Jewish Holidays Remember All Milestones
Jewish Holidays Remember All Milestones By Rabbi Ari Ballaban
Judaism teaches that certain times and seasons carry special, sacred significance. Of course, this is a familiar idea in our daily lives: Our weekly celebration of Shabbat is meant to reenact God’s mythic, post-Creation rest. However, we also regularly engage in such temporal symbolism in a larger sense. Most of our holidays, for instance, are meant to mark the specific times in years past when important events occurred for our people. In experiencing the Jewish calendar, we are meant to reconnect with an ancient heritage and to re-experience the foundational moments of our history.
The occasions we mark in Judaism are as diverse as they are numerous. They run the full emotional gamut, from the most extreme euphoria to the deepest despair. In the latter category, for instance, is Tisha b’Av (the Ninth of Av) which commemorates essentially every calamity we as Jews have suffered. According to Jewish lore, this was the day when:
- both of the Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed;
- near when the First Crusade began;
- around the time the Jews were expelled from England in the 13th century, France in the 14th century, and Spain in the 15th century;
- and even when Heinrich Himmler’s “Final Solution,” the German plan to exterminate the world’s Jews, was approved.
And yet, the Jewish calendar is far from being only about recalling doom and gloom. At the start of this month (beginning the night of the 28th of February, and extending into the day of March 1st), we observe a celebration that falls squarely into the euphoric holiday camp. For millennia, Purim has been held up as the most positive, inspiring example of Jewish perseverance. We learn from the Jewish tradition that just as much as we think of Tisha b’Av as the most traumatic day of the Jewish calendar, we are meant to think of the entire month of Adar as joyous and auspicious.
The teachings of the first Rabbis, recorded in the Mishnah, suggest that mi-she-nichnas av, m’ma-atin b’simchah; or: “Once Av begins, we diminish celebration.” Several centuries later, Rabbi Yerhudah (son of Rabbi Samuel bar Sheilat) coined the more famous corollary to this phrase: Mi-she-nichnas adar, marbin b’simchah; or: “Once Adar begins, we multiply celebration.”
You might be wondering: Is this teaching meant to be descriptive or prescriptive? In other words, are we urged to celebrate extra during the month of Purim, or is it just our fate to be extra happy at this special time? Judaism’s answer to this question (from the Talmud) is, perhaps unsurprisingly, both. The Talmud teaches that, during Adar, a person has greater luck than any other time of the year, but it also teaches that, during Adar—as a consequence of this cosmic reality—a person should be more open to taking chances.
I’m not usually superstitious; however, I think the idea this teaching conveys can be very productive as we reflect on the story of Purim and the past triumphs of our people. This year, for the entirety of Adar (until March 16th), I hope that we can think about the ways that we, as a nation and as individuals, have done well and succeeded in the past. But, in the dual spirit of Purim and Adar, I hope that we can also allow ourselves to take the chances necessary to create good in the future. Adar prompts us to imagine that even the seemingly-unattainable may be in our reach. It encourages us to believe something empowering: That there is no time like the present!
Celebrating the Bounty of our Young People
September 1, 2018 by tbo5275 • Rabbi Chessin's Column • Tags: confirmation, Jewish Holidays, Jewish Identity, Milestones, Rabbi Judy Chessin •
Celebrating the Bounty of our Young People By Rabbi Judy Chessin
The Reform Jewish ceremony of Confirmation has evolved over its brief time-span. Its origins go back to the late 1800’s when the founders of the reform movement introduced a number of radical changes to Jewish practice. One concern was that 13, the age of Bar/t Mitzvah, was deemed too young for a child to affirm adult commitment to Judaism. Thus a graduation ceremony was created at the end of formal religious Jewish training at around age 16 to take the place of B’nai Mitzvah. Since Confirmation was held at the end of the academic year, the ceremony became associated with the late spring holidayof Shavuot commemorating the giving of Torah to the Jewish people on Mt. Sinai.
As I have indicated in this column before, that once sacrosanct ceremony has lost much of its relevance. After all, Temple Beth Or students don’t end their formal Jewish education at the age of 16 in the 10th grade. Some of our most vibrant, active and thoughtful educational programming takes place in the 11th and 12th grades, when our students take trips, study topics of political and social relevance and learn to think as Jewish adults as they prepare to leave hearth and home. Neither do many of our teens find their Jewish expression best translated into Jewish liturgy, but prefer to celebrate their formal Jewish studies with capstone projects and programs of Tikkun Olam, spirituality or Jewish peoplehood.
Ironically enough, we were unable to have our outdoor Confirmation event this past June near Shavuot due to the weather.Thus we are celebrating our 5778 Confirmation Class not on Shavuot, but rather on Sukkot.
Our first day of MAKOR is also Erev Sukkot, the holiday which marks the ingathering of our fall harvest in an outdoor booth. How meaningful to recognize our bounty of Jewish teen learners and leaders in our Congregational Sukkah! Soon enough these teens will be leaving our homes and hearths and we pray that we have given them a sturdy enough structure to sustain, nourish and protect their Jewish adulthood.
Additionally, we have a special treat. A 20-year old time capsule prepared by Temple Beth Or’s Consecration class of 1998 will be revealed to, and by, our Confirmands of 2018. What thoughts, dreams, and hopes did our youngest students two decades ago immortalize for today’s youth? Come to Temple Beth Or’s Sukkah, September 23, at noon to find out.
We will have a school-wide Tikkun Olam project from 11am-12pm for all school families.Then at noon all are invited for our Confirmation/time capsule reveal and a cook- out for the entire congregational family immediately following.
This Confirmation event is a far cry from the white robed floral offerings in the ark of yesteryear, but it will surely evoke all of the enthusiasm, love of learning and youthful dynamism apparent in the teens at Temple Beth Or! Come celebrate with Victor De La Cruz, Maddy Gruenberg, Benjamin Guadalupe, Joel Kaplan Charlotte Neiberding, Elie Simpson, Natalie Taylor – our Jewish future!
Shalom, Rabbi Judy Chessin