Jewish American or American Jew? Reconsidered - March 4, 2019 (Post on Facebook)

When I was in youth group, one of the discussions we had focused on this question: “Are you a Jewish American or an American Jew?”  

   When a professor at NYU with whom I was at a 7 week Jewish summer camp in 1970 said in a magazine article several years ago that she engaged in this same discussion in her youth group in a major city far from mine, I knew that it was on people’s minds. 

     It was two years after the war of 1967 (Six-Day War).   It was still a time when, even after the events of that week drastically changed the map of the Middle East, there was still a concern for not only the persistence/existenceof Israel, but also for Jewish survival.   

     A lot has happened since then, but the questions remain. 

     So....am I an American Jew? 

    Yes, because being Jewish is at my core spiritually and historically.   My ancestors lived mostly in a village in Lithuania at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed.    That puts being a member of the worldwide Jewish community at the core of my identity. 

      Am I a Jewish American? 

      Yes, because I am an American citizen who grew up in a thriving midwestern city, the same city in which my parents were born and raised.  I vote in elections.  I do what I can to improve the well-being of the general community in which I live.  

     I don’t know that I can tell you which one of these terms alone really captures my identity.    You might think that I should just say I am an American.   I could do that, but I don’t because it doesn’t describe “all of me.”  

     Now, what about that “allegiance” question that is coming up these days?   

      I am an American.  

      I am an American Jew/Jewish American who sees it as his duty to bring Jewish values of freedom, education, justice, generosity, fairness, compassion and peace into our local and national community.  

       I am also an American Jew/Jewish American who sees the land of Israel as a place that figures into my history and also into my present, because I have family and friends in the State of Israel, and also because, as a member of one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, Israel is the place where the other large Jewish community resides.    It’s like a large extended family. 

       Allegiance, for me, is reserved to the country of which I am a citizen.   

       Support and concern is appropriate for all sorts of people, in include those who are  family and who are like family. 

      Of course, family members don’t always get along, and sometimes they don’t even speak, but they are still family.   

       We have seen that fellow citizens also don’t always speak with each other.   Hopefully,  they try to do so for the good of country. 

       As for me, I will hopefully be able to keep the lines of communication open with citizens in the greater community  from a wide range of backgrounds.

        And I will try to stay in touch with and to understand people who are part of my extended family, individuals from many countries with whom I am connected in the past and in the present.    And I may try to engage them in substantive dialogue when necessary. 

      And perhaps, as is stated in Psalm 85:11, “Love and truth will meet; righteousness/justice and peace will embrace/kiss.”  

      Hopefully...one day.

Help us to be builders - Invocation for "Exploring our Temple" leadership session at Temple Beth-El Las Cruces on March 3, 2019

Eternal God,

Sustainer of our lives,

The Creator who has fashioned

our world and all existence,

help us, like You, to be builders

and contributors

to the gathering places

of our community.

May we be like the Israelites,

who responded to the call to bring

gifts for the construction of the

ancient Tabernacle.

The Torah says that they were people

ASHER NADVAH RUCHO

who had given themselves a willing spirit

and people

ASHER N’SAO LIBO

who had lifted their hearts and minds

by donating the raw materials

that would become a meeting place

between You and the community

and a site that the people would associate with

holiness and with Your ongoing presence.

Help us to be builders of community

who encourage participation,

who inspire a willing spirit through respect and friendship,

who lift our hearts whenever we renew our commitment

to the well-being of our congregation. 

Bless this time we spend together today to remember the past

and to honor the present

so that we can dedicate ourselves to guaranteeing a bright future

for us, our children, and the generations to come.  

In any language do not forsake your roots - Column for Las Cruces Bulletin on March 1, 2019

    My father often told me that, when he was young, his home was bilingual.  He and his brothers spoke both Yiddish and English.  My grandfather’s decade in South Africa prior to immigrating to the United States provided him with fluency in English, but he continued to speak and read Yiddish.    

     In the Lithuanian village that was the home of the Karol family, a number of languages were spoken, especially Yiddish.        I learned some Yiddish words when I was growing up, and my father taught me how to “decode” the Yiddish language (to correctly pronounce words in a written text) using a Yiddish-Hebrew bible.

   You probably know a few Yiddish words without realizing it. Spiel (to play or present), maven (an expert), schlep (to drag/carry an object), bagel, and others have migrated into the English language.

      Perhaps some of you have seen the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” which portrays Jewish life in a small town in Russia in 1905.  The original script, with memorable songs by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, featured a smattering of Yiddish expressions, because Yiddish would have been the main language spoken in such a community. 

      This show, which opened on Broadway in 1964, has been performed in many languages around the world. It is no surprise that “Fiddler” was also translated into Yiddish in 1966 by Warsaw native Shraga Friedman.  

      The Yiddish version is especially significant, because the musical was based on Yiddish stories about Tevye the dairyman, written by Sholom Aleichem. 

     In 2018, Joel Grey, best known as the “Master of Ceremonies” in the movie “Cabaret” (and father of Jennifer Grey, “Baby” of Dirty Dancing) took on the challenge of directing the first performances of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish in the United States. 

     On February 11, the well-attended production moved to an Off-Broadway theater on 42nd Street in New York City from its original host venue at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York’s Battery Park. 

     Rhonda and I attended the February 16 performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish.

      Most everything looked familiar, as compared to other performances of “Fiddler.” This one included a projection onstage of simultaneous translation of all lyrics and dialogue into English and Russian.  

      In an interview about the production, Joel Grey noted that the Yiddish added “gravitas” to the musical, as well as an authenticity that recalls the original tales of Tevye.           

      One of my favorite moments came as Tevye blessed his grandchild before they left their village for the last time to make their way to America.  In this production, we could clearly hear him intone the Hebrew of the Priestly blessing, “May the Eternal One bless you and keep you,” from the book of Numbers.  That was not called for in the original script. 

     As we watched this performance, Rhonda and I felt that the Yiddish was just....right.   Staging this version of “Fiddler on the Roof” in 2019 makes an unabashed declaration that exploring and rediscovering our roots is not only possible, but crucial.   

     It was fitting that, on that very day, a distant cousin of mine contacted me, having read one of my previous Bulletin columns about my grandmother. My grandmother Anna and his great-grandmother Minnie were sisters who immigrated to this country over a century ago.  

     Of course, they both spoke Yiddish.   

     We can, and should, always remember from where we have come.  

      

Standing Proud: Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish - Temple Beth-El Las Cruces Adelante Newsletter for March, 2019

   On our recent trip to New York City to see our family, Rhonda and I had the opportunity to attend a performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish.

      Joel Grey, best known for his role as “Master of Ceremonies” in the movie “Cabaret,” is the director of this production by the National Yiddish Theatre that first had a successful run at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park. It moved on February 11 to Stage 42, an Off-Broadway theater on 42nd Street (and will continue through September 1).

    We knew that we were familiar enough with the dialogue that, even without translation, we would be able to understand just about everything during the per- formance,  This production provided translation, into English and Russian, that the audience could follow, projected onto the scenery at both stage left and stage right.

The combination of hearing then Yiddish and seeing the English enriched our experience. Moreover, it was authentic.

    “Fiddler on the Roof” was a stage adaptation of Sholom Aleichem’s Yiddish stories about Tevye the Dairyman, with Sheldon Bock and Jerry Harnick creating memorable songs. When it opened in 1964, with Zero Mostel cast in the role of Tevye, it was an instant hit (Steven Skybell portrays Tevye in this production).

    The “Tevyes” I have seen in the past include legendary singers Jan Peerce and Theodore Bikel. I have, not surprisingly, heard each of those musical stars sing songs in Yiddish. Something tells me they would be smiling down at this new production of “Fiddler.”

    Actually, it is not new. Shraga Friedman, a native of Warsaw, translated the entire show into Yiddish in 1966. It was staged in Israel in Yiddish, and it was also translated into Hebrew.

   This Yiddish “Fiddler” had never been performed in the United States. How fitting it is that the son of Yiddish entertainer Mickey Katz (and, of course, the father of Jennifer Grey, “Baby” in Dirty Dancing) would be so instrumental in bringing this performance to the American stage.

    The feel of the show was the same as other performances we have attended, but...different.

   The Yiddish dialogue provided an unmistakable depth to the musical. It sounded right. It was like going back in a time machine to most any shtetl in Russia/ Poland.

    The characteristic highlights, including the bottle dance in the wedding scene, “L’Chayim (the chorus was “Zol Zein, Mit Glick, L’Chayim!”), the dream sequence, and “Sabbath Prayer” were all well done.

    It was special to hear familiar Yiddish words in the lyrics and dialogue.

My knowledge of the Yiddish language is limited to the words my father taught me beyond terms that had migrated into English. Using the Hebrew-Yiddish Bible translation completed by the poet Yehoash, which now sits on my shelf in my office, my father made sure I knew how to “decode” Yiddish, teaching me which letters became vowels so that I could correctly sound out a Yiddish text.

   At least two moments stood out for me. The use of the word “pogrom” in the Constable’s announcement to Tevye of the coming attack on the Jews of the village had a foreboding ring to it in the absence of the term “demonstration” used in the English dialogue of the original script.

    At the end, when the villagers were about to leave Anatevka for the last time, Tevye intoned a blessing on his grandchild, held by his daughter, Tzeitel, reciting the Hebrew “Y’varechecha Hashem V’Yish’m’recha (May the Eternal Bless You and Keep You).” It was a poignant moment that was not noted in the original script.

    There were many men in the audience wearing kippot, and it is likely that some people attending understood every word they heard.

    At the very end, as Tevye’s family began to exit the stage, the dairyman motioned to the Fiddler to follow along. In this case, the Fiddler did not play, but simply held the violin at her side, stood up straight and proudly walked towards an uncertain but promising future.

     Today, we are certain and definitely proud of who we are. May we always remember from where we came, whatever our background, and take it with us as a trusted and cherished companion along our journey.

  

Invocation for Temple Beth-El Las Cruces Forum on "Israel and Understanding Anti-Semitism" - February 24, 2019

God of our Ancestors,

Creator of the Universe,

Sustainer of all peoples,

Maker of Peace,

Grant us the insight

To work towards understanding

Even when ignorance seems to stand in our way.

Grant us the strength

To work towards acceptance and friendship

Even when hatred seeks to build walls rather than bridges.

Grant us the wisdom to manage conflict

With our words and with respectful dialogue

Even when some choose to commit violent attacks

That undermine the possibility of constructive coexistence.

Grant us the courage

To move beyond perspectives that shut people out

So that we can begin to fashion

A world that sheds past animosities and bigotry

That will, instead, find its way to people living side by side

In a harmony and oneness

That will bring Your Oneness into our midst.

Blessed are You, Eternal One,

Who creates all humanity in Your image

So that we can find You

In one another.

Mercy, Grace, Patience - A Prayer for Ki Tisa (Remember the Golden Calf and the New Tablets) - February 22, 2019

God of our Ancestors,

Beacon of wisdom,

Light of freedom, 

Guide for our path, 

Keep us humble 

When we see expressions and actions

Based in arrogance. 

Enliven our outrage 

And channel it to constructive means and ends

When we witness abuses of power. 

When your children in this world

Seek to fashion new golden calves

That pay homage to greed

And that demand blind allegiance,

Enable us to pull ourselves back from the brink

So that the liberty we have won 

And that we labor to keep

Will be maintained for all people in our communities. 

God of our Ancestors,

Beacon of wisdom, 

Light of freedom, 

Guide for our path, 

Keep us focused

On the values presented to Moses

Standing on a mountain for a second time: 

Mercy, Grace, Patience, Lovingkindness, Honesty, and

Generosity of spirit. 

May we emulate these principles in our lives 

So that we can be 

Humble, hopeful,

Peaceful and faithful

remembering who we are

And who we can truly be. 

Amen.  

Invocation - Temple Beth-El Las Cruces Board Meeting - February 21, 2019

Eternal One, 

Source of strength,

Our Help in time of need, 

Our Inspiration when we seek wisdom and ingenuity,

Our Teacher when challenges before us call for creative solutions, 

Bless our gatherings in this holy space. 

May our conversations be marked with words imbued with sacred purpose

May our actions reflect understanding and respect. 

May the work of our hands bring us closer to one another

As we discover the ways in which our combined knowledge

And our coordinated approaches and shared intentions 

Can lead us to a feeling of oneness

That reflects the Oneness that is You. 

May our partnership and companionship 

Spread throughout our entire community

So that others will join our circle of hope, peace, and love. 

May our prayers to You 

Sustain our souls 

For the work that lies ahead.