Mitzvah Day in Sedona, Arizona 2013

Mitzvah Day in Sedona, Arizona! Itzhak stuffed bears to be given to children in the hospital; I offered blessings to a crowd of about 400 volunteers with several pastors from local churches. I am wearing a Mitzvah Day Tee shirt with buttons from each year we have held Mitzvah Day since 2007!

Check out the upcoming Jewish Film Festival selections  http://www.sedonafilmfestival.org/Page.asp?NavID=192

I will be speaking about two of the films - "The Prime Ministers" on Tuesday and "Aftermath" on Wednesday.  Come and support this festival sponsored by the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley  November 1 - 4, 2013.

I'm going to a Hadassah conference near Las Vegas, in which they will be honoring my friend from the Academy for Jewish Religion seminary days - Rabbi Yocheved Mintz.  We will spend much of Shabbat with her and her congregation, and then attend the big gala dinner in her honor Saturday night! 
A very well-deserved honor for her! 
Itzhak and I will remain (at a different resort) for two more days of a national Holocaust Survivors' conference, including workshops for Second and Third Generation Children of Survivors.  My professor, Michael Berenbaum, will be speaking at that conference.
This kind of get away is not what one would call a "relaxing vacation" but it is time away with a different energy.  Looking forward to both conferences.

On September 24, 2013 the Sedona City Council had an open discussion on whether to pass an ordinance allowing Civil Unions.  I spoke very briefly, but set a positive tone for the comments that followed.  The ordinance, although mostly symbolic, since the State of Arizona doesn't allow (yet) same-gender marriage, was passed 5 - 2. Of the many statements I have made in my 10 years as a rabbi, this might have been the most important.  

 

 

(I think that it was more my presence that “spoke” than my actual short words presented to the City Council of Sedona, AZ)

 

 

Civil Union – talking points to City Council September 24, 2013

 

Honorable Mayor Rob Adams, Esteemed Council Members,

 

As member of clergy I believe that in the sight of God we are equal, and no one should suffer because their partnership is not recognized and protected by law.

 

It is exciting that the city of Sedona is considering this ordinance which will set an example for other businesses locally and other cities. It will empower partners of same gender couples to be recognized, respected, and protected.  It will guarantee natural rights of committed, loving partners to be assured of health care visitations, spousal employee benefits, and would reduce possible extended family clashes over such rights.

 

I hope that the leadership of Sedona will let their spark of clear headed thinking shine brightly in not only passing this ordinance, but widely publicizing its benefits to encourage other governing bodies to follow suit.     We shouldn’t lag behind but rather be in the forefront of doing what is correct and compassionate!

 

 Thank you for listening with your head and heart.

The Day After Yom Kippur

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are now over, but what a journey we took together in our congregation in Sedona, Arizona!  With a back drop of the red mountains, dramatic clouds gathering, men, women, children all making dissonant blasts on their shofars as everyone held their breath in suspense.  Moment that brought us all to tears unexpectedly.  Lovely harp arpeggios quietly playing under the reading of the names from the Yizkor memorial book.  Not feeling the fast, all in white, suspended, angel-like in the chant of Al Cheyt, and Avinu Malkeinu, thoughtful time between services in the meditation garden with quotes, poems and questions fluttering, hanging from the trees.  We put a seal on our "Book of Life" filled out with questions during the Ten Days of Awe about our year review and our new goals and dreams. May you be written and sealed in the Book of Living Fully......    Then, hugs and handshakes, and after the Break-the-Fast, we went home.

The next day a congregant expressed the kind of unsettledness I was feeling , still riding on the waves of the intensity of the Holy Days....  Here is her poem which she permitted me to share:

Next Day

 
by Ann Metlay, congregant of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley in Arizona

 Is there a word 

for the day after Yom Kippur?                                                                                                                             
The day after you've atoned;
After you sat 
in an unforgiving chair,
and stood longer
on quaking knees  
than you ever thought you could? 
The day when you no 
longer have to search 
into the recesses of your mind, 
looking for one more person 
from whom you can ask 
forgiveness? After the day you opened
your heart so wide you felt
angel wings fluttering through.

 The day after,

when you must step down 
off the mountaintop, 
and go on living. The day 
you celebrate all 
your soul work 
by lounging in bed,
energized, yet in transition; 
not even bothering 
to get dressed. 

 The day when 

the cloud of glory
miraculously settles over you,
ready to protect you
as you follow
your own path toward
God-promised land? 

Gathered Together, Then and Now
Torah commentary published in the Arizona Jewish News for August 30, 2013 by Rabbi Magal

 

This double portion  - Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 31:1 – 31:30) and  Vayelech (Deuteronomy 31:1 – 31:30)  -  brings us a continuation of Moses’ third farewell speech to Israel.  Nitzavim opens with “You are all assembled here today…” as Moses emphasizes to the Children of Israel that they are all gathered together, from those in the highest  leadership positions to the lowly water carriers, old, young, male, female, and even the yet-to-be-born of future generations, all receiving the Covenant, and all connected as if neither time nor space would separate them from the immediacy of the message Moses is relaying.  It goes on to affirm that we should choose life, choose blessing, choose mitzvot, and choose to see ourselves as part of a community throughout all time.

Vayelech tells of the appointment of Joshua by Moses to be his successor as leader to bring the Children of Israel into the Promised Land.  “Be strong and of good courage!”  Moses says, first in the plural to the people, and then in the singular to Joshua.  Rabbi Albert Plotkin, of blessed memory, who served as a beloved spiritual leader in Phoenix and in Sedona for so many years, used to conclude each of his sermons with that ringing refrain, Hazak v’ematz!    

What fitting readings to be studying during these last few days before the Jewish Year!  During this month of Elul many of us have been preparing for the Days of Awe by reviewing our year, our words and deeds, our “missing the mark,” and doing our best to ask for forgiveness from others, as well as to grant forgiveness to others.

Just as Moses foresaw that Israel will break the Covenant, imitate the ways of other nations, be misled, and suffer with harsh exile, and yet will always have the doorway of repentance through which to re-enter, and will again enjoy the blessings of the Covenant, so we too are comforted by the assurance that if we make a sincere step toward living with the values of our tradition, we too will share in the blessing conferred on our ancestors.

In our synagogue, the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley, we prepare a small “Book of Life” for people to fill out at home during the High Holy Days, in which they ask themselves what kinds of goals they had set in the past year, how they fulfilled them, and what still remains to be accomplished.  We provide a sticker with which they can “seal” the little folded booklet, metaphorically like the “Chatimah,” the sealing of the Book of Life at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. While we cannot know how long we will live, we do know that our words and deeds of the past year form a record, and it is as if our actions of compassion and generosity are indeed written in the Book of Living Fully, of making each day count.

Just as we are to feel that each of us came out of Egypt in the Exodus, and that each one of us stood at Sinai to receive Torah, this week in our Torah readings we are thrust back again into the dramatic scene as, at the end of the 40 years’ trek in the wilderness, we are reminded by Moses of our inclusion in the journey of the Israelites up to our own day and on into the future. You and I are really there!

May the shofar blasts awaken us and reconnect us with our ancient roots. May our kindest, most generous deeds be recorded, and may we make efforts to repair and heal any mistakes or misunderstandings.  May we be granted the gift of another year, as sweet as round challah with raisins.    L’Shanah Tovah.

Preparation for High Holy days: Elul Workshop and Selichot service

Invitation from Rabbi Magal to join us at an Elul Workshop, Sunday, August 25, 2013, 2-4 pm,
and our Supper and Selichot service on Saturday, August 31, beginning at 6:30 pm and ending at Sedona midnight (9 pm!!) at the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley in Arizona.