from the pages of Kadima, the newsletter of Congregation Adas Emuno:

From the desk of …                    

 Rabbi Barry Schwartz

    

ISRAEL AT 70!

Some of us were alive to celebrate the birth of the modern state of Israel on May 14, 1948.

All of us are alive to celebrate the 70th birthday of the modern state of Israel this spring (the actual date this year corresponding to the 5th of Iyar is April 19).

I am sorry that I was not yet born to witness the miracle of Israel’s founding. The ingathering of the exiles, the revival of a Jewish state, the rebirth of Hebrew: Is there a more astounding event in all of Jewish history? What a marvel, after twenty centuries, to be able to board an airplane and eleven hours later touch down in the holy land of a sovereign Jewish state. What a privilege to be able to support Israel wherever we may live.

I call Israel “my other country” or “my second home”. It’s not simply because I happen to have dual citizenship, and the fact that my family of five have ten passports. It’s not simply because I studied there, got married there, worked there, served in the army there… in fact all of that was decades ago.

It’s because I believe if you are Jewish, Israel is your spiritual homeland, if not your physical one.

It’s because you are a citizen of the United States and you are a citizen of the Jewish people.

It’s because I believe that if America is your mother and Israel is your father, you should love both your parents.

Israel is family. You love your family… and you criticize your family. As I have said before: unconditional love does not mean uncritical love. You love your spouse and children unconditionally; that does not mean that you look away when you think they are wrong. You speak up for their sake; precisely because you care. Yes, we need to work for a more just Israel, inside and out. There is a time for criticism… but not at the expense of celebration.

At this time, let’s reiterate our love and praise of Israel—that’s what families do at birthdays. And so I am asking every member of the congregation to send me a one sentence line, “What Israel Means to Me….” (rabbiblschwartz at gmail.com)

We will read every response at our special Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) Shabbat service on April 27. Our goal is 70 statements for Israel’s 70 th birthday! We’re throwing a party… Join the Celebration!

from the pages of Kadima, the newsletter of Congregation Adas Emuno:

From the desk of …                    

 Rabbi Barry Schwartz

    

SPRING AWAKENING

The signs of spring are everywhere. I never cease to marvel at the rebirth of the Earth, from the flowers and trees to the profusion of new life. We tidy up the garden, move out the plants, and hang up the hummingbird feeders. The hibernating species shake awake and the migratory types wing their way back. And as Jews we celebrate our spring holidays.

By the time you read this, our great spring festival of Pesach will have passed over. Pesach celebrates not only spring awakening (in a nice coincidence it corresponded with Earth Day this year), but the rebirth of our people to freedom. If our biblical ancestors were to drop by they would recognize our holiday celebration with little problem. While the fifteen steps of the seder and the Haggadah have evolved over time, the essential story and symbols have remained unchanged. Passover, as essentially a home holiday, is the most widely observed of the Jewish holidays, by a long shot.

The same cannot be said of the biblical festival that follows “a week of weeks” later-Shavuot. Though it celebrates the first harvest and the momentous giving of the Torah at Sinai on the fiftieth day after the Exodus (and like Pesach was the object of a national pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem) today Shavuot is not well marked in the non-Orthodox community. Yet it is when we read the Ten Commandments and the beautiful Book of Ruth. Our Confirmation Class will uphold that tradition at our service on June 10 (7:30 pm). Celebrate the holiday and support our wonderful teens who dedicate three years after bar/bat mitzvah to this accomplishment.

Our biblical forbears would certainly not recognize two other special days that mark spring in the Jewish calendar, because they commemorate two epochal events of the 20th century-the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel. Yom HaShoah falls this on May 5 (there is a community ceremony in Fair Lawn that evening) and we will include appropriate music and words at our Shabbat evening service on May 6. One week later is Yom Ha’Atzmaut-we gladly celebrate the 68th birthday of modern Israel at our Shabbat evening service on May 13.

The Holocaust and the rebirth of Israel happened within the lifetime of older members of our community. But the passage of decades dims the memory for the generations that follow. There is no substitute for directly hearing from and seeing the eyewitnesses to the tragedy and the triumph. In the same way that I feel sorry that my children did not know my immigrant grandparents, and learn first-hand what it took to leave Eastern Europe and rebuild their lives in America, so we will face the challenge of the Holocaust and Israel’s founding moving from living history for us to “ancient” history for our youth.

As the most successful example of keeping memory alive, perhaps we can take a clue from the Passover seder. What new rituals can we create for the spring holidays that will enlighten and endure? The genius of the Jewish holidays is how they link the cycle of the seasons to the cycle of our history. In this age of environmentalism and globalism, as world citizens, but as bearers of ancient wisdom, there is much to ponder and to celebrate.

Religious School News

From the pages of Kadima, the Newsletter of Congregation Adas Emuno:

Cantor Sandy Horowitz
Religious School Director


RELIGIOUS SCHOOL NEWS

The Talent Show was a great success, and a lot of fun! A special thank­ you to everyone who worked so hard in the planning, including our class parents, as well as to those who participated ­ especially those of our students who shared their talents. We’d love to get even greater student participation next year! Lastly, thank you for your support of this event; the primary fundraiser for our school was also a financial success.

By the time you are reading this, our March 1 congregational­and­-school­-wide Purim program will have come and gone. This year we made every effort to include the religious school in the festivities. As I write this, we are planning to have students take part by singing not only traditional Purim songs, but they will also round out the chorus for a couple of the songs in the actual Purim Shpiel. Once that’s over–it will be time to start planning for Passover!

Our final two Family Shabbat services of the year will take place on March 20 (Grade 2­3) and April 24 (Grades K­-1). Won’t you put those dates on your calendar? Our youngest students would be so excited to see their older classmates and other congregants coming out to support them!


Here are some important Religious-­School-related dates to note for March and April: 

Sunday March 1
Purim Program! (during School hours)

Sunday March 15
Tot Mitzvah

Friday March 20
Shabbat Family Service
featuring the Grade 2-­3 students 

Sunday March 29
Creative Seder Program

Sunday April 5
No School–Spring Break

Sunday April 19
Tot Mitzvah

Friday April 24
Shabbat Family Service
featuring Grades K­-1
and a Celebration of Yom Ha’Atzamaut
(Israeli Independence Day)

Confirmation Class Dates:
Sunday March 8 and 22, April 12 and 26

adasschool at gmail.com

 

The Rabbi’s Top 10 Zionists

On May 8th, following the celebration of Yom HaAtzma'ut, Israel's Independence Day on May 6th, Rabbi Schwartz devoted his  online column for the Times of Israel to the ten most important individuals in the history of Zionism.  Here now is The Rabbi’s Top 10 Zionists:

Having just celebrated Israel’s 66th birthday this week, here is my list of the greatest Zionists. among so many deserving:

  1. Theodore Herzl—Visionary and a genius for political advocacy and organizing.

  2. Eliezer Ben Yehudah—Reviver of Hebrew as a spoken language.

  3. Chaim Weitzmann—Finest Zionist diplomat and first president of Israel.

  4. David Ben Gurion—The Israeli George Washington.

  5. Yigael Yadin—Soldier, scholar, archeologist: Masada, Dead Sea Scrolls.

  6. Golda Meir—Prodigious fundraiser and diplomat before Prime Minister.

  7. Moshe Dayan—Swashbuckling general and epitome of the new Israeli.

  8. Menachem Begin—Right-wing Prime Minster who made peace with Egypt.

  9. Abba Eban—Urbane diplomat and voice of Israel to the world.

10. Yitzhak Rabin—Soldier-turned-Prime Minster who shook Arafat’s hand.

Previous posts in this series include:
  
The Rabbi’s Top Ten: The Best of Everything Jewish

The Rabbi’s Top 10 Jewish Foods

The Rabbi’s Top 10 Jewish Modern Events 

The Rabbi's Top Ten Israeli History Events 

The Story of Hatikvah

In observance of Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, and in celebration of Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, we are pleased to share this moving video on Hatikvah:

Hatikvah, Hebrew for The Hope, is Israel's national anthem, and as this documentary explains, the story of Hatikvah, like the story of Israel, and the story of the Jewish people, is complicated. But the sentiment it expresses is simple, and straightforward. Here are the lyrics:

And while we're on the subject, here is a video from 1978, featuring Barbra Streisand in telephone conversation with Golda Meir during the network broadcast of The Stars Salute Israel at 30, followed by Barbra singing Hatikvah:





And so we say, Yom Huledet Same'ach to Eretz Yisrael, to the State of Israel, 65 years old now! 

Happy Independence Day!  

Israel: Defying the Odds

In anticipation of Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, here is a video courtesy of aish.com, entitled Israel: Defying the Odds: