Orbit April 2012 - Plainview Jewish Center

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ORBIT Page 4 FROM THE RABBI by Rabbi Steven Conn Most Jewish worship services divide us into leaders and followers. Cantors and rabbis lead, people in the congregation “participate.” The Passover Seder, however, is different. Sure, someone usually directs the Seder and helps move things forward. But at a good Seder, everyone pitches in: sharing insights, leading songs, and reading parts of the Haggadah. The more everyone contributes, the more enjoyable the Seder. Even at the best Seders, though, there is one part that no one ever wants: the wicked child. Soon after the four questions, we read the passage that begins: “The Torah speaks of four kinds of children: wise, wicked, simple and one who does not know how to ask a question.” The Haggadah then goes on to describe each of these children, the questions they might ask, and the answers we ought to give. At our family Seders when I was a child, we always went around the table, taking turns reading from the Haggadah. Even as the youngest child began to ask the four questions, we were already trying to calculate who would get stuck reading the part of the wicked son. It was not uncommon for one of us to suddenly develop a desire to help out in the kitchen or sit next to Grandma in order to evade the dreaded assignment. With all the effort that went into avoiding association with the wicked child, we might think that the wicked child’s crime would be something particularly embarrassing or repulsive. Was the child called wicked because he pulled the wings off flies, or beat up other kids and stole their lunch money, or burned down the house playing with matches? Not at all. The Haggadah calls the child wicked for doing nothing more than asking a simple question: “What does this service (this Passover ritual) mean to you?” Incredible. How, we might ask, could anyone condemn a child for merely asking a question? The answer, the Haggadah tells us, lies not with the act of questioning—the wise son and the simple son have questions too. Rather, it is the attitude behind the question that betrays the child’s wickedness. “Saying this” the Haggadah continues, “he excludes, and by excluding himself from the group, he denies a basic principle of our faith.” The Haggadah imagines that the child asks his question in a mocking tone—”what does this whole Passover ritual thing mean to you anyway—it certainly doesn’t mean anything to me.” By asking this question, the child places himself deliberately outside the Jewish community. He makes himself into a dispassionate, even cynical observer. And if there is one thing that our tradition cannot tolerate, it is a Jew who so loses his connection to his people and his heritage that he becomes an enemy. And for this reason, the Haggadah concludes, “if he had been in Egypt (with the Israelite slaves at the time of the exodus), he would not have been redeemed.” With the story of the four children, the Haggadah reminds us that asking questions can be an important part of our religious development—as long as these questions arise out of our passion for Judaism. To live and to grow Jewishly, we must always be partisans, must always look at Judaism as our “home team.” To appreciate the beauty and value of Jewish life, we must identify ourselves always as part of the community. And being part of the community means not only feeling Jewish in our hearts, but also taking part in those rituals and ceremonies that bind us together as Jews. Like so many of our rituals, the Passover Seder helps bind us together as a community. By performing the rituals of the Seder, we link ourselves to other Jews in our city and all over the world who are doing the very same thing. Even if we personally question the value or meaning of these rituals, we perform them for the sake of being part of the community. As Rabbi Shlomo Riskin points out in his Haggadah commentary, the Jewish attitude toward ritual has always been, as the Israelites ( continued on page 5 )
From The Rabbi ( continued from Page 4 ) ORBIT Page 5 Blood Drive Appeal for Spencer Reis SPENCER REIS Needs Blood & Platelets. Spencer is currently a patient at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. His treatment requires regular blood and platelet transfusions. Spencer and his family would deeply appreciate your donation of blood and/or platelets and requests you ask others you know to donate. Donations not used by Spencer will be released for use by other patients many of whom are children. To benefit Spencer Reis, all designated donations must be made in the Blood Donor Room of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Please visit www.mskcc.org/blooddonations for complete information about donor eligibility and the donation process for blood or platelets. For answers to questions and to schedule an appointment that is convenient for you please Contact: Joe Licata - 212-639-8177 - Manager, Blood Donor Program: licataj@mskcc.org Blood Donor Room – 212-639-76481250 First Avenue (between 67 th /68 th Streets) NYC - Schwartz Building lobby. Open Every Day: Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon: 8:30am - 3:00pm. Tues, Wed, Thurs: 8:30am - 7:00pm. The process for donating whole blood takes approximately 1 hour. The process for donating platelets takes about 2 ½ hours. Appointments are necessary. All blood types are acceptable. FREE Donor Parking - Somerset Parking Garage, 1365 York Avenue –entrance on NW corner of 72 nd Street. Thank you! affirmed at Mount Sinai, “we will do and we will understand.” Appreciation of the meaning of rituals comes from experience. Once we have experienced a Jewish ritual as a partisan, we may find that our questions are answered. At the very least, we will find that our questions become better informed and more sympathetic. What is true for the Passover Seder is true for other rituals as well. Rituals create community; rituals give us a common standard of practice that unites us with other Jews. As a congregation, we are dedicated to building and strengthening our Jewish community. Rituals play an important part. Whether it is the observance of Shabbat, kashrut or the holidays, we as a congregation have to set standards that will bring together a wide range of people in our community. These standards may not match those of the individual members of our community. And that’s okay. As a congregation, we need to provide our members with an opportunity to “do and to understand.” By modeling the correct Jewish rituals, we provide Jewish experiences that we hope will promote individual spiritual growth. No doubt, the rituals we observe will raise questions for some of us. And that, too, is okay. As long as we question from within the Jewish community, with a passion for Judaism in our hearts, the results will be help all of us to become better Jews and more active participants in Jewish life throughout the year.
Page 1 and 2: PLAINVIEW JEWISH CENTER 5772/2012 A
Page 3: ORBIT APRIL CALENDAR Page 3 Rabbi S
Page 7 and 8: PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Shea Z. Le
Page 9 and 10: Dear Friends, ORBIT Page 9 SALE OF
Page 11 and 12: ORBIT Page 11 “GET OUT THE HAMETZ
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Page 15 and 16: ORBIT Page 15 PJC WOULD LIKE TO THA
Page 17 and 18: ORBIT Page 17 SISTERHOOD NEWS PRESI
Page 19 and 20: ORBIT Page 19 TODAH RABBAH! Many th
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Page 29 and 30: ORBIT Page 29 Hatzilu Means Rescue
Page 31: ORBIT Page 31 PSSST! IT’S OKAY TO

Orbit April 2012 - Plainview Jewish Center

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