Posts

Showing posts from 2011

Thoughts on Hoboken public school holiday celebration issue

From time to time, I offer some comments about issues in Hoboken’s civic life that are somehow connected to the Jewish community or Jewish issues.   Hoboken has attracted some press coverage because of a decision regarding a Hoboken public school's holiday celebration (you can read about it here).  My comments are printed below.  Permission is granted to reprint or forward what I have written, but please include my blog web address, rabbischeinberg.blogspot.com, so the comments can be read in their entirety. First, the Hoboken Jewish community is very diverse.  There is no unanimity in Hoboken’s Jewish community on this (or almost any other) issue.  For this reason, I emphasize that the opinion I express below is my own, and it is not necessarily the opinion of the United Synagogue of Hoboken or its members. Jews are a minority in the United States.  Choosing to raise children as Jews in the United States entails an acknowledgment that there will be some special challenges - a

"10 Jewish Things to Do Before You Die": Yom Kippur Sermon from 2008

This was a Yom Kippur sermon from 2008 .... but as I was looking over it I decided I liked it enough to put it on my blog. One of the themes of Yom Kippur seems to be making lists:  lists of categories of vows that get annulled in Kol Nidrei; lists of sins to which we confess in Al Chet; lists of loved ones who have died, whom we remember at Yizkor; and perhaps most importantly, the lists we make inside our minds:  Lists of people to apologize to and to reconcile with, and lists of changes we pledge to make in our lives during the coming year. List making is in vogue this year in a big way.  Look at recent or current best selling books like “101 Things to Do Before I Die,” and “1000 Places to See Before You Die.”  These books address the phenomenon of “life lists” - lists of things that people want to accomplish at some point in their lives.  It’s a practice adapted from bird watchers who keep lists of the varieties of birds they have seen and aspire to see, and of mountain c

2nd day Rosh HaShanah sermon 5772/2011: "Change your perspective, see the invisible gorilla"

Image
Ten years ago, two experimental psychologists at Harvard, named Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, created what has become one of the most famous experiments in the behavioral sciences. Before you read further, you may want to try this demonstration:  The participants in this study in the study were given a simple task. They just had to watch a brief video that included several people passing basketballs back and forth to each other. Three of these players were wearing white shirts, and three were wearing black shirts. The task was simple:  watch the ball that was being passed among the players with the white shirts, and count how many times the basketball was passed. This was not such a difficult task - most people came up with the right number. But then, the participants were asked: did you notice anything unusual about this video?  A majority of participants said, no, not particularly.  But - if you watch the video again -- you see that right in the middle o

Sermon for 1st day of Rosh HaShanah 5772: "Hagomel la-chayavim tovot" - "Who bestows favor upon the undeserving"

Image
(photos are by Rabbi Will Berkovitz and Rabbi Suzanne Singer) Baruch atah adonai - eloheinu melech ha-olam - ha-gomel la-chayavim tovot - she-g’malani kol tov. "Blessed are You, Adonai our God, who bestows favor upon the undeserving,  and has bestowed favor onto me." Several minutes ago, I invited you to join with me in reciting this blessing - all those who recovered from illness, or had surgery, or extensive travel, or who had endured any other brush with danger during the past year.  It’s the traditional blessing of thanksgiving -- - the Birkat ha-gomel - that is recited upon such challenging moments of life. More than 12 years ago, I recited this blessing in this congregation after I was attacked on a subway platform and realized how grateful I was to have survived the attack.  And ten years ago, many of us remember how - on the first shabbat after 9/11 - every single person who came up to the torah for an aliyah - a torah honor - recited this Birkat ha-Gomel b

High Holy Days -- Sing along!

At our synagogue -- as at many synagogues -- the most powerful moments of the High Holy Days are connected not only with words, but with music. If  you're joining us for the High Holy Days in Hoboken this year and you want a refresher of some of the melodies we will be singing, click on the links below.  We'll add more sound clips as time goes on. Mekhalkel hayyim be-hesed  -- the special high holy melody to this passage from the Amidah Avinu Malkeinu  -- perhaps the most well-known congregational melody for the High Holy Days Hayom  -- 'hayom' means 'today.'  We sing this rousing prayer at the conclusion of the morning service on each day of Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur.  The words (actually, 'word') are very simple to sing along. Kevodcha malei olam  -- New for our synagogue this year.  This melody was composed by my colleague Cantor Ken Richmond, with whom I served on the Mahzor Lev Shalem Editorial Committee.  The words are from a medieval

Thoughts on Yom HaShoah / death of Bin Laden

Thoughts I shared with my community today by email: Today is being observed in Israel and throughout the world as Yom Ha-Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.  I have pasted below the comments that I made at the Jersey City Yom HaShoah commemoration yesterday.  Our Learning Center students in grades 4-7 will participate in a Yom HaShoah educational program tomorrow. Also today, we are focused on the fact that one of the most fearsome people our world has known since Hitler has been killed.  After 9/11, I remember thinking - and sharing with this community - that whereas comparisons between contemporary figures and Hitler are always overblown, in the case of Bin Laden the comparison is not inappropriate.  It seems oddly fitting that he was killed by American special forces not only on the day of Yom HaShoah on the Jewish calendar, but also on the anniversary of the date on the secular calendar when Hitler killed himself.   Thinking back to those days in Hoboken immediately

links to Sheva Brachot files and other wedding materials

At many Jewish weddings, the recitation of the Sheva Brachot (Seven Wedding Blessings) is done not by the wedding officiant but by family and friends. Here is a copy of the Hebrew / English / transliteration of the Sheva Brachot , together with sound files (which can be downloaded one by one, or all together in one zip file). If you find these resources useful and are not from the United Synagogue of Hoboken community, please go to www.hobokensynagogue.org and send me a quick note -- and mazal tov! http://www.scheinberg.net/rabbi/sheva_brachot_english_hebrew_and_translit.pdf http://www.scheinberg.net/rabbi/sheva_brachot_mp3s.zip -- all the mp3s below in one zip file http://www.scheinberg.net/rabbi/sheva_brachot_1_borei_pri_hagafen.mp3 http://www.scheinberg.net/rabbi/sheva_brachot_2_shehakol_bara_lichvodo.mp3 http://www.scheinberg.net/rabbi/sheva_brachot_3_yotzer_ha-adam.mp3 http://www.scheinberg.net/rabbi/sheva_brachot_4_asher_yatzar.mp3 http://www.scheinberg.net/ra

Baking Hamentaschen in Shichigahama: reactions to the Japanese earthquake

This is a modified version of an email that I sent to my congregation yesterday. The news reports of the damage from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan just keep going from bad to worse to unimaginable -- with the death toll now revised at over 10,000, several villages and cities reduced to rubble, and the possibility of nuclear disaster. David H., a member of our synagogue, has numerous direct connections to this tragedy and asked me to send the following reflections to you.  David lived and worked for many years in the town of Shichigahama, in the area that was hardest hit by the tsunami.  This town of more than 20,000 inhabitants is now mostly destroyed.    David's words help to communicate in very personal terms how devastating this situation is.  Below David's remarks are some suggestions for how we can assist.  (If you wish to contact David, you may contact him through me.) Friends, By now, I am sure you have seen the horrific and terrifying images of

What graffiti on the Kotel can tell us about Egypt

Image
What messianic graffiiti on the Kotel can teach us about Egypt delivered Sat., February 5, 2011 / 1 Adar I 5771, United Synagogue of Hoboken Who in their right mind would think of writing graffiti on the Kotel, one of Judaism’s holiest sites, the last remnant of the Temple that stood in Jerusalem thousands of years ago?! This is a question that is asked by many tourists to Israel when they visit the part of the Kotel referred to as “Robinson’s Arch.” This is a section of the Western Wall of the 2nd Temple plaza that was buried in rubble for thousands of years. If you visit Robinson’s Arch, you can see a large Hebrew inscription carved into one of the Western Wall’s stones.  It’s actually a quotation from the Haftarah we read this morning, the Haftarah designated for the confluence of Shabbat and Rosh Hodesh [the first day of a Hebrew month].  It’s from the Book of Isaiah, 66:14:   Ur’item, ve-sas libchem; va-atzmoteichem ka-deshe.   “You shall see, and your heart shall re

Baruch Dayan Emet -- Debbie Friedman z"l .... and prayers for healing for Representative Gabrielle Giffords

My note to our congregation on January 9, 2011, in memory of Debbie Friedman, and out of concern for the victims of the shooting in Tucson: Whether or not the name of Debbie Friedman is familiar to you, you are likely to have heard (and probably sung) her music.  For the last twenty-five years or more, she has been the most outstanding composer and performer of contemporary American Jewish synagogue music.  Sadly, she died today, in her late 50's, after a bout with pneumonia, and after many years of serious health challenges. Debbie Friedman's music has been like a soundtrack for many important moments of my life.  At age 15, the first time I ever conducted a choir, we sang her  "Dodi Li."   When Naomi and I got married, her  "Lechi Lach"  was played during our procession.   We sang songs from her album  "Renewal of Spirit"  as we approached the birth of each of our children.   Most Shabbatot of my adult life have concluded with her "lai l