High Holiday Preparation

Orientation for Amherst Class of '14 started today and I have been at Amherst for the last few hours. Welcome to the Pioneer Valley and Amherst College.

I attended a few events and will shortly attend the first Religious Life Event (in Chapin at 8:30pm).

Tomorrow night, we have our first Hillel event: Schmooze with the Jews. Other events include Shabbat services and dinner, Sunday Brunch, and fifty or so hours after classes begin Rosh Hashanah services and meals. It will be a busy few weeks.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I meet new students and welcome back old students, I am getting ready for High Holidays by preparing services and organizing meals.

I offer the following link to a great series of articles that are helping me think about Tshuvah (the concept of return/repentence that is at the center of the High Holidays). Kathryn Schulz wrote a book that I have been reading (Being Wrong--Adventures on the Margins of Error). The book has been followed by a series of interviews about error and being wrong in diverse fields and their lives. This is the description at the bottom of the blog: "This blog features Q and As in which notable people discuss their relationship to being wrong. You can read past interviews with NASA astronaut-turned-medical-error-guruJames Bagian, hedge-fund manager Victor Niederhoffer, mountaineer Ed Viesturs, This American Life host Ira Glass, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, Sports Illustrated senior writer Joe Posnanski, education scholar and activist Diane Ravitch, and criminal defense lawyer and pundit Alan Dershowitz." (As it appears August 29th, 2010 at 7:54pm)

Please read them and let me know what you think. Comments are appreciated.

Have a great year,

Rabbi Bruce

Uniting a Divided Country--Ruminations on Ending Sinat Chinam on Election Day

This past Shabbat, Parshat Noah, I talked with Smith students about the causes of the flood.

In the Jewish understanding, cataclysmic destructions are proceeded by unraveling of society.

Whether it is the violence of the generation of the Flood or the hatred between Jews that led to the Destruction of the Temple.  In the Babylonian Talmud (Gittin 55b - 56a), we learn:

There was a man – never identified in the story – who threw a party and intended to invite his good friend Kamtza.  His servant, however, erred and mistakenly invited his enemy, Bar Kamtza.  When the host realized the mistake he immediately and very publicly demanded that Bar Kamtza leave the party.  Obviously embarrassed, Bar Kamtza made a series of offers – even, ultimately, offering to pay for the entire party – hoping to persuade the host to allow him to remain.  Unmoved, the host callously throws him out of the party.  The Gemara recounts that Bar Kamtza was so offended, not only by the host, but also by the silence of the guests – some of whom were great rabbis – that he slandered the Jewish people to the Caesar.  One thing leads to another and the result of this sad story is, ultimately, the destruction of the Beit Ha-Mikdash (Gittin 55b-56a).  

The Temple is destroyed because society had unraveled to the extent that problems with party invitations lead to complainsts against entire groups of people to the government.

While I don't believe we have reached this level in the US, I am alarmed by the negative tone of the campaign.I am cognizant that despite predictions of an Obama landslide (when Karl Rove predicts a Democratic landslide, you can take it to the bank), the country remains more divided than at any time I can remember.  If it was not for the Electoral College, it would be little more than a statistical advantage for Obama.

We have to remember that hatred of someone for their ideas or membership in a minority group unravels the fabric of our society and threatens to lead us to chaos.  Whether it is calling the Democratic candidate a terrorist or labeling those who vote for McCain as racists, this does nothing to solve the serious domestic and international problems facing our country.

I hope that we can come together after this divisive election, remembering to respect the divine image contained within the losers, and help our country reachieve its reputation for good in the world.

If you haven't voted yet, what are you waiting for?  As Hillel would say, if not now--when?

Rabbi Bruce 

PS  Tonight, after Barack Obama was declared President-Elect, Senator John McCain gave a great concession speach.  He spoke of the historic nature of P-E Obama's candidacy and now Presidency.  Unfortunately, his followers yelled "boo" every time he mentioned his opponent's name.  To his credit, he tried to stop this.  

Rabbinical Assembly Appoints First Female Rabbi to Head Rabbinical Organization

Women Rabbis have arrived and change is in the air.

Rabbi Julie Schoenfeld was named the next Executive Vice-President of the Rabbinical Assembly today. She succeeds current EVP Rabbi Joel Meyers on July 1st. I am a member of the Rabbinical Assembly--an international organization of almost 1600 Conservative Rabbis.

Julie is an impressive rabbi and leader. I worked with over the past year organizing Conservative rabbis who work in Hillel and helping the Rabbinical Assembly serve their needs. Julie is a graduate of Yale University and was ordained by Jewish Theological Seminary Rabbinical School in 1997.

In the past, our organization has not fully understood or appreciated the work of non-pulpit members. When Julie (who has been working as Director of Rabbinic Development at the RA) was assigned to work with us, she took a great interest in us and our needs. She worked to understand how Hillel colleagues could benefit from RA programs and what the RA could do in the future for Hillel professionals of all backgrounds and affiliation. It was a different approach than previous encounters.

I am full of hope that Julie's vision and skills will help the RA reinvigorate the Conservative Movement in the US and around the world. I have already emailed her to offer my help in any way she needs.

Mazal Tov, Julie. May your new position help advance the cause of women leadership in the greater Jewish community.

Rabbi Bruce

Great New Approach to Bnai Mitzvah Tutoring

Recently graduated Amherst College student Justin Epner created www.connectorah.com--a live, online Bnai Mitzvah tutoring company. Check it out.
Justin is a talented and creative tutor.
RB

Jerusalem Diary - Sunday

After a slow morning, I arrived at the Conservative Yeshiva at around 9:30. After I walked in, I saw Josh Kulp and went to give him a hug and catch up. A few of the other Kollel members and faculty came to say hello (Shlomo Zacharow who worked at Ramah and others). Also, I recognized a number of the students from dinner Friday and Kedem on Shabbat morning. After schmoozing with Josh, I started to go over the Talmud passage he would be teaching and then joined his shiur. They are studying a long section on muktzeh in the third chapter of Shabbat.

I left Josh's class at noon to meet with Clare Goldwater who was visiting the Yeshiva after I reached out to her. After time with Clare and Daniel Goldfarb (Director of the Yeshiva), I joined Clare for lunch at Masrik (great pasta). We talked about how I could return to Israel for a year with my family. Don't worry, it won't happen soon. Clare and I talked about some of my plans for Smith-Amherst Hillel (not ready for publication) and other developments. I always enjoy talking with her but can never get more than a few minutes at Hillel conferences.

I spent the afternoon shopping--getting nature material at SPNI for Deborah, a stamp book for Zev, gifts for the girls (they will remain surprises for them), and a few other items (also surprises but they come from Yirmiyahu's, Dahab, and a CD store). I then went to the Conservative Yeshiva for ma'ariv and some more schmoozing. At 7, I went to the apartment of a friend from Pardes (Craig Preston). Matt Berkowitz had been staying there and I said goodbye to him. Craig then took me to a great place for Israeli food--stekiat bibi in the industrial zone of Talpiot (near Pardes).

Craig drove me back to the apartment in Givat Mordechai to pack and post on the blog.

I walked a lot today, ate great food, learned some Talmud, and talked to amazing people--a typical day for me in Jerusalem. This will probably end my Jerusalem diaries as I meet the two Five College birthright Israel busses tomorrow afternoon and will have little computer access.

Tomorrow's plans: learning Talmud in the morning, dropping off my luggage at the hotel, meeting my group at the airport, and then heading back to Jerusalem for dinner and the start of their program.

Rachel & Larry's Wedding

This Sunday, Rachel Bromberg will marry Larry Leibowitz. Rachel is Deborah's younger sister and we are thrilled. I will be co-officiating with my brother-in-law Rabbi Aaron Gaber.
More posts to follow soon,
Rabbi Bruce

PS If you are an entering Smith or Amherst College student, let me know who you are!!

Former Hillel Director, Jewish Leader, & Scholar Died 4/17

“We pray for the scholars and teachers associated with the study of Torah … who spread learning among the people, the leaders of the community, world leaders and those who exercise authority in the courts of sacred law.” (Prayer book).

The Jewish community of the Five Colleges and Upper Valley joins the rest of the Jewish community in mourning the death 4/17 of our esteemed former Jewish Chaplain/Hillel Director Dr. Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, z”l, a scholar and American Jewish leader involved in many of the most important Jewish events of the last sixty years. He was 84.

Dr. Rabbi Hertzberg (then studying for his PhD from Harvard) was Hillel Director of UMASS, Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith during a few years of World War II. He describes this experience in one chapter of his autobiography.

You can get a sense of his personality and interests here at the NY Review of Books.
“May his disciples … and all who apply themselves in the study of Torah be granted heavenly salvation.” May his life and memory act as inspiration for us to create a better world using our ancient tradition.

Hag Sameach,
Rabbi Bruce
_____________________________________________________________
Additional Biography Taken from Wikipedia:

"His love of Judaism and the Jewish texts was at the core of his controversial life as a rabbi, scholar, educator and Jewish communal leader. Over the course of his 50 plus year career, Rabbi Hertzberg served as a congregational rabbi, president of both the American Jewish Policy Foundation and the American Jewish Congress, vice president of the World Jewish CongressCatholic-Jewish dialogue that commenced during the papacy of Pope John XXIII. As a major public figure in the world of Jewish organizational life, Hertzberg was at the center of the crucial events shaping American Jewish life since the end of World War II. He walked with Martin Luther King, Jr., in the 1963March to Washington and Bloody Sunday at the height of the American civil rights movement, and Henry Kissinger. Hertzberg played a major role in some of the most significant issues the world Jewish community faced in the decades following World War II, including discussions with the Catholic Church over the still unresolved conflict over the Vatican's release of documents pertaining to Pius XII and the Holocaust, as well as his outspoken criticism of the policies of Israel toward the Palestinians.

Arthur Hertzberg received rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1943 and a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University in 1966. He has taught at Princeton, Rutgers, Columbia, and Dartmouth. He was the Bronfman Visiting Professor of the Humanities at New York University from 1991 until his death in 2006. and a leading representative of world Jewry in the historic

In addition to his academic posts, Rabbi Hertzberg served as a chaplain in the United States Air Force from 1951 to '53 and rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Englewood, New Jersey, from 1956 to 1985, where he remained as rabbi emeritus until his death. He also served as president of the American Jewish Policy Foundation since 1978, president of the American Jewish Congress from 1972 to '78, and vice president of the World Jewish Congress from 1975 to 1991.

Rabbi Hertzberg was a co-editor of Essays on Jewish Life and Thought (1959) and the author of The Zionist Idea (1959), The Outbursts That Await Us (1963), The French Enlightenment and the Jews (1968), which won the first Amran Award as the best work of nonfiction in the Jewish field, Judaism (1961), Being Jewish in America (1978), The Jews in America (1989), Jewish Polemics (1992), At Home Only with God (1993), The Zionist Idea (1997), and, with Aron Hirt-Manheimer, Jews: The Essence and Character of a People (1998)."