New opportunities- Daily minyan original reading - June 26, 2024

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The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah

June 26, 2024

Source of wisdom, 

Author of freedom, 

Beacon of peace, 

Guide us night and day

As we fashion the path of our lives. 

May our personal journeys

Be filled with joy, learning, and friendship.

May we be open to new opportunities 

For expanding our knowledge 

And fostering our own growth along our way. 

May we see ourselves in the context of community

Forging connections with people with whom we share

Perspectives and interests 

And with people who will teach us to broaden our horizons 

In a spirit of cooperation, respect and decency. 

As members of the human family, 

May our sense of Your image dwelling in every person 

Lead us to acknowledge

 the Oneness that encompasses us all. 

The sounds of Your Oneness -Daily Minyan -June 20, 2024

Note - I wrote this reading keeping in mind that it’s Brian Wilson’s 82nd  birthday today and two days ago was Paul McCartney’s 82nd birthday. 

I thought a reading on the power of lyrics and melody was in order.    

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The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah

June 20, 2024

Eternal Creator, 

Our inspiration for prayer and song, 

May the meditations we intone 

Guide us along on the waves of our emotions

May they fashion our streams of thought 

Into sincere action. 

May our melodies bring to this world

Greater light 

Deeper understanding 

Pleasing harmonies

And stronger communal connection.

May each note embody a portion of the 

Total essence of Your teachings 

That leads us to knowledge 

And that enables us to open our eyes

And to focus our listening  

To the sounds of Your Oneness 

That is the foundation of our existence. 

May our united voices 

From a distance or in a shared space

Allow holiness and peace to enter 

and find a home 

In this world where we dwell

And in our lives 

where we continue to seek love and hope.

A Network of Compassion and Love- Daily Minyan Reading - June 4, 2024

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The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah

June 4, 2024

Creator of Light, 

Source of our wisdom, 

Inspire us to express wonder

At the turning of day to dusk, 

Darkness to dawn 

So that we will fill our moments

With a deeper meaning 

That enables us to sense Your presence

Shining in our souls

Uniting us within your loving shelter. 

Open our eyes to see through imaginary walls

That are created only for the purpose 

of sowing division and discord. 

Strengthen our minds and hands 

To build bridges and foster connections among us

Fashioning a network of compassion and love. 

May we find new ways to bask in Your Oneness

Affirming, through all that we do, 

That we who live in this world 

Will strive to be One. 

Free and Kind Speech - May 21, 2024 (Facebook post)

Recent events have brought to light something I have thought about for a long time and tried to practice: There are times when it’s better to be nice than to be right.   I thought about that when my name was placed on a picket sign in Topeka by a certain family/church. Certain expressions from that group have found their way into laws and policies passed on all levels of government and have been echoed in the words shared in a recent commencement address.   Yes, these folks have freedom of speech.   Of course they do.  Who would doubt that?   And people who oppose those views have a right to speak out, too. 

   A story. 

   I was at an event in Topeka 20-plus years ago to give an invocation, and the speaker was the late Senator Paul Wellstone from Minnesota.  The picketers were outside railing against him and his message and perspectives. I told him that I was sorry that he had to be greeted by those folks and their signs.  He said, “You know that they have the right to demonstrate because of free speech.”  I replied, Yes, Senator, I know, but I just wish they would use their right to free speech in a different way!”  

     Words that are intended to hurt, ridicule, bully, harass, and harshly judge often find their way into the world these days, and are frequently spoken with glee and enthusiasm, with the intention of fomenting division and imposing one view over all others.  

     Words from what one place kicker called, in his language, “the church of nice” (perhaps the “shule of kindness” for me), might actually serve us all better so that human respect and decency might have a chance to flourish and triumph.  

      Perhaps we will get back to that one day.

Sparks of Hope - Daily Minyan Original Reading- May 23,2024

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The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah

May 23, 2024

Creator of the Universe, 

In times of challenge and despair, 

Help us to discover within us 

Sparks of hope

Glimmers of goodness

Traces of compassion 

Morsels of kindness

Whispers of wonder

Touches of tenderness

That will enable us

 to reach into ourselves

And recover a generous and joyous spirit

To reach out to others 

To offer strength, support and sustenance

And to reach for You

Who opens our eyes to the oneness of the world

That seeks to bring balance between justice and mercy 

So that darkness will be overcome by light

And hatred will be overshadowed by love.  

Golden Rule applies to neighbors near and far - May 13, 2016 - Las Cruces Bulletin

 I read with interest and appreciation the column entitled “Rethinking Jewish-Christian Relationships,” by Father Gabriel Rochelle, in the Las Cruces Bulletin issue of April 22, 2016.  His sentiments resonate with much of what I have learned over the years, beginning with courses in my rabbinical seminary training and my experiences in interfaith programming and study.

    The “excellent commentary on the New Testament by Jewish scholars” to which Father Gabriel referred is The Jewish Annotated New Testament, edited by Amy-Jill Levine (of Vanderbilt University) and Marc Zvi Brettler and published in 2011 by Oxford University Press.  This book could serve as a basis for a community-wide discussion of values that emerge from specific sacred and moral texts which can set parameters for human behavior.

    Recent events have led me to think the centrality of Leviticus 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” in Judaism and in Christianity.  In Matthew Chapter 22, Jesus is said to identify that verse from Leviticus as the second of the two greatest commandments (along with “you shall love the Lord your God” from Deuteronomy Chapter 6).    

    A second century rabbi, Akiba, cited “Love your neighbor as yourself” as the fundamental principle in the Torah, which embodied and, in some cases, superseded, all of the other commandments. 

     Any discussion of this classic ethical statement, whether in a religious or secular context, should include a consideration of how to define “neighbor.”   In an article in the Jewish Annotated New Testament, Dr. Michael Fagenblat of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute explained that the Hebrew word for neighbor in that verse, “ray-a,” can “designate any human being or denote a person with whom one has an intimate relationship, such as a friend.”      It seems that, 2000 years ago, the Jewish community and the early Christian community may have applied this commandment primarily to members of one’s own immediate faith group. 

     However, neither Jews nor Christians could ultimately ignore a second pronouncement from Leviticus Chapter 19 which widened a possible “circle of love”: “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the stranger as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” 

    This additional commandment can lead us to another guiding principle that has been expressed in many faiths and cultures.

     That principle is the “golden rule,” which advises all human beings on HOW to act AS a neighbor.  Rabbi Hillel stated the golden rule in this way, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.  That is the central teaching of my heritage.  The rest is commentary.”

      Matthew Chapter 7 quoted Jesus’ expression of this tenet: “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.” An online search of “golden rule statements” will yield many more examples.

    So, now, we teach “treat others as you want to be treated” as a basic value to apply to our daily lives.  It is one that we sometimes remember, and one that we often forget.   The golden rule has a way of pulling the command to “love your neighbor” out of the realm of one’s own group and into the broader circle of all humanity, making every person in this world a potential neighbor. 

    Admittedly, the divisions within and between nations make it difficult to practice this principle, but try, we must.   Through thoughtful discussions, through the telling of our stories, and through truly listening to one another, we will continue to walk upon a path of love and respect that many have tread before us. 

   

Infuse our response with love - Daily Minyan Reading - May 7, 2024

This is a message to some of my past social justice partners who, I hope, will listen to multiple narratives and try to put them together into a strategy to create allies who can forge a way forward to peace.   Listening goes both ways, and don’t label some an oppressor when you have not heard their stories from their mouths.   

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Facebook Live Daily Minyan Original Reading 

The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah

May 7, 2024

Author of freedom, 

Fashioner of peace,

Wellspring of compassion, 

When we see despair within the human family, 

Guide us to offer support and hope. 

When we recognize people acting only out of hatred, 

Infuse our response with love from a place of strength. 

When we feel that darkness is encompassing our days, 

Inspire us to be sources of light at all times, 

Offering seeds of respect and understanding 

That will blossom into cooperation and partnership. 

When we sense that others do not truly hear us 

As we tell our ancient and modern stories, 

May we speak in soft voices and melodic tones

That will resonate with their tales of challenge

And bring us closer together. 

Shelter us, Eternal One, within Your care

And Your Oneness that encompasses us all.