(This message was originally composed prior to the horrific shooting in Pittsburgh with the intention of sending an early November e-blast. Following the shooting, I spent time with the Los Alamos High School cast and crew of Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” talking about Jewish immigrants, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (now HIAS), and the Jewish response to this tragedy. I also participated in a well-attended candlelight vigil in Los Alamos sponsored by the Los Alamos Jewish Center and its church neighbors down the street; my vigil remarks are available here.
May the memory of those slain be a blessing, and may their families be comforted by the outpouring of support around the country and the world).
I do not have a particularly broad vocal range, so the title of this regular, quarterly message about my rabbinic exploits does not refer to my singing. During this past three months I occasion to offer the Jewish perspective as community members cycled through the emotional highs and lows of life. I did some counseling (I always recommend that people seek professional help, as I am not a trained therapist) and made multiple trips to the cemetery where I officiated at a headstone unveiling and helped prepare myself for the solemnity of the High Holidays in a ceremony called “Kever Avot,” visiting the graves of our predecessors. I also led a mincha/maariv (afternoon/evening) service on my Dad’s Yahrzeit (anniversary of death) and shared a teaching from the mystical Jewish text called the Zohar on whether we are obligated to continue to honor our parents after their death; we are, and acknowledging the Yahrzeit is a way of fulfilling this obligation. On Tisha B’Av, the date marking the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem, I chanted chapters of the Book of Lamentations (known as Eicha) both in Los Alamos and at HaMakom in Santa Fe.
Balancing out life’s “lows”, however, have been some wonderful emotional highs – I assisted a young adult as she led services in Los Alamos; and I offered a birthday blessing for a beloved senior member of HaMakom. I also had the opportunity to speak about an amazing Los Alamos, Manhattan-era Jewish scientist and his unique connection to Israel during a New Mexico Jewish Historical Society event in Albuquerque. In conjunction with High Holidays, I blew the shofar at the beginning of Elul, the month preceding the New Year, at a Yom Limmud event in Santa Fe and co-led HaMakom’s Selichot service only a few days before boarding the plane to Beijing. My home-away-from-home community of expats at Kehillat Beijing again welcomed me most generously and graciously as I led High Holiday services there for the fifth year in a row. We had a lovely retreat near the Great Wall of China over Shabbat Shuvah, the sabbath that comes between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, and I was glad to see long-standing friends and make new friends as well. Sukkot followed immediately after my return to New Mexico, and I helped usher in the holiday with HaMakom as well as leading a family-oriented “Pizza in the Hut” event in Los Alamos. The holiday season ended with Simchat Torah which I again managed to celebrate both in Los Alamos and Santa Fe, and it’s great to be back in the book of Genesis!
Speaking of books, my long plane flights afforded ample reading time this past quarter. Starred items below were especially enjoyable, and I’m always excited to hear your suggestions.
B’shalom, Rabbi Jack
Fiction
The Heart is Katmandu – Yoel Hoffmann
The Far Side of the River – Yaacov Zipper
Barrel Fever – David Sedaris (OK, no Jewish content but it contains SantaLand Diaries)
Waking Lions* – Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
From Many Countries – Sholem Asch
Non-fiction
Kaddish – K. Tzetnik
Russia’s First Modern Jews – David Fishman
The New Joys of Yiddish – Leo Rosten (revised by Lawrence Bush)
Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films* – Molly Haskell
Start-Up Nation – Dan Senor and Saul Singer
Rambam’s Ladder* – Julie Salamon
Radical Judaism – Arthur Green
Sixty Days: A Spiritual Guide to the High Holidays – Simon Jacobson
The Voice of Sarah – Tamar Fankiel
Jews in Tianjin – Anna Song
Hineni – Jonathan Kligler
The Story of the Jews (Volume 1) – Simon Schama
The Jews in China – Pan Guang
Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman (No Jewish content but a Jewish Nobel Prize winner)
Where the Jews Aren’t* – Masha Gessen