rts e tiva - The Temple Congregation Ohabai Sholom

The Temple
5015 Harding Road
Nashville, TN 37205
Phone: 615-352-7620
Fax: 615-352-9365
Executive Staff
Mark Schiftan
Senior Rabbi ................................ ext. 224
Shana Goldstein Mackler
Rabbi ............................................. ext. 221
Randall M. Falk David Davis
Rabbi Emeritus Rabbi Laureate
Tracy Fishbein
Cantor ........................................... ext. 226
Bernard Gutcheon
Cantor Emeritus ......................... ext. 234
Lynda Gutcheon
Director of Education ............... ext. 233
Religious School Office ............. ext. 225
Corye Nelson
Preschool Director ..................... ext. 231
Erin Zagnoev
Director of Membership &
Development ............................... ext. 299
Office Staff
Lisa Crockett
Finance Manager ....................... ext. 230
Mitzie Russell
Office Manager .......................... ext. 292
Mark Shepard
Facility Manager ......................... ext. 235
Anna Higginbotham
Bookkeeper...............................ext . 228
Kathy Smietana
Rabbinical Secretary ................. ext. 222
Marjorie Zager
Senior Services Coordinator .... ext. 237
Officers
Ray Berk ..................................President
Ralph Levy ...................... Vice President
Martin Sir ................................Treasurer
Joyce Friedman ......................Secretary
page 2 ~ April 2013 - www.templenashville.org - 615-352-7620
Finding Our Voices
This winter, I was invited to give the Invocation at the
Martin Luther King Day breakfast. Dr. King’s birthday and our
Torah reading cycle always coincides in a wonderful way. Having
just experienced our Passover Seders and with the celebration
of freedom still in our minds, I share with you the words shared
that January day in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rabbi Mackler “In the Jewish tradition, in our cycle of reading Hebrew
Scriptures, this time of year we read from the Book of Exodus
about the enslaved Israelites who cried out to God and their cries for justice were
heard. Indeed those moans and groans, that outrage from the young and old changed the
world. They gave hope and courage to a people, to a nation and those cries still move us
today, as we seek to repair the world. From those cries, came the cries of our prophets
for righteousness and freedom whose banner was lifted by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and
those like him who echoed these ancient calls that still beckon us today.
But it is not always easy for us to cry out. Often, we don’t have or cannot find
that voice. Often, we turn a deaf ear to the cries of others. Pride, selfishness, indifference,
ignorance these all silence us, deafen us. With our America freedom granted to us to
speak out against the inequalities we see before our eyes, we are saddled with the
responsibility as well as to answer the call of those who cry out themselves. Sadly, we
haven’t taken advantage of this opportunity enough in our lives.
All of us, young and old, must find our voice again to speak out for justice in our
nation – for equal rights, for human rights, for economic justice, civil liberties, for peace
and for real change. We must cry out, for there is much to cry about. As we recall the
memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr – as we honor his life and his passion and his cries
for justice, let us make a promise to ourselves to hear those cries regardless of race,
religion, nationality, orientation, gender, status or station in life. For only when we stop
and listen to the cries, can we then cry out for justice and compassion for all people in
the world. So we pray, Mekor HaChayim, Source of All Life,
May we listen to the voices and hear the cries of those who seek equality. May
we be their voice of courage.
May we listen to the voices and hear the cries of those who yearn for the freedoms
denied to them.
May we be their voice of strength.
May we listen to the voices and hear the cries of the children who still have no
voice of their own. May we be their voice in the silence.
May we listen to the voices and hear the cries of those suffering unimaginable
horrors.
May we be their voice of reason and conscience.
May we listen to the voices and hear the cries of those who have the courage to
survive and start their lives anew. May we be their voice of support and hope.
And so, Dear God, help us make their voices our voices, as we cry out to those
who will listen, as we join our voices with others, increasing the chorus, as we work
together for the day when the world has no choice but to listen and act, no choice but
to repair and love.
Ken Yehi Ratzon - Be this Gods will. Amen.