MESSAGES FROM OUR RABBIS SILVER

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Messages From Rabbi Barry Silver

A Return To Judaism

January-February 2010

Over five centuries ago, the ancestors of Miquel Segura of Mallorca Spain were forcibly converted to Catholicism. His ancestors were persecuted and tortured ever since, and like 10s of thousands of other Jewish converts, many were burned at the stake for secretly practicing Judaism. Such Jews are known as Chuetas, which is derived from the Catalan word for pig, just as Maranno, the Spanish word for pig is used for converted Jews from other parts of Spain. Because of ostracism and forced isolation on the island of Mallorca for centuries, today approximately 20,000 Chuletas trace their roots to Judaism.

In December 2009, Miquel Segura returned to Judaism after over half a millennium of separation from his people. The ceremony was regarded as a “return”, rather than a conversion, since traditional Jews regard Miquel as Jewish due to his ability to trace his ancestry through both parents to Jewish roots. Thus, a bet din was not needed, and only a purification ceremony in the Mikveh was required.

As a Chueta, Miquel Segura’s life was precarious, humiliating and insecure. Now, he can enjoy the true meaning of his name, Segura, which is Spanish for “safe” and “secure”, for he is now safe and secure within the embrace of his people, and free to share in the rich heritage of Judaism. While this horrible wrong was made right for Miquel, today millions of descendants of Spanish Jews who were forced to convert are unaware of their Jewish roots and thus still suffer the wrong of the loss of their precious heritage.

Moreover, such horrors were not confined to 500 years ago. In 1858, Edgardo Mortara, a 6 year old child of Jewish parents in Bologna Italy, was torn from the arms of his weeping mother and grief-stricken father by the papal police under the authority of the Inquisition, and sent to the Catechumans’ (prison for the conversion of Jews and Muslims) in Rome. As described by David I. Kerztzer in The Kidnapping of Edgardo Montara, his parents never saw him again except for an isolated visit under close Church supervision. Those responsible for this atrocity claimed it was done for Edgardo’s good. This astonishing conclusion was derived from the Church’s claim that Edgardo was Catholic, because as an infant, a Catholic baby-sitter sprinkled some water on him when he was sick in order to “baptize” him and save his soul in case he died. Based on this gesture, about which his parents were completely unaware, the Church “reasoned’ that it would be a sin to allow a “Christian” child to be raised by Jewish parents, and stole him from his parents’ loving arms, just as they had done to many others. When some complained about the practice, the Church attributed the outrage to the influence of rich Jews, rather than their own abysmal behavior. The true number of descendants of such forced conversions is unknown, but is probably in the millions. Thus, as we do for all others, we should open our doors to all those of Spanish descent who wish to join the Jewish fold, which may be their biological heritage, and which certainly is their spiritual heritage since Christianity is derived from Judaism.

Accordingly, our synagogue is open to ceremonies of conversion and return, and recently performed such a conversion in Spanish. We also invite the Spanish speaking community to join with us every second Friday night of the month, where a little Spanish is incorporated into our service, and we celebrate the rich Jewish heritage in Hispanic lands. On February 12, the Shabbat service will be enhanced by a visit from celebrated guitarist, Howard Greenblatt, who will demonstrate the similarities between the music of the Sephardic Jews, Spanish gypsies, the Moors, Arabs and the Flamenco musicians with his beautiful and inspiring music. As with all of our activities, everyone is welcome, and we urge you to invite your friends to join us in this exciting Shabbat experience.

Defiance

April 2009

“Freedom begins with an act of defiance.” So begins the book “Defiance” about the heroism displayed by the Bielski brothers, Jewish resistance fighters against the Nazis. Like modern-day Maccabbees, whose victory over the Greeks Jews celebrate on Chanukah, this band of brothers was led by a charismatic, leader named Tuvia Bielski, who demonstrated great courage against monstrous evil perpetrated by those who sought to wipe out the Jewish people. With 20/20 hindsight, some ask why more victims of the holocaust did not fight back. Most civilians are not trained for fighting. Moreover, the Germans used deception and misinformation as part of their plan for extermination. The Jewish religion teaches that while people possess an inclination towards good and evil, goodness is the more powerful force. It was difficult for many people, especially Jews, to believe that any nation, including one, which had seemed so cultured in the past, was capable of such barbarism and cruelty, especially towards those who caused them no harm. Tuvia Bielski was bright and well read. Although forced to drop out of school at an early age to support his family, he was an avid reader and thinker. In the 1930’s, he read an article by Albert Einstein titled “Under the shadow of death”, that gave him an early insight into the Nazi mind. Like his Theory of Relativity, this article by Einstein was greeted with skepticism by those who could not grasp ideas out of the norm. However, like Einstein, Tuvia Bielski did not think like most people, and this spelled the difference between life and death for him and for thousands of other Jews whom he saved. When we look back at the dark period of the holocaust, it is important to derive lessons for today. The bravery of Tuvia Bielski and his fellow freedom fighters should inspire us to take strong action against genocide, wherever it occurs. As many have observed, “silence always aids the perpetrators, never the victims”. Others such as Martin Luther King have noted that what makes this world a dangerous place is not just those who do evil, but the many who let it happen. With lessons from our past, many Jewish organizations and individuals have led the charge against genocide wherever it occurs with the rallying cry of “Never again”. Sadly, not nearly enough people have joined this chorus and genocide continues today. Jews also tragically learned once again from the holocaust, that we cannot rely upon the world community to come to our aid when faced with annihilation, and in fact, the Nazis had many collaborators among the nations, including prominent Arab leaders. Thus,

Israel

stands ready to boldly defend the Jewish state from those who want to drive its inhabitants into the sea. Today, humanity faces many dangers; radical Islam, global warming, and nuclear proliferation come to mind. While we can debate whether today’s dangers are on a par with those of the past, this is irrelevant, and should not prevent us from taking prudent action to prevent grave harm at once. Sadly, many of my liberal friends seem incapable of grasping the threat of those who are bent on our destruction, especially from militant Islam. If such “thinking” had carried the day in this country during WWII, perhaps I would not be here to write this article. And many conservatives fail to grasp the danger of global warming, encouraged by the nonsensical ranting of those such as Rush Limbaugh, who prey upon his gullible ditto heads, telling them what they want to hear, with false, but comforting assurances. His rhetoric is similar to those scientists who told people that cigarettes do not cause cancer, and led the gullible to an early death.

On April 21, we observe Yom Hashoah, and honor the memory of those who perished in the holocaust. As we do so, let us learn from the heroes of the past to take swift and decisive action today to confront the dangers of our age. Our schools and society train our children to conform. But as the book about Tuvia Bielski instructs, “liberty begins with an act of defiance”. Sometimes this defiance must be directed towards our own leaders who often protect the status quo and their political careers, rather than protecting the people, from grave danger.

Purim

January-March 2009

Many people wonder if the story of Purim is true. The Megilah tells us of a city in Persia named Shushan, where a man named Haman tried to destroy the Jewish people because a Jewish patriot named Mordechai refused to bow down to him. Queen Esther saved the Jews by risking her life and by finally identifying herself with her people. Did this really happen? Although modern historians doubt the historicity of Haman, Mordechai and Esther, the Purim narrative as allegory, has taken place on countless occasions throughout the history of our people. All too often, the Jews have been targeted by tyrants because we refused to bow down to evil, and courageously stood up for freedom. Anne Frank observed that because Jews speak out for compassion, peace and justice, we would always be perceived as the enemies of hatelers and despots. From Jews who refused to abandon their faith during the Spanish Inquisition, and thus were burned alive at the same stake as great scientists and free thinkers such as Giordano Bruno, to the Jewish dissidents in the former Soviet Union, there is no doubt that the Purim story has been played out on the stage of history many times over. Sadly, many Jews have been martyred, but as with the Purim story, our oppressors have been unable to snuff out the world’s moral conscience, and have all suffered the same fate as Haman, i.e., their disappearance from history.

Historians believe that the name Mordechai is taken from the Babylonian god, Marduk, and the name Esther is derived from his consort, the goddess, Astarte. These two gods, overcame the forces of darkness in Babylonian mythology, much as Esther and Mordechai defeated Haman, and just as the Jews have outlasted their enemies.

Esther is also a Hebrew word meaning “hidden”. As with many Jews today and throughout the centuries, Esther hid her Jewish identity, because she thought it necessary to increase her chances for advancement, and because she feared “persia”cution for being Jewish. However, when her people were threatened, with the encouragement of her cousin Mordechai, Queen Esther risked her safety and her life to save her fellow Jews, much as Moses, from the safety of his palace walls risked it all to save a Jewish slave and his people.

Today we don’t have to risk our lives to proclaim our Judaism, but many of us still shirk our destiny. How sad for us and what a loss to the world when this occurs. To some, accepting our identity as Jews means primarily eating certain foods, associating with other Jews, and coming to Temple every so often. While some of these things may help us achieve Jewish identity, those who’s Jewishness is confined to such activities will remain on the sidelines of the Jewish mission.

In a world beset with problems and in need of answers, the participation of all Jews in the exciting and vital task of Tikkun Olam, or repairing the world, is more urgently needed than ever. Thus, we no longer have the luxury of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic by squabbling over the minutiae of dietary laws, when people are dying in Darfur and other killing fields, the planet is dying, homeless children and adults are in desperate need of help, Islamic fundamentalism threatens the security of the world, anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head, and many other dangers loom on the horizon. In the face of such threats, arguments over ritual, must give way to the spiritual, and the meaningful.

We must ask ourselves this month of Purim, when we see people suffering while we are safe, will we speak out as Esther did, or keep our Jewishness hidden? When we see the beauty of the Earth being destroyed by greed and shortsightedness, will we remain true to our heritage of protecting nature and respecting Creation, or will we keep our Jewishness a secret, when we see the homeless and the poor in our county, will we join with our fellow Jews and other concerned people or convince ourselves that even homeless children are to blame for their condition, when Jews are being maligned in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere, will we do nothing, because we feel we are safe behind the palace walls of the United States, or will we support those organizations and groups that speak out against the persecution of all people, including our own, such as the ADL, American Jewish Congress and the synagogues of this land? Will we allow Haman-like lies about our people to go unchallenged, even if written in someone else’s sacred texts, or when the Pope says that Jews of this generation should not be blamed for the death of Jesus, will we remind him that there no basis to blame the Jews of any generation for the crime of deicide, and that his words do not go far enough to erase this lethal blood libel?

Many empires have emulated Haman and tried to destroy the Jewish people. While these empires may differ in place, race and face, they all share one thing in common; a love of power. This love of power caused them to perceive the Jewish emphasis on the power of love as a threat to their malevolent goals. Yet long after the Persian empire has become a missing “Persian”, the empire of Greece has hit the skids, the armies of Rome no longer roam the world, the civilizations of Mesopotamia have now made a mess of modern-day Iraq, and the religion of Islam has now separated the “I” from the rest of the word to be spelled “I slam”, the Jewish people is still alive and well and as Mark Twain said in 1899, although the Jewish population represents a “nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way, the contributions of the Jewish people to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning, are also way out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers, and while many civilizations have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they are in twilight now, or have vanished, the Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind.”

Let us ask ourselves if we live up to this noble description of our people? If not, as Anne Frank once observed it is wonderful to know that today it is not too late to make the world a better place. By heeding her words, we can help defeat Haman and his modern-day imitators, and join in our people’s historic mission of bringing healing to the world.

Fighting Terrorism

October-December 2008

Tonight our dinner was interrupted by the news of horrific violence in India, not surprisingly carried out by Muslim terrorists. This came as a stark contrast to an interfaith dialogue in which I participated the night before with Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Hindu clergy. The dialogue and fellowship were extremely cordial and a wonderful reminder that we can disagree agreeably. Yet, despite all the interfaith conferences and symposia, we must ask ourselves why religious violence is still so rampant in the world.

While the answer is obvious, due to political correctness it is almost never discussed in the mainstream press, but has been addressed in the movie Religula, and in eloquent books such as "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris and "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. The easiest way to see why some religions foster violence, is to examine what type of god they worship. If people pray to a god who extends heavenly rewards to believers, and indescribable, endless suffering to non-believers, then by killing non-believers, or better still torturing and then killing them, the faithful can carry out "god's will" in this world. It has been said that if we worship an intolerant god, then we will be intolerant. We see a similar pattern with children who emulate the behavior, far more often than the words of their parents. If their god tortures and kills non-believers, then the faithful will do likewise in their effort to live a "godly" life, just as many children strive to be like their parents.

While it is true that many fundamentalists are not violent, it is also true that many Americans do not practice equality, many Jews don't observe the Sabbath, and many people who claim to be vegetarians, sometimes eat chicken or fish. While not all will succumb, those who are intolerant, restless, faithful, angry, and living in a sexually repressed environment, such as those young males who committed the massacre in India, will easily be lured by the promise of many virgins, to satisfy their repressed sexual lust in the afterlife by obeying scriptural commands to slay the non-believer. When we understand the teachings and brainwashing of fundamentalist Islam, slaughters such as we recently saw in India, and the carnage of 9/11 seem surprising, only in the fact that they don't occur more often. While today's terrorists are mostly Muslim, in past ages, fundamentalist Christians killed millions, and fundamentalists of all stripes threaten the planet, not only by spreading conflict, but by opposing family planning which is essential if we are to avert disaster from overpopulation.

How infantile it is to believe that the creator of this vast, incomprehensible universe really cares what we believe. Wouldn't a just god be much more concerned with how we act? And if there was a god who fashioned this incredibly wondrous universe, wouldn't he have to be the master scientist of all, and wouldn't such a god reward scientific inquiry rather than blind faith? Galileo refused to believe that a Creator who endowed us with a powerful mind would punish us for its use.

In order to survive this century, both liberals and conservatives must join forces to combat religious intolerance by fighting political correctness from both ends. Liberals must learn that evil must be confronted, and conservatives must learn that the fight against evil must be done intelligently, not simply by backing the President no matter what. Keeping our nation in the middle of an interminable civil war in a futile effort to bring Democracy to people who don't believe in it, and who hate us, Israel and our allies, saps our strength to fight the real battle against terrorist groups like those who led the attack in India, and deter us from fighting just causes like preventing genocide in Darfur and the Congo. This battle must be waged militarily against terrorist groups, and ideologically against the primitive notion that god sends believers to heaven and non-believers to eternal torment. This naïve belief creates the ideological swamp from which violent extremism emerges.

Chanukah 2008

Sometimes it is good to be in the minority, especially around the holiday season. Christmas has become so commercialized that for many people it is best symbolized by an overweight elf who rides through the sky reinforcing materialism for our children as one of our highest values. Fortunately, Chanukah has not been taken over by the secular world, and still retains much of its original meaning and charm.   Nevertheless, many of us still do not observe the essence of the Chanukah season.
   If we light candles, sing songs, get together with the family and eat some latkes, we are observing some joyous and meaningful customs associated with the Festival of Lights.    Some of our fondest memories revolve around this time of year and this holiday. However, if this is all we do, then we haven’t fully celebrated this joyous occasion.    Chanukah is Hebrew for “dedication” and reminds us of the dedication of the Maccabees, as they fought for religious freedom, and struggled to preserve their way of life from the onslaught of the Greek/Syrians.   The practice of Judaism is not only threatened by tyrants and enemies, but is threatened more insidiously by benign forces such as assimilation, which also occurred during the period of Hellenistic rule.   In our country, no one is physically preventing us from practicing Judaism, but there are many forces that lead us away from our heritage. When we see violence all around us, when we are confronted by apathy towards injustice, when we are flooded with information about the now, and urged to forget about our past, the continuation of Jewish life is threatened, and many will abandon Jewish ways and values.    Jews are also directly targeted by radical Islam, which like the Syrian/Greeks, seeks the destruction of Judaism.
   If we want to celebrate Chanukah in a meaningful way, then in addition to the fun, family, and food, we must also strive to incorporate the lessons and eternal message of this festival. On Chanukah we learned that a small group of dedicated people can begin a revolution that can change the world; that when our way of life is threatened by enemies or from within, we must resist, and cling to the beautiful heritage that has been handed down to us through the ages. We also learn that for every good cause, we must get involved and repeat the motto of the Maccabees, “Be strong and of good courage.”
   I wish everyone a joyous Chanukah, and I hope we will be inspired by the courage of the Maccabees, to fight for justice and a better world, and to let nothing discourage us from rising to the challenge of fulfilling the Jewish people’s historic mission of Tikkun Olam, the repair of the world.

Rosh Hashanah 2008

My father was fond of saying that the miracle of being human is that we have the capacity to change from what we are to what we can become, if we really tried. It is this wonderful ability that makes life exciting, and separates us most dramatically from other life forms, which to various degrees operate largely by instinct, slavishly repeating the mistakes of the past, often learning nothing, year after year.

Each of us starts out from inauspicious beginnings, unable to speak, walk, or care for ourselves. An explosion of growth and improvement soon follows in what can only be described as a miracle. For some, this growth and development continue throughout a lifetime, and they reach great heights in moral, intellectual, and cultural achievement. Alas, for others, the learning and improvement soon come to a grinding halt, resulting in stagnation and lethargy. Martin Luther King once said upon hearing of the death of a violent opponent of civil rights, that his demise merely recorded the cessation of the heart beat of a man who had died long ago.

The Torah reading at this season urges us to Choose Life, reminding us of the important choice we must make. Will we squander our fleeting days going down the same old dreary path, or will we take advantage of the free will that lies within us all? As Reform Jews, our faith does not reside in inprovable dogma, but rather in the verifiable belief that we all possess the capacity to grow in spirituality and moral stature, once we decide to make the effort.

When we fail to make the effort, and remain the same year after year, we say life is boring. Is life boring, or have we become boring because we have lost the capacity to expand our horizons, and become deadened to the world of wonder? Most of us love to be around kids, at least for a while, because they still have the capacity to experience the world with childlike wonder. At any age, we can respond to the world with excitement and awe, if we properly observe these Days of Awe.

The Friday night between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of return. But why would we want to return to the past, as we approach a new year? The reason is that we seek to return to a time when our souls were pure and unsullied. Whatever has caused us to veer off course from our pristine path and from the hopes and dreams our parents had for us, can be corrected through effort and sincere desire. This is the task we set for ourselves not only on Rosh Hashanah, but on each Shabbat, and throughout the year.

While real change, as opposed to a slogan, is not easy, the Hebrew name for New Year is instructive in helping us to meet this challenge. Rosh Hashanah is translated as New Year, but the word "Rosh" means "head", and Shanah, which means year, comes from a Hebrew root meaning "change". The Hebrew words "Rosh Hashanah" teach us the essence of Judaism, i.e. that change is possible, if we use our heads and our minds. Thus, 3000 years before both political parties adopted change as their mantra, our people were proclaiming a message of change and hope to the entire world.

In Hebrew, "tov" means "good, so when we wish each other "L'Shanah Tovah" we are not only saying Happy New Year, we are also saying in the literal sense of the words, "may you change for the good". How lucky we are to be part of a heritage that has faith that we can improve, and to live in a country where we have the freedom to tear down barriers that prevent us from fully experiencing the world and each other in its entire splendor. I hope that we, our congregation, our community and the world will use our heads, as well as our hearts and bodies to bring about the change which is needed to improve our lives and the world at this High Holy Day season.

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January 2008

Our congregation was privileged to host Rabbi Michael Lerner at our services on January 18, 2008, when we heard his inspiring message for social change. Thank you to all who came out to hear the Rabbi and to make him feel welcome in our home, and to those who provided the oneg after his presentation. Rabbi Lerner gave us much to consider and presented us with many suggestions for growth in our spirituality and our endeavor to live a meaningful Jewish life. As a result of Rabbi Lerner’s exciting message, many congregants and guests have suggested that we become even more active in bringing about positive change in our community. Towards this end, I invite all of our members and friend to come up with suggestions for helping us as individuals and as a congregation to contribute to Tikkun Olam. As a first step, I suggest we seek alternatives to Styrofoam at all of our events, the placing of recycling bins at our shopping center, (if someone calls “866 new bins” and consults with our landlord, we can perhaps make this happen), the installation of solar heating and lighting at our shopping center (I have contacts for this which I will pursue), and other ways to help our congregation leave less of a carbon footprint.

I further suggest that in keeping with the Governor’s proclamation of January as homeless awareness month in the State of Florida, that we give a call to the Governor and the local officials who are in a position to financially assist Westgate Tabernacle and urge them to direct some of the funds that it receives for organizations that help the homeless to Westgate, which may be forced to close its doors by the end of the month, if it does not receive substantial financial help right away. Right now, the funds received by the state and county go primarily to organizations which talk about helping the homeless, but provide no shelter, and instead send such individuals to Westgate. Rather than provide financial assistance to Westgate, in an extreme demonstration of chutzpah, the County agencies send the homeless to Westgate, and then assess fines and other penalties against Westgate for their sheltering the very people who are sent there by the County. According to an e-mail that was recently sent to one of our members from the Governor’s office, “This office [the Governor’s office] works to coordinate state assistance with the local plans. As such we rely upon the local homeless coalition and county government to assist us. To that end, our key contacts locally are Ms. Shelley Gottsagon, with the coalition (561) 487-5451, and Ms. Georgina Devine, with the County’s Human Services Division (561) 355-4778.”

Let us all contact these individuals and the Governor’s office, and ask our friends to do likewise, and request that if the government is going to spend money helping the homeless, it should send a substantial amount of its funds to Westgate, the only facility in the county that houses the homeless twenty-four hours a day, every day, with no government assistance to date. Not only does Westgate house such individuals, they also provide spiritual and physical nourishment and assistance to the homeless in getting their lives back in order and getting back on their feet once again so they can be restored to a life of dignity and fulfillment. Let’s also come up with other ways to make Tikkun Olam (the repair of the world) a top priority at Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor, in order to make our Judaism come alive, and give meaning to our lives and the lives of all humanity.

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Passover 2008

On Passover we are reminded to observe the weeklong holiday as if we had been enslaved in Egypt, and then delivered with a mighty hand from bondage. We do more than observe this sacred day; we try to relive the experience of liberation through the use of prayers, stories, games, songs, rituals, and special symbols. All of these features of the Passover Seder are designed to help us experience the exodus as if we were there. Ideally, we are surrounded by friends and family to add to the joy of the celebration.

But is Pesach still relevant when we already live in the land of the free? Yes, even in America, we can still derive so much from Pesach if properly observed. But how is it possible to experience the Seder as if we were slaves in the land of Egypt? The secret is to use the festival to spiritually internalize the revolutionary message of Passover, just as we physically internalize the Passover foods. In this way we begin to fully appreciate our freedom and experience the joy of charting our own destiny, rather than being carried whichever way the wind blows.

If we are addicted to nicotine, alcohol, excessive food, TV, procrastination, or countless other vices, we are not truly free. What a great occasion it would be if we looked inside ourselves and picked just one area where we enslave ourselves, and vowed to do our best to rid ourselves of this addiction.

A slave is often separated from family members involuntarily. Do we who are fortunate enough to have friends and family in our lives, take the time to share ourselves with our parents, children and relatives and appreciate how lucky we are to have them in our lives, or do separate ourselves from them either physically or emotionally? Why not use this opportunity to really connect with our families, and break down barriers, and maximize the time we have together?

Are we enslaved by self-imposed limitations in which we tell ourselves that we cannot change, and thus condemn ourselves to just going through the motions of life instead of really living and enjoying all that life has to offer each day? Do we maximize our potential to try new things and expand our horizons? If we go through life doing the same thing every day, and getting stuck in stale patterns of behavior, we are not acting like free people, and certainly not living as if we have just been freed from bondage.

As Moses was not afraid to stand up to Pharaoh, we too should not be afraid to stand up to those forces that continue to keep us down. And as Moses was willing to risk his life to save a Hebrew slave, so may we experience the joy of helping others. As a Jewish community may we strive to keep our planet free from environmental catastrophe, help the people of Darfur become free from continued brutality, the people of the world free from religious fanaticism and may we become free to one day be able to say “Next year in Jerusalem” without any fear of violence in the Jewish homeland and in Jerusalem, the City of Peace.

THE SILVER LINING…By: Rabbi Samuel Silver

What the bible is telling us...

Listen, my children, attention please pay

While I remind you of what the bible has to say

The Bible contains stories and many a blessing

but one major point it is always stressing

That God tells us to be nice is, of course. essential

but we can be still nicer if we draw on our potential

So bear in mind what God has given you and me

It can be summarized in one word, that is, improvability

Every Biblical hero, every word and letter

Declares that if we try we can do morally better

We are indeed fortunate to be recipients of that gift

The capacity to improve and achieve an upward lift

Yes, we are capable of moral elevation

But, alas, we are also capable of moral deterioration

so study the heroes who in the Bible can inspire

And use your free will to move ethically higher

That, dear children, is the message of Holy Writ

God gives us the potential:

Let's make good use of it

Let us be worthy of Devine favor

Performing good deeds which the Lord will savor

A Coinage… By: Rabbi Samuel Silver

I have created a new term for our Congregation.

My coinage is ‘RECONFORMADOX.’

It has a touch of Orthodoxy; and we must admire the fervor of the Traditionalist Jews. We all should emulate their devotion.

It has a tinge of Conservatism. The Conservative Movement has included many brilliant preachers who inspire all of us.

It also suggests Reconstructionism, a Movement which was started by the

Late Rabbi Mordecai Kaplain.

As for Reform Judaism, it has stressed the fact that Judaism is not stagnant.

It stresses the evolutionary

process in the history of our beloved Faith.

My coinage also implies something

important for all Jews...we should

not advocate the differences among people.

Maturity calls not for the elimination of differences, but rather for

RESPECT for differences.

HOW DO YOU LIKE MY COINAGE?