OctOber - Temple Isaiah

FROM RABBI NICKERSON
During the Fall, just as it starts to get cold, our
tradition calls on us to spend significant time
outdoors, in dwellings that are so flimsy they
would never pass inspection as permanent
structures. With a thatched roof through
which we view the stars (or city lights) and
with at least one side open, the sukkah
literally and figuratively exposes us to the
world around us. It is a space that is unstable
and insufficiently protective, leafy and leaky. The sukkah is a vulnerable
place where, according to one rabbi from the Talmud, “one must exit the
known world of security and enter a world of insecurity.”
And yet, at the same time, the laws of Sukkot state that we are supposed
to make the sukkah our home for seven days. That very structure that
embodies and engenders the momentary is somehow to be given roots.
That modest place of exposure is to be embraced as reliable shelter.
And it is through this process that the sukkah becomes a sacred space – a
space in which we attempt to navigate between what is comfortable and
common and that which is frustrating and foreign. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
describes this foundational concept:
Jewish faith is not about believing the world to be other than it is. It is not
about ignoring the evil, the darkness, and the pain. It is about the courage,
endurance, and the capacity to hold fast to ideals even when they are ignored
by others. It is the ability to see the world for what it is and yet still believe
that it could be different. It is about not giving up, not letting go. Faith is what
the Song of Songs calls ‘the love which is stronger than death.’ (Excerpt from
Radical Then, Radical Now)
A sacred space is a place in which we struggle to connect and build
spiritual, communal and intellectual relationships. This Sukkot, we hope
to create a variety of sacred spaces, both at the synagogue and throughout
the community, and we hope you will join us.
Please see the Sukkot Calendar in the Isaian for event details.
“A sacred space is a place in which we
struggle to connect and build spiritual,
communal and intellectual relationships.”
FROM CANTOR KENT
Sacred Space and
Transculturation
When you study ethnomusicology— the study
of social and cultural aspects of music in global
and local contexts—you become aware that
almost no single musical culture exists apart
from any other. There is constant borrowing
of musical sounds and ideas between cultures and societies. This is not a
new phenomenon— it has existed since the first traveler visited another
town or village and shared melodies on his flute or songs his grandmother
taught him with those living in a nearby village. When this borrowing from
another culture is extensive —it is often referred to as transculturation:
the music of one culture being transferred to another and an entirely new
musical vocabulary is created in the process.
The most sacred space in our synagogue —the sanctuary — becomes witness to
this notion of transculturation on Erev Sukkot at 7:00 p.m. when Rabbi Andrew
Hahn will lead our congregation in a Kirtan celebration ushering in our fall harvest
festival. Kirtan is a musical form of worship that originated in India and is based
on call and response. The leader sings an easy musical phrase and the congregation
sings it back. Rabbi Hahn has written a special Kirtan for the evening based on
the traditional Jewish Hallel— or Psalms of Praise. When you join in the singing
of Kirtan, the room begins to create its own vibration. Two traditions merge:
the Hindu custom of Kirtan and the ancient words and traditional melodies of
Judaism combine to create a liturgical experience that cannot be described; it must
be experienced. The sound does not feel linear, but rather the sound waves seem to
wrap around each worshipper and quiet the mind and draw each person back to
the center of his or her being.
Our sanctuary is always a sacred space, but, with the sound of voices joining
together combined with traditional Indian instruments like the harmonium, tabla
and sitar, a new transculturated experience awaits.
“When you join in the singing of Kirtan, the
room begins to create its own vibration.”
2 | THE ISAIAN
October 2011