B'NEI ISRAEL GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND ELECTIONSTuesday, November 30, 1999First call : 7 :00 p.m.Second call : 7 :30 p.m. |
For the past two years we have been raising funds to provide for better facilities for our School. Karin Nagel graciously and generously designed a plan that would give us an adequate area for classrooms, offices, and housekeeper quarters. This plan also contemplates a second stage of remodeling in which we would change our sanctuary to accommodate a larger number of people during holidays and celebrations.
It is with great joy that I can let you all know that we have the money to complete the first stage of remodeling and that with the pledges that we received during this Rosh Hashanah within three years we will have enough to complete the second stage also. We can decide to start remodeling part or all the synagogue starting next January. However, there are other options available to us. It has been suggested by some of our Board members that we buy a lot of land and start building a totally new synagogue. This will be more costly than the remodeling, but it is a possibility.
The Board will have to study the options and, considering time and money, come up with the best proposal to present to the congregation for approval. We will depend on the good judgment of our leaders and the vision of our members to take one road or the other. I am proud of the depth and the seriousness with which the Board of Directors is analyzing the situation, and trust that whatever option we take will make B'nei Israel a stronger Congregation.
By the end of November it will be a year that the present Board of Directors has been guiding our spiritual, educational, social, and economic affairs. As president of this Board, I could not have asked for a better, more cooperative, and more committed group of people. Each Board member has given of her or his time, energy, and resources to work on the routine issues as well as on the special situations that come up when leading a religious congregation. There is a phrase that says : "There are no problems, only challenges and opportunities". And I truly feel that the workings of this Board have been centered on solving the problems so that the challenges became opportunities.
I feel that this year the members of B'nei Israel have increasingly involved themselves in the life of the congregation. Cultural events, raffles, celebrations, and Shabbat services have been organized by and for our members. There is a good feeling of commitment and participation in our midst, a true inreach. I came up to lead the Board after a crisis in my life ; working for something I believe in, has been the best antidote to selfish self involvement. I have not enough words of thanks for all my partners in the Board, for the members of all the committees, for our Sisterhood, and for all our members for their continuous support and help.
In selecting a new Board of Directors, as in the case of what to do with the building, we have options. I would like to encourage those of you who have not served on the Board but would like to do so, to immerse yourselves in a very fulfilling experience. And these year's Board meetings have been delicious experiences as well, since many times we met in our homes and shared the camaraderie and bonding that good meals provide. David Kaufman is in charge of the elections committee, and he would love to hear from all of you. Please call him, let him know if you would like to participate next year, let him know of your preferences. Boards do represent their constituents, and listening to the members is the only way that we have to feel our pulse, so speak up.
Last week I was in New York. Thanks to the ticket I won in our Raffle, I was able to be with Rachel, Daniel, and Joshua for a few days. We ate, walked, and laughed a lot. We visited the Lower East Side ; in the Tenement Museum there we saw an apartment that was rented by a Jewish family 50 years ago. You can still see the mark of the mezuzah in the threshold. We all felt a link with those immigrants that had to leave their homes in the old country to make a living in a new land, and upheld their Judaism and did not allow assimilation to destroy their religious beliefs. I also visited the Jewish Museum ; when I came to the exhibit where Shabbat is described, I happened to be alone in the room. All of a sudden I heard Adon Olam chanted through the speakers and I was very moved. I thought that 13 years ago this melody didn't mean a thing to me, and now it marks the very essence of my life and that of my family. And I related all of this to B'nei Israel. Whether we come from a Jewish background or we chose Judaism ourselves, whether we have a family where both parents are Jews or we have an interfaith marriage, we let avodah, Torah, and gemilut chasadim sustain our world. We are a very much alive part of the Jewish world. May the mitzvot be our guiding force, and may Adonai bless us with health and love.
Hilda ten Brink
11/06 : CHAYEI SARA (Gen. 23 :1-25 :18)
In what ways is Abraham a worthy founder of a new faith ?
11/13 : TOLDOT (Gen. 25 :19-28 :9)
How can we know the difference between the good and bad influences
of the people in our lives ?
11/20 : VAYETZEI (Gen. 28 :10-32 :3)
What thoughts and feelings does Jacob have as he runs for safety to
another country ?
11/27 : VAYISHLACH (Gen. 32 :4-36 :43)
How often and in what circumstances does a crisis bring out the good
in people ?
As many of you know, last spring, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the largest organization of Reform or Progressive rabbis anywhere in the world, voted to accept a document called A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism. I was fortunate enough to be there in Pittsburgh for this historic occasion, but perhaps more importantly, I was privileged to be present at many of the meetings and study sessions that occurred prior to the document ever getting to the floor for a vote. And what I'd like to do is to share with you just a few thoughts about the document itself, and about what it means to synagogues like Bnei Israel Congregation.
As many of you know, this is not the first time the Reform rabbinate has attempted to define exactly where it stood on important issues of Jewish life. In 1885, in 1937, and again in 1976, various "platforms" were issued by the American Reform rabbinate. All of these platforms were "consensus documents"; none commanded the absolute allegiance of all the rabbis in the movement, particularly rabbis outside of the United States. But even if the answers were different in different Progressive communities, the questions raised by these documents challenged us all. And so it is with this most recent document.
Let me focus on just a few of the places where this most recent Statement of Principles departs from the earlier platforms, specifically, the previous Centenary Perspective issued in 1976. We begin, as might be expected, with God. Both platforms speak about the "reality" of God, and of God's oneness. Both describe our relationship with God in terms of a brit, or covenant. But whereas the previous platform saw prayer, study and the performance of mitzvot as responses to the Jewish tradition, that is, to that body of text, law and custom created by our ancestors, perhaps inspired by God, this statement is unafraid to assert that "we respond to God daily," that is, directly. It speaks, as no previous statement did, of "[encountering] God's presence," and of "faith" in God.
The Statement of Principles also has something new to say about the role of Torah in Reform Judaism. Like the previous platforms, this one affirms that Torah is the foundation of Jewish life, and the record of our ongoing relationship with God. As such, it calls upon us to study, to sanctify time, to act ethically, and to promote social justice. But then it turns in a direction that is at once very exciting and very controversial: In a dramatic departure from previous statements that often defined Reform ritual by enumerating those practices that were obsolete and should be discarded, this statement confidently declares that Reform Jews are committed to "the ongoing study of the whole array of mitzvot." Moreover, it suggests that we devote "renewed attention" to many rituals and practices that for years have been outside the boundaries of mainstream Reform.
The final category addressed by the Statement is that of Israel, the land, the state and the people. And again, we find some very interesting changes in emphasis from previous platforms. Whereas the Centenary Perspective described the Jewish people in predominantly sociological terms, this document refers to us as "a people aspiring to holiness." Part of being a holy community, it continues, is being an inclusive one; that is, welcoming people of all ages and family constellations and sexual orientations, gerim and intermarried couples. For the first time, it calls for us in fact "to actively encourage those seeking a spiritual home to find it in Judaism." It also calls upon us as never before to "reach out to all Jews across ideological and geographical boundaries." Finally, in a statement that engendered a great deal of spirited debate, this section of the Statement of Principles affirms that not only does the state of Israel and its people have much to teach those of us in the Diaspora, but that we too have much to teach our fellow Jews living in the land of promise.
So what does this all mean? Let me quickly summarize what I think it means, in the hope that some of my words will engender further discussion later on:
First, what this statement does, is say to those progressive Jews and Jewish communities who are making more traditional choices in their ritual and practice, "you're okay." Not that anyone had ever said such choices were not acceptable - Reform Judaism has always supported individual autonomy - but the overwhelming culture of Reform Judaism, at least in the United States, was one that often frowned upon practices that seemed "too Orthodox." Interestingly enough, this change of attitude may actually bring the Reform Jews of North America closer to Progressive Jews in the rest of the world, where more traditional practices are often the norm.
Also, we find in this document a Reform Judaism that is more comfortable than it has ever been, speaking the language of faith, without necessarily giving up a commitment to reason. The greater emphasis on klal yisrael, that is, to our fellow Jews, is likely to mean something very different in communities outside the US, where progressive Jews are generally a minority within a minority, and often subservient politically to more traditional elements of the Jewish community.
I know that outreach to the intermarried is a very
important part of the Bnei Israel community - notice the new emphasis on
reaching out to the unchurched as well, and how this emphasis takes the
universalism of Reform Judaism and translates it in a very different way
than was done previously. Finally, consider then what it means that we
- that is, Progressive Jews of the Diaspora - that we are now willing to
assert that as much as Israel means to us, and has given us, that we too
have contributions to make to the religious life of the Jewish state.
Reform 34 % (The Washington Post, Sept. 11, 1999)
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We were, more or less, 8 "compañeras" who met every first Wednesday of each month to plan the work for the following month or for upcoming Jewish holidays. We did it with a lot of self-motivation and love.
Our goal was to raise money for the Rabbi Fund as well as for the Building Fund. For these we organized different activities, such as bingos, raffles, garage sales, etc.
A very special thank you to Alicia Familier, who for many years has been in charge of organizing the Oneg Shabbat for each Friday night, which is not an easy task, but she is so talented that she always gets someone to "volunteer" for it. Also, we had the responsibility of organizing the refreshments for all the different holidays and events.
Of course, it wasn't only the 8 of us who did everything ; we always had the help of the majority of the ladies of B'nei Israel. Hilda is ready to help in everything, is our strongest support, and also offers her house with her usual kindness. And Zulema, without whom it would be extremely difficult to have a raffle or a bingo ; she is the queen in getting prizes. Each person has his/her angel and thanks to all their help the Board of Directors of the Damas Voluntarias was able to accomplish many things in the last three years.
Maybe we didn't leave material proof as evidence for what we did, but we know we did our best. And we leave the Damas Voluntarias Group in good hands.
I will continue to cooperate with all I can, even though I no longer hold a position on the Board. I do wish that more people with new ideas, and especially young women will join our group, because they are the future of our Congregation.
I wish the next Board of Directors the best of luck and success, and thank you for allowing me to be part of B'nei Israel.
Sara Waltersdorfer
President of the Damas Voluntarias
Group
Period 1997 - 1999
(translated
by Tamara Baum)
In the last year we saw a political upheaval taking place, first and foremost because individual citizens from all sectors of society acknowledged their responsibility for government policy and wanted a change. In every sphere of life, we see changes -- some are slow and some are dramatic -- since people, realizing their personal freedom of choice, came together to create social and cultural change. The field in which change allegedly was to cease is religion and state relations. Here, the establishment wishes to impose upon us the yoke of the "status quo", saying that what was, will be, and we must not question it.
At the threshold of the new year, I believe that we stand on the verge of an upheaval in how the individual and the community perceive Judaism in Israel. I'm proud to say that IRAC played a dramatic role in this transformation. If we are to fully realize this transformation, we will need additional effort on the part of both Israeli citizens and world Jewry. We need Israeli citizens to be much more active and not settle for expressing their frustration with lack of pluralism and freedom of religion in Israel in the confines of their living room among friends or to pollsters as they did in the past. Also critical is the continued enlistment of world Jewry and Jewish organizations, who are concerned that Israel is the only state in the free world that denies Jews freedom of religion and discriminates against the Non-Orthodox religious movements. These very movements are the vehicle for Jewish and Zionist identity for most of world Jewry.
We just received the results of a survey which dramatically shows the success of the hard work in the last few years by all elements of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism and the arduous efforts of the Israel Religious Action Center in the public, legal and political arena. This survey was conducted on the eve of an unprecedented campaign jointly sponsored by the Reform and Conservative Movements in Israel who together reached out to the Israeli public offering a liberal Jewish alternative with the slogan: "There is more than one way to be Jewish!" After many years of repeatedly hearing the familiar myth that for an ordinary Israeli "the synagogue I don't attend has to be Orthodox" and after they continuously regurgitate the claim that religious pluralism is irrelevant to Israeli Jews, it now emerges that Reform Judaism gains the highest percentage of identification among the Israeli public. 34% of the Israeli public said that they identify most with the Reform Movement. In addition, another 10% identify most with the Conservative Movement. Only 23% are most identified with the Orthodox (23% identified with no stream). 36% said that they would attend a Reform synagogue on Shabbat, on the holidays or on special occasions, if a Reform synagogue existed in their neighborhood. 42% expressed preference for a synagogue where the family prays together -- women, men and children -- while only 38% preferred a synagogue that separates men and women. 18% said that they prefer sending their children to the religious public system kindergartens and schools, which the religious establishment has nurtured ever since the establishment of the state using the funding and support of the political establishment. On the other hand, 16% said that they would prefer sending their children to state schools that provide enhanced Jewish education without religious coercion. This survey points out in the clearest way that our values enjoy extensive support among the public and the potential is enormous if we only know how to take advantage of it and if everyone in Israel and in the Diaspora realizes that it is within our grasp to change the course of history. This will finally present Israel with the opportunity for a Jewish, pluralistic existence, out of free choice, and in realization of the liberties ensured us under Israel's Declaration of Independence, but yet unrealized.
In the last year, we built the foundation of this transformation, and it is more solid and more impressive than ever before. At the beginning of last year in a series of decisions on petition filed by IRAC, the Supreme Court repeatedly ruled that the state and local authorities cannot deny Reform and Conservative Jews a seat on religious councils. This unequivocal stand of the Supreme Court overturns the reality by which Jewish services were the sole domain of Orthodox politicians. These decisions were followed by the Supreme Court's review of the mass immoral exemption of yeshiva students from sharing in national and military service. The Israeli Ultra-Orthodox and religious public reacted with an unprecedented vehemence as they saw their unrestricted control over Jewish affairs in Israel slip out of their hands. Fearing that this was only the first indication of further upheaval in the direction of freedom of religion and conscience in Israel, they organized a massive demonstration. Shas' newspaper, "Yom L'Yom", explained that the demonstration was against "the judicial dictatorship of the Supreme Court and against the Reform Sect." 250,000 mostly Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators, with the participation of the Chief Rabbis of Israel, assembled to challenge the authority of the Supreme Court that they viewed (and rightly so) as the point of the spear of this upheaval, since the Supreme Court embodies the fundamental values of the state and the rule of law. Since they know that they cannot influence the Supreme Court with the political clout that enables them to impose their will on Israeli governments and in the Knesset, contrary to the wishes of the majority of the Israeli public, they decided to try to intimidate the Supreme Court. They question not only the authority of the Supreme Court, but also that of the entire judicial system, and in truth they challenge democracy altogether. Their hysterical reaction to the threat to their monopoly contributed greatly to public understanding of what's at stake. The public now better understands that Israel, in its jubilee era, stands at a crossroads -- will Israel turn towards Iran and its neighbors or will it turn towards the enlightened, democratic west. The public understood that the threat to democracy is imminent and real and that these circles refuse to accept the rule of law and refuse to respect civil and human rights. This insight translated, for the first time in Israel, to the historic appeal of leading literary figures -- Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua, Yehuda Amichai and others -- to the general public to join and support the Reform and Conservative Movements. They made their appeal, because they realized that facing the crossroads that Israel is at, the time has come to strengthen Liberal Judaism which truly embodies both Judaism and democracy, and therefore it is the one that befits the values of the State of Israel and of the society in the present era.
The last year was characterized by growing interest of the public at large in experiencing liberal alternatives to Orthodox Judaism, in such life-cycle celebrations as Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and weddings, holiday celebrations, Shabbat experience, Torah study, formal Jewish education, and more. At the same time there is growing repulsion to the Orthodox establishment that is more and more perceived as tainted with politicization, coercion, and corruption. From within the Orthodox camp itself challenges arose to the path of the political and rabbinical leadership, whether in the image of Meimad and other such pioneering groups, or in the image of women who signify the growing awareness of their lack of status and role in religious life.
Within the Israeli public an unprecedented uprising ensued for changing the relationship of religion and state, whether through dialogue or through pressure for legislative reform such as in the marriage laws and through enacting a constitutional bill for religious freedom. IRAC is involved and takes a leading role in both avenues.
All public opinion polls, for quite some time now, point to the conflicts between religion and state and between the religious and secular as being the most acute and severe of all conflicts dividing Israeli society. This perception constituted one of the main foundations of the political overturn in the last election being expressed in a wide public desire to see a government that doesn't bow to the Ultra-Orthodox. This desire was once again manifested in the last few weeks in the controversy over the transport of the electric company turbine on Shabbat.
I think that no one entertains a doubt any longer that Israel awaits change. There is no doubt in my mind that this change can only be constructive and strengthening if it is based on the Declaration of Independence's promise of freedom of religion and conscience and on enhancing the Jewish character of Israel in the spirit of this founding document: "The State of Israel will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice and peace according to the vision of the prophets of Israel." Only freedom of choice, pluralism in theory and practice, mutual respect and commitment to social justice and equality will renew our glory, assist in building a strong democratic and healthy Jewish society, and strengthen Israel-Diaspora relations.
We stand at the threshold of a historic upheaval. May we join hands to make the new year that is dawning upon us be a year of peace, a year of tolerance, a year of freedom for religious thought and deed.
Shana Tovah to you and yours!
New Year's Greetings!
A Prayer For 5760 by Rabbi Jacob Pressman.
May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your gastro-enterologist, your urologist, your proctologist, your podiatrist, your psychiatrist, your plumber, and the I.R.S.
May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and your stocks not fall; and may your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol, your white blood count, and your mortgage interest not rise.
May you find a way to travel from anywhere to anywhere in the rush hour in less than an hour, and when you get there may you find a parking space.
May Friday evening, December 31, find you seated around the Shabbat table, together with your beloved family and cherished friends, ushering in the Sabbath day. You will find the food better, the environment quieter, the cost much cheaper, and the pleasure much more fulfilling than anything else you might ordinarily do that night.
May you wake up on January 1st, finding that the world has not come to an end, the lights work, the water faucets flow, and the sky has not fallen.
May you go to the bank on Monday morning, January 3rd, and find your Account is in order, your money is still there, and any mistakes are in your favor.
May you ponder on January 4th; How did this ultra-modern civilization of ours manage to get itself traumatized by a possible slip of a blip on a chip made out of sand.
May we relax about the Third Millennium of the Common Era, and realize that we still have 240 years until the dawn of the Sixth Millennium of the Jewish Calendar by which time the computer is long since obsolete and so are we.
May God give you the strength to go through a year of presidential campaigning, and may some of the promises made be kept. May you believe at least half of what the candidates propose, and may those elected fulfill at least half of what they promise, and the miracle of reducing taxes and balancing budgets happen.
May you be awe struck by God's sense of humor as you wrestle with the possibility that a professional wrestler could become president of the United States.
May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you delight them. May someone love you enough to forgive your faults, be blind to your blemishes, and tell the world about your virtues.
May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls until you finish dinner, and may your check book and your budget balance, and may they include generous amounts for charity.
May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your spouse, your child, your parent; but not to your secretary, your nurse, your masseuse, your hairdresser or your tennis instructor.
And may the Messiah come this year, and if he does not may we live as if he has, in a world at peace and the awareness of God's love in every sunset, every flower's unfolding petals, every baby's smile, every lover's kiss, and every wonderful, astonishing, miraculous beat of our heart.
Bulletin B'nei Israel Congregation
Editor: Inés Baum
November 1999