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

More Posts Coming Soon

Last weekend, we attended our cousin's wedding. At the reception, the groom's father mentioned that I haven't posted much on the blog.

Despite being laid off by Smith College this May (perhaps because of it), this has been a busy summer.

Now that school is starting back up, I hope to make more regular blog posts.

Since we started the month of Elul (the last month before Rosh Hashanah), my thoughts increasingly turn towards the coming year. For the first time in a dozen years, I am not leading Rosh Hashanah services (which I previously led at Smith). It will be interesting to see how the holiday experience is different for me sitting with my family during services. I wonder if it will be more or less meaningful to not lead services (especially given that I will not be as prepared for Rosh Hashanah as I had been previous years).

This year, Rosh Hashanah falls as early in September given the late date of Labor Day (the Jewish calendar basically follows a 19-year cycle but there are many differences--I am not sure

how Labor Day is figured out). I will try to follow up with a further post about the Jewish Calendar.

Best,

Rabbi Bruce

RH Info/Videos Not To Be Missed

Smith College

Services led by Rabbi Bruce and Sarah Bolts, '08

Friday September 18th

Rosh Hashanah Evening Services - Helen Hills Hills Chapel, 6pm

Festive Dinner at 7:30pm in the Alumni House

Saturday September 19th

Rosh Hashanah Morning Services - Helen Hills Hills Chapel, 9:30-1pm

Picnic by the Boathouses (Rain location-Bodman Lounge)

Amherst College

Services led by Hebrew College Rabbinical Student Julia Appel

Friday September 18th

Rosh Hashanah Evening Services - Chapin Chapel, 6pm

Festive Dinner at 7:30pm in the Cadigan Center for Religious Life

Saturday September 19th

Rosh Hashanah Morning Services - Chapin Chapel 9:30-1pm

Lunch Following Services - Cadigan Center for Religious Life

שנה טובה ומתוקה

Shanah tova u'metukah!

Have a sweet and meaningful New Year,

Rabbi Bruce Bromberg Seltzer

Smith / Amherst Hillel

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

One Serious and Three Amusing Holiday Videos:

Holiday Greetings from President Barack Obama

Amusing Videos:

Shofar

Rosh Hashanah Girl

Shanah Tova- Sesame Street Style

Sweet New Year

I was told I haven't been posting enough on my blog, so here is some New Year themed entertainment and learning. For info on Rosh Hashanah, check out Hillel's web site.

With wishes of a sweet New Year for you and your families. May the old year take its curses with it and the new year bring with it blessings.

לשנה טובה תכתיבו

May you be inscribed for a year of meaning & health.
May we merit to see peace speedily in our day!

Rabbi Bruce and Deborah Bromberg Seltzer
Zev, Hadas, Adeena, & Maayan

____________________________________________________________________

Rosh Hashanah Services & Dinner at Smith:
Wednesday night services and dinner
Thursday services and picnic/tashlich
____________________________________________________________________

Now for the fun:

A fun video made by students at Rutgers:
Rosh Hashanah Girl
(Inspired by "I Got a Crush...On Obama" starring Obama Girl Hot on the heels of YouTube sensation “Obama Girl”, “I Gotta’ Love You Rosh Hashanah” is the musical journey of a girl and her shofar as she welcomes the Jewish New Year! Follow Rosh Hashanah Girl as she sings and dances through the streets of New York — from Central Park to Times Square to the rooftops of Brooklyn, she’s got everyone singing “R to the O to the S to the H” ... and soon you will be too!).

Two Rosh Hashanah videos of Shabot 6000 (from a weekly series by Ben Baruch):
Tekiah
Head of the Year

Thanks to my college friend, Wendy Robin Stark, who emailed me two additional videos from YouTube (I believe I posted the second one last year):
This is a RH themed version of a classic Muppets bit. (How do you say Muppets in Hebrew?)

This is hard to describe.

*Fun and Trembling: Playing Rosh Hashanah Blog Tag*

My friend and colleague Menachem has started a blog tag as we prepare for Rosh Hashanah.
Now that the new students have arrived at Smith & Amherst, I am reminded that relationships are often influenced by their beginnings. How/where one first meets someone and the impressions that are made influence human relationships. Still, it is possible to reset relationships--to bring them back to a balance. That is one of the main tasks of the Yamim Noraim.

Welcome to campus and good luck repairing your relationships and soul,

Rabbi Bruce

Rosh Hashanah Sermons

I have posted my two Rosh Hashanah Sermons.

The one about Israel is based on a sample sermon for Masorti distributed by my teacher, Rabbi Gordon Tucker. It references a conference call with Israeli PM Olmert and ends with a discussion about Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah.

The other sermon uses the popular video internet site, YouTube, and the Albert Brooks movie, Defending Your Life, to discuss tshuvah.

I will post the Yom Kippur Sermons after the holiday ends. If you want to see them before then, come to services at Chapin Chapel, Amherst College (6:00 pm Sunday or 9:30am Monday).

Gmar hatimah tova,
May you be sealed for a great year!

Rabbi Bruce

Richard Israel Z"L's Tashlich List

Today, students from Smith and Amherst did tashlich at the Smith pond. We read a few examples from this list.

Gmar Hatimah Tova - May you be sealed for a wonderful year,

Rabbi Bruce

Shanah tova u'metukah!

For your enjoyment, a picture from last year's shofar workshop with Rabbi Yosi Moya.

Also some videos:

Flash material on Rosh Hashanah from taglit-birthright israel

A funny YouTube video.

שנה טובה ומתוקה
הרב צדיק אבא, דבורה, זאב, הדס, ועדינה

My wife Deborah, and our children Zev, Hadas, and Adeena join me in wishing you and those you love a sweet and meaningful New Year.

Rabbi Bruce

Elul - Time for Reflection & Renewal

'10 Readers, Welcome to Campus!

Check out this website by musician Craig Taubman.


RB