Har Sinai Temple

Have a good and sweet year! (1).png

A MESSAGE FROM RABBI JORDAN GOLDSON

Today is Kristallnacht, November 9th. On this day, 83 years ago (1938), N**i thugs stormed through the streets of Germany and Austria in an organized pogrom of destruction. They smashed windows of Jewish-owned businesses and desecrated synagogues. They rounded up thousands of Jewish men and sent them to concentration camps. And the world stood silent.

My colleague, Rabbi Joe Black, has written a beautiful song in memory of his mother. Sophie K. Black z"l and her parents lived through Kristallnacht. Fortunately, they had already received their papers which would allow them to leave Germany one month later. While Sophie was able to leave Germany and come to this country, that experience never left her. This is captured in this song, "The Salty Taste of Tears."

The lyrics are profound and stirring: "She was a refugee with glass in her shoes/12 years old scared and confused/Peeking through the curtains at American Jews/ Who never lived in fear."

This year, I am moved by these words: "She lived with dread as if one day, the fragile peace might go away. She knew God's grace just couldn't stay, it always disappears. . ." This is a time to remember and reflect.
May Sophie's memory be a blessing.

Click on this link to listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8UN_4XYu7M

"The Salty Taste of Tears." Words and Music (c) August 4, 2020 - Rabbi Joe Black My mother, Sophie Black, fled Leipzig, Germany in December, 1938 - one month after Kristalnacht - the “Night of Broken Glass.” She and her parents fled all ...

Registration for the Religious School at our Reform Temple in Pennington is now open for the 2021-2022 school year. Enroll on the website at www.harsinai.org/enrollment. Please let me know if you have questions, and feel free to share with friends & family! Thanks!"

Juneteenth
Over the past year, I have learned a lot about the history of our country as it relates to the experience of African Americans who were captured and brought here against their will and then were enslaved for generations by white men who are admired in our textbooks. I have always felt that I was educated, sensitive and awake to the plight of black people, and was open to learning about their reality. Now, I realize how much I did not know, how much I was not taught, and how willing I was to close my eyes so that I couldn’t see what was true about their story. Last year at this time, I remember a friend of mine who was a member of my congregation, who is a successful journalist posting on her page: “I received the best of educations. How is it that I never learned about Juneteenth.” I responded: “Me too.”
The Oxford English Dictionary, as of June 2017, would define me as “woke”, as someone who is alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice. The New York Times published an article in 1962 that explained that “woke” was one of those urban slang words that would be heard in Harlem at that time. So the modern usage of this term is not new in the US. Of course, becoming “woke” or wokism is criticized by many today because they see it as an attack on their character and values, and it doesn’t serve their political needs either.
The truth is that we Jews have been woke for 3,500 years and proponents of wokism ever since we started gathering with our families for Passover Seders.

Even children who’ve had a little bit of Jewish education remember that that Moses went to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go!” We were slaves, and God heard our cries, and God lead us out of Egypt. So, we tell the Exodus story as a struggle between freedom and oppression, between the liberator Moses and the despotic Pharaoh. Pharaoh in turn becomes emblematic of all the tyrants, dictators, slaveholders, demagogues and corrupt authorities who have abused others from the dawn of history until today. It’s such a familiar story that we take it for granted, but it’s really quite astounding that the basic idea of our most familiar Jewish story is about God on the side of the poor and powerless, the broken and afraid.
This is hardly typical of either ancient or modern texts: most ancient myths valorize heroes, kings, majestic beauties and extraordinary people with godlike powers. But it’s not just a pre-modern problem: Very few popular magazine covers show us the image of the poorest of the poor, servants and slaves, the suffering and scarred, in order to proclaim the message: these are the people to whom attention must be paid!
If telling the Exodus story at Passover does nothing more than focus our conscience on those who are most often forgotten, dayenu, it is enough. Yet that’s not the only message of the Exodus and Passover, as seen in the Torah itself. The beginning has Moses pleading with Pharaoh not only to let the people go, but to let the people go in order that they may worship God in the desert wilderness. The Israelites wanted to celebrate their uniqueness freely, without limitations imposed by the ruling power. In response, Pharaoh issues new orders to his slave masters, telling them to increase the workload of the Israelites, since wanting to go worship God is an obvious sign of their laziness.
The psychologist and theologian Richard Beck points to this as illustrating another polarity in the Exodus story: not only is there the contrast between slavery and freedom, but also, in the mind of Pharaoh, between work and worship. If Pharaoh is symbolic of all those who abuse others, making people into mere instruments of economic or political or military value, then the countervailing force is not only freedom, but worship, which I understand as not just ritual and prayer but as the development and celebration of a powerful spiritual consciousness. Knowing that there is a Source of hope greater than our current conditions can lead to courage, perspective, dignity and purpose. “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” Right? The last thing Pharaoh – or any abusive authority- wants is for the people to realize that there is a power higher than Pharaoh!
Jews have been pushing back against Pharoahs for millenia. We believe that it is not laziness to pray, study sacred texts, develop our deeper consciousness, and celebrate the blessings of life; rather, it’s a necessary precondition of hard work, that we are free from oppression and dehumanization.
This week, the United States Congress passed a bill to make Juneteenth a national holiday. Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, Black Independence Day, or Jubilee Day, marks the date of June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived with federal troops in Galveston, Texas, and issued an order informing the last enslaved people in Texas that they were free. This came more than two months after the end of the Civil War and 2½ years after President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the Southern states. It wasn’t until the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in December 1865 that slavery was abolished throughout the entire country. June 19th has been an official state holiday in Texas since 1980 and more and more states have adopted it since then. But now, the African-American community officially has a holiday like Passover, which celebrates their liberation from slavery. Now the work continues to make sure that the life they live in America aligns with the sentiments and values of this new national holiday.
When I was in rabbinic school, as an initiative of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, I lead some Shabbat dinners and Passover seders for blacks and Jews. It was our way of sharing our holiday and our rituals with them, since we remember each week and on Passover that we were enslaved and then we were freed. These were always lovely, friendly and fun occasions. I would always remind those who attended the seder that the point of Passover isn’t just a nice meal with a good story. The point is to remind us who we really serve. The rituals, narratives, songs and foods of the Seder take us out of our ordinary routines into the realm of “worshiping God in the wilderness,” or seeing the world in a new way, refusing to be scared of Pharaoh anymore. Leaving Egypt - the “narrow place” of restricted vision- means imagining a world wherein the poor are important and the king is not, where meeting the Divine is our greatest goal rather than turning out more bricks and widgets. “Let my people go” ultimately means “let all people go;” Shabbat and Passover urge us to re-commitment to that vision of a redeemed world, which we can only bring about by thinking new thoughts, and by seeing the world and ourselves differently than before. We try to see the world as it really is by telling the oldest and best story we have.
I look forward to learning more from our African American brothers and sisters. And I hope that one day we will have the opportunity to celebrate their freedom rituals and customs with them. I can’t wait to find out what they are. For now, on behalf of the Jewish community, I wish our friends Chag Sameach, a happy Juneteenth. May those who remember their pain and suffering be comforted and those who are dancing with their timbrels tomorrow be blessed.

Shabbat SHALOM!

On Shabbat, we wish each other Shabbat Shalom. But what are we wishing each other when we say this? Let’s hold that question in suspension. Because first I have got to tell you about my day.

When I woke up this morning, I felt a pinch in a muscle in my back. I must have slept in a funny position. I took a hot shower but didn’t notice that some water was spraying sideways and I had to mop up the puddle I made. My coffee was so good, but I am out of filters so now I have to go to the market if I want to have coffee tomorrow. And how can you start your day without coffee, so this is a must trip. I took the dog for his morning walk, and noticed he is really getting shaggy and it’s going to be in the 90’s this weekend. We really have to make an appointment with the groomer. I could also use a haircut. On the drive into work, the change oil reminder light came on. I stopped for gas and checked my email to learn that a friend’s mother passed away, a project that I thought I had completed has a problem and needs to be reviewed again, an emergency webinar had been scheduled for this afternoon and I still needed to write this sermon. It was then only 10 am and the day had just begun.

This has been a difficult week for all of us, watching and worrying about Israel. For me, as a rabbi, I wonder why people call me and ask, So Rabbi, what’s going on in Israel? Like I am a member of the Israeli parliament, the Kennesset, and I have the inside scoop. A lot of journalists have described what we have been experiencing as whiplash, as we hear this side of the story and then that side of the story. I feel like the rabbi whose congregants come to him with a question. They want to know what is the custom for reciting the Shema. One says that in his shul growing up, they stood for the Shema. The rabbi says, that’s right. Another says that he was always taught that you sit for the Shema. To this, the rabbi responds, that’s right too. And a third congregant chimes in and says, Rabbi, so which is it, they can’t both be right! And the rabbi shrugs his shoulders and says, You’re right too.

The reasons for the conflict in Israel between Israelis and Palestinians, and now Israeli Arabs, both recently, and for many years, are complex. It is a little bit like my morning. Some issues are the result of long-standing issues which lead to pain, like a kink in your 60 year old back that sleeps in an awkward position. Some issues are as a result of things just going sideways – I mean why should a showerhead all of a sudden be spraying out sideways. And some issues are as a result of the fact that they have not received the appropriate attention, like needing to get a haircut or change the oil. The difference between my morning and what happens in Israel, is that there, these issues are a matter of life and death for so many. When I am tired, I am more likely to simplify the conflict and make a case for one side or the other being right. I mean, just change the engine oil already. But when I have time to read and listen and reflect, I can see that it is very complicated and that what is needed are clear heads thinking in new ways and people acting in new ways. Like, one solution is to let women run all of our world governments for 10 years and see what happens. You know, it couldn’t get any worse.

But since that isn’t going to happen in the near future, what we need is the time and space to step back from the problems we are experiencing and look at them from afar, so that we can come up with some new approaches to dealing with the conflicts we face. I am sure that a lot of you are like me you really look forward to your vacations because getting away allows you to see things in your life with clarity. You become creative when you can clear your head and this allows you to come up with new ideas and different ways of reconciling conflicts and creating positive change.

This week, we have been hoping and praying for peace, for Shalom. I often define Shalom, by thinking in terms of its opposite – because sometimes we live in peace, but much of the time we live in pieces. Our lives are so busy and fragmented and complicated that we can’t see how the various aspects of our lives are aligned with each other. Our everyday lives, our relationships, our societies, our governments are all so complex and complicated, that we easily get entrenched in ways of solving problems that are simplistic and are not productive. In order to solve problems, in order to find ways to really reconcile with others with whom we disagree, we need to take a Shabbat Shalom. We need to find a way to have some time, whether it is a day retreat, a vacation, or a cease fire, so that we can search for some clarity as to how we are going to move forward in our lives, in our country, in our world so that the pieces can come together, so that there is less dissonance and hate and pain – and more appreciation of the fact that we are all formed by the same Creator to live life on this earth in Shalom.

The days ahead will be filled with Monday night quarterbacking. All the flash points of this conflict will be discussed and debated. Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem Day, Israeli Police, Temple Mount Riots, Arabs and Jews clashing in Israeli towns, Israeli Elections, Palestinian Elections, Hamas, Hezbola, 1948,1967, 2014, bombing, death counts, iron dome, rebuilding – And that is all before 10 o’clock in the morning. But to make sense of all of these, to see the interconnections, to find any way of aligning our morals and aspirations to our actions, to begin the path to reconciliation and hope, we need Shalom.

I urge us all to take this moment, this day, any ceasefire you get, to make peace out of the pieces of your lives, and in particular the pieces of this past week.

Shabbat Shalom

Bo - An Inaugural Reflection
On Wednesday, our nation was glued to the television, to watch what felt to many of us as a new beginning, sitting in the same positions that we were two weeks prior, as we watched what felt to many of us as the beginning of the end. It felt good to be hopeful, to reflect on and to remember the values and aspirations of our country. To be soothed with words, and music, and silence, and tradition.
The question that we have now, is can we hold on to this sense of exalted positivity that we witnessed? Or will we slide into the feeling of being in a dark, dungeonous pit.
This week we are reading in the Torah, Parashat Bo, the portion which contains the last few plagues that God releases upon Pharaoh and the Egyptian nation, plagues which ultimately break Pharaoh's will to keep the Israelites enslaved. They will now be free to leave Egypt and to set out on a journey of freedom towards a promised home.
Of course, the plague that broke the Egyptian camel's back was the horrible death of all first-born children. But what was the penultimate plague that set the stage for the final scene. It says in Exodus 10:23,
“A thick darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days. The people could not see one another, and for three days no one could get up from where he or she was, but all the Israelites had light in their dwellings.”
So what was so awful about this darkness? Did the Egyptians not have lamps they could light?
The answer is that the darkness was not simply a physical darkness, but a spiritual darkness. According to the Midrash, people were frozen in their place. Those who were sitting could not stand up, those who were standing could not sit down, and those who were lying in bed could not get up. (Exodus Rabbah 14:3) They could not see one another in their personal darkness. It sounds like a definition of a deep depression.
Unfortunately, the reality is that as our nation ushers in a new administration, we have tragically been hit with our own plagues. The worst is of course the Corona pandemic, with the angel of death taking so many lives, that in many places there are not enough caskets or refrigerator rooms in funeral homes. This is the most horrible plague we could have imagined.
But what makes it worse is that it is coinciding with the plague of darkness? The plague of us not seeing or hearing each other, which is so awful that we are paralyzed. Across the political divide, people have stopped listening and stopped talking.
I would like to think that reasonable people can disagree about government policies on issues from immigration to health care to foreign policy. And such disagreements can create vigorous debates. But in today’s political climate, we have demonized people on the other side. Each side sees the other side as out to destroy our country. And they find support in social media and those news stations which agree with them. If you listen to the radio and flip the stations from N.P.R. to Rush Limbaugh, you feel like you are living in two different countries.
During the plague of darkness in Egypt, people could not see one another. During our own plague of darkness, people do not listen to one another. There is a classic fallacy in logic called the ad hominem, where you do not argue with someone’s point of view, you simply attack the person. Instead of listening to one another, we speak about liberals as socialist radicals who want to defund the police, conservatives as reactionary bigots who want to oppress people of color. If the other side is evil, why listen to their point of view? And so, a deep darkness has descended on our nation.
Years ago, Steven Covey wrote the seven habits of highly effective people. One of those habits was - “seek to understand, then to be understood.” First, we need to listen to other people, particularly others who strongly disagree with us. Then we can make our point. We can debate vigorously, without dehumanizing those who disagree with us. Perhaps out of that spirited debate will come some light, which can push away the darkness.
The Talmud asks the question, how early in the morning can we say our morning prayers? There are different opinions, including when we can differentiate between blue and white. But the answer the Talmud settles on is, we can begin our prayers when we can see and recognize our neighbor. The lesson is that we cannot turn to God, until we can first see other people. The plague of darkness in Egypt was not that the lights went out. The plague was that people stopped seeing one another.

We are Americans who live in the United States of America, not in the Uniform States of America. We can learn from our differences, and we can even cherish our differences. Different colors, different flavors, different tastes, different thoughts. I paraphrase the words of the beautiful Amanda Gorman who inspired us at the inauguration. She reminded us, we just have to turn on the light to appreciate our differences. And more than that, we have to be the light.
As President Biden and Vice President Harris take office, we pray that they can bring healing and light to our divided darkened nation. But real healing can only begin when we start to see one another and listen to one another. We don't need to agree. But we do need to recognize the humanity of one another.

Interfaith Thanksgiving D'var

It is an interesting phenomenon that we are all taught from an early age to say please and thank you. We learn basic manners to ask politely for the things we want/ and to show gratitude for the things we receive. As we become adults, while we may practice this etiquette out of habit, our focus turns to supporting ourselves and to becoming successful.

There is a story about a wealthy businessman, who noticed a fisherman lounging on his boat, drinking a cup of coffee.
“You’re back pretty early,” he said to the fisherman.
“I’ve caught enough fish already. I’m through for the day,” said the fisherman.
“But it’s not even noon,” said the businessman. “You could go back out and catch more fish.”
“Why should I do that?”
“If you catch more fish, you can sell more fish. If you sell more fish you can make more money.”
“Why should I want to do that?”
The businessman scoffed. “Because if you made more money you could buy a second boat, hire a crew, catch more fish, make even more money, and become rich like me.”
Again the fisherman asked, “Why would I want to do that?”
The businessman sighed. “So you’re free to do whatever you want, and you can treasure life.”
The fisherman looked at the businessman inquisitively, “But that’s what I’m doing now.”

How many of us are like the businessman, working day in and day out to make more money, to have more? How many of us are like the fisherman, working hard but taking time to appreciate every cup of coffee? This holiday of Thanksgiving reminds us that no matter who we identify with more, we need to take time to feel gratitude for our blessings - for the people we love and the material things we enjoy.

But this year, it is more challenging to maintain an attitude of gratitude. For we are living with the reality of a disease that has changed our lives dramatically. This year, too many are dealing with real challenges: so many are sick and praying to recover from this illness,/ so many are grieving the loss of a loved one who succumbed to this plague and feeling the guilt of not being able to say goodbye./ Many of us are struggling with the uncertainty, the fear, the loneliness which this virus has brought to our world./ Last year, at this time, we were giving thanks for our health, our livelihoods, our families. This year, so many have no work, or their salaries have been reduced. There is no way we could have imagined that there would be so many who cannot pay their rent/ or feed themselves and their families. It appears that there may be hope that if we all take a vaccine in the next 6 months, that this horror will end. But even people of faith are struggling with taking it one day at a time.

I want to suggest that today, on this Thanksgiving, that we try to shift our focus. Instead of thinking about what we earn, about what we receive, about what we have - let us direct our energies to what we can give to each other.

There is a story about a reporter who traveled across the United States in search of interesting stories. She came across a town in the mid-west that, at first blush, seemed like every other town she had visited. However, there was one thing different about this town – there, no one held a cellphone, an ipad, or a laptop. Everyone in town jotted notes down on a pad of paper with a pencil. She couldn’t remember when she had seen so many people with pencils in hand. So, she stopped a clerk in a store and asked, “Excuse me, but can you tell me why in this town everyone uses a pencil?” The clerk responded, “These are special pencils: Goldberg’s pencils. These pencils are the wisest pencils in the world. When you write with them, they actually make you feel better.” “What makes these pencils so special?” asked the reporter. “No one really knows,” answered the clerk. “The pencils are produced in Goldberg’s factory and no one is permitted to enter the factory, except for Mr. Goldberg.”

The reporter knew a hot story when she came across one, so she decided to infiltrate the Goldberg Pencil Factory. She finds the address, parks her car and then in the dead of night, breaks into the factory and waits for the morning to witness the production of the famous Goldberg pencils. Sure enough, 8:00 AM, the door to the factory opens, and in walks Mr. Goldberg. The reporter watches him put on an apron, gloves, and goggles and proceed with the production of his pencils. Nothing is out of the ordinary as far as pencil production goes, but just before 5:00 PM, when Mr. Goldberg has finished 100 beautiful, yellowish orange no. 2 pencils, he places them all upon his worktable and addresses them as follows:
Kinderlach – My dear little pencils. You are about to go forth into the world—schools, businesses, homes, and so forth. Remember the following important lessons:
One. Everything you do will always leave a mark.
Two. If you’re not so happy with the mark, don’t worry, you can erase it. Erase it quickly because the longer you leave the mark the harder it will be to erase it.
Three. You will undergo some very painful sharpenings, but you know what—it will make you a better pencil.
Four. At some time, you may end up in a desk for years or behind a shelf or lost on the road, abandoned, forgotten, alone. At those times remember—what makes you a pencil is not what’s outside of you, it’s what’s inside of you.
And finally, my dear pencils, in order to be the very best pencil in the world, you have to be held and guided by the hand that holds you, so respect that hand, for it will help you become what you were put on this earth to be.
And with that address to the pencils, Mr. Goldberg turned the lights out, went home after a day’s work, and the reporter knew what made the Goldberg pencil so special.

Well my friends, this year we are all pencils. Every one of us has an opportunity to make a mark and to make a difference. This holiday season, it is not about what we will get, it is about what we will give. God is calling us now to make a call, to send a card, to counsel, to encourage, to heal. Each of us can make a mark by feeding the hungry, warming the cold, clothing the naked. And at this time when we say prayers of thanks to God, it is not enough to say words. This Thanksgiving, we need to act. Tonight, by coming together in prayer, I hope we will find the courage and the zeal to reach out to others. This Thanksgiving, our blessing is that we have the health, the strength, the wear-with-all, and the vision to say please and thank you with our actions. And when we perform these acts of loving kindness, we will see and feel and taste things in a way we have not before. Because every bite of your Thanksgiving meal, every smile that you see in the eyes of someone wearing a mask, every thank you that you hear, will fill your soul. And that will be thanks enough.

Israel Chug
(Chug=circle or club)
Saturday, November 14 at 4:00 pm

For those who love Israel and want to share it with others. For those who would like to learn about what Israel is like today. For those who are interested in going on a post-pandemic Temple tour of Israel. The HST Israel Chug will meet each month to plan its programs and activities. Join us for this first meeting.

Our Outdoor Sukkah

Our Indoor Sukkah

Chag Sameach!

All dressed up for Rosh Hashanah! See you on Friday night.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23rd
Those who are interested in addressing the issue of racism are invited to a Zoom meeting which will be held this Sunday, August 23rd, at 7 pm. Contact Rabbi Goldson if you are interested in working on this extremely important issue

Mussar class begins this Thursday evening, August 20th at 7 pm. If you want to register, please send me an email at [email protected] by this Tuesday so that I can send you materials you will need to read in advance.

Har Sinai Temple updated their website address.

TONIGHT - AUGUST 2nd 5-6 pm
INTRODUCTION TO MUSSAR
Are you looking for your spiritual connection in a Jewish context? It may come as no surprise to know that it has been with us for generations. It is part of the Jewish practice of Mussar (pronounced “moo-sar”), a spiritual approach to daily life. Rabbi Goldson will be leading a Mussar study group on Thursday evenings this fall. Classes will be online and recorded, so you can participate even if this time doesn’t work in your schedule.
We will look at those soul traits (middot) that make up the characteristics that lead to living a spiritual life as we engage in our everyday activities.
Participating in this introduction does not mean that you have to commit to the class.
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RESCHEDULED!!!
OUTDOOR MUSICAL SHABBAT
A Shabbat Service for All
Friday, August at 7:00 p.m.*

As the sun sets and the temperatures cool,
we will join for a special outdoor service --
physically distanced in our Har Sinai Temple Parking Lot.
Please note: Anyone who cannot attend in person will be able to watch via live stream!
* * *
For health reasons,
we are limiting the number of attendees to 50 people.
So you must RSVP in advance by email to [email protected]
Please arrive early so we can have everyone parked
and seated prior to 7 p.m.
To ensure the health and safety of all attendees,
we will follow these procedures:
● Attendance will be limited to 50 people.
● Please eat dinner prior to the service.
● Please use the restroom at home prior to coming. The restrooms will be available but only 1 person will be allowed to enter at a time.
● Please arrive between 6:30 and 6:45 for parking, check-in, and parking-lot seat assignments.
● You will be seated with members of your household.
● All attendees must wear a face mask throughout the service.
● You are welcome to bring your own lawn chairs – otherwise chairs will be provided.
● Please stay home if you have a temperature of 100.4 or greater
and/or if you are not feeling well.
Thank you for your enthusiasm! We belong together.