Gathering in the Garden

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

A Message From Our President

Dr. Lance Strate

The State of the Congregation

For the past five years, I have been able to begin my report by saying that the state of our congregation is strong, and I see no reason for departing from that tradition this time. It is true that we will have to face many challenges in the years to come, and that there will be difficulties and problems that we have not anticipated and cannot anticipate. That is the way of the world, the future is always uncertain, to some degree. But we can prepare for whatever is to come by doing all that is in our power to be the best version of ourselves, the best Adas Emuno that we can be. And to acknowledge and address those challenges that we do recognize. With this in mind, I will say to you this one last time, the state of our congregation is strong.

In politics, it is of course customary for office holders to take credit of all the good that occurs, and pass the blame for the bad off to others. But our congregational leadership has never been very political, and I want to state, for the record, that when I took on the role of president six years ago, I was very lucky. I was lucky because a period of deep financial distress had just ended, through a series of significant donations. I was also lucky to be able to work together with a group of trustees and officers who were willing to roll their sleeves up and put in the effort needed to keep our congregation running smoothly. And who were willing to put on their thinking caps, or I should say their thinking kippahs, and work out effective and creative solutions to the problems we faced, and come up with new ways to improve our shul and our school. And I was very lucky as well because the previous year Rabbi Schwartz became our spiritual leader; it has been a great gift to our congregation to have him join us, and it has been a great gift to me personally to have the privilege of working with him.

Rabbi Schwartz is a true inheritor and embodiment of the prophetic tradition that is central to Reform Judaism, as a voice for social justice and a champion of ethical conduct, as a teacher and educator of great intellectual acumen, as an individual of deep and abiding spirituality, and as an advisor, counselor, and caretaker in every sense of the word. Thank you, Barry, for all that you have given to us over the years. And let me add a word of thanks for the added bonus of our rebbetzin, Debbie Schwartz, who has also contributed to our congregation in many significant ways.

During my first two-year term as president, in contrast to the situation with our rabbi, things were a bit more problematic when it came to the roles of cantor, and religious school director. All that changed when we hired Cantor Horowitz. Those of us who attend Friday night services enjoy singing along with Sandy, to melodies we know so well, and to all of the new ones that she has taught us. And all of us who come for the High Holy Days know that she is truly a sweet singer of Israel. When Cantor Horowitz joined us, it was to fill the duel role of clergy and religious school director, otherwise known as Cantor-Educator. Four years ago, it was an experiment, and we were unsure as to how it would work out. It didn't take long to learn that this experiment was indeed a success, and Cantor Horowitz has done an outstanding job with our Adas Emuno School. Thank you, Sandy, it has been a great pleasure and a privilege to work with you these past four years.

I have dubbed Rabbi Schwartz and Cantor Horowitz our dream team, and these past four years our congregation has known a stability that we have not enjoyed for much of our recent history. And I am pleased to report that we can expect that stability to continue for this coming year, and hopefully, for many more years to come.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my fellow officers for all of their hard work over the past two years, thank you to Vice-President Elka Oliver, Financial Secretary Mark Rosenberg, Treasurer Marilyn Katz, and Recording Secretary Susan Gray. I also want to express my gratitude to Michael Fishbein for his work as chair of the Building and Grounds Committee, and also for his willingness to step up and take over the leadership of our congregation for at least a year, and work together with Elka Oliver as we move forward. Virginia Gitter also deserves special recognition for all of the many roles that she plays for our congregation, as a past president and current trustee, as chair of the ritual committee, publicity committee, editor of our newsletter, Kadima, and so much more; it is hard to imagine what Adas Emuno will be like without her, after she leaves for the west coast in the fall, but she has set an example and provided us with a model of service and commitment that we all need to emulate. Thank you, Virginia.

Six years ago, Adas Emuno was not very much engaged in social action, but that soon changed when we formed our Social Action Committee, and Annette DeMarco took over as chair; under her leadership, social action has become a significant component of our congregation's activities. I want to also acknowledge our other committee chairs, Susan Grey, chair of our Fundraising Committee; Elka Oliver, chair of the Music Committee; Jody Pugach, co-chair of the Cemetery and Religious School Committees; Michael Raskin, co-chair of the By-Laws and Religious School Committees; Norm Rosen, co-chair of the Cemetery and By-Laws Committee; Mark Rosenberg, chair of the Financial Committee and co-chair of the Membership and Internet Committees; Lauren Rowland, co-chair of the Membership Committee; and Ron Waxman, chair of the Adult Education Committee and co-chair of the Internet Committee. And I want to thank everyone else who has chaired our committees during my three terms, and everyone who has volunteered as members of our committees over the past six years.

I also want to express my gratitude to everyone who has served as a trustee during my time as president. It was especially during those first few years that our meeting lasted many hours as we worked diligently on behalf of our congregation, and I am grateful to all concerned for your patience, and for all that we have accomplished together during this time.

One of the first tasks we took on six years ago was to review and revise our by-laws, an effort then led by Fred Friedman and Norm Rosen. When you think about the importance of the Constitution to our nation, the same is true for the by-laws for any organization, including out congregation. A healthy organization will undertake such reviews every few years to determine whether they are being followed, and if not, whether to change the practices or to change the by-laws themselves. For this reason, we conducted a second review this past year, with the aim of clearing up some ambiguities regarding membership. The result is the proposed changes, approved by the board, that reduces our membership categories down to two, full members who have voting privileges, and affiliate members who do not. In part, this was to clarify the change made previously regarding voting rights of spouses. In part as well, it removes the financial category of membership unit from our by-laws, reinforcing the board's ability to set the structure for dues and fees. This was a result of the realization that the assumptions underlying membership units were outdated, for example the assumption that single parent families always are subject to financial hardship in comparison to two-parent families. These changes to the by-laws, if approved, will have no bearing on the dues structure as it exists at present, but it will be a topic that the board can review and revise in the coming year.

Over the past six years, Adas Emuno has been able to organize many interesting and entertaining events as part of our adult education efforts, musical programming, and more. For this past year, I would personally like to thank my friend Moshe Botwanick, aka Marc Salem, for providing us with a mind-blowing exhibition of mentalism, a performance that once graced Broadway and other major venues. And I want to thank all of the performers and musicians who helped to bring my fourth Purim spiel to life this past March, and it is with great pride that I want to acknowledge the inspired directing on the part of my son, Benjamin Strate, for the second year in a row.

Six years ago, one thing that kept coming up over and over again was the fact that many people in the area simply were not aware that there was a Congregation Adas Emuno. Over the past six years, that has changed dramatically, through efforts great and small, such as creating our logo and improving our outdoor signage, as well as obtaining significantly more publicity in the local press, especially the Jewish Standard. I can't remember the last time I heard someone say, I never knew you were here! Awareness does not always lead to action, but it is a step in the right direction.

During my time as president, we changed our database provider and website host, and our website was revised. We are presently considering further changes, and we especially need to create a more dynamic website than the one we have now. This is a task that should be completed in the coming year. As for our congregational blog, I have been working on it for a decade, and it has enhanced our online presence. I have in the past asked for others to contribute, and I think it is time for us to consider the future of the blog, and for others to take over our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the like. Moreover, over the past six years I have noted that organizations much larger than our congregation have long switched over to digital newsletters delivered by email and archived online. This would save a significant amount of money spent on photocopying and postage, and electronic documents allow for color images, better overall quality, and even the inclusion of video and links. Indeed, many other mailings could be accomplished electronically as well. Not all, of course, but most. It is my opinion that such a move is long past due, and that this is something that needs to be considered in the coming months.

Fundraising efforts are absolutely necessary for us, as membership dues, fees, and tuition does not cover our expenses, and it has often been said that we simply do not ask often enough. I want to applaud Susan Grey and the members of the Fundraising Committee for their efforts this year, including the marvelous Modiani Kitchen fundraiser this past October. We have added innovations like the Passover Appeal to supplement our Yom Kippur Appeal, and experiments like the envelope board, and I am gratified to witness the resurrection of an idea I introduced back when I started out as president, the sesquicentennial fundraiser, looking to raise $150,000 for our 150th anniversary.

And yes, it is now just three years to go until we reach our sesquicentennial year, 2021. I regret that all of the more immediate matters that we had to deal with kept us from starting to plan for our 150th anniversary, but now it is time to do so, to celebrate ourselves, the long term survival of our shul, and in doing so generate more recognition, publicity, and good will for our congregation.

In looking to the future, we have to consider the challenges that lie ahead. Some of them are financial. As I mentioned, we have been lucky, but depending on luck alone is a gamble, one that sooner or later you will lose. We are secure for the short term, but we are not always making ends meet, and that is not sustainable in the long run. We will have to confront this issue in the coming months and years.

Memberships and religious school enrollments have been declining over the years, a trend that is in no way unique to our congregation. We have been in a better position to weather the decline than other temples, due to our significantly lower overhead, and I hope as well due to the efforts we have made to raise our profile. But the fact remains that our numbers are going down. As I have said before, Congregation Adas Emuno does not have members. Congregation Adas Emuno is its members. Efforts at publicity help, but there is no substitute for social networks and word of mouth. I have called upon each and every one of us to be Adas Emuno ambassadors, and for all of us to do what we can. But we also cannot ignore the demographic realities.

As we continue to deal with these realities in the future, I think it is essential to avoid any form of parochialism in our outlook. Our members come from all over this part of Bergen County, and we have to keep that in mind. Our congregation is our community; it is not a matter of geography, but of a much more ancient and powerful form of affiliation. And we have to continue to keep an open mind and an eye out for opportunities for collaboration with other synagogues, including the possibility of sharing facilities with a conservative congregation. We also have to consider the possibility of either a merger or a move at some point in the future; after all, this is a congregation that started out in Hoboken. However the possibilities present themselves and the plans evolve, we have to proceed based on facts and objective assessments of our situation, but also with optimism, confidence in ourselves, and a sense of mission. This also means that practical concerns must be balanced with a clear and comprehensive adherence to Jewish ethics. As Hillel said, if I am not for myself, who am I? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?

Our congregation is strong, but it is not invulnerable. The strength of our congregation lies with its people, its clergy, its leadership, and its members. We live in challenging times in so many ways, locally, nationally, and globally, and we need to work together to meet those challenges, so that our congregation can continue to survive, and thrive.

Serving as the president of our adas emuno, our assembly of the faithful has been an honor and privilege, and I thank you for allowing me to do so. My time as president comes to an end as of July 1st, but not my service to the congregation. In accordance with our by-laws, having served at least one full term as president, I will automatically continue to serve another two-year term on the board as an officer, as Immediate Past President. I promise to try to help as much as I am able, and to be available for advice and consultation, but not to nudge or kibbutz (or not too much). I want to wish my fellow officers and trustees all of the best for the coming year. And may Congregation Adas Emuno continue to go from strength to strength to strength, as we look beyond our sesquicentennial, to our bicentennial celebration in the year 2071.

7 Reasons Why Einstein Should be Considered One of the Prophets

We are pleased to share the following op-ed by Adas Emuno president, Lance Strate, which was published on March 9th in the Jewish Standard.  The title it was published under was, Seven Reasons Why Albert Einstein is a Prophet, and here it is:

The number 139 is not one we are likely to pay attention to, so this anniversary may not get a great deal of attention. We tend to sit up and take notice when the anniversary is a multiple of 100, or 50, or 10, or even 5.


At the very least, we have a psychological bent toward even numbers, and 139 is decidedly odd. But if Einstein were still with us, he might point out that 139 is more than odd; that it is, in fact, a prime number, which makes it quite significant in its own right. He also no doubt would point to the arbitrary nature of anniversaries, and of calendars for that matter. Einstein’s date of birth on the Hebrew calendar was the 19th of Adar in the year 5639. This year, Adar 19 corresponded to March 6, last year it was March 17, next year is a leap year so it will be February 24 for Adar 1, and March 26 for Adar 2.

I suspect that the differences between the solar calendar of secular society and the lunar calendar of Jewish tradition had some influence on Einstein’s thinking. After all, when we say, for example, that Chanukah is coming late in a given year, it is just as true to say that Christmas and New Year’s are early. The experience of living with two so very different calendars could not help but point to the relativity of time.

And as we remember Einstein, we do so, along with the rest of the world, for his contributions to science, as the recipient of the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics, and the person named in 1999 as Time magazine’s Person of the Century. More than anyone else, Einstein was the person responsible for the paradigm shift in science that replaced Newton’s mechanistic view of the universe with a relativistic understanding of space and time.

And we also remember him as an especially noteworthy member of the Jewish people, one of our many gifts to the world, a prime example of what we sometimes refer to as yiddishe kop, intelligence born out of a tradition of literacy and learning, one in which teachers and sages are seen as heroic. And we may also recall that as a Jew, Einstein was forced to flee Nazi Germany as a refugee, and that he was a supporter of the Zionist movement and the State of Israel.


 

We do not remember Einstein in a religious context, however; he was not a rabbi or talmudic scholar or theologian. I want to suggest, however, that we should remember him as a prophet. Admittedly, in our tradition we consider the age of the prophets to have ended long ago, but we cannot rule out the possibility of modern prophets altogether. And while we would tend to be suspicious of anyone claiming to be a prophet today, Einstein never made any such claim, so he cannot be rejected as a false prophet.

But I do think a case can be made, and I hope you will consider the possibility as I put forth seven reasons for naming Albert Einstein as a modern-day prophet.

1. Einstein’s name has become synonymous with genius. We typically say that a given individual “is” a genius, but everyone who truly fits the description will more accurately refer to “a stroke of genius” in the sense of something coming from outside of themselves. The word “genius” originates from ancient Rome, and refers to a guiding spirit or deity, a supernatural source, like a guardian angel. (Prophets are the recipients of divine revelation, some form of communication, or we may call it inspiration, which literally means, “to breathe into,” which is how God brings Adam to life in the Book of Genesis.)

2. As a teenager, Einstein imagined himself chasing after a beam of light, which led to his understanding that light cannot be slowed or stopped, that the speed of light is constant, and that it is time, instead, that must vary. This thought experiment was the foundation that led to his special theory of relativity. Other thought experiments followed, notably the difference in what we  would observe when standing on a train vs. standing on a platform as bolts of lightning strike the train. (Prophets are known to receive revelation via visions, as in Jacob’s ladder, Joseph’s dreams, the chariot of fire that appeared to Elijah, and Ezekiel’s wheel within a wheel.)

 


3. One of Einstein’s most significant achievements was determining the nature of light as consisting of quanta, aka photons, and that light has a dual nature, as both waves and particles. Clearly, he had a unique relationship to the phenomenon of light. (Prophets are closely associated with light and enlightenment, Genesis famously says that light was the first of God’s creations, Moses has a halo when he descends from Mount Sinai after speaking to God face-to- face, a direct encounter with the divine countenance that we pray may shine upon us.)

4. Einstein gave us a new way of understanding the universe, of space and time as a single phenomenon, spacetime. (Prophets teach us about the nature of Creation to better understand the Creator, and our place in the world.)

 

5. Einstein invoked the philosophy of the Enlightenment founder Baruch Spinoza in explaining his own view of a pantheistic God. That is a view that traditionally has been seen as heretical, but is consistent with some approaches to Kabbalah, God as the Ein Sof, and certainly is acceptable within Reform Judaism. Above all, it is a view consistent with science; as Einstein famously remarked, “science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” His resistance to the uncertainty principle of quantum theory was famously expressed in the quote, “God does not play dice with the universe,” asserts that Creation is governed by laws that are rational and ultimately discernible, as well as based on an underlying monotheism, as God would have no one to play dice with. (Prophets often have been critics of established religious authority, in favor of a direct encounter with God via nature.)

6. Einstein spoke out for social justice. He did so on behalf of his own people, in opposition to Nazi Germany, and in favor of Zionism and the State of Israel, but also as a strong critic of racism and supporter of the civil rights movement in the United States. He also was quite critical of capitalism, arguing on behalf of socialism and advocating for a democratic world government and pacifism after the conclusion of World War II. (Social justice is one of the primary themes of the Prophets section of the Tanach.)




 

7. Einstein warned President Roosevelt of the danger of Nazi research into the development of the atomic bomb, leading to the Manhattan Project. He later became an outspoken critic of nuclear weapons. His warnings largely have fallen on deaf ears, at least as far as governments are concerned. In 1947, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists introduced the image of the Doomsday Clock, setting it to seven minutes before midnight. On January 25 of this year, the minute hand was moved up to two minutes before midnight, the closest it has ever been, mainly because of North Korea and our president’s threatening remarks, and not taking into account Putin’s recent statements about Russian nuclear missile capability, and his animated image of the bombardment of Florida. (The biblical prophets issued warnings about the destruction of Israel and Judea, and the name Jeremiah has become synonymous with pronouncements of doom.)




 

Einstein’s predictions in the realm of physics continue to be supported by astronomical observation and experimental evidence. Perhaps his predictions about society and politics ought to be taken seriously as well?

Why bother arguing for Einstein as a prophet?

• Because American culture always has had a strain of anti-intellectualism, one that includes resistance to many aspects of science, notably Darwinian evolution.

• Because climate change is at least as great a threat as nuclear war, and is being met with denial, dismissal, or disinterest from significant portions of the population, and all too many in leadership positions.

• Because facts and logic are under assault by religious fundamentalists, cynical political opportunists, and corporate executives with eyes only for short term profits.

As Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz makes clear in his recently published book, Paths of the Prophets: The Ethics-Driven Life, our prophetic tradition is of vital importance, one that always has and always will be relevant for us.

 
Naming Albert Einstein a prophet should not detract from this tradition, but rather enhance it, by adding a dimension that we need now more than ever: the truth that ethics cannot be divorced from an understanding of the world, of reality, in all its complexity, and glory.

Faith Leaders on Martin Luther King Jr.'s Religious Legacy

This past April 4th marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the religious legacy of the civil rights leader was the subject of an article published on April 2nd in the Deseret News, which identifies itself as, "first news organization and the longest continuously-operating business in the state of Utah," and is owned by the Mormon Church. What does this have to do with Congregation Adas Emuno of Bergen County, New Jersey, you may ask? The answer is clear enough: Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz, our spiritual leader.

The article, entitled, Faith leaders Reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.'s Religious Legacy, and written by Kelsey Dallas, begins with the pastor of a Baptist Church in Salt Lake City:

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is a silent participant in every meeting held in Calvary Baptist Church's conference room. He stares down at those gathered from three of the room's four walls.

The Rev. France Davis, Calvary's longtime pastor, chose this repetitive decor, in part, to honor the Rev. King's role in his life. His ministry career, which spans more than four decades, grew out of his experiences fighting for a better world alongside the Rev. King.

"That's what I've been doing all my life: trying to change laws, to make sure all people are treated equally," the Rev. Davis said.

But the portraits and pictures of the pastor and civil rights leader in the conference room don't just acknowledge the past. They remind church members to dream big dreams for the future, presenting the Rev. King as a symbol of what's possible when faith is put into action.

"He's an example of how to bring about positive change," the Rev. Davis said.

It's not just religious Americans who see the Rev. King this way. Fifty years after his assassination on April 4, 1968, he's hailed as an American hero, held up as someone whom all political activists should emulate.

The Rev. King's broad appeal sometimes troubles the faith leaders who knew him and continue to draw inspiration from him. They see his quotes used to support secular political goals or hear his voice during a truck commercial and worry Americans are forgetting the deep faith that anchored his activism.

This is where Rabbi Schwartz is first mentioned:

"It's legitimate to quote him in the most general of ways, but I don't think we should forget that he was an example of religious faith at its best," said Rabbi Barry Schwartz, author of Path of Prophets: The Ethics-Driven Life, which was published on March 1.

A nice plug for our rabbi's new book!

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The article now returns to Reverend Davis:

The Rev. King brought the Bible alive for participants in the civil rights movement, never ceasing to be a pastor even as he took on other roles, the Rev. Davis said.

"He was trying to get people to put feet to their beliefs, to make their beliefs practical in terms of the way they went about their daily lives," he said.

The Rev. Davis first heard about the Rev. King's work when he was 15 or 16. He knew Christians were called to serve their neighbors, but his energy was lacking.

"I understood that to be the need, but I didn't feel empowered to do it," said the Rev. Davis, who grew up in rural Georgia.

The Rev. King's impassioned speeches brought about a change of heart. The Rev. Davis began to see his belief in God as a reason to take action, not just to pray and sit in church on Sunday.

"They were inspirational in every way. They caused those who heard them, me included, to want to act," the Rev. Davis said.

At this point, the article moves into a new topic, the social gospel, which parallels our own emphasis on social justice and tikkun olam:

The Rev. King wasn't preaching something new. He was continuing the work of others who'd emphasized the social gospel, or the belief that people of faith should try to build a more just society, not just save people's souls, said Clayborne Carson, founding director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

"The social gospel really had its roots in the United States … in the late 19th and early 20th century," he said.

Members of the early social gospel movement sought to protect workers during the rapid industrialization of the U.S. They fought for better working conditions and fair pay, turning to the Bible for spiritual nourishment and the motivation to act.

The Rev. King carried the spirit of this activism into the civil rights movement, presenting the fight for racial equality as a deeply spiritual pursuit. He faced pushback for this approach, including from within the National Baptist Convention, which his grandfather helped found, Carson said.

"The elected leader of the National Baptist Convention opposed King and felt that the role of the pastor is to try to achieve salvation for members of the congregation and that the church shouldn't really be focused on social issues," he said.

And now, the article brings Rabbi Schwartz back into the conversation, and Congregation Adas Emuno with him:

However, many others, including Jews and other non-Christians, were receptive to his message. The Rev. King energized old teachings, inspiring believers like the Rev. Davis to live out their faith in new ways.

For some Jewish leaders, this meant proclaiming God's calls for justice all the way to jail, said Rabbi Schwartz, who leads Congregation Adas Emuno in Leonia, New Jersey. His own rabbi was one of 16 arrested in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1964 after joining the Rev. King there to rally for racial equality.

"There was a history of activism" in many religious traditions, he said. "But King was the singular figure who could galvanize their social-justice work."

And speaking of the relationship of rabbis to Dr. King, it is not surprising to see the name of Heschel come up:

The Rev. King drew on the Old and New Testaments in his sermons and public addresses, which helped him unite Jews and Christians, said Susannah Heschel, a professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College.

"If you look at his major speeches, he quotes (the prophet) Amos more often than Jesus," she said.

He learned this approach in the black churches of his childhood, she added. African-Americans took comfort in and felt empowered by the Old Testament stories of prophets seeking justice and the Israelites escaping slavery in Egypt.

Heschel's father, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, also influenced the Rev. King's biblical engagement. The Rev. King carried a copy of Rabbi Heschel's book, The Prophets, in his pocket during marches, and it gave him strength to bring a prophetic voice to racial conflict.

"The prophets remind us of the moral state of a people: Few are guilty, but all are responsible," Rabbi Heschel wrote. "To a person endowed with prophetic sight, everyone else appears blind."

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The article now returns to Reverend Davis and a Christian emphasis:

The Rev. King wed the prophets' radical acts of service with Jesus Christ's teachings in the New Testament, the Rev. Davis said.

"His message was clearly one about love based on New Testament theology and teachings, but his examples of showing love were from the Old Testament," he said. "He was masterful in weaving the two."

But this mastery often goes unnoticed in contemporary celebrations of the Rev. King, the Rev. Davis added. People are content to applaud his charisma, rather than understand the theological and historical claims anchoring his speeches.

"We gravitate toward the rhythm and the sound as opposed to the message being communicated," he said.

For example, most Americans are familiar with the Rev. King's dreams in his "I have a dream" speech from the March on Washington. He dreams that his children will be judged for their characters, not the color of their skin. He dreams that white children and black children will one day be able to join hands in Alabama.

Fewer people can recall earlier parts of the speech, when the Rev. King recounted unfulfilled promises made to black Americans when the country was founded and assured his followers that "unearned suffering is redemptive."

"With 'I have a dream,' everybody knows the last part of that speech, but earlier is where the meat is," the Rev. Davis said.

And now back to Rabbi Schwartz one more time:

To truly understand the Rev. King's revolutionary work, you have to grasp how central the Bible was to his activism, Rabbi Schwartz said.

"He was motivated by general ideas of justice, but, at the same time, he was coming from a Judeo-Christian perspective," he said.

Rabbi Schwartz is followed by a testimony from Susannah Heschel:

Heschel was active in the Jewish community throughout her childhood, attending Hebrew school classes and learning to interpret the Bible. Like the Rev. Davis, she knew what she was supposed to be doing, but she wasn't particularly excited to be doing it.

“I didn’t like Hebrew school. I found the way the Bible was taught to us to be very dull," she said.

The Rev. King's friendship with her father changed everything. He brought the words of the biblical prophets alive, showing Heschel the value of learning them.

“King changed my life and gave me a love of the Hebrew Bible and a love of the prophets," she said, crediting the Rev. King with inspiring her to become a professor of religion.

And the article gives Reverend Davis the last word:

The Rev. Davis offered similar praise, explaining that he's modeled his ministry after the Rev. King's work. Each week in his sermon at Calvary Baptist, he urges his congregation to go out into the world and improve it. He preaches on the importance of serving others and tries to lead by example, promoting policies like fair housing and Medicaid expansion.

"I'm one of his disciples in that sense," he said.

When the Rev. Davis learned of the Rev. King's assassination, he knew there were plenty of people like himself to continue proclaiming the Rev. King's prophetic message. However, he worried about the loss of a man who encapsulated the entire struggle for civil rights. The movement would persist in pieces, rather than a unified whole.

"I was concerned that it was piecemeal—one person talking about this and one person talking about that," the Rev. Davis said.

Reflecting on the state of faith-based activism today, the Rev. Davis said he's come to appreciate this piecemeal approach. He likes that some houses of worship specialize in feeding the hungry while others expertly lobby legislators for fairer policies.

The Rev. King's legacy is alive in many places at once, he said.

"When (this activism) was done by one person, it was localized to a particular area. … With a number of different people, it can be in several places," he said.

The Rev. Davis wants visitors to know that Calvary Baptist is one of those places, so he put a small model of the Rev. King's Washington, D.C., memorial on the church's reception desk. Arms crossed, the miniature Rev. King stares sternly out at new arrivals from under a large green plant.

"With Dr. King, you knew you were in the presence of greatness," the Rev. Davis said.

It is certainly an honor to have our rabbi, and our congregation, included in an interfaith article on so important a topic, published all the way out in Salt Lake City, Utah!

Rabbi Schwartz's Reading for Pesach 5778

From the March 30th issue of the Jewish Standard, we are pleased to share Rabbi Schwartz's special reading for Pesach 5778, entitled "In Every Generation":

In every generation/We come out of Egypt.

Let freedom ring.

In every generation/We stand up to Pharaoh.

Let freedom ring.

In every generation/We part the waters.

Let freedom ring.

In every generation/We march toward the Promised Land.

Let freedom ring.

In every generation/We teach our children.

Let freedom ring.

In every generation/Our children teach us.

Let freedom ring.

In every generation/We march for our lives.

Let freedom ring.

In this generation/Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech/We march for our lives.

Let freedom ring.

In this generation/Orlando, Las Vegas, Parkland.

We march for our lives.

Let freedom ring.

In this generation/Two hundred sixty five million guns fill our country.

We march for our lives.

Let freedom ring.

In this generation/Ninety seven souls die from gun violence each and every day.

We march for our lives.

Let freedom ring.

In this generation/Young and old, black and white, Jew and gentile… said enough; enough.

Let freedom ring.

*Participants at the Seder are invited to echo the repeating lines.

Social Action Spring

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


 

A Report from Annette DeMarco
Social Action Committee Chairperson




 


Hello All!

The number of the moment is 183! That is how many items of soup we collected and donated to the Center for Food Action… and during one very, very cold winter! Thank you to all who took part in our "Souper Bowl"!

We are now working with the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey as this organization sponsors its March Mega Food Drive. Please bring non-perishable foods to the vestry room between now and March 19, and place in our Community Purim Baskets. Donations will be brought to the JFNNJ office and from there distributed to local food pantries.

Another chance to help: On Sunday, March 25th, families are being asked to help sort the food collected as well as pack week-end snack packs for children in need. Please go to www.jfnnj.org/fooddrive to register and to find a list of most needed food items. There are no age limitations to participate!

Save the Date: Sunday, May 6

For the third year, our congregation will be part of Family Promise Hike or Bike in Ridgewood. This event raises money for homeless, working families with children. Participants can choose to hike (walk through town) or bike for three miles, or bike for 15 miles. There are lots of family activities plus refreshments. Stay tuned for more information!

Social Action Committee Meeting: Thursday March 15 from 6:30-7:30 PM. New Members Welcome! I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to those who answered our call to support March for Our Lives by making a donation or purchasing merchandise. Marchforourlives.com

L’Shalom,
Annette 
acheryl21 at gmail.com