Inspiration from the Uninspired

I just read a wonderful article, forwarded to me by my very wise spouse, about synagogue growth and rejuvenation. The article is called "Synagogues Must Reach Out to the 'Uninspired'," written by Rabbi Rick Jacobs. In the article, Rabbi Jacobs challenges us with these words: "Synagogue life is too important to be entrusted solely to those who already are within congregational walls."

What on earth does Rabbi Jacobs mean? Shouldn't those of us who spend most of our days, most of our lives for that matter, within synagogue walls be the ones to shape and define our holy institutions? If synagogue life wasn't trusted solely to those already within congregational walls, with whom should we share this burden? The answer, according to Rabbi Jacobs, is to reach out to the unaffiliated, who he has dubbed the "uninspired." And we should do so not with the thought that we will enlighten these lost tribesmen by leading them back to our synagogue doors. Rather, we should reach out to the uninspired, those who would rather do just about anything than go to shul, to learn from them firsthand about their own needs. Why do they stay away from synagogue? Where do they go for inspiration, rejuvenation, and community? What could our synagogues offer them that would bring them back through our doors?

At Temple Reyim, we are beginning a strategic planning process that asks, first and foremost, the question: who are we? As we continue to ask that question, I pray that we not only look to our clergy, staff, lay leaders, regular attendees, and membership, but that we look beyond our walls to the thousands of Jews in our area who right now remain uninspired. "Who are we?" should be a question we ask them, as well.

Caring for the stranger, the widow, and the orphan

Temple Reyim congregants do amazing things!  Here’s just one moving example: Traveling through Haiti in 2003, our member Miriam Tuchman stumbled upon a disturbing and unaddressed public health crisis – children without shoes were being infected with worms.  Miriam responded by collecting shoes here in Boston and then delivering them to needy Haitian children by the suitcase-full.  Others soon joined her efforts, leading to the founding of Sustainable Healthcare for Haiti, a non-profit that has now taken on the goal of building a children’s hospital and medical clinic in (I love the name!) Jerusalem, Haiti. 

Miriam Tuchman’s work is an example of Torah in action.  We are taught in Parshat Mishpatim to be concerned for the plight of the stranger, the widow, and the orphan.  To live an engaged Jewish life is to look out for the disenfranchised and powerless, whether they be the stranger in our midst or the shoeless child in Haiti.  May we all bring Torah to life by opening our eyes to the needy and, like Miriam, answering calls for help with compassionate service.

To read more about Miriam Tuchman’s incredible work in Haiti, check out the Newton TAB’s recent article here. 

Our 2nd Annual Shabbatune is Around the Corner!

Ladies and gentleman, start your vocal cords!  Temple Reyim's 2nd Annual Shabbatune is coming up in just a few weeks - February 10th-11th!  Cantor Ackerman will be joining us again, leading us in spirited davenning on Friday night and Shabbat morning.  She'll also be teaching a class on Shabbat afternoon on how to create harmonies in Jewish music.  At the same time, I'll be leading a fun music program Shabbat afternoon for our young families called "JEWISH STOMP!"  Then, Saturday night, five a cappella groups descend upon our Ordis Hall for a rocking a cappella concert.  The concert features BU's Kol Echad, Brandeis' Manginah, Harvard's Shani, Gann Academy's Shenaniganns, and the semi-pro vocal group Similar Jones (I'll be singing some of my original Torah-based folk songs, as well).

In anticipation of the event, I am thrilled that we are again gathering for a pre-Shabbatune song session.  On Monday night January 30th at 7:30pm, all are welcome to join me as we learn some of the new tunes Cantor Ackerman will be introducing at the Shabbatune.  Last year, this "rehearsal" proved to be a beautiful event of its own.  The singing was soulful; a wonderful time to enjoy the blessing of shir chadash - singing a new song.  We will also provide participants of this pre-Shabbatune song session with a CD of the tunes to take home and enjoy.

We are a community that loves music and a congregation that comes together around joyful song.  I look forward to joining you in this celebration!

Is “Spirituality” a Bad Word?

One of my favorite lines from the movie The Princess Bride comes when the hero Wesley, having been told by his enemy that if Wesley surrenders no harm will come to him, responds: “We are men of action.  Lies do not become us.”  A Jew could have written that line.  Oh, wait, a Jew by the name of William Goldman did write that line! 

Jews focus their faith in action.  We do mitzvoth, holy activities, in order to actualize our faith in the physical, tangible world.  So it is not surprising that many Jews view the idea of “Jewish spirituality” with confusion, skepticism, and even hostility.  We are men and women of action, after all, and spirituality sounds to many of us like a self-involved excuse for inactivity. 

Spiritual practice that is undertaken with a combination of sincerity and joy, however, is neither self-involved nor inactive.  Spiritual practices, such as meditation, contemplative prayer, chant, and yoga, invite us to look deeply at ourselves; they do so in order that we get to know our neshama, our soul’s divine nature.   This witness of the divinity within cracks the very shell of our separateness; we become not self-involved but compassionately and actively other-involved.  The path of Jewish spirituality may appear different and fearfully foreign.  Its aim, however, is the very heart of who we are and why we have been placed by God on this beautiful earth.