CJC Newsletter November/December 2005

Welcome Chaverim, to our next CJC Newsletter!

This Fall season has manifested many profound spiritual moments with our clergy and community. Thanks to all of you who helped to create and who attended our High Holy Days services and Sukkot celebration.

And with gratitude to our contributors, we include in this issue: two articles by our religious leaders, Jhos and Julie, that reveal layers of meaning in the Kaddish prayer; Religious School and Mitzvah project updates; lay leader, Karen Erlichman's Rosh Hoshana Drash to savor; and Upcoming Events, including New Members Get-together, ongoing Ruach Havurah, Taste of Judaism course offered free of charge, Social Action Committee conversation on Dec 4th, and CJC Shabbaton, on December 9 & 10.

We're sending out an very earnest appeal for board participation. With a current board position open and other board members' terms coming to a close in June, we strongly need new participants to step up to the board and keep CJC going and growing.

We are grateful to those who have joined and rejoined CJC this year. Questions or interest in membership or board participation? Contact Sara Russell at: (650) 490-0914, or email: saralrussell@sbcglobal.net.

Click Holidays & Events or Calendar for our Upcoming Programs



nature photos ©2005 Amee Evans Godwin

From Our Maggid: So Unique is Your Great Name
by Jhos Singer

Shalom Chaverim-

Today was the first day that fall really seemed to be here in full force. It blustered, drizzled, then had moments of delicious clear blue sky and 10 minute blasts of dazzling sun. I love these days and I hate them, because these first days of fall are what I call zicharon z’mani sheli, my remembering time. My mom, the strange and wonderful, the tardy and tenacious, the brilliant and babbling, the excellent and excruciating Queen of Venice, California, Mary Lou Johnson, z”l, died on October 30, 2000 on a day just like today. It rained violently for a while, then the downpour yielded to a few hours of crisp sun and then it got grey and damp and sort of wept into evening. And on that very day, I became a mourner and I took upon myself the mitzvah of saying Kaddish for my mother, my human creator who gave me to this life.

Yitgadal v’yitkadash, shemei raba—So huge and so unique is your great name!!! The Kaddish YaTom, the ‘mourners kaddish’ begins by proclaiming how magnificent is the evidence of our Creators’ plan.

We make this proclamation on behalf of our dead who, rumor has it, can no longer deliver this kind of praise. I look around at the world today and wonder what my dear old radical lefty anarchist mom would be praising. Certainly not our government, if you can call it that these days, nor any other for that matter. She would be snarling and kvetching about the continued abysmal treatment of the worlds poor, sick, elderly and frail. She’d be disgusted by the cronyism, incompetence and violence that fill the news. She’d be broken hearted by the pitiless battering the planet has taken by both natural and human violence—tsunami or suicide bombers wouldn’t matter to her—ruin is ruin no matter the cause.

(Jhos' continued...)

She would be undone by the stories of children ripped out of the arms of their parents. She would spit every time a Hummer crossed her path. She left this world before 9/11, before the latest war started, before the last traces of democracy in America were eroded by 'dangling chads', before the world witnessed videotaped beheadings and Abu Ghraib, before the mantra changed to 'practice random violence and senseless acts of cruelty'. When I reflect on this I realize how much the world has changed since she left it. I can hear her cry: B'alma di v'ra chirutei? This is the world God willed into creation?!

But my task as a mourner is not to kvetch on her behalf, no, I am supposed to praise on her behalf. V'imru: Amen -- and let's say Amen to that. That's why I love this time of year, those kaleidoscopic skies that opened up to let her pass between the clouds, the unabashed schizophrenic climate, the unrepentant inconsistency of it, reminds me of what she loved about this life. Yitbarach v'yishtabach. Blessed and praised. She loved to laugh and she adored good food. V'yit pa'ar, v'yitromam v'yitnasei. Glorified, and exalted and uplifted. She was a connoisseur of the absurd and she championed every weirdo she ever met. V'yithadar. Beautiful! She was a sensualist and a critic and she appreciated hard work and good company. V'yithaleh. Raised up high! She would have loved her highly amusing and bright grandsons; she would have secretly kvelled on my sermons. V'yithalal. Extolled! She would have loved Pink…….. Shemei d'kudesha, brikh hu!!! Name it like no other, it is Blessed!!!

So, I thank the sky, and I praise the One who made it, and I let myself have moments of grief and a few tears and then, with no sense of contradiction, I let myself savor a mouthful of great wine, a perfect crisp apple, a kiss from my son Michael, a massage from my son Gabe. I sing with the radio at the top of my lungs, who cares if I don't know half the words. I buy a pumpkin that weighs 125 lbs for $20.00. I marvel at big red Mars, and the double irises unfolding in very same vase Mom would have used; I study pictures of her as a child, a young mother, a dying grandmother. I marvel that she even existed at all and that I got to be her child. L'eila min kol birchata, tushbechata v'nechemata, da'amiran b'alma, v'imru: Amen. Beyond all the blessings and songs and praises and consolation, which we utter in this world---nothing else to say, but: So be it!!

zIn this world, which seems so shot full of death and loss, in an age stripped of innocence, in hearts that are shattered, there is still room for light. Don't cave my friends, look up at the great expanse and take a cue. Its corny, but the clouds and sun really do coexist pretty nicely most of the time. Don't be afraid to accept the gifts that death comes to offer -- enter into your time of memory with the intent to do a mitzvah -- to look around you and to offer praises on behalf of the dead for the joys and wonders of this life. Bring yourself back to what is miraculous and beautiful and hilarious and precious, even if it seems incongruous to your fear, frustration or grief. Be brave and see the brilliant and the good. Drink a toast or sing a song or dance with abandon in memory of someone you loved who has slipped across the veil. And may we all be comforted in the knowledge that some fine blustery day, our loved ones will be doing the same for us. Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu, v'al kol Yisrael, v'al kol yoshevei tevel, v'al kol ha olam. The One who makes peace in the unreachable places, also make peace through us individually and as a people and as a species and let it be everlasting, v'imru: Amen!!

Blessin's---Jhos

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Our Sheli'ach Tsibbur: The Mourner's Kaddish (Part 1)
by Julie Batz

Let God’s name be made great and holy in the world that was created as God willed. May God complete the holy realm in your own lifetime, in your days, and in the days of all the house of Israel, quickly and soon. And say: Amen.

May God’s great name be blessed, forever and as long as worlds endure.

May it be blessed, and praised, and glorified, and held in honor, viewed with awe, embellished, and revered; and may the blessed name of holiness be hailed, though it be higher than all the blessings, songs, praises, and consolations that we utter in this world. And say: Amen. May Heaven grant a universal peace, and life for us, and for all Israel. And say: Amen. May the one who creates harmony above, make peace for us and for all Israel, and for all who dwell on earth. And say: Amen.

Every Jewish service includes at least one public recitation of the Kaddish Yatom or Mourner’s Kaddish. As we invite those who are observing a recent passing or the anniversary of the death of a loved one, we offer consolation and support to those who are in mourning. Together, the mourners recite the Kaddish, with the congregation joining for every “Amen” and the response line: “May God’s great name be blessed, forever and as long as worlds endure.” The Kaddish is a deeply moving praise poem that makes absolutely no mention of death. So, why is it this prayer that has been singled out as the one we offer when our hearts are broken? Why are we expected to praise God’s name at a time when we might be expected to have the most conflicted feelings towards God?

(Julie's continued...)

As Jhos teaches, one answer is that it is davka/precisely because our hearts are broken that we can praise God -- for the blessings and gifts and vital life forces that we do experience. Because we are able to love someone so deeply, our sadness at their loss is just as deep. We are reminded in these moments of the exquisite pain and joy that humans can feel, and we are grateful to the Source for the capacity to hold it all.

Another answer points to the ways in which we can keep a person's memory alive by honoring what they have brought to our lives. In traditional communities, fathers taught their sons Torah, and an older version of the Kaddish (the Kaddish d'Rabbanan or Sage's Kaddish) was said at the conclusion of that study. In a house of mourning, it was then expected that a son would repeat some Torah that his father had taught to him -- in memory of his father, as a way to honor that memory, and to demonstrate what kind of a person his father helped to shape through his teaching. Over time, the custom (and the prayer) became shortened to just the recitation of the Kaddish Yatom by a bereaved child as an expression of regret and loss, and became the general prayer for mourners we say to this day.

As you recite the Kaddish Yatom, you honor the memory of your loved one by remembering something vital that they taught you, and imagining how, through that loving act, you keep their memory alive.

In our next newsletter: Contemporary interpretations of the Kaddish; the importance of a minyan/core prayer community; and ways to enact the underlying spirit of the Kaddish.

--Julie

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nature photos ©2005 Amee Evans Godwin

Ivdu et HaShem b'Simcha: Serve the Divine with Joy
Rosh Hashanah Drash 2005
By Karen Erlichman

A few nights ago I woke up at 3:00 in the morning, unable to sleep and feeling restless. I had been feeling run down for a few weeks, a little cranky, and inexplicably irritable. There were all the obvious explanations: aging grandparents, the hurricane devastation, George Bush. I was feeling disconnected from my loved ones and myself.

I tossed and turned, read a magazine, played with the cat, and finally I thought, "Oh, I could pray!" As I lay there in the dark, I realized I had also been feeling disconnected from God. Here it is, the month of Elul, the time of year I was supposed to be doing my spiritual housecleaning, and I felt completely alienated from the Divine.

Thankfully I had an appointment the next morning with my spiritual director. She is like a spiritual chiropractor for me when I feel out of alignment with God. I meet with her monthly and we sit in silence, pray together, and explore the ways that God's presence is unfolding in my life. As we sat together quietly, I realized that I needed to ask God this question: "How is God calling me to serve? Hineni, Here I am God. I need help following your call." Let me be clear about this: the question is NOT "AM I to serve?", but "HOW am I to serve?

(Karen's continued)

In May I completed four years of training as a spiritual director, and since then have been in a process of discernment about my next steps. In addition to the groups and individuals I see for spiritual direction, I have also felt called to integrate the practice of spiritual direction with other parts of my life, like tikkun olam and the various communities in which I live. But these next steps have not been clear to me, and in my typical fashion, I have been dancing around in confusion testing a few options, none of which has felt right. How am I being called to serve?

Shimon haTzadik, Simon the Righteous said, Al Shlosha Devarim Ha Olam Omed al ha-Torah, v'al ha-Avodah, v'al Gemilut Hasidim 'The world stands on three things: Torah, avodah ("divine service", or work or worship), and acts of lovingkindness'" (Avot 1:2). Some of you will recognize this as a familiar song . It comes from the opening section of Pirke Avot -the book of wisdom from our sages. In Hebrew words often have multiple meanings. The word avodah means both work and worship. Why? There is an aspect of worship and prayer that requires us to work, to study, to stretch and to grow, and work or service can be done with a prayerful heart.

In his book These are the Words, Rabbi Arthur Green explains avodah: "Avodah, the term for "worship" in Hebrew, is derived from the root ayin-bet daled, meaning work, labor or service, as peformed by a servant. We are to see ourselves as servants of Adonai, working at God's service…There, avodah refers to sacrifices …[from the times when] the Temple was yet standing. After its destruction, the rabbis made the daring move of calling prayer "Avodah she'ba'lev," the avodah of the heart. This means that the same power of approaching God, whether to show one's love and gratitude or to seek atonement, that had previously lain in the offering of animals, was now transferred to the interior realm (the inner sanctuary within us)…the devotional attitude associated with the word avodah is not an easy one for us today. " (p. 119) Avodah does not ask us to forgo our dignity; avodah asks us to be generous of heart.

With all the horror and suffering in our world, there are many places that need our service. It is overwhelming just to NAME the many places of brokenness and tragedy around us: hurricanes, Israel/Palestine, the Supreme Court, the crisis in health care, or racial profiling. The erosion of reproductive rights, or the children abused in foster care, or gaybashing, or global warming.

One of the common threads in this litany of atrocities is that we are all being called to respond, individually and as a community. We are called to tikkun olam, to heal the world. As Jews our tradition gives us some guidelines for how to do this, through mitzvot, and through AVODAH.

So where does this fit with Rosh Hashanah? Every year on Rosh Hashanah, we read the story of the Akedah, when Abraham binds his son (hence "the Binding of Isaac") to the altar and is willing to offer him as a sacrifice, and as he raises the knife in his hand, an angel appears and intervenes, sparing Isaac's life.

The text says: Abraham reached out and took the slaughter knife to slit his son's throat. Vayishlach Avraham et-yado vayikach et-hama'achelet lishchot et-beno.

God's angel called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham! Abraham!' 'Yes.Hineni." Vayikra elav mal'ach Adonay min-hashamayim vayomer Avraham Avraham vayomer hineni.

'Do not harm the boy. Do not do anything to him. For now I know that you revere God. You have not withheld your only son from God.' Vayomer al-tishlach yadcha el-hana'ar ve'al-ta'as lo me'umah ki atah yadati ki-yere Elohim atah velo chasachta et-bincha et-yechidecha mimeni.

Abraham then looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. He went and got the ram (RAM'S HORN! SHOFAR!), sacrificing it as an all-burned offering in his son's place. Vayisa Avraham et-eynav vayar vehineh-ayil achar ne'echaz basvach bekarnav vayelech Avraham vayikach et-ha'ayil vaya'alehu le'olah tachat beno.

How does the fact that we read the Akedah every year on RH have to do with avodah? The ram was the sacrifice Abraham offered in place of his son. We blow the RAM'S HORN during Elul and on these holy days. The blowing of the shofar symbolizes many things, among them a call to sacrifice.

There is a section of our service and liturgy referred to as the AVODAH section. In the days of the Temple, the Avodah part of the service on Yom Kippur was performed in the Kodesh Hakodoshim, the Holy of Holies, the only day of the year when anyone entered this part of the mishkan. The service recounts in detail the elaborate temple ritual for sacrifice by the high priest on behalf of the priests and all of Israel.

When the high Priest made confession, he would recite the Unnameable Tetragrammaton, and upon hearing God's special name, the people would prostrate themselves completely. In traditional synagogues, many people still do, and in others, only the service leader performs the prostration ritual. Just as Art Green says that many modern Jews struggle with the practice of complete devotion, many of us bristle at the idea of prostrating ourselves or submitting before God (or anyone else), even though it is a practice that comes directly from our tradition.

So, during this time of year, we are called to serve and to pray from within the Kodesh HaK'doshim, the holy of holies within ourselves. We are called to prostrate ourselves in every way, and to consider what sacrifies we will make. Since there is no longer a literal Temple, each one of us becomes a mishkan, a holy sanctuary, and together we create a community mishkan, and then we are the sanctuary for the world. Our words of confession, of prayer are not enough. We have to make sacrifices, including in our avodah.

In the machzor, Rabbi Leila Gal Berner says this about the word avodah, "Now we are in relationship with the Divine through the meditations of our heart and the ways in which we choose to act in the world." (p. 119, Kol HaNeshamah) We tend to prefer the partnership model of relationship with the Divine, rather than the idea of submission.

We are truly in partnership with God, and with each other. Just as marriage partners agree to a ketubah that spells out their mutual commitments and intentions, members of a community should also be clear about what we expect from each other and what we are prepared to give of ourselves.

In my work with couples in therapy, most people come in and say, "Our relationship would be so much better if only the OTHER person would stop doing those things that drive me crazy." I ask each of them to think about what kind of partner THEY want to be, not what they think the other person should be doing. And we create a ketubah of sorts, an agreement that spells out their vision of what their loving partnership can be and what they are willing to do and to sacrifice to make that vision possible.

I have been a member of this congregation for about six years, and have served in various capacities. About a year ago I completed my term on the Board. And I was tired. And you know how we Jews can be when we are tired: whining, kvetching, and cranky! It's so easy to look at other people's behavior and criticize or judge them. Eventually I got tired of my own whining. I decided to try a new approach, to see if it would feel better and yield more satisfying results. My new approach is this: If I want something from my community, what am I willing to do to have that? Just like I ask of my clients. Am I willing to step out of the comfort zone of kvetching and DO SOMETHING? One of my rebbes, Audre Lorde, once wrote, "Of course I am afraid, because the transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self revelation, and that always seems fraught with danger." (from Sister Outsider)

If I define avodah as an act of transformation, a prayerful approach to service, giving the best of myself for the community, and if I believe what the angel said to Abraham, then those sacrifices will result in Divine blessings for me, for us and all of God's children.

The Talmud says, "Even the most empty of Jews is as full of good deeds as the pomegranate is full of seeds." We need each other. We need God. We need our partners, our families, and our friends. We need community. We cannot walk this path of life alone. And we don't have to.

One of the things that make CJC so special is our warmth and our connection, our deeply felt sense of friendship and family. We have journeyed together as a community through the illness and deaths of several beloved members, the arrival of new children, the kiddushin of couples, and more.

There are many reasons that people seek community: to carry on the tradition, for their children's religious education, to pray, to do tikkun olam work, to find their beloved or basherte, to deepen their Jewish learning, to balance out the disappointment or trauma of their Jewish upbringing.

If a community is going to survive and thrive, a significant commitment of AVODAH, of time, energy and resources is needed from everyone. CJC is a community of meaning for each of us, and worthy of survival and generativity. We need to create the balance between what we get with an appreciation and commitment to what we need to give in order for the community to enable it to flourish. We need to show up generously more than twice a year.

So let's go back to the shofar again. How is the shofar calling us to avodah? How can we be quiet enough to really hear it? And how can this path of service be infused with the paradoxical qualities of sacrifice, prostration and JOY? The mitzvah of avodah is one that can be fulfilled with great joy. Ivdu et haShem b'simcha--Serve the Holy one with joy (From Psalm 100),

Most of us are already involved in community activities, political activism, local organizing or school boards, giving tzedakah, and of course our careers and families. But since it's Rosh Hashanah, and since we are engaged in our teshuvah practice during these holy days, I'm going to ask you to indulge me for a brief minute.

Close your eyes for a moment and think about one new act of service, one act of prostration and sacrifice that you are willing to consider for the New Year on behalf of this community and for our world. Close your eyes for a moment. Breathe deeply into the Kodesh haKedoshim within yourself, the deepest place of truth and holiness that is open to you during this sacred time. Invite God into your Holy of Holies.

Visualize yourself in full physical prostration, or you may even move your body into a posture of vulnerability and giving over to the Holy One, like opening your hands, or lifting or bowing your head. Take a moment to name your AVODAH offering, seal that intention in your heart, that kavannah of avodah you will manifest in the coming year. Take another deep breath, and as you listen to these words of prayer, your kavannah will be blessed.

Blessed are you, Divine Source of All that Is, who has blessed us with the capacity for avodah, for prayer, for divine work, and who has commanded us to offer these gifts to our loved ones, to our community and to the world. Hineni.

Shana Tova.

--Karen

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Lifecycles - Bikkur Cholim

LIFECYCLES

Storm Russell is in the cast of "The Laramie Project" showing in HMB at Coastal Repertory Theatrethrough Nov. 12. Mazel tov!

Jacque Maxon' grandmother passed away in Sept. Our thoughts and prayers are with her.

Linda Jacobson and Maryann Bell are expecting TWINS.

Mark Perlsweig and Randi Howard had a recent fire in their home and are unable to live in it until it is repaired. They are now fortunate to have temporary accommodations at Marta's home. Thank you, Marta!

Hats off to Linda Bea Miller will be showing her art along with the rest of her watercolor group at the Bell Building, HMB, on 11/13 and at the Depot, HMB, on 12/10-11.

Mazel tov to Sara Russell on the launch of her new buisness, "mama to mama", a birth and postpartum doula service, childbirth classes, and mama circle weekly group meeting.

Condolences to Pam Black, who's father passed away Oct. 9.

 

YARTZHEIT

Annie Blair's mother, Esther Bernie, 11/5/78, 5 Cheshvan 5739
Les Deman's father, Richard Deman, 11/7/95, 14 Cheshvan 5756
Cathy Hauer's father, Stanley Haur, 11/8

Sheila Weiss' brother, Bertram Kosmin, 11/12/1982, 26 Cheshvan 5743
Sheila Weiss' mother, Lily Kosmin, 11/6/1980, 27 Cheshvan 5741
Merrill Bobele's mother, Freida Bobele, 11/30/90
Merrill Bobele's father, Sam Bobele, 11/30/90

Diane Brosin's father, Isadore Brosin, 12/17/00
Avram &Vicki Frankel's mother, Judith Frankel, 12/18/92
Leslie Deman's mother, Evelyn Horowitz, 12/30/04, 18 Tevet 5765
Leslie Deman's father, John Horowitz, 12/24/58, 13 Tevet 5719
Sara Russell's father, Rabbi A. Leon Rosenblum, 12/24/1995, 1 Tevet 5756
Sheila Weiss' brother, Desmond Kosmin, 12/3/1989, 5 Kislev 5750

“Help for our community is needed”

Anyone able to cook for or help transport our community when the need arises,
please contact Linda Bea Miller: lb250a@hotmail.com. We are in need of helpers.

Although my term on the board will end in June 2006, I will share the next term (2yrs) with anyone who would like to take over the Lifecycles Chair. If there is another position on the board that you are interested in, contact us and let's pursue it together. New board members equal new energy and new ideas. -LB

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Get more involved with CJC!

Sign up with eScrip - the electronic fundraising program in which participating merchants contribute when you buy stuff using your supermarket club/debit/credit cards that you register with eScrip. No receipts to collect, no tsuris (trouble) for you-and every purchase counts! Every time you shop at one of 6,000 merchant locations, a percentage of your purchase goes directly to CJC! It's simple and secure to sign up online:

Step #1: Go to www.escrip.com
Step #2: Click on Sign Up
Step #3: Enter CJC's Group ID#144028734
Step #4: Enter your card number(s).

It's easy. It's free. It's great for CJC.

 

Contact us!

CJC on the Web: www.coastsidejewishcommunity.org

Email: coastsidejewishcommunity@yahoo.com

Mailing Address: PO Box 1729, El Granada, CA, 94018

Spiritual Leaders:
Jhos Singer, Maggid 510-526-5397 cjcmaggid@sbcglobal.net
Julie Batz, Sheli'ach Tsibbur 510-549-3121 jbatz@sbcglobal.net

Board Members:
Sara Russell (Vice President)
Leslie Deman (Secretary)
Wendi Shafir (Education)
Linda Bea Miller (Lifecycles)
Amee Evans Godwin (Publications)
Lissin Lev Chaya (Ritual)
Liz Gray (Social Action)
Carrie Sealine (Ritual)

CJC Newsletter: Amee Evans Godwin
Email: coastsidejewishcommunity@yahoo.com

nature photos ©2005 Amee Evans Godwin

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