by Noel Rubinton
It’s common to talk and write about beginnings at this time of year—the new Jewish year, the new school year, the new season on Broadway, and so forth. This year, there will be another “new” you’ll hear a lot about at HJC—our second century.
But I’m going to depart from that script and write instead an ode to the wonderfulness of continuations. Because I think that can be a more useful and positive way to see what’s ahead.
All too often, we try to use beginnings as a sort of a crutch, a way to magically wipe out what’s happened in the past and start fresh. That’s a seductive idea, but it doesn’t withstand close scrutiny. Let’s start with a totally secular example: the “new” season on Broadway. Yes, the roster of plays and musicals may include new entries, but don’t they go into the same theaters, usually with actors and actresses who’ve been on scene before?
When we get to the new school year, isn’t there a large carryover among the principals, teachers and buildings? More importantly, aren’t the students (including our own) the same ones, who are building off of last year’s successes and challenges?
The Jewish calendar, as well as synagogue life and the Jewish world in general, brings us a great deal on this subject. Yes, there is a new Jewish year coming later this month, but there’s plenty of continuity ahead too. Perhaps the clearest example comes at Simhat Torah. We don’t finish reading the Torah one day, take a pause, and then begin reading a “new” Torah the next day. Instead, we finish the annual reading and immediately begin again with the stirring lines of B’reishit . It is a moving, memorable moment. What better evidence of the power of continuity could there be than the circularity of the Torah cycle? We come to the same words each year, but we are different and our circumstances are different in reading and studying them. So we come to the words anew, but it is really a glorious continuation.
Some might find it depressing to reject the idea of beginnings. I don’t. Instead I love that what we’ve done before (highs and lows and everything in between) keeps counting as we keep going and growing. The Jewish year gives us so many other wonderful chances to embrace this idea. No two years of Sukkot are the same. Not even two Shabbats. We will have in the year ahead many opportunities to try new things, but also embrace the pasts of ourselves and other Jews.
For HJC, our coming centennial presents an incredible chance to continue and build our congregation. An enormous amount of creative and wise planning for this year-long celebration has already been done under the leadership of Amy K., Joel W., Bruce R., Cheryl S. and many more people. There will be events of all sorts, we hope for everyone, starting with the kick-off brunch on September 10.
Please join us and help us continue our history into a new century. Each day we build on the work of many, many people here, including those who lived long before us. Yes, we can innovate, and we have often done so, but we need not start from scratch. Let’s make this a special year of joy, as well as of progress towards ensuring our future.
In closing, I’d like to wish you and your family a sweet new year. It is a tremendous honor to serve you as president.
L’shana tova.
by Noel Rubinton
Sukkot is a found holiday for me.
Growing up in a reform congregation, I never saw a sukkah and I barely knew the story behind the holiday. When my wife and I first joined HJC, our initial connection to the holiday was abstract. Going to Sukkot services seemed somehow artificial.
As often happens, leave it to a child to bring her parents along. When my daughter was about three, we were invited to a Sukkot party at the home of a congregant. We went, a little unsure about what we’d find. What we found on a chilly, damp day was a bunch of other people sitting and standing in the kitchen and living room. But we’d come to see the sukkah, and out to the back of the house we went. Sitting in the sukkah—a casual, homestyle one—was a visitor from Israel and one other man. Despite the weather, my daughter insisted that we sit and eat in the sukkah, which we had heard was a mitzvah. In spite of the chill in the air, we were instantly hooked on Sukkot. The link to our ancestors in the wilderness was thrilling.
In the years since, our connection to Sukkot has deepened. We got a sukkah “kit” the next year, thanks to a recommendation from the Cheslers, and erected it quickly (due to my wife’s spatial skills, not mine). Decorating the inside of the sukkah became a fun project, as did planning for meals and activities in it. When something is only operational for a week in a year, tempus fugit becomes even more pronounced than usual. Homework in the sukkah became special, as did having breakfast and reading the newspaper there. Not to mention observing the ritual with the lulav and etrog there.
Then came the determination to follow the Biblical idea of living in a sukkah—sleeping overnight in it became an adventure that taught us about a lot, including the sounds of our neighborhood we never otherwise hear. Another embroidering of the holiday came for me last year when I learned to read the torah portion for the intermediate days of the holiday. An adventure ahead (maybe this year, maybe another year) is visiting a Manhattan restaurant that puts up a sukkah for eating during the holiday.
I write all this to convey the wonders of Sukkot, but also for something more. How my family (and I’m sure many other families) has experienced this holiday is also a lot like so many other possibilities within Judaism. Exploring, honoring and embracing Judaism is a process. There’s not an on/off switch, and you’re not either there or not. There is so much to learn, and it can and should be a lifelong journey of discovering.
Within every aspect of the Judaism, from the small to the large, there is the chance to grow and experience. I’ve found it helpful not to measure how much I don’t know (or even don’t want to know). Because that approach can be overwhelming, something like looking at a tall mountain from its base and wondering how (or ever) you can ever get to the top. It’s far more positive and constructive to keep track of the steps that have been taken and celebrate them as part of the journey.
So much here at HJC offers such opportunities. If you go to Shabbat services once every few months now, the goal to suddenly attend every week may be far too ambitious. It might be better to aim to go once a month and see all you learn and enjoy. Or you might now come for the torah service and afterwards on Saturday morning. Try coming just a few minutes earlier and hear the beautiful melodies and see the moving prayers that you’ll be adding.
It’s the same outside of our religious services. Try a Chai Club meeting and see the great camaraderie. Come to a Religious School board meeting, maybe not to join but to see what’s going on. Encourage your children to try youth group.
You don’t have to be at the summit of a mountain to see the view, and you don’t have to know everything about Judaism to understand the religion and enjoy our rich synagogue life.
Have a wonderful Sukkot!
by Noel Rubinton
HJC has been at the forefront of so many key Jewish trends in recent years because of our congregation’s receptiveness to investing in the future through new programs. Rabbi Kurshan has been a wonderful guide, helping spot new programs in their early stages and then shape them.
A great example is our Re-Imagine project. I’ve gotten far more out of it than I ever imagined, and so has our synagogue. When Rabbi Kurshan approached me about chairing our effort more than two years ago, I wondered if the abstract-sounding project would be worth the time and energy. I’m glad my faith in the Rabbi helped me, and the congregation, stick with the effort. The Re-Imagine project is funded by UJA/Federation of New York and developed by the Experiment in Congregational Education, an offshoot of Hebrew Union College. It’s an attempt to foster innovation in religious education. HJC is one of only a couple of dozen congregations in the metropolitan area to be selected so far.
After two years of work by more than 30 congregants, the rewards of Re-Imagine here have been remarkable, and the future is bright for its impact on religious education and beyond. Progress, of course, is not without effort. Re-Imagine is heavy on process, and this was sometimes frustrating. There’s a tendency in life to want to “just do something,” a phrase repeated many times while we were counseled to go slow.
We studied the history of HJC’s religious school and we also studied innovative educational efforts at other congregations around the country through a web site and a fascinating meeting in New York City. We learned new ways to think about vision and goals. It wasn’t until more than nine months into the project that we started talking about what we might try at HJC to make innovation come alive. That was a thrilling moment.
Many of you have heard about the first two pilots that came out of Re-Imagine, Shabbat Mishpacha and Exploring Our Roots. Three Shabbat morning services came alive as participatory family programs in the Lief Chapel, with different families leading torah study in fresh ways (stuffed animals for Noah’s Ark, a Jewish quiz show complete with the youngest child as the ‘bell,’ and a costumed play). The roots project involved Hey students capping their religious school by interviewing congregants who grew up as Jews outside the United States. The two projects shared an experiential link, where students and parents took action and didn’t just study books.
Those projects will live on this year, taken on by the religious school committee. More Shabbat Mishpachas are planned (the first is November 18) and an interviewing project, connected to the centennial, is planned again for the Hey class. There are plenty of chances to participate—please contact our religious school principal, Ellen Marcus, or the head of our religious school board, Allison R.
We’re far from done working on new ideas. Debbie has taken over leadership of our Re-Imagine initiative and we are looking to incubate new programs. Such programs are part of what cements the strengths of HJC. They take time and energy, and they cost money, but are critical to our continuity. Many of the lessons of Re-Imagine go far beyond it. The principles apply broadly at HJC. Here are some key ideas:
Participating in innovation is exciting and we’re lucky that HJC is a place where it’s valued. Such programs will serve us well in our second hundred years.
by Noel Rubinton
For 100 years, Huntington Jewish Center has been dedicated to providing a vibrant Jewish experience.
We can take pride in our nationally recognized religious school, superior nursery school and a broad range of programs which nurture a lifelong Jewish life and learning. We are especially blessed to be led by Rabbi Neil Kurshan and a team of caring professionals, who serve our congregation and community with distinction.
This century of fostering Jewish community is an extraordinary accomplishment. But it also has given us experience and wisdom that tells us not be complacent and rest on our laurels. New and reliable sources of revenue are required for maintaining our commitment to providing our members with essential and compelling programs and services.
After much study and planning, we have embarked upon a program to help ensure that HJC not only responds to today’s needs, but prepares for tomorrow’s opportunities. The cornerstone of this plan is the Centennial Endowment Fund, which will expand our ability to serve our membership.
The Centennial Endowment Fund will be managed by a specially designated Board of Governors to guarantee proper investment, the maximizing of income, protecting the corpus, and ensuring that the appropriation of income from the fund is in concert with its intended purposes.
The income from our Centennial Endowment Fund, a fund for our future, will enable us to meet emerging and future challenges in Jewish life with creativity and confidence. For years and decades to come, it will help to provide critical annual reliable financial resources to enable HJC to:
I am incredibly proud to be HJC President as we embark upon this campaign to secure our long-term future. I have been further encouraged by the many members who have indicated a ready willingness to support and endorse this vital campaign project so far.
Throughout this campaign, each of us will have an opportunity to express our appreciation for all that our synagogue represents. As we are taught in the Torah, at moments such as these, one should consider “all that your heart dictates.” My wife, Amy, and I have looked into our hearts and are excited about lending our energy and resources to support this campaign effort. As I have said, the endowment fund is the most important project in front of us in terms of the long term welfare of HJC. Let us seize the opportunity and do everything we can to make it succeed.
As we gather to light the menorah in a few weeks, I hope it will also symbolize a time for us to light the way for a bright future for the Huntington Jewish Center for years to come.
by Noel Rubinton
As we work toward establishing a Centennial Endowment Fund, our eyes have been opened to the many ways that we can enrich what we have already established at the Huntington Jewish Center. We are grateful for the privilege of meeting with so many of you thus far on our journey to strengthening our synagogue for its next century.
Through these personal visits, we have gained wonderful insights into how many roles our synagogue plays. We have facilitated friendships. We have been your family with whom you shared your simchahs, we watched your children grow, and have been your support through life’s many challenges. We have shared many moments that underscore the bonds of community we have built together. Our personal connections have re-engaged and re-connected many times over. We are drawn together as a community, united in spirit and purpose.
HJC is far more than just a building. It is without a doubt one of the most important places we can call ours as Jews. It is a place of learning, of praying, of listening, of celebrating and of sharing. Our Centennial Endowment Campaign is all about making our synagogue able to serve our member families in the future. We aim to provide the means to address with creativity and confidence all the identified, as well as the undiscovered, complexities of Jewish life. It is an enormous and critical task.
For many months, we have been talking about and planning for the future of this synagogue. With great anticipation, our tomorrow has begun with this endowment campaign.
We are inspired by the generous response so many families have demonstrated during these last few weeks. In the scores of conversations so far, we have heard more than words--we have heard the heart of our members. You have been enthusiastic about our plans for the endowment fund, which will address our commitment to our families and to our generations to come. Every family involved has spoken through their life values with a common vision for our congregational community. This energy is why we are going to exceed all of our expectations with this campaign.
I feel fortunate to be HJC President as we embark upon this campaign to secure our long-term welfare. I am honored to be joined by several members who have dedicated themselves once again in every way to lead our congregation to success. It is truly a remarkable HJC team.
Over the next several weeks, we look forward to your active participation in our efforts. Our sages teach that we are all responsible for one another. We hope every family within our HJC family will consider supporting our Endowment Campaign efforts to provide the means to meet the needs of our congregation. We are at the beginning of the next stage in our journey together. Your response in the coming days and weeks will be critical for our future.
by Noel Rubinton
There's been a lot of 100-talk already this year, and there will be plenty more as we continue to celebrate our centennial.
It's hard to overestimate the importance of HJC's 100 years of outstanding service to the community, both to members and beyond. It should not be taken for granted, as it represents tremendous determination, creativity and continuity. Nor should we take lightly the honor of being the congregrational generation that is able to mark such an achievement. Whenever I come to the front door of HJC and glance up at the handsome banner on the building, it puts an extra spring in my step.
One of the latest aspects of the centennial we're seeing, happily, is that our history is so rich that it demands to be captured in print. Our story has been told already by Jewish Week, the Long Islander and Newsday, and it's been a great way to spread our news.
Now we're headed towards the greatest printed embodiment of our printed history—a centennial history book. Under the leadership of first Jack Cole and now Howard Baker, a group of talented congregants is working hard to tell the story of HJC from its founding. And not just in a dry, academic way. They are getting a lot of help in this from a lot of you, who have also submitted terrific stories, photographs and other artifacts for the book.
When the book is finished, printed and distributed in the late spring (free of charge to each member family, due to the great generosity of a small group of committed congregants), we will each have an incredible gift, a treasured keepsake. It will help us, and succeeding generations, to know and tell the story of HJC.
In 1907, our founders, a brave and inspired band, could only look ahead and imagine. Fortunately for us, we now have the benefit of a century of experience and learning. This knowledge helps us make informed choices regarding the direction the congregation can and needs to take.
Thinking and reading about our history suggests to us that we are merely the current caretakers of our precious synagogue. It is not just our shul. It is the shul of those who came before us and those who will follow us. How do we want to be remembered for our stewardship of HJC? What will be written about us 100 years from now?
So many things are going on to commemorate the centennial in all parts of the synagogue. We hope that many of these projects, and their spirit, will live long beyond our centennial year. So they must all be seen as part of an overall vision. But in symbolism and substance, the Centennial Endowment Fund is likely the best and greatest hope that our dreams and those of our predecessors and even our successors can carry on. By creating this fund as a community, we are making an enormous statement and creating crucial financial resources to help our beloved synagogue into the future.
Parents often think about their children as booster rockets to send their families further and higher in ways they can’t get themselves. In the same way, by building this endowment fund we have a great chance to carry our synagogue far forward. The money from this fund—more precisely, the interest on the endowment principal we are raising—will help us continue the excellence and the dreaming that has always set HJC apart from other synagogues. We want to be able to afford to maintain our tradition of being extraordinary, and this fund will make a big difference.
We are asking each family to give to the fund according to its ability. Our universal participation is key. This is a most special opportunity for all of us.
We're headed for a March to remember.
Which is appropriate, of course, since our synagogue's birthday is March 6, the date in 1907 when our founders incorporated us as the Huntington Hebrew Congregation.
We don't know exactly what our founders did that March, but it’s nice to imagine them celebrating the key steps towards establishing our cemetery and then our first synagogue building on Church Street.
As for us, the modern day Huntington Jewish Center members, we will be deeply immersed in our Centennial celebration, including our Centennial Endowment Campaign.
The month's highlights include Friday Night Live on March 2nd. This is one of our newest “traditions,” begun less than a year ago. But judging by how popular these services have been and the joy in their singing, clapping and dancing, they are well on their way to being a long-running success. We're having a special congregational dinner after that service, to be together to mark the shabbat closest to the date when we began.
Another special part of the month will be our latest HJC theatrical production, with four performances of "Bye Bye Birdie" on the weekends of March 10-11 and 17-18. Our shows are a wonderfully enduring tradition dating back to 1968 when Sisterhood produced the first of a great run of seven shows that went through 1981. There was a pause then, but happily for all of us, our version of the Great White Way returned with "Fiddler on the Roof" in 2001 and "Birdie" will be our fourth in the recent series.
Theater is a great example of HJC at its best. The sense of volunteerism and of community is tremendous. For months, people spend hours and hours practicing their parts, building sets and more. Also heartwarming is the multi-generational spirit of the cast and crew. I look forward to seeing you at the show. The month is otherwise filled with a tremendous number of activities that exemplify the diversity and wonderful dynamics of our synagogue. There are morning minyans, a minyan breakfast, a bat mitzvah, three bar mitvahs, sisterhood, youth group and men's club programs, religious school (with the first of the spring shabbatons), nursery school (including the memorable model seder for Passover), youth group, our annual hilarious Purim service and a Purim carnival, a blood drive dedicated to the memory of Ethel F., continuing education classes, bar and bat mitzvah training sessions and so much more. Thinking about all the activities of our present-day HJC should make us proud about how we’ve grown since our start in 1907. It should also lead us to think about the future. One of our responsibilities as Jews is to help perpetuate our people. And on the community level, this is where our efforts to aid HJC come in. Fortunately, we have a community where many give help in a myriad of ways.
It is so appropriate that in our centennial year, we have an extraordinary way to help perpetuate the Huntington Jewish Center. Through our collective participation in the Centennial Endowment Campaign, we can make our future far brighter. It has been gratifying to see the enormously generous and heartfelt ways in which so many of us already have expressed support for this opportunity to ensure a strong and vibrant congregation. We are in the critical phase of the campaign now, so please respond graciously when you are contacted. It will feel good to give, and thus to help.
Enjoy our March to remember. Watch HJC and its heritage shine, and help us toward our future.
by Noel Rubinton
Standing near the Robinson Arch of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, I realized how much our trip to Israel last month was about HJC.
Gathered on a bright morning for a Rosh Hodesh service that included the participation of four of our bar mitzvahs and one bat mitzvah, we were far, far from HJC’s main sanctuary or the Lief Chapel. The sights and sounds of Jerusalem were all around us. But in many ways it felt like home as the experience was made so powerful by using our prayer books, having a service in the style of Huntington, and being among many friends. The feeling of closeness was furthered when Alisa Kurshan spotted a teen from our congregation, who was not traveling with us, participating at another service just a few feet away.
Throughout the wonderful 12 days of the trip there were reminders of home and its support. Foremost, there was the group. A total of 45 people, ranging in age from 3 to their 70s made up our traveling party. Some knew each other extremely well before the trip, others not at all. But barriers fell quickly and the group came together in a natural, lovely way. There was a place for everyone anytime.
The Rabbi was an incredible leader, adding so much to everyone’s experience with his planning and knowledge. His enthusiasm was palpable and a constant reminder of what a special honor and joy it was to be in Israel. Alisa was a lovely presence, and her knowledge and warmth added much. As if this wasn’t enough, reminders of HJC and evidence of its connection to Israel were all around us. When we went to synagogues for Shabbat services, our group’s presence was often publicly acknowledged, and pleasantly surprised colleagues and others greeted Rabbi Kurshan. We also kept running into others from HJC visiting Israel on other trips or for business, giving the warm sense that our congregation was all around us.
When we paid two moving visits to UJA-funded sites, one for the absorption of Ethiopian Jews and the other for help to children and families from the former Soviet Union, we were treated with special respect and consideration because of Alisa’s remarkable work for UJA/Federation of New York. Several times during the trip we visited with Ilana, the Kurshans’ oldest child who now lives and works in Israel. It was a proud moment going one Saturday morning to the fascinating, and unusual, egalitarian minyan in Jerusalem that she helps organize, and hearing her welcome us—in Hebrew. Our time at the growing headquarters of the conservative movement in Jerusalem was enhanced when she, a student and teacher at the yeshiva there, led us in fascinating text study.
Another stop that was a highlight for many would not have been possible without a HJC relationship. Because of an intense and loving connection nurtured by a member family, we were able to make an extremely rare visit to the base of an elite paratrooper unit. The ability to meet Israeli soldiers and officers and hear candid comments from them gave a whole dimension to our trip. The congregation has gotten involved with this unit in the past year and it was an honor for us to deliver checks from congregants to support the paratroopers.
When we visited Kibbutz Ketura on our way to Eliat in the South, we found out that when we changed our Chumash several years ago, our old and beloved Hertz books were donated to that kibbutz because a family in our congregation has family there. It was lovely to know that some literal pieces of our congregation continue to be used in that way. The sights of Israel, whether Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea, the Negev and more, were remarkable. The feelings stirred by them, were also intense, especially for the many first-time visitors on the trip, including me. The sense of our congregation’s presence there was another tremendous aspect of the trip, adding to its power.
I had the regular feeling during the trip, and now too, of how incredibly fortunate my family and I are to be part of the Huntington Jewish Center. Eretz Yisrael is a central part of the Jewish experience and aspirations, and it is moving to see and feel how much a part our congregation is of Israel. In the last few years, our outstanding Israel Committee has led efforts at HJC to build feelings in the congregation about the importance and beauty of Israel. The cultural and other programs the committee has created has added a great deal. Having the privilege and pleasure of being in Israel with the congregation kept this going.
Our centennial was acknowledged and discussed during the trip by our hosts in several places. Our 100 years was seen as significant and worthy of praise. As we embark on our next 100 years, and as we continue the critical work of building our centennial endowment fund to protect and enhance our future, our place in Israel should be a reminder of our specialness and the responsibility we bear to keep building and growing.
by Noel Rubinton
It’s often said that an ending is really a beginning. There’s a lot of truth to that, and so it makes sense to reflect on our enormous centennial programs that are ending this month but also just starting to be felt in our synagogue. It’s safe to say that the impact of our centennial will be felt for many years to come. So much has happened that has reshaped our perspective on HJC in a positive, exciting way.
The consciousness of our roots as a congregation has grown enormously. The wonderful history book scheduled to be distributed to every family here later this month encapsulates what makes us special. And the phenomenal effort by many, led by Howard Baker, that went into creating the book shows again, the spirit of our congregation. But that book, as terrific as it will be, isn’t an end itself. The hope and expectation is that it will encourage more people to be excited about our heritage and keep wanting to preserve it.
Another of this month’s centennial events is the scheduled ground-breaking for our centennial garden. Great planning and care has gone into the development of this project, spearheaded by Alice R. and Miriam W. The hope is that this phase of beautification of our grounds will lead to more. So in that way the garden—a beauty in its own right—is only a start. One of the most tangible legacies of this centennial will be the endowment fund. The planning began more than a year ago, and many people, led by Joel W., have brought it to fruition. The hundreds of thousands of dollars already raised will enhance the synagogue well into the future, allowing us to dream and stretch.
The endowment fund will be carefully managed and watched to make sure it goes for its intended uses (to support our tradition of extraordinary rabbis, to bolster our education programs, and to help building maintenance). Once we conclude our current efforts to seed the endowment, we will continue to encourage support in the future as a matter of course.
There are still more centennial programs where we’ve done important planning and fruits are beginning to appear. As part of our centennial plaza program, the religious school/nursery school entrance is being transformed in a beautiful way. One key piece of that project will be a lovely brick walkway with bricks dedicated to special people and events at HJC. This will be another way for the history and people of our synagogue to be remembered into the future. There’s still plenty of room to participate in this program by buying one or more bricks.
The quilt project is another one where we’ll see results going into the future. A team of talented, creative congregants has designed and is now executing a beautiful quilt that tells our story. The plan is to hang it in the Kiddush Lounge, where it will have long-lasting impact.
Last and not least, the centennial will live on through its people. Led beautifully by Cheryl S. from the outset, a tremendous group of congregants has worked on centennial events. Some were veterans of synagogue projects, others were participating for the first time. We hope that many will go on to do much more at HJC, inspired by the success of the centennial and their work.
by Noel Rubinton
This year we’ve been celebrating our centennial, and as part of that we’ve recalled many past programs.
At the same time it seems appropriate to pay tribute to programs that are part of the fabric of HJC now and have been important for some time. There are many such programs, all to be applauded, and I’m going to focus here on two—morning minyan and the Jewish Nutritional Network. Both of them represent the best of HJC, with their passionate volunteerism, spirituality and commitment to tzedakah. Literally every day of the year you can find the morning minyan. Its Lief Chapel home is warm and intimate. The goal each day is to have at least ten Jewish adults (teens beyond bar/ bat mitzvah count) say morning prayers. The service lasts about 35-45 minutes.
One of the core parts of the minyan’s mission is to provide an opportunity for mourners to say kaddish daily. Many in our congregation do that for the traditional 11-month period when it involves a parent, or one month for a spouse, child or sibling. That’s not easy, and the minyan aims to help it happen. Many describe participating in the minyan to say kaddish as like joining a new family of sorts. It’s moving when people who haven’t been frequent minyan attendees come to say kaddish and end up coming long past their kaddish period. Many current regulars fit this category. There is a wonderful symmetry to the generosity: the minyan provides a structure for people to say kaddish, and those helped later become helpers to those in need.
Tom R. provides incalculable service as minyan coordinator. He seems to be always counting, unobtrusively, to make sure there will be at least 10 people attending. He’s always taking note of who’s going on vacation, who’s going on a business trip and who’s sick (those people often get calls from fellow minyanaires). He often contacts people to see if they can fill in a few days at minyan. The Rabbi is tremendous support for Tom, helping him encourage attendance. With the Torah read each Monday and Thursday and on some holidays, there’s much responsibility there. Lester F. does most of the minyan’s Torah reading himself skillfully and with great dedication, and he has taught a number of others so they can help. The Cantor also assists in an administrative role for the minyan.
Once a month from September to June, the minyan holds a breakfast after the Friday service. Besides socializing over bagels and lox, there’s a fascinating chance to talk about a topic, often drawn from current events by the Rabbi. At the June breakfast, a “minyanaire of the year” is honored for service. This year’s worthy recipient on June 1 is Joseph K., a long-time regular who often leads part of the service. Yes, being at HJC at 7:15 in the morning (not ‘til 8:45 on Sunday!) can be challenging. But if you go, you’ll be taken by the warmth of the atmosphere and you may find it easier to get there. It’s a calm and wonderful way to start the day.
Another regular activity that says much about HJC is the Jewish Nutritional Network program, better known as JNN. Through it, thousands of meals have been prepared and delivered to those in desperate need of food, often homeless people in temporary housing in Suffolk County.
This is a year-round, weekly program under the auspices of our devoted social action committee. Volunteers gather Sunday morning and meals are prepared in the dairy or meat kitchen at HJC, using food left over from synagogue functions or purchased with contributions from congregants or assistance from the social action committee. Individual meals are made up, about 40 each Sunday now but sometimes more, and then delivered to those in need.
There are many things to admire in JNN. The constancy of effort is amazing, as is the generosity of spirit and teamwork from its volunteers. Another remarkable aspect is the multigenerational makeup. There are students of religious school age who participate with parents, post-bar/bat mitzvah teens on their own, and adults of all ages. This range of age is so much a part of who we are as a congregation. Some from outside the congregation also participate.
One of the clever slogans of our centennial program has been, “It only happens once in 100 years.” But happily, many wonderful things keep happening every day and week at our synagogue, and we look forward to them for a long time to come.
by Noel Rubinton
There was a time when I had mixed feelings about the scene at High Holiday services. Too noisy, I thought, with too many people, including lots who I didn’t know. I missed the relative intimacy of regular Shabbat services, and even the other holidays during the year. But my perspective has changed dramatically in recent years as my Jewish horizons have widened and my connections to our congregation have grown. Now I view the High Holidays as a sort of wonderful family reunion. What a moving chance to celebrate our community and our place as Jews. Here we are a minority in the world, but for a few days we are a great mass.
One of the turning points came on a quiet Rosh Hashanah morning a few years ago. The usher assigned to the main door hadn’t arrived yet. Rabbi Kurshan motioned to me with the familiar gentle crook of his finger. He asked me if I would stand by the door until the usher arrived and I agreed. The next half hour turned out to be one of the highlights of the holidays for me that year as I got a chance to say Shana Tova to a wide range of people as they came in, including those I knew and plenty I did not. It was truly a piece of celebrating a communal experience.
Putting together high holiday services takes a cast as large as one of those old Cecil B. DeMille movie extravaganzas. So in itself, all the planning is a community-building experience. Many dozens of our fellow congregants are involved in many ritual and other tasks. Among them (and I’m sorry if I’ve skipped the one that you’re involved in) are planning all the bima honors, preparing for all the lay leadership and participation in services, organizing children’s services, polishing the silver, changing the torah covers, getting food ready for our break-fast and helping to check tickets as part of keeping our building secure. To the volunteers involved in all this, thank you from me and the congregation. Our services wouldn’t be the same without you.
On top of this are the monumental efforts of our clergy and other staff. The Cantor and Rabbi spend months getting ready for the High Holidays in various ways, and their holiday work is in significant ways a reflection of their entire careers. The front office labors mightily this time of year, as does our custodial staff. Many of our teachers get involved in the holiday services, as well as some congregants who volunteer to help teach.
All the effort it takes to make HJC’s High Holiday services is the not so secret ingredient in our success. This sense of community is what makes the hubbub seem like a happy roar. Several of my predecessors as president gave me a hint of just how powerful the experience would be sitting on the bima for the High Holidays, but I don’t think I could have imagined it until I experienced it last year. To look out on the crowd of many hundreds of fellow congregants and guests is an incredibly moving, uplifting experience.
To walk around the sanctuary and the whole building on these days makes me believe even more strongly in the strength of HJC and our possibilities. I can’t wait to experience this again, and look forward to seeing you. On behalf of myself and the rest of my family, I send you wishes for a sweet and healthy New Year.
by Noel Rubinton
Now that we are finishing this wonderful series of holidays, capped by concluding the torah and starting again, it seems particularly appropriate to look towards our community’s future and what we’re doing to strengthen it.
In significant ways, the Huntington Jewish Center’s future is brighter than it has been in some time. We have accomplished so much in our year-long centennial celebration. The bricks of the Centennial Plaza and Centennial Garden are just the latest projects to come to fruition.
We expect the Centennial Endowment Fund will be in a category of its own as a legacy project. Commitments for more than $1 million have been made, and as the fund grows, the interest generated by it will be an important recurring source of revenue for synagogue. We also will be encouraging people to make additional contributions to the principal of the fund.
Another reason for optimism is the recent sale of our Plandome property. The Aronson and Gordon families generously donated this land to us more than ten years ago and its value helped us finance a large-scale renovation of our synagogue building. But the road to selling it was lengthy. Now we’ve been able to complete it, pay off our mortgage and realize some proceeds, thus simplifying and improving our finances. It will be most helpful to look towards our future without the complications of a mortgage and pending land sale.
Speaking of our building, we have completed most of the maintenance and repair work that we’ve been engaged in since last winter. Much of it was financed by the special assessment approved at our annual congregational meeting in May. Making the building, in which we spend so much time and do so much, cleaner and safer has been a major priority. We’ve put ourselves on a better course.
Despite all this good news, there are still challenges on the horizon. The biggest are demographic, and they mirror being faced by Jews all over the United States. The conservative movement within Judaism has been seeing an erosion of its numbers, and this has been clear in the metropolitan New York region. Fortunately, we can expect new thinking and energy about this problem from the movement itself—there is great promise in the recently-installed new chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Arnie Eisen.
But in the meantime these trends have hurt synagogues and other Jewish institutions on Long Island, and we have faced this pressure. In recent years, our membership has showed a slow decline. It has not been sudden or in huge numbers, but it has diminished our overall revenues, and our religious and nursery schools are well off their peak enrollments.
The Jewish and secular press have documented such problems throughout Long Island and in New York City, and have written about a number of synagogue mergers in places where there have been dramatic declines.
We’re not close to having such severe problems, but we want to be proactive to make sure we don’t get there. Besides all the steps we’ve taken, including establishing the endowment fund, we have recently set up a professional structure committee. It’s a large, broad-based group, under the leadership of Arthur P. and Cheryl B. and including nearly two dozen members.
The charge of this group is to spend the next few months evaluating our professional structure—the positions of rabbi, cantor, nursery school director, religious school director and synagogue administrator. We’re not going to be evaluating the performance of the current occupants of those positions. Instead the purpose is to see how our resources are allocated now towards those positions (professional salaries are one of the largest costs in our budget) and how that will fit in with our projected needs— financial and service-oriented—for the next 5 to 15 years.
The committee won’t just look at how our professional structure works. It will also look at synagogues elsewhere in the New York area and around the country, seeking insights and innovative ideas.
By late this winter, we hope to be talking about their recommendations, including possible realignments. We’ll be keeping you informed about this important committee.
We will also be making other efforts to strengthen our position. On membership, we are working to increase our recruitment efforts. We recently had an open house for which we took out newspapers ads and we will do more of that. This year’s beginning Gan class, for the religious school’s youngest, has about 15 students, the most in many years. That was a result of concerted, imaginative efforts by the professional and volunteer leadership of our nursery and religious schools. We will keep going down that track, as each young student gained usually also leads to a new family in membership.
On November 18, Yoni Rechter, an acclaimed Israeli musician, will perform at HJC and follow the success of David Broza here two years ago. We hope the concert will be a way for many in the broader community to see HJC anew and that we can capitalize that too for membership.
I hope we will all enjoy our new year, pleased with our recent successes but also striving towards future ones that take into account the changing world around us.
by Noel Rubinton
The holidays create wonderful memories every year and this year was certainly no exception. Great things happened at HJC during this year’s cycle of holidays and they were the result of planning and work by many.
While so much was memorable, I think my most powerful images this year may have come from an unexpected place—the Shabbat that followed the start of Sukkot. It was a day in synagogue that gave a lot of reason for optimism about the future of HJC as well as our religion and culture in general.
First, it was the babies. They were out in numbers that morning. Our congregation has been blessed with a bumper crop of babies born to it in the last couple of years. As they grow and some now start to take their first steps, our sanctuary and the halls are filled with happy noises and sights. When we think and talk about the future, we are looking towards them. When visitors ask tentatively if it’s ok to bring babies into the sanctuary, we say yes with pride. Next, there was more about our welcoming quality. As the Rabbi said eloquently during Rosh Hashanah, we need to attract more to our congregation and our success will be related to our warmth as a community. We had visitors on this Shabbat, a couple with young children. It was gratifying to see a number of congregants extend themselves to them in a natural way. We have a wonderful greeters program (and we can always us more—please talk to Maxine F. if you’re interested), but on a routine basis you can see members of the congregation go out of their way to help visitors in ways large and small.
In the sanctuary, there was the warm, intelligent service that we don’t, and shouldn’t, take for granted. The Rabbi’s care was evident throughout, including a lively discussion about the quick transition from the sobriety of Yom Kippur to the joy of Sukkot. The Cantor’s voice was accessible throughout and marked by her ruach.
The Haftarah was read beautifully by a teen. Involving post-bar and bat mitzvah students in reading Torah and Haftarah, and leading musaf, has been a consistent project of Cantor Chesler, and she has had great success in keeping them involved. For the congregation, it is another way to see the future and the continuum of Jewish life.
A group of exuberant youngsters bounded up to the bima and led Ein Keloheinu. The sight and sound of them never fails to bring smiles to those in the audience. We are lucky to currently have a particularly large and enthusiastic group of Nitzanim students under the bright eye of Jessie W., and it makes the latter part of services a treat.
After the service, we had Kiddush in our congregational sukkah on a bright, unseasonably warm day. The Men’s Club, which has made building the sukkah a special project in recent years, outdid itself this year. Not only was the engineering top-notch to keep us and the sukkah safe, but the use of natural bamboo and s'chach gave it a beautiful appearance and a lovely view up to the skies. The work on this by men’s club is just another example of how much volunteers add to our congregational life.
I left synagogue on this recent shabbat feeling hopeful. Yes, we have many challenges ahead of us, and that has always been the history of our congregation and our people. But there is also much to be thankful for, and it’s important to spend time thinking about those strengths. Because we have the power to use those strengths to help determine our future.
by Noel Rubinton
We're well into our formal continuing education season at HJC. The Rabbi has begun teaching his year-long course on Walking with God, and many are enjoying it. We've also had other programs as part of the larger Jewish world around us, including connected to an Island-wide community reading project.
The courses we offer each year have been high quality. And, as the Rabbi has pointed out, we are benefitting from the funding by UJA Federation of New York of other educational initiatives, such as the Meah and Melton programs. One of the wonderful benefits of membership at our synagogue is the opportunity to participate in such programs.
But there's an even broader way to think about continuing education at HJC, which shows us still greater opportunities.
Virtually every service and program that we undertake has a large educational component. It's clearly aligned with the goal stated by Rabbi Kurshan on Rosh Hashanah that we be a welcoming place that includes people as widely as possible.
I've experienced this personally and hope many of you also have. When I first joined HJC in 1993, I was a bit intimidating by the formal religious services. There was so much Hebrew and so much tradition with which I was not familiar. Happily, I overcame these feelings over time through increased familiarity and also through learning, both formal and informal.
On the formal side, I took two introductory Hebrew reading courses at HJC and they helped me re-learn reading skills. Also there was for a time a monthly learner's service on Saturday morning. It was really more of a small group discussion of how the service worked and various traditions, led by Alisa Kurshan and others in the congregation. One of the best things I took out of those sessions was more confidence to ask questions about the how and why of services, and that has served me well through the years.
Informal learning opportunities are enormous at HJC. I don't think a service goes by when I don't learn something about religious practices, traditions and theories. Sometimes it comes in an casual aside from the Rabbi when we do a prayer, sometimes it comes in his torah discussion, other times it springs from just having heard or read a prayer a little differently and a lightbulb going off. And in an example of the Rabbi's willingness to experiment, services on December 22 will be enhanced by his plans for a special Shabbat Tefillah focused on enhancing our connection to prayer.
Over the years, Rabbi Kurshan' s sermons have become more interactive as he has tried to take down the wall that can separate Rabbi and congregations. The Torah Teasers help in this. So does his discussion on Shabbat morning and even his moving around on the bima during the discussion. Adding some give-and-take during his sermon for the many hundreds on Rosh Hashanah— having a discussion one day, and giving a quiz the other—was another step in giving services the engaging flavor of a classroom too.
It' s not just regular Shabbat services that give us an opportunity to learn. Shabbat Mishpacha for school age children and families have offered this, as have family services for the nursery school community. A new program of the past few years—a family Sukkot service in the religious school—has added a lot. Each year on the first night of Shavuot there is a tikkun; last year's gave a great chance to study texts about Jerusalem. A healing service has been part of our last two Yom Kippurs.
If you dig down, there' s even more. The Chai Club runs terrific programs where congregants and others come in to talk and teach. Sisterhood and Men's Club regularly host speakers and workshops on fascinating topics. The Friday Night Live committee recently put on a wonderful evening to give people the opportunity to learn new melodies. The Israel committee has done marvelous programs, often featuring guests from Israel.
There' s also more on the informal level. There are many congregants who regularly help others on Hebrew reading and chanting and other projects. The generosity in the congregation is heart-warming.
So how do you plug into all this, if you haven't already or are looking for more? The first way is to read our flyers, the Bulletin and other announcements. We try to publicize as much as we can and with as much advance notice as possible. Another way is to ask—in the office; of the Rabbi, who is always actively engaged in trying to help congregants on their Jewish journeys; of me and others in leadership.
And don't just stop with what is offered. If there's something else you are interested in, suggest it. The odds are that if you're interested, others will be too. If there's something we haven't offered lately, such as the Hebrew reading course, tell us and we' try to put it together.
There's so much to learn and we all have a great deal to gain through participation.
by Noel Rubinton
I recently had the great pleasure, along with Cheryl S., of attending the 2007 International biennial convention of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which includes nearly 800 conservative synagogues in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and has more than 1.5 million members.
I’ve never thought of myself as much of a conventioneer. They often get the reputation of no work, all play. But I was quickly sold when I heard about this one on a winter’s night earlier this year when HJC hosted a meeting of Suffolk County synagogues and one of the attendees turned out to be Carole K. of North Shore Jewish Center in Port Jefferson Station, the chair of the whole convention. It sounded like an important meeting and a significant way to get further connected with the broader Jewish world. And I was richly rewarded for going.
What I heard loud and clear in speeches, workshops and informal conversation was the need for us in Conservative Judaism to provide a better sense of Jewish community in our congregations. We heard over and over that this kind of strong, welcoming community is what people are looking for when they consider affiliating with a synagogue, as well as when they decide whether to stay connected.
This central theme came through in speeches by important figures such as Arnold Eisen, the new chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary who is such a breath of fresh air, and Ron Wolfson, a funny, charismatic Jewish educator who was cofounder of Synagogue 2000 and now Synagogue 3000. Wolfson, you might remember, was the source of a funny but also sad anecdote that Rabbi Kurshan used during the High Holidays. It was about an older man who instead of greeting Wolfson, asked him to get out of his seat in a near-empty sanctuary because it was his usual spot. I recommend you read some of Eisen and Wolfson’s writings. You can see a sampler on the web—for Wolfson, http://www.synagogue3000.org/publications.html, and for Eisen, http://www.jtsa.edu/Administration/Office_of_the_Chancellor/Speeches_and_Writings.xml.
But for me the best example and case for community came in a chance conversation. One day at lunch I sat next to a man who turned out to Donald R., a lovely person who is a longtime leader at a conservative synagogue in Memphis. In our talking, he told me about how two people from Greenwood, Miss. happened to come on a trip by his congregation to Israel a few years ago. It turned out that their congregation in Greenwood is down to less than 10 members. So on a recent Rosh Hashanah, some couples from Memphis drove two hours to Greenwood to help lead and provide a minyan for the congregation there. The tradition has grown and more and more from Memphis make the trip. The service is capped by a woman from the Greenwood congregation hosting everyone in attendance at a lunch in the two-car garage attached to her home.
Now that’s community—people driving two hours to help with a service and then eating lunch with the entire Jewish community in town. It made me think the Memphis congregation was the kind I’d want to join.
What can we in Huntington learn from all this? Plenty. As Rabbi Kurshan spoke about on the High Holidays, it’s of critical importance for us to be an ever more welcoming community. How do we do that? By creating as many entryways as possible into our congregation. For some, Shabbat, morning or holiday services are that gateway. We have to help them through, by making services as understandable as possible, by aiding those whose Hebrew skills need sharpening. For others, the way in will be through their children, and our nursery and religious school programs. We need to support the whole family in that. Adult education programs will be the entrée for some, cultural endeavors such as concerts for others.
Overall, we need to keep our programming diverse and accessible. When making synagogue decisions of all kind, we should always think about this question: will this idea bring us closer to having a full and meaningful community.
I came back from the convention with an even greater belief in HJC’s chance to make a difference and our opportunity to build a still-stronger community here. To do that, we need to all work together, and I look forward to us continuing our efforts
by Noel Rubinton
The Shabbat just after the start of winter break is usually a rather sleepy one at HJC, where there’s coziness but not too much else of note. But this year was a far cry from that. More than 100 people came together in the sanctuary on December 22 for Shabbat Tefilah. This new program, planned and carried out with care by Rabbi Kurshan, focused on prayer and its power. The Rabbi invited 10 congregants to share thoughts about their favorite prayer in the Saturday morning service. The result was a fascinating and often moving look at the intimacy and intricacies of prayer. It also was a great example of the range of interests within our congregation.
Despite all the closeness within our congregation, our connection to prayer and our relationship to God don’t usually come up in conversation. These are seen as intensely personal subjects about which we are often reluctant to ask others. As a result, it’s largely a mystery what people, even ones who we know well in other ways, are thinking when they pray. Such connections were what Shabbat Tefilah was all about, and was a big part of what made it so captivating.
Throughout the morning service, Rabbi Kurshan called on congregants to speak about prayers. The answers, and the styles of them, were diverse. Jim sang part of his commentary as he related a song, playwright Stephen Sondheim’s “Not a day goes by,” to his prayer. Lester talked about being transported to his childhood shul in the Bronx by a prayer each week. Elaine spoke of the “Shema,” including about how it is often the last words said by Jews before they die. Maya was passionate about how she’s remembered her childhood prayer experiences at HJC even as she’s traveled far from Huntington.
Taken together, the comments by congregants added enormously to the morning. The program was a vibrant reminder of the possibilities of prayer. Beyond that, it spoke to the diversity, depth and intellectual strength of our congregation and its members. Since the program, Rabbi Kurshan has been flooded by positive comments about it, and he is thinking about ways to build upon it and to include the many other wonderful voices within the congregation.
After the service, there was a lunch. Though only publicized for a couple of weeks before the event, there were nearly 100 people there. Beautifully coordinated by Sylvia and assisted by several others, it was the kind of affair where people wanted to linger. It was a great way to ward off the cold and dark of winter. In all, it made for a lovely day at synagogue, one full of intelligence and hope for our future as a congregational family
by Noel Rubinton
On a recent Saturday morning, Rabbi Kurshan led us in a fascinating discussion based on the week’s Torah portion, Vayiggash. In it, Yehuda (Judah) defends his brother, while earlier in the Book of Genesis, Avraham defends the broader community.
The rabbi raised a provocative hypothetical situation: if you were faced with simultaneous fires, one in your own house and another in a neighbor’s, which would you help put out first? After a spirited dialogue, the Rabbi made a powerful case for helping yourself first.
In the Torah discussion, the point came clear that it is important to support your own first and then go further. This isn’t out of craven self-interest, rather it is an acknowledgement of great needs “at home” and the recognition that if you don’t support your own, they may go without help. Then your own community won’t be strong enough to help others.
Rabbi Kurshan also used this idea to frame efforts to support our synagogue financially. As you know, it takes tremendous financial resources to support HJC and we can’t put it all on our backs as congregants in dues—everyone couldn’t afford it that way. So we work hard to raise money in other ways, including annual fundraising projects.
This year, as you may have seen from your mail and other announcements lately, we have two terrific fundraisers in progress.
The first is part fundraiser, part fantasy: the HJC “big ticket” raffle. We are selling 300 tickets for $100 each and the winner will receive $10,000. The synagogue will receive the other money for our communal needs. There are also exciting supplementary prizes.
With some people saying that it can be too complicated and costly to go to a fundraising event, this one is for everyone: you don’t have to go anywhere and you might win a lot of money. If you really want to go somewhere, join us for the big drawing after our Havdalah Under the Stars program on April 12. And if $100 is too steep, make up a group with friends, relatives or others and split the cost. On the other hand, if you can’t imagine just buying one ticket, that’s fine too, buy as many as you’d like! We have more than 30 people working as ticket agents, and you can buy tickets from the front office. Get them while they last.
The second fundraiser is a follow-up to a wonderful program from last year. As part of our centennial, we did a beautiful renovation of the entrance to the nursery and religious schools, with the centerpiece being the brick walkway. We’re renewing that brick campaign now to help more of us honor a special person or event. With school graduations and other celebrations coming up, a brick is a great way to mark the simcha. For those whose families have already bought bricks, it’s a chance to another brick or two for what we forgot last year. You can also buy bricks through the office (and online at www.bricksrus.com/order/hjc).
For our longer-term fundraising, there have been some exciting developments recently for our centennial endowment fund. Most of our initial pledgers have made first payments on their commitments, and many have generously gone beyond what they needed to. So there is the beginnings of a fund that we expect to grow to more than $1 million within five years, producing interest to help fund critical HJC needs while also promoting the growth of the size of the fund. An endowment governance document, approved by the campaign cabinet and the board of trustees, sets out a procedure by which only interest will be used and the fund’s growth will be encouraged. The fund is now under the management of an independent endowment fund board. It is an outstanding group of seven congregants who are active and talented in business fields, and are also deeply committed to the fund and our synagogue. The group will oversee management of the fund and supervise the distribution of interest to the synagogue in later years. The board will work with the board of trustees, but is independent in order to best represent the aspirations of donors to the fund and the interests of HJC.
The endowment fund is always open to gifts. Moving into this new phase, we will soon reopen more active solicitation. As we move forward with the fund, it’s another chance to remember and thank all the founders of this effort, plus many more volunteers. We hope their leadership will be recalled and used as an example as others step into the effort.
Our community is tremendously generous in supporting the needs of many other causes, but there is a special need and urgency to help our own synagogue. We look forward to continued success in this crucial endeavor.
by Noel Rubinton
Passover is a much beloved holiday.
There are so many things to enjoy each year. Just a few: going through cookbooks, shopping at a wonderful Passover-friendly supermarket, searching for chametz, hosting family and friends, getting re-acquainted with matzah, eating Passover candy and at the end of the holiday, having that first slice of pizza. There’s so much more on my list and I’m sure yours too.
Passover may be the ultimate family and home holiday within our annual cycle. So many things happen around our homes during the holiday that are savored throughout the year and whole lifetimes.
If you asked 100 people what they liked about Passover, probably not too many would say going to synagogue. No offense to any synagogue, including ours, but it’s just not where people’s Passover heads are usually at.
But it would be a mistake to not sample or at least think about some of the pleasures that synagogue offers during Passover. HJC over the years has worked to build many Passover-related occasions and traditions that are meaningful.
First, as in many other years, we’ll have some excellent workshops to help us prepare to enjoy the holiday as much as possible. On Thursday, April 3 at 8 pm, Alisa Kurshan, in a program titled, "From the Carp in the Bathtub to the Fish in the Jar," will be talking about how to create and sustain Passover seder traditions. On Monday, April 7 at 8 pm, Rabbi Kurshan will discuss "How to Lead a Great Seder." On Wednesday, April 9 at 8 pm, Cantor Chesler will teach "Best Seder Melodies.”
On April 18, the day before the start of the holiday, we will have the unusually named “Fast of the First Born.” Despite the name, it’s for all, not just first born, and involves eating as the men’s club sponsors a final eating of chametz and Rabbi Kurshan leads a siyyum with a relevant discussion. There is a literal purpose beneath it, as the meal allows a first born to break the fast that otherwise would have been an all-day one, since he or she is eating as part of the celebration of a mitzvah rather than for pleasure.
Special holiday services are held on the first, second, seventh and eighth days of Passover. The torah readings during the holiday generally focus on the celebration of Passover. An especially beautiful reading comes on the seventh day (which this year falls on Shabbat), Shirat HaYam. The Song of the Sea relates the dramatic story of the Israelites crossing the Sea of Reeds.
One of the several supplemental books that we read during the year, Shir HaShirim or Song of Songs, is chanted during Passover. The voices from the congregation that chant this gloriously bring across the theme of spring on the seventh day.
Also on the seventh day, we pay tribute to our Torah readers during the year, which is always a meaningful moment. On the eighth day, we recite Yizkor for departed family and friends.
Some fascinating seasonal moments also happen. On the first day of Passover, the prayer for dew is recited at the beginning of the Musaf Amidah, marking the end of the rainy season in Israel. At our evening services before the seventh and eighth days (8 p.m. on Friday the 25th and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday the 26th), we count the omer, part of the annual count between the second night of Passover and Shavuot.
And yes, of course, there is the food in synagogue. Challah and cookies are replaced by matzah and macaroons. The rabbi’s cutting of the challah becomes his cracking of matzah.
So Passover is a rich, diverse holiday. As there now have become a seemingly endless variety of haggadahs, there are so many ways to experience and enjoy the holiday. As you celebrate Passover this year, my family wishes yours a chag kasher v’sameach.
by Noel Rubinton
It is astonishing to me that it has been two years since I wrote my first Bulletin column as incoming president.
The time has flown by and being president has truly been an extraordinary experience. I hope I have helped us grow as a community and change for the better, at least a little.
I may have held the position of president singly, but I needed and depended on the help of many others in everything I have done.
The first and overwhelming thank you goes to my wife and daughter. I don’t think we had any idea how much a family endeavor this would be. They bore the many sacrifices with grace, putting up with night after night of me out at meetings, living with me sitting on the bima away from them on Saturdays and holidays, and countless other ways. Beyond that were all the ways that they jumped in and helped me, listening to me talk about issues large and small and suggesting solutions, and acting as leaders in their own right. I would like to thank my father too. His lifetime of volunteer leadership helped inspire me to do this.
Working with the Rabbi and Cantor has been one of the great privileges of this position. I have learned a great deal from them on subjects that have gone way beyond Jewish rituals. The rest of the professional staff at HJC has also been a pleasure to work with, and I, like the rest of the synagogue, could not have gone forward without their support and help. All the others who work in our building, from teachers to custodians to others, do so much. I am grateful to them.
On the volunteer side, I have been fortunate to have wonderful people on our executive committee during the past two years. Their commitment has been above and beyond.
The board of trustees has also been a group full of wisdom. So too have been committee chairs throughout the synagogue and all the people who populate the committees and other projects. It has been wonderful to watch the continued resurgence of Men’s Club. And while I came into the presidency with an appreciation of Sisterhood, I am now more than ever aware of the tremendous debt we owe to the women who do so much for the health and operation of HJC.
There’s one other group I want to mention in gratitude. Each Kol Nidre I have been moved when our past presidents come to the bima and hold torahs during that sacred prayer. It is powerful statement of our past and our continuity of leadership. I didn’t know how much that group would be there for me as president. Any time, and especially when I was facing a difficult situation, it was incredibly comforting to turn to one or several past presidents who had truly “been there” and to get, unquestioningly, their active help.
Leading the Huntington Jewish Center has been a phenomenal honor. It has been extremely satisfying to have a chance to reflect back on our history through our centennial and to work to ensure its future. The sense of community we felt during our centennial was a beautiful thing, with a high water mark being the May 20 celebration that brought hundreds of us together. The centennial will be long remembered, including through the terrific history book, the striking centennial plaza brick walkway, the beautiful centennial garden and the historical marker. We hope the centennial endowment fund, for which we have commitments of more than a million dollars, will help nourish our synagogue for many years as it generates interest income to be used for some of our core purposes. The process of raising funds for all these projects demonstrates what a loving congregation we have. It was a special pleasure to participate as the process showed me again how committed our membership is.
Besides the centennial, many other good things happened in the past two years because of the efforts of so many. We finally closed on our Plandome land deal, and that closure helped clarify our financial situation. We improved the cleanliness and safety of our synagogue building and set the groundwork for further improvements. We continued and expanded the success of Friday Night Live. We put on another successful play with “Bye Bye Birdie.”
Even more importantly, we saw that the spirit of volunteerism remains alive and well at HJC. From the board to other parts of the community, there were many examples of tireless efforts. I was regularly amazed by how many people were working on projects even before I asked them if they would help. There were few things more gratifying than to see such initiative taken.
I will be sad to leave the leadership of the Huntington Jewish Center. But I know that our synagogue will be well cared for by the new team that we will vote upon later this month at our annual meeting. Leading that slate is Cheryl S., and I know her to be a fine and intelligent person. She cares deeply about HJC and wants to make it better place for all of us.
One of the prime lessons of the centennial has been that we are part of a long, unbroken chain at the Huntington Jewish Center. I thank you for all your support in the last two years and I will be glad to be part of the future with you. p>
As I begin my tenure as president at HJC, I would like to tell you about myself and how I came to this point in my life.
Unlike many congregants with a lifelong and multigenerational connection to HJC, I’m somewhat of a newcomer. I came to HJC nearly 16 years ago as I heard it had a wonderful preschool program. I enrolled my son, then two years old, in Sue Stern’s class. I can remember like it was yesterday, sitting outside of the classroom for weeks until he was ready to let me leave. Over the next few years he graduated preschool, followed by my daughter. It was during this time, as a nursery school mom, that I made many of my closest friends. We trekked to nursery school. We stood in the halls waiting to pick up our children and we began to spend time together. We connected as parents of young children and we connected Jewishly.
During my children’s preschool years, I , too, got a nursery school education in Judaism. I was brought up in a home in which I knew that I was Jewish and in which we celebrated all of the holidays, but in which there was no formal Jewish education. Neither my two sisters nor I went to religious school and none of us became bat mitzvahs during our youth. I can remember, as a child, when school was closed for a Jewish holiday, spending time with one particular friend as all my other friends were at synagogue. Growing up as part of a synagogue community was not part of my experience.
So when my children were in nursery school, I began to learn about being Jewish. They came home with a challah and a Haggadah. They took me on a school trip to Israel. They said the blessings on Shabbat. These are all common Jewish experiences, but they were foreign to me. My desire to keep up with my children and the curiosity that was now peaked in me led me to seek out Rabbi Kurshan and find out how I could learn so I could understand what my children were telling me. A few years later, I was one of about twenty women (and one man) who as adults became bat(bar)/ mitzvahs. We met with Rabbi Kurshan every other Tuesday for two years and learned about rituals, customs, prayers and many other things which began to lay the foundation of my own jewish experience. I learned how to read hebrew (albeit slowly) in a two week crash course taught by Mark W. and even chanted a fourth of a haftorah, which was an enormous and gratifying challenge.
The discussions about spirituality resonated with me during my bat mitzvah education. How this is experienced is unique for each individual. For me, it translated into a sense of peacefulness. I took in the peacefulness of sitting in the sanctuary on shabbat- shutting off my cell phone, letting go of the outside and its stresses, enjoying the serenity of this time and just being. I found a certain sense of calm and comfort in the regularity and sameness of the Shabbat service. I could count on it weekly to give me the same message to let go and just be and it, generally, worked for me. That sense of sameness became a support and I found myself gravitating to the sanctuary in times of difficulty. When I learned of illness in my family and death, I went to services to be a part of a community which I knew would help me through my grief and my sadness. I came to services to seek out that peace of which I was so fond. And I was able to find that peace and comfort and move through some of the more difficult times in my life and the life of my family.
I also celebrated many mitzvahs in the sanctuary at HJC. My daughter was named at the Shul and both of my children went to religious school and became bar and bat mitzvahs in the main sanctuary. I call the front seats in the sanctuary where the family sits on bar/bat mitzvah day, “the best seats in the house.” Sitting there proudly watching each of my children lead the congregation in prayer were truly highlights in my life. Also, my husband and I were fortunate to be married by Rabbi Kurshan with Cantor Chesler beautifully chanting the brachot. So I can say at this time that while we are relative newcomers to HJC, my life and the lives of my family are filled with many HJC experiences.
As for my involvement in synagogue life, in the past I served as fundraising chair and centennial programming chair. I have sat on the board of trustees for I’m not sure how many years and am a member of the executive committee. Over the last several years I have not worked in my profession but have devoted my time to raising my two children, nurturing a relatively new marriage and volunteering for HJC.
I hope that you have learned something about who I am and, even those who knew me well have learned something new. I look forward, in the next two years, to working with and getting to know more of you, finding out where you are from and, hopefully, to make a worthwhile contribution to this special synagogue of ours.