Tifereth Israel Congregation

The Israelight
A quarterly publication from Tifereth Israel
March 2023 - May 2023 / Nissan 5783 - Sivan 5783
Happy Pesach!
The Rabbi's Study
One of America’s greatest philosophers and writers, Ralph Waldo Emerson was married only a year and a half when his wife, Ellen, died of tuberculosis. Thirteen months later, there is a puzzling entry in his journal: “I visited Ellen’s tomb and opened the coffin. ”He never tells us what he learned from this, and throughout the journals that he devotedly kept through his life, there is no mention of it again. But Emerson did carry one lesson with him that may have been influenced by looking into his wife’s grave. He wrote, “The first and last lesson of religion: the things that are seen are temporal; the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Rabbi David Wolpe writes that "This was the preeminent teaching of Israel to a pagan and materialistic world: You may worship the products of human hands, or the visible forces of nature; you may mummify the dead, as if they live only when you can see them. But behind the tangible lies something infinitely greater.” There is no greater proof of this than the Exodus story. Pharaoh said when you look at him that what you see is God. What rules the world is pharaoh and human beings are the property of such a tyrant. The God of Israel said no to that and we saw something infinitely greater emerge. Look at Ukraine and you see a people who have said no to the supposed reality of Russian Greatness and strength. They are showing that behind military might there must be something greater, the truth and the confrontation of a tyrant and his government. The Israeli public said no to a government that said the government reality will be the reality of the State of Israel, forgetting that the Jewish People is greater than any government and those in power are not God and don’t speak for God and their worship of power is idol worship. Passover reminds us that the eternality of the Jewish People comes from an act of compassion for slaves in Egypt. A people that wishes to transcend time and history must only serve only God and his teachings of the Torah, including to clothe the naked and feed the hungry and have compassion for all Jews, religious or not, observant or not, and for all human beings Jewish or not. Only and only then can Israel be a light to the nations. The revolutionary declaration of an ancient people became the accepted wisdom of the world and that is something to celebrate. So as we gather at our seder tables let us argue and study the texts of the Haggadah and remember what the God of Israel truly wants: a people who acknowledges an act of loving-kindness, the Exodus, and the response to it by following the commandments. That will make our seders more meaningful and more powerful because behind the tangible lies something infinitely greater.
 
Cindy and I and our family wish you Happy and Kosher Passover.
 
Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Raphael Kanter
Notes from the Cantor

If I were to ask you what is one of the most important prayers in our liturgy, many of you would answer the Sh’ma. And you would be correct. It is the prayer that we say as we begin our day, and the last words on our lips before sleep. The words of the Sh’ma are also meant to be the last words spoken before passing on to the next world. 
 
And yet, the Sh’ma is actually not a prayer. In prayer, we praise G-d, acknowledge
G-d, ask for help in all of our doings. Prayer is our talking to G-d. We can see this illustrated when we look at the Amidah, the central prayer in all of our services. In the Amidah, all of the words are directed to G-d. We acknowledge G-d’s greatness, ask for Her help in all situations, and end with a further acknowledgement and request for peace. This is the model for all prayer. 
 
If we look at the Sh’ma, by definition, it is not a prayer. Prayer is us speaking to G-d. In the Sh’ma, G-d is speaking to us! In the Sh’ma, which is taken directly from the Torah, G-d commands us in the basics of Judaism. We learn that there is G-d, only one G-d, and that we, as the Jewish people, have a unique relationship with Him. In the Sh’ma, we are commanded to love G-d, teach our children, and to study Torah on a daily basis. In many ways, the Sh’ma is the Jewish pledge of allegiance. This is why we close our eyes when reciting this line. We shut out any distractions so that we can focus on the oneness of G-d and our commitment to a life of doing mitzvot.  
 
This is illustrated through a beautiful midrash. Remember, the name of Israel originated with Jacob wrestling with an angel. After this, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, one who wrestled with G-d. According to the midrash, Jacob is on his death bed when he calls his children into the room. Inside, Jacob is concerned about the continuation of this new people and faith. Jacob’s children sense their father’s distress and recite to him the words of the Sh’ma. We know them as “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is one”. But taken in the context of this story, Israel is not our nation; Israel is Jacob. It now becomes, “Listen Dad, don’t worry, the Lord is our G-d too, and we too believe in the oneness of G-d”. With these words, Jacob is able to die in peace.
 
The Sh’ma continues with the commandment to love G-d. People question how one can be commanded to love. Loving is a commitment. By reciting these words, we are committing ourselves to try to live a Jewish life. Through living a life directed by Jewish values, we come to appreciate and love G-d. It is also important to note that the command to love G-d is found in the fifth book of the Torah. The commandments to love our neighbor as ourselves and to love the stranger among us is found much earlier in the Torah. We must first learn to love and respect each other before we can reach a closeness with G-d. 
 
G-d has given us life and the gift of the Torah. The greatest gift we can return is to love each other and take care of the world in which we live.
Cantor Nathaniel Schudrich
A Presidential Greeting

Each Spring, we gather together to observe Passover, one of our most sacred and widely observed holidays. This year 5783, let us gather in person to mark the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. We celebrate the Freedom to practice our rituals and traditions. One of these traditions is giving "Maot Hittim" to provide food for the needy. I ask that the entire Congregation participate in any way they can. If you can, please welcome a guest to your Seder. Also, don't forget to sell your Chometz.

I want to thank the office staff, Carol Saltzman And Carol Raposa-Farias, our Clergy, Rabbi Kanter and Cantor Schudrich, our maintenance staff Shannon and Larry and our culinary artists, Ronda and Rainelle for all that they do for our community. 

I also want to thank Ross Chartoff for stepping up and assisting the Synagogue in a multitude of ways during our current staffing shortage. We expect to have an Executive Director hired by May.
  
Chag Pesach Sameach!
Martin Levin, President
Educationally Speaking

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath” This is one of the Ten Commandments. There are many ways for a person to celebrate Shabbat and to keep it special. For me, I love to eat food I normally won’t have during the week (hooray for potato chips!), I love to take that extra-long walk in the woods with Nathaniel and my dogs, and I love a good nap after reading my latest novel. To me, that is the perfect Shabbat.
 
Most Hebrew school days, I start out with asking the students, "What is our next holiday?” At first, the students would stop and think - is it Passover or Purim or Chanukah? Our students now know to say Shabbat. What’s better than a holiday that comes every week! Shabbat is different from all other days of the week. The Torah teaches that “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” (Genesis 2:3). What does it mean for a day to be holy? Usually holiness refers to a physical object, like the Torah. How can a period of time be described as holy? One of the definitions of holy is “separate or set apart”. And Shabbat is just that. It is a period of time that is different from the rest of the week. Abraham Joshua Heschel described Shabbat as an island in time. I love when Shabbat comes and I get to leave the mundane world and enter that special island. It is when I can stop and let my soul rejuvenate.
 
One of the great discussions we have had around the table is what do you or your family do for Shabbat to make it special? The students pipe up:
  • Have chicken!
  • Challah!
  • Being with my family!
  • Others have said:
  • Spending time with friends
  • Eating special food.
There are so many ways to acknowledge Shabbat as being special. One of my favorites is lighting Shabbat candles. When my sons were younger and they were all at home, each of us would have two candles to light. It is something that I did with my sons every Friday to start Shabbat. We would each light our candles, cover our eyes and then say the bracha together. After that, Nathaniel and I would bless our sons with the Priestly Blessing. And when our sons are home, we continue this beautiful practice.
 
Nothing else from the Creation story is described as kadosh, a Hebrew word meaning holy, sanctified or separate. Many Jews around the world spend Shabbat with friends and family, making time to pause from everyday work and activities to differentiate it from the
rest of the week. I believe that Shabbat is one of the greatest gifts given to us.
Melynda Schudrich,
Ziskind School Director
In Memoriam


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Tifereth Israel Congregation
145 Brownell Ave.
New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 997-3171