Federation of Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Jewish News is not responsible for the Kashruth of any product advertised. Copy deadlines: All news, photographs, etc., must be received by the 6th of each month, and sent to jjn@jewishjacksonville.org. Ad deadlines: All ads must be received by the 15th of each month, and sent to jjn@jewishjacksonville.org in PDF format.
Questions answered about reconstructionists By Kehillah Chadashah
Many people in the Jacksonville Jewish community have questions about Kehillah Chadashah as a reconstructionist congregation. For the next few months we’re going to answer some of these questions. For more information about Kehillah Chadashah or the reconstructionist movement, email us at KehillahChadashah@gmail.org. 1. How do reconstructionists approach sacred texts? We consider our sacred texts to be the product of inspired experience in the human search for God and holiness in our world. To us, they are neither literal transcriptions from a supernatural being nor anachronisms that are mere constructs and fictions. We value our dialogue with the voices of our sacred texts because of the passion, values, aspirations and wisdom they express and how they therefore inform and shape our current Jewish lives. Torah study, or Talmud Torah, has been an integral part of reconstructionism since its inception. To some degree, this is because we study
to understand the history and the values inherent in the ritual practices under consideration by the community. Hence, many communities form regular, ongoing havurot (study groups) as an essential component of adult education programming. In addition, we regard the study of our sacred texts as one path in the search for holiness in our world, inspiring many of our congregations to offer ongoing study groups, lishma, simply for the sake of learning. 2. What is the reconstructionist approach to the idea of the chosen people? Rather than view ourselves as God’s chosen people, we understand ourselves as being called upon to do God’s work. We follow this unique path of doing God’s work because the Jewish story, civilization and culture belong to us. Part of our journey includes the formation of a special covenant, a brit between God and Israel. Our covenant is a holy relationship grounded in Jewish ethics and values. This also means respecting the diversity of each religion and culture in its unique contribution to global community of which we are a part.
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An early start to High Holy Days By RABBI MARK WIEDER River Garden
A
h, getting ready for company – the straightening, the arranging, the sweeping up dog hair (it’s not his fault!). Once everything is in place, I look around and say, “This is the way it should always be.” Yes, I have read all the articles about just taking 15 minutes a day, and the house can always be pristine. It doesn’t seem to work out that way, however. And when digging in all at once, finer details can be missed. I’ll look over and observe that a shelf is still dusty, or that a wisp of the aforementioned dog hair is stirring in the breeze. For years, now, I have been much more invested in internal housekeeping. I want to know that that house is in order. Part of the customary, 15-minute-a-day variety is provided through taking my prayer life seriously. Acknowledging in the daily Amidah that we are not perfect (“Forgive us, our Guide, for we have sinned.”), I feel obliged to take a look at where I might have gotten off track. When I recite Tachanun (penitential prayers), I ask God
to support my efforts to improve. These, though, will never take the place of a thorough housekeeping. I have choices as to when the thorough effort is going to start. I can wait until I’m parked at Rosh Hashanah services, and say, “Oh. I have 10 days to get my life in order.” And perhaps some years that would be OK. I know others who don’t feel the call to start until the plaintive notes of Kol Nidre, if then. But when given my preference, I pay heed to the early warning systems in place. For some, especially in the Ashkenazic tradition, this means Selichot services the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah. While this is a good idea in order to practice the High Holy Day melodies in community, I prefer the first alert — Rosh Chodesh Elul — one full month to pull things apart and clean from top to bottom. Luckily, I don’t have to do all this housekeeping in isolation. Character traits that I’ve used badly, I’ve used badly with other people. I can look at how other people react to me, I can ask questions, I can pray for clarity and help. I say character traits as opposed to character defects,
RABBINICALLY SPEAKING
because I believe they work on a continuum. There is a strong relationship among being persistent, being stubborn and being intractable. My father used to say it was like declining a verb: “I’m opinionated, you’re stubborn, he’s pig-headed.” What I observe about myself may be very different than what others experience about me. Which is why I must ask forgiveness for any sins I may have committed, even those I may not recognize when first presented to me. And once problems are uncovered, I have to be willing to change. Raba b. Hinena the elder further said in the name of Rab: If one commits a sin and is ashamed of it, all his sins are forgiven him… (Berachot 12b) Letting others into my house for inspection is not always the easiest thing, but our Tanakh (Jewish Bible) helps. I know that our ancestors were flawed human beings, and I am not unique in falling short. Everything I have done can be forgiven, and a fresh start can be had. The investment of time and effort will absolutely pay off. And knowing that others are on their own paths toward a “clean house” is indeed a comfort.
Why Jewish life is thriving in today’s Poland By ALAN H. GILL CEO JDC
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Poland in June, he found a Polish Jewish community virtually unrecognizable to any student of history. That’s because 22 years after the fall of communism and more than 70 years after the Nazis annihilated 3 million Polish Jews (of the 6 million total Jews murdered), Polish Jews are embracing their identity and faith in inspiring and frankly unbelievable ways. And that’s not just because there is a laudable Museum of the History of Polish Jews that opened with fanfare last month or a moving tribute to the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising that brought international attention to the bravery of the Ghetto fighters so many years after their heroic actions. It’s because the country’s 25,000 Jews – though a far cry from the millions that built a robust Jewish civilization throughout pre-war Poland – are eager to innovate Jewish life through street festivals, educational and religious programs, and by investigating their family’s past, despite the pain. And this is extraordinary in a country whose Communist-led post-1967 anti-Zionist purges forced many Jews to either emigrate from Poland or head underground, hiding their identities for many decades to come. And yet after Communism fell, some Jews – like their Catholic neighbors who enthusiastically clung to their faith – were able to explore what it meant to be a Jew in a place where for the better part of 50 years it was unthinkable. And in many ways it was because a parent or grandparent shockingly revealed their Jewish heritage on their deathbeds. So how did this happen? Quietly and effectively, local and international Jewish organizations, philanthropists and
advocates – running the pluralistic gamut of religious movements and cultural options – have invested in both Jewish people (some who proudly identified as such and others who have since “come out”) and in synagogues, communitywide Sabbath dinners, camping experiences, Jewish learning conferences, Jewish community centers and youth clubs, urban holiday events, study groups, and even Jewish cooking classes. Today in Warsaw and Krakow, centers of Jewish life, one can take a Hebrew class in the morning, learn how to make latkes at lunchtime, and meet with other people who are exploring their Jewish heritage – in some cases long hidden by their families for fear of persecution – at night. Young Polish Jews are also leading the way. In many ways they have inherited a tremendous historical legacy, but are remaking it in their own image. Take Antonina Samecka, a Polish Jewish fashion designer whose Risk. Made in Warsaw. brand has a special line festooned with Jewish imagery and humor. By incorporating stars of David in the design and creating a “You Had Me At Shalom” T-shirt, it embodies the vanguard of Jewish Poland today – a mix of pride and creativity. And the picture would not be complete without mentioning Jewish heritage tours around the country, family genealogy research in corners of Poland where there are no Jews left, and a trend among some Jews to acquire an EU passport and embrace the country their parents and grandparents left behind. Add to this a growing number of Jewish expats living and breathing Polish culture and language, and you have an enigmatic phenomenon that is bolstering a local community’s confidence in itself and its identity. Such confidence has led to extraordinary results: just this past weekend in Krakow, the 7@Nite
Festival opened the historic city’s seven remaining synagogues to the public for a lively celebration of Jewish life and culture attended by thousands of people. This event – organized and run by my organization with other local Jewish groups – hosts everything from a poetry reading to a multimedia tour through the seven gates of Jerusalem, from a dance workshop to a photography exhibition, from DJs playing Jewish funk, rock, and hip-hop to a hummus and grilled vegetable feast in a synagogue courtyard. For Krakow resident Bozena Pitorak, a civil engineer, 7@Nite was the perfect way to reconnect with her Jewish roots as her mother was Jewish. Last year she attended 7@Nite at the urging of her son and was immediately inspired by an Israeli dance workshop. Soon after, Pitorak started taking Hebrew classes at the Krakow JCC, became a member, and frequently attends Shabbat dinners and Jewish holiday celebrations. This year, she returned to the festival as a volunteer, proudly transformed and Jewishly identified. “After reconnecting to Judaism I feel stronger, and this influences my private life and my work,” she said. “My dream is that more Jews come out, go to the synagogue, and become members of the community.” In a scene in Steven Spielberg’s iconic film “Schindler’s List,” the brutal Nazi Amon Goeth proudly hails that he and his soldiers are about to destroy 600 years of Jewish history in Krakow. And although they succeeded in liquidating the city’s ghetto and sending the survivors to the death camps, the winds of history have shifted to prove him wrong. Today, in tens of thousands of Jewish faces and lives, in song and prayer, and even in new forms of Jewish self-expression, Jewish life in Poland is blossoming. And that is cause for celebration.