Weekly Update

The CSH Shabbat / Holiday
COOK BOOK

to be available early summer 2010

Have a favorite recipe?

Here’s a chance to share it with the community and beyond…

Please submit a recipe or two – or more– (appetizers, main courses, side dishes or desserts) along with a story, anecdote, or memory connected to a holiday or Shabbat.

We will try to use as many of the recipes as we can, barring duplication, etc.

Please submit your recipes and stories no later than March 30 to

Arlene Davis
beenie2@optonline.net

or send by regular mail

Arlene Davis
4 Bay Colony Ct.
East Hampton, NY 11937

These cookbooks will make a wonderful gift item as well as a memento for our community

March Shabbat Service Schedule

March 6^th Shabbat Parah
March 27^th Shabbat HaGadol

Friday March 5, 2010       Candle Lighting 5:27 pm
Shabbat morning  — 9:30
Shabbat Parah
Old Whalers Church

This week’s Torah reading: Ki Tisa
Annual (Ex. 30:11-34:35): Etz Hayim p. 523
Triennial (Ex. 33:12-34:35): Etz Hayim p. 538
Maftir (Num. 19:1-22): Etz Hayim p. 880
Haftarah (Ezekiel 36:16-36:36 [S] or 36:38 [A]: Etz Hayim p. 1287

Musings on Ki Tisa —

The only way to understand the sin of the Golden Calf is to compare it to the Sanctuary/Mishkan, for the building of the Mishkan is the context for this story. The drama of the Golden Calf is inserted smack in the middle of the Mishkan text. The main difference between a golden calf and a mishkan is that the Mishkan exists for the space within it. It is a structure that is built to send us to that holy inner-ness. All of its beauty, color and design are dedicated as a nexus point between the Human and Divine, between Heaven and Earth. The important part is not the outer form, but what’s inside, for that is where God speaks to us. The further within you get, the more holy is the space. The further within you get, the more you touch a shared mystery. Not only is it the meeting place between Human and Divine, it is also the place where we meet each other, where the differences between us dissolve.

We emerge from the Mishkan, transformed by this mystery of our essential unity. And then true Tshuvah can happen. We can turn to each other and know the secret that there is no “other.”

In contrast, The Golden Calf is solid, existing of and for itself. We supply the gold, but then the Calf seems to take on a life of its own. Aaron describes the process saying, “I cast the gold into the fire and out came this Calf!” The Calf has no interior space. It glorifies itself. It is “full of itself.” It represents the most dangerous hindrance in the life of spiritual practice: that of worshipping and staying attached to the forms, rather than allowing those forms to send us to the essence that they might point towards. The difference between building a Mishkan or a Golden Calf is sometimes very subtle.  http://www.rabbishefagold.com/GoldenCalf.html

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Nevertheless, there is always the possibility to make Tikkun; there is always room for repair. And this is what our parashah teaches us, emphasizing the building of the Tabernacle, because the Mishkan operated in our tradition as the channel used to repair the damage of the calf. And pay attention to the detail: the Torah teaches us that, both for the construction of the calf as for the construction of the Mishkan, the people remained united and acted as a whole. Maybe this is meant to teach us that a bad administration and dreadful leadership can dangerously end in idolatrous constructions, and that only when a leader with clear goals in mind appears – as was Moses at the time – it is possible to once again channel the people into repairing and redeeming actions, which would again give us hope for a better future.  http://www.ujcl.org/english.html

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Sinai characterizes the special moments in our lives. The Golden Calf epitomizes self-worship – and the worship of man-made objects – instead of the awe and humility in face of the Divine. If Sinai represents our purity and innocence, the golden idol is the moment when we lose our innocence.

At times we will experience a “Sinai” moment of truth. Simultaneously, we must be wary that the dark forces within our psyches will come beckoning. Sometimes they will manifest in a voice of cynicism or skepticism, sometimes in a voice of arrogance or self-indulgence, at other times in a voice of cockiness and smugness.

All great moments bring great challenges. When we experience an epiphany, a moment of inspiration, a magical moment, always know that with it will come an equally powerful potent counter voice that will challenge you. Often when we are blessed with a special blessing, we take for granted our gift and let our guard down.

And that moment will be your ultimate moment of truth; it will demonstrate the type of person you truly are. The noblest moments in a person’s life can be seen either in times of great loss or in times of great joy.   www.meaningfullife.com/oped/2008/02.22.08$Ki_TissaCOLON_The_Golden_Calf.php

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This week’s parashah brings us our people’s central story of sin and forgiveness. Impatient and frightened by his long absence when Moshe ascends the mountain to receive the Torah, the people commit the ultimate sin of idolatry: They build a calf and worship it. A terrible punishment ensues and then a remarkably intimate encounter between Moshe and God.

In the wake of this extraordinary meeting, God is ready to forgive. What follows are words of forgiveness so powerful and evocative that the Rabbis chose this passage as a chorus, which we repeat throughout the High Holy Day liturgy: “God! God! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin… ” (Exodus 34:6-7). We recite these words again and again on Yom Kippur, trusting that their power will open the heart of God and that we will be forgiven.

Our tradition is rich with images of a forgiving God. And we know that the Torah teaches that we are created in the image of God. Yet we often forget that we are called to be forgiving in our own lives, just as we are commanded to be compassionate people, partners with the Divine and pursuers of peace and justice.

I recently encountered the most helpful approach to cultivating forgiveness that I have ever seen. The following steps, adapted from “Practicing our Faith,” edited by Dorothy C. Bass, presume that forgiveness for a wrong done (1) always includes more than one party, (2) always takes time, (3) is difficult and holy work. What do we do to move toward forgiveness when a wrong has been done?

“We become willing to speak truthfully and patiently about the conflicts that have arisen.” If we want to be forgiven or relieved of the burden of our own resentment, we have no choice but to begin a process of patient and honest communication.

“We acknowledge both the existence of anger and bitterness and a desire to overcome them.” If we want to lighten the load of anger and estrangement, we must go beyond our comfortably self-righteous repetition of our side of the story. We must be willing to admit to our emotions and also to acknowledge that we would like to move beyond recrimination and conflict.

“We summon up a concern for the well-being of the other as a child of God.” In order to forgive, or to let forgiveness in, we must dare to move beyond the habit of seeing the other only as the wrongdoer, the enemy or the other. We must dare to see the other party as created in the image of God, just like us.

“We recognize our own complicity in conflict, remember that we have been forgiven in the past, and take the step of repentance.” Surely, there are cases of unambiguous, unilateral evil. But far more often than we care to admit, there are two sides to the story of hurt, two participants in the conflict. If we truly want peace, we must question our comfortable desire to blame the other and remind ourselves that teshuvah is possible — for the other, and for us.

“We make a commitment to struggle to change whatever caused and continues to perpetuate our conflicts.” One cannot magically forgive then continue to blame and hate. The process of forgiveness requires humility, empathy, ongoing commitment and great patience. Forgiveness, in this sense, like peacemaking, is a way of life, not a single event.

“We confess our yearning for the possibility of reconciliation.” Sometimes this is the hardest step of all. Admitting to this yearning, even within ourselves, reminds us of our own vulnerability, our lack of control over the people and circumstances of our lives. Yet without letting ourselves know that we deeply desire the end of conflict, we may stay mired in old hate, resentment and recrimination.

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…exactly when did God find out the Jews were stiff-necked? Did he know it before the Golden Calf incident, or is he attributing this characteristic to them on the basis of the Golden Calf incident? While the text is unclear on this point, I think God’s use of the term “behold” at 32:9 means he just now is finding out. This raises the question, though, of whether God would have made the Jews his Chosen People, if he had known they were stiff-necked, before designating them as such.  http://analytictheology.com/2006/12/why-did-god-call-the-jews-a-stiff-necked-people/

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Donations
Arlene Davis in honor Jan Uhrbach

Virtual Shalach Manot Donations
Joan and Paul Schreiber
Miriam and David Brous
Paula Dubrow
Stacy Menzer

In Memory of

Debbie and Mark Menzer have started a 2010 Scholar-in-Residence Fund in memory of Debbie’s mother, Lucille Cohen, who passed away in February.

Those wishing to contribute to the Scholar-in-Residence Fund are welcome to do so.

The next time you are looking for a meaningful way to celebrate a simcha, a birthday, a promotion, remember a loved one, or comfort a mourner, please consider making a donation to The Conservative Synagogue of the Hamptons.

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You haven’t sent in your 2010 CSH membership yet?

Click on the website below become a member today!

http://www.synagoguehamptons.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Membership_Form_2010.pdf

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Quote of the Week

For those who believe,
No proof is necessary.
For those who don’t believe,
No proof is possible.   ~ Author Unknown ~

Shabbat shalom.

Stacy

Stacy Menzer

President
The Conservative Synagogue
Of the Hamptons
PO Box 1800
East Hampton, NY 11937631 725 8188

www.synagoguehamptons.org