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Day by Day towards the New Year: 1 Elul 5769 Dear Friends – We are about to begin something new! For the first time ever, I hope our Sinai Temple community will have the opportunity of preparing for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur together. We are going to prepare “day by day” throughout the Hebrew month that culminates with Rosh Hashanah. This special month of preparation is called ELUL. According to Jewish custom, Elul can be compared to what so many of us do
before we exercise. We warm up. We stretch. It’s the same with Elul. In order
to be ready for the intensity of the High Holidays, Judaism proposes that we “warm
up.” We start to think holiday thoughts in the weeks leading up to the
holidays. We get in the mood. We “stretch” our souls so that we
don’t arrive cold in Temple. *** So…off we go on this Elul E-mail Experience to “prepare our souls.” Over the coming weeks, you’ll hear from me and Cantor Levson as well as a number of Sinai congregants. We are all getting ready for the New Year. We hope our comments will help you approach the great season of renewal. Please e-mail me with your comments, thoughts, and feelings. Shana Tova…A good New Year! Shalom, 5 Elul 5769
Dear Sinai –
The month of Elul, our month of preparing and introspection, continues today. A Story Several days before Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Mordecai of Nadvorna, a 19th century sage, stopped another rabbi who was obviously in a great hurry. “Why are you rushing so?” Mordecai asked. His colleague replied, “I must study the High Holiday prayer book and put the Rosh Hashanah prayers in the proper order.” Mordecai paused momentarily and said with a smile, “You know very well that the prayer book hasn’t changed a bit since last year. Better examine your heart and your deeds of the past year. Try to put yourself in proper order!” A Prayer I’m good at making resolutions, God. But I’m not very good at keeping them.Shalom, Rabbi Mark Shapiro 6 Elul 5769 Dear Friends – The High Holidays are different! They are, for example, different from Chanukah which has a synagogue component, but mainly has a strong home component. It’s the lighting of the chanukiyah in your home that stands at the center of the holiday. Passover also straddles the divide. We have a wonderful Passover Morning Service at the Temple. (I always encourage you to attend!) But I also know that the heart of the holiday lies around the table at home where you, your family, and your friends share the Seder. But the High Holidays are different. They have their home component, but the major aspect of the upcoming Days of Awe takes place in the Temple. Services and prayers make these days unique. But what do you do if you’re not all that comfortable with services? What if you have major questions about God and faith? Last winter a friend told me how he tried to help his agnostic daughter encounter
the prayer book with her mind and her heart. Third, a prayer might be a perfect statement of the ideals Judaism supports. “Praying for peace” might not be a request that God do anything for us. It might rather be our way of reminding ourselves what our highest values are. Fourth, a prayer might “work” if it challenges us. Makes us think twice about ourselves and who we are. The prayer would “work” if it made us focus back on who we are and who we want to be. Back to my friend up above….Having prepared this list of ways that might make a prayer work, he asked his daughter to keep the list in her prayer book during services. When she wondered what the service meant to her or when she wondered how the service might mean more to her, he advised her to consult her prayer list. Or put it this way: My friend advised his daughter (and all of us) to remember not to be passive at services. Services work best when we ask questions. When we “attack” the words. When we get involved. Come to think of it, that’s not a bad way to describe this month of Elul. A good time for each of us to get involved in assessing who we are and what we have done this past year. See you at services! 8 Elul 5769 Dear Sinai, As the summer rapidly draws to a close, and we begin to get swept up in the frenzy of activity that is September, it is important to remember that this Hebrew month of Elul is traditionally a time for introspection and self-reflection. It is in that spirit that I am pleased to announce the beginning phase of a project that has been many months in the making: the availability of some of our Friday night melodies on the Temple website. Thanks to the talent (and patience) of Howard Kalodner, there are now some basic Shabbat liturgical melodies on the website to complement the Shabbat home melodies posted last year. It is our hope that the website will be a helpful resource for many congregants to learn and practice these melodies in the comfort of their own homes, so that they can participate more fully and confidently during services. Howard and I have recorded hours (literally, hours!) of material which will be coming up on the website in the weeks and months to come. So please, go and check out the website, and please let us know what you think!
“Chadeysh yameinu kekedem.” Make these the
days we will remember!” 12 Elul 5769 Elul is the month of preparation for the High Holidays. During this special
time, we are sharing reflections on the experience of the holidays. Over the
next several days, we will feature the thoughts and memories of several Sinai
congregants as they anticipate the New Year. The holidays are about those present, and those no longer with us. It is part nostalgia, part reflection. The nostalgia are the sounds and feel of the holidays; the tunes and melodies from my childhood, the smell and feel of my father’s tallit, the hard wooden pews and the crowd of “the community” as we leave the synagogue, the empty feeling, and just so slight headache of the fast. These are some of the nostalgic, very sensory memories of past Holidays. Then there are the more cognitive memories, of my parents and grandmother. Visiting my “bubby” at her Shul, paying our respects, one by one. My immediate family, when my mother and two young children would accompany my wife and me to Temple. Unfortunately, my Mom passed away around the High Holy Days so those memories are bitter sweet. Walking to Temple, to her apartment as we sat vigil. Having the comfort of prayer and the angst of waiting for the inevitable. It was a difficult time. The counter balance is the reflection that I feel. It is a time out. A time to take inventory of not just the past year but also of where I am today in my life’s journey. How fragile the gifts I have really are, how quickly the cycles pass. It is a time to pause and be self critical – not any easy task for me. It is certainly a time for me to count my many blessings. Howard Trietsch 13 Elul 5769
Elul is the month of preparation for the High Holidays. During this special
time, we are sharing reflections on the experience of the holidays. Over the
next several days, we will feature the thoughts and memories of several Sinai
congregants as they anticipate the New Year. My mother always made the holiday at our home in Sharon. We had so many relatives come that we used the kitchen table, the dining room table, and set up a third table in the living room. The house smelled wonderful and had a warm loving feeling about it. Once I got married, Eric and I moved to Minnesota and then here to Western MA, where we had no family. But my friends are my family here and each year they come to my table. There have been years where I've had as many as 30 to my home for the New Year dinner. Some are old friends here, and others are new to the area. I know it’s the wrong holiday sentiment, but I've always felt “let all who are hungry come and eat.” There's always room for one more. I rent tables and chairs and re-arrange furniture. My mother comes to stay for a week before and we put on music and cook together. My boys come home from school as they've grown up loving it as well.
Comes Erev Rosh Hashanah it never fails to bring tears to my eyes when I look
down the table(s) at so much warmth and love filling my home. And so begins another
new year. 14 Elul 5769
Elul is the month of preparation for the High Holidays. During this special
time, we are sharing reflections on the experience of the holidays. Over the
next several days, we will feature the thoughts and memories of several Sinai
congregants as they anticipate the New Year. It is hard for me to see beyond the boundaries of self. After all, I place so much energy into the designs of the day, the week, the year, the decade, and so on. I need to feel in control of my fate (and sometimes the fates of others). The High Holidays, I always hope, will offer me a glimpse at a higher order. I find them humbling. They are terrifying. They are refreshing. And they are arduous. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur have always felt bittersweet. A double-edged razor of redemption mixed with reject; festivities amongst the contemplation of one's failures, acceptance of alterations and the desire to maintain what is good. Family and community rejoicing paired with a somber reflection that God's gift of personal freedom is ironic. That with choice is often consequence. But of course, there is no guarantee of fairness. The holidays instill a sense that the Maker's designs are not meant for human comprehension. That the best of plans and the truest of intentions may (or may not) be written into the Book of Life. With Rosh Hashanah, the world renews and a cycle begins again. We shed tears for things and persons lost. With Yom Kippur comes a time to reflect on accomplishments, atone for misdeeds. With the season's holidays come gatherings of small and large groups. We reconnect and rekindle relationships, often joyfully, but sometimes forcibly. I approach the High Holidays hoping for a small transcendence-- a momentary glimpse at a larger tapestry, a chance to see beyond my personal boundaries. Somewhere in the services I attend, in the songs which are sung in a language I don't understand, through the hunger of the fast, or the discomfort of clothing worn only for special occasions, that I might feel less like an isolated drop of water and more like a wave-- moved and connected to the earth by forces and patterns incomprehensible to me. Heaving and breaking on the shore; or, never cresting, only to roll momentarily and disappear.
Maybe I might even see beyond all pretentious metaphors entirely... 15 Elul 5769
Elul is the month of preparation for the High Holidays. During this special
time, we are sharing reflections on the experience of the holidays. Over the
next several days, we will feature the thoughts and memories of several Sinai
congregants as they anticipate the New Year. Growing up in Springfield we had no relatives who lived close by, so it was a time when my immediate family (five of us) would gather together for a special meal. Our extended family lived in the New York City area and we would rarely go to there to be with them. I also recollect it as a time of new beginning, cleaning the slate and starting anew. These memories are still fresh in my mind today and I still feel the same way. It is a great time to gather with family and it is an even better time to reflect on your life, remember those who are gone and start a new year with a clean slate. One thing that is different now is that we do have a larger family who live locally to gather with. This is a nice change! When I think of the synagogue, Kol Nidre was probably the most resonating service that stands out in my mind and still does today. I have always found it to be a part of my soul whether it is sung by the Cantor or played on the cello. It has and is a very emotional experience. One memory that sticks out in my mind is that on Yom Kippur we would rush to have dinner so my father, my sister and myself could go to Kol Nidre at the Orthodox Synagogue. My parents would not drive on the holiday so we would drive to my father’s place of business before sundown, leave the car, go to services and then walk seven miles home! What a great walk at 9:00pm at night! Charles Reiter 19 Elul 5769
Elul is the month of preparation for the High Holidays. During this special
time, we are sharing reflections on the experience of the holidays. Over the
next several days, we will feature the thoughts and memories of several Sinai
congregants as they anticipate the New Year. The High Holidays are a time for me to reel my life in… a full year goes by. Now it is time to reflect. For starters as the holidays approach I continue to think more and more about my daddy and my grandparents. I think about how special they were to me. I think about all the time I had with them and most importantly how my daddy got ripped off and lost out so much on seeing my boys grow. How proud he would have been of my children. I always try to make my yearly visit to his grave site. I also make sure to send out all my ‘L’shanah tovah tikatevu’ cards to all my Jewish friends and my family. I guess as I reflect and put onto paper
my thoughts I start with the sad and solemn then move along to the happy and
joyous. Then I think about how blessed and fortunate I am. I have a wonderful husband
and two fantastic children. We are all healthy! Once I put all of that into
perspective I continue to do what I have done traditionally; think back on
how I behaved over the past year and how I can do better next year. I approach
the New Year with a serious desire to make a fresh start. With Rosh Hashanah first I love to gather with my family and celebrate the
New Year. Our time off from school… our trips to New York… Our
time around the table talking and eating all the traditional foods… (Craig & Seth
love and devour my mother’s matzo balls and Aunt Karen makes the best
challah you’d ever eat!) We all love to hear stories of holidays ‘past’.
What it was like when… Then onto Yom Kippur…the holiest day of the year. The day my grandpa
Sam died. I light my yahrzeit candles and spend a lot of time in synagogue.
I remember as a child always trying to fast… now I watch as Craig & Seth
try so hard to fast too. Each year they make it a little longer. I spend the
days between Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur talking about sins, asking for
forgiveness and listening to Michael and the boys share ways we all plan to
make ourselves better people. We all agree we need to give more and be more
understanding. The bottom line for me is… I thank God for this wonderful life I have.
I ask God to forgive me for all my wrongdoings (boy I have many!) I live in
peace with myself. Most importantly I embrace the new upcoming year with the
strength and positive attitude it will only get better than the one that just
past! Life is a journey and I thank God every day for allowing me to take this journey
with so many wonderful, loving, caring and giving people! We all need time
to celebrate & we more importantly need to know the importance of repentance… thank
goodness for the ‘High Holidays’! These are some of the things
that the High Holidays mean to me. Ilene Conklin 20 Elul 5769 Elul is the month of preparation for the High Holidays. During this
special time, we are sharing reflections on the experience of the holidays.
We are featuring the thoughts and memories of several Sinai congregants
as they anticipate the New Year. *** All of us observe the High Holidays in our own way. For myself, I see the holidays as a time for renewal of faith, focus and family. This time of the year sets the tone for the following months as we strive to become connected with the words of the prayers we say during services. The Kol Nidre service has particular significance to me as it focuses on repentance and atonement. It gives me a sense of belonging to a wider community, helps me feel more spiritual and it reminds me of the cyclical nature of life as it gives me comfort that I have again reached this time of year to reflect. With the smell of autumn in the air and the kids' stories about a new year at school, there is a sense of energy and excitement which transcends into all aspects of life and carries me through the rest of the year. Over the past few years the High Holidays have given my family an opportunity to worship together. My parents usually visit and it provides me with insight to the past that helps me understand the present and creates future memories. In days gone past, I remember (after services of course) missing school and watching afternoon baseball playoff games. The games are still being played but those of our youth have a special place in our hearts and souls. I'm looking forward to listening to my children's High Holiday memories in future years to come. L'shanah tovah Michael Freedman
For me, the High Holidays always mean 1. A high likelihood of beautiful weather; 2. A pleasant afternoon meal once we reach closure on the choice of a restaurant; and 3. My wife, Phyllis, struggling to jump into the annual, traditional family photograph taken on the front stairs of our house, using the tempermental automatic function on the camera. I know there have been rainy days on Rosh Hashanah, but in my memories the
weather has been beautiful each year. My wife always told my children that "God
makes sure the world is beautiful at the start of each New Year," and
my children believed her, at least when they were young. We always would start
out with far-ranging restaurant choices but end up dining at the same old places,
once we realized that we lived in Springfield, rather than New York or D.C. We have Life. Moreover, we have Jewish Life, in a world that is both beautiful and bittersweet. Steve Katz 21 Elul 5769 Elul is the month of preparation for the High Holidays. During this special
time, we are sharing reflections on the experience of the holidays. We are
featuring the thoughts and memories of several Sinai congregants as they anticipate
the New Year. *** The High Holidays mean to me that it's time to take internal inventory. I need to ask: what am I doing in my spare time that is meaningful? Is this the year I will do some volunteer work now that my kids are grown and gone? Am I scratching my internal itch? Shouldn't I get back to my love of painting? I also recall a little song my kids learned in Sunday School 25 years ago. It goes, 'Let's be friends, and make amends, now it's time to say I'm sorry. Who have I offended, or have I failed to understand someone else's side of the story?” I'll do better in the coming year. That's always the plan. The High Holidays mean gathering up the family for beautiful dinners, going to services and seeing old friends and familiar faces, observing how their kids have grown, feeling older, and seeing the new families too...... enjoying the circle of life. This year, we may be lucky enough to be sitting with our adult children, our son-in-law, and possibly our first grandchild! Every year my father-in-law, Sam Orenstein, who passed away in 1999, would look at us sitting next to him in Temple and say, “It doesn't get better than this.” We'll all be thinking of him. Roberta Orenstein
What I feel mostly when thinking about the High Holidays is relaxation. As I flip my calendar to find the days that my children will not have school (when falling on a weekday) I can't help but feel at ease knowing that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur really require nothing more than self-reflection and thoughts of my Judaism. I imagine myself in the synagogue listening to the service and thinking.... I think of all of the wonderful blessings in my life- my loved ones especially, and I remember the special people in my life who have past on. The most poignant part of the service itself is the shofar. I think of the chills that the sound sends down my back and I know that all the other Jews who hear and have heard that echoing blast feel its power the same way I do. My most fond memories of the High Holidays revolve around a big feast surrounded by my family. On a warm September day, when the windows are opened, you could smell the delicious stuffed cabbage, even before entering my parent's home. The days of Rosh Hashanah were and are so relaxing and joyous, while putting on hold the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It is such a treat to take the time to temporarily forget about my everyday busy life. Heather Sullivan
22 Elul 5769 Dear Sinai, Imagine this: You have just scored tickets to the hottest art exhibit in Boston, the one that’s been completely sold out for months, the one that everyone is raving about, and the one that you can’t wait to see! So, what are you going to do to prepare for this exciting cultural event? You could, of course, do nothing and just go and see the exhibit, but chances are you will do some research about the artist and his work before your visit to the museum, so you can better appreciate what you are going to see and experience. So, how does one prepare for the High Holidays? One important way is through serious introspection, “cheshbon ha-nefesh,” an “accounting of the soul.” That is part of what this month of Elul is all about. But thanks to the miracle of modern computer technology, you can now prepare musically for the High Holidays by listening to some of the melodies on our Sinai Temple website, thanks to the continuing efforts of Howard Kalodner. Starting today you can hear melodies for Selichot (this Saturday night! It’s going to be incredible!) and Rosh Hashanah. Melodies for Yom Kippur will be coming soon. So go to the Temple website, www.sinai-temple.org, and click on the “From the Cantor” tab on the left hand side of the page. Click on “High Holidays Music” in the pull-down menu, and start listening to familiar (and new!) music for the Yamim Noraim! Happy website-browsing, and Shana Tovah! “Chadeysh yameinu kekedem.” Make these the days we will remember!” -- Cantor Martin Levson
25 Elul 5769 Elul is the month of preparation for the High Holidays. During this special time, we are sharing reflections on the experience of the holidays. We are featuring the thoughts and memories of several Sinai congregants as they anticipate the New Year. I hope these Elul messages (two for today) will help you get into the spirit of the High Holidays. Rabbi Shapiro High Holidays in 140 Characters: Fall in the air, loved ones gather, Grandma’s brisket and strudel, apples & honey for a sweet New Year, repentance and renewal: Clean Slate. Loren Hutner
Ever since I can remember, the High Holidays represented a time of renewal and rebirth. I suppose it is because they coincide with the beginning of the school year. Growing up, that was always a magical time for me – being a year older in school (my birthday is in the summer) and looking forward to all the new things that a new classroom, teacher, and mixture of classmates would bring. Once I had children, that same awe took hold at the beginning of the new year, but now it was anticipation of what was in store for them. Now that my children are grown and on their own, the High Holidays have taken on an entirely new meaning for me. It took a very long time for me to appreciate and revere what has been inside of me all my life. My Jewish identity has become a major focus in my life in recent years, and I am grasping everything I can to learn and appreciate what my parents tried so hard to teach me. Now I am like a sponge, soaking up as much as I can. I am eagerly looking forward to the High Holidays this year in my continuing journey to show my commitment to, and strengthen my relationship with Judaism and God. The solemnity of Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur have always had a profound effect on me. The familiarity of the services, especially the moving music, brings a strong sense of comfort to me. I feel the presence of my parents and grandparents as I am sitting in the sanctuary asking forgiveness, as they did every year during their lifetimes. It is especially important to me this year as I prepare for my Bat Mitzvah in December. Sherry Souliere 26 Elul 5769 Dear Friends – In anticipation of this week’s New Year, let me share four reminders with you…PLUS one comment about sports!*ONE - If you want to become familiar with the unique music of the holidays, visit our Temple website. www.sinai-temple.org The Cantor has prepared some of the great texts from the prayer book. You can read the texts in English and Hebrew PLUS you can hear the Cantor sing the melodies! TWO - While you are visiting the website, you can also find a link to blessings for the meals of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These “home services” are can be accessed via the home page of the website where the holiday music can also be found. THREE - Now here’s news about an innovation for Rosh Hashanah. I’m inviting as many of you as possible to attend our second morning service on Rosh Hashanah morning this year. The 8:45 a.m. early service will, of course, offer you an appropriate Rosh Hashanah experience, but, for a number of reasons, the Cantor and I are making a major change to the later morning service. We have rewritten the SHOFAR SERVICE to make it more meaningful. Since this new “shofar service” will take a bit more time we can’t offer it at the early service. So…my invitation…If you have usually attended the early service, try to change this year. Join us at 11:00 a.m. for an experiment that will conclude with a BLAST!!!! FOUR - Finally, what if you can’t attend services at all? Or what about your relatives who live outside our area and might want to be part of our Sinai Temple services? Once again, our Caring Community is making arrangements for you to “hear” Sinai services over the telephone. Follow these instructions:
*** I look forward to seeing you this weekend when Tishri 1 arrives with Rosh Hashanah. Shana Tova…. p.s. 27 Elul 5769 A Spiritual Homecoming: Ever since I was a child, the weeks leading up to the High Holidays have always been my absolute favorite time of year. Perhaps it was because the nights were finally cool enough so I could sleep. Or maybe it was anticipation for the explosion of color about to blossom from the trees. But more than likely, it was because my annual arduous eight week ordeal called the “Summer Family Road Trip” was coming to an end. After driving cross country in the back seat of a un-air conditioned Plymouth coup for two months, I was finally going home. This was also the time of year when each of my friends returned home from their individual summer odysseys. Joanne would spend her summer at her family’s cottage on the lake and return with tales of boating and water skiing. Michael would go away to camp, where he would learn the latest camp songs that we would sing until November. Alistair would visit his grand-parents in Britain and bring back strange foods like kippers or scones. But regardless of where we were, or what we saw, every September, we shared our adventures while I relived each one as if I was there. Like Penelope at Ithaca, I savored each story with the relief of knowing that my long isolation was over. It’s hard to believe it was 30 years ago, but fond childhood memories are always the most vivid. Today, each September brings a different kind of homecoming. It is a time of meditation and quiet contemplation. It’s a time to reflect not just on the summer, but on my life as a whole. I relive not just my experiences, but explore who I am as a person; my strengths and my faults. Listening to the High Holiday services, I am reminded not only the past year, but years of childhood memories, and that wonderful feeling of returning home. Buff Maniscalco 28 Elul 5769 Elul is the month of preparation for the High Holidays. During this special time, we are sharing reflections on the experience of the holidays. We are featuring the thoughts and memories of several Sinai congregants as they anticipate the New Year. I hope these Elul messages will help you get into the spirit of the High Holidays. Rabbi Shapiro *** Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur became my spiritual New Year during my college years. These High Holidays of introspection and evaluation of self coincided with
my usual sadness at summer’s passing, and the trepidation I felt getting
back to the books at the start of a new school year. Twenty-five years later
the tenor of this season is still the same, except now parental angst seems
to take precedence over personal concerns.
Let us proclaim the sacred power of this day. Would I describe the High Holidays as a joyous time? Joyous is not the first word that comes to my mind. Challenging comes to mind, I find the High Holidays challenging. Afflicting your soul while fasting is never easy; I consider it a Supreme wake-up call for the year to come. Yes, the year to come… somehow Yom Kippur pulls us upward and forward with hope and renewal. We are so lucky to live in these United States with the freedom and security that we enjoy. L’shanah tovah tikatevu. Cary Dash 29 Elul 5769 Shana Tova! As Elul comes to a close, I have two announcements. -----Mazal Tov to Ron and Janet Weiss on the birth of a granddaughter, Talya Hoffer. Talya was born in Oakland, CA on September 15. Her mom and dad are Emily (Weiss) Hoffer and David Hoffer. -----And good news for Sinai parents whose children are too young for our babysitting; i.e. under 2 years of age. If you’ve got a baby and want to be at Sinai on either Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur morning, we’ve got a place for you to be with your baby and still hear the service. It’s the WIGGLE ROOM, otherwise known as the Kindergarten Room on the main floor. A speaker inside the room will allow you to hear the service at those times when your little one needs to be out of the auditorium. -----Finally, let me wish you all a Sweet and Healthy New Year. I hope you have enjoyed this e-mail journey we’ve taken day by day
towards the New Year. If you have comments or suggestions, let me know. Thank
you to all those congregants who wrote for this series of reflections. L’shalom, |
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