Shana Tova from LatmaTV

There's still time for another Rosh Hashanah greeting, this time from LatmaTV in Israel:







I got a feelin'
That this year's gonna be a good year!


A wonderful wish for the New Year indeed, to which we reply, 


Kein Yehi Ratzon! 

May it be God's will that it be so!

Poetry for the New Year

Poetry for the New Year

A Rosh Hashanah Message

from Doris White, Financial Secretary

Congregation Adas Emuno

Leonia, NJ

Delivered on Rosh Hashanah

September 10, 2010

1 Tishrei, 5771

During this very hot summer, I talked lots of poetry with my friend Joan Klein. We shared favorites and suggested new poems and that talk enriched me and my dedication to words. 

Emily Dickinson has defined poetry in this way: She said,“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?”  So hang onto your kippas or yarmulkas , and let me add that I know it’s poetry when the words echo in the crevices of my heart.


We remember at this season those who have left us, and we remember most deeply mothers and fathers.  “Those Winter Sundays” by the African-American poet Robert Hayden is about a father:

Sundays too my father got up early 


And put his clothes on in the blueback cold, 


then with cracked hands that ached 


from labor in the weekday weather made 


banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. 



I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. 


When the rooms were warm, he'd call, 


and slowly I would rise and dress, 


fearing the chronic angers of that house, 



Speaking indifferently to him, 


who had driven out the cold 


and polished my good shoes as well. 


What did I know, what did I know 


of love's austere and lonely offices?

Billy Collins speaks of his mother as he recalls a present he once gave her:

The Lanyard - Billy Collins

The other day I was ricocheting slowly


off the blue walls of this room,


moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,


from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,


when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary


where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard. 

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist


could send one into the past more suddenly—


a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp


by a deep Adirondack lake


learning how to braid long thin plastic strips


into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard


or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,


but that did not keep me from crossing


strand over strand again and again


until I had made a boxy


red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,


and I gave her a lanyard.


She nursed me in many a sick room,


lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,


laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,


and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,


and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.


Here are thousands of meals, she said,


and here is clothing and a good education.


And here is your lanyard, I replied,


which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,


strong legs, bones and teeth,


and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,


and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.


And here, I wish to say to her now,


is a smaller gift—not the worn truth

that you can never repay your mother,


but the rueful admission that when she took


the two-tone lanyard from my hand,


I was as sure as a boy could be


that this useless, worthless thing I wove


out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

This is also the time of repentence to say I’m sorry--forgive me. William Carlos Williams in his poem “This is Just to Say” might help us:

This Is Just To Say 

  

William Carlos Williams 

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

I would like to end with a poem of blessing by James Wright:


A Blessing

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota, 


Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass. 


And the eyes of those two Indian ponies 


Darken with kindness. 


They have come gladly out of the willows 


To welcome my friend and me. 


We step over the barbed wire into the pasture 


Where they have been grazing all day, alone. 


They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness 


That we have come. 


They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other. 


There is no loneliness like theirs. 


At home once more, they begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness. 


I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms, 


For she has walked over to me 


And nuzzled my left hand. 


She is black and white, 


Her mane falls wild on her forehead, 


And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear 


That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist. 


Suddenly I realize 


That if I stepped out of my body I would break 


Into blossom.

Tashlich

Here at Congregation Adas Emuno, we have a tradition of observing the second day of Rosh Hashanah with a Tashlich service, followed by a picnic, at the Englewood Boat Basin in Bergen County.


Tashlich (תשליך) means "casting off" in Hebrew, and the Tashlich ritual involves tossing pieces of bread into flowing water, to symbolize the casting off of the sins of the previous year.


Here are some photographs from this year's Tashlich ceremony, led by Cantor Shapiro:

And with that, we wish you all a Gut Yor!    !גוט־יאָר      Happy New Year!

Hunger In America

A Rosh Hashanah Message 

from Norman H. Rosen, Trustee

Congregation Adas Emuno

Leonia, NJ

Delivered on Rosh Hashanah Evening

September 9, 2010,

1 Tishri  5771

Dear Friends.


On Yom Kippur we will read the stirring words of the Prophet Isaiah:

No, this is the fast I desire:

…

It is to share your bread with the hungry,

And to take the wretched poor into your home;

…

Then, when you call, the Lord will answer;

When you cry He will say: Here I am.    

If you banish the yoke from your midst,

…

And you offer your compassion to the hungry

And satisfy the famished creature.

Hunger is a growing problem in America, in Bergen County, and in our nearby communities. Most of us experience Bergen County as a very prosperous place, and it is by most measures. But there is a hidden Bergen County that we seldom see.  That is the Bergen County of the over 16,000 of our neighbors who were provided in 2009 with 50,000 emergency food packages. Each package contained a week’s supply of food for a family, and came from the Center For Food Action, Northern New Jersey’s major anti-hunger organization. That  number includes 170 people from Leonia, 2,488 from Teaneck, 1,046 from Bergenfield, 906 from Cliffside Park, 4,605 from Englewood, and 6,387 from Hackensack. But those numbers understate the problem. For the number of people who have sought food assistance from the Center has increased this year by more than 20% compared to 2009, and there are also people who were helped by others, or who get no help. Nationwide, 14% of U.S. households, 40 million people, struggle to put enough food on the table, and that includes 17 million children, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


Our Jewish tradition has much to teach about hunger.  Hunger is not a new subject in Jewish history. At the start of our history as a people, God fed us manna in the desert, without which we would have starved. We are enjoined, throughout the Torah, to feed the hungry. The requirement in Leviticus 23:22 that, "when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleaning of your harvest,  you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger…" is one example. In Deuteronomy 14:28-29, we are told to provide at the end of each third year 1/10th of our produce so the "Levite…, and the stranger, the fatherless and the widow can come and eat and be filled." The Midrash says, "When you are asked in the world to come, 'What was your work?' and you answer, 'I fed the hungry,' you will be told 'This is the gate of the Lord, enter into it, you who have fed  the hungry'" (Midrash Psalms 118:17). Our Rabbis taught "Give sustenance to the poor of the non-Jews along with the poor of Israel" (Gitlin 61a).


Chasidism teaches that our role in life is "tikkun olam", the repair of our broken world. The large number of people who are hungry, whose food supply is insecure and who do not get enough to eat in America is a national disgrace, a shanda. It is sad evidence of just how broken our world is. What better way to help repair our world than to bring food for the hungry to our temple on Yom Kippur, to support organizations like The Center for Food Action and Mazon, A Jewish Respose to Hunger, with contributions of our time, money and food throughout the year; and to teach our children and our grandchildren through our actions and words to aid people who need help, so they too will, in Isaiah’s words,

…offer [their] compassion to the hungry

And satisfy the famished creature.

And let us pray that the words at the beginning of the Birkat Ha Mazon, the prayer recited at the end of meals, shall be fulfilled for all in our own time:

Blessed are You Lord

Our God, Ruler of the universe,

Who consistently feeds all out of goodness

With grace, with loving kindness, and with mercy.

God  gives bread to all living things

God is eternally merciful.

And because of God’s great goodness

Never are we lacking or will we lack

Food forever or longer

                                
                            

Welcome Back to Our Students!

Today is the first day of religious school, and so we at Congregation Adas Emuno extend our warmest welcome back wishes to our Religious School students.  Here are a couple of photographs from last year:

Religious School Director Jennifer Katz-Goldstein 

with teen staff members Deanna Morin, 

Sydney and Samantha Labombarda

Matzoh making on Passover 

with parent volunteer Amy Chartoff and teen helpers

We work hard at Adas Emuno to offer our children a religious schooling that is inspiring and exciting, as well as educational.  

May the new school year be a sweet year, once again!

In Memorium

On this day following Rosh Hashanah, Congregation Adas Emuno joins with our neighbors all around the world in remembering those we have lost, and praying that we all may be inscribed in the Book of Life for the blessing of peace.

The Time of Year to Make Your Soul Bigger

The High Holy Days are the time of year when we dedicate ourselves to repentance, prayer, and charity in an effort to make our souls bigger!  Here's another music video on that topic, courtesy of our friends at the National Jewish Outreach Program, called Soul Bigger:





And here are the lyrics, which they've kindly provided over on YouTube:

Song Lyrics: 

SOUL BIGGER 

It's Rosh Hashanah, Oh, So Happy New Year

Yeah...had some triflin' days for sure

Oh, gotta make my Soul Bigger, Not much time

Till Yom Kippur

CHORUS:

(It's Rosh Hashanah)

Now I'm just tryin' to make my Soul Bigger (So happy new year)

And I ain't messin' it's no joke joke.

(It's Rosh Hashanah)

For 10 days I'll be a do-gooder (So happy new year)

And say I'm sorry to some folk folk ( I'm sorry) 

Repent boy go 'head Repent ( I'm sorry)

Repent boy go 'head Repent ( I'm sorry)

Repent boy go 'head Repent ( I'm sorry)

Repent boy go 'head

Called my Mom

At a beauty Salon

With a brand new Mahzor

Under her under arm

She said "Shana Tova"

I said "I meant you no harm...

When all my friends came over

And we totaled your car...I'm so so- rry mom

You forgive me?"

Yeah we forgive you! 

Yeah I forgive you!

awwwwwwWWWWWWWW

18 yrs, 18yrs

She'd been livin kinda greedy yo for 18yrs

This babe was payin QVC for things she don't need

But the boy in the salon, yo he planted the seed 

Now, you'll see her at the synagogue, any given Saturday

Or lookin up a charity to try to give some cash away.

Goin to the doctor got lipo with her money

Now she's building houses for the po' with her money

Walking round lookin like Michael with her money

Now she's feedin all the homeless apples with some honey, honey,honey

If you ain't no punk holla Rosh Hashana...Rosh Hashana..Yeah..

(She gives her money)

Now she longer is a gold digger (to those in need)

Cause she be givin back to folk folk

(She gives her money) 

Now she's just tryin to make her soul bigger (to those in need)

And she don't care if she go broke broke (Charity)

Bestow girl go 'head Bestow (Charity)

Bestow girl go 'head Bestow (Charity)

Bestow girl go 'head Bestow (Charity)

Bestow girl go 'head

He wanted to make his soul bigger just like me

And he wanted to give back to his community

So he rounded up his homeboys and jumped in his ride

Drove up to the synagogue ... "yo come inside"

Ooooooh, It's Rosh Hashanah

So happy new year

It's Rosh Hashanah 

So happy new year

Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Happy New Year!

It's Rosh Hashanah 

Oh, What a New Year

Hope I made the book of life for sure

Yeah, made my soul bigger

Only 8 more hours, only 8 more hours...

Till Yom Kippur!

"Gosh, I can't believe I get to do this every year...neat!"

Happy New Year!

And here are some credits:

Written and Directed by Brian Golub and Mike Kirsch of Unique New York Entertainment

http://uniquenewyorkentertainment.com

Choreographed by Mike Kirsch

Filmed and Edited by Sathya Vijayendran of Grand Illusion Films http://grandillusionfilms.com

Music Recorded and Edited by JP Rende for four40 Entertainment

Lead Vocals by Brian Golub. Additional Vocals by Noel Molinelli & Mike Kirsch

Special Thanks To:

Renee S. Erreich

Daniel Glass

Denise Rich Songs

Leyla Kuday

Congregation Orach Chaim

The Acropolis-Astoria

Dov Salon

Seymour PR

And here's more from the NJOP:

Jewish Treats and @JewishTweets want to know if you're ready to make your "Soul Bigger" for the High Holidays?

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/JewishTweets

Visit our Facebook Page! http://facebook.com/JewishTreats

A Project of the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP) http://njop.org

And here is their discussion of the topic:

Learn more about the 3 T's of the High Holidays, Teshuva (Repentance), Tefilah (Prayer) and Tzedaka (Charity), with this post taken from our http://JewishTreats.org blog:

The 3 Ts

On Rosh Hashanah we declare: "But repentance, prayer and charity remove the evil of the decree!" In Hebrew, these constitute the 3 Ts: Teshuva, Tefilah and Tzedaka.

Teshuva (repentance) a central theme of the High Holidays, means more than just saying "sorry." Teshuva, means recognizing one's errors and making an effort not to repeat them. In many ways, teshuva is a private act because one must be introspective to recognize one's own mistakes.

Tefilah (prayer) is the acknowledgment of God as the King and Ruler of the universe. Tefilah is almost private, but not quite. It is a conversation between the person and God.

Tzedaka (charity) is a critical step necessary to reverse an evil decree simply because it constitutes an action. The performance of this mitzvah affects the person giving, the person receiving, and its benefits often extend to others as well. Tzedaka is reaching out beyond one's self, and is thus a public act.

Everything that a person does affects the world in multiple ways. It affects the person's relationship with him/herself, their relationship with the Divine and their relationship with their fellow human beings. The path to reversing the evil of the decree must therefore involve the private, the spiritual and the public spheres of our lives.

As Reform Jews, we welcome the New Year with a call for renewal, self-improvement, and the repair and healing of the world.  Shana Tova!