L' shanah Tovah! Tonight begins Yamim Nora'im (Days of Awe - the High Holy Days). It is a time of introspection. My goy (Christian) self simplifies this by remembering that this is the Holiday where you see if your name is inscribed in the book. You are supposed to reflect on, as the Catholics say, "all I have done and all I have failed to do".
It begins with Rosh Hashanah. I love this holiday. Tomorrow, my b.f.f. Alberta and I will go to services in the morning. They blow the shofar. Being a former trumpet player, I love that. And there's good music, too!
You eat apples and honey, symbols of a sweet new year (much healthier than chocolate bunny rabbits at Easter and better than gefilte fish and bitter herbs at Passover!). Orthodox people go down to the East River for Tashlikh, where you empty your pockets and symbolically cast off your sins. Some people carry bread in their pocket for this.
Basically...it's a lot about getting a chance to start fresh: to spend time reflecting and repenting. It's a chance to get good with God. It ends with Yom Kippur, a day of fasting and real repentance. Alberta and I go to Kol Nidre services together, as this is a time to honor those who have died. I'll tell you more about that next week.
So, I'd like to share with you a drash (or sermon/homily) given by the Rabbi from the synagogue Alberta and I used to attend. So that you don't get real confused, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah is the largest gay/lesbian/transgender synagogue in the world, with close to 1,000 members and over 6,000 people attending Kol Nidre services, which are held atthe Jacob Javits Convention Center each year (lots of family and friends attend, such as myself).
The drash that I am linking you to is a little heavy. It is about community. It made me think of all of you on two levels. First, in BBBS (the "network"), we struggle with the "us versus them" issue. And yet, in many ways, we are a community of individuals and of organizations, sharing a similar call...a similar mission...a similar purpose. The second reason I think of you is that the drash speaks about how we must be there for one another.
Although the drash speaks in the context of our relationship with God (and I don't claim to know your status in that regard), Rabbi Kleinbaum (named one of America's top 50 Rabbi's in America! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17721005/site/newsweek/ )addresses that fact that there are those who do not believe in God. She shares an interesting concept in all of this, regarding the in-between, where God lives. Whether you call it god or not, it is a very powerful place to be in relationship with others.
Anyway! At the end, she says, "...zwishewn, in-between-ness...nourishes our souls, but not just our individual souls....it is in community, it is in relationship with other people that the Eternal Thou, that the Transcendent, can be found. There is no other way."
A healthy, Happy New Year!
YOU'LL NEED TO ACCESS THE F: DRIVE - file:///F:/Agency%20Services/Agency%20Communications/Building%20Community.doc
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