Rabbi Doug Heifetz’s Oseh Shalom Blog

Life: Nobody Gets Out Alive

December 21, 2008 by rabbiheifetz

Much has been made about a recent study of religion and mortality rates. According to this study, women who participate in religious worship services experience a 20% lower death rate. Apparently religious worship tends to prolong life far more than other types of community involvement and other activities known to promote physical and emotional well-being.

I find these findings intriguing but I’m also skeptical. A colleague pointed out that the risk of death is 100% for ALL human beings, with or without communal prayer. Along these lines, I believe Lawrence Kushner spoke of a T-shirt printed with the salient slogan, “Life: Nobody Gets Out Alive.”

Hopefully religious life helps people to better confront their inevitable mortality, to make meaning of it and to make the most out of each living day. I feel more confident about this positive result than about the possibility of a prolonged existence due to prayer services.

What do you think? Does communal prayer positively impact your well being? If so, how?

Tags: community, Death, Prayer, Science
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Pond Scum, Psalms & Promise for the Future

December 15, 2008 by rabbiheifetz

Today on the airplane, I read this article about the many great possible uses for algae. Although most of us have always thought of algae as a yucky form of matter to avoid–as in pond scum–scientists and biotech innovators are increasingly experimenting with algae as a source of energy and as a basis for biodegradable plastics.
These promising innovations offer a perfect example of the statement from Tehillim (the Book of Psalms, 118:22), “The stone that the builders refused has become the corner stone.” The lowly pond scum which we’ve mostly sought to avoid or discard may become the source of promising solutions for our global energy and climate change problems.

Tags: Biotech, Judaism, Psalms, Science
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Mud, Muck & Wonder: This Shabbat at Oseh Shalom

December 4, 2008 by rabbiheifetz

On Friday evening, as part of our monthly Family Service, I’ll give a very brief talk on the topic of “Mud, Muck & Wonder”, related to our weekly Torah portion (Vayyetze). As always, the talk will include a story appropriate for all ages.

Please note that, beginning this Friday evening (Dec. 5th) our monthly Family Service will begin at 7:15 PM, instead of at 8 PM as before. This change aims to better include families with young children.

Also beginning this Shabbat, our monthly Tot Shabbat service will occur on Saturday morning at 9:15 AM, the first Saturday of each month.

Tags: Family Service, Services, Shabbat, synagogue, Tot Shabbat
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Another Kind of Bailout: Risk-Taking, Jewish Tradition & My Feeble Attempts at Athleticism

December 2, 2008 by rabbiheifetz

We’ve read and heard a lot about the bailouts intended to address our economic crisis. In case you’ve been living under a rock (the kind that doesn’t have wifi access or newspapers), read this story here for just part of the scoop. The need for financial bolstering and repair often seems widespread beyond comprehension, and I’m grateful that President Elect Obama is putting together a strong team to help steer us through these very turbulent waters. I’m hopeful that everyone involved will learn from the mistakes (and from their own mistakes) of the past as this New York Times editorial urges.

The other day, however, I experienced another kind of bailout–a much more visceral, physical kind. This was a bailout involving weightlifting. I stopped by Crossfit BWI, a conditioning and strength training gym in Glen Burnie that holds small group workouts with excellent instruction. During this workout we were practicing the Olympic lift known as the snatch. You use your hip strength to fling the barbell (or other weight) overhead, and catch it in a squat position. I quickly discovered that it’s easy to loose balance during this explosive movement, and then you have to drop the weight and let it crash to the ground. This is called “bailing out”.

I won’t say how much weight I was able to successfully snatch, because it wasn’t very much. But I got a couple of rounds of applause from the group in response to my personal bailouts.

Fortunately, bailing out is encouraged. When you try to push your limits—and that’s a good thing—sometimes you have to bail. For this reason, most athletes who practice the Olympic lifts use specialized equipment that allows them to drop the weight safely. The weight plates at either end of the barbell are usually solid rubber “bumper plates” instead of the iron weight plates which are found in most commercial gyms. I love that bumper plates and Olympic lifting in general encourage positive risk-taking and failure as needed, and allow it to happen safely.

Along these lines, we have plenty of encouragement within Jewish tradition to try new things and fail. For example, a midrash (commentary) points out that, in the creation story in Genesis 1, God created the world with ten utterances when one presumably might’ve been sufficient. The midrash explains that, by means of God’s ‘extra’ utterances in the story, the Torah is sending us the strongest possible example that any great endeavor requires multiple attempts. Along the same lines, Jewish prayer traditions also encourage us to try again and fail as necessary. The prayers for starting off each morning include the words “The soul planted in me is pure.” That is, regardless of what mistakes we’ve made, we’re encouraged to act as if we have a pure, blank slate for starting a new day.

So, how can we give ourselves a safe environment for failing, when the stakes in life may sometimes feel very high? How can we put ‘bumper plates’ on our lives, when sometimes failure may negatively impact us or those around us? Well, it helps if you can draft your own personal committee of those who will review your ideas and give their feedback. You should be blessed with people in your life who can say to you with good humor and trust, “That’s a terrible idea!” or “Are you really sure about that?” Multiple perspectives from trusted friends and teammates offer the greatest environment in which to try ideas which might fail—without facing serious consequences.

How do you incorporate the permission to fail into your life? And how can we get those running the economy to incorporate the maximum range of thoughtful perspectives?

Tags: fitness, Judaism, risk-taking
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Gratitude, Times of Trouble & The Thanksgiving Seder

November 26, 2008 by rabbiheifetz

You’re probably aware that Judaism places a very strong emphasis on cultivating gratitude in our lives. For example, the Talmud insists that everyone should say at least 100 blessings per day. Why all the emphasis on gratitude? Well, we make our lives better by recognizing all the good in our lives. To paraphrase the Mishna, the only people who are TRULY well-off are the ones who can appreciate what they have.

It’s no surprise, then, that Jews in America have usually felt right at home with Thanksgiving. This is particularly true of Reconstructionist Jews, given our emphasis on “living in two civilizations” (i.e. embracing multiple cultural influences in our lives at the same time). Starting in the middle of the 20th Century, Reconstructionist leaders began to create and share various traditions for a Thanksgiving seder—an order of table ritual and prayer for the holiday. I’m posting a few of examples, below, courtesy of some colleagues.

But what’s special about Thanksgiving THIS YEAR in particular? Rabbi Yael Ridberg of West End Synagogue writes about her synagogue’s Thanksgiving traditions, and how moving she finds them right now especially:

Each year at West End I include as readings in our service an adaptation of the Service of Thanksgiving from the 1945 [Reconstructionist] prayerbook. I find it moving and particularly compelling even today. This shabbat also marks the 25th Yarzheit [anniversary of the death of Reconstructionist movement founder Mordecia Kaplan]…and so in addition, this year we will study the section in FAJ (Future of the American Jew) on Thankfulness. Having just re-read it, I have to say, his teaching of cultivating the spirit of thanksgiving especially at a time of crisis, while no “hiddush” [breakthrough insight] on some level, is exactly what I need to remember as the financial crisis deepens.

So, what do you think? Is it more important to cultivate gratitude in a time of bounty or scarcity? In a time of comfort or anxiety? And what happens at your Thanksgiving seder, and in your home in general for the holiday?

You can find one text of a Reconstructionist Thanksgiving seder here, courtesy of Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Synagogue.

And Rabbi Ridberg’s readings from West End Synagogue, excerpted from Mordecai Kaplan’s 1945 prayerbook, are below:

Reading 1

We give thanks to You, O God, and God of our ancestors, for the privilege of life that is ours, for the wonders of earth and sea and sky about us, for all that is good and true in us, and our society, and for that promise of a greater goodness and clearer truth, which, because of our faith in You, we know will yet be fulfilled.

Open our eyes, Dear God, and illumine our souls, so that despite frustration and pain, despite confusion and anguish, we may steadily discern the signs of Your beneficent presence; and, discerning them, may we face the present with confidence, and the future with hope.

Reading 2

Your goodness is inscribed in the Testament of Humanity, in the powers of the body, the skill of the hand, in the capacity to think, to feel, to aspire; in the ability to communicate with other people, in the will to labor cooperatively at their side. Indeed, it is written large and bold in the nobility of a person’s spirit.

This is a sign of the goodness of God that there are people ready to surrender their comfort and happiness out of love for their fellow human beings…ready to sacrifice themselves to attain truth…and, that being free human beings, they will not rest until freedom is the lot of all people, everywhere.

This is a sign of the goodness of God, that though humanity might be at ease with the world as it is, they labor steadfastly to convert it into what it ought to be,

Reading 3

O God, Your goodness is manifest in the Testament of Israel . From Egypt You redeemed us, and from the house of Bondage you delivered us. In famine You fed us, and in plenty sustained us. From the sword You rescued us, from pestilence you saved us, and from grievous ills, You delivered us…Shall we not thank You on this holiday of Thanksgiving, for having kept Israel alive, for having giving us the gift of your Torah, and for having brought us closer to Your service?

Reading 4

Your goodness is revealed in the Testament of America. Into this land there have assembled the outcast and weary of the world. Here they dreamed a new dream of a nation founded on the truth that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And because You have been with us and Your goodness has kept us strong, the freedom which they won is still ours. May we ever be worthy of our American heritage; may we ever treasure our liberties, not for ourselves alone, but for all ; and may our country be a guiding light to all humanity.

Together

For all these, O God, we thank You: For your goodness as maintained in nature, in the human spirit, in Israel ’s Torah, and in America ’s promise. Embolden our hearts so that, surmounting discouragement and despair we may learn to see clearly Your bounties, and seeing them, make them manifest in the world.

All the readings were adapted from R. Mordecai M. Kaplan’s Service for Thanksgiving Day

that appeared in the 1945 Reconstructionist prayer book.

Tags: gratitude, holidays, Reconstructionism, ritual
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Latkes & Laughs for the December Dilemma In Your Life

November 25, 2008 by rabbiheifetz

We’re again heading into the season of beautiful lights, winter pageantry, Christmas celebration, over-the-top commercialism, and for many Jews, frequent uncomfortable reminders of our minority status in a society that revolves around a holiday that’s distinctly not ours. This year, however, I’ve found a literary antidote, a veritable chicken-soup-of-the-soul for the December Dilemma: it’s a little book by Lemony Snicket entitled The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story. This short, illustrated book tells a sweet, funny and poignant tale, clearly intended for adults but perhaps engaging for teens and some children as well.

What are your thoughts, insights, resources and strategies for the month ahead?

Tags: Christmas, December Dilemma, Hanukkah, holidays
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Act Locally: Howard County Federation Speakers this Shabbat

November 19, 2008 by rabbiheifetz

This Friday evening, we will welcome Deborah Adler and Gary Perolman, the director and president of Jewish Federation of Howard County. It’s always good–and often helpful and inspiring–to know what’s happening in the greater Jewish community around us. A very significant percentage of our families live in Howard County, and all of us are affected by the community trends and events there. Come get connected!

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True Leaders, Free Lunches & Samuel’s Warning

November 13, 2008 by rabbiheifetz

I’m currently participating in a 4-session Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) class with Prof. Max Ticktin, entitled “King David: the Women of His Life.” It’s a wonderful class, sponsored by the Foundation for Jewish Studies. I’m sure most other congregational rabbis will agree with me that we don’t have nearly enough opportunities to take classes led by others, so this is a real pleasure. I’m sad that we’ve finished half the sessions already!

In reviewing some of the background about King David’s monarchy in ancient Israel, I was reminded of the passage in which Samuel the Prophet warned the people about the ‘price’ of their requests for a king. The monarchy would soon become a key institution in Israel, but having a king entailed certain new risks. Here’s the passage (I Samuel 8: 10-18):

Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. He said [by way of stern warning], “This will be the customary practice of the king who shall reign over you; He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive trees, the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your best young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep; and you shall be his servants. And you shall cry out in that day because of your king which you shall have chosen; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

It’s as if Samuel was warning the people that “there is no free lunch”—you can have your king if you really want, and the monarchy might indeed help to bring the Israelite tribes together in new and important ways, but there’s going to be a steep price.

How does this message relate to political life today? Of course we have no monarchy in the US, but we’ve just reached the moment of electing a new president to lead us. Hopefully President Elect Obama will succeed in uniting Americans in many new and important ways, just like King David did for our Israelite ancestors.

Certainly President Obama faces many tremendous challenges, as does our country as a whole. Just as Samuel warned that the monarchy would exact a heavy toll on the people, so too any significant new type of leadership has its price. A true leader inspires and demands high levels of commitment from the people as a whole; otherwise he or she would not accomplish anything significant.

Indeed, NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman explained in his column during the final days of the campaign that Americans will need to make significant sacrifices in the future. He believed that both candidates significantly underrepresented the very substantial and widespread hurdles ahead. In Friedman’s words:

McCain says giving everyone a tax cut will save the day; Obama tells us only the rich will have to pay to help us out of this hole. Neither is true. We are all going to have to pay, because this meltdown comes in the context of what has been “perhaps the greatest wealth transfer since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917,” says Michael Mandelbaum, author of “Democracy’s Good Name.” “It is not a wealth transfer from rich to poor that the Bush administration will be remembered for. It is a wealth transfer from the future to the present.”

What will be the price of effective leadership in the US today? What must the 44th president ask of the citizens of our country in order to responsibly end the war in Iraq, and to defeat Al Quaeda and their supporters in Afghanistan? What popular support and sacrifices are required to build an economy of green jobs and technology? What must everyday Americans do to help turn the tide of global warming?

Tags: Bible, Jewish Studies, Judaism, Obama, Politics, Tanakh
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Shabbat B’Yachad (“The Together Sabbath): Activities, Torah, Food & Fun

November 7, 2008 by rabbiheifetz

Have you heard about our Shabbat B’yachad (“Together Sabbath”) program? It’s scheduled for tomorrow morning, November 8th from 9 AM – 12 noon. You can read the flier, including a full schedule of events by clicking here. Here’s the gist:

From 9-9:45 AM, we’ll have a series of elective activities for different age groups. The activities are generally structured around Sabbath categories of rest and enjoyment (menucha v’oneg). They include a theater workshop for kids, a needlework group, a sports medicine workshop, a teen program on women and Judaism, a discussion of our weekly Torah portion (Lech Lecha), and a green jeopardy game for all ages.

From 9:45-10:30 we’ll all eat brunch in the Social Hall.

From 10:30 to 11:15 we’ll break into three groups for age-specific services (ages 7-9, 10-13, and adults). Childcare will be available for children ages 6 and below.

At 11:15 everyone will join together for a brief Torah service and intergenerational program. We’ll be reading and discussing verses from Parshat Lech Lecha, which tells of Abraham’s journey.

So come join us at Oseh Shalom! Again, for more program details click here.

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Reading 1

All the readings were adapted from R. Mordecai M. Kaplan’s Service for Thanksgiving Day

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