Congregation B'nai Shalom Traditionally Speaking September, 2005

From the President
From the Rabbi
Ritual
Programming
Sisterhood

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FROM THE PRESIDENT - ROB CHEIFETZ

AWESOME NEWS!

We received some fabulous news this week.  Rabbi Glass announced that he is reaffirming his commitment to our shul and our community in a major way.  For the past year, we have all enjoyed and benefited from the time Rabbi Glass has shared with us.  The only sad part was that Rabbi Glass was not with us “full-time” - after five weeks with us, he would spend two weeks in Israel.  Rabbi Glass, after consultation with his family, has now committed to spend the entire year with us (except, of course, for his vacation time).  I can’t think of a nicer pre-High Holiday gift to us all.

Now that Rabbi Glass has demonstrated his devotion and shown his faith in us, we need to demonstrate that we will joyously work with him to grow our shul.  SO, call all your friends and tell them, "Hey, you should join Congregation B'nai Shalom of Buffalo Grove this year!  Rabbi Glass is brilliant, never boring, and is humble in the right sort of way.  Our Holiday Cantor, Dr. Amir, is fantastic! Our seats are good, the people are friendly, and the atmosphere is conducive to spirituality and beauty.  Oh, and Rabbi Glass blows shofar like no one you have ever heard." 

How often can you give a friend a recommendation that you know they'll thank you for later?  This is a "can't miss" opportunity.  YOU get to be incredibly right about something very important, THEY get to be part of the most wonderful shul in America - it's the best win-win scenario in town.  And if they have Bar/Bat Mitzvah age kids, then they win even more.  Rabbi Glass is a fantastic teacher (as are Ken M. and Dan S.) and we do not ask Mitzvah kids to "double up" - each Bar/Bat Mitzvah will have his/her own special day to celebrate at our shul.  In short, your friends will hurt themselves trying to thank you appropriately for the great gift you have given them.

In all seriousness, we are at a crucial juncture.  We have an urgent need to grow our shul and raise sufficient funds to keep Rabbi Glass with us for many years to come.  We are truly blessed to have him as part of our family: he makes us better, more knowledgeable, more compassionate and spiritual people.  Those members of the congregation who have lost loved ones can't stop talking about how caring and attentive Rabbi Glass is.  Those of you who have joined us for services during the year know how gifted a thinker and speaker he is, how beautifully he davens and reads torah, and how he inspires us with his teaching. 

While I cannot expect everyone to double or triple their pledges to the shul, it is not too much to ask for everyone to add one new family to our shul family.  If each of you brings in one new member, then we will have doubled our size.  And imagine how great it would be if everyone brings in two new families!  For years your friends have probably told you, "when you get a Rabbi, I'll join your synagogue."  Well, now we not only have a Rabbi, we have Rabbi Glass.  And for the High Holidays, we also have Dr. Amir, an internationally acclaimed Cantor and magnificent human being.  So, do yourself and your friends a favor.  Please help us grow our synagogue family this year.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS - From RABBI JONATHAN GLASS

Well Hello Ellul…

   Our rabbis tell us that the name of the Hebrew month of Ellul (the month leading up to the High Holidays) is an acronym for the words of the verse I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me (“ani ledodi vedodi li”). These words come from the Song of Songs, a book that describes the relationship between the Holy One and Israel as one, with all the passion and infatuation of young love. Where do we see in the Torah that there is a mitzvah to love the Holy One? In the Sh’ma of course:

You shall love Hashem your G-d with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your might…

Along comes the great Rabbi Maimonides and paints us an even clearer picture:

What sort of love is appropriate? One’s love of Hashem should be enormous, intense and overflowing. It should be so powerful that it consumes him, as if he were infatuated. Just as such a man’s thoughts dwell constantly on the woman he loves-when he sits down, gets up, eats or drinks-so too, and more so, must one be obsessed with love for Hashem… King Solomon expressed this figuratively in his words for I am infatuated. The entire book Song of Songs is an allegory portraying this.

It’s certainly easier to read the words of the Sh’ma than it is to carry out these instructions! Intense, overflowing love may sound a little extreme; certainly it doesn’t sound realistic. Can we fulfill the mitzvah of loving Hashem even if we don’t feel very devoted? Even if we’re not very religious? Even if we find a lot of Jewish stuff to be sacred habit or even a little boring…? Are we expected to fake an emotion that we don’t feel?

   The answer is that we are not expected to fake anything. The only thing that we are expected to do is make an effort-the greatest effort that we are capable of making, nothing more. Love is commensurate with connection. To the extent that we develop a connection with another, the connection arouses our emotion of love. The mitzvah of loving Hashem is simply to make every effort to make the connection-connection to Torah, to prayer, to Jewish values and ideas. Increase the effort-that’s what we remind ourselves every time we say the Sh’ma.

Rabbi Glass

RITUAL - BEN FRANK

Two years ago, on Yom Kippur, I spoke about being a “practicing Jew”.  In short, just like I would not expect to play baseball or piano well without practice, so too, if I did not practice my Judaism regularly, it would not surprise me if I did not find myself successful or connected, or find Judaism meaningful. That is especially true of prayer, our efforts at communicating directly with G-d.

If, like me, you feel like you want/need more practice, I have great news.  Rabbi Glass is offering classes on Monday nights to help everyone be ready to meaningfully participate in this year's holiday services.

We are approaching the time of the year when Jews everywhere seek to deepen or re-establish their connections to their community and to G-d, where we hope to gain the strength to truly atone and repent, and where we hope that G-d will forgive us. With that in mind, I would encourage everyone to start practicing before Rosh Hashana and before Yom Kippur.  We will have a wonderful Rabbi and a wonderful Chazan here to lead those services again this year.  Our best chance of being spiritually moved, of feeling the connections to G-d and to our community, is to be in good spiritual shape.  That sometimes-difficult goal comes with practice.

Ritual reminders:  

-The days are getting shorter, and our Friday night service time is moving rapidly.  Friday night services will be held at 7 p.m. on September 2nd, 6:30 p.m. on September 9th, 16th, and 23rd, and at 6:00 p.m. on September 30th.  Please check the calendar for the times of our other minyanim.

-Names on the misheberach list will be removed after about six weeks (we will assume the person recovers) unless the office is notified.

PROGRAMMING - JONATHAN LEVIN

I am very interested in hearing from all of you this year.  I would love to hear your suggestions about programming, and better yet, what YOU would be willing to work on.  There are many great ideas, but we need the people to help with planning and putting it all together.  I am here to help you and in some cases take the lead, but am looking to the many great talents that our congregants have.

We are in need for talented teachers and leaders to help with the junior congregation for the High Holidays. There are siddurim and other materials already in place.  If you want to design something on your own, even better.  But we need young, old, and anyone in between to help with keeping the kids interested and informed.  Please let me know if you are interested VERY soon. 

I look forward to a great year at CBSBG, and hope all congregants help take part in the many exciting things to come.

Feel free to email me at jonathanlevin7@yahoo.com.

SISTERHOOD - JANICE HANDELMAN

Sponsors are still needed for kiddushes.  In addition to tuna and egg salad, we have started serving fruits and vegetables.  The Sisterhood only provides the pastries, so your donation goes for the extras.  Also, whenever pop is on sale, please remember to buy a few bottles and bring them to the Shul.

Entertainment Books are available in the Gift Shop for $25  They can be purchased during office hours or by contacting Evelyn B.

The upcoming Sisterhood dinner has been changed to Monday, November 14th.

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