Hazak, Hazak, Be strong, Be strong! And rest …

Every time we reach the conclusion of a book of Torah, we chant together, “Hazak Hazak V’nitkhazek! Be strong!  Be strong! And may we be strengthened!” This practice occurs five times every year – providing special opportunities within our Torah service, the pinnacle of our communal worship, to appreciate and encourage strength – of character, of intellect, of memory, of connection.

The reading of Torah, just like the rhythm of life, is cyclical. Each time we conclude D’varim/Deuteronomy, we begin again with B’reishit/Genesis. We don’t do this because we forgot the words or the stories or the lessons, or because we just can’t get enough of a “good book.” Rather, each time we read Torah, regardless of the “sameness” of the black letters on the parchment, the “white fire” – the midrash/interpretation – that we find in or bring to the text causes the message to emanates differently. Reading Torah is an exercise in learning, incorporating, wrestling, and growing. All of these require hazak/strength, and building fortitude requires attention to all parts of us:

  • Strength grows within us when we nurture spiritual growth within our neshama/soul.
  • Strength grows within us when we nurture intellectual development and ethical growth.
  • Strength grows within us when we care for our bodies with exercise, healthy nourishment, and rest.
  • Strength grows within us when we care for our emotional well-being through both communal and private connections.

Judaism recognizes the delicate balance of all of these components of our humanness. Examples abound. The very literal message of our Asher Yatzar prayer is blessing the One in acknowledgement of the extraordinary vessel of our bodies and noting, with wonder, the miracle of the human body’s design and function. Our Mi Shebeirach prayer for healing links refuat hanefesh and refuat haguf/healing of body and healing of spirit as essential to a refuah sh’leima/whole or complete healing. All of our lifecycle rituals address, in some way, both our bodily vessel and psycho-spiritual contents, in a very holistic way. This Shabbat, as we complete the 3rd book of Torah – V’yikra/Leviticus, with the double portion of B’har/B’chukotai, we are taught that everything (people, animals, land – animate and inanimate) needs a Sabbath, a rest, an opportunity for restoration and refreshment. That rest, a most essential element of hazak/strength, to be
a prominent message of the end of the middle book of Torah, seems more than mere coincidence. As we continue to wander bamidbar/in the dessert on our way from “the beginning” to “the end” of our narrative of growing to Peoplehood, we are reminded of two parallel and interrelated life-messages:

  • Rest and provide rest for all that surrounds us, AND
  • Be strong and be strengthened by all that surrounds us.

May your Shabbat be filled with rest, strength, and shalom!

Jessica K. Shimberg, Little Minyan Spiritual Life Coordinator; art image from adlerdesigns.com

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Happy Passover ! חג פסח שמח

Our Little Minyan hosted a lovely intergenerational second night seder with nearly 50 participants, thanks, in large part, to the brilliant efforts of Liz Gitter and her trusty team of DO-ers – David Sapper, Julie Sapper, and, of course, Bob Gitter.  Many thanks to all who came, helped us retell the story of our exodus from Mitzrayim, shared food, and helped to clean up before concluding with Havdalah and heading off into the beautiful spring evening.

We will join together again on the 7th night of Pesach to welcome Shabbat with a service led by Jessica Shimberg. If you have questions about the Little Minyan and how you can become involved, please contact us at littleminyan@littleminyan.org.

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The Many Faces of Purim and Parshat Ki Tisa

Many of us have begun to prepare for Purim which occurs on the 14th of Adar, March 8th on this year’s secular calendar, and is also International Women’s Day (a nod to Vashti and Esther, perhaps). Purim is a holiday with many faces behind many masks.

Purim is ripe with fun and revelry – dressing up and attending carnivals and plays.

Purim is a time for tzedakah – gifts for the less fortunate among our human family.

Purim is full of kitchen rituals – cake or cookie Hamantaschen dough – apricot, prune, poppy seed, or chocolate filling – a festive meal.

Purim is an opportunity to focus on social injustice – Megillat Esther tells a story filled with examples of injustice, oppression, sabotage, inequity, and the importance of humility, courage, and savvy.

Purim is a warning about the destructive possibilities that accompany hatred, greed, and revenge.

Purim is a reminder of the cycles of time – celebrated as the moon of Adar reaches her fullness, we are progressing from the promise of Tu B’Shvat toward the redemption of Pesach.

When our Little Minyan joins together this Erev ShabbatMarch 9th, 7:30 p.m., to usher in our Sabbath and say goodbye to Purim 5772, we will miss the opportunity to deeply engage with the study of this week’s Torah portion – Parshat Ki Tisa.

In Ki Tisa, we are faced with the choice of our ancestors, fearful and impatient in the desert, to insist that Aaron build a golden calf to protect them. Our people’s weakness provokes a seemingly knee-jerk (pardon the personification) reaction from G!d who wants to destroy the people and begin again, and a similar response from Moses when faced with what the people have done in his absence. Moses, however, acts as an advocate for our people with the famous words that give us the 13 attributes of G!d – Adonai, Adonai, El Rachum v’Khanun … Finally, Moses descends from the mountain a second time with the Ten Commandments (and a few other mitzvot). Here are two interesting and very different opportunities for text study and/or viewing and discussion. Consider this 2 additional faces for your Purim week:

Dvar Tzedek on Ki Tisa from AJWS:
http://ajws.org/what_we_do/education/publications/dvar_tzedek/5772/ki_tisa.html

Dvar Torah on Ki Tisa from G-dcast:

Hag Purim Sameakh!

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Accept Gifts from Every Person Whose Heart is So Moved

This week’s Torah portion, Parsha T’rumah, places us deep in the details. Contextually, within the last 24 chapters of Shmot/Exodus, we have endured slavery and become accustomed to it, experienced the enormity of the plagues, been delivered from Mitzrayim/Egypt in miraculous fashion, wandered – whining – in the desert, been provided manna and water to sustain us, and participated directly in creating a covenantal relationship with G!d at Mount Sinai. Wow! Selah!

So how do we understand what seems like a stark shift from the experiential to the intellectual – from the forces of the natural and supernatural to the details of rules and instructions for human conduct? One way is to reframe our concept of “the details.” If we view what feels like the most mundane and trivial aspects of our behavior as holy, elevated, and even miraculous, our orientation toward these actions and interactions shifts. The more we enhance the holiness our “details,” the more likely they are to produce the energy and intention we need to move forward. How can we create ways to do this?

In detailed, descriptive, specific directions, parsha T’rumah teaches how to sanctify, appreciate, honor, worship. But not in the way one might imagine. T’rumah, in Hebrew, means gifts. G!d tells Moses to have the children of Israel bring gifts for G!d. However, with all of the specificity of this parsha, G!d does NOT specify the amount of the gift to be given by each.   “[Y]ou shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him.” (Shmot 25:2) Ahhh … How much more meaningful and generous are gifts from the heart! Whether we give of our energy, our material wealth, or our neshama/soul, the gift given from the heart is most passionate and profound. And for what purpose was G!d instructing the giving of these gifts? ”And let them make for me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” (25:8) G!d, whose power and capabilities have been so clearly displayed across the landscape of Torah as infinite, asks us to make a sanctuary for the Divine Indwelling. For when we participate, we are more deeply engaged. And when we make a sanctuary – a refuge, a holy space, a mikdash – when we create space within our hearts, we open ourselves to the indwelling and the opportunity to be our best and most sacred selves.

Please share your heart-gifts with us as we create a sanctuary in time this Shabbat. Little Minyan holds worship opportunities on the 4th Saturday morning and the 2nd Friday evening of each month at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2070 Ridgecliff Road, Upper Arlington, 43221. Please check our calendar for further details.

Commentary by Jessica K. Shimberg, Little Minyan Spiritual Life Coordinator                                      Art by Maggidah Shoshannah Brombacher, Ph.D.

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This Shabbat will be SOUPer

We won’t get you to the airport in a big blue van. That’s Super Shuttle. We won’t decide who is the champion of the National Football League. That’s Super Bowl. We’re not a format of Kodak film, a scifi movie or a nationwide budget hotel chain (Super 8, Super 8 or Super 8). Better then all of these, we will have delicious, warm food, delightful company and a moving maariv service.

Provided: three delicious soups (cheesy turnip & leak, butternut squash bisque and black bean chili) and challah, of course!   You bring: a vegetarian side dish and your whole family. Location: Covenant Presbyterian Church lounge – 2070 Ridgecliff Road, Upper Arlington, 43221 SoupRSVP: Emia Oppenheim eo10@cornell.edu or 267.5974

  • 6:15 - soup is served
  • 7:00 - kabbalat shabbat
  • 7:30 - maariv/evening service
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Adult Learning Field Trip – Wexner Center

Join members of the Little Minyan kehilla at the Wexner Center for the Arts on the OSU campus for This is Your Life – The Holocaust. A television show that aired between 1952 and 1961, This is Your Life, had and episode that featured three Holocaust survivors at a time when it was still a very fresh memory. Julie Kohner, daughter of one of the featured survivors, introduces the film and leads a Q & A following the screening. Tickets are $7 ($5 for members and seniors) and can be purchased online at wexarts.org. Purchase your own tickets, then RSVP to Peggy at PeggyBrgr@gmail.com. We will meet afterwards for our own discussion at a local restaurant.

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February 4th – Join Our 6th Annual Tu B’Shvat Celebration

Why do we celebrate the birthday of the trees when everything outside is bare and spring seems so far away?

Here in the central Ohio, the Hebrew month of Sh’vat falls during January and February. And much like Hanukkah, where we celebrate light on the darkest days of the year, Tu B’Shvat in the frozen tundra of the Midwest gives us an opportunity to celebrate trees, fruit and life, even when everything outside seems so lifeless. In modern times, Tu B’Shvat has assumed many roles: a chance to reflect on the land of Israel (which is starting to bloom with new life); a chance to reflect on the state of our planet (the destruction of forests and the warming of the climate); a chance to explore the Kabbalist concepts of the Four Worlds or being and doing; and a chance to celebrate the gifts of life that trees and other plants give. Throughout Torah and our Jewish history, our partnership with the earth has been a recurrent theme and our care for the earth, a prominent mitzvah/commitment.

In the spirit of light, learning, growth, and celebration, please join the Little Minyan for our 6th annual  intergenerational Tu B’Shvat seder to celebrate the New Year of the Trees on Saturday, February 4th, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, at the Antrim Park Shelter House, 5800 Olentangy River Road, 43085. We will journey through time and across spiritual landscapes learning our tradition’s wise and prescient teachings about the environment. Come prepared to sing and sample the many edible fruits of trees.

Please RSVP to littleminyan@littleminyan.org TODAY or by Wednesday, February 1st, and let us know how many people in your family are coming to join our celebration. If you have any questions, call Jessica Shimberg at 459.9593.

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January 28th – Shabbat Shacharit/Morning Service and Cairo Genizah Conversation

Join members of The Little Minyan as we enjoy a Shabbat morning together with worship beginning at 10 a.m. If you have a Tanakh, please bring it with you to follow our reading and conversation about Parsha Bo.

Following our service, at 11:30 a.m., we will have our customary vegetarian potluck luncheon – please bring a dish to share.  We have a treat this month – a presentation by LM member, David Frankel, a graduate student at OSU. David’s topic teaser follows.

The Cairo Genizah and Progressive Judaism today: The Cairo Genizah was a storage room in the attic of the old Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat (Old Cairo).  When it was discovered over 100 years ago, scholars found hundreds of thousands of Jewish documents, many of which were over 1000 years old.  So what does a 100-year-old discovery of 1000-year-old documents have to do with the ever-changing face of Judaism today?  You may be surprised! Join us as we discuss the story of the discovery of the Genizah,  the world that it uncovered, and the questions that arise when we learn about a Jewish society much different than our own.

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Peace and Pizza Shabbat – Friday, January 13, 2012 – 6:15 to 8:30 p.m.

Join us as we welcome January’s second Shabbat onFriday evening, January 13th, 6:15 p.m., with an easy  and enjoyable Shabbat dinner including tummy warming “peaces” of pizza.  We will provide the pizza and drinks and oneg Shabbat after services. You bring the salad or dairy side dish and all of the Shabbat ruach/energy you can muster at the end of a long January week. Please RSVP to Emia at eo10@cornell.edu, so that we know how much pizza to have on hand.

Dinner begins at 6:15 p..m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2070 Ridgecliff Road, Upper Arlington, 43221; Kabbalat Shabbat will commence with song at 7:00 and services at 7:30.  Thank you to our oneg Shabbat sponsors, Bill and Randi Cohen, and our d’rash presenter, Jerry Tinianow.  Services will be led by Jessica Shimberg with musical accompaniment by Bill Cohen and Julie Sapper.

 

 

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A Question for Hanukkah

A Question for Hanukkah

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