Friday, May 29, 2015

Shabbat-O-Gram May 29

Shabbat-O-Gram 

Mazal Tov to Angelique and Adam Wallace on their son, Charlie, 
becoming a Bar Mitzvah. Todah Rabah to Angelique and Adam 
for sponsoring the Oneg and Kiddush in honor of Charlie.

  
  At Thursday night's annual meeting, Sylvan Pomerantz receives a gift 
as he prepares to hand over the presidency to Mia Weinstein in a few weeks.  
Thank you to Sylvan for his stellar leadership!
Just the Facts:

Candle lighting: 7:59 PM
Services at 7 tonight, with guest musician Uri Sharlin, 9:30 on Shabbat morning

To Do List:

  • Get tickets and purchase ads for the Cantor's Concert on June 14
  • See the film Paragraph 175 at Temple Sinai next Thursday night.  This award winning documentary about LGBTQ persecution during the Holocaust is being co-sponsored by TBE, Temple Sinai and the JCC.  Hosted by the Triangle Community Center.  I will be part of a panel discussion following the film.
  • Wear Orange on June 2, the first annual Gun Violence Awareness Day. People across the country will wear orange to honor all those who have been killed -- and inspire action to stop the gun violence that takes too many lives in America.  Why orange? It's a color that symbolizes the value of human life. Hunters wear orange to alert other hunters that they're there - as a way to take care of their own life and the lives of others. Now, we're turning orange into a symbol for the value of human life everywhere. For more background on the Jewish values behind this cause, see my article "Guns and Moses."
  • Look forward to Jewels Harrison's Bar Mitzvah is next week.  See videos and backstory about Jewels, and also see  my article in this week's Jewish Week about this special event. 
  • Take our very quick survey to determine Friday night start times moving forward.


Tribute to Fred Weisman

Joan Weisman presented the first Fred Weisman Tikkun Olam at Thursday's Annual Meeting to Ken and Amy Temple.  Fred passed away just a few months ago.  Below is an excerpt from Joan's tribute to her late husband. Such a fitting tribute to a great man. Below is a photo of myself with Joan and Fred at the 1996 Purim Comedy Night - one of the many programs created by Joan and Fred. Read Joan's tribute in its entirety here.




  

"...You must be wondering whether Fred had 48 hours in each day, required no sleep or had super human powers.  We won't ever know, but maybe wearing his Superman or Mickey Mouse shirts really did work.  In spite of being a cancer survivor for 20 years and told he had only six months to live on at least two occasions, he was always happy.   He would often exclaim that the reason he did for others was because he was the luckiest man alive and because of his good fortune wanted to share with others.  He truly felt that he was given extra years because he hadn't yet done enough to save the world. 

I recently found the words Fred spoke just last year as he was honored by the Pacific House Homeless Shelter in Stamford with the Rays of Hope Award.  "It has been extremely gratifying to return to Stamford after a 20 year absence to find Beth El continuing what Joan and I had started at Beth El Cares.  We thank you all for giving meaning to the old adage "that those who can, must do"  There are many needy throughout the world but we must not forget the needs of those in our own backyard."

I think the  most important question that we can ask ourselves as we think about The Fred Weisman Memorial Tikkun Olam Award is what each of us can do to repair the world, how we can pay it forward in even a very small way.  How each of us can find and follow our own moral compass as Fred followed his.  How we can pass on the value of tzeduka to our children and grandchildren.   I hope that all I have shared with you about my dear Fred will not be perceived as bragging but an opportunity to see how possible it is for anyone to make the world a better place."  
  

The State of the Temple

Below is an adaptation of my report given at the Annual Meeting

Let me go against every bar mitzvah speech I've ever written - I mean co-authored - and begin with the thank yous. First and foremost, Sylvan Pomerantz. I knew we had a gem when we picked a president whose brother is a rabbi.  And indeed, one of Sylvan's great assets is his ability to empathize - with clergy, to be sure - but with everyone. We've had so many great presidents here recently that our TBE Mount Rushmore has expanded into Wyoming, but Sylvan certainly deserves to be there.
I work with the most talented and dedicated senior staff any rabbi could only dream about.  Steve has become such a legend that I recently discovered that has become global ventriloquist, able to throw his voice into Eileen Rosner when he was in Israel.  Eileen would open her mouth, and out came all the wisdom Steve had shared with her.  Eileen of course has much wisdom of her own to share.  Lisa Gittelman-Udi has revitalized not only our school, but our entire youth program.  She is an ideal educational partner, and her dedication is unmatched.

If all had gone according to plan, we would be welcoming Cantor Fishman here this coming week, on June 1.  Let's just say that it would have been an enormous loss for us to have waited a whole year, because she has brought magic to our music program and services.  She is a spectacular musician, partner and human being.  I am so glad that things have worked out, for her, for all of us, and especially for those b'nai mitzvah students who have had the pleasure of working with her this year, who would otherwise not have had any cantor at all.

What's so wonderful about our leadership here, senior staff, lay leaders, faculty, administrative and maintenance staff - is that there is real partnership.  We all have learned that life is too short to be hung up on pettiness or to get stuck in the past.  We can't change what was - so we roll up our sleeves and focus on what we can change - and on the people we serve - how much is at stake. Every bar mitzvah student, everyone who is ill or has suffered a loss, everyone celebrating a new child or a marriage, everyone just trying to get by, everyone needing a place to call home - we need to respond to those needs.  That's what matters.

There are great community and global needs that we need to address - and it is so fitting that tonight we dedicate an annual award in memory of Fred Weisman, one who dedicated his life to effecting change wherever he could - and our winners, Ken and Amy Temple, have embodied the vision that Fred and Joan had when they created Beth El Cares.

In embracing the needs of the LGBT community this year as never before, we are responding to a cry of this generation and we are placing TBE where it needs always to be, on the right side of history, not only because it is morally right but also because it is a strategic necessity. 

At a recent retreat, the board asked that I give more insight into my personal vision.  You might recall the countdown of Judaism's Top 40 values that I emailed out last fall before the High Holidays.  Embedded in that list is this one:

 



 

Click for a clearer pdf version of Seven Jewish Values

The seven Jewish values on this chart reflect my personal vision as to what a fully inclusive, fully embracing congregation can and should be.  We're pretty good at embracing all seven of these Jewish values, and indeed all 40 of the values on the larger list. We need to continue to get better at that - and particularly in the area of inclusiveness of interfaith and non traditional families.  We are good - we need to be better.

A Pew Survey on America's changing religious landscape released this month indicates that the number of religiously unaffiliated adults has increased by roughly 19 million since 2007. There are now approximately 56 million religiously unaffiliated adults in the U.S., and this group - sometimes called "nones" - is more numerous than either Catholics or mainline Protestants.  Those who are falling away from religious affiliation are now the fastest growing religious group!  Yet 86 percent of millennials, those born since 1980, who are fleeing from organized religion the fastest, still claim to believe in God.  They are out there.  We need to find them, and not wait for them to find us. This needs to continue to be a priority for us.

One way to attract people is with scintillating and meaningful prayer experiences.  We remain committed to building our services and our Shabbat community here, both on Friday nights and Shabbat mornings.  Attendance has been increasing steadily over the year - and so has excitement - which really peaked on Yom Haatzmaut when about 400 joined together for a memorable Shabbat celebration.  We'll be planning a few of those mega services next year, but in fact have the goal of making every week unforgettable. Check your email this week for a quick survey regarding Friday night start times. 

We would like to upgrade options on Shabbat mornings too, and on June 20 we'll experiment with two options for the first half of the service - a traditional option and one with meditations, reflective chanting and some learning as well.

Speaking of learning, we've had a successful adult ed year.  My lunch and learn class on Pirke Avot has been meeting weekly now for nearly half a year.  We'll pick that up next fall with some more text study.  Next year I'll once again be joining with Rabbi TelRav of Temple Sinai to do a 20 session Intro to Judaism class, something we collaborated on last year quite successfully.  We've been doing quite a bit of collaborating with Sinai and with others - with Shabbat Across Stamford the most noteworthy example.  Community Partnership is another of those vision values that I know we all espouse. We also continued our interfaith collaboration on a number of levels, including the monthly interfaith Learning and Latte discussions and our Interfaith Seder here.

So there's a little hint of the vision, what has been and what is yet to be.  This is a fabulous congregation and we have much to be thankful for.  And so much yet to accomplish over the coming year.  

Shabbat Shalom and Happy June!


Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

Thursday, May 28, 2015

PRESENTATION OF FRED WEISMAN MEMORIAL TIKKUN OLAM AWARD - by Joan Weisman

See below the remarks given by Joan Weisman last night as the first Fred Weisman Tikkun Olam was given out to Ken and Amy Temple.  Fred passed away just a few months ago.  Such a fitting tribute to a great man. Below is a photo of myself with Joan and Fred at the 1996 Purim Comedy Night - one of the many programs inspired by this wonderful couple.



PRESENTATION OF FRED WEISMAN MEMORIAL TIKKUN OLAM AWARD
May 27, 2015

I am  overwhelmingly honored that an annual award recognizing outstanding volunteerism has been established in Memory of my beloved Fred.  He would be so happy to know that others will pick up the ball and run with it now that he can no longer do it himself.  He would also want you to know that he  totally enjoyed the game, the good people he worked with and the goals he attained.
Needless to say, the past couple of months since Fred passed away have been a sad and reflective time for me.  Learning that others recognize  the mark he left in the world is helping me in the healing process and I thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak about him . 
Shortly after Fred's passing there was an article in the NY Times that called out to me.  It was entitled:  The Moral Bucket List.   David Brooks wrote about  two sets of virtues, the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues. The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral — whether you were kind, brave, honest, and really cared  about making the world a better place?
At about that time, a dear friend referred to Fred as having possessed “a moral compass”.  It got me to thinking about how much one  man, my Fred, tried to make a difference in this crazy world without an iota of cynicism.  He truly believed the Star Fish Story…you may not be able to save the world but you can save one person at a time.  Similar words I believe that Hillel spoke:  If you save one person, it is as if you saved the world.  His moral compass drove him in so many different directions:  Humanitarian services, health care, the arts, community service, philanthropy, youth activities, education and of course family love and responsibility were never sacrificed.   I was asked to share Fred's most notable accomplishments with you to enable you to understand the spirit of the award and the man for which it is named.  So here goes.
He served  on the AmeriCares Board for 13 years  to relieve suffering throughout the world, served on Temple Boards, presided over the Science Education Center and The Pacific House Mens Homeless Shelter, made  homes safe warm and dry with HomeFront,  Helped feed and house the poor, read to young children every week for years in the Reading Partners’ Program, mentored kids on science and ecology,  lead Odyssey of the Mind youngsters to winning State Championships,  lead a Scout Troop for 13 years, coached Little League and Junior Achievement, traveled with Healing the Children and AmeriCares on  missions throughout the world, spent a week with AmeriCares in Freshkill after 9/11, bought a mobile medical clinic for AmeriCares’ Free Clinic and provided funds for the Weisman Free Clinic in Bridgeport. He established a college scholarship for minority students studying to be teachers of science, technology, engineering or math.  sponsored annual symphony concerts and built sets in a local theater,   In addition, he served as an elected official on the land use commission in Brookfield for many years. 
About now, you must be wondering whether he had 48 hours in each day, required no sleep or had super human powers.  We won't ever know, but maybe wearing his Superman or Mickey Mouse shirts really did work.  In spite of being a cancer survivor for 20 years and told he had only six months to live on at least two occasions, he was always happy.   He would often exclaim that the reason he did for others was because he was the luckiest man alive and because of his good fortune wanted to share with others.  He truly felt that he was given extra years because he hadn't yet done enough to save the world. 
I recently found the words Fred spoke just last year as he was honored by the Pacific House Homeless Shelter in Stamford with the Rays of Hope Award.  “It has been extremely gratifying to return to Stamford after a 20 year absence to find Beth El continuing what Joan and I had started at Beth El Cares.  We thank you all for giving meaning to the old adage “that those who can, must do”  There are many needy throughout the world but we must not forget the needs of those in our own backyard. "
I think the  most important question that we can ask ourselves as we think about The Fred Weisman Memorial Tikon Olam Award is what each of us can do to repair the world, how we can pay it forward in even a very small way.  How each of us can find and follow our own moral compass as Fred followed his.  How we can pass on the value of tzeduka to our children and grandchildren.   I hope that all I have shared with you about my dear Fred will not be perceived as bragging but an opportunity to see how possible it is for anyone to make the world a better place. 
We will all miss Fred's energy, his love of life and his good deeds but hopefully, his spirit will inspire all of us to perform deeds of kindness and there will always be worthy recipients of this award.  Fred would say about now, It's time for less talking and more doing....
So It is my pleasure  to invite Amy and Ken Temple to come up so that I may  present them with the first Annual Fred Weisman Tikkun Olam Memorial Award. 
Amy and Ken, you have lead Beth El Cares far beyond what we could have hoped for when we founded it over 30 years ago.   For the past four years, you have been the stewards behind the Homeless Shelter Dinners, High Holiday and Passover Food Drives and many other caring activities.  Ken, you also serve on the Board of Directors of the Temple and Amy you have chaired the Temple Annual Purim Carnivals.  You are a couple that embodies the spirit of Tikkun Olam and Fred would be proud to know that you are being honored.   I wish you many more years of joy in serving the community and carrying out the values that this award conveys.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Airbrushing Ruth

There are lots of heroes in Jewish traditional sources and most of them are men.  But have you ever noticed that our holidays do a good job of maximizing the acclaim given women?  Purim would not be Purim without Esther.  Hanukkah has Judith and Passover has Miriam.  And even long before Betty Friedan changed history into her-story, Shavuot had Ruth.  Without Ruth's classic kindness, there would never have been King David - literally, as he was her great grandson. How sad it would have been for all of us if Ruth's voice had been stilled.

Jewish tradition has no inherent problem with women. The problem isn't Judaism - it's Jews.  The problem is the slippery slope that comes from the incremental discrimination against women, a discrimination that originated in patriarchal and misogynistic societies and gained momentum over time - and especially recently.  

As a committed pluralist, I need to accept that for some Jews - and some iterations of Judaism - halachic justifications for the differentiation between male and female sex roles are internally consistent with an accepted worldview that existed in previous eras, long before feminism.  They were right, perhaps, for their time.  Those practices, which minimized women's roles in public religious life, also reflected a general reverence for ancient practices.

But I also know that discrimination against women, like all discrimination, is a slippery slope, one that leads to objectification and has, in many cultures, led to a culture that condones violence. So, while refusing to succumb to the temptation to condemn past practices, we need to go out of our way to reverse the disturbing trends.  But in some parts of the Jewish world, the exact opposite is happening.

Over the centuries, in Judaism, the silencing of women's voices has taken a strikingly literal turn. Click here for a halalchic study, from an Orthodox journal, of the evolution of the controversial concept of Kol Isha, a concept designed to limit where women's voices can be heard.  Then click here for a comprehensive study of the topic by a Conservative scholar.  That responsum concludes:

...There is no general prohibition against women singing in classic Jewish law based on the Talmud and subsequent codes and commentaries until the early nineteenth century. The current blanket prohibition accepted by Haredi and some modern Orthodox rabbis was first suggested and rejected by Rabbi Joshua Falk (d. 1614) and was only given as a halachic ruling by Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Hatam Sofer, in the early nineteenth century.... There is therefore no halachic justification for anyone walking out when women sing. But even if one accepts the very strict ruling of the Hatam Sofer, it is forbidden to walk out in order not to insult the female performers.

So we can see the slippery slope in action and how the notion of Kol Isha took on a life of its own relatively recently.  The 19th century is only yesterday by Jewish historic standards.  

Well, this week, the slope got even slipperier.  Now, not only are women no longer to be heard in public Jewish life, evidently they also cannot be seen.  Not just covered up - but airbrushed out completely.


See below a photo of Israel's new government, sworn in this week.  The lack of women in senior positions is just one of the many major concerns that one could have about this government.  But at least there are some women.


Or are there? See this front page from a Haredi newspaper.  The women have been airbrushed out!


Israelis are a creative lot, so that affront gave rise to some rather hilarious memes.



But the humor masks a real problem.  For if a society tolerates the silencing of an entire segment of the population - and now the rendering of them as invisible - where does that slippery slope lead?  What outrageous behaviors will happen next, and against whom, and how will they be justified? 

We need to return Judaism to its roots, literally, to Root, which is the Hebrew for Ruth. Ruth could easily have disappeared into the dustbin of Moabite history.  But she insisted on being heard, being seen and remaining aside her mother in law Naomi, to whom she said, famously "Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."

Soon, if this slippery slope is not reversed, who knows, maybe someone will try to airbrush Ruth right out of the Bible.



Airbrushing Ruth, Shavuot and Memorial Day, 7th Grade Aliyah - Shabbat-O-Gram

Shabbat Shalom!

Candle lighting: 7:53 PM
Services at 7 tonight, 9:30 on Shabbat, Sunday and Monday; 8 PM at Temple Sinai on Sat. night. (where we'll discuss whether the Ten Commandments are still relevant)
Shabbat Torah portion: B'Midbar.



  
Aliyah Ceremony for 7th graders
Mazal tov to our 7th graders, who celebrated their Aliyah Ceremony last night, officially moving onward and upward to our teen program.  Click here to see a complete slide show of the event.

Jewish Heritage Month
I just watched President Obama's speech to American Jews at Adas Israel in Washington, honoring Jewish Heritage Month.  You can watch it here - and it's well worth watching.

Memorial Day and Shavuot
On Monday, we will combine observances of Memorial Day with our Yizkor service for the second day of Shavuot. Preview our special supplement here.

More on Jewels Harrison
Last week I wrote about Jewels Harrison's upcoming Bar Mitzvah.  A comprehensive web page has just been unveiled, giving more details of Jewels' amazing story, including several videos of his music.  See it here

The Disappearing Women - Getting Back to our Ruths

There are lots of heroes in Jewish traditional sources and most of them are men.  But have you ever noticed that our holidays do a good job of maximizing the acclaim given women?  Purim would not be Purim without Esther.  Hanukkah has Judith and Passover has Miriam.  And even long before Betty Friedan changed history into her-story, Shavuot had Ruth.  Without Ruth's classic kindness, there would never have been King David - literally, as he was her great grandson. How sad it would have been for all of us if Ruth's voice had been stilled.

Jewish tradition has no inherent problem with women. The problem isn't Judaism - it's Jews.  The problem is the slippery slope that comes from the incremental discrimination against women, a discrimination that originated in patriarchal and misogynistic societies and gained momentum over time - and especially recently.  

As a committed pluralist, I need to accept that for some Jews - and some iterations of Judaism - halachic justifications for the differentiation between male and female sex roles are internally consistent with an accepted worldview that existed in previous eras, long before feminism.  They were right, perhaps, for their time.  Those practices, which minimized women's roles in public religious life, also reflected a general reverence for ancient practices.

But I also know that discrimination against women, like all discrimination, is a slippery slope, one that leads to objectification and has, in many cultures, led to a culture that condones violence. So, while refusing to succumb to the temptation to condemn past practices, we need to go out of our way to reverse the disturbing trends.  But in some parts of the Jewish world, the exact opposite is happening.

Over the centuries, in Judaism, the silencing of women's voices has taken a strikingly literal turn. Click here for a halalchic study, from an Orthodox journal, of the evolution of the controversial concept of Kol Isha, a concept designed to limit where women's voices can be heard.  Then click here for a comprehensive study of the topic by a Conservative scholar.  That responsum concludes:

...There is no general prohibition against women singing in classic Jewish law based on the Talmud and subsequent codes and commentaries until the early nineteenth century. The current blanket prohibition accepted by Haredi and some modern Orthodox rabbis was first suggested and rejected by Rabbi Joshua Falk (d. 1614) and was only given as a halachic ruling by Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Hatam Sofer, in the early nineteenth century.... There is therefore no halachic justification for anyone walking out when women sing. But even if one accepts the very strict ruling of the Hatam Sofer, it is forbidden to walk out in order not to insult the female performers.

So we can see the slippery slope in action and how the notion of Kol Isha took on a life of its own relatively recently.  The 19th century is only yesterday by Jewish historic standards.  

 
Well, this week, the slope got even slipperier.  Now, not only are women no longer to be heard in public Jewish life, evidently they also cannot be seen.  Not just covered up - but airbrushed out completely.

See below a photo of Israel's new government, sworn in this week.  The lack of women in senior positions is just one of the many major concerns that one could have about this government.  But at least there are some women.

 
 
 

Or are there? See this front page from a Haredi newspaper.  The women have been airbrushed out!

 

 
Israelis are a creative lot, so that affront gave rise to some rather hilarious memes.




 
 
 
But the humor masks a real problem.  For if a society tolerates the silencing of an entire segment of the population - and now the rendering of them as invisible - where does that slippery slope lead?  What outrageous behaviors will happen next, and against whom, and how will they be justified? 

We need to return Judaism to its roots, literally, to Root, which is the Hebrew for Ruth. Ruth could easily have disappeared into the dustbin of Moabite history.  But she insisted on being heard, being seen and remaining aside her mother in law Naomi, to whom she said, famously "Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."

Soon, if this slippery slope is not reversed, who knows, maybe someone will try to airbrush Ruth right out of the Bible.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman


Sunday, May 17, 2015

ABC News coverage of Six Day War, June 8, 1967

News coverage of the Six Day War by ABC news harks back to the last time Israel was David in the eyes of the world, and the moment she became Goliath.


ABC News Videos | ABC Entertainment News

Friday, May 15, 2015

Shabbat-O-Gram for May 15


Mazal tov to the Kaplan family as Justin becomes Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat, and we thank them for sponsoring this week’s Shabbat announcements and Shabbat-O-Gram.

Candle lighting: 7:46 PM
Services at 7 tonight - Katie Kaplan will be joining the cantor, myself and David Bravo
Torah portion: Behar-Behukotai – click here for a Parsha Packet on the “Tochecha” (rebuke) section, which we’ll be discussing tomorrow.



Mazal tov to my son Dan, who became a college graduate last week (see above the first family photo we’ve ever taken that includes four college graduates) and to the many students from our congregation who have recently or about to graduate.  Next Thursday that will include our Hebrew School’s 7th grade, in what I hear will be a very moving ceremony that they are preparing. This Sunday marks the last day of Hebrew School ).  We are thankful to Lisa Udi, Board of Ed members, parents and teachers for what has been a wonderful year.  Special thanks to Sue Shapiro, who will be leaving our faculty after many years of dedication and excellence.  We will miss her on the faculty, but fortunately she and Carl will still be very much here as congregants.  The dedication of our teachers is so often overlooked – they cannot be thanked enough.

Not only has it been a great school year, but a great year for our teens too – a real year of growth for our teen program, again, with great thanks to Lisa.  This Sunday, we begin an exciting new partnership with Temple Sinai, joining our teen programs together for social activities and community service. This week’s project will involve baking, and I’ll be bringing the finished products over to the Jewish Home in Fairfield.

Lots happening as we rush toward an upcoming quadruple holiday week.  Quadruple?  Yes.  Here’s the lineup.

-          Sunday: Jerusalem Day - Click here for a map of the battle of Jerusalem and here to see the historic moment when the Israeli troops liberated the Western Wall in 1967.
-          Tuesday: Rosh Hodesh Sivan
-          Next weekend: Memorial Day AND Shavuot.  Read more about this linkage here.

The linkage of Memorial Day and Shavuot makes perfect sense: both are seen as the unofficial beginning of summer and both are woefully ignored.  But it’s rare for them to coincide in this configuration, where the holiday ends with Yizkor, the memorial prayer, taking place on Memorial Day itself. It will bring added meaning to both holidays, at a time when Memorial Day has come to be synonymous with swim clubs and shopping. On Sat. night we will begin the holiday jointly with Temple Sinai, a custom that we began last year – this year at Sinai (appropriate for the holiday), and a creative service/”Tikkun” conversation on issues related to the journey to Sinai and the contemporary relevance of the ten commandments.  For more Shavuot service information, click here


Now, back to this weekend:


Piercing the Heavens: A Very Special Bar Mitzvah

We learn in Pirke Avot, “There is no person who does not have his hour.”  On a Shabbat morning in early June, a remarkable young man will ascend to the Torah to become Bar Mitzvah in my synagogue, on the very same pulpit where his bris took place thirteen years ago.  His name is Jewels Harrison. 
Because of his degree of autism, Jewels’ capacity for speech is very limited, but he has found new ways to sing God’s praises.  In only a short amount of time, Jewels has become an accomplished pianist.  He doesn’t read music, but is able to hear and reproduce it in detail. Innovative rows of pictures and symbols helped him identify and associate songs to play. 

For his mitzvah project, Jewels has been performing at small parlor recitals, raising money for programs which will benefit other kids with special needs.  His playing is extraordinary for any child his age, but especially for one who has spent so much of his life with very limited ability to communicate.  See for yourself - an excerpt from a recent performance has been uploaded to http://ellentube.com/videos/0-8z2xziy2/.

To hear Jewels play is to hear the shepherd boy’s flute in the iconic Hasidic tale of the Baal Shem Tov.  Moved by his first exposure to the powerful Yom Kippur service though unable to read or understand the liturgy, that boy prayed in the manner that he knew best.  The congregation was aghast and looked to evict the boy, until the rabbi indicated from the pulpit that those shrill sounds of the whistle were able to pierce the heavens so that the prayers of the entire congregation might ascend.

Jewels is also preparing to lead many of the prayers of the service with his voice.  Through hard work and much patience, he is going to do just fine, but for the hundreds who will be attending, perfection will not be pertinent.  What will matter was that we bear witness to Jewels’ resounding statement that every human being has his hour, every life has infinite value, and everyone is equal in the eyes of God.

You may have heard of the recent cancellation of a bar mitzvah for special needs children in Rehovot, Israel, because it was to be held in a Masorti (Conservative) facility.  The mayor insisted that the service be held at an Orthodox synagogue.  The irony here is that some traditional synagogues do not allow such children to come up to the Torah and say the blessings.   There is a notion in Jewish law that those with severe disabilities are not “of sound mind” and therefore are not eligible to take on public responsibilities like being a witness, or, more to the point, representing the congregation in leading services.   Despite these restrictions, even very traditional rabbis are increasingly recognizing the dangers of labeling special needs or physically disabled children with a broad brush. 

In their book, “Practical Medical Halacha,” Fred Rosner and Moses Tendler state that Jewish law urges those with special needs “to achieve their fullest potential as Jews, while exhorting society to assist them in making their religious observance possible.”  In the Talmud, after all, (Eruvin 54b) Rabbi Preida had a student with a severe learning disability, to the point where needed to repeat each lesson four hundred times before the student understood it.  Such patience needs to be applied across the board, and to a degree, that is happening. 

There is no lack of compassion for special needs children in the Orthodox world, a general position of inclusiveness that is mandated in the Talmud; which is why the Rehovot incident is even more alarming.  The mayor was willing to turn these kids into pawns to further his own political agenda.

Masorti has been running this special needs bar mitzvah program in Israel for many years. Just as Conservative Judaism has incorporated relevant contemporary data to reassess longstanding views regarding feminism and homosexuality, so did it long ago find ways to incorporate into ritual practice contemporary understandings of mental impairment and genetic disorders.  As with women and gays, the purpose of implementing changes to long-held practices is to affirm the dignity of these individuals.   As our sources repeat time after time, the dignity of the individual should always be paramount. 

I've led many memorable bar/bat mitzvahs of special needs children.  One of my first was for a young man with Down syndrome, who used that bar mitzvah process as a springboard to living an exemplary life in leadership and advocacy.  Today, three decades later, he is often in Washington articulating his cause and lobbying for better legislation.  He’s co-written a book (which became a TV movie) detailing his experiences.  Had he grown up in Rehovot, God only knows if he would have had such opportunities or gained such confidence.  It would have been the world’s loss.

Children with such challenges have so much to offer and often can’t stand up for themselves when mistreated.  Many can’t speak at all.  Oftentimes they are too trusting of those take advantage of them.  The Rehovot story is simply a disgrace, a stain on Israel and a shame for all of us. If this behavior is representative of Judaism, it almost makes me want to go back to Sinai and start all over again.

Fortunately it is not.

When I was 12, I got into the only fistfight of my life, and it was when a kid started mocking my brother, who is significantly impaired, laughingly calling him a "retard." Nowadays there are only a few things that bring out the moral outrage in me as much as the abuse of innocent young children with disabilities.


And few things validate my decision to become a rabbi and represent the eternal message of Sinai more than seeing children like Jewels ascend to the Torah, piercing the heavens with a prayer so intense and pure that it just might save us all.