Achrei Mot-Kedoshim 5775

This week's parsha begins with the phrase kedoshim tihiyu - you, in the plural shall all be holy. Due to the plural phrasing of these two words, our rabbis traditionally assume that this Torah portion was uniquely recited with all of the Israelites gathered together. (Vayikra Rabbah 24:5)

We, similarly, are so proud of our USY chapter, and how they were publicly gathered and celebrated this past weekend. At CHUSY's (Chicago Region of United Synagogue Youth) regional convention, our teens were recognized as the Chicago area's chapter of the year!! We are so proud of all of you. Please see the moving letter from Rabbi D'ror Chankin-Gould by clicking here.

Dear Anshe Emet: 

We are filled with overflowing pride as we share the incredible news that on Sunday, April 26 our USY Chapter was awarded the Chicago region's Chapter of the Year award! This is an incredible honor for Anshe Emet and we cannot stop smiling and kvelling.
Mazal tov to all our SHMUSY kids and their parents! An especially hearty Mazal Tov to SHMUSY President Aaron Kamel who led the chapter to such growth and success this year. Mazal Tov also to the SHMUSY board of 2014-2015: Emma Siegel, Emily Schwartz, Meredith Leon, Sydney Schwartz, Ryder Kamins, and Bryson Shelist. Our youth leadership is simply stellar! 

In celebrating our youth, we ask the community to please mark your calendars for Saturday, May 2. On May 2, we will celebrate Senior Shabbat by honoring all our 12th graders in the main sanctuary service. Rabbi Siegel will bless the seniors. Gabrielle Xilas, recipient of this year's Rabbi Seymour Cohen award, will deliver a D'var Torah on behalf of the senior class. Aaron Kamel, our outstanding USY president will be honored for his role in our youth programs and will lead the Prayer for the Country. SHMUSY members, Emily Schwartz, Meredith Leon, and Adina Cohen will read Torah. ALL our seniors will be celebrated. Don't miss out! 

A private Shabbat lunch for high schoolers and their friends and family will serve as an Awards Ceremony for SHMUSY. The outgoing board will be celebrated. The incoming board will be honored. The basketball team will be lauded (winner of the Annual Sportsmanship Trophy!). All parents, siblings, special friends, and family of high schoolers are welcome. RSVP to Rabbi D'ror (dcgould@ansheemet.org) 

Finally, May 2 will conclude with a SHMUSY v. Men's Club Basketball Game. All are welcome to cheer on your favorite team (or both!) 

Rabbi D'ror Chankin-Gould
Youth Director, Anshe Emet Synagogue 

Shemini 5775

This week's Torah Portion, Shemini, opens with the consecration of the Mishkan, the portable wilderness sanctuary. The ceremonies and rituals are described, with meticulous detail, as Aaron and the other priests get the Mishkan ready for use. But beyond whatever historical interest the story might hold, why does the Torah place so much emphasis on the Mishkan's inaugural rituals?

The Torah wants us to understand that the institutions we build - whether physical spaces or social structures - exist not as ends in and of themselves, but in order to serve a higher, sacred purpose. The Mishkan stands distinct and unique among all the tents and compounds in the Israelite camp not because of its design, its furniture, or its location, but because the priests dedicate it for God's service.

The same holds true for us today: we see Anshe Emet as a sacred community not because of the grandeur of our sanctuary, or because it holds Torah scrolls, siddurim, and other holy objects, but because our community comes together here to serve God through prayer, study, and acts of social service.

This Shabbat, we have the privilege to learn with one of the current leaders of Conservative Judaism, Dr. Arnold Eisen. Dr. Eisen, one of the world's foremost authorities on American Judaism, serves as the Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In his time at JTS, Chancellor Eisen has become a prominent voice for our movement, working with rabbis and communities to promote the sacred values of Conservative Judaism in a new century.

On Friday night, Chancellor Eisen will join in dialogue with Rabbi Michael Siegel on the topic of "The Land Of Israel: Land Of Longing, Land Of Promise." We'll begin the evening with Friday night services at 6pm, dinner at 7:15pm, and the dialogue at 8pm. You can RSVP for the dinner on our website. On Shabbat morning, Chancellor Eisen will offer a d'var Torah at the conclusion of the morning services, and following Kiddush he will lead a discussion on "The Role of the Conservative Movement in American Jewry."

We hope you can join us for some or all of our weekend with JTS's Chancellor Arnold Eisen as we consider the sacred purpose of Anshe Emet and the Conservative Movement as a whole.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Abe Friedman

To RSVP for dinner, click here.

Re'eh 5775

At the seder, we celebrate a tension. On the one hand, we are meant to imagine ourselves as if we ourselves were slaves in Egypt. We sing solemnly avadim hayinu, we were slaves. We dip vegetables in salt water representing our tears.

And on the other hand, we celebrate. We sing with joy, ata benei chorin, we are now free. We drink wine, we eat a celebratory meal.

Our seder begins with genut, with degradation, with oppression, and we transition to great joy.How are we meant to feel as the seder ends? What is the goal of the conclusion of Pesach?

This Shabbat morning coincides with the eighth day of Pesach. And on this day, we recite a haftarah from Isaiah chapter 10. This is a haftarah comprised of a series of promises related to our national redemption - of a day of peace, victory, and fulfilment. Dr. Michael Fishbane identifies that we recite this on the last day of Pesach to conclude the festival of freedom with hopes of a great redemption to come. What is interesting to note is that this haftarah by many in Israel and abroad is also recited on Yom Ha'atzmaut - Israel's Independence Day. As we are in synagogue on Shabbat, concluding our holiday about freedom from slavery, we are meant to think forward to Yom Ha'atzmaut - a day of celebrating Israel, and in particular an Israel where
gar ze'ev im keves - the wolf and the lamb dwell together (Isaiah 11:6).We at Anshe Emet are celebrating Yom Ha'atzmaut and Israel in meaningful ways. On the Shabbat of April 17-18, we will have the honor of hosting Dr. Arnie Eisen, Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary with us at Anshe Emet. There will be a shabbat dinner along with a dialogue between Rabbi Siegel and Dr. Eisen, "Land of Israel: Land of Longing, Land of Promise." He will also speak on Shabbat morning about the place of Conservative Judaism today. These two opportunities are not to be missed.

On the eve of Yom Ha'atzmaut itself, Wednesday April 26, we are hosting a community celebration with a reading of the Declaration of Independence, followed by Israeli music, dancing, food, and more. I hope that you'll join us.

As we end Pesach and look to Yom Ha'atzmaut, may we celebrate an Israel and a world filled with, as the haftara says, redemption and peace.


Chag sameach,
Rabbi David Russo

Passover 5775

A Seder Discussion Starter on
the Role of Miracles in Our Lives

Soon Jews the world over will be sitting around their Seder tables with an ancient book in their hands all telling the wondrous story of “Yetziat Mitzrayim”, the going out from Egypt.  We will remind ourselves of the powerful symbols around the Seder plate, and we will taste the bitter herbs and speak of slavery and redemption then and now.   At one point we will hear those iconic words: “In every generation a person is required to themselves as if they were personally taken out of Egypt”.

But how?

Can we seriously imagine the plagues and the terror of that final night in Egypt? Can we really imagine that climatic moment when the sea split and Moses and the Children of Israel walked on dry land as the water rose in columns on the sides?  Many theorize that there are natural explanations for what the Bible presents as the greatest of all miracles.   The simplest being that Moses was familiar with the order of the tides and timed the march out of Egypt to take advantage of this phenomenon.  As for the Egyptians, the theory goes, their unfamiliarity with how dangerous a tide could be was their undoing.  Here is an explanation that satisfies our penchant for scientific thinking but falls short of touching our hearts or our souls.

Putting aside our scientific spectacles and donning those of the spirit, the splitting of the sea is the story of a people who chose to see the miracle in the moment.  Moses and the Children of Israel opted to see the presence of God’s hand intervening in their lives.  Here, we come upon a conversation that speaks to even the most scientifically minded.

Are we willing to allow for everyday miracles in our lives?

Yehudah Amichai was one of the greatest poets that our people ever produced.  His words and wit captured the spirit of Israel and continues to challenge us to look at things differently.  He wrote a number of poems about the Bible and our tradition.
I am including two poems on the Splitting of the Sea from his perspective.  Take a moment and read them aloud.

MIRACLES

From a distance everything looks like a miracle
but up close even a miracle doesn’t appear so
Even someone who crossed the Red Sea when it split
only saw the sweaty back
of the one in front of him
and the motion of his big legs,
and at most, a hurried glance to the side,
fish of many colors in a wall of water,
like in an aquarium behind walls of glass.
The real miracles happen at the next table
in a restaurant in Albuquerque:
Two women were sitting there, one with a zipper
on a diagonal, so pretty,
the other said, “I held my own
and I didn’t cry.”
And afterwards in the reddish corridors
of a strange hotel I saw
boys and girls holding in their arms
even smaller children, their own,
who also held
cute little dolls.

Like One Who Left Egypt:
In The Middle Of The Story

What is the continuity of my life? I am like one who left Egypt
with the Red Sea split in two and I passing through on dry ground
and two walls of water on my right and on my left.
Behind me Pharaoh’s force and his chariots and before me the wilderness
and perhaps the promised land. This is the continuity of my life.

In the poem “Miracles” how does Amichai perceive a women’s courageous step, or that vision of family continuity?  Do you share his perceptions?  In the poem “Like One who Left Egypt”, how do you understand his use of the story as a metaphor for life?  Do you agree?

This Passover, amidst the sensory feast of the holiday, let us determine to see differently to fully appreciate the power of our story.

Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Michael Siegel