February 2019

Building Community: Looking Back, Looking Forward, While Focusing on the Present

[February 22, 2019 Installation Service]

In the February edition of the ORacle, our monthly newsletter, I shared one of my favorite Jewish stories, Honi the Circle Maker, a Jewish Rip Van Winkle tale.[i] While traveling along a road, Honi the Circle Maker saw an old man planting a carob tree. He asked the man how long it would take for the tree to bear fruit, and the man told him seventy years. Honi sat down to rest for a while and fell asleep. “Are you the man who planted this tree” Honi said when he awoke. “No, I’m his grandson,” the man answered. Honi had been asleep for seventy years! Honi returned to where his home had been. He knocked on the door. “Is the son of Honi the Circle Maker still alive?” he asked the people there. “His son has died,” they said. “But his grandson is still living.”

Wow! L’Dor Vador. From Generation to Generation. Honi the Circle Maker had come full circle. A bit like me on my return to Washington State. It is powerful for me to introduce you, my new community, to my family and extended Jewish family who raised me here in the Pacific Northwest. While I do believe that deep roots build strong community, roots and history and even planting seeds for the next generation only go so far in building community. The story of Honi doesn’t end with him enjoying the sweet ripened fruit, our Sages in the Talmud continue Honi’s story.

Honi introduced himself to his grandson’s family, but no one believed it to be him. Honi left his family and went to the house of study where he had spent so much time as a student and as a teacher. He saw the students studying, he could hear his teachings being taught, “the law is as clear to us as in the day of Honi the Circle Maker.” “I am Honi!” he called to the students. But they, like his family, didn’t believe him.

While Honi lived to see the carob tree, his family, and his legacy as a scholar flourish, Honi himself was lost. No one knew him. He was deeply hurt. Honi prayed for his death: “o chavruta o mituta.” God heard Honi’s prayers and he died. We are taught that from this tragedy comes the saying, ‘either companionship or death.’ For what is life without relationships? What is community without the joy and benefit of relationships?

Jewish tradition and the rich history of Jewish continuity in Snohomish County lays a strong foundation here at Temple Beth Or. Together, we are planting the seeds of our future in many ways. We celebrate our children and are blessed to have the strength and leadership of our amazing Director of Education, Amy Paquette. We are also investing in our future through our Atideynu leadership program driven by Sonia Siegal Vexler and are developing a strategic plan–thank you Paul Vexler for offering your energy in this area. But as important as roots and seeds are in our endeavor of creating sacred community are the care and attention we give to one another in the present: right here, right now.

I have to say, while it may seem a bit late for some, I love that my installation service is taking place more than a few months into my relationship with our Beth Or community. I have been overwhelmed the past months by your openness to letting me into your lives. You have allowed me to support you and rejoice with you. I’m not only thinking of big milestone moments, but the everyday stepping stones too: discussing how to integrate loss or chronic illness into life, saying goodbye to a beloved pet, beginning new jobs and new relationships, or simply spending time together laughing late into a Friday night oneg. You have graciously allowed me space to make mistakes and grow and learn with you.

Relationships need continued nurturing. Of course, there are members of our Temple family who I have come to know better than others since July. I’m trying hard to share my attention, but hope that you will feel comfortable reaching out to me too. Send me an e-mail so we can set-up a meeting or a coffee date or try to make it services or a class so we can spend more time together. This Shabbat, we are not only looking to our future together, we are honoring the committed relationship that we are actively forging together. Right here, right now.

“O chavruta o mituta–either companionship or death.” Honi’s prayer is powerful but a little stark. Kohelet offers this teaching with poetry. “Secure yourself a friend; two are better than one. Do not work alone, and learn to rejoice in another’s company. If one of you falls, the other is there to help you rise. If it is cold, you can huddle together for warmth. If danger threatens, two can face it better than one. And three better still; the cord of three strands outlasts the cord of two. Seek out companions for work. Seek out friends for life. Make room for yourself and also for others.[ii] Thank you for making room for me, as your rabbi, in this beautiful community.

I must have had the story of Honi in mind when I asked our member, Rabbi David Fine, to offer me my Installation blessing. Rabbi Fine is a link to my past, in particular my dad, may his memory be for a blessing. My dad was a synagogue leader at Temple Beth Am and David and my dad got to know each other through David’s role at the Union for Reform Judaism. They also both happened to be from Oak Park, Michigan. Rabbi Fine knew me a bit as a child and I have caught him rubbing his eyes wondering how I seem to have grown up into a rabbi, just over night. In addition to our history, Rabbi Find and I share a deep commitment to the future of Temple Beth Or and Jewish life in the Pacific Northwest.

But what will make Rabbi Fine’s blessing even more meaningful is our present, multi-faceted relationship we are developing. Rabbi Fine is an empowering mentor and also wonderful colleague. This evening, Rabbi Fine will offer me his blessing and I am thrilled that in just a few weeks, I will have the privilege of offering blessing to David and Beth and their entire family celebrate the upcoming wedding of their son Avi to his bride, Erin. My pleasure to invite my rabbi and friend, Rabbi David Fine to the Bima.

Rabbi Rachel Kort

[i] Talmud Bavli, Ta’anit 23a

[ii] Secure Yourself a Friend (Rami Shapiro) Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

afriedma / From our Rabbi, Rabbi Kort /

Celebrating Bar and Bat Mitzvah As a Beth Or Community

The ORacle, February 2019 Issue

Did you know that Madonna’s son, Rocco, had a bar mitzvah!? The party was lavish. That was to be expected. There were some beautiful touches to the event that would make anyone’s rabbi kvell, like having a Torah scroll commissioned for the occasion. But there is a surprising fact about Rocco’s bar mitzvah that entertainment media seemed to miss. Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, author of Putting God on the Guest List: Reclaiming the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah, noticed this bar mitzvah “might be the first…in history in which none of the cast of characters is Jewish. Madonna isn’t. Guy Richie isn’t. Rocco surely isn’t.” What does it mean to become a bar or bat mitzvah outside the context of Jewish community?

In Hebrew, bar/bat mitzvah means “son/daughter of the commandments.” Our tradition teaches that at age thirteen young adults take on responsibility for their own commitments to observing the foundations of Jewish life. The bar or bat mitzvah ceremony centers around the student offering their strength to their Jewish community by leading worship, reading from the Torah, and sharing one’s unique teaching of the weekly Torah portion. If an essential element of becoming a bar or bat mitzvah is a celebration of leadership within one’s Jewish community, then the community must play a critical role on a child’s bar or bat mitzvah journey.

Some of the first services that I had the privilege of enjoying with our Beth Or community this past summer were beautiful Shabbat worship led by our newest b’nei mitzvah: Annabelle Heiman, Maya Douglass, and Aron Seigal. I was not only struck by the hard work and commitment exhibited by these three young adults, but also by the pride our Beth Or community took in these thirteen year olds’ achievements.

I want to take the opportunity in this month’s ORacle to invite our Beth Or community to enhance the meaning of bar and bat mitzvah in the lives of our students. We are blessed to have five students who will be called to the Torah as b’nei mitzvah over this coming summer: Izabell Russakoff, Ilana O’Neal, Ben Feinberg, Maggie Feinberg, & David Zieve. When you see these students practicing their prayer leadership skills at services over the next few months, take time to get to know these amazing 7th graders by asking them about their Tikkun Olam Projects or their thoughts on the weekly Torah reading. These are simple ways to show our emerging adults that they are a part of an extended Jewish family through our Temple.

I am excited to share that our upcoming b’nei mitzvah cohort at Beth Or is one of the largest in our history! As these 5th & 6th grade students and their families begin their journey towards bar and bat mitzvah, I would like to ask for your help in joining with me to offer this cohort a special blessing from our community at Shabbat Services on March 8, 7:30 pm.

I wish all of our b’nei mitzvah students and their families ‘mazel tov.’ May we as, a community, help provide each of our young adults becoming bar and bat mitzvah meaning, perspective, and a lasting connection to our timeless traditions.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Rachel Kort

afriedma / From our Rabbi, Rabbi Kort /

A Little Torah on a Snowy Shabbat

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In our Torah portion this week, Terumah, God instructs Moses on how to fashion a sanctuary for God’s presence to dwell with the Israelites in the desert. “In this sanctuary,” God says, “the Israelites are to bring me gifts.” The gifts can be of any kind from any person whose heart moves them in a giving way.

As the snow began to fall this past Sunday, Galit and I went outside and examined perfect snowflakes. It’s amazing to me that a single drop of water can be transformed into a beautiful and intricate ice crystal and no two are alike. “Blessed are You God, who causes the wind to blow and the rain and the snow to fall.” It seems even more amazing that a single, delicate snowflake can come together with other snowflakes and become an incredible force of nature (powerful enough to cause us to cancel services at Temple Beth Or).

While our Israelite ancestors who wandered the desert didn’t know of snow, the Torah teaches us this week that each of us as individuals coming together as a community can create something powerful enough to summon the Divine Presence. While we don’t have the ability to physically be together this Shabbat, I want to invite our community to come together virtually this Shabbat. Join me in posting pictures of your snowy Shabbat or your Shabbat greetings on Facebook or your favorite social media platform.

Click here for Shabbat Blessings

Wishing everyone a warm and safe Shabbat at home.

Rabbi Rachel Kort

afriedma / From our Rabbi, Rabbi Kort /

Returning to My Roots - Planting Together for Our Future

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[The ORacle, February 2019 Issue]

The motto of my rabbinic school was “Do what you love.” When people ask, “How did you decide to become a rabbi?” I instantly think of the loving Jewish community that helped raise me. Growing up, I saw my community caring for one another, learning and praying together, enjoying one another\’s company, and most of all, collectively caring for the children in our community.

One of my favorite stories from the Talmud is one you may know. It’s a Jewish Rip Van Winkle tale. Honi the Circle Maker went for a walk and saw an old man planting a tree. “Why would such an old man plant a tree?” Honi wondered, “It takes a very long time to grow. He might not even be around when the tree is big enough to produce fruit.” As Honi walked on past the man planting, he began to feel very tired, so he decided to stop and take a nap. When Honi awoke, he noticed a beautiful mature carob tree and someone was picking the fruit. “Excuse me sir, did you plant this tree?” Honi asked. “Not me, my grandfather planted it seventy years ago.”

Sometimes returning back to the Pacific Northwest after 20 years away feels like I have only just awoken from a really long nap. Working in the Jewish world and having my daughter attend preschool at the synagogue where I grew up, I run into someone I haven’t seen since I was a child about once a week. They rub their eyes, standing in amazement. The shy young girl they knew seems to have grown up into a rabbi just overnight. They share their pride that a child that they helped raise in their community is now a Jewish leader in the Pacific Northwest.

On Friday, February 22, our community will come together for a special Shabbat. I will have an opportunity to offer our Board leadership and Beth Or’s new president, Vicky Romero, a Blessing of Installation, and the community will offer me your Installation Blessing as well. As rabbi of Temple Beth Or, I truly get to “do what I love” as my profession. While there are many blessings I get to enjoy in the moment, I am excited to have this opportunity to move back home and join with you as a community in continuing to strengthen Jewish life here in Western Washington. While I am enjoying this special time being your new(ish) rabbi, I look forward to being together for many years to come. I imagine being together with you in the distant future, rubbing our eyes, and standing in awe and pride of the Jewish community and leaders we have worked to grow together.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Rachel Kort