Rabbi's Weekly Message
April 19, 2018
Shalom Temple Emanu-El,
After reading the descriptions of skin disorders in this week’s Torah portion, I feel better about my seasonal allergies and my itchy eyes. Things could be far worse! Fortunately, the next few months will bring more than hay fever to Temple Emanu-El. There are a few special events that I hope you will put on your calendar now.
On Sunday, May 6, we have two important gatherings! First, at 9:30am, we’ll be holding our annual meeting in Starensier Assembly. Come and hear about what has been going on at Temple Emanu-El, cast your vote for board members, and put in your two cents as the congregation reflects on the past and plans for the future.
Then, after the annual meeting, at 12 noon, we’re having a delicious deli lunch while we watch the movie Dough. This film is from Israel and I’m told that we should all bring our laughter for this event. Come and enjoy great food, great company, and a really funny movie. VERY IMPORTANT: Please call or email Nancy (978-373-3861 or Nancy@TempleEmanu-El.org) to make reservations for the food part of this. Details are elsewhere in the Shavuon. This caterer needs an exact number!
The third event I hope you’ll put on your schedules is our Confirmation/Graduation service on the evening of Friday, May 18 at 7:00pm. Please come and celebrate with our 9th and 12th graders and their families. Religious School Awards will also be given at this service.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ilene Bogosian
In office times for this week:
Monday, April 23, 4:00pm–8:00pm
Wednesday, April 25, 12:00 noon–9:00pm
Thursday, April 26, 1:00pm–5:00pm
Friday, April 27, 10:00am–1:00pm
Saturday, April 28, 9:00am–1:00pm
After reading the descriptions of skin disorders in this week’s Torah portion, I feel better about my seasonal allergies and my itchy eyes. Things could be far worse! Fortunately, the next few months will bring more than hay fever to Temple Emanu-El. There are a few special events that I hope you will put on your calendar now.
On Sunday, May 6, we have two important gatherings! First, at 9:30am, we’ll be holding our annual meeting in Starensier Assembly. Come and hear about what has been going on at Temple Emanu-El, cast your vote for board members, and put in your two cents as the congregation reflects on the past and plans for the future.
Then, after the annual meeting, at 12 noon, we’re having a delicious deli lunch while we watch the movie Dough. This film is from Israel and I’m told that we should all bring our laughter for this event. Come and enjoy great food, great company, and a really funny movie. VERY IMPORTANT: Please call or email Nancy (978-373-3861 or Nancy@TempleEmanu-El.org) to make reservations for the food part of this. Details are elsewhere in the Shavuon. This caterer needs an exact number!
The third event I hope you’ll put on your schedules is our Confirmation/Graduation service on the evening of Friday, May 18 at 7:00pm. Please come and celebrate with our 9th and 12th graders and their families. Religious School Awards will also be given at this service.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ilene Bogosian
In office times for this week:
Monday, April 23, 4:00pm–8:00pm
Wednesday, April 25, 12:00 noon–9:00pm
Thursday, April 26, 1:00pm–5:00pm
Friday, April 27, 10:00am–1:00pm
Saturday, April 28, 9:00am–1:00pm
Rabbi's Bi-Monthly Message
March/April 2018
This is a season of multiple transformations. The sun is getting higher in the sky, but tomorrow it might be chilly again. We are not exactly in winter heating season anymore when the temperatures soar to 70 plus in the daytime sun, but we also can’t call this springtime yet. First, we have to pass through mud season.
Another transformation that comes every year at this time is the one we observe during Passover. In that story, we also had to pass through the mud – on the floor of the parted Red Sea. Can you imagine the mess? But on the other side, all of the former slaves were free.
The Haggadah teaches us that “in each generation, every individual should feel as though he or she had actually been redeemed from Mitzrayim, as it is said: ‘You shall tell your children on that day, saying, it is because of what Adonai did for me when I went free out of Mitzrayim.’ (Exodus 13:8). For the Holy One redeemed not only our ancestors; He redeemed us with them.”
This statement is remarkable. Our liturgy and our history are not written in the first person singular. We always speak of what we did, what we were commanded to do, and so on. How is it that the transformation from slavery to freedom is presented as the agenda of each individual? If so why do we sit down in groups at the seder table to experience our liberation?
Each year I respond differently to the tension between the individual and collective aspects of Passover. Here’s my understanding of the text this year: The collective, in our case the community that is our congregation, cannot be healthy if those who come to its table are enslaved. Neither can we create kedushah, holiness, if each of us is concerned only with a private agenda. The creation of sacred connections among us requires each of us to release enslavements to assumptions about each other. Only then are we free to engage in the task of growing as individuals and as kehillah kedoshah, a holy congregation. Those who have gone forth from their own Egypt are the ones who are able to stand at the door of our synagogue to welcome everyone, those they agree with and those they have thought of as adversaries.
Soon Temple Emanu-El will be entering a new season of its communal life and we have certainly been through a few winter seasons on the way to this change. At times it has been muddy and messy. There is no new spring growth without that mud though. In a few weeks, each of you will be sitting down at a seder table to re-experience and celebrate freedom. As a community, I hope you will all be standing at the door this spring welcoming each other and the future you will build in partnership with your new rabbi.
Shalom, Rabbi Ilene Bogosian
Another transformation that comes every year at this time is the one we observe during Passover. In that story, we also had to pass through the mud – on the floor of the parted Red Sea. Can you imagine the mess? But on the other side, all of the former slaves were free.
The Haggadah teaches us that “in each generation, every individual should feel as though he or she had actually been redeemed from Mitzrayim, as it is said: ‘You shall tell your children on that day, saying, it is because of what Adonai did for me when I went free out of Mitzrayim.’ (Exodus 13:8). For the Holy One redeemed not only our ancestors; He redeemed us with them.”
This statement is remarkable. Our liturgy and our history are not written in the first person singular. We always speak of what we did, what we were commanded to do, and so on. How is it that the transformation from slavery to freedom is presented as the agenda of each individual? If so why do we sit down in groups at the seder table to experience our liberation?
Each year I respond differently to the tension between the individual and collective aspects of Passover. Here’s my understanding of the text this year: The collective, in our case the community that is our congregation, cannot be healthy if those who come to its table are enslaved. Neither can we create kedushah, holiness, if each of us is concerned only with a private agenda. The creation of sacred connections among us requires each of us to release enslavements to assumptions about each other. Only then are we free to engage in the task of growing as individuals and as kehillah kedoshah, a holy congregation. Those who have gone forth from their own Egypt are the ones who are able to stand at the door of our synagogue to welcome everyone, those they agree with and those they have thought of as adversaries.
Soon Temple Emanu-El will be entering a new season of its communal life and we have certainly been through a few winter seasons on the way to this change. At times it has been muddy and messy. There is no new spring growth without that mud though. In a few weeks, each of you will be sitting down at a seder table to re-experience and celebrate freedom. As a community, I hope you will all be standing at the door this spring welcoming each other and the future you will build in partnership with your new rabbi.
Shalom, Rabbi Ilene Bogosian
