You can buy this delicious holiday children’s book by clicking this link (affiliate link, a small percentage of your purchase will benefit JFC!)

On behalf of the physicians, nurse practitioners, staff, and most importantly, the patients at Open Door Family Medical Center in Mount Kisco, I am writing to thankyou for organizing an incredibly successful book drive. Of our 4,500 patients in Mount Kisco, 40o/o are children, and all of them come from families that are struggling financially. Sending each child who visits our Health Center home with a book they can keep is an invaluable gift. After a summer of school physicals and a fall of flu shots, our shelves were looking a little bare. Thanks to the generosity of the families at |FC, they are now filled with wonderful, age appropriate books, and our closets are stocked to refill the shelves when needed. The families we care for greatly appreciate being able to return home with a book every time they visit us. Thank you for helping us in that effort.

I attended the pot-luck dinner this past Shabbat, and had a great time. I’d encourage you all to attend the next one. Guess what was on the menu? let see if you’ll know what I made (and yes, this time, I did actually make something without cheating!).

Next date to put on your calendars is Feb 17, 2012.

Adversity can break you or make you and JFC has certainly had its share this fall.  As the President of your Board of Trustees, I am charged with the responsibility of “making us better and growing our community“.  I knew assuming this responsibility would not only be challenging, but would also be rewarding.  It seems that lately, with every step forward, we have gotten pushed back by some unexpected event requiring an even stronger commitment to carry us through.

The purpose of my message is  to share with you how we, as a community,  have faced these challenges.  We began 2011-2012 in July, almost JFC’s 30th year, with a projected budget deficit that is primarily the result of the worst economy any of us has ever experienced.  We will not be able to solve the problems that have erupted around the globe, but we have risen to the challenges in our tiny community in significant ways.

We had a very successful High Holy Day appeal alleviating some of our budget deficit and easing the financial burden and concern of 27 JFC families who have been hit extra hard by the economy. Without our policy to provide a welcoming Jewish community and education for everyone, these families would have nowhere to turn when, perhaps, they need it most.

Leslie Gottlieb copied me on a message from a congregant expressing her gratitude for how our Religious School, through the innovative MARS (Madrachim-led Alternative Religious School) Program,  has been doing whatever it can to accommodate people whose needs may be a little different:

 

Hi Leslie; our daughter was so excited to tell me about the class with Andrew Blum.  She cannot wait to go next Thursday!! I am thrilled you asked her to be a part of this extra help program. I think it is going to be a positive experience for her.

Leslie told me this new program has been so positively reviewed by all involved.

Our younger members are making an impact; the Youth Group and the Kids Knesset (student government for grades K-6) help to organize some great social action programs that bring our community to the forefront with respect to caring projects.  Also, whenever it comes to activities like the UJA Gift of Chanukah annual toy drive (going on now) and the JFC Book Fair… we are always pleased to find congregants who are happy to help run these programs.

Just when we were starting to get our heads above water with dues, ECC, RS payments being paid on a timely basis and “austerity” agreements by the Rabbi and Staff, we found ourselves drowning under the deluge of Irene.  We got through the High Holy Days relatively dry but it didn’t take long before our parade was rained on; the cancelations and inconveniences set us back but also served to push us together.  Our building was safe and dry, thanks to the new generator that finally went on line a week before the storm, and the momentum continued.  The planning process for the year’s social events and fundraisers was under way with the help and involvement of energetic, young families. The Board was also identifying how they might best approach a decision on the Rabbi’s contract, whose term is up on June 30, 2012.

Then, we unexpectedly experienced the loss of four of our congregants, and again the forward momentum was lost.  The Rabbi, the Cantor, Leslie, Jane and all our wonderful teachers were as overwhelmed as any of us.  But, they instinctively knew that their role, as impossible as it must have felt, was no only to mourn but also to give comfort and support to our children, their parents and to the entire congregation and, with the help of professionals within our congregation and the community, make sense of what happened and to help people grieve.  JFC became the focal point for the media.  Rabbi Freedman was asked in TV interviews locally, regionally and nationally to explain the inexplicable.What came through was that because of the community we share, we all would come through this experience scarred but able to  respect and honor the memory of Friedlanders.

A memorial service open to all was planned with the help of the Town of Lewisboro, but what wasn’t planned was two feet of snow and power outages that lasted, for some, over a week.  I started this message by saying “adversity can break you or make you.”  What stands out in my mind is how JFC weathered these challenges.  The snow finally melted, it became autumn again, the leaves on the trees that were left standing turned red, orange and yellow, and we did what we had to do.  In a way, we lost six weeks that at JFC would have been filled with meetings, school, services, focus groups, and Torah study.  In our “outside” lives, some of us missed work, hot meals, a warm house, running water, showers, refrigeration. Additonally, we all, including JFC, spent money we weren’t anticipating spending.  But we persevered, became closer and stronger as a community, maybe gained some humility. We met the adversity head on and with the help of the JFC community and the local community we have come through these events and are stronger and wiser.

As your president, I am proud to be part of this community and I promise to do my part in making us better and growing our community.

Richard Mishkin, President of the Board of Trustees
Jewish Family Congregation

Building a community is my “big picture” goal at the JFC ECC this year.

I hope that you will consider helping me achieve this goal.

The children are getting to know each other; the parents are getting to know each other. The teachers are getting to know the children, and the children are learning about their teachers.  We are becoming a community, a neighborhood of learners.
 
Mister Rogers (Mr. Community himself) wrote:  “As human beings our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has – or ever will have- something inside that is unique …”

Fred Rogers defines our goal at JFC ECC, to celebrate each individual child.  At the same time, we strive to incorporate each student into our bigger community.  These are the building blocks of building our larger community of JFC, and our more global community of Jewish Leaders.

Okay, you might think that I am getting away from myself here…. but I will continue.
The first three to five years of life are a time of extraordinary brain development.  Jewish experiences lay the groundwork for a lifelong Jewish identity and create the basis upon which all future learning is built. Jewish early childhood education is about building the foundation of a strong, vibrant, joyful Jewish identity for each child.  Each child is a vibrant and important member of the larger Jewish community.   A child who lights the candles and eats challah in his classroom each week in preparation for Shabbat begins to understand the rhythm of Jewish time.
The Jewish calendar gives us a framework for our year, beginning with Rosh Hashanah.  The holidays and festivals help us to appreciate and celebrate our heritage.  Shabbat gives us a structure for our week.  Each week we celebrate Shabbat as an entire school community.  Our first Shabbat was filled with Ruach (spirit).  If you are ever in town on Friday morning, please join us at 11:15 in the sanctuary for our Ruach-filled Shabbat, and maybe you can be a special guest for our Shabbat snack.

Todah Rabbah:
Dinah, Lynn, Ellen, Alison, Debra & Laura for a great beginning!
Rabbi Carla and Cantor Kerry for helping us to celebrate Shabbat.
Jolie and Kathleen for all that they do for the ECC.
Rachel Clott and Dara Marceau for agreeing to lead our ECC Committee.
Gillian Margolin, Marjorie Schiff, Jennifer Carter, Cassie Hollander and Marina Fried for agreeing to be our class parents.
Meredith Rudin for running our Scholastic fundraiser.

During our Youth Group led Shabbat service, Sierra shared a lesson on the parshah that she had prepared. Sierra is a 9th grader, and a religious school student in the confirmation class. Here is her d’var torah:

This week’s Torah portion is called Chayei Sarah from the book of Genesis. I have written a d’var torah, or teaching of the Torah. Chayei Sarah means “the life of Sarah” and is about her death at age 127. She is buried in the Machpelah Cave in Hebron and is accompanied by her husband Abraham and their two eldest children about 50 years later after paying the price of four hundred shekels of silver for the graves. This happens even though Abraham remarried to a woman named Keturah. He gains 6 boys from that short-lived marriage, though his heir to all his belongings is still Isaac. Sarah misses the marriage of her child, Isaac to Rebecca. Issac and Rebecca come together when Eliezer is sent with gifts to Charan. Eliezer is given a sign from G­-d when Rebecca appears with water for his camel and as a result passes the test. Then Eliezer is invited to Rebecca’s home where he tells his story and later brings Rebecca back to Canaan to meet Isaac during his daily rituals. This is important because they marry after falling in love and he eventually forgets the grief of losing his mother, Sarah.

Looking further into the text, Chayei Sarah expands on what makes you happy in life.“Sarah lived to be 127 years old. These were the years of Sarah’s life,” (23:1). Could this mean that she lived life to the fullest. Was it simply an enjoyable life or simply a long and full life– or is it both? All we can do in our own lives is to define the meaning of happiness and hope to see it come to fruition. “To be happy does not mean that you have everything you want or everything you were promised. It means, simply, to have done what you were called on to do, to have made a beginning, and then to have passed on the baton to the next generation.” I think the most important thing to be learned here is that we need to fulfill our duties to education and career—but we also must do our work of continuing to teach the generations to come. And maybe, if possible, we will make a lasting impression. After all, we are only human– just like Sarah and Abraham.

Last Shabbat, the service was led by the Temple’s Youth Group. It was a huge successs and this was the sentiment shared by all who expressed something about it after the service  (including the Rabbi and Cantor).

This is what Leslie, our Religious School Director wrote in particular:

People had the nicest things to say.  I especially want to thank Sierra for preparing a d’var Torah, Andrew for helping to coordinate the service, and Jeremy for organizing the music.

Everyone else involved made the service inclusive for all to see what great things can happen when teenagers put their efforts together!  This was a presentation comprising close to 15 members and that is not an easy thing to pull off.  I think the use of the stage was wonderful, too.  Our three guitarists rocked the house! Maybe next time we can plug in (electric guitars) and use some funky lighting.

For those who could not make it to JFC that night, we missed you and hope you can be there to help plan and execute the next Rock Shabbat (which is scheduled for Friday February 10th, 2012 mark your calendar!).

It was such a special night for JFC and I was happy that long-time members with no children in tow made it out to join us, too.  That is an additional sign that this kind of thing is exciting for one and all.  Actually, there was not an empty seat in the sanctuary.  And thanks, too, for those who came out in pajamas.

The grade 4-6 pizza/game board event was also so much fun.  The kids were wild with excitement.  Thanks for your help with that, as well.  With over 30 participants and parent volunteers… the whole building came alive.  I very much enjoyed playing circle games with these kids on the floor of the garden room while the Youth Group had their final rehearsal.  It felt like summer camp all over again.

Thanks again and shavua tov (a good week to all)!!!!

“When a person eats and drinks in celebration of a festival, he is obligated to feed converts, orphans, widows, and others who are destitute and poor. In contrast, a person who locks the gates of his courtyard and eats and drinks with his children and his wife, without feeding the poor and the embittered, is not indulging in rejoicing associated with a mitzvah, but rather the rejoicing of his gut … This rejoicing is a disgrace…”

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Sh’vitat Yom Tov 6:18)

Sukkot is the Jewish/Biblical harvest festival.

Tishah B’Av, which means the “Ninth of Av”, refers to a traditional day of mourning the destruction of both ancient Temples in Jerusalem. In contrast to Orthodoxy, Reform Judaism has never assigned a central religious role to the ancient Temple. Therefore, mourning the destruction of the Temple in such an elaborate fashion did not seem meaningful. More recently, in Reform Judaism Tishah B’Av has been transformed into a day to remember many Jewish tragedies that have occurred throughout history.

This year, Tisha b’Av occurs on the 9th of August – Av, August, both on the 9th of the month, those are just coincidences of course. But they strike me as such. Traditionally for me, August is a month when I am rushing to prepare for the back-to-school months, that are always hectic, as a for a lot of parents.

Pausing and slowing down to reflect on Jewish history is a good thing.

Some of my friends observe the fast of Tisha b’Av very seriously. I honor and respect that, although I personally never fast. But I do take seriously the ambiance that surrounds the sad holiday, and I am impressed by the message it displays. Because the Temple was destroyed not only once, but twice, and because traditionally the explanation for these destructions lay in the hatred that was tearing up the Jewish people, I always find it interesting to think about the crisis that are still dividing us, as a people and as a nation.

I am very eager to work towards reconciliation when conflicts arise. Such resolution is a difficult endeavor, but it is definitely worth working on.

In this spirit, I invite everyone to reflect and find the areas where division and disagreement are susceptible to destroy something that we deeply care for. And to join in to find healthy ways to resolve.

May the places we love always be rebuilt when they crumble.

To learn more about Tisha B’Av

I am happy to chant those verses again, especially that in the meantime I have practiced learning trope and had many opportunities to chant again, not that it is becoming easier, but with practice, it always feels less intimidating and stressful!

I love this parshah anyway. So when I dropped that same son to Eisner camp yesterday, I couldn’t pass on taking a picture that I was sure wouldn’t be a very good one (I didn’t have my glasses on, what was I thinking?!) but that will make my memories even more vivid.

parshat Chukat - Numbers 19:1 - 22:1

Join us on Friday July 1, at 7:30 pm at Jewish Family Congregation and hear me chant the torah portion! All are welcome to our shabbat services.