Where Have We Been?

Have you missed us here on our congregational blog? Rest assured our synagogue is still going strong, nothing has changed in that regard!

We just have been busy constructing our new website, which has it's own built-in blog, which you can now find at our same old URL: adasemuno.org.

It's still under construction, as they say, but officially public now, and we hope you like it! And we'll continue to build and improve it as time goes on!

As for this blog, we will leave it up as an archive. In fact, our new website has links to various posts here. We may even use it on occasion. Only time will tell. But for now, come join us over at adasemuno.org. Tell'em adasemuno.blogspot.com sent you!

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

From the desk of …                    

 Rabbi Barry Schwartz

    

A TRIBUTE TO OUR PRESIDENT
 

…to the president of our Congregation, that is

As Lance Strate steps down from the helm, our thanks are due.

I will leave it to future historians to assess his legacy, but allow me to point out that Lance:

• Served three terms (six years) as our president
• He did so while maintaining a demanding academic career
• He did so while meeting demanding family responsibilities
• He gave witty weekly greetings and announcements
• He wrote wise and wonderful bimonthly bulletin columns
• He enhanced our community profile with articles in the Jewish Standard
• He ran our blog spot
• He coordinated our poetry garden meetings
• He wrote four Purim spiels
• He brought many an intriguing speaker (and a musical ensemble) to our Congregation
• He read Torah each Rosh Hashanah
• He offered a passionate High Holy day appeal

With all due deference to Sir (and later Saint) Thomas More, Lance was our “man for all seasons”. One did not have to agree with all of his views or methods to respect his dedication and learning. How many other congregations have a president who rolled up his sleeves to do all the committee and board work that is required, while writing blogs, columns, poems, spiels and appeals (not to mention several books in his own field of media ecology)?

I am very fortunate to have worked with Lance for the entirety of his term, and look forward to benefiting from his continued involvement as an “elder statesman” as we near (as Lance was fond of reminding us) our “sesquicentennial” (otherwise referred to as 150th anniversary) just three years from now.

Our heartfelt thanks must also go out to Barbara, Ben and Sarah for allowing Lance to dedicate such time and effort to our congregation.

And to Lance we say, hazak v’amatz—be strong, and may you go from strength to strength.

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

From the desk of …                    

 Rabbi Barry Schwartz

    

OUR TALENTED PRESIDENT

No, I‘m not talking about the leader of the free world, but the president of our shul.

It’s not every day that a rabbi writes about his president, but Lance Strate is so talented that I’m moved to do so.

What other Temple president enlivens announcements with a witty comment on my sermon week after week?

What other Temple president writes a Temple blog complete with links to entertaining YouTube videos?

What other Temple president writes a column for the local Jewish newspaper (see the Jewish Standard for his latest, Zayde for President) that offers provocative commentary on the media and current events?

What other Temple president convenes a monthly “Poetry Garden” that includes readings of his own charming verse?

What other Temple president writes his own Purim spiels, including last year’s off­-off-­Broadway hit The Schnook of Esther and this year’s Shalom Shushan? The latter premiers in its entirety on Wednesday evening, March 23 at 7:00 pm­ don’t miss it!

What other Temple president has not only written several books, but contributed to a new one with his rabbi? You can find both our pieces in Touching the Face of the Cosmos: On the Intersection of Space Travel and Religion (which you can find by visiting my Amazon authorpage). And look for information on a temple program about the book on Saturday, April 9 at 10 AM in a future post.



*   *   *   *   *   *   *      *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 
What other Temple president manages to do this while juggling more than his share of family responsibilities and a professorship at Fordham University?

Lance is completing his second term as Temple president, and without term limits I do not know if he will remain in office or anoint a successor. If the former, we will continue to benefit from his dedication and wisdom. If the latter, then may this column serve as a word of gratitude and appreciation.

And let’s remember that the talents of our volunteers run wide and deep. Whether on the board, on a committee, in the school... in a small congregation such as ours, your contribution makes a difference. My highlighting our president is really a salute to all who lend a hand in sustaining our special community.

The State of the Congregation

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

A Message From Our President

Dr. Lance Strate

The State of the Congregation 

President's Report Delivered at the 

Annual Congregational Meeting 

June 27, 2013

Every time I can remember watching the President of the United States deliver the annual State of the Union address to Congress, it seems that the opening line is always, "the state of our union is strong." A year ago, I did not expect to be in a position to make that sort of statement at the next annual Congregational Meeting, so I am especially pleased to be able to say to you now:

The state of our congregation is strong.

In Jewish tradition, we say that the most important thing is that you have your health, and for any organization, health is connected to finances. And to be honest, I had some significant concerns about our finances a year ago. While we gained a little breathing room with donations the year before from the unfortunate dissolution of Sons of Israel in Leonia and Temple Beth Am in Teaneck, we have had a history of running at a deficit year after year. Obviously, such a practice cannot be sustainable unless, like the government, you can print your own money, so it was important for us to be budget conscious, and place greater emphasis on fundraising than we had in the last year or two.

I am therefore pleased to report to you, as we near the end of our fiscal year on the 30th of this month, that it looks like we are breaking even this year, and maybe even coming out a little ahead. I think this represents significant progress, for which I take no credit, but rather thank the entire board for their careful and conscientious oversight of our expenses. And I especially want to credit our Treasurer and Buildings and Grounds Chair, Michael Fishbein, our Financial Secretary Mark Rosenberg, and our Finance Committee member Doris White, for their work in this area.

As I mentioned, fundraising is essential, and along with many individual donations and events that made a modest profit for our shul, our congregational Talent Show held this past April 20th not only contributed to our bottom line, but was an enormous success as well. For that, I would like to thank Virginia Gitter and Elka Oliver, and the many religious school parents who volunteered their time and efforts. I am also pleased to note that we continued our tradition of an annual Chamber Music Concert, now known as the Edward M. Cramer Memorial Chamber Music Concert Fundraiser, hosted by Robin Cramer, and we are very grateful to Robin for continuing to open her home in support of our synagogue. I would also note that we are renting our social hall for a children's reading program our of Rutgers University on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays; it started last Sunday and will continue through July. Aside from providing a little extra revenue, this is an experiment for us to see what is involved in this kind of arrangement, as it is an important option for us to help make ends meet. We have also added portals on our website and blog for Amazon.com and a Judaica store. So far, our returns have been quite modest, but every little bit helps, and I want to remind everyone that if you are buying anything from Amazon, make your purchase through our portal and you'll be supporting Adas Emuno, as we'll get a little cut; we even get a small amount if you just look at items through our portal. And please take a look at our Judaica store, they really have a wide selection of attractive items for sale.

I also want to take special notice of a fundraising effort on the part of Ollie Racciatti and Julian Pecht, which began as a joint mitzvah project for their bar mitzvahs. It was an ambitious project to hire a sofer, a Torah scribe, to restore one of our damaged Torahs. And we are all so very proud to note that they have met their fundraising goal this spring, and the restoration process is now underway. I also want to take this opportunity to note that we do need to purchase more prayer books, because we don't have enough for many of our b'nai mitzvah ceremonies. About thirty more are needed, so please donate to the prayer book fund. I also want to kick off our Sesquicentennial Fundraiser this fall; I had hoped to do it last year, but we still have a little time before it's the year 2021. And in conjunction with that, while I am not at liberty to reveal the specifics yet, I do want to inform you that we have recently received a very generous donation to the religious school and congregation that makes our financial outlook all the more positive.

Our By-Laws mandate that we present a budget to the congregation for approval, but this requirement has not been practiced here for many years. But this year we will be doing the right thing, and present you with a budget, one that we all can work from in the coming year. This is a first step, and we should get better at in subsequent years. We are also sending out bills a little earlier this year, and as I have noted in a Kadima column, our billing is almost a year behind schedule. Most synagogues require payment for the coming year before releasing High Holy Day tickets, whereas we look for members to be paid up for the previous year, and then bill everyone after the holidays. We have taken a small step to move the timetable up, and I would like us to continue to do so gradually over the next few years to get up back in sync. Doing it all at once would amount to asking for two years worth of dues for many members, which would present a hardship for many, so a gradual shift makes the most sense.

Financial health is important, but it is pointless unless we are spiritually healthy. And as a congregation, this has much to do with our spiritual leadership, and I think we all know how lucky we are to have Rabbi Barry Schwartz leading our congregation. Attendance at our Friday night Shabbat services has been exemplary, and the number of people who show up for the Saturday morning Torah study that he leads puts many larger temples to shame. He continues to make important contributions to our religious school, this year launching a family learning component, working with the b'nai mitzvah and confirmation students, and contributing in so many ways, from presenting thoughtful and inspiring sermons, to offering individual instruction and counseling, to participating in community events, to helping to keep the place tidy when need be (which is not part of his job description, I just admire the fact that he is not a prima donna). I am therefore pleased to inform you that Rabbi Schwartz has renewed his contract for the next two years, and hopefully he will remain with us for many more years to come.

This past year, Rabbi Schwartz was joined by student cantor, Alison Lopatin. For the coming year, we were unable to obtain a student cantor from Hebrew Union College, and will be utilizing a Cantorial Soloist instead, along with a separate b’nei mitzvah tutor . I will let our Ritual Chair, Virginia Gitter, tell you more about them, and thank you Virginia for chairing the Ritual Committee and leading the cantorial search. I would just note now that, whether this particular individual works out or not, it is good to know that there are alternatives to hiring a different student cantor every year, and there are alternatives that might provide us with more stability in the long run. Although this model will cost us significantly more than it would with a student cantor, this has been taken into consideration in preparing the budget proposal for the coming year, and we will be mindful of the cost as we look ahead to the year after.

Our Religious School is the jewel of Adas Emuno, and we began the past year with a new Religious School Director, Annice Benamy. Annice has worked hard to help generate more publicity for our school, for example by holding an ice cream open house last summer. And in response to concerns that our students were not being adequately prepared for their b'nai mitzvah, she worked hard to make our curriculum more rigorous and structured. I should also note that she has been kind enough over the past year to fill in as a cantorial soloist at numerous services. She has shown great energy and enthusiasm in carrying out her responsibilities. I will also acknowledge that the transition has had its challenges, and the board is aware of that, and will work to continue to improve our school over the coming year. I cannot help but note with great sadness the recent passing of David Benamy, husband of Annice, who contributed so much to our synagogue in the short time that he was with us, from making balloon animals at our children's events, to helping out with our computers and technology, to blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, to starting up a Youth Group for us, and serving as Youth Advisor. We all join together in mourning his passing. And I hope we can join together to see that his efforts on our behalf were not in vain.

I want to thank Amy Chartoff for her work as chair of the Religious School Committee, and note that for the coming year we intend to have significantly more board involvement in the committee, and will be looking for significantly more involvement on the part of the parents as well. This is an area in which we need to improve, and will improve, in the coming year. I also want to acknowledge Rebecca Kind-Slater for her work on events and activities for families with young children, and her efforts regarding preschoolers. In particular, I think we are all very proud of the fact that Rebecca and Annice successfully applied for the Union for Reform Judaism's Communities of Practice program on Successfully Engaging Young Families. Annice attended the first meeting in Chicago, and she and Rebecca continue to be involved in this effort, and welcome others to participate as well. Events like Super Sukkot Sunday, the Apple Picking Outing, and the Purim Carnival are great fun for everyone involved, and very much a sign of health for our congregation.

On the topic of education, our adult education program has been booming, thanks in no small part to our Adult Education Committee chairs, Norm Rosen and Fred Friedman. We have had a lecture on the Israeli legal system, movie screenings and discussions involving a documentary on Jewish boxers as well as the celebrated film Connected last summer, musical presentations on the Jews of India and the Yiddish theater, and classes in beginning Hebrew taught by Annice Benamy, and Yoga taught by Mia Howard. We have also continued to be blessed by outstanding musical performances, including the return of the Heritage Ensemble last December (and look for them to make it a threepeat this coming November 16), and the wonderful visit from the Yale a cappella group Magevet in January (and we are working on bring them back for an encore early next year), not to mention the music played by Rachel Musleah as part of her presentation on the Jews of India, the wonderful musical talent displayed at our talent show, the ever lovely sounds of our chamber music concert, and Diane Cypkin's performance of Molly Picon's Yiddish theater music. I want to acknowledge Robin Cramer again, and the Edward M. Cramer Music Fund, for supporting so many of our programs, and thank you as well to the Cramer Music Fund Committee.

Our adult education and religious school events are important not only in service to our members and the community, but also as ways to provide us with more publicity and increased visibility. A year ago, a refrain that we were hearing over and over again was that no one knows we're here. And while I can't claim to have completely overcome that problem, I believe we have made great strides over the past year. Our events have been reported on in Leonia Life, the Jewish Standard, and the North Jersey Record, as well as being posted in various places on the internet. I want to than Virginia Gitter, chair of our publicity committee, for her public relations work on behalf of Adas Emumo, as well as editing our newsletter, Kadimah, overseeing our mailings, chairing the ritual committee as well, and serving as recording secretary. I also want to acknowledge Rebecca Kind-Slater's contributions regard online publicity. On our own website and database, thanks go to Howard Goldstein and Kim Merlino for the work that they've done. I must concede, however, that I had hoped to be much farther along in bringing our internet services up to date, than we are now, and this has been one of the goals that we have fallen short on this past year. Our database software is less than adequate and lacking in most basic features (we can't even format our email blasts in any way, let alone add a flyer as an attachment). And our website needs a complete overhaul. This has to be a priority in the coming year, and we need volunteers who can help with the work. Even our congregational blog, which has largely been a one-man show for me, is not all that it could be because no one else is working on it. We also need to look to the internet as a cheaper and more ecologically sound alternative to mailings and printing a newsletter on paper, at least as an option that members can choose.

Our temple's image is important in making people aware that we exist, and in communicating a sense of the kind of congregation we are. To that end, one of the great lifts of this past year has been the design of a new logo for Adas Emuno by Lauren Rowland. This lovely and original image gets across the strong sense of community, participation, and the hamishe spirit that distinguishes our shul. It immediately has added great life to our letters and documents, and to our website and blog. We also have been long aware of the need for better signage, and Hurricane Sandy did us a favor by destroying our ugly, old, barely visible sign. Thanks to Lauren Rowland and Amy Chartoff, we have a beautiful new sign, one that features our distinctive logo, and we have added the lettering on the portico to make us easier to spot and identify as folks drive by. There are more improvements to come. We need to make them to improve our image, and to show to others and to ourselves that we care about our temple, that we're not a congregation in decline, but one that is vital and evolving. Of course, as we move forward in this way, we also need to remain fiscally responsible.

Buildings and grounds are an important part of our image, and again I want to thank Michael Fishbein and his committee for their hard work. I think we are all very pleased by the addition of the cabinets in the social hall, which provide for better utilization of space, give us more storage room, and allow us to place the garbage can out of the line of sight and people's paths. The addition of air conditioning to the social hall was also much needed, given the reality of global warming, and the increased use of the space during the summer. Thank you to Michael Raskin for his help on that front. I also want to note the continued improvements to our little garden area outside, really a wonderful feature of our grounds.

If we are not for ourselves, who are we? But if we are only for ourselves, what are we? One of the true highlights of this past year has been the revival of our Social Action Committee, led by Annette DeMarco. From Shelter Our Sisters to Bonim Builders to clothing drives, to opening our shul for those in need in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, to food drives and taking a turn at the food kitchen in Hackensack, to making lunch for Americorps volunteers, to collecting eyeglasses, pet food, and hosting a blood drive, Adas Emuno has been present and counted for in regard to tikkun olam, and I think this is one of the great success stories of the past year. So thank you again to Annette, to everyone on the Social Action Committee, and to all of our volunteers of Adas Emuno.

Perhaps the most important measure of our health is our membership, because Adas Emuno is the assembly of the faithful. And it may surprise you to hear me say that Adas Emuno does not have any members, but don't worry, I say that because Adas Emuno is its members. And at a time when all of organized religion is in decline, it is rather remarkable that we have held steady in our membership numbers. Of course, it would be nice to get a little bit bigger, but under the circumstances, it is no small feat to hold your ground when everyone around you is losing theirs. I want to thank our membership committee chair, Michael Raskin, who also serves as Vice-President, and takes care of relations with the Leonia community. Michael has also served as chair of the nominating committee this year, so we are all grateful for that service as well. And I want to appeal, once more, to you for your help. We need our members to be active and engaged, to serve on committees, perhaps even to serve on the board. If you're interested, don't be shy, let us know. If you have something to offer, don't be shy, let us know. And if you want to volunteer yourself or someone else, don't be shy, let us know. We need to give Virginia a break.

In regard to our organization, it has been many, many years since the by-laws of our congregation have been reviewed, and amended. This was another of my goals for this year, and I want to thank Fred Friedman and Norm Rosen for leading our by-laws committee, and working to bring them into alignment with current practices. I had hoped that we would have the proposed revisions ready in advance of our annual meeting, so that they could be put to a vote here, but unfortunately we fell short of that mark. But the work is nearly done, and we will have to hold a special congregational meeting in the fall, to discuss and vote on the proposed changes, and to further consider the role and rights of non-Jewish members of the congregation, a subject that requires consideration and deliberation on the part of our membership.

There are two additional goals that I set out last year that I do not feel have been adequately dealt with. One is planning for the future, and along with setting up a Sesquicentennial Fund, I will be establishing a Sesquicentennial Committee, charged with taking up the question of the future of our congregation. Where do we want to be in 2021? What are our long term goals, aside from simply surviving? It is essential that we think about the future, and our 150th birthday provides the perfect focal point for doing so. The other goal is listening. By that, I mean that we, the leadership of the synagogue, need to actively listen to the membership. It's not that we're deaf, I hasten to add, we certainly have been listening as much as possible, that's part of the job of being a trustee or an officer. But we need to be more proactive about it. I think having a congregational meeting about the by-laws will be helpful, and so will meeting with small groups of members to hear their concerns.

In conclusion, then, our congregation is strong, and I believe that we are moving forward, that we are better off today than we were a year ago, that we are getting stronger, and can get stronger still. In the end, our greatest strength is ourselves, what we each can individually offer in service to our shul, and what we all can accomplish by working together. So let's roll up our sleeves, all pitch in, and make this the best possible congregation that it can be. And may God bless you all, and God bless Adas Emuno.

Here We Logo!

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am pleased to introduce to you the new logo we have developed for Congregation Adas Emuno.  A letterhead version has already been distributed to members of the congregation, and here it is in banner format, for use online:

Why do we need a new logo?  Everyone who has a chance to experience Adas Emuno immediately gets a sense of our warm, intimate, hamish congregation.  But over and over again we hear people tell us how they didn't even that there was a Reform temple in Leonia, let alone have any sense of what we're like.  We need a way to catch people's eye, and communicate something about our unique identity.  This new logo is one of several steps we'll be taking towards solving this problem.

What happened to our old logo?  Actually, there isn't an old Adas Emuno logo that this new one is replacing.  In the past, we've used generic clip art, such as a very traditional, old-fashioned image of a menorah, and that made us look just like every other synagogue.  As a small shul, we need to present a distinctive image, to stand out from the pack.  We also want to project a more youthful and dynamic image, as a congregation for the 21st century.

What does the new logo symbolize?  The Magen David or Star of David (literally, Shield of David) is the longstanding symbol of Judaism, and it is important to provide a clear signal of our Jewish identity.  The six points of the star are formed through the image of six figures holding hands, to signify our emphasis on community (Adas Emuno literally meaning assembly of the faithful), that we are a congregation where every individual matters, where every individual can play an important role, can make a difference, where people come first.  The inspiration for this comes from our tradition of joining hands for the Misheberach prayer for healing, and is meant to convey the strength of our community, while the different colors represent our diversity and openness, as well as the joyful nature of our gatherings.

Will the new logo be used for our Religious School too?  It certainly will, and one of the appealing things about the design is that it is child-friendly, and helps to convey the value and importance we place on our children, and their religious education.  The success of our religious school is one of the most important indicators of our congregation's overall health.

How will the new logo be used?  For starters, we will be using the logo for our letterhead and flyers, as you can see here, variations will appear online on our website, blog, and social media profiles, and in the modest amount of advertising and promotion that we engage in. 

Who designed our new logo?  The logo was designed by Board of Trustee member Lauren Rowland, a gifted graphic artist, and I hope you will join with me in thanking her for making her talents available to our congregation for this important task.

Sincerely,

Lance Strate, President

Where the Debate on Modern Judaism Really Began

Here now is the third and final post from the Jewish Book Council's website, written by Rabbi Schwartz as a guest blogger there, in conjunction with the recent publication of his new book, the student edition of Judaism's Great Debates, with the adult edition due out next month.  Once more, we're pleased to be able to share these posts with you here on the official blog of Congregation Adas Emuno.

The mid-19th century in Germany is, to my mind, the most unappreciated period in Jewish history. The reason is simple: modern Judaism as we know it was born then and there. Do I exaggerate? I think not. Spinoza’s revolutionary thought in the mid-17th century certainly paved the way for new thinking (see Chapter VIII of my book). Mendelssohn’s attempts in the late 18th century to reconcile faith and reason lay the groundwork within the Jewish community. The early reforms of Israel Jacobson, along with the responses of the Parisian Sanhedrin to Napoleon in the first decade of the 19th century mark the irreversible first steps of putting theory into practice.

But modernity hits its stride in Judaism in the second decade of the 19th century. In 1817 the Hamburg Temple embraces reform of Judaism as its raison-d'être. In 1819 Leopold Zunz establishes the pioneering Society for the Culture and Science of Judaism, which advocates for the academic study of our sacred texts and religious heritage. The same year a leading traditionalist rabbi, Moses Sofer, castigates this approach in his broadside Eleh Divrei Habrit. The grounds for the great debate have been set.


The debate truly unfolds over a ten year period (1836-1846) between three giants of modern Judaism who were contemporaries, and actually knew and liked each other (until their disagreements drove them apart). Rabbi Abraham Geiger began arguing that Judaism has always evolved and should continue to change with the times. He called for radical shifts to meet the demands of modernity, including the critical study of Torah, the elimination of outdated prayers and customs, and the equal treatment of men and women. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, while acknowledging the need to engage in secular learning in the new age, contended that Judaism’s truths and law were eternal and not subject to evolution. Rabbi Zecharias Frankel, an advocate of “moderate reform” famously stormed out of an 1845 conference in Frankfort over the elimination of Hebrew from some of the liturgy.


Rabbis Geiger, Hirsch, and Frankel became known, respectfully, as the “fathers” of Reform, Orthodox, and Conservative Judaism. The spectrum of modern denominational Judaism was born in that time and place. Chapter IX of my book chronicles this remarkable debate. While the central locale of the debate would soon shift to America it was these three German Jewish leaders, through their sermons, books, and organizational activities who set the stage. Though hardly household names in the Jewish community today, we owe a debt of gratitude to their great debate. I once taught a course about them called “The Three Tenors of Modern Judaism.” Their magnificent voices created the opera we sing today.

The First Jewish Debate

This is the second of three posts written by Rabbi Schwartz when he recently served as guest blogger over on the Jewish Book Council's website, in conjunction with the recent publication of his new book, the student edition of Judaism's Great Debates, with the adult edition due out next month.  We're pleased to be able to share these posts with you here on the Adas Emuno congregational blog.





The first Jewish debate never ceases to amaze me. I am of course referring to the great debate between Abraham and God as recorded in Chapter 18 of Genesis. While Abraham’s epic story is remarkable, there is nothing in the prior (or subsequent) biblical narrative to indicate that the patriarch will challenge so boldly the God who commands his life so thoroughly. This is the quintessential man of faith, after all, who unquestioningly sets forth to a new land and submits even to the command to sacrifice his beloved son with nary a word of objection.




So when quite suddenly “Abraham came forward” (18:23) and dares God to morally justify the collective punishment of Sodom—well that is astonishing! “Will You sweep away the innocent with the guilty?” he pointedly asks in the same verse. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” he passionately exclaims two verses later. Abraham holds his ground as the debate goes back and forth concerning the minimum number of innocent people it would take to save the city.




The abrupt and apparently truncated conclusion to the debate (see 18:33) shifts the enigma of Abraham to the enigma of God. Does the Judge of all the earth in fact act justly? Do some innocent perish with the wicked? Were the wicked beyond repentance and mercy? Were the ordinary citizens of Sodom equally evil?




Who, then, won this debate? Certainly Abraham leaves quite a legacy. Abraham could easily have looked the other way. He could have idly stood by. Instead he decides to stand up to God no less, his guide and protector. In the words of Naomi Rosenblatt this story is about “the power of one man of integrity to be the conscience of the world.” In the words of Elie Wiesel “the Jew opts for Abraham—who questions—and for God—who is questioned… knowing that he may oppose God as long as he does so in defense of His creation.”






The Sages coined an expression for challenging God in the spirit of Abraham, “hutzpah k’lape shmaya—boldness (even nerviness) toward heaven.” This legacy of “holy hutzpah” finds expression throughout Jewish literature, but especially in Eastern European Hasidic tales like Rabbi Levi Yitzhak’s “Din Torah mit Got—Lawsuit with God,” and in another tale where he tells a simple tailor who challenged the Almighty in prayer, “Why did you let God off so easily? You might have forced God to save all of Israel!”

We Need More Jewish Debate, Not Less

Rabbi Schwartz recently served as guest blogger over on the Jewish Book Council's website, in conjunction with the recent publication of his new book, the student edition of Judaism's Great Debates, with the adult edition due out next month.  We're pleased to be able to share with you here on our congregational blog his three posts, beginning with this first one.



Some will tell you that we need less debate in the Jewish community; that for the sake of unity we need to stifle dissent and limit the amount we argue. I say that we need more debate, not less, and that we will emerge the stronger for it. But what we need is the right kind of debate….

My new book, Judaism’s Great Debates, posits that debate is not only desirable but is central to Judaism. Abraham, Moses, Ben Zakkai, Hillel, the Vilna Gaon, Geiger, Herzl…  heroes of every era of Jewish history are engaged in great debates. Moreover the Talmud is replete with debate; it is at the very core of rabbinic reasoning. Indeed it is the Talmud that coins a unique Jewish expression, makhloket l’shem shamayim—an argument for the sake of heaven. The tractate Avot famously teaches: “Every debate that is for the sake of heaven will make a lasting contribution. Every debate that is not for the sake of heaven will not make a lasting contribution.” (5:20) Our sages understood that a debate for the right reasons enhances Judaism. A debate for the wrong reasons detracts from Judaism.


Perhaps the most famous debating pair in Jewish history was Hillel and Shammai (after Abraham and God that is). In actuality it was not these two sages but their disciples that did most of the arguing. A wonderful passage in tractate Eruvin states: “For three years there was a dispute between Beit Hillel and Bet Shammai, the former asserting, the law is in agreement with our views, and the latter contending, the law is in agreement with our views. Then a voice from heaven announced: eilu v’eilu divrei Elohim hayim, both are the words of the living God.” Deep respect is given to both schools because both sides are speaking the truth as they see it, and have the welfare of the community in mind.

Samson Raphael Hirsch wrote that although in practice one viewpoint will usually prevail (the law went according to Beit Hillel almost every time), “both views will have permanent value because… [they] shed new light on the issue under debate, and will have contributed to the attainment of the proper understanding of the question discussed. They shall be remembered as… advancing the cause of the genuine knowledge of truth.” Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav went even further, calling debate a holy form of communication because it echoes the divine process of tzimtzum, making space for the creation of something new. Just as God enters into an act of self-limitation in order to make possible the created world, so worthy debaters restrain themselves in order to make room for opposing viewpoints. As Rabbi Or Rose comments, “When we disagree with one another, when we take sides, we create the necessary space for the emergence of new and unexpected ideas. Without makhloket… the horizon of human discovery would be severely limited.”

What your mother taught you is true: you can disagree without being disagreeable. A true debater must respectfully listen to the opposing viewpoint in order to articulate a response. A true debate is a conversation, not a yelling match. Would we only remember the next time we get into a Jewish debate that despite our differences we are actually on the same team, that because of our differences we will emerge more enlightened, that our arguments are for the sake of heaven, and that in the very act of debate we are echoing the divine!

Intermarriage: The Debate Goes On

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

From the desk of …                    

 Rabbi Barry Schwartz

    

Intermarriage: The Debate Goes On

Every Shabbat morning a group of members of Adas Emuno gather for Torah study, and for the last year we have been making our way through the entirety of the Hebrew Bible (called in Hebrew the Tanakh). A few weeks ago we started reading the Book of Ezra, only to discover that when this esteemed religious leader returned to rebuild the Temple after its destruction by the Babylonians, he encountered rampant intermarriage and inveighed passionately against it.

The debate over intermarriage in Judaism is more than two thousand years old, and showing no signs of letting up. Today there is hardly an American Jewish family that is not touched by it in some way. The latest brouhaha erupted this past December when the UJA-Federation of New York released a report calling for a major new initiative to welcome interfaith families into the Jewish community. A prominent professor from the Jewish Theological Seminary blasted the endeavor in the pages of the New York Jewish Week with a piece entitled “New Outreach to Intermarrieds Makes Wrong Assumptions.”

Professor Jack Wertheimer challenged the underlying premise of the report that large numbers of intermarried families remain aloof from Jewish life because they do not feel welcome. He argues instead that the “staggeringly high” rate of non-affiliation among interfaith families is due to their own choice. He pointedly cites the Federation’s own finding that only 18% of intermarried families in the NY area “feel it is very important to be part of a Jewish community” as compared to 95% of the in-married. And, sadly, we know from the most startling statistic of the National Jewish Population Study of 1990 (the last comprehensive survey) that only 28%, barely one in four children of intermarriage, are being raised as Jews.

In light of these harsh realities Wertheimer was apoplectic that the chairman of the Federation task force asserted that “we are not endorsing interfaith marriage or condemning it.” He calls such “stunning non-judgmentalism” a “devastating commentary” on our times. Echoing Ezra more than two millennia ago (and large segments of the traditional community today), Wertheimer terms intermarriage “bad for the Jewish people and for the perpetuation of Judaism.”

While acknowledging that there are real cases of unambiguous commitment by interfaith families, he insists that we realize that they are the exception to the rule. Wertheimer concludes that we must continue to vigorously oppose intermarriage because it runs counter to our religious and communal imperative to perpetuate Jewish life.

For now I will withhold my own differing view in the interest of stimulating more discussion.  Do you agree with Wertheimer or do you have a different view? What should be the proper response by the American Jewish community to intermarriage and to interfaith families? How do we acknowledge reality while preserving community?

I invite you to contribute to the discussion by posting a comment here on our congregational blog, or by emailing me at  RabbiSchwartz at adasemuno.org.

The debate on how to respond to intermarriage, which continues to hover near 50% of marriages involving American Jews, is too important to ignore.  Yet even as we engage in this persistent and perplexing issue, let us remember that intermarriage is not just a theoretical question. It is a family issue, a personal subject. We embrace a significant number of interfaith families right here in our congregation, and if your extended family is like mine, dear ones much the same. Our response is bound to involve the head and the heart…  and so it should.

Meet the New President of Adas Emuno

As part of an ongoing series, we'll be introducing you to the Officers and Trustees of Congregation Adas Emuno here on our blog, so that you can get to know a little more about our congregational leadership, and who we are as a Temple in the tradition of Reform Judaism.  And who better to begin with than our new President, Alan Spector.

Alan Spector, our new Adas Emuno President, was born and raised in New York City, in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx.  He graduated from the University of Maryland, earning a dual degree in Biology and Psychology with honors.   With his strong interest in science and people, he furthered his education by attending Tufts University’s School of Dental Medicine, gaining his DMD degree.   He came back to, of all places, the Bronx, for a general practice residency at Montefiore Hospital, located in his childhood hometown.  Alan states, “my life is a bit like the old sitcom…  Welcome Back Kotter,” as he had returned to practice Family and Cosmetic Dentistry on Doctor’s Row right down the street from Montefiore.  Alan is an active member of the Bronx County and First District Dental Societies.


Sheila, his wife, and Alan became Leonians in 1983, a few months after their first child was born, and sent their 3 children to the Anna C. Scott Elementary School in Leonia, where Alan, with his sense of involvement, became the “class mom” for each of his kids at various grade levels.  He was also the den leader for Ryan’s Cub Scout group.


The Spectors believe that instilling Jewish values in their children goes beyond the sanctuary.  They were fortunate enough to be able to send their children to Jewish-based sleepaway camps and teen tours, where Ryan, Kyley, and Jaimee met other youths from various locations throughout the country sharing the common bond of being Jewish.  All 3 of their young adults have been to Israel on the Birthright program, a free 10 day trip to Israel [see the previous post on this blog, Registration for Taglit-Birthright Israel Program].  Sheila and Alan are involved in hosting parlor meetings for Birthright Israel, where groups of about 20 parents of college-aged children gather to share their experiences of being the parents of returnees from this trip.  Of course, fundraising is also a part of this so that this program can continue, and the Spectors are proud to say that “it still does.”


 All 3 of Alan’s children became a Bar or Bat Mitzvah at Adas Emuno, each with different clergy presiding over their children’s service.  Alan feels that while we have been blessed with wonderful clergy throughout the years, Adas Emuno has continued to thrive due to the strength of our membership and congregational family.  Alan becomes internally upset when he hears that members of our Temple family (often after their child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah) no longer wish to be a part of our congregation.  As newly-elected President, he wants this to be a thing of the past:  Once a member of a family, always a member!


Besides the cliché that “a family who prays together, stays together,” Alan would like to hear from any and all members of the congregation as to how your extended family socializes and continues to thrive, how we can all work together on behalf of Congregation Adas Emuno.

Shalom Chaverim

Shalom Chaverim!  Greeting friends, and welcome to our new congregational blog.

Our goal here is to provide an additional means of communication with our membership, and more importantly, another way in which our members can communicate with one another, and share their thoughts, feelings, knowledge, and experiences.

Congregation Adas Emuno is a 21st century religious and spiritual community, carrying forward the reform movement in Judaism that began in the 19th century, and keeping faith with an evolving tradition that began some four thousand years ago.

Beyond our own congregation, through this blog we hope to reach out to the larger Jewish community, and to our local community here in northern New Jersey, and to all individuals of good will, no matter what their background or beliefs.

We are here to serve our community, to serve all of our communities, in the pursuit of tikkun olam, the healing of the world.

And so, we begin with a wish for shalom, shalom aleichem, shalom chaverim, shalom to you.