The High Holidays Are Upon Us

Shalom, Friends!  We are in the month of Elul and the High Holidays will soon be upon us.  This will be my first set of these holidays with you and I am eagerly looking forward to sharing them with you.  Our services will be essentially similar to previous years, although every leader brings his/her own special touches.  I may teach a couple of new melodies, but primarily we will be singing the traditional ones which we have always sung.
 
Many of you will be seeing people you haven’t seen in awhile, and you will spend special time with family and friends.  You will share the tastes and smells and sounds and rituals of the holidays, and the feeling of being home, whether you are in the synagogue or literally at home. The following words of a song by Shlomo Carlebach come to mind:

“Return again to the home of your soul.
Return to who you are, return to what you are,
Return to where you are born and renewed again.” 

These few lines summarize the driving force behind what is bringing us back to the high holidays.  We want to return -– it is a natural instinct.  We want to come home and to start anew together, as a community. 

I’m excited to teach you this song and we will sing it together at our Selichot service on Saturday evening, September 24.  This promises to be a beautiful evening of wine and cheese, of dedicating the new menorah donated by our dear Isaac Shina, and including a short service of prayers, which you know from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, to get us ready for the High Holy Days.

One of the themes of the season is atonement, and the recipe for atonement is very simple.  It has not changed in 2000 years.  Take a liberal dose of prayer, add full-hearted remorse, the charitable giving of tzedakah, and loving acts of kindness toward others.  Sounds easy, yet we know how difficult it is to accomplish.  We are motivated by the feeling that a new year brings hope for the future – for us, our families, and Beth Samuel Jewish Center.  May we sing together with a full heart, and may you all be inscribed for a year of good health and happiness.  Shana tova tikateivu.

Until next time, l’hitra’ot!    

Shalom, Friends!

This is the first in a series of articles I will offer, as the new Spiritual Leader at Beth Samuel Jewish Center.  From time to time I will write about Jewish traditions, issues, practices, and other timely topics.  I will also include some of my own experiences which have led me to this position, and I must say at the outset that I am very proud and honored to be here.  You are a wonderfully warm, and interesting community, with a rich history.  I look forward to helping you continue to be an important Jewish presence here in Ambridge and the surrounding area.

Since I am a Cantor and you have had Rabbis heretofore, I was invited to explain a bit about the differences and similarities between these two roles.  It seems like a very good place to begin.  The short answer is that a Rabbi is a teacher and spiritual leader, and a Cantor is a trained musician who leads the services and who is also knowledgeable in Jewish law and practice.  Both professionals study at seminary and must be ordained or invested, with a certificate to attest to that.  Both provide leadership that reflects Jewish values which are being taught to the congregation.

Some congregations employ both a Rabbi and a Cantor, and some small synagogues hire only one professional.  The seminary from which I was ordained (and later taught at) trained Rabbis and Cantors for many different situations, including the one in which there is only one professional leading a congregation.  This position is called Kol Bo in Hebrew, and it literally means “everything within,” or “the one who does everything.”  That sounds like a tall order, but there are many, many places who have a Kol Bo, as we now do.  At school I had to take courses with Rabbis on halacha, or Jewish law and customs, and the Rabbis had to learn how to lead services and chant, so either person can be the sole spiritual leader. 

Over the years I have led hundreds of funerals and unveilings, many weddings, baby naming ceremonies, too many b’nai mitzvahs to count, and services in both Reform and Conservative settings.  I have also been trained in Pastoral care and have done a great deal of this work in my previous congregation.  Incidentally, another forte of mine is Interfaith initiatives, which I have already been doing in the greater Ambridge area, representing Beth Samuel.

Until next time – l’hitra’ot !