Nov. 14, 2024

Dear Friends,
  Let's take a look at Abraham, the founder of our faith and the subject of our weekly Torah portion, and what we learn from two epic events in his life.
  We'll do so at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).

  The most infamous act of American antisemitism occurred during the Civil War.
    We'll examine this closely, and reveal how Lincoln reacted to it, and to another challenge during wartime to the Jewish community, at our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM). 

  Mark your calendar: Thanksgiving is approaching, and we invite you to Leonia's Annual Interfaith Service, on Tuesday, Nov. 26 (7:00 PM) at the Presbyterian Church on Main Street. Both the cantor and I will participate. Coming together as a community takes on extra meaning after such a divisive election. 

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

Nov. 7, 2024

Dear Friends,
  What are we to make of the elections, and our house divided?
  We'll have an open discussion following our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).

  We also pay honor to those who have served our country, as we stand before Veteran's Day.
   And we note this weekend as the anniversary of Kristallnacht in 1938, the beginning of the Holocaust, to which our oldest member, Kurt Roberg, was an eye-witness, and another member, Maren Friedman, was born in Germany that same day.

  We'll continue discussing the state of the union, past and present, at our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM), as we approach the Civil War era.

   Consider coming to the meeting on Monday of the Adas Emuno Book Club (7:30 PM)- open to all whether or not you have read this month's selection about a 19th-century Lower East Side German Jewish woman who was the country’s busiest fence and organized crime leader. (The Zoom link is in the Rabbi’s weekly message emailed on November 7.)

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

Oct. 31, 2024,

Dear Friends,
  The holidays may be over, but election day looms this week.
  To say it is momentous is an understatement!
   I'll offer some final reflections on the state of our union at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).

  Three incidents abroad help galvanize the American Jewish community before the Civil War: The Damascus Affair; the Switzerland Controversary, and the Mortara Case. 
   We'll look at all three at our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM). 

   We had wonderful celebrations of Sukkot and Simchat Torah, and the great weather helped. Now may our prayers for rain be answered, but not so much as in this week's Torah portion about Noah and the flood!

  And a reminder: set those clocks back on Saturday night!


Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

HAPPINESS

Yom Kippur, 5785

Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz

Here’s something about Israel that made me smile.

In March, the 2024 World Happiness Report was issued. There are some 200 countries in the world. Israel ranked 5th.

Now granted that most of the data was from 2022 and early 2023, so the true effects have Oct. 7 have not registered. But the World Happiness Report is a long standing survey, and Israel has always ranked high, often in the top ten. By contrast, the United States never makes the top ten, and usually ranks in the 20s.

The survey considers extensive polling of people’s attitudes Do people say they are happy? But it also compiles economic data related to income, medical care and social services. So the survey is not only about personal happiness but satisfaction with one’s standard of living and society.

The World Happiness survey results have been quite stable over the years. Predictably the Scandinavian countries rank highest- Finland has been #1 for years. And predictably, impoverished and war torn countries rank lowest. Afghanistan ranked dead last this past year. South Sudan just below it.

Israel has a strong economy and relatively high standard of living. Still, we must ask, how does it rank so high in happiness, given its grave problems, external and internal? And given the Jewish penchant for kvetching… about almost everything!  

And here’s another statistic that made me smile. Guess what country has the highest birth rate among so called First World, developed countries? Israel. By far.

Israel’s total fertility rate sits at 2.9 children per woman. The next closest are Mexico and France with 1.8 children per woman. The average, of which the US is part, is 1.5. Yes, it’s true that not a single developed country except Israel is at fertility replacement level. And yes, the birth rates of the ultra-orthodox are highest, but even among the non-Orthodox the rate in Israel is 2.

While Israelis may be unhappy with their government, they are by and large happy with their lives. And are having lots of babies. How do we explain this?

And again, a cautionary note: Oct. 7 was a head-blow to the national psyche. Israel has not recovered from the trauma, and it will take years. But having shown remarkable resilience for seven decades, we can be confident, short of another cataclysm, that this resilience will again kick-in to help Israelis recover.

David Leiser, a professor of social psychology and dean of behavioral sciences at Netanya Academic College, reminds us that what the report really ranks is not happiness–which is a fleeting emotion–but rather life satisfaction. One can be satisfied overall with life, he points out, even if, at present, one is not feeling jump-for-joy happiness.

“This is not about whether you are having a difficult time right now, it is not related to how happy you felt yesterday, or what bad experiences you had…  Happiness [and] satisfaction [are] different, because if you feel that your life is meaningful, you may have all kinds of issues and still feel that your life is satisfying. Consider even the case of someone very ill and about to die. If you ask that person, ‘What do you think about your life?’ he may say, ‘I had a full and fulfilling life, but now I have to go.’”  

Edith Zakai-Or, the CEO of the Maytiv Center for Positive Psychology at Reichman University explains that it is essential to differentiate between how a person feels at a certain point in time and how they view life in general.

“When my sons were both serving during this war–one in Gaza and the other up North–I wasn’t that happy. But I was able to distinguish between not being happy at a certain point because I was very, very worried, and understanding that I have a good life.”

[According to Zakai-Or, there are several reasons why people in Israel say they are happier than people elsewhere whose countries face fewer “horrible challenges.” “First of all, one of the things that make people happier in Israel is connecting to meaning. And in Israel, there are many opportunities to connect to something that is greater than yourself. There is a lot of ideology around here. We are here for a reason… and when you feel that you are doing something for the greater good, it makes you happy.”

She continues, “In Israel, if you don’t go to a Shabbat dinner, it is a crisis in the family. So there’s always someone that you are connected to. And this is a great source of happiness and of resilience. Because you know there is someone who cares about you.”

She adds, “Many Israelis have a much wider family than their genetic family because they create friendships that are as good as family and sometimes even better, and that is a major part of happiness.”

“When you have no challenges, then something inside you doesn’t grow. Here we are challenged all the time, and we have succeeded. We grow, and this is also a part of being happy.”

“Because when you feel that you have coped well with a challenge, and that you grew from it, that makes you proud. It gives you a sense of self-confidence, it makes you happier. “Saying that you are happy doesn’t mean you’re not challenged, afraid, or concerned. They all come together.  

Zakai Or concludes in a personal way: “I always say to…people I meet – who ask me if I am religious, that I am completely secular. I then tell them that although I am completely secular, I feel Jewish, and I cannot disown being Jewish because I carry my family history on my shoulders.

“You never forget that as an Israeli. You never forget it. People ask questions about my history: where my mother and father were from, where my grandparents were, who survived and who didn’t. We all have those histories. You carry all those generations on your shoulders. You are not alone in the world.”

[As a Jew] you feel you have a reason [to live]. “You feel you have purpose in your life.”

In this most challenging time, what a wonderful lesson from Israel. On this Yom Kippur, can we go beyond superficial notions of happiness and consider life satisfaction? I know it sounds cliché, but can we count our blessings and determine to look at the cup half full?

Ask yourself, what gives you true meaning and purpose in life? How can you deepen your pursuits of these endeavors?

Ask yourself, how can I deepen my connection to family, friends, and community…that bestows my sense of connectedness; the blessing of belonging?

Ask yourself, how can I deepen my faith, as imperfect as it may be… that bestows my sense of security and well-being, the blessing of belief?  

The process of introspection that encompasses these questions is called heshbon hanefesh- soul searching. It is what Yom Kippur is all about.

At the moment each of us is happy about somethings; unhappy about others. Often the latter can overwhelm the former. The things that irk us loom large. Sometimes we begin to obsess about them. The things that trouble us seem to take over the available space in our brain.

When this happens emotions crowd out reason. We become irritated and stressed. We veer toward pessimism; melancholy; sometimes depression. We see the glass half-empty. We wallow in our unhappiness.

If we can dig deeper, we can discover anew the well-springs of satisfaction. We can put our life in the proper perspective. We can concentrate not on ephemeral ups and downs but on lasting satisfaction. We can regain our equilibrium. We can be strong, resilient, and yes, we can be happy.

Israel is in the top-ten of world happiness. Our fellow Jews have something to teach us. Why not us in the top-ten as well?

My slogan for this new year- despite everything: Be Happy- You’re Jewish!

Shanah tovah.

CATASTROPHE

Kol Nidre, 5785

Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz

“For Jews the world over, the past [year] has been little more than a series of catastrophes”. So writes Israeli-American journalist Benjamin Kerstein.

Is this an exaggeration? Sadly, I think not. Not at all. And so it behooves us on this Yom Kippur to delve into those catastrophes. This has been a year like no other in recent Jewish history. To pretend otherwise is a dereliction of duty.

The first catastrophe, of course, was Oct. 7- the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust; the searing tragedy of terrorism akin to 9-11, but with the added elements of mass mutilation, rape and hostage taking. Neither the trauma nor the reckoning in Israel is over. Not even close.

As horrific as it was, Oct. 7 was not the sole catastrophe for the Jewish people this year. In fact, it was only the beginning. Nobody expected Oct. 7, but neither did we expect the aftermath.

The Gaza war has been a catastrophe. Even if you believe that it has been a justified war of necessity, as I do; a war of legitimate self-defense against a viscous death-cult enemy sworn to Israel’s destruction, and one that hides behind and willingly sacrifices civilians… Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe.

The death of hundreds of IDF soldiers, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Israelis from their homes in the north and south, though less talked about, is also a catastrophe.

The ominous salvo of rockets launched by Iran and by its proxy Hezbollah, and the threat of a wider two-front or three-front war with this axis of evil, is a catastrophe.

The gaping political division that has opened wide in Israel is a catastrophe.

And what is happening to the Jews of the diaspora, here and around the world, is a catastrophe.

I do not use the word lightly. A catastrophe is a serious calamity that does lasting damage. Every one of the catastrophes I just mentioned deserves its own sermon. Right now I can only give one.  

So it is the last catastrophe that I want to speak about this Yom Kippur morning; about what is happening here in the diaspora; here in our country.

Actually, I already began to do so on Rosh Hashanah, when I spoke about how young people, including way too many young American Jews, are turning away from Israel. That too is its own catastrophe.

At the end of May I was at a conference on Reform Judaism in NY. Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the ADL spoke. He said, we are not facing a new wave of antisemitism, we are facing a tsunami. He gave the statistics to back it up. We don’t need the numbers to know what is happening. We see it and feel it in our bones. We see what is happening on college campuses. We see what is happening in big cities across the country. We see what is happening in town councils and high schools.

And I want to suggest to you that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Why do I say that? Because for every overt act of antisemitism in this country there is a covert act of antisemitism. A banal act, that doesn’t make the headlines. Or a silence that speaks volumes.

Hannah Arendt wrote famously about the banality of evil. She was referring to how ordinary people could perpetrate extraordinary evil. Her ideas arose from her witnessing of Adolf Eichman’s trial in Jerusalem. Bureaucrats could be Nazis. Your next-door neighbor could be their sympathizers, and your betrayers. They could also acquiesce by their silence.

Today we are witnessing a new chapter in the banality of antisemitism. We are seeing both the loud antisemitism of terrorists and their supporters, but also the “quiet” antisemitism of intellectuals and their accomplices. We are witnessing both the classic racist tropes of the past, and the novel vilification of Jews and the Jewish State as persecutors.  

As Noah Feldman puts it, “The core of this new antisemitism lies in the idea that Jews are not a historically oppressed people seeking self-preservation but instead oppressors: imperialists, colonialists, and even white supremacists”.

This new doctrine is a deceptively toxic brew of half-truths, mis-directions, revisionism, and willful ignorance.

The new antisemitism has been lying just below for some time, sporadically bubbling up to the surface in the guise of anti-Zionism. Then it exploded, in one of the great ironies of our time, after Oct. 7. As heinous as the Hamas attacks were, straight-faced academics and protestors alike intone that Israel is not innocent; that Israel’s oppression going back the Nakba of 1948 must be considered; that the Jewish usurpation of Palestine is actually centuries if not millennia old; that it is the Palestinians who have the right to return “from the river to the sea”; that the Zionists have now turned into genocidal avengers.

Here’s my response, my J’Accuse:

If you deny Israel’s right to exist… you are an antisemite.

If you deny Israel’s right to self-defense… you are an antisemite.

If you fail to condemn the evil of Hamas… you are an are antisemite.

If you tacitly support those who want to eradicate Israel… you are still an antisemite.

If you distort history to fit only your anti-Zionist narrative… you are still an antisemite.

And if you remain silent with regard to all this…you are on your way to becoming an antisemite.  

We are seeing the banality of antisemitism all over the place. Earlier this year I wrote an op-ed piece in the Jewish Standard about one of the world’s most respected refugee organizations, the International Rescue Committee and how utterly lacking their response to the atrocity of Oct. 7 was. I wrote that the founder of the IRC, Albert Einstein, would be turning over in his grave. For me this is personally wrenching as I have contributed to the IRC not for years, but decades.

Just when we thought that antisemitism was confined to the far-right, we now see it mushrooming with the far-left.

Just when we thought that the criticism of “woke” ideology at American universities had gone too far, the failure of three Ivy League presidents, among others, to unequivocally condemn calls for genocide against Jews and reign in rampaging protestors is unnerving.

Just when we thought that the so-called progressive wing of a political party many of us identify with was moving to the center for the sake of preserving our embattled democracy, with such a critical election looming, their persistent anti-Israel drumbeat leaves us wondering how a self-declared “antiracist” movement somehow has room for antisemitism.  

Benjamin Kerstein goes on to contend, “American Jews have discovered that no Jewish community is ever immune to history. American Jews are reeling from this terrible realization. Above all, the first antisemitic mass movement in American history has arisen. There have been antisemitic movements in America before, of course. But never have they been this large, [and] politically influential….”

Is this an exaggeration? I don’t know if what we are witnessing is a “mass movement”. And let us remember that the solid majority of Americans remain pro-Israel; that America remains Israel’s closest ally; and that most of us still feel secure about our identity in the melting pot called America.

Still, warning signs are there, and we as a people have developed a keen radar about these things.

And so how do we respond to catastrophe of the past year here in our corner of the Jewish world?

How about a 3-V strategy?

Vigilance—Jefferson said that the price of democracy is eternal vigilance. There is no substitute for staying alert to each and every act of anti-Zionism and anti- Semitism. Wherever it comes from; however it is disguised.  

Voice—It is Isaiah that we read on this holy day who commands- Raise your Voice like a shofar. Prejudice; hate speech; hate crimes- they need to be called out every time. I know we would like to just ignore it. But we’ve learned that racism of all kinds grows in the dark; thrives in the shadows. We need to shine the light and call it out. Go to the meetings; write the op-eds; call your congressmen; advocate for Israel; stand up to the extremists.

Vote—Voting is the ultimate ticket in a democracy. How else do you hold politicians responsible? How else do you legislate? You yourself may never miss an opportunity to vote. But who can you convince that otherwise might sit on the sidelines?

Vigilance. Voice. Vote.

When our children ask: where were you in the horrible aftermath of Oct. 7, may we say:

We stood up.

We stood with Israel.

We stood with our people.

We stood tall; we stood proud.

We stood up!

Yes, this was a year of catastrophe.

But we stood up!

REFORM JEWS AND ISRAEL: ADDRESSING THE GENERATION GAP

Rosh Hashanah Morning, 5785

Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz

Friends, it should be no surprise that I am going to speak this morning about Israel. After the year we have had. And now, days before the first anniversary of Oct. 7. A date that will forever afflict Israel and the Jewish people… like 9-11 will forever afflict Americans.

But specifically what I am going to talk about is support of Israel, and the next generation.

It’s on my mind; it’s on your mind. It’s just one issue, but it’s a big one and it’s an emotional one. Because it’s about the gap- the widening gap between old and young; between parents and children.

Waning support for Israel is hard enough to talk about. The generation gap is hard to talk about. Put them together, and it is doubly hard, but doubly necessary.

Disclaimer: When I talk about Israel it’s always personal. That’s because, as many of you know, I spent six years there, was a student there, got married there, served in the army there, and served as a Reform rabbi there. It’s personal because I’m a dual citizen, as are my wife and children. My family of five carries ten passports. And we carry big hearts.

Many of you know that we have family in Israel. In fact my wife Debby’s entire family continues to live there- they made Aliyah when Debby was 13 years old.

But I would say that we all have family in Israel. Our tradition teaches, kal Yisrael aravin zeh b’zeh—every Jew is connected to one another. Are not Jews everywhere one big mishpacha. A raucous lot, but family.

Shakespeare’s Shylock said, “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” When Israel bleeds, do we not bleed?

He also said, “And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” When Israel strikes back, do we not stand with her?

Apparently not… among some of our people; and among too many, of our young people.  

Here are the statistics:

First the good news that among Americans in general, support for Israel remains strong. Back in January the Harris poll found that in aggregate 80% backed Israel over Hamas. Among seniors, the figure was 93%. Even among millennials age 25-34 support stood at 70%. And that support has by and large continued to hold steady, even with reservations about how Israel has waged war in Gaza.

But the bad news-among Gen.Z, age 18-24, in the same survey only 57% supported Israel. And that needle has not moved much.

You would hope that this would look different among young Jews. Apparently not. A different poll, conducted in November only a few weeks after the start of the war, found 82% of those Jews 36 and older supported President’s Biden’s strong stance on Israel. Among those young Jews 18-35, and this is striking, only 53%.

I’m still having a hard time fathoming that, even though for years the research has reported that younger Jews are generally less attached to Israel than their elders.

I’m still having a hard time fathoming that when in November the memory of Hamas’ massacre and mutilation of 1200 Israelis was still shockingly fresh in everyone’s mind.  

I’m still having a hard time fathoming that even when I know firsthand that young people have little or no memory of heroic Israel, underdog Israel, miraculous Israel; of the Six Day War; Yom Kippur War; Entebbe, Operation Magic Carpet; Operations Moses and Solmon; never mind the Holocaust and Israel’s Declaration of Statehood and War of Independence.

And I’m still having a hard time fathoming that even knowing what we saw happen on college campuses around the country, and the high visibility of the anti-Israel Jewish far-left organizations.

How does this make you feel?

Speaking for myself, and I know for many others, I am perplexed. I am not very understanding. I am upset and even angry.

Should we be. Yes, again. To deny our anger would be disingenuous. And anger adds urgency. But anger will not get us far. It is not a strategy.

So what can we do about this generational gap; this fracturing of, dare I say, the sacred bond with Israel that so many of us “older folk” feel?

Obviously I have been thinking a great deal about this… and listening to the anguish of others, in this very congregation and beyond.  

Herewith, my three-point response: Solidarity; Education, Empathy. S.E.E. SEE for short.

Solidarity: Now, more than ever, we must communicate that we continue to stand with Israel. That our hearts are with Israel. That the bond with Israel cannot be broken.

We must communicate that three things are non-negotiable: Israel’s right to exist; Israel’s right to self-defense; Israel’s imperative to combat evil.

Anyone that call into question Israel’s right to live, to live with secure borders, and to fight those who seek to destroy her, needs to be called out.

Every nation in the world has those basic rights, and would act to preserve itself.

Our kids our watching us, they always are, and they need to see our passion.

Education: Now, more than ever, we need to teach our kids the history of Israel; the history of Zionism, and the history of antisemitism.

History matters. Facts matter. Truth matters.

Let my people know.

And crucially, a piece of that education should happen in Israel. There is nothing like being there to touch your heart. Whether it is a NFTY trip, a Birthright Trip, A Gap Year Trip; a semester abroad; a year abroad—we need to redouble our support for every venture that gives our kids a glimpse of the Jewish state in the Jewish homeland.

Related to this, something else matters: literacy- Hebrew literacy. Literacy builds pride. When you speak the language, you’re in. It’s the language our Tanakh and of our prayers. It’s the language of Jewish thought and yearning. It’s the language of modern Israel. I know we don’t have the hours to attain fluency. But every Jewish kid should have a basic Hebrew vocabulary. An essential lexicon. So that when we say am echad, and am Yisrael hai they nod knowingly. When we say k’lal Yisrael and kol Yisrael aravin zeh b’zeh they recognize these expressions of Jewish unity. When we sing HaTikvah they join in.  

Solidarity, History, and finally, Empathy.

Empathy means not just talking, but listening. Hearing the concerns of our young people. Acknowledging what is on their minds. Validating their struggles.

Empathy means honestly admitting to the challenges Israel faces internally and externally.

Empathy means openly discussing the plight of the Palestinians.

Empathy means grappling with when anti-Zionism is antisemitism, and when it is not.

I read a piece about four families with college age kids; all of whom came back from their campuses much less pro-Israel than when they left. (For this we are paying a fortune?!) The kids talked about how narrow their parents’ viewpoint was. The parents talked about how narrow their kids’ perspective was.

One son said he was torn between wanting to identity with his mother’s fears yet feeling uneasy with her exclusive focus on Jewish pain. “I was trying to hold both sides,” he said, “a progressive left one, and a defensive Jewish one. It’s a feeling of discomfort—how do I manage this; how do I bridge this? It’s an extra layer of pain.”

One parent wondered, “Did we not talk about antisemitism and the Holocaust enough with our children?

This is tough stuff. I believe that we shouldn’t be afraid to call out words and actions that cross the line; that breach the principles about Israel’s right to exist and defend herself that I established earlier. But on the other hand, we shouldn’t be afraid to air out the ways Israel is falling short, and the suffering of the Palestinians. After all, empathy for the downtrodden is central to our ethics.  

Often we just try to avoid talking about hard problems in our families. We have enough conflict at home as it is, and talking about politics and the world only exacerbates it.

But we owe it to our kids, and to Israel, to deal with it.

I don’t know if we can bridge the gap. There are many variables, and the problems are intractable. But solidarity, education and empathy might go a long way; longer than we think. SEEing is believing.

Show your kids where you stand on Israel. Show it with passion.

Give them every teaching opportunity you can, and get them to Israel.

Listen to them and empathize with their concerns.

Tell them that you love them, and you love Israel.

Tell them that this love is unconditional, but it is not uncritical.

Tell them that disappointments and disagreements test families, but should not break families.

Remind them that you care so much because they are the next generation of your family, and the next generation of the Jewish people.

Then maybe, just maybe, in the ancient words of the prophet Malachi (4:6), “the hearts of the parents shall be turned to their children, and the hearts of the children shall be turned to their parents.”

Ken y’hi ratzon; so may it be.

Oct. 17, 2024

Dear Friends,
   On to the next holiday!
   Join us tomorrow for Shabbat Sukkot ,with pizza-in-the-hut (6:00 PM) and festive service (7:00 PM).

    The next morning, as usual, Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM) takes place, and beside the scheduled subject matter, it seems that every week there is something significant in the news to talk about!  

     On Saturday night add to your holiday celebration at Sukkot Havdalah (8:00 PM) with music and snacks under the stars. 

     Sukkot will also be celebrated at Sunday school, including Confirmation class, and youth group.
. 
      And a reminder that we will close the holiday season next week at Shabbat Simchat Torah (7:00 PM), when we celebrate with the Torah, welcome our new students and members, and are assisted by our 7th graders.

Shabbat shalom and hag sameach,
Rabbi Schwartz

Oct. 10, 2024

Dear Friends,
  The Sabbath and Yom Kippur coincide this year.
   We ask that you arrive promptly if not early for our Shabbat Evening/ Kol Nidrei Service (8:00 PM).
  The same for our Shabbat and Yom Kippur Morning Service (10:00 AM). 
   Our Afternoon-Yizkor- Neilah Service begins at 4:30 PM and concludes with the blast of the shofar at about 6:30 PM.
    For the first time since the pandemic, we are bringing back our break-the-fast, to which you are cordially invited. 
     Again, our sincere thanks to all our readers, ushers, and those who work to prepare for the holidays.

    And we hope the next two Fridays are also marked on your calendar- Shabbat Sukkot on the 18th with pizza-in-the-hut (6:00 PM) and festive service (7:00 PM), and Shabbat Simchat Torah on the 25th (7:00 PM), when we celebrate with the Torah, welcome our new students and members, and are assisted by our 7th graders! And don't forget our Sukkot Havdalah on Saturday night the 19th (8:00 PM) with music and snacks under the stars. 

Shabbat shalom and shanah tovah,
Rabbi Schwartz

Shalom All, 

As we've said before, sometimes we don't know which way to turn when it comes to helping those in need. So, at this time, we're keeping it to the southeastern coast of the United States. Hurricane Helene was, according to reports, the worst of the worst. And now, some of the same people who are still cleaning up from that storm are about to be hit by Milton.

I have come to trust Charity Navigator when deciding which organizations to work with/help. At the bottom is their link, where they name and "star" [grade] groups that they recommend for just this situation. Please click on the link, read through, and choose an organization that talks to you; then, please, send a donation. Another year, another Mitzvah.
 
Shana Tova V'Gmar Chatima Tova.
Plus a  meaningful and easy fast,
 
Todah Rabah,   
Annette
  
https://www.charitynavigator.org/discover-charities/where-to-give/hurricane-helene-2024/#charity_list

Oct. 2, 2024

Dear Friends,
  The Jewish New Year arrives tonight, amidst such travail for Israel and our people.
   We look forward to being together at Evening (8:00 PM), Morning (10:00 AM), Children's (2:00 PM) and Tashlich (3:30 PM) services. 

    Thank you to all those involved in the reading of Torah, Haftarah, and the sounding of the shofar, as well as our ushers and security. 

   The Shabbat after is called Shabbat Shuva, and at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM) I will sadly reflect on repentance and the first anniversary of Oct. 7. 

   We'll reflect on these themes as well at our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM) and Religious School service (9:00 AM).

    On Oct. 7 itself (3:30 PM) I am leading a virtual presentation on antisemitism in America for a number of Florida communities, and you are invited to attend (see link below).

   With warm wishes for a new year of blessing for our community, country, Israel and the world.

Shabbat shalom and Shanah Tovah, 
Rabbi Schwartz