From the Rabbi's Study
Jan 27th is International Holocaust Remembrance Day
There have been a number of tragedies in Jewish History that have encompassed the Jewish People as a whole. The first of these was the destruction of the 1st Temple, the end of Jewish Sovereignty and exile from the land of Israel in 586BCE. At that time a new ritual of mourning was added to the Jewish calendar on 9th Av (August) to remember this and other tragedies including the destruction of the 2nd Temple, the expulsion from Spain in 1492, the Cossack Massacres in the 19th century etc. However when it came to the Shoah, the Jewish People wished to designate another day in the Jewish calendar, the 27th Nisan (April) for this most recent and devastating loss of 6 million Jews. 27th Nisan is the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the first civilian uprising against the Nazis in WWII and therefore the official name of this day of remembrance is
Yom Hashoah u'Gevura (Day of destruction and resistance).
However, the Shoah was such a crime against all humanity that countries (the UK was first) began to add a day of remembrance for all those who suffer genocide at the hands of other human beings whatever country or ethnicity they belong to. Finally the UN declared January 27th, an International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the day of which the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp was liberated by Allied Forces in 1945. This day which falls on Shabbat this week is designated the world over as a time to pause and remember particularly the genocides of the 20th century with a pledge that all such evil should be resisted by the global community as a common responsibility. We will therefore also pause in our Shabbat service this week to remember, reflect and rekindle our pledge of global and universal responsibility. Learn More
Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire
What is Chanukah?
by Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire
December, 2022
The passage in the Talmud that describes Chanukah starts with the Aramaic phrase, ‘Mai Chanukah’ – ‘What is Chanukah?!’. It is surprising that in the 5th Century CE, approximately 500 years after the events of the Hasmonean uprising, the Talmud seems unaware of the origin and meaning of the festival? The Talmud goes on to offer some insight into what might be the purpose of the festival and in that spirit, I would like to do the same.
So, ask anyone today, ‘what is Chanukah?’. They will tell you that it is a festival commemorating some ancient struggle between ‘Greek’ armies and a band of Jewish fighters called the Maccabees. The plucky Maccabees were small in number and desperate for their religious freedom. The weak defeated the strong and the Maccabees regained control of the land and the ancient Temple where they were able to worship once again. We make Maccabee shields, name clubs after them, and remind ourselves of Jewish survival of the few against the many so many times in Jewish history. However, we also say there was not enough oil to light the candelabra and yet a miracle occurred with one flask of oil lasting eight days! It’s a great story with themes of religious freedom, a band of courageous freedom fighters, happy endings, and a miracle! Children love it! A Festival of lights!
Let us now go back in time to the Talmud and find out what they said in response to the question, ‘What is Chanukah’? The Talmud in Megillat Taanit, actually a minor tractate that deals with fast days, suggests that you cannot fast on Chanukah because God performed a miracle in making the oil last eight days. The oil was for the 7 branched menorah that was always lit in the Temple to represent the seven days of the week. At some point, some creative individual suggested creating a nine branched candelabra (eight plus one to light the others) called a Chanukah menorah for specific use at this time. There is no mention of a military victory, no weak defeating the strong, no religious freedom. It is entirely a God given miracle and to emphasize the point, the liturgy for the festival includes Zechariah’s quote, ‘Not by power and not by might, but my Spirit, says God’. It is not even clear what to do with the lighting of the Chanukah menorah. Do you light one candle on the first day and increase each day or do you light eight candles on the first day and decrease, as did the oil. This is a serious adult religious festival emphasizing God’s redemption over human struggle. It is, of course, reflective of the experience of the writers of the Talmud under Roman oppression, unable to offer any military resistance for their religious freedom.
Finally let’s ask Judah Maccabee himself, ‘What is Chanukah’? As is written in the actual text of the Greek original (not Hebrew) of the book of Maccabees, Judah would start with Alexander the Great who arrived in the Middle East bringing with him ‘Greek’ ideas and practices called Hellenism. Judah, coming from a priestly family serving in Jerusalem and in smaller sacrificial sites (Modi’in) would despise Hellenism that has infected the people of Judea with ideas of beauty, ethics, and philosophy, and pagan ideas of astronomy, science, and cosmology. Many Judeans have turned to Hellenism as a way of life and discarded the ancient biblical notions of sacrifice as means to come close to God. Judah would also tell us that there is huge shift in global power as Alexander’s protégés vie for power between Egypt and Syria whilst lurking menacingly is the emerging Roman Empire eager to de-stable the Hellenistic powers. So, as Syrian mercenaries exert their control of the region and side with Hellenistic Judean (Jewish) elements, the Priestly Class revolt, afraid of the loss of their way of life and the centrality of the Temple in a theocratic State. Jew fights Jew in this civil war lasting for three years, from 167-164 BCE, until finally the Priestly elements, including families of Priests like the Hasmoneans, later called Maccabees, win the day. And what is the first thing they do? They, of course, rededicate the Temple! They are against any reform and demand the ‘ways things have been done’ to return - perhaps more connected to religious zealotry than how we imagine them today and not exactly ‘our’ heroes. They have bonfires, decorated spears, celebrations, as well as solemn ceremonies involving sacrifices once again. No candelabra, no oil, no miracle as in the first book of Maccabees or indeed the second one either. In fact, Josephus, writing a hundred years later about the revolt, doesn’t mention any menorah or oil either. The Civil War is won. The ancient ways restored. The hegemony of the Priests reigns again all due to military struggle. Yet, it took less than 100 years for the Romans to exploit this split in Judean society and put a Hellenist on the throne and another as High Priest controlling the Temple. The Maccabees may have won the battle, but they lost the political war in the end! Little did anyone know, but it was the first seeds that were to destroy the Temple, the State, and the Judean People in just another 100 years!
So, ‘Mai Chanukah?’ – ‘What is Chanukah’? I’m happy that the Chanukah menorah sits comfortably next to other winter solstice symbols, that the message of ‘increasing the light’ is one that Jews want to express. I thank Peter Yarrow for his words that we sing with gusto:
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand
And light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand
Don't let the light go out!
It's lasted for so many years
Don't let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears
I love latkes and sufganiyot – doughnuts! Dreidel is our favorite family game! It may all be humbug, but over 3000 years, I think we can adapt to whatever we think is needed in our own time!
by Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire
December, 2022
The passage in the Talmud that describes Chanukah starts with the Aramaic phrase, ‘Mai Chanukah’ – ‘What is Chanukah?!’. It is surprising that in the 5th Century CE, approximately 500 years after the events of the Hasmonean uprising, the Talmud seems unaware of the origin and meaning of the festival? The Talmud goes on to offer some insight into what might be the purpose of the festival and in that spirit, I would like to do the same.
So, ask anyone today, ‘what is Chanukah?’. They will tell you that it is a festival commemorating some ancient struggle between ‘Greek’ armies and a band of Jewish fighters called the Maccabees. The plucky Maccabees were small in number and desperate for their religious freedom. The weak defeated the strong and the Maccabees regained control of the land and the ancient Temple where they were able to worship once again. We make Maccabee shields, name clubs after them, and remind ourselves of Jewish survival of the few against the many so many times in Jewish history. However, we also say there was not enough oil to light the candelabra and yet a miracle occurred with one flask of oil lasting eight days! It’s a great story with themes of religious freedom, a band of courageous freedom fighters, happy endings, and a miracle! Children love it! A Festival of lights!
Let us now go back in time to the Talmud and find out what they said in response to the question, ‘What is Chanukah’? The Talmud in Megillat Taanit, actually a minor tractate that deals with fast days, suggests that you cannot fast on Chanukah because God performed a miracle in making the oil last eight days. The oil was for the 7 branched menorah that was always lit in the Temple to represent the seven days of the week. At some point, some creative individual suggested creating a nine branched candelabra (eight plus one to light the others) called a Chanukah menorah for specific use at this time. There is no mention of a military victory, no weak defeating the strong, no religious freedom. It is entirely a God given miracle and to emphasize the point, the liturgy for the festival includes Zechariah’s quote, ‘Not by power and not by might, but my Spirit, says God’. It is not even clear what to do with the lighting of the Chanukah menorah. Do you light one candle on the first day and increase each day or do you light eight candles on the first day and decrease, as did the oil. This is a serious adult religious festival emphasizing God’s redemption over human struggle. It is, of course, reflective of the experience of the writers of the Talmud under Roman oppression, unable to offer any military resistance for their religious freedom.
Finally let’s ask Judah Maccabee himself, ‘What is Chanukah’? As is written in the actual text of the Greek original (not Hebrew) of the book of Maccabees, Judah would start with Alexander the Great who arrived in the Middle East bringing with him ‘Greek’ ideas and practices called Hellenism. Judah, coming from a priestly family serving in Jerusalem and in smaller sacrificial sites (Modi’in) would despise Hellenism that has infected the people of Judea with ideas of beauty, ethics, and philosophy, and pagan ideas of astronomy, science, and cosmology. Many Judeans have turned to Hellenism as a way of life and discarded the ancient biblical notions of sacrifice as means to come close to God. Judah would also tell us that there is huge shift in global power as Alexander’s protégés vie for power between Egypt and Syria whilst lurking menacingly is the emerging Roman Empire eager to de-stable the Hellenistic powers. So, as Syrian mercenaries exert their control of the region and side with Hellenistic Judean (Jewish) elements, the Priestly Class revolt, afraid of the loss of their way of life and the centrality of the Temple in a theocratic State. Jew fights Jew in this civil war lasting for three years, from 167-164 BCE, until finally the Priestly elements, including families of Priests like the Hasmoneans, later called Maccabees, win the day. And what is the first thing they do? They, of course, rededicate the Temple! They are against any reform and demand the ‘ways things have been done’ to return - perhaps more connected to religious zealotry than how we imagine them today and not exactly ‘our’ heroes. They have bonfires, decorated spears, celebrations, as well as solemn ceremonies involving sacrifices once again. No candelabra, no oil, no miracle as in the first book of Maccabees or indeed the second one either. In fact, Josephus, writing a hundred years later about the revolt, doesn’t mention any menorah or oil either. The Civil War is won. The ancient ways restored. The hegemony of the Priests reigns again all due to military struggle. Yet, it took less than 100 years for the Romans to exploit this split in Judean society and put a Hellenist on the throne and another as High Priest controlling the Temple. The Maccabees may have won the battle, but they lost the political war in the end! Little did anyone know, but it was the first seeds that were to destroy the Temple, the State, and the Judean People in just another 100 years!
So, ‘Mai Chanukah?’ – ‘What is Chanukah’? I’m happy that the Chanukah menorah sits comfortably next to other winter solstice symbols, that the message of ‘increasing the light’ is one that Jews want to express. I thank Peter Yarrow for his words that we sing with gusto:
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand
And light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand
Don't let the light go out!
It's lasted for so many years
Don't let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears
I love latkes and sufganiyot – doughnuts! Dreidel is our favorite family game! It may all be humbug, but over 3000 years, I think we can adapt to whatever we think is needed in our own time!
Rest Assured
by Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire
August 10, 2022
Perhaps the single most practical thing Judaism has offered to the world, is the distinction between the working week and a day of rest. This concept of Shabbat first conceptualized in the Hebrew Bible and then spun into a myriad forms has been applied by every Civilization through the ages to provide a cessation in the unceasing drive to have, to own and to obtain more!
For as Abraham Joshua Heschel stated in his Classic work, ‘The Sabbath’, Shabbat is rather a time to be, to become, to be open to wonder. As we all struggle with the boundaries of work and rest, blurring that distinction has only been exacerbated by the devices and machines we are addicted to. What a gift Shabbat can be to all peoples who need to cut back on consumerism, take a break from addictive behaviours, give the natural world some breathing space and rekindle attention to relationships in our lives. But before we give Shabbat away to everyone else, we need to honour it’s meanings in our own community. That has been difficult because so many of us were taught the notion of a coercive Sabbath – one is which we were supposed to give up a normative way of life for some antiquated interruption of modernity and comfort.
A new book by Professor Nehemia Polen entitled ‘Stop, Look, Listen’ offers a different perspective on the notion of a day of rest. Polen argues that Shabbat is far from restful – there is so much to prepare, perform and do as prescribed by Jewish custom. So rather than thinking of it as a day of rest, Polen suggests we honour this Jewish gift of Sabbath by overcoming anxiety and tension; to stop, look and listen and allow Shabbos to let you rest assured . How can we make a Sabbath of Peace for ourselves? Come to Shabbat service this Friday as I speak further on Shabbes for us today.
by Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire
August 10, 2022
Perhaps the single most practical thing Judaism has offered to the world, is the distinction between the working week and a day of rest. This concept of Shabbat first conceptualized in the Hebrew Bible and then spun into a myriad forms has been applied by every Civilization through the ages to provide a cessation in the unceasing drive to have, to own and to obtain more!
For as Abraham Joshua Heschel stated in his Classic work, ‘The Sabbath’, Shabbat is rather a time to be, to become, to be open to wonder. As we all struggle with the boundaries of work and rest, blurring that distinction has only been exacerbated by the devices and machines we are addicted to. What a gift Shabbat can be to all peoples who need to cut back on consumerism, take a break from addictive behaviours, give the natural world some breathing space and rekindle attention to relationships in our lives. But before we give Shabbat away to everyone else, we need to honour it’s meanings in our own community. That has been difficult because so many of us were taught the notion of a coercive Sabbath – one is which we were supposed to give up a normative way of life for some antiquated interruption of modernity and comfort.
A new book by Professor Nehemia Polen entitled ‘Stop, Look, Listen’ offers a different perspective on the notion of a day of rest. Polen argues that Shabbat is far from restful – there is so much to prepare, perform and do as prescribed by Jewish custom. So rather than thinking of it as a day of rest, Polen suggests we honour this Jewish gift of Sabbath by overcoming anxiety and tension; to stop, look and listen and allow Shabbos to let you rest assured . How can we make a Sabbath of Peace for ourselves? Come to Shabbat service this Friday as I speak further on Shabbes for us today.

Central Reform Temple
22nd July 2022
To Build and to be Built Up
by Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire
As some of you may know, I have just returned from Israel as part of a Rabbinic Leadership Seminar at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. 150 rabbis of all shades – Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal and Reform gathering together to deliberate on the nature of Liberal Zionism and its connection to Judaism.
I have been travelling and visiting Israel for 50 years. My parents took me on my first family visit at Pesach 1973 which was of course just months before the Yom Kippur war that year. I went back on my own every few years after that working the land, digging the archaeological treasures and studying at the Hebrew University. It was a time to build and to be built up by those experiences; livnot u’l’hibanot. For me coming from cold England, it was experiencing for the first time a country in the Tropics. There was a actually a hamsin – a hot sand storm raging as we got off the plane and walked to the terminal in the old Lod Airport. To enter the ancient streets of Jerusalem, Acco, Caesarea with the Bible in mind was particularly exciting heightened by having read those famous novels of the ‘70s – James Michener’s the Source and Leon Uris, Exodus. It was also seeing a country in development, where absorption of immigrants was a huge task as the population kept doubling every decade with housing, roads, agriculture and making the desert bloom. Most especially it was meeting cousins for the first time, of whom our shared grandparents had all left Germany in 1938 and never seen each other again, let alone their children or grandchildren. These were sweet encounters of adults and children speaking different languages but celebrating Pesach together at a kibbutz seder with all of the agricultural and biblical significance heightened and understanding what a festival of freedom meant to Jews who had escaped Europe to find a home in a sovereign Jewish state. It really seemed to bring to life the words of our prayerbook – Ki M’tzion tetze Torah u’dvar Adonai Yerushalayim – For out of Zion shall come forth Torah and the word of God from Jerusalem.
However the innocence of that teen experience belies the current realities of today’s Zionism and the geopolitical reality that we all need to address for everyone – Jews and Palestinians in that shared land. One on the one hand we are the generation blessed to live in a time when there is a Jewish State after 2000 years. On the other hand, it is upto us to ensure that State represents the Judaism that we have struggled to maintain over those 2000 years.
22nd July 2022
To Build and to be Built Up
by Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire
As some of you may know, I have just returned from Israel as part of a Rabbinic Leadership Seminar at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. 150 rabbis of all shades – Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal and Reform gathering together to deliberate on the nature of Liberal Zionism and its connection to Judaism.
I have been travelling and visiting Israel for 50 years. My parents took me on my first family visit at Pesach 1973 which was of course just months before the Yom Kippur war that year. I went back on my own every few years after that working the land, digging the archaeological treasures and studying at the Hebrew University. It was a time to build and to be built up by those experiences; livnot u’l’hibanot. For me coming from cold England, it was experiencing for the first time a country in the Tropics. There was a actually a hamsin – a hot sand storm raging as we got off the plane and walked to the terminal in the old Lod Airport. To enter the ancient streets of Jerusalem, Acco, Caesarea with the Bible in mind was particularly exciting heightened by having read those famous novels of the ‘70s – James Michener’s the Source and Leon Uris, Exodus. It was also seeing a country in development, where absorption of immigrants was a huge task as the population kept doubling every decade with housing, roads, agriculture and making the desert bloom. Most especially it was meeting cousins for the first time, of whom our shared grandparents had all left Germany in 1938 and never seen each other again, let alone their children or grandchildren. These were sweet encounters of adults and children speaking different languages but celebrating Pesach together at a kibbutz seder with all of the agricultural and biblical significance heightened and understanding what a festival of freedom meant to Jews who had escaped Europe to find a home in a sovereign Jewish state. It really seemed to bring to life the words of our prayerbook – Ki M’tzion tetze Torah u’dvar Adonai Yerushalayim – For out of Zion shall come forth Torah and the word of God from Jerusalem.
However the innocence of that teen experience belies the current realities of today’s Zionism and the geopolitical reality that we all need to address for everyone – Jews and Palestinians in that shared land. One on the one hand we are the generation blessed to live in a time when there is a Jewish State after 2000 years. On the other hand, it is upto us to ensure that State represents the Judaism that we have struggled to maintain over those 2000 years.

Our seminar addressed this very theme: To what question is Israel now an answer to? The questions that early Zionism sought an answer to were; how to keep Jews safe and and how to give Jews sovereign power over their own destiny. In many ways that Zionist project has been successful and largely answered these two questions in less than a 100 years. For those who witnessed the birth of the State, the ingathering of the refugees from Europe and Arab countries and those who share in the memory of the fragility of keeping it alive, this is quite remarkable. I do so wish we could sit back and enjoy it as it is.
But there are now other questions for which Israel has to become an answer. This is now the work of a Liberal Zionism and is probably the most crucial challenge of 21st century Judaism.
There is the question of the moral use of the sovereign power that Israel now holds. This is perhaps the most troubling aspect of our aspirations for Zionism. To be a Sovereign People was not to rule over others and indeed take away their rights and historic claims to the land. During our Covid shutdown I read the historical account of 1948 as told by historian Benny Morris. There is much to know and relearn about the ways in which the Zionist project succeeded and how we got to the Middle East conflict today. Much like our rethinking here of the birth of European occupation on the American Continent with the 1619 project, enslavement of people of colour and genocide of native Americans, Zionists have to come to terms with the impact of the success of our Sovereign power and find an answer to those moral questions.
There is the question of the position of the Jewish people vis a vis the State. Engagement with Israel is one of the most active projects of the organized Jewish community – From birthright trips to family visits and next year for Israel’s 75th anniversary, CJP has organized trips for hundreds of Jews from Boston to visit. Whether these engagement projects with Israel are having the impact they want is still in doubt? Last year’s public letter from students in all of the American rabbinic schools criticizing Israel’s actions reflects the growing dissatisfaction from future American leaders with Israeli government policy and the 50 year military occupation of conquered territory. We have yet to answer the question of the relationship of the worldwide Jewish People with the State.
There is the question of the place of diversity of Jewish practice and belief in the Jewish state. While I was there, Zoe, the granddaughter of our colleague Cantor Louise Treitman was interrupted in her Batmitzvah ceremony at the Kotel – the Western Wall by a nasty group of haredi – ultra Orthodox followers tearing up siddurim and loudly disturbing poor Zoe’s Torah reading. The Rabbanut in Israel wields ungodly power over the lives of people being born, marrying, getting divorced and dying. This is a real scandal of the State that needs to be dismantled from the arrangement that David Ben Gurion set up in 1948. Yet, last Shabbat I was in Caesarea overlooking the cobalt blue Mediterranean with hundreds of secular Israelis who had turned up for a Kabbalat Shabbat service on the beach organized by the local Reform synagogue. With a woman rabbi and a lively band playing, the sun set over the Med as everyone turned towards the West as we sang Lecha Dodi!
But there are now other questions for which Israel has to become an answer. This is now the work of a Liberal Zionism and is probably the most crucial challenge of 21st century Judaism.
There is the question of the moral use of the sovereign power that Israel now holds. This is perhaps the most troubling aspect of our aspirations for Zionism. To be a Sovereign People was not to rule over others and indeed take away their rights and historic claims to the land. During our Covid shutdown I read the historical account of 1948 as told by historian Benny Morris. There is much to know and relearn about the ways in which the Zionist project succeeded and how we got to the Middle East conflict today. Much like our rethinking here of the birth of European occupation on the American Continent with the 1619 project, enslavement of people of colour and genocide of native Americans, Zionists have to come to terms with the impact of the success of our Sovereign power and find an answer to those moral questions.
There is the question of the position of the Jewish people vis a vis the State. Engagement with Israel is one of the most active projects of the organized Jewish community – From birthright trips to family visits and next year for Israel’s 75th anniversary, CJP has organized trips for hundreds of Jews from Boston to visit. Whether these engagement projects with Israel are having the impact they want is still in doubt? Last year’s public letter from students in all of the American rabbinic schools criticizing Israel’s actions reflects the growing dissatisfaction from future American leaders with Israeli government policy and the 50 year military occupation of conquered territory. We have yet to answer the question of the relationship of the worldwide Jewish People with the State.
There is the question of the place of diversity of Jewish practice and belief in the Jewish state. While I was there, Zoe, the granddaughter of our colleague Cantor Louise Treitman was interrupted in her Batmitzvah ceremony at the Kotel – the Western Wall by a nasty group of haredi – ultra Orthodox followers tearing up siddurim and loudly disturbing poor Zoe’s Torah reading. The Rabbanut in Israel wields ungodly power over the lives of people being born, marrying, getting divorced and dying. This is a real scandal of the State that needs to be dismantled from the arrangement that David Ben Gurion set up in 1948. Yet, last Shabbat I was in Caesarea overlooking the cobalt blue Mediterranean with hundreds of secular Israelis who had turned up for a Kabbalat Shabbat service on the beach organized by the local Reform synagogue. With a woman rabbi and a lively band playing, the sun set over the Med as everyone turned towards the West as we sang Lecha Dodi!
Then there is the major question of two peoples living in one land. Up to now those on the left have advocated for a two state solution which has gone nowhere under the current leadership on all sides. However, there is now emerging from the grass roots, a new concept of confederation much like the European Union where commerce, free movement of labour, monetary policy can all be governed by an Abrahamic Union of Jews and Palestinians. Former Israeli President Rivlin spoke of 4 tribes now occupying this land; secular Jewish Zionists, religious Zionists, Palestinian Arabs and ultraorthodox Jews and they are all now mixed up together. As I heard it from ordinary people in all of these groups, physical borders delineating peoples is an outdated form of Nationalism. Identities and cultural differences can be distinguished by different kinds of divisions in one geographic entity, as long as, as a Palestinian told me, there is dignity for all and the opportunity to put bread on the table for all. I visited one such attempt at confederation in an area South of Jerusalem where an Israeli town, an ultra orthodox Jewish settlement and a Palestinian village are cooperating together for the first time, economically, socially, commercially and in terms of their mutual security. It was truly an inspiring concept and interestingly they all hold equal disdain for their respective governments and authorities. This bottom up approach seems to hold some hope for a growing coexistence, much like it did in Northern Ireland as Catholic and Protestant mothers and wives forced the political reconciliation that has held for 30 years. Is this an answer to the question of two peoples living together in one land for as a settler rabbi expressed it; the land does not belong to us, we all belong to the land.
Finally, there is the question of the Jewish dream. It was Herzl who famously declared ‘if you will it, it is no dream’ - Im tirzu – ayn zo agada. Within 50 years of that statement, a Jewish State was born with a revived language and literature and renaissance of Jewish culture and Israeli know how and technology in a Start-up Nation. But for the young teenager now growing Jewishly what is there left to build and to be built up by? What is the Jewish dream today that will inspire and create new vistas and have answers to both our Jewish and Universal values for all Peoples. How will we bring holiness from this narrow strip of land bridging Europe, Asia and Africa that has been the answer to questions of Jews, Christians and Muslims over thousands of years. Could this be a place where humanity can dream a better world together and turn those dreams into reality. Can an Abrahamic Union be an answer to that question? We pray for the day when Torah will truly come forth from Zion and the words of God from Jerusalem.
Finally, there is the question of the Jewish dream. It was Herzl who famously declared ‘if you will it, it is no dream’ - Im tirzu – ayn zo agada. Within 50 years of that statement, a Jewish State was born with a revived language and literature and renaissance of Jewish culture and Israeli know how and technology in a Start-up Nation. But for the young teenager now growing Jewishly what is there left to build and to be built up by? What is the Jewish dream today that will inspire and create new vistas and have answers to both our Jewish and Universal values for all Peoples. How will we bring holiness from this narrow strip of land bridging Europe, Asia and Africa that has been the answer to questions of Jews, Christians and Muslims over thousands of years. Could this be a place where humanity can dream a better world together and turn those dreams into reality. Can an Abrahamic Union be an answer to that question? We pray for the day when Torah will truly come forth from Zion and the words of God from Jerusalem.
July 1, 2022 From Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire
I am delighted to introduce myself to you as your Rabbi and mark this moment of transition for the community and this change in leadership for the congregation.
What is the difference between change and transition? William Bridges writes that change happens naturally and continuously, often out of our control and influence. Transition is the means by which we manage change and bring it into our control in order to be able cope and deal with those forces swirling around us. Bridges describes three phases of transition; There is ending, there is a neutral period and then there is a new beginning. As I start my tenure as your rabbi, I note that you have had much change in the past number of years. From changes in rabbis, changes in worship and changes in community. There have been many endings to experience. The neutral period that perhaps describes where we are right now is reflective of the Children of Israel’s wandering experience in the ‘midbar’ – the desert. It seems there is nothing there, the wandering seems endless and little is known about the terrain ahead. However, for the Israelites the midbar experience is a tremendously creative time as they craft a new society with their Torah teaching, develop new leadership amongst the tribes and are prepared to enter a Covenantal relationship with God. They needed the time and wandering in the midbar to assess their strengths and build up their commitment to go forward. It is not so much ‘neutral’ as liminal, as Victor Turner defined it.
This is a moment of potential and possibility towards new beginnings, and I am delighted to be with you on this journey. I am so looking forward to being together and meeting you for my inaugural service on July 1st whether in presence or online and our Torah study on July 2nd online. It certainly is strange to have only seen some members online and wait eagerly for a safe time to gather together at the Emmanuel Center. To that end, we also have organized some small meet and greet opportunities over the summer as a time just to say hello and get to know one another. I hope to see you at one of these. There is much joy in these new beginnings for all of us to share and I am excited to celebrate with you. As we mark this transition, I can invoke the Shehiyanu blessing that offers appreciation and gratefulness for ‘having kept us alive, supported us and brought us to this moment in time’.
I am delighted to introduce myself to you as your Rabbi and mark this moment of transition for the community and this change in leadership for the congregation.
What is the difference between change and transition? William Bridges writes that change happens naturally and continuously, often out of our control and influence. Transition is the means by which we manage change and bring it into our control in order to be able cope and deal with those forces swirling around us. Bridges describes three phases of transition; There is ending, there is a neutral period and then there is a new beginning. As I start my tenure as your rabbi, I note that you have had much change in the past number of years. From changes in rabbis, changes in worship and changes in community. There have been many endings to experience. The neutral period that perhaps describes where we are right now is reflective of the Children of Israel’s wandering experience in the ‘midbar’ – the desert. It seems there is nothing there, the wandering seems endless and little is known about the terrain ahead. However, for the Israelites the midbar experience is a tremendously creative time as they craft a new society with their Torah teaching, develop new leadership amongst the tribes and are prepared to enter a Covenantal relationship with God. They needed the time and wandering in the midbar to assess their strengths and build up their commitment to go forward. It is not so much ‘neutral’ as liminal, as Victor Turner defined it.
This is a moment of potential and possibility towards new beginnings, and I am delighted to be with you on this journey. I am so looking forward to being together and meeting you for my inaugural service on July 1st whether in presence or online and our Torah study on July 2nd online. It certainly is strange to have only seen some members online and wait eagerly for a safe time to gather together at the Emmanuel Center. To that end, we also have organized some small meet and greet opportunities over the summer as a time just to say hello and get to know one another. I hope to see you at one of these. There is much joy in these new beginnings for all of us to share and I am excited to celebrate with you. As we mark this transition, I can invoke the Shehiyanu blessing that offers appreciation and gratefulness for ‘having kept us alive, supported us and brought us to this moment in time’.