2/6/07
I am winding my way back from Jerusalem after a week of instensive study at the Hartman Institute. This was the 6th and last formal gathering of my cohort of nearly thirty rabbis from all over North America. The Hartman Institute is dedicated to the training of professional and lay leaders through intensive and philosophical study of Jewish texts and ideas. I was invited to be a fellow in the Rabbinic Leadership Program with Reform, Conserivative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist colleagues. The idea is to get all of us in the same room to study and debate the same texts. Each gathering was devoted to a theme, this last one on the light subject of "Theodicy and the Problem of Evil".
The various teachers addressed this question, usually starting with the Book of Job. This book is one of the most troubling books of the Bible and it opens the contemplative reader to the perplexing problem of evil in Jewish tradition. Besides the Book of Job, we focus on some of the most well known texts which deal with this issue in Jewish tradition.
One of the insights to emerge from our study is the multiplicity of approaches to suffering and evil in Judaism. There is no single dominant view about evil. Job presents to us the idea of the inscrutaible God, whose justice cannot be understood by humans. A famous passage in Kiddushin in the Talmud (39b) debates several views including the bibilcal view that suffering is a result of sin. But the same passage brings the story of the good son who honors his father and does a mitzvah of sending off the mother bird while getting eggs and then falls and dies. This 'evil' result contradicts the logic of sin and punishment and leaves us perplexed.
One discovers when one studies this theme in depth the amazing diversity within in Jewish writing on the meaning of suffering and how to approach it. One of the best sessions was with Yoni Garb, a scholar of Jewish mysticism and Hasidism who took us through several kabalistic texts on evil and the meaning of suffering. Here is one of the more striking texts by a contemporary Hasidic writer, Yaakov Meir Schechter:
"When a person sees in himself a bad matter, God forbid, such as ....loss of money or a bad relationship... then he must see the situation as it is, the bitter reality, and accept that it is indeed bitter, and that his sorrow is true and indeed so, and that it is strong enought to be sad about. And he should not fool himself as if the spiritual or material evil is good. No and no! For this thought is a lie, and lies are hated and despicable before God.
In addition, he should not be downcast by the very fact he is sad, like our teacher (Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav) once said to R. Nathan that he shouldn't be sad about not being happy... Actually he should choose truth for being truth. And if the truth is painful, this is because, "one who increases knowledge increases pain," because the fact that he feels pain and sorrow is because of the knowledge he has and if he had more knowledge, he would feel the pain more, because he would recognize the truth more.
Not so if he wishes to transpose the true reality, and call the evil good, and the bitter sweet, and the dark light, and rejoice in that, for he has fled reality and chosen a false joy and flown in the air of imagination. But what is relevant to enjoy in times of trouble is the very fact that he is not as an unfeeling fool, and one can rejoice in being a person of knowledge who honestly feel what happens to one, and sees reality for what it is."
This text struck me with its spiritual courage. We live in a culture that camoflages suffering with entertainment, drugs, and a bewildering array of distractions. It is a culture of denial. When one immerses oneself in the these texts you find anything but. The Jewish tradition does not spoonfeed you with answers and even counsels against the use of theodicy when comforting people in pain.
What is striking and moving is that there is no single view that is pushed forward. It is a multiplicity of reflections for which you can choose among them on how to understand evil in our world and God's relationship to it. This modesty an wisdom is moving and speaks to the Rabbi's awareness of the arrogance of giving a dogmatic answer on a most perplexing problem. I always come away from these study seminars wiser and more appreciative of the tradition I respresent and teach.
Shalom, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
1-29-07 Good News from Israel
One of the great things about being a rabbinic fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute is being exposed to the best and the brightest in Israel. Yesterday, we had the pleasure of hearing Gidi Grinstein, the founder and director of the Reut Institute, a new and unusual think tank in Israel. In a spellbounding hour of analysis, Grinstein, presented original and fresh thinking about an array of major issues that have bedeviled Israel and the Jewish world.
The most striking insight for me was his repudiation of the common Israeli condescension and negation of the significance of the Jewish diaspora. Unlike the storm over A. B. Yehoshua's comments last year to an American Jewish audience, Grinstein argued that Jewish genius was to be found in the capacity for network and community building wherever Jews found themselves. This capacity would enable Judaism to persist long into the future. But he also argued that the opportunity for the Jews to build a nation, and to make it endure and thrive is a critical dimension of the Jewish project. The health of the Jewish communities of the Diaspora and the vigor of Israel is our common project.
Behind this argument is his understanding that Judaism and the Jewish people represent a matrix of values which must all be embraced and allowed to coexist together. The problem he says with much of Israeli and Zionist thought is to focus on one value over all the other (even contradictory values). This was the error of the settler movement which became obsessed with settlement over other Zionist values such as democracy and human rights. A true Zionist must live in conflict with contradictory values, allowing all of them to be in play and attempting to balance them in living out one's Zionist commitments.
Most interesting was his analysis of the current political-military crisis in Israel. Read the articles on Reut's outstanding website that have just come out about the need for some new thinking. The new ideas Grinstein presented were completely refreshing and the most thought provoking insights I have heard in years. His presentation and comments impressed all of the 25 colleagues in the room and gave us hope and excitement about the future. Anyone who cares about Israel should pay attention to Reut and Grinstein and share with others the new ideas he is bringing to light during these eventful times.
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
The most striking insight for me was his repudiation of the common Israeli condescension and negation of the significance of the Jewish diaspora. Unlike the storm over A. B. Yehoshua's comments last year to an American Jewish audience, Grinstein argued that Jewish genius was to be found in the capacity for network and community building wherever Jews found themselves. This capacity would enable Judaism to persist long into the future. But he also argued that the opportunity for the Jews to build a nation, and to make it endure and thrive is a critical dimension of the Jewish project. The health of the Jewish communities of the Diaspora and the vigor of Israel is our common project.
Behind this argument is his understanding that Judaism and the Jewish people represent a matrix of values which must all be embraced and allowed to coexist together. The problem he says with much of Israeli and Zionist thought is to focus on one value over all the other (even contradictory values). This was the error of the settler movement which became obsessed with settlement over other Zionist values such as democracy and human rights. A true Zionist must live in conflict with contradictory values, allowing all of them to be in play and attempting to balance them in living out one's Zionist commitments.
Most interesting was his analysis of the current political-military crisis in Israel. Read the articles on Reut's outstanding website that have just come out about the need for some new thinking. The new ideas Grinstein presented were completely refreshing and the most thought provoking insights I have heard in years. His presentation and comments impressed all of the 25 colleagues in the room and gave us hope and excitement about the future. Anyone who cares about Israel should pay attention to Reut and Grinstein and share with others the new ideas he is bringing to light during these eventful times.
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Reflections on the Idea of Panim Hadashot
1/27/07
Panim Hadshot-New Faces of Judaism has been active now for 2 1/2 years. Panim Hadashot is frankly an experiment, an attempt to establish a vibrant and pluralistic form of Jewish outreach in the liberal community. But why do so? Why would the liberal community need an effort to bring Jews closer to Judaism, especially if American Jews prize choice and integration in the world and eschew a serious regard of their Jewish identity.
I can only speak for myself and share with you my motivation for engaging in 'Jewish outreach.' I am attempting to engage secular, independent, unaffiliated Jews in the question of 'why be Jewish?' Or more precisely, I am advocating for Judaism's relevance and meaning in a world that allows for many ways to express identity and to find community.
I do believe deeply in Judaism's wisdom and enduring relevance. I am even more inspired by Judaism's unique spirituality and way of life.
I advocate that Jewish learning and Jewish spiritual celebration is unique, compelling, and spiritually meaningful.
I want to share this wisdom with others in an engaging, non-judmental, and joyful way. I have tried to create vehicles to convey authentic and rich Jewish experience where the teaching and wisdom is transparent and easily accessible.
I have tried these new venues realizing that many Jews no longer feel drawn to the synagogue or other Jewish institutions or do not feel that they will experience Judaism profoundly in these settings.
I have focused on intimate setting for learning and celebration, settings that maximize fostering relationships and shared experience. Most of all I have focused on the Sabbath sacred meal as a uniquely Jewish way of teaching Judaism's insight, joy, and love for community.
I will expand on these reflections during the next few days and weeks. I welcome your comments and thoughts.
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Panim Hadshot-New Faces of Judaism has been active now for 2 1/2 years. Panim Hadashot is frankly an experiment, an attempt to establish a vibrant and pluralistic form of Jewish outreach in the liberal community. But why do so? Why would the liberal community need an effort to bring Jews closer to Judaism, especially if American Jews prize choice and integration in the world and eschew a serious regard of their Jewish identity.
I can only speak for myself and share with you my motivation for engaging in 'Jewish outreach.' I am attempting to engage secular, independent, unaffiliated Jews in the question of 'why be Jewish?' Or more precisely, I am advocating for Judaism's relevance and meaning in a world that allows for many ways to express identity and to find community.
I do believe deeply in Judaism's wisdom and enduring relevance. I am even more inspired by Judaism's unique spirituality and way of life.
I advocate that Jewish learning and Jewish spiritual celebration is unique, compelling, and spiritually meaningful.
I want to share this wisdom with others in an engaging, non-judmental, and joyful way. I have tried to create vehicles to convey authentic and rich Jewish experience where the teaching and wisdom is transparent and easily accessible.
I have tried these new venues realizing that many Jews no longer feel drawn to the synagogue or other Jewish institutions or do not feel that they will experience Judaism profoundly in these settings.
I have focused on intimate setting for learning and celebration, settings that maximize fostering relationships and shared experience. Most of all I have focused on the Sabbath sacred meal as a uniquely Jewish way of teaching Judaism's insight, joy, and love for community.
I will expand on these reflections during the next few days and weeks. I welcome your comments and thoughts.
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Is a Religious Project Worthy of Support in the Era of Religious Violence?
12/19/06
Is a Religious Project Worthy of Support in the Era of Religious Violence?
During the month of December, I am writing short pieces that give insight into the initiatives of Panim Hadashot to inspire support for our innovative work. This piece is the The Religious Inspiration of Panim Hadashot I just finished reading Sam Harris books, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation.
Sam Harris shines a bright light on religious faith and finds it to be the source of evil in our times. In many ways, his analysis is compelling. He identifies how faith and belief can become irrational. Irrational faith combined with violent zealotry becomes terribly lethal. In his sweeping book, he finds fault even with religious moderation. Many people I have spoken withare fascinated by his writings and by other writers such as Richard Dawkins who are engaged in an angry attack on all expressions of religion.
It is hard to build support for a humanizing and passionate approach to religious life in this climate of polarization between advocates of atheistic scientism and fundamentalist faith. As a rabbi and a Jew, I draw from the resource of the Maimonidean tradition that is deeply aware of the capacity of religious life and Jewish religious life in particular to become a form of idol worship. I follow this traditions understanding that all human beings are very prone to idolatry and we must be always on guard for this slippery slope of religious life. Religious teachers bear an onerous responsibility to fight their own tendencies toward idolizing their ideals and practices and conveying an idolatrous approach to their tradition in the teaching and mentoring.
I have tried in creating Panim Hadashot to convey a religious vision of Judaism that is passionate, deeply religious, yet modest and humane in its religious message. Our message focuses around the centrality of hospitality as a religious practice. Mi Kol Melamdai Hiskalti-From all my teachers I have learned, says the psalmist. Hospitality is the act of regard for the other, for the stranger. It is the willingness to learn from all people, from each individual. It is the willingness to create encounters with the other.
Hospitality is the delicate act of opening up to another and sharing something dear to you that emerges from your deep felt values. But in sharing with another, we do not negate or judge the values and deep felt beliefs of the other. The hospitable person wants to share, but also to learn from the other. A life of hospitality is then creating ongoing experiences of sharing, of opening to new experiences of relationship.
Panim Hadashot focuses on teaching and modeling what we feel are the most sublime aspects of Jewish tradition. We also focus on those aspects of Jewish tradition that convey Judaisms deepest intuitions and wisdom about life, community, holiness, friendship, and sacred time. That is why we focus on a type of Jewish learning the interactive and participatory study of the great texts of our tradition and the Jewish genius of turning a meal into a sacred occasion of holiness and fellowship.
We have discovered that by focusing on these dimensions of Jewish life we are able to transcend the divide between secular and religious and Jew and non-Jew. Great learning and profound celebration open doors and connects people. Combined with a practice of hospitality these Jewish practices spread wisdom, understanding, friendship, and good will.
If you believe that this approach to religion is good and important, then please consider supporting our efforts. We rely on the good will and support of friends across the community to help us extend this religious and humane vision to new faces. You can easily and securely make a donation online by going to www.panimhadashot.com.
Shalom, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Is a Religious Project Worthy of Support in the Era of Religious Violence?
During the month of December, I am writing short pieces that give insight into the initiatives of Panim Hadashot to inspire support for our innovative work. This piece is the The Religious Inspiration of Panim Hadashot I just finished reading Sam Harris books, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation.
Sam Harris shines a bright light on religious faith and finds it to be the source of evil in our times. In many ways, his analysis is compelling. He identifies how faith and belief can become irrational. Irrational faith combined with violent zealotry becomes terribly lethal. In his sweeping book, he finds fault even with religious moderation. Many people I have spoken withare fascinated by his writings and by other writers such as Richard Dawkins who are engaged in an angry attack on all expressions of religion.
It is hard to build support for a humanizing and passionate approach to religious life in this climate of polarization between advocates of atheistic scientism and fundamentalist faith. As a rabbi and a Jew, I draw from the resource of the Maimonidean tradition that is deeply aware of the capacity of religious life and Jewish religious life in particular to become a form of idol worship. I follow this traditions understanding that all human beings are very prone to idolatry and we must be always on guard for this slippery slope of religious life. Religious teachers bear an onerous responsibility to fight their own tendencies toward idolizing their ideals and practices and conveying an idolatrous approach to their tradition in the teaching and mentoring.
I have tried in creating Panim Hadashot to convey a religious vision of Judaism that is passionate, deeply religious, yet modest and humane in its religious message. Our message focuses around the centrality of hospitality as a religious practice. Mi Kol Melamdai Hiskalti-From all my teachers I have learned, says the psalmist. Hospitality is the act of regard for the other, for the stranger. It is the willingness to learn from all people, from each individual. It is the willingness to create encounters with the other.
Hospitality is the delicate act of opening up to another and sharing something dear to you that emerges from your deep felt values. But in sharing with another, we do not negate or judge the values and deep felt beliefs of the other. The hospitable person wants to share, but also to learn from the other. A life of hospitality is then creating ongoing experiences of sharing, of opening to new experiences of relationship.
Panim Hadashot focuses on teaching and modeling what we feel are the most sublime aspects of Jewish tradition. We also focus on those aspects of Jewish tradition that convey Judaisms deepest intuitions and wisdom about life, community, holiness, friendship, and sacred time. That is why we focus on a type of Jewish learning the interactive and participatory study of the great texts of our tradition and the Jewish genius of turning a meal into a sacred occasion of holiness and fellowship.
We have discovered that by focusing on these dimensions of Jewish life we are able to transcend the divide between secular and religious and Jew and non-Jew. Great learning and profound celebration open doors and connects people. Combined with a practice of hospitality these Jewish practices spread wisdom, understanding, friendship, and good will.
If you believe that this approach to religion is good and important, then please consider supporting our efforts. We rely on the good will and support of friends across the community to help us extend this religious and humane vision to new faces. You can easily and securely make a donation online by going to www.panimhadashot.com.
Shalom, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Outreach and Public Displays of Jewish Symbols
12/13/06
There was a very widely covered flap between a Chabad Rabbi and the Seattle Port Authority about the display of a Menorah at the Seattle International Airport. The Rabbi threatened a lawsuit to get the Port to put a Menorah at the airport along with the Christmas Trees that were already there. The Port, wanting to avoid the suit, removed the trees which in turn created an uproar that made its way to national news outlets.
Many have already commented about the issues about the separation of religion and state. I want to focus on the outreach goals of Chabad in its effort to put Menorahs in public and prominent private spaces. Chabad's main goal is to bring Jews back to a life of observance. One of the ways they do this is to appeal to Jewish pride. They are saying, "We are not afraid to proclaim our Jewishness in public." Jews in these public spaces see the Menorah and feel pride that their symbols.
Chabad is not interested in creating a public dialogue about religion. This is the key criticism I have of their outreach. Chabad does not engage Christians. Their views about non-Jews are not clear, yet a reading of their main sources shows a traditional outlook that views Torah as an exclusive truth and that other religions are false. This is a widely held belief of fundamentalists from many different religious perspectives. Chabad is unique because of their exceptional ability not to judge other Jews and to play down their fundamentalist views regarding non-Jews and the choseness of the Jewish people.
I am committed to outreach like Chabad, but do not feel it is necessary to place Jewish symbols next to Christian ones. I favor an approach that engages people of different religions in a true sharing of our faith traditions and wisdom. We live in a truly multicultural world in which intermarriage and the mixing of culture is the norm, not the exception. That means that Jews can prouldly share Hanukah with their non-Jewish friends and family in ways that reveal the teachings of this holiday and its particular insights.
Synagogues and Jewish homes should invite non-Jews to experience our Hanukkah celebrations. And Jews should graciously accept invitations to be guests with Christians in their churches and in their homes to share their experience and joy of their holiday. This means an open validation of the wisdom of other traditions outside our own and the capacity to share religious experience while accomodating difference.
Judaism has much to offer to the general culture, but I think the foisting of Jewish symbols into the public square is an ineffective approach and can backfire as we recently saw.
Another Observation unfortunately I think the focus of Jews should be responding to the Holocaust Deniers Conference in Iran rather than pushing for Menorah's at the Seattle airport. This is an extremely serious development and reveals a growing trend to stoke Jew hatred and deny Israel's right to exist. Holocaust education and fighting anti-Semitism while fostering real dialogue with other communities should be very high on the agenda of all Jewish groups and individuals.
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
There was a very widely covered flap between a Chabad Rabbi and the Seattle Port Authority about the display of a Menorah at the Seattle International Airport. The Rabbi threatened a lawsuit to get the Port to put a Menorah at the airport along with the Christmas Trees that were already there. The Port, wanting to avoid the suit, removed the trees which in turn created an uproar that made its way to national news outlets.
Many have already commented about the issues about the separation of religion and state. I want to focus on the outreach goals of Chabad in its effort to put Menorahs in public and prominent private spaces. Chabad's main goal is to bring Jews back to a life of observance. One of the ways they do this is to appeal to Jewish pride. They are saying, "We are not afraid to proclaim our Jewishness in public." Jews in these public spaces see the Menorah and feel pride that their symbols.
Chabad is not interested in creating a public dialogue about religion. This is the key criticism I have of their outreach. Chabad does not engage Christians. Their views about non-Jews are not clear, yet a reading of their main sources shows a traditional outlook that views Torah as an exclusive truth and that other religions are false. This is a widely held belief of fundamentalists from many different religious perspectives. Chabad is unique because of their exceptional ability not to judge other Jews and to play down their fundamentalist views regarding non-Jews and the choseness of the Jewish people.
I am committed to outreach like Chabad, but do not feel it is necessary to place Jewish symbols next to Christian ones. I favor an approach that engages people of different religions in a true sharing of our faith traditions and wisdom. We live in a truly multicultural world in which intermarriage and the mixing of culture is the norm, not the exception. That means that Jews can prouldly share Hanukah with their non-Jewish friends and family in ways that reveal the teachings of this holiday and its particular insights.
Synagogues and Jewish homes should invite non-Jews to experience our Hanukkah celebrations. And Jews should graciously accept invitations to be guests with Christians in their churches and in their homes to share their experience and joy of their holiday. This means an open validation of the wisdom of other traditions outside our own and the capacity to share religious experience while accomodating difference.
Judaism has much to offer to the general culture, but I think the foisting of Jewish symbols into the public square is an ineffective approach and can backfire as we recently saw.
Another Observation unfortunately I think the focus of Jews should be responding to the Holocaust Deniers Conference in Iran rather than pushing for Menorah's at the Seattle airport. This is an extremely serious development and reveals a growing trend to stoke Jew hatred and deny Israel's right to exist. Holocaust education and fighting anti-Semitism while fostering real dialogue with other communities should be very high on the agenda of all Jewish groups and individuals.
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Monday, October 30, 2006
On a Personal Note
Dear Friends,
I have not made entries to my blog over the past few weeks as I planned my wedding with my fiance, Robbie. We were married this past Thursday, 10/26/06 in a small family ceremony at Congregation Herzl Ner Tamid in Seattle. We were joined by our parents and our children. Robbie has two children, a daughter, Alexandra, who is a freshman at UW and a son, Matthew, who is a freshman at Bellevue High. My oldest, Zachary, is a sophomore at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Moriel, is a special education student at Kentridge High School, and Fay is a junior at the Northwest Yeshivah High School.
Robbie is an active member of Congregation Herzl-Ner Tamid. She grew up in San Diego in a family with a strong Mexican Jewish heritage. Her maternal grandparents came from Tijuana which had a small thriving Jewish community. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and is a lover of Latino cultures. Robbie is trained as a teacher and is a partner in a business with her family from San Diego.
Robbie and I have made our home in Bellevue in the Enatai neighborhood. We look forward to opening our home for Shabbat and Festivals.
I thank people for their well wishes ourl simchah. We hope to respond by bringing more simchah to our community and sharing our joy with 'panim hadashot', new faces.
Shalom, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
I have not made entries to my blog over the past few weeks as I planned my wedding with my fiance, Robbie. We were married this past Thursday, 10/26/06 in a small family ceremony at Congregation Herzl Ner Tamid in Seattle. We were joined by our parents and our children. Robbie has two children, a daughter, Alexandra, who is a freshman at UW and a son, Matthew, who is a freshman at Bellevue High. My oldest, Zachary, is a sophomore at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Moriel, is a special education student at Kentridge High School, and Fay is a junior at the Northwest Yeshivah High School.
Robbie is an active member of Congregation Herzl-Ner Tamid. She grew up in San Diego in a family with a strong Mexican Jewish heritage. Her maternal grandparents came from Tijuana which had a small thriving Jewish community. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and is a lover of Latino cultures. Robbie is trained as a teacher and is a partner in a business with her family from San Diego.
Robbie and I have made our home in Bellevue in the Enatai neighborhood. We look forward to opening our home for Shabbat and Festivals.
I thank people for their well wishes ourl simchah. We hope to respond by bringing more simchah to our community and sharing our joy with 'panim hadashot', new faces.
Shalom, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Friday, September 29, 2006
Judaism: A Symphony of Feasts
Dear Friends and Readers,
I wish each of you a Gemar Hatimah Tovah (to be sealed in the Book of Life). I hope you have a chance to glance at the text for the Feast before the Yom Kippur Fast known traditionally as the "Se'udat Hamafseket". For me this is the highlight of everything Panim is doing these High Holidays. I have experienced many powerful moments around the table with family and friends. I love the joyful spirit of a Shabbat table, the pageantry of a Passover table, the sense of newness of a Rosh Hashannah table, the vulnerability of a feast in the Sukkah, the sense of nature's power at a Tu Bishvat seder, and the outrageous playfulness of a Purim feast. But the feast before Yom Kippur, like Yom Kippur itself is on another level entirely.
Several stories in the Talmud dwell on this meal, telling stories of the sages returning from the academy to their families. In typical fashion, the Talmud reveals the truth of these encounters. They are not all lovely and filled with accounts of reconciliation or repentance. However, clearly the ancients regarded this meal as a time for people to gather and make one last great push to repair relationships and to bring about reconciliation. It was in essence a Teshuvah feast. This tradition is deeply inspiring to me. It is yet another example of how Jews have made feasts times of opportunity and spiritual power. It reveals a religion in which relationship is so important, so concrete, and so necessary of our personal attention regardless of who we are and where we are in our lives. Judaism is not an abstract religion; it is a religion which places relationship in the center: our relationship with family, with nature, with God.
Before I spend the day in personal communication with God, I prepare for it with personal and attentive conversation with family and friends around a table. The urgency of the meal is in the word 'mafseket 'meaning ending or interruption. This meal ends the time for repairing relationships with humans and transitions us to repairing our relationship with God. The link is illustrative. You first have to attend to humans and then attend to God. Not the other way around.
Shannah Tovah,
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
I wish each of you a Gemar Hatimah Tovah (to be sealed in the Book of Life). I hope you have a chance to glance at the text for the Feast before the Yom Kippur Fast known traditionally as the "Se'udat Hamafseket". For me this is the highlight of everything Panim is doing these High Holidays. I have experienced many powerful moments around the table with family and friends. I love the joyful spirit of a Shabbat table, the pageantry of a Passover table, the sense of newness of a Rosh Hashannah table, the vulnerability of a feast in the Sukkah, the sense of nature's power at a Tu Bishvat seder, and the outrageous playfulness of a Purim feast. But the feast before Yom Kippur, like Yom Kippur itself is on another level entirely.
Several stories in the Talmud dwell on this meal, telling stories of the sages returning from the academy to their families. In typical fashion, the Talmud reveals the truth of these encounters. They are not all lovely and filled with accounts of reconciliation or repentance. However, clearly the ancients regarded this meal as a time for people to gather and make one last great push to repair relationships and to bring about reconciliation. It was in essence a Teshuvah feast. This tradition is deeply inspiring to me. It is yet another example of how Jews have made feasts times of opportunity and spiritual power. It reveals a religion in which relationship is so important, so concrete, and so necessary of our personal attention regardless of who we are and where we are in our lives. Judaism is not an abstract religion; it is a religion which places relationship in the center: our relationship with family, with nature, with God.
Before I spend the day in personal communication with God, I prepare for it with personal and attentive conversation with family and friends around a table. The urgency of the meal is in the word 'mafseket 'meaning ending or interruption. This meal ends the time for repairing relationships with humans and transitions us to repairing our relationship with God. The link is illustrative. You first have to attend to humans and then attend to God. Not the other way around.
Shannah Tovah,
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Overcoming a Mitzvah Learned by RoteObservations on Spiritual Renewal Before Yom Kippur, 2006
Overcoming a Mitzvah Learned by Rote Observations
on Spiritual Renewal Before Yom Kippur, 2006
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
On Yom Kippur, we read in the morning the stirring passage from the prophet Isaiah from chapter 58. The prophet questions the religious piety of Israel who engaged in a fast. "To be sure, they seek Me daily, eager to learn My ways... They are eager for the nearness of God: Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed." The prophet dismisses their so called piety and points out what is missing in their religious priorities: "Because you fast in strife and contention and you strike with a wicked fist...Is such the fast I desire?"
Isaiah, the biblical prophet, exposes disordered and misplaced spiritualityof people who appear to be pious. In chapter 29 Isaiah (who according to biblical critics is a different prophet than the one in 58) describes a people who have lost sense of the purpose of prayer. 'Because the people has approached Me with its mouth and honored Me with its lips, But has kept its heart far from Me, and its worship of Me has been a commandment of men, learned by rote.' Isaiah describes people who follow God's law with thought or intention-"mitzvat anashim melumadah."
This pointed complaint about habituated religious ritual is the precedent of an oft repeated criticism within Judaism and a familiar attack on Judaism from without including the passages from Paul of Tarshes polemics of the Pharisees in the New Testament. But it is fair to say that Isaiah's concern is a deeply Jewish time honored concern, one that is found across the generations from Maimonides in 12th century Egypt to the Hasidim in 18th century Russia.
My vision of Panim Hadashot is deeply indebted to Isaiah's concern. As an observant person, I know how easily mitzvot and practice can become habituated or taken over by conventional considerations.
There is a time in our lives when we need to renew, reinvigorate, reorient what is familiar. This is true of spiritual life as in all other areas of life. I believe that it is critical in a serious spiritual life to be ready at times to change perspective, to move out of one's customary seat, to change the seder of things. Our eyes would open up to things we could not see or did not sense. We may return to the original place we started but we will see things differently.
This need for "refreshing one's perspective" is particularly critical concerning the mitzvah of fixed communal prayer. Contemporary communal prayer in all the denominations is governed by conventions of decorum, music, and contemporary culture, which often obscure the deeper meaning, and experience of prayer.
Most modern Jewish institutions from synagogues, schools, and camps attempt to teach the forms of prayer, but often neglect how a worshipper accesses the inner life. Another problem is that prayer is usually taught in connection to life cycle events such as Bar Mitzvah making it seem like a ritual task to be put on display as opposed to a lifelong skill for self-reflection and self-judgment. Another very common contemporary problem is the one identified in Isaiah 58: the ritual of prayer is not placed in the context of a concern for the moral life and social justice.
How then do we prevent prayer from becoming a "mitzvah melumadah?" I think there needs to be a place in the community for people to renew their prayer life. It should not be an alternative community because prayer in any community becomes captive to communal expectation and convention. Rather there should be a place you go to shake things up a bit, to get a different perspective, and return to one's prayer home with a mitzvah mehudeshet-a mitzvah refreshed.
That is the aim of the services Panim Hadashot offers on the High Holidays. We offer people a prayer experience outside of the regular mode which makes it possible for them to get in touch with the original inspiration of prayer in Judaism. The purpose of such gathering is not to form community, but to inspire and evoke renewal and reorientation. It is meant to seed reflection and to plant the source of insight. My hope is that insight gained in these gathering will deepen this person as they connect to a more permanent community of prayer.
The metaphor to describe what Panim Hadashot does with our approach to High Holidays is "recharging batteries". Everyone needs a recharging of batteries in their spiritual lives. That is one way we can respond to Isaiah's challenge of a mitzvah done by rote. Allow yourself the opportunity to renew and that can make you "return" home with a greater field of spiritual vision than you had before.
Gemar Hatimah Tova,
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
September 2006
on Spiritual Renewal Before Yom Kippur, 2006
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
On Yom Kippur, we read in the morning the stirring passage from the prophet Isaiah from chapter 58. The prophet questions the religious piety of Israel who engaged in a fast. "To be sure, they seek Me daily, eager to learn My ways... They are eager for the nearness of God: Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed." The prophet dismisses their so called piety and points out what is missing in their religious priorities: "Because you fast in strife and contention and you strike with a wicked fist...Is such the fast I desire?"
Isaiah, the biblical prophet, exposes disordered and misplaced spiritualityof people who appear to be pious. In chapter 29 Isaiah (who according to biblical critics is a different prophet than the one in 58) describes a people who have lost sense of the purpose of prayer. 'Because the people has approached Me with its mouth and honored Me with its lips, But has kept its heart far from Me, and its worship of Me has been a commandment of men, learned by rote.' Isaiah describes people who follow God's law with thought or intention-"mitzvat anashim melumadah."
This pointed complaint about habituated religious ritual is the precedent of an oft repeated criticism within Judaism and a familiar attack on Judaism from without including the passages from Paul of Tarshes polemics of the Pharisees in the New Testament. But it is fair to say that Isaiah's concern is a deeply Jewish time honored concern, one that is found across the generations from Maimonides in 12th century Egypt to the Hasidim in 18th century Russia.
My vision of Panim Hadashot is deeply indebted to Isaiah's concern. As an observant person, I know how easily mitzvot and practice can become habituated or taken over by conventional considerations.
There is a time in our lives when we need to renew, reinvigorate, reorient what is familiar. This is true of spiritual life as in all other areas of life. I believe that it is critical in a serious spiritual life to be ready at times to change perspective, to move out of one's customary seat, to change the seder of things. Our eyes would open up to things we could not see or did not sense. We may return to the original place we started but we will see things differently.
This need for "refreshing one's perspective" is particularly critical concerning the mitzvah of fixed communal prayer. Contemporary communal prayer in all the denominations is governed by conventions of decorum, music, and contemporary culture, which often obscure the deeper meaning, and experience of prayer.
Most modern Jewish institutions from synagogues, schools, and camps attempt to teach the forms of prayer, but often neglect how a worshipper accesses the inner life. Another problem is that prayer is usually taught in connection to life cycle events such as Bar Mitzvah making it seem like a ritual task to be put on display as opposed to a lifelong skill for self-reflection and self-judgment. Another very common contemporary problem is the one identified in Isaiah 58: the ritual of prayer is not placed in the context of a concern for the moral life and social justice.
How then do we prevent prayer from becoming a "mitzvah melumadah?" I think there needs to be a place in the community for people to renew their prayer life. It should not be an alternative community because prayer in any community becomes captive to communal expectation and convention. Rather there should be a place you go to shake things up a bit, to get a different perspective, and return to one's prayer home with a mitzvah mehudeshet-a mitzvah refreshed.
That is the aim of the services Panim Hadashot offers on the High Holidays. We offer people a prayer experience outside of the regular mode which makes it possible for them to get in touch with the original inspiration of prayer in Judaism. The purpose of such gathering is not to form community, but to inspire and evoke renewal and reorientation. It is meant to seed reflection and to plant the source of insight. My hope is that insight gained in these gathering will deepen this person as they connect to a more permanent community of prayer.
The metaphor to describe what Panim Hadashot does with our approach to High Holidays is "recharging batteries". Everyone needs a recharging of batteries in their spiritual lives. That is one way we can respond to Isaiah's challenge of a mitzvah done by rote. Allow yourself the opportunity to renew and that can make you "return" home with a greater field of spiritual vision than you had before.
Gemar Hatimah Tova,
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
September 2006
The Great Feast Before the Fast: A Personal Reflection
Dear Friends and Readers,
I wish each of you a Gemar Hatimah Tovah (to be sealed in the Book of Life). I hope you have a chance to glance at the text for the Feast before the Yom Kippur Fast known traditionally as the "Se'udat Hamafseket". For me this is the highlight of everything Panim is doing these High Holidays. I have experienced many powerful moments around the table with family and friends. I love the joyful spirit of a Shabbat table, the pageantry of a Passover table, the sense of newness of a Rosh Hashannah table, the vulnerability of a feast in the Sukkah, the sense of nature's power at a Tu Bishvat seder, and the outrageous playfulness of a Purim feast. But the feast before Yom Kippur, like Yom Kippur itself is on another level entirely.
Several stories in the Talmud dwell on this meal, telling stories of the sages returning from the academy to their families. In typical fashion, the Talmud reveals the truth of these encounters. They are not all lovely and filled with accounts of reconciliation or repentance. However, clearly the ancients regarded this meal as a time for people to gather and make one last great push to repair relationships and to bring about reconciliation. It was in essence a Teshuvah feast.
This tradition is deeply inspiring to me. It is yet another example of how Jews have made feasts times of opportunity and spiritual power. It reveals a religion in which relationship is so important, so concrete, and so necessary of our personal attention regardless of who we are and where we are in our lives. Judaism is not an abstract religion; it is a religion which places relationship in the center: our relationship with family, with nature, with God.
Before I spend the day in personal communication with God, I prepare for it with personal and attentive conversation with family and friends around a table. The urgency of the meal is in the word 'mafseket 'meaning ending or interruption. This meal ends the time for repairing relationships with humans and transitions us to repairing our relationship with God. The link is illustrative. You first have to attend to humans and then attend to God. Not the other way around.
Shannah Tovah,
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
I wish each of you a Gemar Hatimah Tovah (to be sealed in the Book of Life). I hope you have a chance to glance at the text for the Feast before the Yom Kippur Fast known traditionally as the "Se'udat Hamafseket". For me this is the highlight of everything Panim is doing these High Holidays. I have experienced many powerful moments around the table with family and friends. I love the joyful spirit of a Shabbat table, the pageantry of a Passover table, the sense of newness of a Rosh Hashannah table, the vulnerability of a feast in the Sukkah, the sense of nature's power at a Tu Bishvat seder, and the outrageous playfulness of a Purim feast. But the feast before Yom Kippur, like Yom Kippur itself is on another level entirely.
Several stories in the Talmud dwell on this meal, telling stories of the sages returning from the academy to their families. In typical fashion, the Talmud reveals the truth of these encounters. They are not all lovely and filled with accounts of reconciliation or repentance. However, clearly the ancients regarded this meal as a time for people to gather and make one last great push to repair relationships and to bring about reconciliation. It was in essence a Teshuvah feast.
This tradition is deeply inspiring to me. It is yet another example of how Jews have made feasts times of opportunity and spiritual power. It reveals a religion in which relationship is so important, so concrete, and so necessary of our personal attention regardless of who we are and where we are in our lives. Judaism is not an abstract religion; it is a religion which places relationship in the center: our relationship with family, with nature, with God.
Before I spend the day in personal communication with God, I prepare for it with personal and attentive conversation with family and friends around a table. The urgency of the meal is in the word 'mafseket 'meaning ending or interruption. This meal ends the time for repairing relationships with humans and transitions us to repairing our relationship with God. The link is illustrative. You first have to attend to humans and then attend to God. Not the other way around.
Shannah Tovah,
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Friday, September 15, 2006
HIGH HOLIDAY…SEDERS? by Emily Moore appearing the JT News
The High Holidays. We know them well, right? They are the time for us to go to synagogue with the yearly desire to understand ourselves and our behavior, to set right our misdeeds before God and with our community, to resolve to do better, to hope the slate may be wiped clean. A time to see everyone we may not have seen all year, a time to deeply contemplate the meaning of tzedaka, to shed tears over loved ones passed, to commiserate with kids squirming in their seats and a time to just make it through the fast one more year. But seders, full of ritual foods and discussions of the meanings of the holiday and wonderful smells and tastes-- for Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur?
This year in Seattle, Panim Hadashot, a wonderful new organization dedicated to bringing greater personal meaning to Jewish rituals and traditions through the (very Jewish) path of discussions, small Shabbat gatherings, and feasts, is holding unique seders for both erev Rosh Hashonah and the meal before the fast on Yom Kippur. Founded and led by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg, Panim Hadashot (whose chosen descriptor is "New Faces of Judaism") will gather the community in the beautiful dining hall of Bastyr University for pareve ritual meals that it hopes will begin new traditions during the Days of Awe.
But although Panim Hadashot is bringing what certainly seems to be a new concept to life in this season of ancient teachings and known rituals, the idea of a seder for Rosh Hashonah, at least, is not new. The Gemarra, in tractate Kersius declares: "At the beginning of each year a person should accustom him (her) self to eating gourds, leeks, fenugreek, beets and dates", all of which represent good "omens" or have positive connotations. One interpretation of why the authors of the Gemarra admonish us to eat these helpful foods is the idea that ingesting them will remind us that merely eating the "good" will not be enough for us to be seen as truly good on this Judgement Day: We also have to search our own hearts for goodness and repent the bad deeds we have indulged in. Another view indicates that by eating what represents goodness we are asking to be remembered for a good year internally and not by overtly petitioning in our own favor.
Blessings and "Yehi ratzon" ("May it be Your will…") prayers are said for each of the foods stated in the Gemarra, and for a few others that have attracted Rosh Hashonah significance over the centuries: Challas with round or other descriptive shapes, apples and honey, pomegranates, fish and the head of a sheep or a fish.
How these particular foods became honored with places in the ritual focus of Rosh Hashonah lies with the ancient practice of matching the name of a thing with a concept whose name has a similar sound. For example, the Hebrew name for leek is karti which is chosen because it sounds like karet, to cut, to cut out or to destroy. So, the concept and the prayer related to leeks might be "Yehi ratzon, may it be Your will to destroy my adversaries" or "Yehi ratzon, may You help me in destroying my will to do (a) bad deed" or "Yehi ratzon, may you help me by cutting out my will to yell at my kids", or whatever "Yehi ratzon" is most appropriate for you in your life. Of course, the leader of the seder will chose a meaning (s)he feels is most appropriate, but this seder tradition leaves much room for individuals to bring their own intimacies to the prayer that the food/concept brings up.
An interesting side note about these food names/idea names is that because this referencing practice is ancient and most Jews have moved away from the Middle East where these particular edibles are common, other foods are also referenced as having the same name as the original ones mentioned in the Gemarra. "Rubiyah", the Hebrew name for fenugreek, also comes up as the name for beans and black-eyed peas, two foods that were probably common in different areas where fenugreek was either hard to get or unknown. The sounds-like concept word for "rubiyah" is "yirbu", to increase. So, while some seders direct you to eat black-eyed peas for the prayer "Yehi ratzon, may it be Your will to increase my virtues", in others (Panim Hadashot’s, for example) you will be eating leek fritters for the same prayer concept. And while the word "k’ra", phonetically related to the word for "proclaim/read" or "to tear", was known to the ancients as meaning gourd, "k’ra" is also found to mean red lentils. So, although the Panim Hadashot seder will serve a savory pumpkin-filled pastry to be eaten accompanying the prayer entreating: "May it be Your will that our merits be proclaimed before you" or "…that the decree of our sentence be torn up", you might find the same prayer has you are eating a lovely red lentil stew in another place, another year.
That lentil stew will not be spicy, however; the general ideas for foods to be eaten for the High Holidays consider that nothing sour or overly spicy should be consumed so that we can better concentrate on hoping internally for a "good, sweet year" by eating (of course) apples with honey, honey cake and any fabulous traditional family sweets. The lore that has developed for honey cake is well-known: Ask a friend to give you a piece of the cake on Rosh Hashonah and you will not have to ask them for anything else all year. Or, if it has been declared in heaven that a person is to become a beggar, through this request for food the decree has been fulfilled and it therefore can be annulled. Traditions about eating pomegranates on the New Year abound, but one of the most enriching is the notion that there are 613 mitzvot and there are also exactly the same number of seeds in a pomegranate, making the fruit the embodiment of good deeds. Fish are eaten because they are so numerous that consuming them will promote a prosperous year. The head of a sheep (yes, really eaten in many Jewish cultures over the ages) represents the ram that was sacrificed by Abraham when God released him from having to give up Issac. Eating any "head", sheep, fish or, for beef, maybe just the tongue, also promotes the idea of being at the "head" in the world and not at the "tail". Challas for the holidays may be studded with dried fruits for sweetness and shaped into rounds for the cycle of the year, or formed into ladders, suggesting Jacob’s ladder (where again we want to be at the top!)
What about a seder for Yom Kippur when we know we will be fasting for twenty-five hours? On the day before Yom Kippur it is as much a mitzvah to eat twice as much as usual as it is to fast for the Day of Attonement! So, clearly a "Feast before the Fast" must first of all live up to its title so that worshipers will have the strength and stamina to get through the rigors of the following holy day. Practical suggestions are that salty foods be avoided to inhibit thirst and foods that produce heat in the body, like garlic, spices and (?) eggs also be left out. But what will be the substance of a ritual meal that must also prepare the mind, the heart and the soul for the holiest and most difficult day of the year? Although Rosh Hashonah seders have been celebrated over the Jewish millennia, and indeed Panim Hadashot had its first last year, a Yom Kippur Feast before the Fast is a new creation. Rabbi Gartenberg has divided the seder into seven parts, each relating one of the central themes of the holiday to a symbolic food that expresses and expands the meaning of the concept, in keeping with referenced lore and literature from Yom Kippur texts.
The first part, called "Chet: The Acknowledgement of Sin", references red as the color of sin (for the red string tied around to neck of the goat sent out into the wilderness carrying the sins of the Children of Israel), and the food eaten will be a salad of roasted tomatoes, sweet red peppers and beets. The second section, "Teshuvah: Turning to Repentance: Revealing the Truth" brings foods that must be opened up to reveal a hidden truth, the peeling away of artichoke leaves to find the heart, the discovering of a sweet/savory filling in a kreplach (also a carb—highly recommended for stamina!) "Tefilah: The Self-Reflection of Prayer" begins with the ephemeral and a whiff of rose water, then we accompany a contemplation Jonah’s relationship with God and the gourd vine that Jonah loves so much with the crunch of toasted pumpkin seeds.
"Tzedakah: The Act of Righteousness" takes us to the definition of righteous acts in Leviticus where we are directed to leave the "small grapes" (unripe bunches) on the vine during harvest so the poor may collect them; we eat tiny, sweet grapes as we reflect on our own acts of tzedakah. In "Kapparah: Attonement" the goat who "carries away" our sins comes up again and in reflection we eat fresh, white goat cheese in pure, fragrant olive oil. "Purity: Taharah" is accomplished with the ritual washing of hands and brings us to "Mahzor: The Cycle of the Year" when we dip pieces of round challa in honey and wish all at the seder "L’Shana Tova!" And then comes the meal!
To get more information on the Panim Hadashot High Holiday seders and to receive registration forms, call Cynthia at Panim Hadashot, (877) 643-7274
This year in Seattle, Panim Hadashot, a wonderful new organization dedicated to bringing greater personal meaning to Jewish rituals and traditions through the (very Jewish) path of discussions, small Shabbat gatherings, and feasts, is holding unique seders for both erev Rosh Hashonah and the meal before the fast on Yom Kippur. Founded and led by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg, Panim Hadashot (whose chosen descriptor is "New Faces of Judaism") will gather the community in the beautiful dining hall of Bastyr University for pareve ritual meals that it hopes will begin new traditions during the Days of Awe.
But although Panim Hadashot is bringing what certainly seems to be a new concept to life in this season of ancient teachings and known rituals, the idea of a seder for Rosh Hashonah, at least, is not new. The Gemarra, in tractate Kersius declares: "At the beginning of each year a person should accustom him (her) self to eating gourds, leeks, fenugreek, beets and dates", all of which represent good "omens" or have positive connotations. One interpretation of why the authors of the Gemarra admonish us to eat these helpful foods is the idea that ingesting them will remind us that merely eating the "good" will not be enough for us to be seen as truly good on this Judgement Day: We also have to search our own hearts for goodness and repent the bad deeds we have indulged in. Another view indicates that by eating what represents goodness we are asking to be remembered for a good year internally and not by overtly petitioning in our own favor.
Blessings and "Yehi ratzon" ("May it be Your will…") prayers are said for each of the foods stated in the Gemarra, and for a few others that have attracted Rosh Hashonah significance over the centuries: Challas with round or other descriptive shapes, apples and honey, pomegranates, fish and the head of a sheep or a fish.
How these particular foods became honored with places in the ritual focus of Rosh Hashonah lies with the ancient practice of matching the name of a thing with a concept whose name has a similar sound. For example, the Hebrew name for leek is karti which is chosen because it sounds like karet, to cut, to cut out or to destroy. So, the concept and the prayer related to leeks might be "Yehi ratzon, may it be Your will to destroy my adversaries" or "Yehi ratzon, may You help me in destroying my will to do (a) bad deed" or "Yehi ratzon, may you help me by cutting out my will to yell at my kids", or whatever "Yehi ratzon" is most appropriate for you in your life. Of course, the leader of the seder will chose a meaning (s)he feels is most appropriate, but this seder tradition leaves much room for individuals to bring their own intimacies to the prayer that the food/concept brings up.
An interesting side note about these food names/idea names is that because this referencing practice is ancient and most Jews have moved away from the Middle East where these particular edibles are common, other foods are also referenced as having the same name as the original ones mentioned in the Gemarra. "Rubiyah", the Hebrew name for fenugreek, also comes up as the name for beans and black-eyed peas, two foods that were probably common in different areas where fenugreek was either hard to get or unknown. The sounds-like concept word for "rubiyah" is "yirbu", to increase. So, while some seders direct you to eat black-eyed peas for the prayer "Yehi ratzon, may it be Your will to increase my virtues", in others (Panim Hadashot’s, for example) you will be eating leek fritters for the same prayer concept. And while the word "k’ra", phonetically related to the word for "proclaim/read" or "to tear", was known to the ancients as meaning gourd, "k’ra" is also found to mean red lentils. So, although the Panim Hadashot seder will serve a savory pumpkin-filled pastry to be eaten accompanying the prayer entreating: "May it be Your will that our merits be proclaimed before you" or "…that the decree of our sentence be torn up", you might find the same prayer has you are eating a lovely red lentil stew in another place, another year.
That lentil stew will not be spicy, however; the general ideas for foods to be eaten for the High Holidays consider that nothing sour or overly spicy should be consumed so that we can better concentrate on hoping internally for a "good, sweet year" by eating (of course) apples with honey, honey cake and any fabulous traditional family sweets. The lore that has developed for honey cake is well-known: Ask a friend to give you a piece of the cake on Rosh Hashonah and you will not have to ask them for anything else all year. Or, if it has been declared in heaven that a person is to become a beggar, through this request for food the decree has been fulfilled and it therefore can be annulled. Traditions about eating pomegranates on the New Year abound, but one of the most enriching is the notion that there are 613 mitzvot and there are also exactly the same number of seeds in a pomegranate, making the fruit the embodiment of good deeds. Fish are eaten because they are so numerous that consuming them will promote a prosperous year. The head of a sheep (yes, really eaten in many Jewish cultures over the ages) represents the ram that was sacrificed by Abraham when God released him from having to give up Issac. Eating any "head", sheep, fish or, for beef, maybe just the tongue, also promotes the idea of being at the "head" in the world and not at the "tail". Challas for the holidays may be studded with dried fruits for sweetness and shaped into rounds for the cycle of the year, or formed into ladders, suggesting Jacob’s ladder (where again we want to be at the top!)
What about a seder for Yom Kippur when we know we will be fasting for twenty-five hours? On the day before Yom Kippur it is as much a mitzvah to eat twice as much as usual as it is to fast for the Day of Attonement! So, clearly a "Feast before the Fast" must first of all live up to its title so that worshipers will have the strength and stamina to get through the rigors of the following holy day. Practical suggestions are that salty foods be avoided to inhibit thirst and foods that produce heat in the body, like garlic, spices and (?) eggs also be left out. But what will be the substance of a ritual meal that must also prepare the mind, the heart and the soul for the holiest and most difficult day of the year? Although Rosh Hashonah seders have been celebrated over the Jewish millennia, and indeed Panim Hadashot had its first last year, a Yom Kippur Feast before the Fast is a new creation. Rabbi Gartenberg has divided the seder into seven parts, each relating one of the central themes of the holiday to a symbolic food that expresses and expands the meaning of the concept, in keeping with referenced lore and literature from Yom Kippur texts.
The first part, called "Chet: The Acknowledgement of Sin", references red as the color of sin (for the red string tied around to neck of the goat sent out into the wilderness carrying the sins of the Children of Israel), and the food eaten will be a salad of roasted tomatoes, sweet red peppers and beets. The second section, "Teshuvah: Turning to Repentance: Revealing the Truth" brings foods that must be opened up to reveal a hidden truth, the peeling away of artichoke leaves to find the heart, the discovering of a sweet/savory filling in a kreplach (also a carb—highly recommended for stamina!) "Tefilah: The Self-Reflection of Prayer" begins with the ephemeral and a whiff of rose water, then we accompany a contemplation Jonah’s relationship with God and the gourd vine that Jonah loves so much with the crunch of toasted pumpkin seeds.
"Tzedakah: The Act of Righteousness" takes us to the definition of righteous acts in Leviticus where we are directed to leave the "small grapes" (unripe bunches) on the vine during harvest so the poor may collect them; we eat tiny, sweet grapes as we reflect on our own acts of tzedakah. In "Kapparah: Attonement" the goat who "carries away" our sins comes up again and in reflection we eat fresh, white goat cheese in pure, fragrant olive oil. "Purity: Taharah" is accomplished with the ritual washing of hands and brings us to "Mahzor: The Cycle of the Year" when we dip pieces of round challa in honey and wish all at the seder "L’Shana Tova!" And then comes the meal!
To get more information on the Panim Hadashot High Holiday seders and to receive registration forms, call Cynthia at Panim Hadashot, (877) 643-7274
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Lessons from Whole Foods and The Mitzvah of Hospitality
During the past few weeks I have had a booth at the local Whole Foods sharing apples and honey and telling people about Panim Hadashot. People are actually excited to talk with a Rabbi in the market and the conversations have been exhilarating and fascinating. From these many encounters I have found it helpful to open with an explanation of the meaning of Panim Hadashot.
I tell people that the word in Hebrew means New Face or New Faces. The Talmud uses the term in reference to a newly married couple who are feted during the first seven days of marriage with parties. At these parties the 7 blessings, which were chanted under the Huppah, are chanted again and the joy and celebration is extended from the original wedding date. The Talmud requires that these parties can only happen if there is a minyan (a quota of 10 Jews) and 'Panim Hadashot' are present. A new face must be included who was not present at the wedding. I go on to interpret the meaning of the rabbinic law to people at the booth. The purpose of the requirement of Panim Hadashot is to extend the joy to others outside one's immediate circle of friends and family.
When I tell people this at the market, their eyes open wide and they smile. "What a beautiful tradition," people tell me. My opening causes a lot of people to tell their stories. One of the most common stories of the Jews is the inhospitality or cliquishness of synagogues. Other Jews are simply fascinated with a Jewish organization that emphasizes hospitality and the sharing of Shabbat and festivals around a table. Many non-Jews come to the booth and ask us about the food traditions. Many others ask about Panim Hadashot which leads to fascinating discussions about religion. Many of the non-Jews have Jewish friends and even family such as the young non-Jewish man wearing a T shirt from his cousin's Bar MItzvah.
The Whole Foods booth has taught me how much Jewish demographics have changed. Jews have fully integrated in Seattle. Many are intermarried, they do not socialize exclusively with Jews, and their idenities are complex in which Judaism is only a part of who they are. It has also taught me the value of educating non-Jews about the beautfiul traditions of Shabbat, festivals, and home traditions.
These conversations have clarified for me the contribution of Panim Hadashot to Jewish life. By making hospitality our primary value and goal we reverse a very negative view of Judaism held by many Jews. They view Jews and Judaism as clannish, standoffish, cliquish, and unfriendly. This perception is inaccurate in many cases, but I have learned that it is widely held among Jews who hesitate to affiliate or connect to organized Jewish life. That view is even common among affiliated Jews.
I started Panim Hadashot from an awareness of this blind spot in the organized community. I saw it as a pulpit rabbi when the most committed Jews were indifferent or even hostile to newcomers. I see the problem of cliquishness in most synagogues which unintentionally fall into becoming communities of closed circles, of committed cores with larger numbers of indifferent and disengaged members in the periphery. Most of all, I see the problem in the fact that most Jews do not even come close to seeing hospitality (hachnasat orchim) as a mitzvah.
So many of the Jews we meet at Whole Foods are surprised and excited to hear of a Jewish organization that is open and welcoming. One of the participants called us a "clique buster" and felt that Panim was the first Jewish organization that he would feel comfortable in. I would put it positively. The emerging core aim of our work is to restore hospitality as a mitzvah of living a Jewish life. It should not be the goal of an organization, but the personal commitment of every Jew. To make this so, not only involves instilling a more welcoming outlook in Jews, but a reappropriation of the practices of Jewish life most adapted for sharing. That is why I have emphasized the linking of Shabbat and hospitality for Shabbat is the great Jewish teaching and way of life that should be shared in all its beauty and greatness.
After all the other meaning of Panim Hadashot is Shabbat, for the Sabbath presents a "New Face" to us each week. It is also time for us to welcome it and share it with others.
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
I tell people that the word in Hebrew means New Face or New Faces. The Talmud uses the term in reference to a newly married couple who are feted during the first seven days of marriage with parties. At these parties the 7 blessings, which were chanted under the Huppah, are chanted again and the joy and celebration is extended from the original wedding date. The Talmud requires that these parties can only happen if there is a minyan (a quota of 10 Jews) and 'Panim Hadashot' are present. A new face must be included who was not present at the wedding. I go on to interpret the meaning of the rabbinic law to people at the booth. The purpose of the requirement of Panim Hadashot is to extend the joy to others outside one's immediate circle of friends and family.
When I tell people this at the market, their eyes open wide and they smile. "What a beautiful tradition," people tell me. My opening causes a lot of people to tell their stories. One of the most common stories of the Jews is the inhospitality or cliquishness of synagogues. Other Jews are simply fascinated with a Jewish organization that emphasizes hospitality and the sharing of Shabbat and festivals around a table. Many non-Jews come to the booth and ask us about the food traditions. Many others ask about Panim Hadashot which leads to fascinating discussions about religion. Many of the non-Jews have Jewish friends and even family such as the young non-Jewish man wearing a T shirt from his cousin's Bar MItzvah.
The Whole Foods booth has taught me how much Jewish demographics have changed. Jews have fully integrated in Seattle. Many are intermarried, they do not socialize exclusively with Jews, and their idenities are complex in which Judaism is only a part of who they are. It has also taught me the value of educating non-Jews about the beautfiul traditions of Shabbat, festivals, and home traditions.
These conversations have clarified for me the contribution of Panim Hadashot to Jewish life. By making hospitality our primary value and goal we reverse a very negative view of Judaism held by many Jews. They view Jews and Judaism as clannish, standoffish, cliquish, and unfriendly. This perception is inaccurate in many cases, but I have learned that it is widely held among Jews who hesitate to affiliate or connect to organized Jewish life. That view is even common among affiliated Jews.
I started Panim Hadashot from an awareness of this blind spot in the organized community. I saw it as a pulpit rabbi when the most committed Jews were indifferent or even hostile to newcomers. I see the problem of cliquishness in most synagogues which unintentionally fall into becoming communities of closed circles, of committed cores with larger numbers of indifferent and disengaged members in the periphery. Most of all, I see the problem in the fact that most Jews do not even come close to seeing hospitality (hachnasat orchim) as a mitzvah.
So many of the Jews we meet at Whole Foods are surprised and excited to hear of a Jewish organization that is open and welcoming. One of the participants called us a "clique buster" and felt that Panim was the first Jewish organization that he would feel comfortable in. I would put it positively. The emerging core aim of our work is to restore hospitality as a mitzvah of living a Jewish life. It should not be the goal of an organization, but the personal commitment of every Jew. To make this so, not only involves instilling a more welcoming outlook in Jews, but a reappropriation of the practices of Jewish life most adapted for sharing. That is why I have emphasized the linking of Shabbat and hospitality for Shabbat is the great Jewish teaching and way of life that should be shared in all its beauty and greatness.
After all the other meaning of Panim Hadashot is Shabbat, for the Sabbath presents a "New Face" to us each week. It is also time for us to welcome it and share it with others.
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Monday, September 11, 2006
What 9/11 Did to Me
9/11 made me realize how traumatic events distort politics and community.
9/11 made me realize how deep the hatred was toward the United States, Israel, and the West.
9/11 made me realize how destructive human belief and action can potentially be.
9/11 made it much harder for me to explain the world to my children.
9/11 made it harder for me to teach the value of faith and devotion to God.
9/11 forced me to review how I conceived of God
9/11 distorted my relations with Muslims, creating an awkward religious dialogue in which repudiation played a greater role than attestations of faith.
9/11 made me realize that we would be sucked into violent wars while ignoring the greater challenge of global warming.
9/11 made me an apologist for religion when more and more people began to see it as toxic.
9/11 sobered my view of human nature, religion, and culture.
9/11 made me understand the concept and reality of the word, enemy.
9/11 made it harder to argue against the apocalyptics amongst us.
What did 9/11 Do to You?
9/11 made me realize how deep the hatred was toward the United States, Israel, and the West.
9/11 made me realize how destructive human belief and action can potentially be.
9/11 made it much harder for me to explain the world to my children.
9/11 made it harder for me to teach the value of faith and devotion to God.
9/11 forced me to review how I conceived of God
9/11 distorted my relations with Muslims, creating an awkward religious dialogue in which repudiation played a greater role than attestations of faith.
9/11 made me realize that we would be sucked into violent wars while ignoring the greater challenge of global warming.
9/11 made me an apologist for religion when more and more people began to see it as toxic.
9/11 sobered my view of human nature, religion, and culture.
9/11 made me understand the concept and reality of the word, enemy.
9/11 made it harder to argue against the apocalyptics amongst us.
What did 9/11 Do to You?
Thursday, September 7, 2006
The Jew as an Outsider
David Grossman, the Israeli novelist and essayist wrote this piece in the book I am Jewish:
Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl. You might recall that Grossman lost his son in the last hour of this summer war with Hezbollah. This is an exquisite expression of Jewish identity through defiant alienation. I personally relate to this description even though my rabbinic training has made me a Jewish collectivist. This piece will be one of the study texts of the "Why Be Jewish" forums Panim Hadashot is holding on Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur afternoon. For more information go to www.panimhadashot.com.
For me, to be a Jew is to be an outsider. An outsider in relation to human situations in which a collective of any sort comes into being, composed of many who speak (or roar) in a single voice;
an outsider with that slight suspicion of whatever makes that collective possible;
with that sense of loneliness that takes hold of the individual in the presence of such a collective, even if he does not want-or is unable-to be part of it; with the feelings of uniqueness and election that accompany that loneliness;
with that trace of (not entirely comprehensible) pride that accompany those feelings, pained incessantly by the fact that that uniqueness and election place an invisible but real barrier between him and the others;
with the constant skepticismthat lies-or ought to lie-within regard to those feelings (which have turned, for the Jewish people, into the concept of "the chosen people"), because all too often it seems as if those feelings are nothing but a scab that has formed over the wound of loneliness, of the Jews tragic distinctiveness;
with the knowledge that this distinctiveness-and who knows whether it was imposed from the start on the Jews by others or whether the Jews chose and refined it-has made "the Jew" into an almost universal symbol of the absolute alien;
with pain at the fact that this attitude has caused the Jew and his history to become, in the eyes of humanity, a story that is larger than life, and therefore something that is not really part of life itself, something detached from the course of nature and history experienced by other nations.
To this I must add the sense of profound, instinctive, familial identification that I feel toward Jews throughout the generations. I share their fate, their way of thinking, their culture, their language, and their humor. But perhaps what I really identify with, more than anything else, is precisely that sense of loneliness, injury, and persecution, the feeling of being foreign in this world, ever anxious about the tenuousness of existence. But whenever I feel that by identifying this way as a Jew, I become part of this particular collective, the Jewish collective, I take a step back, and have some serious (and very Jewish) doubts about belonging to it.
Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl. You might recall that Grossman lost his son in the last hour of this summer war with Hezbollah. This is an exquisite expression of Jewish identity through defiant alienation. I personally relate to this description even though my rabbinic training has made me a Jewish collectivist. This piece will be one of the study texts of the "Why Be Jewish" forums Panim Hadashot is holding on Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur afternoon. For more information go to www.panimhadashot.com.
For me, to be a Jew is to be an outsider. An outsider in relation to human situations in which a collective of any sort comes into being, composed of many who speak (or roar) in a single voice;
an outsider with that slight suspicion of whatever makes that collective possible;
with that sense of loneliness that takes hold of the individual in the presence of such a collective, even if he does not want-or is unable-to be part of it; with the feelings of uniqueness and election that accompany that loneliness;
with that trace of (not entirely comprehensible) pride that accompany those feelings, pained incessantly by the fact that that uniqueness and election place an invisible but real barrier between him and the others;
with the constant skepticismthat lies-or ought to lie-within regard to those feelings (which have turned, for the Jewish people, into the concept of "the chosen people"), because all too often it seems as if those feelings are nothing but a scab that has formed over the wound of loneliness, of the Jews tragic distinctiveness;
with the knowledge that this distinctiveness-and who knows whether it was imposed from the start on the Jews by others or whether the Jews chose and refined it-has made "the Jew" into an almost universal symbol of the absolute alien;
with pain at the fact that this attitude has caused the Jew and his history to become, in the eyes of humanity, a story that is larger than life, and therefore something that is not really part of life itself, something detached from the course of nature and history experienced by other nations.
To this I must add the sense of profound, instinctive, familial identification that I feel toward Jews throughout the generations. I share their fate, their way of thinking, their culture, their language, and their humor. But perhaps what I really identify with, more than anything else, is precisely that sense of loneliness, injury, and persecution, the feeling of being foreign in this world, ever anxious about the tenuousness of existence. But whenever I feel that by identifying this way as a Jew, I become part of this particular collective, the Jewish collective, I take a step back, and have some serious (and very Jewish) doubts about belonging to it.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Don't Trust Experts in Judasim
Judaism is huge. Even having a rabbinic education only gives you a partial understanding of Judaism. Its vastness and history are beyond the grasp of any individual. That is why it is so endlessly interesting. Beware of people who say they are experts in Judaism. They are lying.
The Mitzvah of Hospitality
The sages believed that the mitzvot of the Torah were there to act as counterweight to our natural tendencies. A mitzvah is by definition hard to do because it may go against our nature, our drives. The other day it dawned on me why Hachnasat Orchim-hospitality is a mitzvah. It is really hard to reach out to the other. As human beings we are naturally tribal, familial, and self centered. To regard and welcome the other you have to step out of your context and extend yourself.
When I was a rabbi of a shul, I always heard outsiders complain that the congregation was cliquish. It drove me crazy when I heard that criticism because I thought that hospitality is at the core of what it means to be a Jewish community. Yet in reality it isn't. Communities default into cliques and circles, like a full cup of tea that cannot absorb anymore. Yet the mitzvah of hospitality challenges the notion that we are full and cannot take in anymore. Welcoming and extending our hand to the other is something we are commanded to do. So the question becomes, how does one fulfill the mitzvah as a part of one's life? How is one intentional about the mitzvah?
When I was a rabbi of a shul, I always heard outsiders complain that the congregation was cliquish. It drove me crazy when I heard that criticism because I thought that hospitality is at the core of what it means to be a Jewish community. Yet in reality it isn't. Communities default into cliques and circles, like a full cup of tea that cannot absorb anymore. Yet the mitzvah of hospitality challenges the notion that we are full and cannot take in anymore. Welcoming and extending our hand to the other is something we are commanded to do. So the question becomes, how does one fulfill the mitzvah as a part of one's life? How is one intentional about the mitzvah?
Sunday, September 3, 2006
Emerging Sacred Communities
I just returned from an unusual gathering in New York City of a "Working Group of Jewish Emerging Sacred Communities". I was invited to participate by the organizers of the meeting, Synagogue 3000, a think tank based in Los Angeles dedicated to synagogue transformation. The staff at Synagogue 3K has followed the emergence of Panim Hadashot with great interest and have sought my participation in two meetings to share ideas and to bring together Jewish spiritual innovators across the country. I am honored to have been invited. I would like to share a bit of what I learned.
Ron Wolfson, the director of Synagogue 3000, offers this as their organizing principle: "The future of the Jewish community in America is directly connected to the effectiveness of synagogues in transforming the Jewish people. By "transforming," I refer to two things: (1) the spiritual transformation of Jewish individuals and families and (2) the physical transformation of the Jewish community through incentives to increase our numbers through population growth, outreach to unaffiliated Jews, and welcoming and encouraging of non-Jews in Jewish relationships and families to become Jewish and/or to raise their children as Jews.
Transformation is about changing people's lives. It is not about membership or affiliation. It is not about numbers. It is about transforming the spiritual lives of individuals, one at a time. It is about "forming" a Jewish identity through the experience of living in a sacred community."
Synagogue 3K set up the Emerging Sacred Communities group to explore the burgeoning of new and alternative communities and initiatives within the Jewish community. The participants were mostly Rabbis in their 20s and 30s who are starting new communities in cities around the country. Also participating were 3 Rabbis from Israel engaged in building new communities and approaches. The emerging communities represented at this gathering were diverse and hard to characterize. Some are attempting to create alternatives to conventional synagogues.
Some are trying to transform older synagogues into something else. Some like myself were creating completely different models distinct from synagogues. Some of these communities organized themselves around social justice causes, while others were working on revitalizing and reformulating Jewish prayer. There were representatives from all the major denominations and many who identified themselves as post-denominational. Everyone agreed that the current Jewish communal structure is in crisis and that the modern synagogue and congregational rabbinate is in a struggle for legitimacy and relevance among many Jews.
My colleague, Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, participated in the conference as well representing the community she is leading, the Kavanah Cooperative. One way of getting a taste of the emerging responses would be to compare the two innovative approaches of the Kavanah Cooperative and our effort, Panim Hadashot-New Faces of Judaism. Kavanah, like a number of other initiatives around the country is attempting to form a new model of Jewish community. Like Ikar in Los Angeles, Kavanah eschews the label synagogue.
The uniqueness of Kavanah is the choice of the word, cooperative. One of the central aims of Kavanah as I understand it is to form an intentional community. In the business world, a cooperative is different than a conventional market. The PCC cooperative requires membership and fosters a commitment to organic or alternative foods. In the world of Jewish communal life, synagogues are not considered 'intentional communities' (even though it takes a lot of intention to join one) because they do not ask members to make more than financial commitments at the time of joining.
Kavanah is attempting to build strong community by asking members to commit to dedicating time to an array of mitzvot, social justice, study, prayer, or community building. Kavanah has also defined itself as non-denominational as opposed to affiliating with a movement. Its programming differs from a conventional synagogue by creating a wider array of choices and balance of communal activity. There are multiple points of entry and there are fewer barriers to participation. I am excited for Kavanah and support its emergence and growth.
Panim Hadashot, however, is a very different model than Kavanah. First, Panim Hadashot is not about building a single cohesive community. Our emphasis is strictly on offering people powerful and meaningful Jewish experiences of celebration and study and to share these with others. Once Jews are engaged or reengaged in Judaism there are many communities to choose from and we will help people navigate that choice. I conceived of Panim Hadashot as a bridge to the organized Jewish community, a context for people to celebrate and study and experience Judaism more directly and without barriers. We are deliberately non-denominational, so we can reach out to every kind of Jew and also serve the many non-Jews who are connected to Jews through marriage and family.
We are focused on bringing a living and vital Judaism to homes and offering intensive and relationship building celebrations and learning experiences. In Panim Hadashot the Rabbi functions as a teacher, mentor, coach, and connector. I reach out to anyone who is interested and I go to where they are, in their homes and among their friends and circles of relationships. I am not trying to gain members or build a specific community, but rather to engage people with Judaism and help each to develop a practice of hospitality of sharing a enlivened Judaism with others.
In the past few months we have expanded our programs to serve congregations and Jewish organizations. We offer a program that intensifies and strengthens the Shabbat home and table culture of the congregation. We help to make communties more hospitable, more spiritual, more integrated between the private and public sphere. So it might be best to summarize Panim Hadashot as a catalyst for Jewish community building which is a resource for everyone in our diverse community.
I think Seattle needs both Kavanah and Panim Hadashot. Kavanah offers Seattle a serious experiment in building a more intentional community, a Jewish collective with a distinctive focus and ideal. Panim Hadashot offers a way to reclaim a Jewish home life and path to a more engaging Judaism that makes one appreciate the many choices that the Jewish community offers. Together we are part of a fascinating change taking place in American Jewry. Our gathering in New York was an ongoing attempt to make sense of the very creative spiritual ventures growing around the country. I is thrilling to be part of this creative ferment.
Ron Wolfson, the director of Synagogue 3000, offers this as their organizing principle: "The future of the Jewish community in America is directly connected to the effectiveness of synagogues in transforming the Jewish people. By "transforming," I refer to two things: (1) the spiritual transformation of Jewish individuals and families and (2) the physical transformation of the Jewish community through incentives to increase our numbers through population growth, outreach to unaffiliated Jews, and welcoming and encouraging of non-Jews in Jewish relationships and families to become Jewish and/or to raise their children as Jews.
Transformation is about changing people's lives. It is not about membership or affiliation. It is not about numbers. It is about transforming the spiritual lives of individuals, one at a time. It is about "forming" a Jewish identity through the experience of living in a sacred community."
Synagogue 3K set up the Emerging Sacred Communities group to explore the burgeoning of new and alternative communities and initiatives within the Jewish community. The participants were mostly Rabbis in their 20s and 30s who are starting new communities in cities around the country. Also participating were 3 Rabbis from Israel engaged in building new communities and approaches. The emerging communities represented at this gathering were diverse and hard to characterize. Some are attempting to create alternatives to conventional synagogues.
Some are trying to transform older synagogues into something else. Some like myself were creating completely different models distinct from synagogues. Some of these communities organized themselves around social justice causes, while others were working on revitalizing and reformulating Jewish prayer. There were representatives from all the major denominations and many who identified themselves as post-denominational. Everyone agreed that the current Jewish communal structure is in crisis and that the modern synagogue and congregational rabbinate is in a struggle for legitimacy and relevance among many Jews.
My colleague, Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, participated in the conference as well representing the community she is leading, the Kavanah Cooperative. One way of getting a taste of the emerging responses would be to compare the two innovative approaches of the Kavanah Cooperative and our effort, Panim Hadashot-New Faces of Judaism. Kavanah, like a number of other initiatives around the country is attempting to form a new model of Jewish community. Like Ikar in Los Angeles, Kavanah eschews the label synagogue.
The uniqueness of Kavanah is the choice of the word, cooperative. One of the central aims of Kavanah as I understand it is to form an intentional community. In the business world, a cooperative is different than a conventional market. The PCC cooperative requires membership and fosters a commitment to organic or alternative foods. In the world of Jewish communal life, synagogues are not considered 'intentional communities' (even though it takes a lot of intention to join one) because they do not ask members to make more than financial commitments at the time of joining.
Kavanah is attempting to build strong community by asking members to commit to dedicating time to an array of mitzvot, social justice, study, prayer, or community building. Kavanah has also defined itself as non-denominational as opposed to affiliating with a movement. Its programming differs from a conventional synagogue by creating a wider array of choices and balance of communal activity. There are multiple points of entry and there are fewer barriers to participation. I am excited for Kavanah and support its emergence and growth.
Panim Hadashot, however, is a very different model than Kavanah. First, Panim Hadashot is not about building a single cohesive community. Our emphasis is strictly on offering people powerful and meaningful Jewish experiences of celebration and study and to share these with others. Once Jews are engaged or reengaged in Judaism there are many communities to choose from and we will help people navigate that choice. I conceived of Panim Hadashot as a bridge to the organized Jewish community, a context for people to celebrate and study and experience Judaism more directly and without barriers. We are deliberately non-denominational, so we can reach out to every kind of Jew and also serve the many non-Jews who are connected to Jews through marriage and family.
We are focused on bringing a living and vital Judaism to homes and offering intensive and relationship building celebrations and learning experiences. In Panim Hadashot the Rabbi functions as a teacher, mentor, coach, and connector. I reach out to anyone who is interested and I go to where they are, in their homes and among their friends and circles of relationships. I am not trying to gain members or build a specific community, but rather to engage people with Judaism and help each to develop a practice of hospitality of sharing a enlivened Judaism with others.
In the past few months we have expanded our programs to serve congregations and Jewish organizations. We offer a program that intensifies and strengthens the Shabbat home and table culture of the congregation. We help to make communties more hospitable, more spiritual, more integrated between the private and public sphere. So it might be best to summarize Panim Hadashot as a catalyst for Jewish community building which is a resource for everyone in our diverse community.
I think Seattle needs both Kavanah and Panim Hadashot. Kavanah offers Seattle a serious experiment in building a more intentional community, a Jewish collective with a distinctive focus and ideal. Panim Hadashot offers a way to reclaim a Jewish home life and path to a more engaging Judaism that makes one appreciate the many choices that the Jewish community offers. Together we are part of a fascinating change taking place in American Jewry. Our gathering in New York was an ongoing attempt to make sense of the very creative spiritual ventures growing around the country. I is thrilling to be part of this creative ferment.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Prayer and the High Holidays
Services for the Ambivalent:Exploring Prayer and Jewish Spirituality for God-Challenged People
Go to www.panimhadashot.com to see our high holiday offerings.
I have had a lot of laughs and acknowledgment over the use of "God-Challenged people". I decided to offer these services as a bow to truth. The services of the high holidays are not only long, they are extraordinarily difficult to understand and to endure. The great majority of Jews today struggle to make sense of these prayers. And even if one has a mastery of the Hebrew and parts of the liturgy, the theology of the siddur presents a huge challenge to a thoughtful person.
For years during my time in the pulpit I would watch people come in for their hour and half and then check out when the sermon, or the shofar blowing, or the yizkor ended. How could there be a 'service' which acknowledged these challenges. I knew that most of these people did not relate to the prayers or did not have the education, skilll, or motivation to crack through their meaning. Is it possible to present a service which has depth but addresses the spiritual, religious, and cultural obstacles that these services present.
The Services for the Ambivalent are an attempt to do this. Here is what I plan to do.1. Simplify and Shorten. Most services are too ornate, complex. I want to get to core prayers, not overwhelm people with liturgy.2. Study and Explore. Use time during services to explore meaning, tradition, issues that arise from prayers.3. Debate and Reflect. Allow people to express doubt and debate the assertions and assumptions of the liturgy. People should be able to raise hard questions.4. Reaffirm and Reconsider: How can prayer become meaningful? Is there a way to reframe it that makes sense in people's spiritual lives? Can people come away with a respect for the spiritual attempts of the rabbis to address the issue of standing before God?
One of the key things that I will introduce at these services is making a sharp distinction between the Shema and the Amidah. I will treat them as two different types of experience. These two core sections of the Mahzor (HH prayerbook) follow one another, but in reality they are two completely different forms of religious expression. Understanding this is critical to appreciating the spiritual aims of Jewish prayer.
Why are these services free? A few years ago a woman told me that she never goes to synagogue because she refuses to pay to pray. I understand all the justifications for collecting funds and issuing tickets for the HH. Institutions have to survive. But maybe there is another way to address instituional survival without sullying prayer.
Prayer is first a matter of the heart. It is an approach, a petition. An entrance fee renders prayer a commodity, a protected resource. The issue is not so much money, but when money comes into it. The giving of funds should come as a form of gratitude for the opportunity to pray. First there is an invitation to pray and to gather as community. It is only after we have had the opportunity to do this that we may consider the material means to help sustain the community.
Go to www.panimhadashot.com to see our high holiday offerings.
I have had a lot of laughs and acknowledgment over the use of "God-Challenged people". I decided to offer these services as a bow to truth. The services of the high holidays are not only long, they are extraordinarily difficult to understand and to endure. The great majority of Jews today struggle to make sense of these prayers. And even if one has a mastery of the Hebrew and parts of the liturgy, the theology of the siddur presents a huge challenge to a thoughtful person.
For years during my time in the pulpit I would watch people come in for their hour and half and then check out when the sermon, or the shofar blowing, or the yizkor ended. How could there be a 'service' which acknowledged these challenges. I knew that most of these people did not relate to the prayers or did not have the education, skilll, or motivation to crack through their meaning. Is it possible to present a service which has depth but addresses the spiritual, religious, and cultural obstacles that these services present.
The Services for the Ambivalent are an attempt to do this. Here is what I plan to do.1. Simplify and Shorten. Most services are too ornate, complex. I want to get to core prayers, not overwhelm people with liturgy.2. Study and Explore. Use time during services to explore meaning, tradition, issues that arise from prayers.3. Debate and Reflect. Allow people to express doubt and debate the assertions and assumptions of the liturgy. People should be able to raise hard questions.4. Reaffirm and Reconsider: How can prayer become meaningful? Is there a way to reframe it that makes sense in people's spiritual lives? Can people come away with a respect for the spiritual attempts of the rabbis to address the issue of standing before God?
One of the key things that I will introduce at these services is making a sharp distinction between the Shema and the Amidah. I will treat them as two different types of experience. These two core sections of the Mahzor (HH prayerbook) follow one another, but in reality they are two completely different forms of religious expression. Understanding this is critical to appreciating the spiritual aims of Jewish prayer.
Why are these services free? A few years ago a woman told me that she never goes to synagogue because she refuses to pay to pray. I understand all the justifications for collecting funds and issuing tickets for the HH. Institutions have to survive. But maybe there is another way to address instituional survival without sullying prayer.
Prayer is first a matter of the heart. It is an approach, a petition. An entrance fee renders prayer a commodity, a protected resource. The issue is not so much money, but when money comes into it. The giving of funds should come as a form of gratitude for the opportunity to pray. First there is an invitation to pray and to gather as community. It is only after we have had the opportunity to do this that we may consider the material means to help sustain the community.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Weekly Emessage from Rabbi Dov Gartenberg 8-10-06
Weekly Emessage sent with Panim Enewsletter 8-10-06. You may sign up to receive this on our website: www.panimhadashot.com.
In this E-Newsletter I wanted to give our readers specific recommendations about responding to the recent crisis in Israel and to the shooting at the Jewish Federation in Seattle. I also want to let you know about Panim Hadashots upcoming plans.
Helping Victims of the Seattle Jewish Federation Shooting: A special fund has been established to help the victims of the shooting at the Jewish Federation Seattle headquarters. The funds will be used to benefit direct and indirect victims and their family members including medical assistance and psychological counseling, and necessary personal expenses incurred as a result of this hate crime, as well as rehabilitation, repairs or security enhancements to Federations facilities.
Please make checks payable to:Jewish Community Federation ofSan Francisco - Seattle Victims FundAddress: Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco,the Peninsula, Marin & Sonoma Counties121 Steuart StreetSan Francisco, CA 94105
Support for the Beleaguered Residents of Northern Israel: Many people have asked me for guidance on the best way to help Israelis who are suffering from the daily missile barrages in Northern Israel. There are many organizations seeking funding, and many of them are worthy. After considerable reflection, I felt that the best way to help is to donate to the Israel Emergency Campaign 2006 under the auspices of the United Jewish Communities. I am confident that this fund will get resources to those most affected by the war.
Many people forget that this war was unexpected. The new Israeli government was poised to address social disparities and social economic problems. However, the effort to secure Israels Northern border has diverted funds and attention away from these efforts.Furthermore, as in all wars, it is the poor, the disabled and the vulnerable who suffer most. Many of these people cannot work, or adequately protect themselves. I believe that the Emergency Fund will be most effective in addressing the needs of these populations and communities. I encourage charitable donations to organizations helping innocent civilians on the Lebanese side. The ICRC is working both in Israel and in Lebanon to aid those innocents caught up in the conflagration. This organization is strictly humanitarian and it provides immediate and direct aid to those in need.
Panims High Holiday Packet and registration is now available on our website. I am excited about our High Holiday initiative. We are attempting to create a more multi dimensional spiritual experience which incorporates festive meals, learning, dialogue, and outdoor experiences. You may come to part of it or all of it. You may spend some time at your synagogue and some with us. Or this may be the alternative approach you have been hoping for. In any case, try it out. Please be mindful that you must register. Because our learning programs and services are free I suggest registering asap. I also welcome input and suggestions about the program.
Shabbat around Seattle: During the next week, we will be doing a push to sign up hosts for Shabbat around Seattle. If you are interested in hosting, please contact me at rabbidov@panimhadashot.com
If you have not already, become a friend of Panim Hadashot. We need your support to do the great things we are doing.
Shalom, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
In this E-Newsletter I wanted to give our readers specific recommendations about responding to the recent crisis in Israel and to the shooting at the Jewish Federation in Seattle. I also want to let you know about Panim Hadashots upcoming plans.
Helping Victims of the Seattle Jewish Federation Shooting: A special fund has been established to help the victims of the shooting at the Jewish Federation Seattle headquarters. The funds will be used to benefit direct and indirect victims and their family members including medical assistance and psychological counseling, and necessary personal expenses incurred as a result of this hate crime, as well as rehabilitation, repairs or security enhancements to Federations facilities.
Please make checks payable to:Jewish Community Federation ofSan Francisco - Seattle Victims FundAddress: Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco,the Peninsula, Marin & Sonoma Counties121 Steuart StreetSan Francisco, CA 94105
Support for the Beleaguered Residents of Northern Israel: Many people have asked me for guidance on the best way to help Israelis who are suffering from the daily missile barrages in Northern Israel. There are many organizations seeking funding, and many of them are worthy. After considerable reflection, I felt that the best way to help is to donate to the Israel Emergency Campaign 2006 under the auspices of the United Jewish Communities. I am confident that this fund will get resources to those most affected by the war.
Many people forget that this war was unexpected. The new Israeli government was poised to address social disparities and social economic problems. However, the effort to secure Israels Northern border has diverted funds and attention away from these efforts.Furthermore, as in all wars, it is the poor, the disabled and the vulnerable who suffer most. Many of these people cannot work, or adequately protect themselves. I believe that the Emergency Fund will be most effective in addressing the needs of these populations and communities. I encourage charitable donations to organizations helping innocent civilians on the Lebanese side. The ICRC is working both in Israel and in Lebanon to aid those innocents caught up in the conflagration. This organization is strictly humanitarian and it provides immediate and direct aid to those in need.
Panims High Holiday Packet and registration is now available on our website. I am excited about our High Holiday initiative. We are attempting to create a more multi dimensional spiritual experience which incorporates festive meals, learning, dialogue, and outdoor experiences. You may come to part of it or all of it. You may spend some time at your synagogue and some with us. Or this may be the alternative approach you have been hoping for. In any case, try it out. Please be mindful that you must register. Because our learning programs and services are free I suggest registering asap. I also welcome input and suggestions about the program.
Shabbat around Seattle: During the next week, we will be doing a push to sign up hosts for Shabbat around Seattle. If you are interested in hosting, please contact me at rabbidov@panimhadashot.com
If you have not already, become a friend of Panim Hadashot. We need your support to do the great things we are doing.
Shalom, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
Monday, August 7, 2006
Why Be Jewish in a Time of Danger
This passage is a continuation of reflections on Jewish Identity. Panim Hadashot's theme for our High Holiday program is "Why Be Jewish?" Please go to www.panimhadashot.com to see the schedule.
The Rabbis make a distinction between temporal matters and eternal matters: Hayei Sha'ah and Hayei Olam Haba. These days of summer 2006 throw us back into the mode of Hayei Sha'ah. The war in Israel and Lebanon, the shooting at the Jewish federation here in Seattle consume our attention and our anxiety. Being concerned with Hayei Sha'ah is not bad, in fact it is necessary for survival. The state of 'hayei sha'ah' is a physical concern for safety and the fear of danger. I hear many people express fear for Israel's existence. I hear others talk about concern for their safety at a time of when anti-semitism and anti-Zionism appears to be much more widespread.
Leon Wieseltier writes that "Identity in bad times is not like identity in good times.... And those qualities of identity that seem vexing and impoverishing in good times-the soldierliness and the obsession with solidarity, the renunciation of individual development in the name of collective development, the reliance on symbolic action, the belief in the cruelty of the world and the eternity of struggle-are precisely the qualities that provide social and psychological foundations of resistance. For this reason it is impertinent to address the criticism of identity to those whose existence is threatened."
At times like these many Jews with uncertain identity or commitment find themselves returning to the Jewish people. Identity is awakened and a sense of purpose is found. "In every generation someone has arisen to destroy us." is a famous line from the Passover Haggadah. It is an old Jewish survival mechanism that turns hostility from outside into community on the inside.
As a rabbi and educator I personally have difficulty using this narrative to turn a Jew from a latent identity to an active and committed association with other Jews. I undertand its power and necessity. However, I remain convinced that Jewish identity is ultimately nourished by that aspect of Judaism that is Hayei Olam Haba-the eternal dimension of the Jewish teacihng and living. I resist relying on a negative definition of being Jewish. I seek a positive understanding of Judaism that inspires me to live its wisdom and also to sacrifice in its name. That is the reason for asking the question of "Why Be Jewish?" What is it that makes Judaism wise and enduring? How is it a precious legacy that is worth defending?
People are now dying on behalf of the Jewish people. Many are sacrificing their lives and their property to defend the right of the Jewish people to have a state. I support this sacrifice and participate in it. But my main focus is to help people in America to build a firmer foundation for what it means to be a Jew. This project is important even when the demands of the hour-Hayei Sha'ah-are so pressing.
The Rabbis make a distinction between temporal matters and eternal matters: Hayei Sha'ah and Hayei Olam Haba. These days of summer 2006 throw us back into the mode of Hayei Sha'ah. The war in Israel and Lebanon, the shooting at the Jewish federation here in Seattle consume our attention and our anxiety. Being concerned with Hayei Sha'ah is not bad, in fact it is necessary for survival. The state of 'hayei sha'ah' is a physical concern for safety and the fear of danger. I hear many people express fear for Israel's existence. I hear others talk about concern for their safety at a time of when anti-semitism and anti-Zionism appears to be much more widespread.
Leon Wieseltier writes that "Identity in bad times is not like identity in good times.... And those qualities of identity that seem vexing and impoverishing in good times-the soldierliness and the obsession with solidarity, the renunciation of individual development in the name of collective development, the reliance on symbolic action, the belief in the cruelty of the world and the eternity of struggle-are precisely the qualities that provide social and psychological foundations of resistance. For this reason it is impertinent to address the criticism of identity to those whose existence is threatened."
At times like these many Jews with uncertain identity or commitment find themselves returning to the Jewish people. Identity is awakened and a sense of purpose is found. "In every generation someone has arisen to destroy us." is a famous line from the Passover Haggadah. It is an old Jewish survival mechanism that turns hostility from outside into community on the inside.
As a rabbi and educator I personally have difficulty using this narrative to turn a Jew from a latent identity to an active and committed association with other Jews. I undertand its power and necessity. However, I remain convinced that Jewish identity is ultimately nourished by that aspect of Judaism that is Hayei Olam Haba-the eternal dimension of the Jewish teacihng and living. I resist relying on a negative definition of being Jewish. I seek a positive understanding of Judaism that inspires me to live its wisdom and also to sacrifice in its name. That is the reason for asking the question of "Why Be Jewish?" What is it that makes Judaism wise and enduring? How is it a precious legacy that is worth defending?
People are now dying on behalf of the Jewish people. Many are sacrificing their lives and their property to defend the right of the Jewish people to have a state. I support this sacrifice and participate in it. But my main focus is to help people in America to build a firmer foundation for what it means to be a Jew. This project is important even when the demands of the hour-Hayei Sha'ah-are so pressing.
Thursday, August 3, 2006
The War Spills Over
The day I came back from Israel a demented, hateful man shot up the Jewish Federation in Seattle. He killed one employee and wounded five others. One of them is still struggling to survive and appears to have long term injuries. The civic and religious communities here are still in shock. People are asking how this could happen here, especially in a city which is famous for its tolerance. The response of the wider community, however, was impressive and very reassuring. Despite the tragedy there is a sense that the community will not let hateful acts destroy our civic virtues. Along with so many others I pray for the recovery of those who are injured. I want to thank the staff and leadership at the federation for their courage and persistance in a very difficult time. Thank you to the communal leaders, especially the mayor, Greg Nichols, for coming to the support of the Jewish community in its time of distress.
The women who died in the incident, Pam Waechter, was a very lovely person who was an exemplar of Jewish outreach. We shared a commitment to this type of work in the community. Pam was called a matyr in the eulogies. I don't think most people who choose to become Jewish professionals or volunteers, and those who choose do outreach work think about becoming matyrs. But I suppose we need to ask ourselves if we understand the dangers of being 'public Jews', serving the community in a way that exposes us as 'soft targets' for terrorists or deranged hateful persons.
Jews in other communities, the Jews of Argentina come to mind, have been much more exposed over this issue. Our tragedy here made me think a lot about the horrific bombing in Buenos Airies of the equivalent of the Jewish Federation in which 85 people died. The perpetrators have never been caught. In Argentina and in many other countries, serving the Jewish community is a commitment that exposes you to danger. The incident in Seattle brings us a bit closer to our fellow Jews around the world.
Now we have to think like them about our readiness to risk our lives for our purpose driven work. Maybe we are back to a time when to do Jewish outreach to assimilated Jews would mean having to work to confront the exposure to danger question. I know that some Jews hide, for fear of persecution or exposure to hatred. Who wants to be hated, especially a hatred that seems so infathomable and so irrational? What do you say to people to motivate them to explore Judaism. Or sometimes we do the opposite.
We sell Judaism because just to be a Jew is to be a heroic soldier standing up to all this hatred and persecution. Either way, antisemitism and hatred of Jews, seems to be a catalyst in standing up or hiding for many Jews. While I was in Israel a planeload of French Jews came to Ben Gurion to make aliyah. The war in the North had been raging for over a week. The immigrants were interviewed on Israeli TV in an impressive display of idealism and love of the Jewish people. The commentator kept on asking, "Aren't you crazy for coming here." He kept on repeating the comment.
Pam Waechter was a convert. Like every convert, I am sure she was asked about her awareness of the hatred of Jews and antisemitism. Converts, new immigrants to Israel, the loners in the Israeli army who come to defend Israel without the support of family are all impressive people. They sign on knowing the dangers. Other Jews think they are crazy. Maybe it is worth exploring why people become passionate about being Jewish despite the risks. Thank God for those crazy Jews who love the Jewish people.
The women who died in the incident, Pam Waechter, was a very lovely person who was an exemplar of Jewish outreach. We shared a commitment to this type of work in the community. Pam was called a matyr in the eulogies. I don't think most people who choose to become Jewish professionals or volunteers, and those who choose do outreach work think about becoming matyrs. But I suppose we need to ask ourselves if we understand the dangers of being 'public Jews', serving the community in a way that exposes us as 'soft targets' for terrorists or deranged hateful persons.
Jews in other communities, the Jews of Argentina come to mind, have been much more exposed over this issue. Our tragedy here made me think a lot about the horrific bombing in Buenos Airies of the equivalent of the Jewish Federation in which 85 people died. The perpetrators have never been caught. In Argentina and in many other countries, serving the Jewish community is a commitment that exposes you to danger. The incident in Seattle brings us a bit closer to our fellow Jews around the world.
Now we have to think like them about our readiness to risk our lives for our purpose driven work. Maybe we are back to a time when to do Jewish outreach to assimilated Jews would mean having to work to confront the exposure to danger question. I know that some Jews hide, for fear of persecution or exposure to hatred. Who wants to be hated, especially a hatred that seems so infathomable and so irrational? What do you say to people to motivate them to explore Judaism. Or sometimes we do the opposite.
We sell Judaism because just to be a Jew is to be a heroic soldier standing up to all this hatred and persecution. Either way, antisemitism and hatred of Jews, seems to be a catalyst in standing up or hiding for many Jews. While I was in Israel a planeload of French Jews came to Ben Gurion to make aliyah. The war in the North had been raging for over a week. The immigrants were interviewed on Israeli TV in an impressive display of idealism and love of the Jewish people. The commentator kept on asking, "Aren't you crazy for coming here." He kept on repeating the comment.
Pam Waechter was a convert. Like every convert, I am sure she was asked about her awareness of the hatred of Jews and antisemitism. Converts, new immigrants to Israel, the loners in the Israeli army who come to defend Israel without the support of family are all impressive people. They sign on knowing the dangers. Other Jews think they are crazy. Maybe it is worth exploring why people become passionate about being Jewish despite the risks. Thank God for those crazy Jews who love the Jewish people.
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