Weekly Reflections - Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism

May 1, 2019

Dear Friends,

Tonight and tomorrow, Jews around the world will observe, Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. This annual day of remembrance designates sacred time devoted to recalling the horrors of the past as a means to shape the present and the future.

We must never forget that the atrocities of the Nazis demanded a complicit society. We must never forget that the horrors of the Holocaust were rooted in fear, intolerance and hate. The slogan, “Never Again,” can only be realized if the entire world is committed to overcoming the voices which perpetuate and promulgate hateful rhetoric in society at large.

In the spirit of committing ourselves to the slogan, “Never Again,” we will gather at HCRJ on Sunday, May 5 at 2:30 to learn from the Reverend Joel Goza to discuss his recently-released book, America’s Unholy Ghosts: The Racist Roots of Our Faith and Politics. This presentation will help us seek ways to address some of the ongoing forces of hate and intolerance which continue to fester in society.

If you are seeking a more traditional observation of Yom HaShoah, there will be a City-Wide observance at Congregation Beth Yeshurun on Sunday afternoon, May 5 from 3:00 – 5:00. During this annual commemoration, we will mourn the loss of all who perished, honor those who survived and come together as a community to remember and reflect. To live stream this event, please visit here.

L’Shalom,
Steve

Counting the Blessings of Melissa Wolfson

Dear Friends,

Many Jews around the world are currently observing a sacred period of the Jewish calendar year called, “The Counting of the Omer.” This observance is based on the biblical mandate to count bundles of grain (the omer) every day for seven weeks from the second day of Passover through the festival of Shavuot.

Traditionally, this seven-week period is considered to be a minor mourning period. Throughout these forty-nine days (with a few exceptions), observant Jews treat these days like any other period of mourning. Weddings and other major celebrations are prohibited during this time, and grooming of nails, shaving and haircuts are not done.

While it is not clear why these seven weeks are set aside as a mourning period, a Talmudic legend claims that thousands of disciples of Rabbi Akiva died in the early 1st century from a plague, which supposedly transpired during the weeks between Passover and Shavuot. Oddly, there is not much more that can be found regarding the historical backdrop for these forty-nine days of ritual counting and communal morning. Thus, with very little historical meaning connected to the omer and the customs of morning and counting, observance of the rituals associated with these seven weeks ebbed.

Additionally, as the Jewish world evolved beyond the rituals of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, the concept of counting bundles of grain lost its significance for most Jews of the modern era. In recent years, however, this ritual period of counting has experienced a spiritual revival. For Jews seeking to find meaning beyond the ancient agricultural rituals, the forty-nine days of “The Counting of the Omer” has been redefined as a period to cultivate the human spirit rather than the land. One modern interpretation of the “The Counting of the Omer” suggests that this ancient ritual encourages us to count our blessings and make each and every day of our lives count.

Counting our blessings will play a central role at our Annual Meeting on May 19, as we honor and celebrate the many blessings brought to us by our Executive Director, Melissa Wolfson. Melissa has been with HCRJ for ten years, and her service to our community has been exemplary. Throughout her decade of dedication, Melissa has committed herself to growing and evolving with our community.

Melissa started as part time office manager with basic secretarial responsibilities, but as our congregation rapidly expanded, so too did the demands on Melissa. With an eye for detail and a boundless desire to meet our constantly changing needs, Melissa devoted herself to developing the skills and mastering the technologies which were central to the management and development of the business side of HCRJ.

April 24, 2019

Dear Friends,

Our Torah portion this week opens in the wake of tragedy as it recounts, for a second time, the sudden death of Aaron’s sons. This retrospective reference to the demise of Nadab and Abihu invites each of us to consider our responses in times of grief and loss.

In the midst of trauma and tragedy, our most common response tends to be an immediate need for narrative clarity. For some reason, there is a desire to understand exactly what happened or why it happened, but the truth is that this kind of information does not change the reality of the loss. Perhaps, it is for this reason that Aaron is silent when he learns about the death of his sons.

Aaron’s silence is something that is familiar to us as well. For, in times of grief, rarely is there ever a “right thing to say.” It is for this reason that Jewish tradition encourages us to refrain from speaking to mourners unless they speak first.

On Monday afternoon, the City of Houston lost six beautiful souls when a small plane crashed near Kerrville, Texas. Three of those individuals were dear friends of our family, and like Aaron in our Torah portion, silence seems to be the most comforting response.

L’Shalom,
Steve

April 17, 2019

Dear Friends,

Each year on Passover, we remember, and retell, the story of the Exodus from Egypt. At the Seder, the Haggadah serves as our guidebook as we retrace our ancestral steps from slavery to freedom. Among the many clever ways to engage us in this dramatic reenactment, the traditional Haggadah includes a passage about five rabbis who celebrated Passover together, and whose Seder served to awaken them to action for a better world. These five rabbis were an extremely diverse group:

1. Rabbi Eliezer was a brilliant elder, but his views were rejected by all other sages.

2. Rabbi Joshua was a poor man whose understanding of salvation included righteous non-Jews.

3. Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah was a young sage who challenged the elitism of academic hierarchy.

4. Rabbi Akiba was the late-blooming scholar of means who called for the Bar Kochba revolt which became the final armed struggle against Rome.

5. Rabbi Tarfon was Rabbi Akiba’s friend whose debates with Akiba over matters of the law became legendary.

The diverse group of rabbis listed above are in the Haggadah to remind us that if we are going to be able to work together to create a better world, we are going to have to find ways to debate and argue with passion and vision while maintain a sense of respect and humility. As our celebration of freedom begins on Friday night, we might consider ways that we can come together – not just with those who think like we do – but also with those on the opposite side of political and ritual arguments.

It is my prayer that our Seder rituals this week will guide us in ways to free us from the shackles of obstinacy, inflexibility and closemindedness. Like the five rabbis of ancient times, it is upon all of us to find ways leave our tables ready to repair the brokenness of our world.

Chag Pesach Sameach – Happy Passover

Steve

April 10, 2019

Dear Friends,

If you look into the sky tonight, you just might see a small spacecraft landing on the moon. This tiny robotic craft was launched by Israel on February 21, and with a successful landing, Israel will join the USA, Russia and China in this monumental task.

The name of the spacecraft is Beresheet, which is the first word in the Torah and means, “In the beginning…” With this lunar landing, Israel is embarking on a new, exciting chapter in its contributions to global scientific research. This craft will be measuring magnetic anomalies on the moon.

Certainly, this is a major accomplishment for the State of Israel and should be celebrated as a point of tremendous pride for the Jewish people. So, as we gaze upon a moon-lit sky tonight, we might consider saying a Shehechiyanu as we express our joy for this accomplishment today and share hopes with Jews around the world for what tomorrow may bring.

L’Shalom,
Steve

April 3, 2019

Dear Friends,

Baseball season is officially underway, and even if you are not a fan of baseball, it is extremely difficult to not to catch Astros Fever. This is especially true for the Jewish community, whose very own, Alex Bregman, just received one of the largest compensation packages ever signed by a Jewish athlete.

As Jews we often share a heightened sense of pride when a Jew succeeds at the highest levels of anything, but for some reason, this shared pride is more profoundly felt when the rise to stardom takes place in the field of sports – think of Sandy Koufax, Mark Spitz and Aly Raisman. In part, this is because Jewish sports heroes are so rare (as comically depicted in this scene from the movie, Airplane).

Bregman’s story is all the more special because he is so proud of his Jewish heritage. Folks all over the country have been sending me articles that weave Alex Bregman’s bar mitzvah speech into the storyline. Even at the age of thirteen, Alex knew he wanted to bring goodness into the world through his prowess at the plate.

When I think about the future and how I can make a difference in the world, I want to be able to use my love of the game of baseball to be a good example and a good person,” he said. “I want to be a professional athlete who plays for the love of the game. . . and is a good role model for all of the kids who look up to baseball players.”

Alex Bregman is, certainly, fulfilling the dreams he articulated in his bar mitzvah speech, and in doing so he has expanded the leaflet described in the video clip above. The Houston Jewish community is proud to have him shine as a hero for our city, and as the baseball season unfolds, we will be cheering for him and our beloved Astros for many months to come. GO ASTROS!!!

L’Shalom,
Steve

Living What We Learn

Dear Friends,

I recently read an essay written by my son, Simon, who is currently 15 years old. The paper was on the pursuit of happiness, and I was pleasantly surprised that one of his primary arguments was crafted around something he had learned in Sunday school. The teaching had come from his 7th grade Sunday school teacher, Dolph Simon, who said, “In order to make a change for the better, changing your attitude in order to change your behavior will not work. You have to change your behavior to change your attitude.”

As I read this essay, my heart swelled with pride. I was proud of Simon who found a way to apply what he was learning in Sunday school to his everyday life, and I was proud of Simon’s Sunday school teacher, Dolph, who consistently inspires our students to apply what they learn to how they live.

Reading this small part of Simon’s essay reminded me that Sunday school should not exist in isolation. The hope is that our children will apply the values they learn in class to making this world a better place. This hope is embedded in our parenting strategies as well, as our responsibility to transmit our faith to the next generation can, at times, be very challenging.

As Jewish parents, we try our best to provide our children with ways to weave their Jewish values into the fabric of life in a secular world. We want our children to be proud and loyal to their heritage, but when the demands and rhythms of Jewish life compete with those of secular life, major challenges arise.

One of the many ways to approach these growing challenges is to model, through our own behaviors, the values we hope our children will embrace. We often tell our children, “Do what I do and not what I say,” and the same should be true as we seek to transmit the values and customs of our faith. In Sunday school and at home, we can talk a good talk about our Judaism, but if our children do not see us applying our Judaism to everyday life, our words simply become nods to the past. However, if we are truly committed to transferring the lessons of our heritage from generation to generation, then each of us needs to find ways to inspire our children (and others) to live what they learn.

In just a few weeks, Jews around the world will gather around their Seder tables in celebration of Passover. Through the rituals and the rites of the Seder meal, we all become students of our faith as values concerning human freedoms and issues around social justice are woven into the fabric of the Passover feast. As we re-enact the story of our ancestral Exodus from Egypt from year to year, we remind ourselves of the importance of applying the values of our heritage to the transformation of the world. This year, may we each find ways to apply what we learn to what we do.

March 27, 2019

Dear Friends,

In this week’s Torah portion, two of sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, present unsanctioned sacrificial offerings to God. In contrast to the priestly sacrifices, which were commanded in connection to the tabernacle, these personal offerings were deemed “strange fire,” and the results were catastrophic. The offerings are rejected by God, and Nadab and Abihu are consumed by a divine fire.

This week the phrase, “strange fire,” has an added level of meaning for Jews around the world. On Monday, a rocket, which was launched from Gaza into the center of Israel, led to an Israeli retaliation on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. As the blazes and plumes of destruction climb toward the heavens, our hearts are heavy with concern.

Whenever there is an escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza, the ultimate beneficiaries are Hamas and the haters of Israel around the globe. As American Jews, our interest is in the safety of our brothers and sisters in the Land of Israel, and our prayers are for the ongoing security and stability for all who live in the region, but we also recognize that a return to violence is likely to end in more deaths and injuries without making either Israelis or Palestinians safer – strange fire – indeed.

Like the firepans of Nadab and Abihu, whose strange fire led only to death, the fires from missiles and rockets bring similar kinds of senseless destruction. It is my prayer that the leadership of Israel and Gaza can find a way to avoid engaging in a new ground war and employ a strategy for pursuing a sustainable peace.

L’Shalom,
Steve

March 20, 2019

Dear Friends,

Purim will be celebrated at HCRJ this Friday night at Shabbat services, but the actual date of Purim begins at sunset tonight. While this joyous and festive celebration is often associated with fun and folly, it also addresses the themes of good and evil.

In light of the terrorist attacks in New Zealand and the Netherlands this week, Purim’s message to blot out evil from the face of the earth is very appropriate. To that end, we blot out Haman (who is the architype of evil); we laugh in the face of those who plot against us; and we find role models in Mordechai and Esther, who choose not to remain silent in the face of hatred and violence. Purim’s long standing traditions (goofy as they may be) help us cope with terror and evil in a playful way.

Purim may, indeed, be a holiday of marry-making and folly, but at its core, it emphasizes the fundamental belief that despite the fact that plots will be made against us, goodness will always prevail. Join us on Friday night for a congregational Purim celebration with special music and a hamantashen oneg.

Purim Sameach! Happy Purim!!

Steve

March 13, 2019

Dear Friends,

Over the course of the past decade, HCRJ has proudly embraced efforts to build bridges of understanding between faith communities. These efforts have been most strongly developed within our relationship with the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam).

At the heart of this noble endeavor has been a desire to restore civil discourse and deepen our trust in each other. For ten years, we have sought to establish a common vocabulary to help us engage in topics that challenge us day to day. Our time together, as clergy and laity, has helped to diminish some of the fear and suspicion that seems to permeate society today.

We can be very proud of the work we have done to date. We have learned that building bridges of trust demands a level of intimacy that comes from the shared experiences of everyday life. In short, we have come to know each other as people, as neighbors and as friends.

Michael Duke of the Jewish Herald-Voice wrote this article last week. In it, he recorded an intense conversation on abortion which took place between two rabbis, three ministers and an imam. Our ability to engage each other as a clergy team (which we lovingly call The Galleria Gang) is evidence of the trust that we have developed though our ongoing work together.

This kind of honest conversation has enabled us to see where our values and beliefs differ, but we are also able to see that our commonalities far exceed our differences. As we continue in this important work, it is my hope that our time together can model how a willingness to listen respectfully to those with whom we may not always agree can broaden our capacity to work together.

L’Shalom,
Steve

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