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Posts by JonaRose Feinberg:
In the space of this month’s ORacle, I would like to share background on a liturgical change I have introduced to the Oseh Shalom prayer for peace at our worship services. In addition, we’ll share this new version of Oseh Shalom in our bulletin each week.
Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu, v’al kol yisrael, *v’al kol yosh’vei tevel.
May the one who makes peace in the high heavens, make peace upon us, for all of Israel, and for *all who inhabit the earth.
One of the ways we express our core values as a Jewish People is through prayer. Most of our prayers are comprised of samples from biblical texts. The phrase “oseh shalom bimromav” is borrowed from the Book of Job, a book with a universal message about the nature of evil. The phrase “v’al kol yosh’vei tevel” is from the Book of Isaiah. This prophet’s iconic image of peace, “they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,” was not simply meant to be enjoyed by Israel, but by all those who inhabit the earth.
Oseh Shalom is an important prayer. It ends the longer Kaddish and is repeated often. In a traditional worship service, the Kaddish is used to conclude different sections of the prayer service and as a memorial prayer. The words and meaning of Oseh Shalom punctuate our services and our lives.
I first remember reading the universal addition to Oseh Shalom in an Israeli prayerbook in the late 1990s. It became better known after the late Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres’ three children used this version of the Kaddish to remember their father during his funeral in 2016. Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, commented on how fitting this addition was: “Shimon Peres’ life was so powerfully anchored in Jewish values and this land and state he loved with every fiber of his being. But his life was also intertwined with people all over the world, as exemplified by the scores of world leaders gathered to pay their respects.”
This global pandemic invites us to question our relationship within a global society. Our Jewish tradition does not give simple answers about who should fall in our circle of concern and prayer. Our Jewish tradition does capture an overall desire for not only our people, but all peoples to enjoy peace. I hope you will find it meaningful to join with me in extending the words of Oseh Shalom as a particular Jewish prayer for universal peace.
What is Counting the Omer?
The seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot is known as “the Omer period.” An omer refers to the barley offering brought to the Temple on the second day of Passover. Starting on that day, the Torah instructs: “you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the seventh week – 50 days” (Leviticus 23:15-16). The Festival of Shavuot is observed on the 50th day.
We mark each day of the Omer with a blessing. In addition, our Jewish mystical tradition has used the Omer as a type of mindfulness practice since the Middle Ages.
Over the past year, due to the COVID virus and the desire to keep our members safe and healthy, all of TBO’s services, meetings, programming, etc. have been conducted virtually. And it has been a long year. At this time, we are still operating in this mode with a busy Re-Opening Task Force, spearheaded by Wanda Bresnick, helping us to prepare for the happy day when we can safely return to in-person activities.
There have been some unanticipated benefits to this Zoom scenario in that we have seen more of members who previously had not been making it to the building regularly. There are a variety of reasons that had limited their in-person participation such as transportation, mobility, scheduling, health, or childcare challenges. We are so happy to see all these folks on the Zoom screen and are committed to finding ways to continue to engage them going forward into the post-COVID era that lies ahead.
On the flip side, there are some members who have practically disappeared. We have missed them and look forward to seeing them in person in the not-too-distant future. Some of these folks are simply Zoomed-out, experiencing Zoom fatigue from work and/or schooling Zoom demands. Perhaps some are not comfortable with or don’t have access to the equipment/networks needed for successful Zooming. Others maybe just don’t like Zoom. Whatever the reason, we are hoping that in-person times are not too far off and that we will fully reconnect with these members soon.
In the meantime, I would like to encourage the non-Zoomers (as well as the Zoomers) to start re-engaging with the community. A great first step would be to check out our new improved website. JonaRose Feinberg took on the unbelievably daunting task of overhauling the TBO website (thanks Jona!) and it looks great. Another way to be involved that does not involve Zoom is to read all about our activities and programs on any number of platforms including this great publication, the ORacle, or electronically through ORbits or Facebook. If you have any questions about any of the TBO communication tools, you can reach out to our Communications team at communications@templebethor.org or contact Sarah Davis in the office.
Further, if you are up for it, join the Mitzvah Corps in supporting our members in need. This does not involve Zoom at all! The Committee Spot Light section of the May ORacle issue includes more information about the good work that this team does. For more details, contact Carolyn Wexler. Another non-Zoom option would be to join a small group that meets outdoors. For information about this, reach out to Rebecca Hicks, our small groups coordinator, to learn all about our small groups program.
Lastly, I would suggest to all members that a great way to connect is a good old-fashioned telephone call. If there is someone in the congregation you have been thinking of and missing, pick up the phone, give them a call and let them know they were on your mind. Heard a name on the Mi Shebeirach list? Consider giving the person a call or email to let them know you care. It could be the highlight of their day, and yours too!
Wishing you all happy connections in the days ahead.
Melanie Field
The Temple Beth Or 10-Week Equity Challenge is a powerful opportunity for shared learning, action, and growth. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force invites you to explore and develop a deeper understanding of how inequity and racism affect our lives and our community.
Weekly options for learning are being emailed to participants, and are also posted on our website. Members who would like to participate can contact the office or Sonia Siegel Vexler for more info.
One of the super fun aspects of being your president is that I get a front row seat (that’s a painful metaphor!) to all the fantastic efforts of our dedicated volunteers. You folks totally rock! Lots of you are doing great work on behalf of our community. There is so much good stuff going on it is hard to keep up. I am going to use this space to highlight just a couple of wonderful efforts that I’d like to bring to your attention.
Reaching Out
Many are struggling in these uncertain times. Our Mitzvah Corps, led by Carolyn Wexler, and our Membership Committee, led by Leslie Elsemore, are reaching out to our members to check in. They are most focused on members who may be in need, are struggling, or are isolated, but are trying to get to everyone. If you need assistance in these difficult days please contact one of them. If you can help others who are in need please let Carolyn know you’d like to join the team.
Move Your Tuchus-a-Thon!
Registration for our spring fundraiser, launched by Michele Goodmark, is underway. Time to get moving, shake off those winter blues (and maybe pounds), and help raise money for TBO. All are welcome to participate — members, friends, neighbors, athletes, couch potatoes, younger, older, all abilities alike. More information about this program is available through ORbits, the website and Facebook. Contact the office with questions.
TBO 10-Week Equity Challenge
Watch for information about this exciting new program sponsored by our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce, chaired by Sonia Siegel Vexler, and our Social Action Committee, co-chaired by Naomi Katsh Barger and Melissa VonAschen-Cook. The TBO 10-Week Challenge will help you to learn about and better understand issues related to privilege, bias, and other topics. This challenge brings up difficult and thought-provoking topics using articles, videos, and conversations. More details are available here.
This is just a taste of the great work underway in our community. I’m delighted to report that our volunteers are addressing the needs of our minds, bodies, and souls. So proud of all you do!
Shalom,
Melanie
Often, one starts off the year or a new project with an assessment of what you want to accomplish. The goals below arise directly from the TBO values of inclusiveness and respect and are aligned with our Mission Statement, shown on the back page of this publication. I envision two parallel tracks of goals for TBO in the year ahead; one track I am calling programmatic goals and the other thematic goals.
Programmatic Goals:
Our number one priority for the year is for us to have our hybrid system up and running by the time folks are vaccinated and it is safe to return to in-person activities. A hybrid system involves having activities, such as services, available both in person and virtually. During this time of only virtual offerings, we have seen the many advantages of having online access to our programs. We want to be sure that those who prefer the online mode can still participate in that manner once others are back in the building and attending in person. Glen Pickus is coordinating this effort with technological expertise provided by Koby Wexler and input from all our fantastic committees and task forces.
Our other major programmatic priority is to plan the implementation of the recommendations developed by the Strategic Planning Task Force. Sections one and two of their report, dealing with Community Building and Programming and Activities, identify opportunities for improvements. The report provides a wonderful “to do” list. Hopefully, many of you were with us at the meeting on January 17 and heard about our plans to accomplish this. Some of the items are already underway! Tim Douglass will be leading the implementation planning. If you would like to join this effort, feel free to reach out to Tim.
Thematic Goals:
The thematic goals are harder to quantify; they are less concrete, but no less important. I would like to find ways to further increase kindness and empathy in our community – both internally and externally. We can improve our volunteer recognition efforts, treat others with respect and dignity while challenging them to perform at their highest level, use active listening skills, robustly welcome newcomers, etc. At the same time, I hope we can increase the sense of connectedness in the congregation, with more awareness of all the wonderful ongoing efforts of our amazing volunteers. To facilitate this process, we will be featuring different committees each month in the ORacle, at governing board meetings, and on other platforms.
In conjunction with these objectives, I would also like to see our members feel empowered to take on projects that they feel passionate about, to take ownership of their community, to embrace stepping into leadership positions, and to join one or more of our outstanding committees or task forces. If you are interested in joining a committee or starting a new program, let’s talk, text, or email! I would be delighted to help you get started.
As we move through the year I am hoping that we will make progress in all these areas. Feel free to share any ideas or thoughts about these topics or any others with me. I welcome your input and look forward to your participation.
Shalom,
Melanie
The author Vicki Weber imagines a famous Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 34:3) about the first century sage, Rabbi Hillel.* His students would not simply learn from him in the classroom, but would also follow him around town, to glean all his wisdom. One day as his students walked with him down the street, he whisked a cloth off his shoulder and snapped it in the air. Brandishing the large linen cloth, Hillel announced he would use it to do a mitzvah and invited the students to guess what mitzvah he would perform.
The students suggested possible mitzvot to their teacher: giving the cloth as tzedakah, using it as a Shabbat tablecloth, or shading their parents with it. To demonstrate his lesson, Hillel showed the students workers cleaning the Roman king’s statue. The king’s image should be respected, but his students must understand something more important: that they “are made in God’s image” (Genesis 9:6). He says, “When we keep ourselves clean, we honor God. And that is why taking a bath is an important mitzvah.” Taking care of our bodies, working to keep our bodies healthy is a way for us to recognize that we “are made in God’s image.”
In another famous teaching from the time of Rabbi Hillel, Rabbi Shimon HaTzaddik declares that “the world stands on three things: Torah (study), avodah (worship) and g’milut chasadim (acts of loving kindness) (Pirkei Avot 1:2). In the time of our Temple in Jerusalem, worship meant sacrifice of animals and grain. After the destruction of our Temple in the Rabbinic period, physical avodah was replaced by our prayers and worship service. Inspired by the Midrash of Hillel and the bathhouse, I like to think of selfcare as a form of avodah, service to God. Avodah as exercise also resonates with me because avodah literally means ‘work’ in Hebrew.
For some of us, exercise is easy to prioritize. For others, like myself, I have to put effort into my healthy habits. Some of you know that I have a neuromuscular disease called Charcot Marie Tooth Disease (CMT) that causes muscle atrophy in my feet, legs, and hands. Up until two years ago, CMT felt more like a nuisance than a disability. When I lived in California, I regularly enjoyed a perfect walking loop near my house with spectacular views and stairs to get my heartrate up and I was pretty fit. But years of pounding the pavement with feet and legs weak with muscle atrophy caused debilitating arthritis in my ankles.
After a year of living in denial and another year getting set up with the right leg braces and a lot of PT, I’m finally able to walk and I have an exercise bike and most days my ankle pain isn’t too bad. These past High Holy Days, my t’shuvah was to lean into the mitzvah of self-care. I’ve been able to hold myself accountable. Five to six days a week, I do my prescribed PT and 30 minutes of cardio and mark my achievement with one of our ‘blessings for daily miracles’ in our prayer book, Mishkan T’filah: Praised are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who made me in the image of God.
I want to personally invite you to participate with me and our congregation in our upcoming Move-A-Thon (March 13-27). Not only is it a way to get moving and fundraise for the Temple, according to our sage, Rabbi Hillel, self-care is a mitzvah.
* Vicki L. Weber, Hillel Takes a Bath. Apples and Honey Press, 2019.
I am honored to serve as the President of the 2021-22 Temple Beth Or Governing Board (GB) and look forward to working with this GB. While I have known some of you for nearly 30 years, some of you I have yet to meet – so I thought I should properly introduce myself.
I grew up in a Maryland suburb of Washington D.C. in a not very observant Conservative Jewish home with two older brothers. My parents were a mixed marriage, my mother being from Brooklyn (Dodgers fan) and my father from Manhattan (Yankees fan). I attended college and graduate school in Minnesota and California, studying Chemistry and Engineering. I did some other moving around but eventually my husband, Vinaya Chepuri, and I moved to Mukilteo in 1993 and joined TBO soon thereafter. We have two adult children. Our daughter, a mathematician, lives in Minneapolis. She is working virtually for the University of Michigan as a post-doctoral fellow. Our son lives in Iowa City, where he is pursuing his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Iowa. Both attended TBO Religious School and became b’nei mitzvah on the TBO bimah.
I retired from engineering consulting in the late 90’s to manage our increasingly chaotic household and to volunteer in the community. In addition to various TBO roles, assisting with the kids’ school activities and volunteering with other organizations, I served on the boards of the Mukilteo YMCA and the Kamiak High School Performing Arts Boosters. I also served on the Park and Arts Commission and on the Planning Commission for the City of Mukilteo.
When not answering emails, I love being outside. I am not an adrenaline seeking adventurer. I just like to putter in the yard, walk in the neighborhood, kayak in flat water, play in the water or snow, and go for moderate hikes. I also love music and singing and anything to do with food – growing it, preparing it, talking about it, eating it. . . . Pre-COVID, I recall that I enjoyed travelling.
I can’t end this article without acknowledging the fantastic leadership of the outgoing President, Vicky Romero. She had a very tough set of challenges. She was absolutely the right president for us in that time. We needed someone with her dedication and focus to get us through those difficult issues. Thanks, Vicky for all of your hard work. We were really lucky to have your service.
Shalom,
Melanie
Rabbi Kort met with the Social Action Committee and interested congregants to discuss distribution of funds made available through generous donations by our Temple Beth Or community during 2020. $4,300 will be divided equally ($860.00 each) among the following five charitable organizations:
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
EDF brings people together to solve environmental challenges from many different angles. This organization uses science-driven approaches in the areas of climate, energy, ecosystems, oceans, and health.
Volunteers of America (VOA) of Western Washington
There is a greater than ever need in our community for the basics of life including food and shelter. Our local VOA food banks serve 10,000 individuals per month. In addition to hunger prevention, the Volunteers of America also helps connect individuals and families to resources. Services include behavioral health services, disability-related services, and housing and mediation such as Fair Housing/Landlord-Tenant assistance to help promote shelter and stability.
Northwest Harvest
Northwest Harvest supports many food banks and meal programs across Washington State. It is also involved in advocacy around food justice. In addition to making sure those who suffer from hunger have access to healthy food, the organization aims to shift public opinion, as well as change institutional policies and societal practices that perpetuate hunger, poverty, and disparities in our state.
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project promotes justice by defending and advancing the rights of immigrants through direct legal services, systemic advocacy, and community education. Their work is driven by their values of dignity, fairness, solidarity, self-determination, safety, and inclusivity.
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
SPLC works in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy and advance the rights of all people. It works through:
- fighting hate by monitoring hate groups and exposing their activities to the public, the media, and law enforcement;
- teaching tolerance; and
- seeking justice for the most vulnerable in our communities.
The Social Action Committee also wants to make mention of three local organizations which make a huge difference in our community and that receive support from many Temple Beth Or members throughout the year:
We thank our community for its generosity.
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