Keeping Connected   March  2025

Dear Friends,

Our Jewish values teach that all people are created – B’tselem Elohim – in the Divine image, that each person is precious and deserves kindness and safety. These values have always been a guiding light for Congregation Shalom. Our mission statement is:

Congregation Shalom is a Reform Jewish community committed to education, spiritual growth, and Tikkun Olam (healing the world). We are proud to be an extended family of equals – welcoming, caring and inclusive. Together, we engage in religious observance, enjoy social activities, and pursue life-long learning.

Today, more than ever, it feels important for us to affirm the commitment to being welcoming, caring and inclusive. That every person, regardless of who they love and how they identify, is a valued member of our congregation. We aspire for our synagogue to be a sanctuary and safe place for every person, child or adult, and we are also committed through our actions to make this mission a reality. As it says in our siddur:

May the door of this synagogue be wide enough
To receive all who hunger for love, all who are lonely for friendship.

May it welcome all who have cares to unburden,
Thanks to express, hopes to nurture.

Recently, in our nation, there have been significant efforts on the national and state level, to diminish the rights of people who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. This has included legislation that would take away the right to gay marriage, the elimination of gender-affirming care for children who are trans and nonbinary, restrictions on receiving passports, etc. We understand that this has caused tremendous emotional and spiritual distress for some members of our congregation, both young and old. We want to reiterate that we are present with you on this challenging journey and that we will always be here to offer our support and guidance. We are committed to being a caring and inclusive community. We may not always know who is in need of support, so please reach out to us so we can be there for you.

As mentioned earlier, it is important to not only believe in these values, but to live these values. Towards these ends, as a congregation, we have incorporated Seven Jewish Values for an Inclusive Jewish Community into our daily practice. You can see the entire framework of principles below, but they include: Respect, Peace in the Home, In God’s Image, Communal Responsibility, Guarding One’s Use of Language, Love Your Neighbor as Yourself, and Solidarity. Along with the Union for Reform Judaism, the RAC (Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism), and hundreds of other synagogues and Jewish organizations, Congregation Shalom has joined the Thrive Coalition, which is a group of Jewish community institutions that want to protect and advance LGBTQ+ civil rights on both the state and federal levels. If you are interested in becoming a part of Congregation Shalom’s engagement with these efforts or would like to be a part of our Inclusion Committee, please reach out to Tina Kempner, Caryn Navy, or Rabbi Perry. Please see our e-mails below.

With deep care and concern for each and every one of you,

Rabbi Perry
Rob Berkovitz, President Congregation Shalom on behalf of the Board of Trustees
Tina Kempner, Chair Social Action/Social Justice
Caryn Navy, Chair of the Inclusion Committee

Resources:

https://www.keshetonline.org

https://www.keshetonline.org/thrive

Seven Jewish Values

Seven Jewish Values for Littles

Keeping Connected   February  2025

Dear Friends,

The Torah is filled with passages about the responsibility of helping others in one’s community, in Hebrew, the kehillah. Through history, the Jewish people, whether religious or secular, have taken these responsibilities seriously, especially in times and situations when they were marginalized by the non-Jewish community. Furthermore, the Torah emphasized that the imperative to help others is meant to be applied to those both within and outside the Jewish kehillah. For example, in Deuteronomy 15:7 we read a mitzvah that is an overarching articulation of the duty to help others; “If there be among you a needy person, you shall not harden your heart, but you shall surely open your hand.” The Torah set the foundation for these moral principles of Jewish life; we are responsible for helping the poor, the stranger, the widow, the orphan, the sick, the marginalized in our society and we are responsible for setting up institutions of learning and Jewish ritual life. This commitment was expanded upon through time in every period of Jewish history. Jews have taken it upon themselves to set up schools, orphanages, hospitals, social service agencies, mikvaot (Jewish ritual baths), synagogues and more.

In the modern period, Jewish federations took on the role of helping to establish and fund these institutions. Federations, which are non-profit, secular organizations have helped to provide support and human services to members of the community, through philanthropy, grants, humanitarian aid and more, and although Jewish federations were created to help the Jewish community, they also provide for other communities as well. The earliest burial societies, credit unions, youth societies, immigration support organizations and more were all funded by early versions of Jewish federations. Perhaps you have heard of organizations like Jewish Children and Family Services, The Jewish Vocational Institution, Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters, YMHAs, YWHAs, JCCs, and more. These were or are all partially funded by Jewish Federations.

I share this information with you because our community has undergone a change in the way we are connected to the larger federation system and it has real life implications for our congregation and members. Since 1988, our synagogue was in the catchment area of the Merrimack Valley Jewish Federation, but beginning in January 2025, the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP) has expanded their borders to include servicing the Merrimack Valley. Now, our local community members and congregations will have equal access to programs and resources as all others within the current CJP catchment area. This change can have an enormous impact for our congregation and members. It would be hard to briefly review all the new resources available to our members, but I wanted to encourage you all to look at the CJP website (https://ma.cjp.org) to familiarize yourselves with these new programs and resources.

Although it may take time for us to all access these opportunities, both for our synagogue and members, since some of these new resources are time sensitive, I wanted to highlight them in this letter. CJP has wonderful resources to benefit Jewish youth in terms of camping and trips to Israel. In terms of attending Jewish camps, CJP offers both 1^st Time Camper scholarships as well as affordability scholarships. These funds are distributed on a rolling basis and have strict application deadlines. If you are at all interested in learning more about these scholarships I would encourage you to access the links below and to be aware that the funds are limited. The sooner you are to apply, the better.

CJP has also made a significant commitment to helping members of the Jewish community who are faced with mental health challenges. If you or any member of your family needs support I encourage you to explore their mental health programs at

https://www.cjp.org/path-to-well-being

I look forward to this new stage of connection with the larger Boston Jewish community and I am confident that our engagement with CJP will be beneficial to all of us.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Shoshana M. Perry

https://www.cjp.org/our-work/future-generations/campers-and-teens/jewish-overnight-camp?_gl=1*1o3h2i*_gcl_au*ODc4MDQ5MzM2LjE3MzgxMDU3MjA.*_ga*MTg5NTc3NjEwOS4xNzM4MTA1NzIw*_ga_9Q6WWN4GK8*MTczODE2ODc4Mi4yLjEuMTczODE3MDA0OS41My4wLjA.

https://www.cjp.org/our-work/future-generations/campers-and-teens/jewish-overnight-camp?_gl=1*1o3h2i*_gcl_au*ODc4MDQ5MzM2LjE3MzgxMDU3MjA.*_ga*MTg5NTc3NjEwOS4xNzM4MTA1NzIw*_ga_9Q6WWN4GK8*MTczODE2ODc4Mi4yLjEuMTczODE3MDA0OS41My4wLjA.

Keeping Connected   January  2025

Dear Friends,

Over the last few weeks my news feed has been filled with an inordinate number of lists: Dave Barry’s Year in Review, the New York Times Best Books/Movies/TV Shows/Music/Podcasts/etc. of the Year. There are even lists of the best inventions, the best memes, the best Tik Tok videos! I am sure you have also been exposed to and perhaps read, many of these lists. Inspired by these lists, on this erev New Year 2025, I spent some time reflecting not on the past but the year ahead. What if I had a top ten list of Jewish wisdom and quotes that I would inspire and guide me in this new year? Would having what I call a “purpose framework” make an impact on my sense of hope and well-being and would I able to manifest them in my actions and perspective over the course of new next year? If so, one year from now, how would I feel about the year that had just passed?

I decided to give it a chance and spent some time reading and thinking about the challenges and opportunities we will be facing in 2025.  Then, I whittled down a list to ten insights from Jewish wisdom that I hope will enrich my life in 2025 and more importantly, help me to be a better person. I invite you to do the same or to borrow a few of mine. I plan on printing mine out and hanging it up so that throughout the year I will be reminded of the sense of purpose I hoped to integrate in my life. I invite you to take such an opportunity for yourself. Come up with your own list, print it out, put it in your phone, write it in a journal, live it! In doing so I believe that in some small way, we will bring more light, kindness and goodness into the New Year.

I love the opportunity we have as Jews – to have two New Years! May 2025 be a year of health, joy, love and peace to you and to all of us.

Rabbi Shoshana Perry

1. “Whatever you choose to do, leave tracks. That means don’t do it just for yourself. You will want to leave the world a little better for your having lived.” – Ruth Bader Ginsberg
2. “Let the Good in me connect with the good in others, until the world is transformed through the compelling power of love.” – Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
3. “The highest form of wisdom is kindness.” – from the Talmud
4. “If I am not for me, who is for me; and if I am (only) for myself, what am I. And if not now, when?” – Hillel, Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14
5. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein
6. “If you are not a better person tomorrow than you are today, what need have you for a tomorrow?” – Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
7. “It is not incumbent on you to finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it.” –Ethics of the Fathers, 2:21
8. “It was said of Reb Simcha Bunem of Pershyscha that he carried two slips of paper, one in each pocket. On one he wrote: Bishvili nivra ha-olam“for my sake the world was created.” On the other he wrote: “V’anokhi afar v’efer” “I am but dust and ashes.” Reb Simcha would take out each slip of paper as necessary, as a reminder to himself.
9. “You have been told what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
10. “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

Keeping Connected   December  2024

Dear Friends,

As Rob mentioned in his newsletter article, Chanukkah is a time when we recall the dedication of our ancestors who fought against forces of hate and prejudice in order to live, believe and worship freely. The dedication required a commitment to stand up against idolatry, discriminating laws and forces of assimilation. At the same time it required the will to standup to those in their own community who were willing to conform by sacrificing the ethics, rituals and traditions that were central to Judaism.

There has never been a time in my life when I have not been able to find a relevancy in the themes of our holidays, but this year, I feel a particular resonance with the history and message of Chanukkah. Perhaps it is because I feel the Jewish community is especially vulnerable right now to discrimination and prejudice. Perhaps it is because I know that many Jews feel this fear so acutely that they are even afraid to wear identifying clothing or jewelry in public. Perhaps it is because as a community we need to remain viligent to maintain safety and security. Perhaps it is because I see the rapid erosion of the separation of church and state in America, as indicated by such things as the  posting of Christian interpretations of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms in states like Oklahoma as well as the approval of a bible-based curriculum in Texas for grades K-5. Almost all of the stories and translations are from the Christian tradition. It is true that school districts are not “required” to integrate this curriculum, but if they don’t they will probably lose state educational funding. Perhaps it is because white nationalist hate groups have started to feel more emboldened.

In light of these trends, what can we do to rededicate ourselves to Jewish life in a meaningful way? I do not have one answer, because there are so many ways for us to express our Judaism; culturally, spiritually, ethically and more.  I do believe, however, that it is essential for us to support and preserve the Jewish institutions in our lives, whether they be the synagogue, the Federation, Jewish schools, Jewish social service agencies, Jewish human rights organizations, and more. In the time of the Maccabees, King Antiochus realized that in order to assimilate the Israelite population, he had to undermine the institutions of Jewish life; the Temple, the schools, the rabbinic centers, Jewish charities of that time period. So too with us, without these communities and organizations, we lose the supports and community we need to insure a vibrant, secure Jewish life for all of us.

This year, as we all think about how we might give tzedakah before the end of the year, I urge you to consider including some of the institutions of Jewish life.

Wishing you and your loved ones light in the winter darkness and may you always remember that you have the power to bring light into the world.

Chag Chanukkah Sameach,

Rabbi Shoshana M. Perry

Keeping Connected   November 202

Dear Friends,

As many of you heard in my remarks during the High Holidays, I raised concerns about the impact of climate change on our planet and how our faith commands us to take the mitzvah of Shomrei Adamah/Protecting the Earth as an imperative. In the Torah itself there are countless texts and mitzvot that underly this religious principle. I also shared this text from the Midrash, Kohelet Rabbah:

“Then the Blessed Holy One created the first human, God took Adam around to all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said: “Look at My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are! And all that I have created, it was for you that I created it. Pay attention that you do not corrupt and destroy My world: if you corrupt it, there is no one to repair and mend it after you. (Kohelet Rabbah 7:13:1)”.

In my Kol Nidre sermon I explained that I had felt personally impacted by two climate disasters this year; the wildfires in Northen California outside of Chico and in Asheville, North Carolina and its environs, the impact of Hurricane Helene. For those of you who did not hear the sermon, I was the rabbi in Chico, California and have maintained strong connections to that community. I have also visited Asheville and the surrounding communities. It is a beautiful part of the world. Ironically I know several people from Northern California who have relocated to Asheville to escape the horrible dangers of the out-of-control wildfires that California now experiences. The devastation of Asheville feels more personal because during my recent trip to Israel this winter, I got to know the rabbi of the Reform congregation, Rabbi Batsheva Meiri. Her congregation, as was the entire area, was profoundly impacted by the hurricane. A colleague of ours Rabbi Asher Gottesfeld Knight, the Reform rabbi in Charlotte, NC, has been keeping colleagues in the loop about the status of the Reform synagogue community in Asheville. If you feel motivated to contribute to help them, you can do so through a special fund that was set up through the Charlotte synagogue. I provided Rabbi Gottesfeld Knight’s letter below.

Tonight we will be celebrating the end of Sukkot with the festival of Simchat Torah. As we mark this season of harvest and plenty, let us remember that the bounty of our earth is dependent upon all of us being good stewards of our planet.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Shoshana M. Perry

————————————-

Rabbi Gottesfeld Knight’s letter:

I have received numerous requests for an update about how to support our colleague Batsheva Meiri and Congregation Beth HaTephila in Asheville. I connected with Batsheva today. She has asked me to provide you with an update as they continue to weather the aftermath of the devastating hurricane.

While progress is being made, the challenges are still immense, and the road ahead feels long and uncertain. There are moments of light, but the weight of what remains to be done is heavy on the entire community.

Most of the city has power again, but the basic need for clean, potable water remains unmet. For now, families are still trekking to neighborhood water stations every day to refill jugs just to drink, shower, or do dishes. There is no set date for when this will change. Internet access is still unreliable, with many, including Batsheva, relying on sporadic hotspots. After a month-long break, schools are reopening, but teachers and students will return to buildings stocked with bottled water. The strain on families, especially those who couldn’t leave the city, is overwhelming.

At Congregation Beth HaTephila, four families have lost everything. Imagine what that means—not just losing a home, but facing a future of uncertainty and bureaucracy as FEMA and insurance move slowly, leaving these families hanging. Batsheva herself has been denied insurance coverage. It’s impossible to go anywhere in Asheville without seeing the destruction—piles of debris everywhere, with estimates suggesting it will take 70,000 trucks to clear the waste from the city. Major areas, like the River Arts District and Biltmore Village, were decimated. Congregation Beth HaTephila has it’s own repairs to make and yet is also offering space to the historic All Souls Episcopal Church, which is still so deeply mired in storm mud that it requires Hazmat suits to enter.

But through the wreckage, there’s been remarkable kindness. Relief workers from all over North Carolina and beyond have stepped in, and organizations like World Central Kitchen have provided meals to families. People from as far away as Israel have reached out to offer support. Schools reopening is a critical lifeline for many families who didn’t have the option to evacuate. And yet, the emotional toll is heavy. The constant state of crisis has worn everyone down. Executive functioning feels frayed for so many.

And the challenges are not just emotional. Congregation Beth HaTephila is facing a significant financial crisis. They are down by at least $125,000 from expected revenues. This isn’t just a line in a budget—this shortfall is putting the future of the community at risk. To help bridge this gap, Congregation Beth HaTephila is launching a dues relief fund to help families stay connected to temple life, instead of having to choose between meeting immediate needs and maintaining their Jewish communal ties. Every dollar helps both families and the congregation itself.

This is where your support can make a difference. If you are looking for a way to make a tangible impact, you can donate directly to Rabbi Batsheva Meiri and Congregation Beth HaTephila. 100% of the funds will go toward helping the congregation stay afloat during this crisis.

Donate to Rabbi Batsheva Meiri and Congregation Beth HaTephila

Additionally, Jewish Family Services of Western North Carolina has been leading many of the relief efforts in the region. They have set up a fund to support recovery in Western North Carolina, and you can donate to this crucial work here:

Donate to Jewish Family Services of Western North Carolina

This is more than just helping a congregation and a colleague recover from a disaster. It’s about giving families hope that they can rebuild. It’s about restoring the sacred spaces where people find connection, comfort, and meaning. The storm may have hit Asheville, but its impact is felt across our community.

Thank you for standing with Batsheva and Congregation Beth HaTephila during this time of need. Your support is the reminder they need—that they are not alone, that we, as colleagues and as a Jewish community, stand together, and that hope is not lost. Together, we can help them rebuild their lives, one act of generosity at a time.

With gratitude and hope. Moadim L’simcha.

Asher

https://tbe.shulcloud.com/form/rbm-discretionary-fund.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawGIrmFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHfZnZnwUPHIRv-rZ3Mv3EPxjiQ9qerWriyufvOeVrhsJ6d_KHUQXmAPgaw_aem_RjZYzsoFHEMQXbLtfhnHmw

 

Keeping Connected   October 2024

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, although it was 3 days and counting until Erev Rosh Hashanah, I decided to put my to-do list on pause and seize the day by taking Lucca for a walk at the cranberry bog in Carlisle. It was a glorious day filled with light, color and crispness. At this time of year I feel like the liturgy, themes, music, memories, and logistics of the Days of Awe course through my brain and body, almost like a parallel circuitry and I am not exaggerating when I say that almost everything I do seems steeped in meaning or potential for a spiritual connection to the holidays.More