Today is Holocaust Rememberance Day. This date was chosen because it coinsides with the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Tonight we will be at a local JCC (Jewish Community Center) commemorating this day. It is the first year we will be taking our kids. They know about the Holocaust and have studied age appropriate material on the subject. It scares them. Heck, it scares me. For the first time tonight I will meet Holocaust survivors. I want them to meet my children, to know that their struggle was not in vain. That the next generation carries on the traditions and they will learn about what happened and make sure that they teach it to their children. This young generation will be the last to meet these people. It is up to them to make sure that the horrors of this time are never forgotten. And even more important to understand it so it never is allowed to happen again.
Never again will Jews be marched from their homes without a fight. Never again will we quietly and blindly follow what were obviously lies that lead to the death of so many. Jews will never again give in with hopes of pacifying the oppressor.
Never again.
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
A Rabbi Returns
A letter from the synagogue came in the mail the other day. It was from our Rabbi. It's the first communication directly from him since the brouhaha began.
He's returning on March 31st. In his letter he stated he will be holding a special Shabbat Service of Healing on April 16th. He also is offering a sincere apology to those he hurt or offended and hopes that he can be forgiven. He also hopes those people will come to that service so that we can start to heal our congregation as a whole.
I can tell you this is a synagogue with a congregation split. It's not down the middle but there is a strong division between the two sides. There will always be those who can not forgive. I am hoping that those remain the minority during this time of healing. It's easy for me to say since I don't even know what offenses have occured but I feel that since the Board of Trustees have decided he should stay and he wants to stay that every effort should be made to make repairs.
The Engineer and I intend to meet with the Rabbi and get to know him personally. Since this all began not to long after we joined we never got the opportunity to really form our own opinion of him. We've worked hard at staying out of the politics of it all. Now we wish to get to know him and make our own decisions. We intend to support him as he tries to find a common ground so this wound can heal. Injuries like this will leave a scar but we hope that it doesn't result in a disability.
We've made a few friends there and have started to feel comfortable. We intend to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Fortunately, we are not alone.
He's returning on March 31st. In his letter he stated he will be holding a special Shabbat Service of Healing on April 16th. He also is offering a sincere apology to those he hurt or offended and hopes that he can be forgiven. He also hopes those people will come to that service so that we can start to heal our congregation as a whole.
I can tell you this is a synagogue with a congregation split. It's not down the middle but there is a strong division between the two sides. There will always be those who can not forgive. I am hoping that those remain the minority during this time of healing. It's easy for me to say since I don't even know what offenses have occured but I feel that since the Board of Trustees have decided he should stay and he wants to stay that every effort should be made to make repairs.
The Engineer and I intend to meet with the Rabbi and get to know him personally. Since this all began not to long after we joined we never got the opportunity to really form our own opinion of him. We've worked hard at staying out of the politics of it all. Now we wish to get to know him and make our own decisions. We intend to support him as he tries to find a common ground so this wound can heal. Injuries like this will leave a scar but we hope that it doesn't result in a disability.
We've made a few friends there and have started to feel comfortable. We intend to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Fortunately, we are not alone.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Open Mouth Insert Foot....
You know I never know when to shut up. Along with the malfunctioning filter that runs between my brain and my mouth, I often get myself in trouble. Okay, trouble might be too strong of a word, but I can definitely annoy some people.
Two things today showed that there have been no improvements for me in these areas. First, today was our monthly Afternoon with the Arts. It's a home school thing we do where the kids get to each show off something they did or can do. Like artwork, poetry and playing a musical instrument. They have to do it in front of an audience. Then afterward we have high tea for the kids, with finger food, and do a quick etiquette lesson. You know the whole shebang, cloth napkins, real china tea cups, place cards and practicing making small talk. Okay, I know, I know, I digressed. Eventually you'll get used to it. So anyway, who shows up today but the Girl Scout Leader who I previously had issue with. She has been avoiding me since our little to-do. I walk in the door and she's standing right there. She looks like a deer trapped in a snare, she wants to run but can't without being a total ass. So instead of saying a quick hi and letting her escape I make small talk. Forcing her to stay and talk to me for a few moments. It is probably the worst 3 minutes of her day and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After I let her go she was very careful to avoid me the rest of the afternoon. I knew I accomplished what I set out to do. Oh, the small things that bring me joy.
The other thing didn't bring me joy, in fact it bummed me out. I'm not sure what to do with this one. While on the road today we called IT Guy to wish him a happy birthday. After the traditional singing of Happy Birthday on speaker phone by the kids I take the phone. During the conversation I apologize for backing out of having him and his family over for our Passover Seder that I canceled due to an unexpected marathon shift at work. He said no problem and then tells me he doesn't even think we need to invite him over for it since they don't understand or contribute to the seder and they are not raising their kids Jewish. I let him know that he's stuck doing these things since he's the only local family I have. We have cousins out of state who sometimes make it but they can't always. Besides the whole reason for the seder is to tell the story and to learn. Every time I go to or have a seder I learn something new. So he agrees and sees my point. But could I stop there, no I couldn't. I had to open my mouth and continue on. I said I wanted them to be familiar with our traditions, especially his kids so they would understand their cousins religion. Especially since we are practicing Jews. It's hard enough when strangers have no clue about your religion or traditions but to have family members in the same boat is somehow worse. I could hear it in his voice. His discomfort level went up a couple of notches. Even though I have assured him numerous times that how he raises his kids is their decision and not a concern of mine I still get the feeling that he is not comfortable even talking about their choices. I know it's a sensitive issue for him so why don't I quit while I'm ahead. I don't know, maybe it's leftover Jewish Mother Guilt or something but I wish I could get it through his head that I just want them to join us and be a part of it because it's important to my family and we want them to share it with us and nothing more.
Two sides of the same coin. Will I ever learn to control it?
Two things today showed that there have been no improvements for me in these areas. First, today was our monthly Afternoon with the Arts. It's a home school thing we do where the kids get to each show off something they did or can do. Like artwork, poetry and playing a musical instrument. They have to do it in front of an audience. Then afterward we have high tea for the kids, with finger food, and do a quick etiquette lesson. You know the whole shebang, cloth napkins, real china tea cups, place cards and practicing making small talk. Okay, I know, I know, I digressed. Eventually you'll get used to it. So anyway, who shows up today but the Girl Scout Leader who I previously had issue with. She has been avoiding me since our little to-do. I walk in the door and she's standing right there. She looks like a deer trapped in a snare, she wants to run but can't without being a total ass. So instead of saying a quick hi and letting her escape I make small talk. Forcing her to stay and talk to me for a few moments. It is probably the worst 3 minutes of her day and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After I let her go she was very careful to avoid me the rest of the afternoon. I knew I accomplished what I set out to do. Oh, the small things that bring me joy.
The other thing didn't bring me joy, in fact it bummed me out. I'm not sure what to do with this one. While on the road today we called IT Guy to wish him a happy birthday. After the traditional singing of Happy Birthday on speaker phone by the kids I take the phone. During the conversation I apologize for backing out of having him and his family over for our Passover Seder that I canceled due to an unexpected marathon shift at work. He said no problem and then tells me he doesn't even think we need to invite him over for it since they don't understand or contribute to the seder and they are not raising their kids Jewish. I let him know that he's stuck doing these things since he's the only local family I have. We have cousins out of state who sometimes make it but they can't always. Besides the whole reason for the seder is to tell the story and to learn. Every time I go to or have a seder I learn something new. So he agrees and sees my point. But could I stop there, no I couldn't. I had to open my mouth and continue on. I said I wanted them to be familiar with our traditions, especially his kids so they would understand their cousins religion. Especially since we are practicing Jews. It's hard enough when strangers have no clue about your religion or traditions but to have family members in the same boat is somehow worse. I could hear it in his voice. His discomfort level went up a couple of notches. Even though I have assured him numerous times that how he raises his kids is their decision and not a concern of mine I still get the feeling that he is not comfortable even talking about their choices. I know it's a sensitive issue for him so why don't I quit while I'm ahead. I don't know, maybe it's leftover Jewish Mother Guilt or something but I wish I could get it through his head that I just want them to join us and be a part of it because it's important to my family and we want them to share it with us and nothing more.
Two sides of the same coin. Will I ever learn to control it?
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Synagogue and kids
It would have been nice to know that ours isn't a particularly child friendly synagogue when it comes to services. They have one family service a month and children are only welcome to other services if they can show a "modicum of decorum". Oh please, modicum of decorum after spending the entire day in school then sitting through a 2 hour service without making any noise. Follow that with the sugar fest that is the oneg and it's a wonder they have any control at all.
Recently they had a family service and there were a lot of families. Isn't that the point of a family service? They should have been happy. We weren't at that service but I heard the kids were fine at the service but got wound up at the oneg. A certain person in a position of authority was greatly offended by the poor manners of the children involved. Should the parents of those kids involved corrected them? Well, yeah. But they didn't. Early the next week an email went out informing everyone that they needed to control their kids at the oneg. Sounded fine to me. Case closed, you would think.
But this person decided that the children did not fit their definition of a "modicum of decorum" and that the email just didn't get the point across. During the next service she has someone from the board of trustees read a note (that she wrote) to the congregation chastising the parents for the unruly children. We'll uh, the two families with kids who were there (and there were just two) weren't at the family service. Needless to say we were both insulted. Our kids are far from perfect and now and then we have to remind the kids how to behave but the way she made it sound our kids were animals. I thought it was ironic that the author of the note chose not to attend this service.
The father of the other family and I decided not to let this go. Over the next week we spoke to countless people, made several phone calls to the clergy and wrote letters to the board. We got our point across. The woman who initially wrote the note was over ruled by the others. We heard from someone else in authority that she was extremely unhappy with the note being tossed. We received support and an apology from the board. She had wanted it read before every service. So now when we see her she gives us the hairy eye ball. I just give her a big smile.
Recently they had a family service and there were a lot of families. Isn't that the point of a family service? They should have been happy. We weren't at that service but I heard the kids were fine at the service but got wound up at the oneg. A certain person in a position of authority was greatly offended by the poor manners of the children involved. Should the parents of those kids involved corrected them? Well, yeah. But they didn't. Early the next week an email went out informing everyone that they needed to control their kids at the oneg. Sounded fine to me. Case closed, you would think.
But this person decided that the children did not fit their definition of a "modicum of decorum" and that the email just didn't get the point across. During the next service she has someone from the board of trustees read a note (that she wrote) to the congregation chastising the parents for the unruly children. We'll uh, the two families with kids who were there (and there were just two) weren't at the family service. Needless to say we were both insulted. Our kids are far from perfect and now and then we have to remind the kids how to behave but the way she made it sound our kids were animals. I thought it was ironic that the author of the note chose not to attend this service.
The father of the other family and I decided not to let this go. Over the next week we spoke to countless people, made several phone calls to the clergy and wrote letters to the board. We got our point across. The woman who initially wrote the note was over ruled by the others. We heard from someone else in authority that she was extremely unhappy with the note being tossed. We received support and an apology from the board. She had wanted it read before every service. So now when we see her she gives us the hairy eye ball. I just give her a big smile.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Just another reason
This morning I'm wasting time reading through my home school groups and there is a post titled, OT - What do you do for Lent? Since the woman who posted it is a secular homeschooler I figured it would be an interesting topic so I take a peek. She is interested in what people do, if anything, for Lent. Two people answer and give very informative responses. My knowledge of Lent previously fit on a pin head, now I have a much better understanding. But, once again, a certain group member, who also happens to be one of the 1st graders from Girl Scouts, has something to say about it. She is a well known, quite vocal (read: know it all), Fundamentalist Christan. Every time someone posts a question regarding religion, no matter what the religion she sticks in her two cents. My other favorite part is at some point in the conversation someone will give something they do with their kids and she will inevitably comment about how she is going to do that with her daughter, yeah right. Today she said she used to be Catholic but now she is in a bible based church. She always has to stick that in there too. If she would of just talked about what she used to do I could have seen her relevance in this thread. But nope, not her, four posts later she's still going on about it. Posting internet sites etc... The internet can be useful for getting information but the original poster wanted personal thoughts and ideas, she could have looked it up (probably already had) on her own if that is the type of information she wanted. One of the other people who commented checked one of the sites she talked about and was offended by it. It provided a very negative interpretation of Lent and said the observers of Lent were "vain". 1st Grade Mom then had the chutzpah to come back at her and tell her that up until two years ago she was Catholic and that she holds these practices VERY (her emphasis, not mine) close to her heart. Oh yea, so close, that's why she's now with a bible based church. After her nasty comment back to the person she offended no one else commented on the thread. I wondered if anyone else would have contributed to this if 1st Grade Mom wouldn't of hijacked the thread. Just another reason why my urge to start a secular group continues to grow.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Taboo: Politics and Religion
Our synagogue is having a crisis. We are relatively new members since we just moved to this area about a year ago. It is a 100 year old congregation. In the last hundred years they have had 20 Rabbi's. This is not good. Congregations like this are referred to as a "Rabbi eating congregation." We didn't know this when we joined. We might have shopped around a little more before settling here if we had known.
There is an old saying that if you have two Jews you have three opinions. This synagogue isn't any different. Discussion and debate are a common occurrence. Our Talmud commands us to question to help us learn, and it commands us to study and learn. Makes for a lot of questions.
After joining the synagogue we met the Rabbi at a function and he introduced himself but he seemed nervous. We thought it was odd because we had heard that he was quite a "people person" which would be a nice change of pace from our last Rabbi, who was a really good Rabbi but his people skills could have been better. We were a little disappointed after meeting him. But we figured we would just see if he relaxed a little after we met him again, everyone can have a bad day. Not to much longer after that he announces at a Friday night service that he will be taking a medical leave of absence. A murmur goes through the congregation after the announcement. Okay obviously something is going on that we are not aware of. At the oneg (a regular get together after the service) there is a lot of talking going on. Some of it isn't very nice.
Towards the end we get the student Rabbi and ask her what is going on. She doesn't really want to get into it but we aren't letting her get off that easy. We explain that we don't want gory details we just want to know what all the fuss is about. She tells us that the Rabbi didn't think the religious school director was doing a very good job. He decided to approach the Board of Trustees about replacing her. The board agreed and the director (who had been director for 20 years) was fired. Well, apparently the religious school director was very well connected with quite a few influential (read: lots of money) members and they did not take it well that she was let go. Of course that's easy for them to feel that way, their kids are all grown. Our kids are in the educational trenches. Personally, after hearing from others how the religious school was run I was glad she was fired. Better late than never as far as I'm concerned. But I digress....
So now the whole synagogue is in an uproar. People are openly arguing. Somebody who forgot what Judism is all about started passing around a story with some very nasty stories about him which others have claimed are not true. Half the board who supported him have now turned against him. They have hired a lawyer to see if they can get out of his contract. Pretty hard to believe what they are claiming is true since all this blew up exactly one month, yep, just one month after he and the board agreed and signed a five year contract. So you're telling me that he went to hell and you want to fire him when one month ago you were willing to sign a five year contract. Please, do I look like I fell off the turnip truck yesterday? Not that he is perfect, I'm sure, but this stinks to the high heavens of politics as usual.
The Engineer and I are really sad that this has happened. We don't live in an area with many Jews and the synagogue is our only Jewish community. We have less than two years until our daughters are B'nai Mitzvah. It can take years to find and hire a new Rabbi, especially when you have a Rabbi leave under these circumstances. Who's going to want to work here?
We'll for now we wait and see where this leads.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A Yom Kippur Promise
Last September, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement for Jews) we are supposed to be finishing up atoning for our mistakes thoughout the past year. There are steps we should have taken up to this day to make sure this is possible. There are three steps that need to be completed to be forgiven: 1: the person who you have wronged must forgive you, 2: you must self examine why you made this mistake to begin with so it doesn't happen again, and 3: You must never do it again. If all three of these are fulfilled you will be forgiven for the errors you have made.
This year the Rabbi caught me off guard. As we entered the sanctuary we were handed a piece of paper and a pencil. On the paper was written: Who have you forgiven? Uh oh, nobody asked me for forgiveness. I didn't know there was going to be a test. Especially when I'm hungry and thirsty. I had a hard time paying attention for the rest of the service trying to think of who I wanted to forgive. By the end I had decided to forgive Michael Vick. As an animal lover and pit bull owner I've had a really hard time with this one. I haven't watched an Eagles game since they signed him. I said I'd forgive and I'm working on it. It's been harder than I thought. A question that most people probably just gave a moments thought has stayed on my mind.
This year the Rabbi caught me off guard. As we entered the sanctuary we were handed a piece of paper and a pencil. On the paper was written: Who have you forgiven? Uh oh, nobody asked me for forgiveness. I didn't know there was going to be a test. Especially when I'm hungry and thirsty. I had a hard time paying attention for the rest of the service trying to think of who I wanted to forgive. By the end I had decided to forgive Michael Vick. As an animal lover and pit bull owner I've had a really hard time with this one. I haven't watched an Eagles game since they signed him. I said I'd forgive and I'm working on it. It's been harder than I thought. A question that most people probably just gave a moments thought has stayed on my mind.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
