God Answer My Prayers
Posted by RabbiB in B's Blog, Carry The Fire - Meaning Through Mourning, Ruach Revival: Reviving Authentic Spirituality, Warrior Jew - Character, Courage & Truth on February 21, 2012
There’s a great line in a bad movie, Evan Almighty in which the main character, Evan, asks God about why God doesn’t answer prayers. God responds:
Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?
Perhaps we waste too much time sitting around wishing, hoping, praying God will answer our prayers to make us more patient, make us more loving, make us nicer, kinder, happier or whatever the desire du jour might be.
However, maybe God does answer our prayers giving us opportunities every day to achieve the answers for ourselves. Perhaps the answer to our prayers is right there in front of us, presented to us as a struggle to be overcome, a difficult situation to be endured, or an aggravating opportunity to be confronted. Maybe its time we stop equating nirvana with a sense of bliss, spirituality with feelings of ecstasy or God as merely an experience of ease. in many ways we are like Jacob in the Torah:
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaks. And he said, I will not let you go, unless you bless me.
Jacob wants a blessing from God, an answer to his prayers – an answer which God never directly grants. But maybe his prayers were granted, granted in the form of his struggles. Maybe God, spirituality and the answers we are looking for are right in front of us, in the struggle, the struggles with us every day.
And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a warrior you have wrestled with God and with men, and have prevailed.
Keep on wrestling – perhaps that is the answer to your prayers…
Rabbi B
The Spirit of Shekels – This Weeks Haftarah
REPOSTED ON THE FEDERATION JEWISH MEN’S CLUB WEBSITE: http://www.fjmc.org/
Shabbat Shekalim: The Spirit of Shekels
There are serious challenges facing our synagogues and Jewish institutions today. Aging demographics, declining synagogue membership, waning Movement affiliation, and uninspired prayer experiences top the growing list. Although these challenges are complex, much of it comes down to money.
Everyday I hear Jews complaining about synagogue dues, Federation solicitations, Jewish summer camp and day school costs (to name but a few). They feel they are being priced-out of Jewish Community. They are growing resentful of a “pay to pray” Judaism and they are voting with their feet.
This week’s special Haftarah (II Kings 11:17 – 12:17) cuts to this issue. In the Maftir, we read about “the half shekel” in what amounts to being the first of many synagogue capital campaigns. In this Haftarah we deal not with the difficulties of raising money to build the Temple, but the challenges in financially sustaining it – ultimately the purview of the kohanim (priests).
[King] Yehoash said to the priests, “All the money, current money, brought into the House of the Lord as sacred donations… let the kohanim receive it, each from his benefactor; they, in turn, shall make repairs on the House, wherever damage may be found….But it was found that the priests had not made the repairs on the House…”
King Yehoash is, understandably, upset. All this time he was under the impression that the kohanim were acting responsibly. Lo and behold (without a single class on financial matters in rabbinical school, then or now) the kohanim failed to handle the synagogue finances and years of deferred maintenance with no shekels in the bank had finally caught up.
The truth of the matter is that zuzzim, shekels, rubbels and dollars have been a source of tension, corruption, stagnation and destruction for Jewish institutions and communities throughout the ages.
The vast majority of our Jewish institutions are spiraling downwards. Dues – High Holy Day seats – Donations – this is the financial trinity of most of our Jewish institutions and shuls. These revenue streams are outdated, uninspired, and fail to provide an inspirational Jewish experience. (And just because a temple balances the budget doesn’t mean they are doing anything more than subsisting. Any shul can offer little and stretch their budget. Any institution can sit empty and be kept alive through the curse of a big endowment).
To make matters worse, those who are often at the center of our synagogue or Jewish institutional finances, our modern day kohanim (rabbis, cantors, executive directors, and many lay people) are, at best, merely tweaking the system to save a buck here, and stretch a dollar there. Many fail to see as their responsibility the need to solve the underlying financial issues.
“But rabbi,” I hear people say, “aren’t money and spirituality mutually exclusive?”
The Torah, didn’t make such distinctions. In fact, more ink was put down in our Torah about the creation, functioning and maintenance of our Temple than all other subjects combined. Ayn kemach; ayn Torah – no dough; no Torah, goes the Talmudic maxim. Shekels and spirituality have always been part and parcel of Judaism and Jewish communal life. Until we start addressing this issue we may not go broke but our uninspired Jewish communities will continue to break.
The days of Dues – Seats – Donations (or soliciting “the big machers” to write “the big check”) are coming to an end. What we need now are not merely solicitations of someone’s wallet, or even solicitations of their heart. What we need is to solicit our people’s brains, ingenuity, creativity and know-how. No more galas, no more golf tournaments, bake sales or High Holy Day appeals. We are a people that made the desert bloom. We are a people that made Israel’s modern economy boom. We are a people economically thriving in our personal lives and yet failing when it comes to our Jewish communal lives. Now, more than ever before, what we need is a Revenue Revolution in our synagogues, Jewish institutions and Jewish communities.
Rabbi Baruch HaLevi is rabbi of Congregation Shirat Hayam, Swampscott, MA, and co- author of his forthcoming book, Reviving the Jewish Spirit. For more from “Rabbi B” please visit him at www.RabbiB.com
Clergy Corner: Carrying the Fire – Blog
Posted by RabbiB in B's Blog, B's Recommended Articles (updated daily) on February 15, 2012
REPOSTED ON A WORTHY WEBSITE FOR SUICIDE SURVIVORS….
http://www.allianceofhope.org/blog_/
Clergy Corner: Carrying the Fire
By Rabbi B
Having survived suicide twice, I do believe that first and foremost, as survivors (of any kind of the death of a loved one) we need to truly believe that the loss was not our fault. This is how the healing starts; this, however, is not how it ends.
Whether someone is grieving a suicide, or the death of a loved one in general, whatever the cause, the next ingredient is time. After all, why should healing the soul be any different than healing the body? Even if you suture a cut, it still needs the ingredient of time to fully mend. So too, a person simply needs to sit, to grieve and to process their emotions if they are going to heal after the loss of a loved one, particularly the loss after suicide. There is no substitute for time.
And yet time, in and of itself, is not enough. Time can be constructive but it can also become destructive to be sure. When death casts its shadow if one does not consciously decide to survive, to live, to “choose life,” time can and will erode a person’s will to live.
But once someone has done all of this, then comes the final step along the journey through mourning. If one is to truly move forward they cannot do it, unless you learn to “Carry the Fire.”
Carrying the Fire was inspired within me by the following excerpt taken from Cormac McCarthy’s book, The Road.
Judaism Light
Posted by RabbiB in B's Blog, Ruach Revival: Reviving Authentic Spirituality on February 7, 2012
Recently the Jewish Journal re-printed an article, originally run elsewhere, called “Dumbing Down Judaism” (you can find it at www.RabbiB.com).
It was a conversation with a Talmud professor of mine from Rabbinical School, Dr. Aryeh Cohen, in which he disparages current synagogue and Jewish institutional outreach, programming and education. In his estimation this is “dumbed down Judaism” or, as I’ve heard it called elsewhere, “Judaism-Lite”.
Although Dr. Cohen and I have never spoken about CSH and our myriad of innovative and inspirational outreach, programmatic and educational initiatives – I’m certain that he would not approve (nor will he be writing a blurb on my upcoming book Ruakh: Reviving The Jewish Spirit, which I co-authored with Ellen Frankel and expect to be published with Jewish Lights Publications this spring).
Synaplex, Ruach Rally, Limud Shabbat (kids’ Synaplex), Scotch & Schmooze, Healing Havurah, Movies and Midrash, Tzofim (scouts), the Yoga Minyan, Sex In The Texts, Isha L’Isha: Women’s Rosh Chodesh Group, Magic Minyan, Simchat Shabbat, Renewal Minyan and on and on and on….. Suffice to say, Dr. Cohen will not be joining us in real time or on the Shulcast anytime soon. And that’s OK. It takes all kinds of Jews and all types of expressions of Judaism to create a vibrant, dynamic, sustainable and frankly authentic Judaism. I love that there are frum (traditional) shtiblach (small, informal shuls). And I adore that there are massive, looming, formal Reform Temples – and everything in between. There is no one way to be Jewish, no one brand or practice or expression that trumps all. At CSH we set out to span the spectrum and if we had a frum crowd – and I look forward to the day we do – we would provide a place and space for them within our congregational family to be sure.
But the fact of the matter is that what CSH, and a handful of other Jewish congregations and institutions across the country, are doing is not “dumbing down” Judaism or making it Judaism-Lite. The truth – most Jews have walked away not from Judaism-Lite but Judaism-Heavy: heavy, Dark, Musty, Tired, Angry, Legalistic, Judgmental, Unwelcoming. The vast majority of Jews I know beyond the CSH walls have walked away, married out, formally converted or return out of coercion and under in-law duress twice a year max (and maybe a seder and one night of Chanukah thrown in for good measure). Many had three days a week, four days a week, five days a week Hebrew school. Many had Jewish day school educations. Almost all had regular synagogue attendance leading to a B’nai Mitzvah. Do a hand poll, take a head count, ask around or open your eyes and it’s clear, it didn’t work, they are nowhere to be found. Judaism-Heavy, not Judaism-Lite, is what drove away a generation, or two, or three of Jews.
So what is the answer? Not dumbed down, watered down Judaism-Lite. That’s not why we have hundreds joining us for a wild celebration of the soul every single Shabbat, or thousands more on line every single week. Jews will return, have returned, are returning in droves but not to “Judaism-Heavy” or “Judaism-Lite,” but rather “Judaism-Light,” – the light of spirit, joy, vibrancy, passion, creativity, hospitality and ruach.
It’s still about Torah. It’s still about Tefilah. It’s still about tradition. Come check out our newly inspired upcoming events: Shabbat Olam, Purim – American Idol Style or Second Night Pesach Jam Session and you’ll see that the values are the same, but the way we convey them must be modern, accessible, loving, inspired, vibrant and alive. This is not a marketing ploy.
This is not about entertainment or Niellsonberg ratings. Synagogues and Jewish institutions are crumbling in the shadows of “we’ve always done it that way” or the abyss of “it’s their fault, the Jews in the Pews (or lack thereof) for not being interested in our services or joining our shul” that is casting the darkness upon our Jewish communities today.
It’s not about doing less. Rather, its about doing whatever we do and doing it with meaning.
It’s not about forgoing the tradition of always opting for the “spiritual.” Rather, it’s about finding the intersection between tradition and spirit and living, parking ourselves at that crossroads.
Our people are lost in the dark and it is our job as Jewish leaders and professionals to throw open the curtains, dust off the lampshades and shine a spotlight onto authentic Judaism, inspirational Judaism, a Judaism of possibility, hope, optimism, fearlessness, joy and Ruakh. It’s not about Judaism-Lite, or Judaism-Heavy, but Judaism-Light.
Reclaim Judaism-Light, reclaim the Ruakh and you can be assured Jews will be inspired, our synagogues will thrive, our institutions will flourish and our people will daven, study, sing, dance, drum, chant and even Down Dog their way back home.
Chodesh Tov,
Rabbi B
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