Winter 2013 - Shir Tikvah

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Conversations with Clergy Hachnasat Orchim: Radical Hospitality and the invitation to welcome By Rabbi Michael Adam Latz Jewish tradition teaches that we rise and face the door when we sing the final verse of Lecha Dodi during Shabbat services. “Boi v’shalom” (come in peace), we sing and we face the open doorway. Why? We rise and face an open doorway to ensure that our prayers are not only focused inward — for prayers only focused inward, left unchecked, can quickly turn to narcissism. Our prayers, Jewish sages teach, must focus our souls on the holy work in the week ahead, to make a broken world whole, to speak words of justice and dignity, to create a world of equity and equanimity. We look outward to remind ourselves that we must carry our prayers for peace into the world; that calming our souls in the sanctuary but failing to create a sanctuary outside our sacred space does not fulfill our Jewish obligation for transformation and healing. This summer, we began experimenting with the tradition: We rise and face the doorway to “the outside” — literally directing our vision to 50th Street. Members of the congregation assist us by opening the doors when we reach Lecha Dodi’s spiritual crescendo. We are witness to pedestrians and bicyclists and those in cars — for a brief moment our prayers confront the din of the outside world. These open doors are a spiritual and physical symbol of our strength as a community. Those on 50th Street are invited into our sanctuary and Shabbat service (more figuratively than literally, though we’d gladly embrace anyone who walks in). Our openness is a sign of our spiritual commitment to Radical Hospitality, to embrace the stranger and welcome everyone into our spiritual home. We expect nothing in return; our openness is mitzvah — a spiritual obligation given to Abraham and Sarah and to every Jewish soul after them. Radical Hospitality is the affirmation that we are obligated to care for one another, that the practice of empathy brings healing to the world, that there is always enough food at our table, and we are privileged to welcome guests. Our open doors are a statement of defiance against the despair of selfishness and materialism that seek to consume our world and our lives. Radical Hospitality offers the promise of new relationships and the loving affirmation that we are all connected; we are here to care for one another. Shir Tikvah was founded upon a commitment to Radical Hospitality: to build an open, inclusive, diverse Jewish community. In our 25th year as a spiritual community, we reaffirm this commitment and this promise by continuing to open our doors and welcome all who seek to enter. Boi v’shalom. Come in peace. Rabbi Latz ““Radical Hospitality offers the promise of new relationships and the loving affirmation that we are all connected; we are here to care for one another.” “ Yom Kippur food drive donations surpass goal By Asher Weisberg STiFTY drops off donations at Sabathani. As you may know, STiFTY, Shir Tikvah’s youth group, held our annual food drive during Yom Kippur. When we visited the Sabathani Community Center to deliver the collected food, we discovered that the shelves were completely bare and they were in desperate need of donations. We set a goal to raise 2,500 pounds of food from our congregation in honor of Shir Tikvah’s 25th anniversary. In recent years, we have raised about 2,000 pounds, so we knew it was a stretch. Astoundingly, we went above and beyond and raised 5,000 pounds! That averages out to around 10 pounds per family. I would say that’s pretty fantastic. We were amazed by how many parents decided to take their children to Costco and let them decide what they should donate. We were shocked by how many people had to drive up to deliver their donation because it was too much to carry. Thank you to everyone for the support. We wish you could have seen how happy Sabathani was when we delivered donations. We hope everyone had great High Holy Days and that you continue to have a terrific new year! Pounds of food hoped to collect: 2,500 Pounds of food delivered to Sabathani: 5,000! 4 | Kol Tikvah | www.shirtikvah.net
Finding Home at the High Holy Days Above: Hannah Knazan-Lippman, daughter Aria Sol, and Wendy C. Morris participate in Simchat Torah. Below: Ariella Sacks and Ben Lahyani hand out honey cakes at Rosh Hashanah. Photos by Chris Geller By Kathryn Klibanoff Ask 28-year-old Enzi Tanner about his first High Holy Days experience at Shir Tikvah, and he will tell you it boils down to three words: Family. Home. Safe. Enzi grew up a Pentecostal, African- American girl in Kansas City, Missouri. His journey has taken him through missionary work in Namibia, being shunned from the church for coming out as a lesbian, a move to Minnesota, gender transition, enrollment in seminary, and now conversion to Judaism. Attending Shir Tikvah’s Thursday morning minyan services was Enzi Tanner a transformative experience for Enzi. “I kept coming to minyan, took a Hebrew class, and fell in love with Judaism,” he said. The High Holy Days were the icing on the cake. “For the first time I found a place where I feel more and more integrated—comfortable in my body and spirit,” he reflected. Watching “Simchat Torah was the happiest I’ve been in a long time.” — Enzi Tanner, new member adults and children share the experience of unrolling the Torah scroll together at Simchat Torah resonated with Enzi. “Simchat Torah was the happiest I’ve been in a long time,” he said. Enzi keeps extremely busy in his current “ career as lead resident assistant and service coordinator of the Booth Brown House youth homeless shelter in St. Paul while pursuing a master’s degree in theology. He is a new member of Shir Tikvah and is studying for conversion with Rabbi Latz. www.shirtikvah.net | Kol Tikvah | 5
Page 1 and 2: Winter Issue 5773/2012-13 Photo by
Page 3: First Fridays through rhythmic musi
Page 7 and 8: and I talk about being Jewish more
Page 9 and 10: TASTE f Shir Tikvah Sharing recipes
Page 11 and 12: Board Update By Jane Binder, Presid
Page 13 and 14: PRAYING WITH OUR FEET Shir Tikvah p
Page 15 and 16: Continued from previous page Rachel

Winter 2013 - Shir Tikvah

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?