Rabbi's Blog

September 4, 2008

Dear Friends,

This past Sunday was the new moon of Elul, the month that precedes and leads up to Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days.  Elul is traditionally the month of inner preparation for the Days of Awe.  It is a time for Cheshbon Nefesh (self-assessment) and Teshuvah (making amends, addressing loose ends in our lives, repairing relationships.  Our goal is to enter the New Year having set in order as much as we are able, so that our consciences and our hearts can be as clear and as open as possible.  Teshuvah means return, and ideally for us this is a time of returning, returning to our deepest convictions, returning to the Jewish community, and returning to face the mystery of our existence - which our tradition calls YHVH, the Source of Life - with humility and awe. 

To assist with our preparations, I am offering four study and discussion sessions during Elul devoted to the themes of this season, and I invite you to join me for any or all of them.  The first three sessions will meet during the regular Thursday time: Thursday, September 4, 11, and 18 from 12:15 pm – 2:00 pm.  The final session will be on Sunday, September 21 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm.  I hope that some of you whose schedule cannot accommodate the weekday time will be able to join me for the Sunday session.  (I plan to have other occasional Sunday morning classes throughout the year.)  Also, on Saturday evening, September 20 from 10:30 pm – midnight is our Selichot ceremony, a ritual of preparation for Rosh Hashanah that we have adapted into a very personal and powerful time of reflection. 

While on the subject of teaching, I have really been enjoying the teachings that I have been offering at our Friday evening Shabbat services, and thought I might entice some of you to join us on a Friday evening for a stimulating and restorative evening.  Here’s what we addressed the past few weeks:  On my mentor (and former member of the WJC) Rabbi Ira Eisenstein’s yahrzeit I reviewed the history of the Reconstructionist movement and the educational philosophy of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, which Ira founded.  The next week I spoke on the topic of “Healing the Jewish Self”, summarizing the workshop that Rabbi Miriam and I had led at the Omega Institute that week.  The following week I shared some of the teachings of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, a sixteenth century mystic whose yahrzeit fell on that Shabbat.  Rabbi Cordovero’s words were amazingly evocative and felt like they could have been written yesterday.  Using a comprehensive Jewish historical calendar for inspiration, the next week I learned was the anniversary of the Barcelona Disputation in 1263, and this became an opportunity to teach about the relationship between the Church and the Jews in the Middle Ages, the form of debate between Christians and Jews that was known as the disputation, and the particular success of the rabbinic luminary Nachmanides in besting his Christian adversaries in this well-documented episode. 

Sometimes the calendar will list the topic at hand that evening, but most of the time I don’t know well ahead of time, because for better or worse I am an improviser at heart.  So it will be potluck.  But I can promise that it will be stimulating and that you will learn something.  Also, others in our congregation will occasionally be sharing teachings and writings.  Last week Jerry Gillman read one of his original midrashim on Abraham and Sarah.  This week Michael Stoller offered a teaching. 

Do remember that our Friday evening services begin at 7:30 pm, except for the first Friday of each month when we begin at 5:45 pm.  This coming Friday, September 5 we begin at 5:45 pm with a dairy/vegetarian potluck dinner.  Our theme this evening is outreach, and we are especially asking you to invite a friend or acquaintance who you would like to introduce to our community.  Zoe Zak and I will be teaching and leading some wonderful Shabbat melodies, and Julie Makowsky will be providing children’s programming as well.  Please RSVP at 679-2218 x0 so that we can set enough places, and come enjoy a sweet Shabbat with new and old friends. 

Shalom to you and your loved ones,

Rabbi Jonathan Kligler