Rabbi’s Blog

Dear Ones,

This is a shmita year.  Shmita is Hebrew for “release” and is more helpfully translated as sabbath for the land. The centrality of cycles of seven in our tradition cannot be overstated. The first cycle of seven days is embedded in the DNA of creation. Seven is the basis for our week, our calendar year and our agricultural practices, i.e., economic/ecological wisdom.

The wisdom that allows us to live in sustainable economies is sorely needed right now. I plan to take this year to embody shmita principles as best I can in this column, in our programming and our rituals. Look forward to classes and holiday gatherings to take place outside whenever possible. I encourage all of us to make more of a shabbat community, to gather with small groups to celebrate reflect and recreate together. And I will articulate here some of the insights and practices of shmita. Let’s start at the very beginning:

The 7 of the creation story implies that there are 2 cycles of three days and then a day of rest:

Day One: Light/Dark

Day Two: Separation of waters below and above, i.e. the heavenly expanse

Day Three: Soils and Seas plus vegetation.

Note the parallels here with the next three “days”

Day Four: Planetary systems, i.e. rulers of day and night

Day Five: Egg bearing animals, i.e. creatures of sky and water

Day Six: Mammals and humans, i.e. creatures of earth.

And then the day of rest.

So the biblical tempo is to make a start (1-3); refine your goals (4-6) and then rest, enjoy and reflect. This process can be applied to any project or career trajectory. The practice of Start, Refine and Reflect can keep us moving towards our goals, even as we adapt to shifting conditions.

Our holiday calendar is deeply embedded in the first holiday, Shabbat, the seventh day and continues to roll out over the seven day spring holiday of Pesach/Passover which is observed around the spring equinox. Seven weeks later, we have a holiday called Shavuot, Hebrew for “vows” and the Hebrew word for “sevens” (!). The next biblical holidays are in the seventh month after the Passover; the whole month of Tishrei is full, with Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and the harvest festival of Sukkot at the fall equinox. The whole seventh month is like a shabbat for the year. During the winter dormancy, there are no Jewish festivals until Passover. Purim and Hanukah are post-biblical holidays, based on historic events during the Persian and Greek hegemony, respectively.

Once the biblical agricultural holidays are articulated for human cycles of work and pause, a further expansion is described for a 7 year cycle, shmita, and then a 50 year marker, which equals 7 cycles of 7 years and the 50th year. The 7 year cycle of shmita and the 50 year cycle called Jubilee are major events in the economic life of the Israelites, relating to all aspects of commerce, ownership, and relationship to the land. The cycle of 7’s organizes our personal week and year and it also organizes practices of rest and renewal which effect the entire landscape, economy and community. It is the 7 year and 50 year cycle that we will explore in future columns for guidance about sustainable land and economic practices.

May the 4’s be with you. And also the 7’s

Andrea

This Hebrew month is a time for exploring the themes of the high holiday season and preparing ourselves for their impact on us.  We begin to recite the poetry of the holy days. We hear the shofar at dawn each day. We soften the ground so the work of the season can penetrate us.

We are facing the equinox – when day and night are even and the scale tips towards the darkness of the planetary night, winter. We are older. The light is fading and the plants are withdrawing into dormancy.

It’s been a hard year.  We’ve adapted and we have felt depleted.  We’ve protested, we’ve learned, we’ve voted. And the justice we seek is still arriving, still shy of the horizon. The T-shirt that says it all for my age group claims: “I can’t believe I’m still protesting this stuff!” Our young families are trying to help their children thrive in an incredibly challenging environment. Most of the social supports (schools, in-house helpers, family) are constrained or unavailable. God bless them! And all of us in between are trying to thrive, to connect, to make a meaningful life amidst layer after layer of challenge. It’s been a hard year.

In our tradition, one answer to the question “How are you doing?” is: “Baruch HaShem Yom Yom;” roughly “The blessing comes day by day.” And this is true! Each day, I look for partnership in doing good works. Each day, I work in my garden and tend my hens. Each day, I look for the sparks of joy that arise from a task completed or a new appreciation or a renewed connection with a friend. This is always how it us – whatever our age and stage. Whatever kind of year it’s been.  If we are healthy or ill: Baruch HaShem Yom Yom.

Even the hard moments. Baruch HaShem that we care enough about creation to be stunned by climate change and ready to work for healing.  Baruch HaShem that we have a human heart that beats with empathy for the injustices we know so much about and have so limited a capacity to relieve. Baruch HaShem that we are not alone.

I look forward to being with you during the Yamim HaNorah-eem, as we say, The Days of Awe, The Days of Being Awestruck. Shana tova to you and yours. A good year. May we find comfort, joy and meaning in the sparks of each day.

Hi Friends. We all affiliate with different aspects of our Jewish community life. I want to describe a week in the life of the temple so you can see what our various teams are up to.Marsha and Norm are busy getting ready for our annual tag sale – with their wonderful team: Jean C, Ellen & Marc K, Wendy Iseman, Barbara Levy, Liz Kelner, Lenore Styler. Lots of great items were donated and proceeds will be shared between the temple and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. HIAS has been in support of refugees and immigrants for 100 years.Terry Plotkin worked with Buckley Health Center to get our services broadcast to Jewish and any other interested residents there. Denise Vassar, who brings a variety of social services and activities to residents, has been very devoted about this. Residents currently attend our Tuesday AM shacharit service and our Shabbat morning services as well. Thank you, Terry, for this good mitzvah.We are happy for all the grandparents and families that have been able to visit each other now that more of us are vaccinated. What a joy and a relief.A wonderful team comes together to beautify our home throughout the growing season. Last week, Nancee Bershof convened Paul Bloomberg (aptly named!), Marc Kaufmann, and yours truly. We trimmed bushes, weeded, worked up the materials into a compost area, etc. Nancee donated tons of beautiful marigolds and a small team waters the plants as needed. Eight new families have joined Temple Israel this past year. We are so excited to be creating outdoor events, zoom presentations and shabbat gatherings with them. Due to the generosity of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, we were able to add Alyssa Bauer to our Roots & Branches team. Alyssa is a young mom herself and is a great barometer for what will engage, serve and excite these new families. Stay tuned for future announcements about summer gatherings for this group.We are continuing to strengthen our musical and audio-video broadcast capacity. A few musicians, singers and tech trainees are planning to meet starting this spring to work with our equipment and sanctuary space to create and broadcast harmonious services in a covid safe way. Three of our teens are in the tech training group!Speaking of covid, we are activating an advisory group to plan for hybrid – including some face to face gatherings – for the summer and fall. Thanks in advance to those who will dedicate their time and skills to this assessment.A group dedicated to poetry has started to meet and we have some very talented writers and readers in our community. Look for announcements in your weekly emails to join us approximately quarterly.It is a privilege to co-create this life affirming work with you all.

Dear Ones,We continue to totter between hope and concern, weariness and resolve. Hope and spring come closer every day. More and more of us are relieved to be facing our covid vaccinations. The moment calls for an intention of gratrefulness. In gratitude for the human curiosity and creativity that brought us this medicine and in awe of the vast, complex and elegant creation itself, humbled by our capacity to effect global impacts and mindful of our responsibility to guard creation, you may wish to recite the following (or intend your own grateful words)b’Baruch Atah Yah, rofay chol basar oo-maMee la-asot. Blessed are You GREAT HEALER, who heals all Flesh and performs wonders.

We have faced 4 hard years. I try to stay in my boat of activism, connection and hope. But sometimes I find myself tipped over into the stormy waters of despair, fear and loneliness. Our tradition offers us powerful tools for resilience. Our daily prayer practices center love, hope and unity. Our calendar posts times to celebrate together and literally practice the simple skill of resting, disengaging from worldly concerns. At Temple Israel Greenfield, we have continued to gather to play and pray and study and learn and create. For myself and I hope for you, our programs have helped me stay in my boat and strengthen my keel.Six and a half years ago, when I came to Greenfield, there were myriad opportunities. “Opportunities” is a nice way of saying “we were in need of a fresh start.” Some relationships and trust had been broken. There was a need to focus on our core mission and a transparent process. The folks who helped TIG bridge from those challenging times to some new starts did so out of love of community, love of tradition and a commitment to Jewish life in Franklin. They were foresighted and stalwart. This team uncovered the problems, recovered a right orientation and helped us begin to discover a path forward.The members who weathered that transition have all my respect and most continue to contribute to vibrant temple life in many ways. Since then, some of you reading this now tip-toed into my office saying:’I want to know more about my Judaism.””I want to help build something here””It’s time for me to find out what Judaism means to me””It’s time for me to learn more.”Some of the folks who tiptoed in were facing personal barriers to come and explore. Perhaps they had felt left out in the past or too uneducated. Perhaps they had (or have!) deep doubts about God. But something compelled them forward. And many of those who tiptoed in are now learning, playing and creating with TIG. Some of them/you are leading programs. For this I am so grateful. The newcomers are of all ages and diverse identities. Welcome, welcome all.I am proud to say at this calendar turn of Tu B’shevat, the Birthday of Trees, we are adding a new layer of growth to our Temple Israel tree, a new link in the chain from past to future. Thank you for bringing your gifts and concerns to TIG.