This coming Sunday, the day after Pesach, Michelle and Elias are leading 23 of our members on the March of the Living, to the camps in Poland, and from there to Israel. In past years, that trip has marked the historic hatred of Europe for the Jewish people. This year, in addition to marking historic anti-Semitism, our people are dealing with the fact that, presently, Jews are being burned in effigy in Poland. Presently, the alt-right party in Germany, that says enough with Holocaust remembrance and contrition, is growing in power and in numbers in a very scary way. Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel sentiment are tragically flourishing today.

What do we do in response? We need to recommit to Israel. We need to recommit working together across political lines to unite for the safety and security of Jews throughout the world.

AIPAC is a truly bipartisan cause that aspires to unite us across political lines. That is why Shira and I have been going to AIPAC dinners in New England for years. This year’s AIPAC dinner on Sunday evening May 5 is particularly urgent.

It is urgent because the recent election in Israel was very challenging not only for
Israelis, but for many of us here who love and support Israel. Many were disappointed. Many were delighted. We were and are divided. But our love of and commitment to Israel must transcend this division. We stand with the people of Israel, we stand with Israel as our historic homeland, we stand with Israel as a place where Jewish values can live – work in progress though that may be.

Israel and the US-Israel relationship need you now. Stand up and be part of Boston’s largest pro-Israel gathering with members of Congress and local officials. Please register below.

AIPAC NEW ENGLAND LEADERSHIP DINNER
SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2019
Seaport World Trade Center
200 Seaport Boulevard, Boston
Event Website: events.aipac.org/nedinner

EVENT CHAIRS
Ellen and Steven Segal

FEATURING
The Hon. Jennifer Granholm, Michigan Governor 2003-11,
Governor Charlie Baker, Massachusetts Governor 2015-present

5:30 PM – Dinner Reception
7:00 PM – Theater-Style Program

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY!

Shira and I look forward to seeing you on May 5!

Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

In my family, as we’re schlepping and cooking and setting up for the Seders, we enjoy playing Passover Parody music to get us in the mood for festive fun.

Wayne Goldstein and a group of our 7th grade Makor/Religious School kids conducted an interfaith Seder at our neighbor, the Carroll Center for the Blind this week.

It was a wonderful learning opportunity as the kids witnessed those less fortunate strive to overcome their handicap.  The seder included the use of a Braille Haggadah.

Many thanks to Wayne and the kids for this mitzvah.

The Merle Orren Scholars Transformation (MOST) program has awarded scholarships to five Temple Emanuel members to attend one-to-three-week Jewish study programs this summer.  Three of our members will attend the Shalom Hartman Community Leadership program in Jerusalem, one will attend the National Havurah Summer Institute in Connecticut, and one will attend Middlebury College’s summer Hebrew Language program.

The MOST program honors the memory of Merle Orren z”l, who experienced the transformative power of Jewish learning.   Learn more … 

In an effort to make our High Holiday services as beautiful and meaningful as possible, we invite your feedback on three simple questions concerning our Annual Israel Bonds Appeal. Please click here to fill out our questionnaire.

We have collected several Passover resources. We hope they will help you both address the details of observance and enhance your enjoyment of the holiday. Chag Sameach!

Visit our Observance Resource Page

Own your very own Temple Emanuel Challah Bake apron and help feed the hungry…

D’var Torah –  Parshat Vayakhel
Brotherhood Shabbat , March 2, 2019

by Steven N. Broder

Just between us, I don’t think that many in the congregation actually are reading today’s parsha.   After all, it is mostly a tediously detailed blueprint of the building of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, which houses the Ark and the Tablets. Lots about cubits. And acacia wood.  And sockets connecting the cubits of acacia wood.  And cloths. And sealskin tapestry.

Further, it is not even the first time we have seen these instructions and constructions, since they are largely a repeat from the last three parshiyot.

However, it is the context of today’s Torah portion that gives it great meaning. Just last week, we read about the Golden Calf and the terrible consequences:  God’s anger is aroused, the people are punished, three thousand Israelites are killed by the Levites, a plague breaks out, and Moses once again leaves.

It is difficult to imagine a more frightening national trauma.

Given a deeper reading, the parsha this morning suggests that if we are willing to look up from the construction details and broaden our gaze, we have in front of us a prescription for how to recover from trauma.

There are many forms that psychological trauma takes. Our speaker, Irwin Harris, will soon tell us about the attack on his Etz Chaim community and the trauma endured by the congregation. As a nation, we are confronted weekly with traumas created by those who take innocent lives. Columbine, Newtown, and Parkland are now localities that are known nationally. Other traumas occur to soldiers, especially as battlefields have become amorphous and combatants blend with civilians.  Many individuals are traumatized in their own homes through abuse and neglect and then re-traumatized when their stories are not believed. Others experience trauma through loss—of loved ones, of health, of status, of financial security.

Although a person’s response to trauma is very much an individual matter, these reactions have several features in common:

• Feelings of fear, anxiety, rage, depression
• Experiences of reliving the event, loss of memory and concentration, nightmares, and disturbed sleep
• Behaviors of withdrawal, avoidance, and reactions out of proportion to the current situation.

Underlying all of these, there is often a terrible sense of lack of control, mistrust, and pessimism.

How does our parsha offer assistance with recovering from trauma? I see four ways.

First, today’s Torah reading emphasizes community.

The Parsha opens with, and derives its name from, this first step. “Vayakhel Moshe et kal edat B’Nai Yisrael.” “ Moses assembled the entire community of Israel.” This phrase is repeated in verse 20.

As we see many times in the Torah, repetition is an intentional device to bring emphasis and to draw our attention. The word Vayakhel has the same root as Kahal, congregation.  Kal, all of you. Edat, community, B’Nai Yisrael, your group identity. Any one of these three words alone would have been sufficient to identify whom it was that Moses was addressing.

But the message is clear: when trauma makes you want to separate and pull away, do your best to remain with others, be a part, reach out or let others reach out to you. As E.M. Forster wrote, “Only connect!” and as Rav Chazan Aliza said last Shabbos, “When you feel alone, go to minyan and stay for breakfast.” Not easy to do but necessary for healing.

Next, the parsha encourages self-care.

The first commandment Moses gives to the assembled people is to observe the Sabbath and rest. After trauma, self-care is essential. Many individuals irrationally feel guilty about surviving a community or personal trauma and do not feel worthy of taking time out for themselves. Yet Shabbat tells us to do just that. Stop working. Eat good food. Rest. Spend time with family and friends. Recover.

Third, Vayakhel tells us to give to others.

Perhaps the best known aspect of this parsha contains this third element of recovering from trauma. Moses asks the people to give of their material belongings to contribute to the raw materials needed to build the Tabernacle.  The Israelites respond overwhelmingly to the point that Moses has to say, “Enough already.”

What does this have to do with recovery from trauma?  The research literature and clinical experience tell us that one of the best non-medical ways to treat depression from trauma is to volunteer to help others. Volunteering requires us to commit, allows us to feel useful and necessary, and increases motivation. It promotes a sense of common purpose, and therefore provides meaning. Compassion and empathy for those helped lead to a sense of gratitude. Helping others helps oneself.

Vayakhel offers one more way to respond to trauma: Be creative in how you fashion the new reality in which you live.

In the Parsha, artists and crafts people, led by Bezalel and Oholiab, construct a holy space that is beautiful, portable and inspiring. The people turn their anguish into artistry and the Tabernacle is created.

What is the message for us?  After a trauma, an individual, a community, a nation, must rebuild. We have to reach deeply inside to hold onto what is core, and yet create something new that will help us find hope and go on. We have to play the hand that we are dealt creatively.

In her Torah commentary, Hanna Perlberger summarizes:

“The message of Vayakhel is this: Gather up your broken pieces and rebuild. Construct a holy sanctuary. Don’t wallow in despair and self-defeat. Reconnect. Restore. Repair. G‑d gave us an eternal set of blueprints with which to reconstruct after we self-destruct—a spiritual compass by which to regain our bearings. Then even after we’ve taken a beating and endured loss, it is still possible to achieve happiness. It is still possible to live with joy. “

Shabbat Shalom.

Show your Temple Emanuel Pride and help keep Temple Emanuel Preschool #1 in Newton! 

L’Dor V’Dor – From Generation to Generation – We have been so honored to have been the winner of the Readers Choice Awards for the past two years; let’s make it three! Please take a minute to vote for Temple Emanuel Preschool.

Voting has already begun – It’s quick and easy; under “Local Services” you will see “Daycare Preschool” and tell Newton why Temple Emanuel Preschool should be the #1 Reader’s Choice in Newton!

Purim Is Coming!

March 20 & 21

We want YOU to read Megillah this Purim here at Temple Emanuel!

PURIM this year is celebrated on Wednesday evening, March 20 & continues on Purim day, Thursday morning, March 21.

We are looking for members of ALL AGES to read megillah in BOTH services, our full reading and abbreviated reading services, on Wednesday evening, March 20.

The ‘Family-style abbreviated service runs from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

The Full megillah reading begins with Ma’ariv at 6:30 with the megillah reading beginning at 7:00pm.

If you’ve read before it’s time to sign up again!
If you’ve never read here at Emanuel but would like to, NOW IS THE TIME!

To read megillah in the Family-style service in the Rabbi Chiel Sanctuary please Email Steve Thompson ASAP

To read megillah in the Full Megillah service in  Adelson Community Hall please Email Dan Nesson ASAP