Category: blog archive

U.S. Diplomat Hiram Bingham, Credited With Saving Thousands Of Jews From Nazis, To Be Immortalized On U.S. Postage Stamp

We celebrate the news (thank you Congregation Or Ami faculty member Patti Jo Wolfson for bringing this to my attention) that Hiram Bingham IV, the U.S. diplomat credited with saving more than 2,000 Jews and other refugees in France from the invading Nazis, has been immortalized as part of the U.S. Postal Service’s set of “Distinguished American Diplomats” commemorative postage stamps.

As the Philadelphia Jewish News reports:

In 1940 and 1941, as vice consul in Marseilles, France, Bingham issued visas and false passports to Jews and other refugees against official U.S. policies, assisting in their escape and sometimes sheltering them in his own home. Artist Marc Chagall, philosopher Hannah Arendt and novelist Lion Feuchtwanger were among the refugees he rescued. 

Bingham came from an illustrious family. His father (on whom the fictional character Indiana Jones was based) was the archeologist who unearthed the Inca City of Machu Picchu, Peru, in 1911. After Hiram Bingham entered the Foreign Service in 1929, his postings included China, Poland, and England. Following the fall of France in 1940, the armistice required the French to “surrender on demand all Germans named by the German government in France.” Civil and military police began arresting German and Jewish refugees the Nazis marked for death. Several influential Europeans tried to convince the U.S. government to issue visas to allow the refugees to leave France and escape Nazi persecution.

The USA was then neutral and, not wishing to annoy Marshal Petain’s puppet Vichy regime, President Roosevelt’s government ordered its representatives in Marseilles not to grant visas to any Jews. Bingham found this policy immoral and, risking his career, did all in his power to undermine it. 

In defiance of his bosses in Washington, he granted over 2,500 USA visas to Jewish and other refugees, including the artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst and the family of the writer Thomas Mann. He also sheltered Jews in his Marseilles home, and obtained forged identity papers to help Jews in their dangerous journeys across Europe. He worked with the French underground to smuggle Jews out of France into Franco’s Spain or across the Mediterranean and even contributed to their expenses out of his own pocket. In 1941,Washington lost patience with him. He was sent to Argentina, where later he continued to annoy his superiors by reporting on the movements of Nazi war criminals. 

Among those helped by Fry a few of the notables were:

  • Hannah Arendt, Philosopher
  • Andri Breton
  • Marc Chagall, Artist
  • Max Ernst
  • Lion Feuchtwanger, Novelist
  • Heinz Jolles
  • Wilfredo Lam
  • Wanda Landowska
  • Jacques Lipchitz
  • Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel
  • Andre Masson
  • Otto Meyerhoff
  • Marcel Duchamp
  • Franz Werfel
  • Heinrich Mann

Former US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, gave a posthumous award for “constructive dissent” to Hiram (or Harry) Bingham, IV. For over fifty years, the State Department resisted any attempt to honor Bingham. For them he was an insubordinate member of the US diplomatic service, a dangerous maverick who was eventually demoted. Now, after his death, he has been officially recognized as a hero.

Eventually, he was forced out of the American diplomatic service completely. Bingham died almost penniless in 1988. Little was known of his extraordinary activities until his son found some letters in his belongings after his death. He has now been honored by many groups and organizations including the United Nations and the State of Israel. 

At Congregation Or Ami, we teach our Kesher and Mishpacha religious education learning program students to be “upstanders.” An upstander is one who says Hineyni – Here I Am, to do whatever is necessary to help others. An upstander takes serious the mitzvah (religious obligation in Leviticus 19:16, Lo ta’amod al dam rei’echa, do not stand by while your neighbor bleeds. Simply put, when we see someone who is in need of our help, we should help him or her. Sometimes this means taking risks for other people.

From Moses who saw the Egyptian taskmaster beating the old Jewish slave and stepped in to save the man, and Queen Esther who stepped up to save the Jews from Haman, we learn that if we do not do something to help those in need, we are just as guilty as those who have put them in that position. Modern Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “In free society, few are guilty but all are responsible.”

Interested in More Information about Hiram Bingham?
Those interested in Bingham’s activities in Vichy France ought to read Varian Fry’s memoir of the period. Fry, an American correspondent, undertook to help Marc Chagall and others find the paperwork and funds to escape the Vichy zone. See his book Surrender on Demand.

Letter from American Rabbis to Our Christian Neighbors Regarding Divestment Proposals

I joined more than 1150 rabbis from 49 states who signed a letter addressed particularly to the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches efforts to consider divestment from certain companies whose products are used by Israel. These churches will take up the issue at their upcoming conferences.

If you agree, please share the letter with your Presbyterian and Methodist friends:

We, the undersigned Rabbis, reach out in hope to our
Christian friends and neighbors. We have close relationships, deeply treasured
and shaped over many years. We are partners on many social issues including
fostering peace between Israelis and Palestinians. We ask you to stand shoulder
to shoulder with us in rejecting the counterproductive proposal to selectively
divest from certain companies whose products are used by Israel.

Any place in which a single human being suffers, we all
suffer. We know that your concern for the Palestinian people, some of whom are
your Christian sisters and brothers, comes from a deep commitment to the
alleviation of human pain. There is suffering enough in the land of our common
inheritance on both sides of the conflict. A just solution demands peace and
security for Israelis and Palestinians. We share goals of a just and lasting
peace, an end to affliction, a two-state solution, and the protection of the
dignity and security of all in the Holy Land. We must marshal our efforts
together to bring about this peace.

We understand and respect your calling to invest in a
morally responsible manner. A policy of divestment to pressure Israel runs
counter to these goals. Such a one-sided approach damages the relationship
between Jews and Christians that has been nurtured for decades. It promotes a
lopsided assessment of the causes of and solutions to the conflict,
disregarding the complex history and geopolitics. Furthermore, it shamefully
paints Israel as a pariah nation, solely responsible for frustrating peace.

For Jews, the use of economic leverages against the Jewish
state is fraught with inescapable associations. They resonate in the Jewish
consciousness with historic boycotts against Jewish companies and the State of
Israel. They are experienced by Jews as part of a pattern of singling out Jews
for attack. To determine and continue policies that knowingly tap into the
deepest fears and pain of another is, in our tradition, a serious failure of
relationship.

Divestment, and the specious Apartheid terminology that
frequently accompanies it, polarizes people and communities so that the policy
of divestment, and not peace, becomes the central issue. Divestment will
undermine the ability of many Israelis to imagine peace. Decades of terrorism
and rejection have left Israelis feeling threatened and isolated. Many of the
major proponents of divestment do not support Israel’s right to exist – thus
deepening this fear. Divestment as a policy is more likely to encourage those
with more extreme aims than to foster reconciliation. Simply put, the bitter
debate over divestment drowns out the real conversation about how to end the
conflict.

At a time when politics in general have become so divisive,
here and abroad, our efforts should be aimed toward reconciliation. Together
and independently, Christians, Jews, and Muslims must give the parties to the
conflict the confidence they need to move toward peace. There are many
meaningful coexistence programs that are necessary to foster a generation of
Israelis and Palestinians that will work and live side-by-side – moving past
the teaching of hate and the resort to violence. As leaders of the Jewish and
Protestant communities we need to deepen our understandings of the multiple
narratives in the region.  

We recognize the urgency of these efforts and the
frustration on all sides with achieving our lofty goals. Our collective voices
can play an instrumental role, working with the American government and others,
to help Israeli, Palestinian, and other Middle Eastern leaders to prevent
violence and attacks on civilians, support Palestinian state-building and
economic development, promote positive investment opportunities, provide
humanitarian aid through appropriate channels, protect existing agreements
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and, most importantly, encourage a
resumption of negotiations among the parties toward a two-state agreement that
will help bring about peace, which is at the core of our traditions. We
recommit to such efforts, independent of any other matter.

Yet quite honestly, were American Christian denominations to
indict only Jews and Israel for the conflict with the Palestinians, they would
justify the violence perpetrated against Israeli civilians – including children
– as the unfortunate result of Israel’s unilateral guilt. In other words,
Israeli victims would be responsible for their own suffering. Frankly, such a
representation is anything but an expression of friendship and common purpose,
and it would replace the closeness and comfort the Jewish community feels in
existing relationships with distance, distrust, and disappointment.

The Scriptures that bind us reveal that G-d created all of
us in the divine image — human dignity and equality is a core value of Jewish
and Christian traditions. Further, our traditions call upon us to be
peacemakers. In Hebrew, the word Shalom doesn’t just mean “peace” but
wholeness and completeness. Peace comes about by our labors to complete the
work of creation. We must work towards the day when every human is granted the
dignity, security, and beneficence that is the promise of the created universe.

Fridge Gender Wars

Found up on the fridge. Placed there by wife.


Original caption:

Fine. Sit there and check your messages. Perhaps it will give you something to contribute to the conversation.

Handwritten edit from husband:

Fine. Sit there and check your messages. Perhaps it will make you as scintillating as ever.

12 Poignant Lessons from Pesach (One for Each Tribe)

I asked my rabbinic colleagues (on Facebook):

Besides “from slavery to freedom” and “speak truth to power” and “stamp out injustice,” what poignant lessons from Pesach speak to you today? 

12 Rabbinic Responses Were:

  1. Honoring our past while celebrating the future. 
  2. A willingness to accept the obligation of inconveniencing ourselves for a week in order to gain empathy for those enslaved, for those hungry, for those oppressed today. Remember, you were once slaves, too.
  3. Pesach, for Modern Jews is a time to explore the concept of obligation, that even though we are free, what does it mean to put obligation onto ourselves?
  4. Rediscover the joy of cleansing ourselves of our inner “puffy” chametz. Letting go of arrogance and our reflex to acquire so that we can find the simple happiness of having enough. Dayeinu!
  5. I am always surprised that all those crumbs I tossed into the ocean at Tashlich (when we symbolically throw away our sins) have somehow returned in the form of the chametz that is arrogance or the need to acquire.
    I use Pesach as a “check in”, halfway through the year post-High Holy Days. It’s kind of neat that the High Holy Days and Pesach fall roughly half a year apart. It is a good time to reflect on promises made and goals that were set, allowing ourselves to fall short but acknowledging that change is always possible.
  6. I find it remarkable how, if we set aside the Seder meal, eating on Pesach can be incredibly healthy. Grilled or roasted meats, fruits and vegetables simply prepared, minimal starches if we don’t eat too much matzah and potatoes. It makes for a refreshing week of food if we are mindful of our eating. I relate that to the manna in the wilderness, which was another form of mindful eating (as was matzah). It’s a good lesson for the rest of the year.
  7. The many ways of being Jewish – all legitimate. Take any Seder table and think of what is the primary reason for each participant being there and doing the same thing. (a) one who is there because he/she feels that it is a fulfillment of God’s command; (b) one who is there because it gives him/her an opportunity to express essential Jewish ethical values, i.e. freedom, equality, etc.; (c)one who is there because it provides him/her with a connection to other Jews of past and present; (d) one who is there because it brings family and friends together in a true celebration; etc. etc. etc. Each person’s reason for being there and doing the same thing (eating matzah, drinking wine, eating maror, etc.) might be different, yet all are Jewish or part of the Jewish family. Around the Seder table are theists, atheists, believers, and non-believers….
  8. I keep coming back to two themes: 1) What do I want to clean out of my life, and what sort of an offering do I want to make with my life; 2) The resilience Jews have demonstrated throughout our history.
  9. It’s a way to measure time who is no longer at our table and who has come to join us – Pesach is dor l’dor (generation to generation).
  10. My focus is often on the idea that freedom is not the ultimate goal of Pesach but rather that we are set free with a purpose…to enter into a covenantal relationship with God that brings with it opportunities and responsibilities for each other and our world.
  11. I like to emphasize the Omer connection between Pesach and Shavuot teaching that we remain cog I any of the whole package even while we focus now on “freedom from slavey.” The story starts now but does not end on the other side of the sea…
    ‎
  12. I begin my Haggadah with an introduction which concludes with: “Pesach is but the pointer to the acceptance of our commitments to complete these tasks—in a harvesting of the fruits of our labors yet to come.”
What would you add to the list? [Thanks to my colleagues who offered their answers.]

BTW, I may read this list at my Passover seder.  

Politics on the Bimah

“Keep the politics off the bimah.” We hear this in the synagogue whenever a rabbi speaks on a topic nearing the intersection of Jewish values and public policy. While argued most vociferously by those who disagree with the rabbi’s message, the critique itself that “politics has no place on the bimah” is a decidedly false characterization of the essence of Judaism and Jewish textual tradition. (Note: I am not speaking about endorsing a candidate for public office.)

Judaism speaks to every issue 
Judaism has something to say (often multiple opinions) about any issue. The talmudic rabbis argued about everything — from commerce and capital punishment to property rights and personal behavior, to abortion, contraception and homosexuality. They took on poverty and hunger, distribution of wealth and health care.

From our earliest incarnation as the faith of Abraham, our tradition has spoken truth to power. Who can forget Abraham preaching at God when the Holy One seemed to want to act wholly unjustly toward Sodom and Gomorrah? Later, as we became the Children of Israel, we accepted a legal tradition that set ethical standards for every aspect of our lives. Jewish tradition could not contemplate a separation between the personal and the public.

So when critics — Jews and non-Jews alike — argue that rabbis should be silent on matters of public policy, they are defying the essence of religion from the time of Moses and before. When complainers cry “politics” every time the rabbi speaks out against the status quo, they forget that we Jews have always been the agents for ethical living.

Moses, the ethical agitator 
As Moses stumbled upon a bush that burned unconsumed, the character of the Jew was forever stamped in our souls. Out there in the wilderness, the personal became political. When Moses returned to Egypt to convey God’s message to Pharaoh to “let My people go,” he ensured that Jewish leaders would speak truth to power for generations to come. The life conditions of people — as individuals and a community — became a central concern of Jewish rabbinic leadership.

Who was Moses? Rambam characterized him as a rationalist religious thinker. Chasidic rebbes saw him as the ultimate tzadik (righteous person). There are those in every age who want to remake Moses in their image. But to reduce Moses’ influence to intellectuality or spirituality is to do revisionist history. Moses wasn’t content merely ministering to the broken souls of his people; he spoke out for a community oppressed. Moses wasn’t just a pastoral leader; he was an agitator, working for the freedom of his people.

So let’s stop trying to cleanse from Moses’ story — our story — the very essence of his leadership. Moses was a kind of visionary prophet. Like the prophet Nathan, who called King David on his unethical behavior, and Queen Esther, who went toe-to-toe with Haman, Moses saw reason for hope, and with deep faith spoke out against injustice.

This Passover, be Moses
To properly observe the Pesach seder, one must retell the story of the Exodus. One must recall a time when people were oppressed, and when Moses heard the call of the Divine and stood up to Pharaoh’s oppression. Passover is about bitterness sweetened and salty tears refreshed.

It is no accident that the Exodus features prominently in all movements for freedom and equality, from the anti-apartheid movement to the anti-slavery movement, from women’s suffrage to the American civil rights movement, to freedom for Soviet Jewry. The Exodus narrative, while profoundly spiritual and dripping with mystical insights, is at its root the story of injustice confronted.

Of course, to tell the story is to reimagine ourselves simultaneously as slaves moving toward freedom and also as Moses leading them there. Passover declares that inequities and injustices must be confronted and corrected.

Hear the call of the seder 
So, next time your rabbi speaks up about public policy and Judaism — on economic justice or health care reform, marriage equality or Israel’s responsibility to work diligently for peace, our concern for the environment or our differing notions about when life begins — she is walking in the footsteps of Moses and Abraham, of Esther and the Nathan. Your rabbi is listening closely to the call of the seder, to stand up for the downtrodden and to cry out for the oppressed.

Hearing this call is often uncomfortable. But Passover is not about feeling good; it is about being ethical. Not about consuming good food, but feeding our hunger for righteousness. Pesach calls us to critique our world, our country, our homeland and our community. It pushes us to imagine a better way. It goads us to remake the world as it could be, as it should be.

So make your Passover meaningful. Hear the call to justice. And demand our leaders help bring it to fruition.

This d’var Torah was originally posted in the Jewish Journal.

Engaging Youth at the Or Ami Retreat

I cannot decide whose excitement was more infectious: the almost tangible joy emanating off the forty-nine 4th-6th graders attending Congregation Or Ami’s first ever retreat at Gindling Hilltop Camp, the pride felt by the eleven 8th and 9th grade Madrichim (teaching assistants) who led most of the programming, or the energetic passion of Rabbi Julia Weisz who conceived of and created this first retreat. Perhaps it was just the whole”love bomb” I felt when I arrived at camp for the Saturday night program.

I knew something was up when, before our 10 am Shabbat Morning Service, our Cantor Doug Cotler could not stop gushing about how awesome the retreat was. He had spent Friday night at the Malibu camp, co-leading Shabbat services, enjoying a delicious Shabbat dinner, and having a blast schmoozing with the kids and teens.

When I arrived at the retreat with my wife and youngest son after the 4 pm Shabbat service, I was struck by the energetic passion in the room. The group had gathered for a talent show. Everyone was dressed in costumes. Campers were crowded around their Madrichim, sitting close by or on laps. Kids were singing onstage, others doing skits, and everybody sat intently, clapping wildly at the end of each performance. I joined Rabbi Julia for a Matzah Ball Soup Making skit, which we acted again and again to different instructions by the director: slowe, faster, operatic-style, Valley Girl-style. The campers laughed, and we had fun just being silly.

Our national organization, the Union for Reform Judaism, is urging us to join a Campaign for Youth Engagement, committing ourselves to turn around the embarrassing national post-B’nai Mitzvah retention rate of around 10-20%. They contend that the best successes will come from those communities which encourage and foster relationships between children in the late elementary and early middle school years – well before Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Those relationships will keep them coming back once the Service is over.

Proudly, this retreat is accomplishing just that. Kids of different grades were giggling with each other over s’mores, and hugging each other goodnight at bedtime. And the teen Madrichim were having a blast in the hang out/meeting space (complete with more junk food than I have seen since I was in college finals week).

Though we still have a night left before the retreat ends, we extend a huge thank you to Rabbi Julia Weisz (and her husband David who played multiple roles over the weekend), Patti Jo Wolfson who co-created the retreat, congregant Nurse Caryl Kaplan and our faculty.

By the way, there were NO kids who were homesick when I left the retreat. Everyone was having fun.

This Rabbi and 2 Priests Walk into a Bar

It sounds like the start of a good joke, except it really happened. Well, sort of.

I’m the rabbi. There were really two priests. Of course, we were sitting in a Cathoic church, not a bar. Oh, and instead of drinking, We were church hopping. It was all part of my education on interfaith relations and community organizing. (No joke.)

Slowly but surely, under the tutelage of of Congregation Or Ami’s second rabbi, Rabbi Julia Weisz, I am moving beyond my comfort zone to build relationships with communities outside our own. A generation ago, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism in Washington DC, taught a group of young rabbinic students – of which I was one – that as leaders in our communities, we needed to build coalitions of conscience. Later the Union for Reform Judaism’s Just Congregations project, teamed up with the Community Organizing organization OneLA (1LA), to urge rabbis and congregations to develop interfaith relationships, slowly but intentionally, which eventually could become the foundation of such coalitions of conscience.

Commonalities across Faiths
I am new to interfaith work. In previous pulpits, my senior colleagues had a lock on the interfaith dialogue; at Congregation Or Ami the early years dedicated to responding to the needs of our growing community kept my attention focused elsewhere. But now the time had come.

My guide for the day was Tom Holler, lead organizer in the Valleys for OneLA. Responding to my request for introductions and guidance, he drove me down to the area around USC for meetings at two different Catholic churches.

Seeking Social Change amidst the Challenges of Daily Toil
Most poignantly, we sat in conversation with Pastor Arturo. Mexican by birth, a missionary by training, he had become a pastor by design. Now responsible for a parish of 9000, he was spoke about balancing the challenges of administrivia with the sacredness of ritual with the desire to bring about social change. Although our worlds are separated by three freeways and a host of socioeconomic distinctions, I immediately felt a kinship with him.

We chatted about the challenges our flocks faced. We commiserated about the overritualization of our faiths. We struggled with our interests and concerns regarding the need for faith to transform life and living conditions for all. I wondered, if we two clergymen from different worlds can find the beginnings of a connection, then imagine what could happen for our congregations. Could this relationship building, called “one to ones” in the jargon of community organizing, really lead to lasting, transformative social justice and change?

Interfaith work is sometimes about theology and sometimes about finding common heritage or shared values. Sometimes focuses on reaching understandings that address the attitudes which can lead people to hate or harm one another. And sometimes, as OneLA community organizer Rachel Gold taught me on the ride home, it is about having unfettered curiosity which breaks down walls, builds relationships, and uncovers invisible lines of connection.

Next week I sit with the local Muslim Imam. Later this week I gather with 500 rabbinic colleagues at a CCAR Rabbinic convention. For now, though, I just reflect upon this amazing opportunity to build bridges and thus heal our world.

What about You?
Have you had positive interfaith interactions? Does the possibility of participating in interfaith gatherings or community organizing excite you? Let me know about it.

The Firetruck in Front of the Temple

There was a firetruck in front of the Temple, when I arrived back from my early afternoon meeting. Two trucks, in fact. One had a huge ladder rising up to the top of the roof, right above our building.


“Rabbi, There’s a Fire…”
I got the call as I was driving back to work. “Rabbi, come back quickly. There’s a fire in the building next to us. We smell the smoke.” Thanks to our staff’s quick thinking and their use of the emergency evacuation plan we prepared last year, they took out the Torah scrolls, our computers and critical files. Under the leadership of Rabbi Julia Weisz and with the help of faculty member Patti Wolfson, B’nai Mitzvah teacher Diane Townsend and office staff Barbara Gordon and Karen Moore, the process was calm, orderly and complete.
Just a call to our President Lucille Shalometh Goldin (who then contacted past president Susan Gould) and Safety and Security Task Force chair Steve Keleman brought them zipping to the Temple to help where they could. Rabbi Julia quickly canceled our Hebrew Tutoring classes and moved the B’nai Mitzvah tutoring over to Diane’s home. Our faculty redirected carpool parents back to their homes. Programming and Marketing Director Marsha Rothpan quickly sent out an email blast announcing the cancelations. Premises chair Terry Boykoff and congregant-contractor Stephen Bloom began drawing up backup plans in case the Temple was in danger of serious smoke damage. 

“No Fire,” Said the Firefighters
In the end, the firefighters found no fire. They traced the smoke to a burnt out engine in the air conditioning unit on the other side of the building. Unplugged and vented, the AC unit no longer endangered our building from fire or smoke. 

Safety Comes First
Deuteronomy 22:8 teaches that “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet (fence) for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone should fall from it.” From this we learn that we are responsible to evaluate and guard against any dangers we can imagine.

At the top of each job description in the temple – including those of the clergy, staff and school faculty – is the expectation that our staff members will “ensure the health, safety and security of all students and adults within the temple and during Congregation Or Ami programs.” We recognize that safety comes first; only in a safe, secure, welcoming place can people delve into learning Torah and tradition.

That’s also why just a few months ago, Or Ami officer Steve Keleman convened a Safety and Security Task Force to evaluate, make recommendations and implement an overall safety and security plan for Congregation Or Ami. They have done walk thru’s of the building with parents, teachers and staff. They have implemented a number of short term and begun long term action steps to ensure the safety of our congregants, employees and guests. They are training staff and faculty; revising our emergency plans; addressing earthquake supplies and procedures; evaluating our insurance coverage; and more. Their work will continue as we continually upgrade our safety and security systems.

Praise for the Planning and Professionalism of our Community
Today Congregation Or Ami – our people and property – is safe. It turns out that no one was in any real danger at any moment.

We all can sleep tonight peacefully, comforted in the knowledge that when the chips were down, our staff and congregant leadership performed beautifully, taking the necessary steps to ensure the safety of our people and our prized possessions! Thanks to all of them, and to our quick responding Fire Department.

May we never face real danger. But if we do, let us be thankful for our the planning and professionalism of our Congregation Or Ami leadership.

Jill’s Coats for Kids: 2 Kids Collect 150 Coats

The Or Ami Center for Tikkun Olam (social justice) was created to foster the knowledge and commitment of young people to become social justice advocates. We stive to instill in them an awareness of our obligation as Jews. As Torah teaches, lo ta’amod al dam rei-acha – don’t stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds.

Thus we schep nachas (share our prideful joy) about the work of Sabrina (8 years old) and Chelsea (five years old) Stone, two Or Ami California kids, who collected over 150 coats this winter to bring warmth to needy children. According to their website, www.jillscoatsforkids.com, they created this project in honor of their “grandmother, Jill Stone, who started a coat drive in Dallas, Texas. We thought it would a good idea to help children who need coats in our community, too.”

They delivered the 150 coats to Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission in Sun Valley, CA, which is “committed to meeting the needs of the hungry, homeless and destitute.”

This simple act by Sabrina and Chelsea touched so many people.  So writes Ken Craft of the Valley Rescue Mission, who kvelled (praised) about them:

How beautiful it is to see people truly care about the genuine needs of others. This winter, though milder than others, there are still many nights where the temperature dips into the 30’s and 40’s. At times like these, our friends living on the streets are desperately seeking coats and jackets in order to stay warm.  

THANK YOU for the three large bags of coats you collected through Jill’s Coats for Kids. Each jacket will be given to a man, woman or child who finds themselves homeless in the San Fernando Valley. Only God knows the importance of your act of love and the generosity of your donors!
On behalf of those we serve each day….THANK YOU for providing the coats. Your efforts are not only appreciated, they are deeply needed! 

Sabrina and Chelsea acted in concert with longstanding Jewish values. As our Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism reminds us,

Our Biblical prophets themselves exhorted us to follow a long-standing tradition of hospitality among the Jewish people. According to one midrash (rabbinic teaching), Abraham is judged to be greater than Job because while the latter “opened his doors to the road” (Job 31:32), Abraham left his tent to seek guests among the passers-by (Genesis 18:1-8). Furthermore, Abraham “got busy and built spacious mansions along the highways, and stocked them with food and drink, so that whoever entered ate, drank, and blessed Heaven” (Avot 1:5; Avot d’Rabbi Natan 7). More recent Jewish history, with its exiles and expulsions, is a powerful reminder of our special obligation to provide for those with no protection.

So it is like this. There are people in need. There are people with more. The latter must act to help the former. This is what we try to teach at Congregation Or Ami. This is why our Center for Tikkun Olam (social justice) was created.  May the actions of Sabrina and Chelsea inspire us all!

Alex, the Recovering Addict, Opens the Eyes of Teens Blind to the Ravages of Addiction

I introduced Alex with just three sentences: This 24 year old man was just like you, a nice Jewish boy. I was at his Bar Mitzvah, celebrated his Confirmation and helped him get into college. Listen to his story, learn from it, and perhaps you won’t make the same mistakes as he did.

I am proud that Alex, a young man recovering an addiction to drugs, came to speak at Congregation Or Ami’s Confirmation class. Our 9th-11th graders listened intently as Alex took them on a journey: from disconnection and self-esteem issues, to drinking and drugs until he finally hit rock bottom. He spoke frankly about treatment centers, about falling off the wagon, about almost ruining his life. Then he spoke about his recovery from addictions, about his working the 12 Steps, and about making amends. He helped the teens learn where to turn when life feels wrong, so they don’t make decisions that could ruin their lives.

I was pleased with the presentation and discussion. I hoped it would touch the lives of the students. Of course, one can never be sure. And then I received this email from a mother of a student:

Dear Rabbi Paul,

I just wanted to thank you for giving my son the opportunity to speak with Alex and to give you feedback on the kind of impact it had on him. The best indicator is that my son talked non-stop all the way home from Temple! It was such a great conversation, it was extended over dessert-even though he still had homework to do! Here is what made it most helpful and different from other drug information:

* Alex’s courage to share his own personal story really made an impact. As my son said to me, he has heard the detrimental health effects a million times; yet nobody had ever spoken about the toll it takes on personal relationships (which was most affected my son) or one’s own personal life goals.

* Alex also shared the reasons he turned to drugs in the first place (low self esteem, depression). This opened another door in our relationship because it allowed me to ask my son if he had ever considered doing drugs when he felt this way. His answer was honest but scary: He said he has thought about it, knowing it would temporarily take the pain away; but he knows it would create other problems. As parent, I loved one of Alex’s solutions to poor self esteem: Do esteemable acts!!!

* As a follow through, I think it is REALLY IMPORTANT for our kids to brainstorm healthy alternatives to doing drugs to take care of the pain, struggle, and pressure of these high school years. These conversations need to take place at home but I think it would be awesome if they were addressed at Temple Teen Night as well. I envision kids sharing what works for them, giving others new ideas for how to deal with their feelings.

* Finally, I so appreciate that Alex offered to be available any time day or night if the students needed to talk to him. My son was very touched by this and I think he would call him because they made a connection.

So, thanks again for giving our kids sacred opportunities to learn and grow. Please feel free to forward this to Alex as well. I wanted to give him my heart-felt thanks for having the courage to share his personal journey.

A synagogue does many things – from studying Torah to Celebrating B’nai Mitzvah. I think the synagogue really shines, however, when it becomes a place of connection, where people help each other walk down the challenging journey we call “life”.

Alex, fresh off a perilous journey, back on the straight path, did just that. And so we hope — we know — that there are a group of tens out there who just may be a little more prepared to defend themselves from the seductive pull of booze and drugs. Now that’s something to celebrate!

Just What did God Say at Mt. Sinai?

An argument broke out at the temple. A bunch of people approached the rabbi inquiring, “Just what did God say to Moses at Mt. Sinai?”

One group was sure that God gave Moses the whole Torah, reciting every single word. That is what they see whenever the rabbi dressed up as Moses, carrying the Torah down the hill at Seder in the Wilderness congregational retreat.

Another group thought that was preposterous because why would God tell Moses when Moses will die and exactly what would happen afterward. They decreed that Moses must only have been told the Ten Commandments. After all, that’s what Cecil B. DeMille depicted as Charlton Heston walked down the mountain.

A third group recalled a teacher saying that God only spoke the first commandment, “Ani Adonai Elohecha asher hotzeiticha mi-eretz Mitzrayim mibeit avadim – I am the Eternal your God, who led you out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

One Jewish day school graduate said that he heard that God spoke only the first word of the first commandment, “Anochi – I (am)”.

I said that my teacher believed that God only spoke the first letter, Aleph, of the first word of the first commandment of the Ten Commandments, whose sound is silence.

Which is it Rabbi?
The people were perplexed. “Which is it, rabbi,” they wanted to know? What is the correct answer?”

I responded that since I was not there physically (though we all were spiritually present at Mt. Sinai according to the Jewish myth). So we have to closely read Torah which isn’t definitive. That is why the rabbis argue amongst themselves.

I think that each answer leads us to Truth:

From the idea that God just said Aleph, we learn that in silence, we can hear/experience God’s reality.

From the argument that God spoke just one word, “Anochi – I (am)”, then we learn that God is Existence, and that God exists as really and fully as do each of us.

From the notion that God said only the first commandment – that God took us out of Egypt from slavery, we learn that to be a Jew is to live a life that brings into the world the qualities of compassion and justice.

From the teaching that God spoke all Ten Commandments, we understand that these ten point us in the right direction, the beginning of our path toward holiness and ethical living.

And if God spoke every word of Torah, we can listen to any parasha, story, verse or word (or any of the 603,550 letters of Torah) and in it we can hear a hint of God’s Being.

Which is truth?
Each answer leads us to Truth. Many paths to the basic teachings of Jewish living.

Reform Movement Speaks Up as Komen De-funds Planned Parenthood

Recently, Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced it would cease all funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America. 
I signed a letter asking the organization to reconsider and sharing my own disappointment and anger.  This resulted from the most cynical gamesmanship and election year politics.  
I am pleased that the Union for Reform Judaism’s leadership, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Marla Feldman, Executive Director of Women of Reform Judaism, sent the following letter to Ambassador Nancy Brinker, Komen’s founder and CEO:

Dear Ambassador Brinker, 

On behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism whose 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, with membership of more than 1800 Reform rabbis, and the Women of Reform Judaism, which represents more than 65,000 women in nearly 500 women’s groups in North America and around the world, we write to express our disappointment in Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to halt its longstanding partnership with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, thereby withholding funds to fight breast cancer where they are most needed. 

Komen for the Cure has helped hundreds of thousands of women in the fight against breast cancer, and has educated millions, bringing the once taboo and closeted subject of breast cancer into the public domain. Indeed, the global impact that you and Komen for the Cure have had was precisely why we were so pleased to bestow upon you the Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award at our recent Biennial convention. And this is why we are so deeply disappointed by Komen’s decision to cease funding mammograms provided by PPFA in the face of a politically-motivated investigation unrelated to PPFA’s breast cancer screenings for vulnerable women. 

At the same December Biennial, the Women of Reform Judaism honored PPFA President Cecile Richards and applauded PPFA’s work to advance women’s health. It is painful for us now to see politics and partisanship interfere with and undermine efforts to support women who lack the resources they need for preventive medical services like mammograms. Each year Planned Parenthood’s network of more than 800 clinics nationwide provides nearly 830,000 breast exams. PPFA has stated that, over the past five years, 170,000 of the centers’ 4 million breast exams conducted were a direct result of Komen grants. Halting Komen grant money to PPFA is contrary to your organization’s mission and interests, directly and unfairly threatening the health and safety of women. 

Upon accepting the Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award, you told the story of two women, one Palestinian and one Israeli, marching together to combat breast cancer in the first Race for the Cure in Israel. You explained with admiration that, in the course of the walk, they were able to forget the political climate that divided them and they bonded instead over the common cause of women’s health. We now urge Komen to follow their example by rejecting efforts to sow division among women’s health advocates and providers and refusing to sacrifice the lives of women on the altar of political ideology. 

We understand that this funding decision comes from a new standard employed by Komen for the Cure that defunds organizations under government investigation. While we understand the desire to have an objective policy in place, this particular standard is misguided, threatening more than just grants to PPFA. We believe there are less partisan ways to accomplish your goals. For example, a standard that is linked to investigations carried out by law enforcement is more likely to be free of partisanship. The standard that Komen has established allows Komen’s funding decisions to be dictated by the political whims, partisanship and pet issues of individual members of Congress, who persuade their committees to launch an investigation.  This new standard may appear to extricate Komen from politicization, yet in reality it leaves the group open to even greater politicization. 

We urge you to use your leadership in Komen for the Cure to reinstate funding to PPFA for breast cancer screening, to reconsider the standard by which the organization makes funding decisions, and to continue to fight for the health and lives of women everywhere. 

We look forward to your prompt reply. 

Sincerely, 

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Rabbi Marla Feldman, Executive Director of the Women of Reform Judaism

You may share your own disappointment, anger or concern in many places.  Note that this action is caught up in election year politics, the politics surrounding a women’s right to choice, anti-abortion movement and more.  One place to share your concern is here.

Moses Wasn’t a White Boy

I love the look on the faces of our students when I point out to them that Moses could not have had the pinkish white skin that I have. First their brows furrow, then they go wide, then they smile with understanding and agreement.

Since Moses descended from people born in Canaan (with ancestry harkening back to Ur, near the intersection of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) and he grew up under the hot Egyptian sun. His skin had to be significantly darker than your average caucasian. That means that Cecil B. DeMille got it wrong casting Charlton Heston as Moses, at least with regards to skin color.

Not that skin color should matter. Often – too often – it seems to matter. Especially in Jewish life. But it shouldn’t.

Introducing Be’chol Lashon, Celebrating the Mosaic of Jewish Life 
Thankfully, there exists an incredible organization, Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue) which “grows and strengthens the Jewish people through ethnic, cultural, and racial inclusiveness. They advocate for the diversity that has characterized the Jewish people throughout history, and through contemporary forces including intermarriage, conversion and adoption. And they foster an expanding Jewish community that embraces its differences.”

Be’chol Lashon’s monthly eNewsletter overflows with insights, news, arts and culture, and a plethora of programs and events. They run kids and family camp, send out speakers, and encourage creative mitzvah projects.  Be’chol Lashon reminds us of the fact that Jewish community has always been a mosaic.

Or Ami Has a Multicultural/Multiracial/Multiethnic Webpage
At Congregation Or Ami (as our “Multicultural/Multiracial” webpage declares),

We celebrate that Judaism has always been mosaic, a beautiful collection of different colored and shaped pieces. We are also “Mosaic” in that we connect back to Moses, a Hebrew child, raised by Egyptians, who married a non-Jewish woman of color and became the leader of his people. We rejoice that at least 20% of the Jewish population is racially and ethnically diverse, including African, African American, Latino (Hispanic), Asian, Native American, Sephardic, Mizrahi and mixed-race Jews by heritage, adoption, and marriage. Recognizing that we are all created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God, we are pleased to welcome the multicultural/multiracial/multiethnic Jewish individuals, couples and families in our community. 

Some couples that begin with two individuals from different backgrounds need to integrate separate lives into one family. Some families adopting a child from a different culture look to celebrate all parts of the child’s mosaic. Individual Jews, raised in multicultural homes, strive to be accepted as Jews, no questions asked. Remember: you are not alone. 

Congregation Or Ami, our Rabbi Paul Kipnes, Cantor Doug Cotler, Rabbi Julia Weisz and our Reform Jewish movement, welcome you. Congregation Or Ami is already proud to be a home congregation for many multiethnic, multiracial and multicultural individuals, couples and families, and we welcome you to share in the warmth of our community. We invite you to begin a conversation with Rabbi Kipnes to share your hopes or questions about being part of Or Ami. 

Congregation Or Ami offers individuals and couples who connect to multiple cultures, races and/or ethnic groups the opportunity to explore their Judaism in a warm, welcoming environment. We work to empower people to make Jewish choices for themselves and their families and we strive to provide resources to inform educated decisions. We strive to be a welcoming place for people of diverse religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, and ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds. We invite you to begin a conversation with Rabbi Kipnes to share your hopes or questions about being a multicultural, multiethnic and/or multiracial individual or family at Or Ami.
[Note: It is quite possible that much of this language was borrowed from Be’chol Lashon publications.] 

So let’s celebrate: our Jews and Jewish families of all colors, racial or ethnic backgrounds, and cultural connections. You make our mosaic ever more colorful, engaging and interesting.

Tell Your Non-Caucasian Jewish Friends
Check out Be’chol Lashon, and share it, especially, with your non-caucasian Jewish friends. Check out:

And may our synagogues, and federations, and organizations, and schools, and individual Jews, remember the truth: that mosaics are way more interesting when they are made up of all different colors, shapes and sizes.

MY Best Day, Hanging with Dan Nichols

My son Noah, 9th grader at New Community Jewish High School and avid NFTYite and Camp Newman alum, is guest blogging about his day with Dan Nichols:

Wow, what a day.
I started off doing homework so I cold devote my day to hanging with [Jewish singer] Dan Nichols. 

My mom and I picked Dan up at LAX and drove him over to visit Craig Taubman at his home. It was a gathering of singer-songwriters. It was awesome. We met one musician, Billy Jonas, who along with Craig, were two of Dan’s inspirations.

Then back home where I set up Dan on my mom’s MacBook so he could get his beloved aisle seat on the plane flying home. 

We hung, schmoozed and snacked. 

Then off to Congregation Or Ami where Dan played an amazing concert. 120 of us gathered to sing along with old hits and new ones. LoMPTYites and other NFTYites joined parents and HUC students. What a concert. 

The night ended with an awesome havdala led by Dan, guest songleader Adam Gould, and various members of LoMPTY and the NFTY SoCal board. It was a great night!

Did you attend the Dan Nichols concert? What did you like best?