|
Perhaps my favorite part was Neilah at the end of Yom Kippur, a
service filled with such reverence and with joy and with romping
children. Allen, who led us in a beautiful El Nora Alila, reminded
us of the distance we’ve come since our modest Neilahs in
Georges kitchen. That service and all the others were blessed with
my wonderful partners on the bimah, Andi and Andrea. Andi’s
Al Cheyt continues to resonate in my soul, as does Andrea’s
Avinu Malkenu. So many thanks to them both. Another amazing experience
was the wonderful turn-out in the pouring rain for our 2nd Day Rosh
Hashanah Shofar and Tashlich services at Greenleaf! Special thanks
to Joe and others who prepared the space, and to our shofar blowers
then and at the end of Yom Kippur. Other highpoints for me were
Moss chanting the Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah with his daughter
by his side, Johnny Lee’s kavanah-filled Rosh Hashanah haftorah,
Harvey Traison’s Yom Kippur maftir, the appearance of Elijah
in Rachel’s captivating story, and Van Lanckton’s eloquent
reminder to us that we’re all “Jews by choice,”
when we make the choice to affirm our Judaism.
I thought the choir was wonderful! And so many of the congregation’s
prayers sounded like choir prayers because of the gorgeous harmonies
I heard. The thought which came to me again and again during these
services was “God likes us when we pray, but God loves us
when we sing” - or when we play, as in the case of Erica with
the haunting refrain of Kol Nidre on the cello.
Once again this year I was so delighted with our Random Acts of
Kindness read by Jackie on Rosh Hashanah and sent heavenward. Then
Paula moved us to tears once more as she spoke about what it means
to be the recipient of such an act of kindness, in her case as the
recipient of an organ donation which saved her life. (In her talk
to us, Paula mentioned a friend awaiting an organ. We later learned
that her friend received an organ donation that very day of Rosh
Hashanah!)
In that same spirit, we met the challenge of restocking the Brattleboro
Drop-in Center with 80 bags (!) of non-perishables plus financial
donations. And once again we had a group who visited eldery folks
unable to get to the synagogue. It’s one thing to speak of
tzedakah as we do in our prayers, another to be as concrete and
generous in our acts of tzedakah as we were this year. Special thanks
to Janet for organizing the delivery of all those bags of food.
She said that they filled shelves that were all but bare!
One act which moved me as deeply as any of the above, was seeing
in our sanctuary at our Kol Nidre service a person who had not appeared
in our sanctuary for many years, who had been estranged from our
congregation because of events long past, and who agreed to give
it another chance. Seeing this person in our midst says to me that
we must be doing something right, and it kindles my fondest hope
that we’ll never again have anyone among us leaving in anger,
or in disappointment, or with any sense of not be heard or not being
welcomed.
I very much missed my son Noah, the only one of my immediate family
not present. Noah spent the day meditating and reflecting alone
in a synagogue in Calcutta, where services were held only in the
early morning. But seeing Jeremy S. at services helped fill that
empty place. Jeremy has been working closely with Noah in establishing
non-profit status for the mobile health clinic for street children
in Calcutta. Thanks, Jeremy, from all of us!
As always, an enormous amount of energy and planning and physical
effort lay behind each of the services, in the development of materials,
the greeting of our guests, the organization and preparation of
food, the setting up and the taking down. Particular thanks go to
Laura for assigning readings and arranging for childcare, to David
for being in charge of the army of setter-uppers aand taker-downers,
and, at the pinnacle of this organization, once again, were Abe
and Faith. Jacob Bradford, at his Bar Mitzvah, told us that Faith
and Abe remind him of the respected elders in a Native American
tribe who hold the community together and inspire the youth. A fitting
tribute – although, by comparison with the Schusters, I think
the Native American elders have it easy.
B’shalom,
Jim
|
