About three weeks ago I was asked to participate in a Taharah for a 42 year old whose family has been long term members of Congregation Shearith Israel, often called The Spanish Portuguese Synagogue on the West Side of Manhattan, the first synagogue in the US established in 1654 in New Amsterdam. (before it was called New York). They call me from time to time when they need help. They do their Taharahs a bit differently (I told the Rabbi …
Category: Jewish
[Ed. Note: This posting originally appeared in Karen Kaplan’s blog, Offbeat Compassion https://offbeatcompassion.wordpress.com/2020/03/25/in-place-of-comfort-food/ – JB] When New Horizons was churning through three billion miles of space to reach Pluto, a nine-year trek ending five years ago comforted me the whole time. Even the memory of it does. You no doubt are wondering, “Comforting?. Aren’t things like soft chocolate chip cookies with their smell trailing behind them as they come from the oven more like it? Or gentle embraces or timeless …
We gather together at our Yizkor (memorial) services for a common purpose – to honor the memories of loved ones through the ritual of communal remembering. When we do, we fit into three categories of mourners: those who have experienced a death in the last few months, those who have experienced a death in the last year, and those who have experienced a death or more than one death over a period of years. If we were to be constituted …
March 21, 2020 It occurred to me on my early morning walk today, that how most people present themselves is different than it was, say, a few months ago. And, how we are in the world matters. Let me explain. I went to the grocery store yesterday. Shelves were about 30% full, many empty, gaping, reminders of the fear-based rush we’ve seen in the past week. People in the store were wary, still generally respectful to each other, but not …
You may be wondering why you are not hearing anything about the Gamliel Café or the Taste of Gamliel series. It is mostly because we aren’t talking about them! As of December 2019, we transitioned from the structure you were familiar with and knew to a new and exciting new approach. Those series you knew are now no longer offered in the format you knew. Instead, we have modified our offerings, and have revamped the structure and how we …
No matter how old we are, no matter how much experience we have had with death, it is sudden death that some people feel hits us the hardest. During my 43 years in the rabbinate, I have sat with too many families who had to deal with the sudden death of a spouse or child, a friend or acquaintance. The initial response is usually that it defies belief—“that can’t be true!” A secondary response that is common is regret—“I didn’t …
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Kavod v’Nichum or the Gamliel Institute. [Ed. Note: This article is reprinted at Expired And Inspired with permission of the Authors. It originally appeared on the website of The Union for Traditional Judaism under UTJ Viewpoints; at https://utj.org/viewpoints/responsa/kaddish-for-a-parent-11-months-or-twelve/. I considered it to be of general interest to the readers of Expired And Inspired. — JB] I have generally assumed that I would …
Why join a Chevrah? Why now? This essay seeks to address these questions from two angles, one global and one personal, as well as to explore the intersection of the two. First the personal. My father died in 1999, my mother in 2012. In both cases I felt compelled to find ritual means that would allow me to honor their individuality and the specificity of my connection to them. The idea of handing things over to “professionals”, whether a …
As a native of the Midwest living on the East Coast, I am occasionally asked what it’s like there. Sometimes, I simply say, “it’s nice” and sometimes I answer the question with another question, like: “What do you think it’s like? I’ve found that Easterners think that it’s pretty desolate there, with a lot of farm land and very little “civilization.” Where I grew up, it was just the opposite. And, as a result, I know about as much about …
I think this may be a story of control submitting to grace. But first some background. For six years now, my synagogue, Beacon Hebrew Alliance in Beacon, NY, has built a sukkah in a public park on Main Street. Each year there’s a different theme, with programming reflecting that theme. This year, for a variety of reasons, the sukkah almost didn’t get built. But as Sukkot approached, the loss seemed too great, and we rallied to get it done, this …