Honeyjar 0508 - Congregation Ohev Shalom
Honeyjar 0508 - Congregation Ohev Shalom Honeyjar 0508 - Congregation Ohev Shalom
Page 2 The Honey Jar is published 10X/Yr by Congregation Ohev Shalom 2 Chester Road Wallingford, PA 19086 610-874-1465 ▪ Fax: 610-874-1466 www.ohev.net ▪ exec@ohev.net Please send submissions to: TheHoneyJar@hotmail.com, or TheHoneyJar@ohev.net Amy Larchuk, Editor Mark M. Robbins, Rabbi Louis Kaplan, Rabbi Emeritus David Acker, Cantor Doris Elofer, President Michael Muderick, FSA, Exec. Director Joan Joseph, Educational Director Affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Save the Dates: Shabbat morning June 7: Confirmation Sunday evening June 8: Tikkun Leyl Shavuot, Shavuot evening of study Shabbat/Shavuot Morning, June 8-10: Shavuot The Honey Jar Rabbi’s Corner Will God Be in This Place Do You Care It’s a heart-stopping experience to feel God’s presence in a moment. And it’s rare. Like a dream, by the time we realize the awesomeness of the moment, its content has eluded us. Jacob our patriarch holds onto to his dream – of angels going up and down a ladder to heaven -- from his moment of awakening. He erects a monument to God on the spot. (It’s the first foundation stone, tradition understands, for the Great Temples of Jerusalem centuries later.) Jacob imprints this epiphanal moment on his consciousness. And it affects his conscience as a developing leader and father figure. Our Ohev Shalom forebears built a monument like Jacob -- our synagogue. We continuously decorate it with remembrances of these forebears. We beautify its insides. We plan its activities. This being said, we feel uninspired by our synagogue’s mission – to manifest God’s presence in our midst, through prayer, study, and acts of chesed. We prove that with our feet. How often do we attend to the moments that God is most perceptible in our synagogue Not very often, I adduce. Ask yourself a series of questions. 1. “When is the last time I came to a bar or bat mitzvah at the synagogue as a congregant, not as an invitee” Take a step out of your own life and invest the community’s celebration with your joy. Delight in a child’s thrill at reading from the Torah for the first time, after a year of practice. Honor them by listening to their divrei torah, and you will be taught. Bear witness to the divine light emanating from parent and child as they exchange words on the bimah. 2. “When is the last time I stepped into the Ohev library, let alone borrowed a book” Plunge into a Jewish book, and you become an authentic participant – on par with the great sages of our tradition -- in the millennia-old Jewish dialogue about God, Israel, the nations, Jewish ritual and ethics. 3. “When is the last time I gave my time, not just my money, to our synagogue” Your dollars are vital, don’t get me wrong. Yet you must uncover God’s presence to others in a completely different way -- delivering challot, reading to underprivileged youth, visiting the burgeoning number of homebound in our community. Contributing your insights to discussion about our ritual life, to the give and take of an adult education lecture. 4. “Have I attended Shabbat Echad, the Taste of Shabbat, or a recent Synaplex” Ignore them and it’s your
Volume 3, No. 9 Page 3 (Continued from page 2) Library News — Ba'Sifriyah As the school year draws to a close, I want to thank the volunteers who helped the library function this year. Lisa Gardner, Pattie Saluk, Amy Tashman and Sheri Whelpley helped keep the library organized, and read to pre-school through 3rd grade classes. Thanks also to Sue Lipton for helping out with a project to withdraw books. Parents, please make sure that all of your children’s library books are returned by the last day of school. If you need to find out what your child has checked out, please contact me. Amy Graham, Library Chairwoman spiritual loss. Ignore them and you say, “Shabbat at Ohev Shalom does not mean anything to me.” If you answered “yes” to one, two, or three of these questions, yasher koach, you are on your way. If you answered “yes” to all of them, there are so many more moments to infuse with God’s presence. If you answered “no” to all the questions, take a look in the mirror. God hates our indifference. No response is the most dispiriting response of all, for human beings and for the Holy One. God is present at Ohev Shalom, but is much too hidden. From each us, because of each of us, at the expense of our community’s spiritual soul and mission. Friends, I’ve seen one too many b’nai mitzvah with scant congregational attendance. It makes me embarrassed. I’ve taken one too many glances at books lying untouched in the new books section of our library. It makes me sad. I’ve watched one too many cars drive through the school drop-off line, instead of into a parking space. It leaves me feeling empty, or angry. Without your presence, God’s presence is beyond our reach. Without your caring, our communal soul, our nishama, erodes. Without you, there will be no God in this place. Rabbi Mark Robbins
- Page 1: News from Congregation Ohev Shalom
- Page 5 and 6: Volume 3, No. 9 Page 5 Men’s Club
- Page 7 and 8: Volume 3, No. 9 Page 7 Sisterhood S
- Page 9 and 10: Volume 3, No. 9 Page 9 No More Fear
- Page 11 and 12: Volume 3, No. 9 Page 11 Cantor Acke
- Page 13 and 14: Volume 3, No. 9 Page 13 Janet Stern
- Page 15: Volume 3, No. 9 Page 15 Charitable
- Page 18 and 19: Classifieds Please patronize our ad
- Page 20 and 21: Agreatplacetolivethegoodlife. Intro
- Page 22 and 23: Ohev Master Calendar May 2008 (East
- Page 24: The Sally Balin Medical Center for
Volume 3, No. 9 Page 3<br />
(Continued from page 2)<br />
Library News — Ba'Sifriyah<br />
As the school year draws to a close, I want to<br />
thank the volunteers who helped the library<br />
function this year.<br />
Lisa Gardner, Pattie Saluk, Amy Tashman and<br />
Sheri Whelpley helped keep the library<br />
organized, and read to pre-school through<br />
3rd grade classes. Thanks also to Sue Lipton for helping out<br />
with a project to withdraw books.<br />
Parents, please make sure that all of your children’s<br />
library books are returned by the last day of school. If you<br />
need to find out what your child has checked out, please<br />
contact me.<br />
Amy Graham, Library Chairwoman<br />
spiritual loss. Ignore them<br />
and you say, “Shabbat at<br />
<strong>Ohev</strong> <strong>Shalom</strong> does not<br />
mean anything to me.”<br />
If you answered “yes” to<br />
one, two, or three of these<br />
questions, yasher koach, you<br />
are on your way. If you<br />
answered “yes” to all of them,<br />
there are so many more<br />
moments to infuse with God’s<br />
presence. If you answered<br />
“no” to all the questions, take<br />
a look in the mirror.<br />
God hates our<br />
indifference. No response is<br />
the most dispiriting response<br />
of all, for human beings and<br />
for the Holy One.<br />
God is present at <strong>Ohev</strong><br />
<strong>Shalom</strong>, but is much too<br />
hidden. From each us,<br />
because of each of us, at the<br />
expense of our community’s<br />
spiritual soul and mission.<br />
Friends, I’ve seen one<br />
too many b’nai mitzvah with<br />
scant congregational<br />
attendance. It makes me<br />
embarrassed. I’ve taken one<br />
too many glances at books<br />
lying untouched in the new<br />
books section of our library. It<br />
makes me sad. I’ve watched<br />
one too many cars drive<br />
through the school drop-off<br />
line, instead of into a parking<br />
space. It leaves me feeling<br />
empty, or angry.<br />
Without your presence,<br />
God’s presence is beyond our<br />
reach. Without your caring,<br />
our communal soul, our<br />
nishama, erodes. Without<br />
you, there will be no God in<br />
this place.<br />
Rabbi Mark Robbins
Change language