August 2021   Keeping Connected

Dear Friends,

There are some truths in the world: the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, this has been amongst the rainiest summers in the history of the Northeast, people will debate about the quality of their favorite ice cream stand with a fierceness that is unbending….AND any newsletter article I would have written a week ago is already out of date AND any newsletter article I write today may have information that will need to change in a week’s time. Even with the survey we sent out, those who answered at the beginning of the week had a different sensibility than those who responded on the last day of the survey. I am sure you can all relate to the sense of vertigo we are feeling with the emerging Covid recommendations, restrictions and concerns. Most of all I want to share that we received over 150 responses, which was excellent. Thank you for participating. Because the survey was anonymous, we cannot tell if folks answered one reply per household or if two people responded. We were able to get a general sense of where the community is at and we will integrate your ideas and concerns into our decision making in the next couple of weeks.

Usually in my August newsletter I am able to write about the upcoming holidays. By this time of the year I would know the schedule for services exactly, who is doing what parts and more. Even last year, knowing as we did by the end of June that we would be completely remote, I was able to share details about our holiday season in August. This year, with 5 weeks to go, there are still great uncertainties and our Re-Opening Committee continues to evaluate our synagogue’s procedures. When I talk with other rabbis around the country I can assure you that the word most on people’s mind is “pivot”! How can congregations pivot and adapt their plans on short notice if needed? Thank you for your flexibility as we work through these next weeks.More

JUNE 2021   KEEPING CONNECTED

Dear Friends,

I wanted to share with you all information about a staffing change and update in Congregation Shalom’s B’nai Mitzvah program. After many years of helping to train our students, Barbara Rennert has decided to say good-bye to our community in order to pursue other interests. It is with incredible gratitude that I thank Barbara for all she has done to help our students and families during this important life journey. Barbara has been a deeply committed and conscientious teacher to our students, and she has passed on a love for Torah learning and respect for our ancient tradition. I have been honored to work with her during her tenure at Congregation Shalom and would like to say, thank you Barbara. Good luck with your future endeavors.

It is also with enthusiasm that I would like to introduce you to my new colleague who will be taking over the role of B’nai Mitzvah coordinator/tutor at Congregation Shalom. Cantor Rachel Reef-Simpson has been serving at Temple Emanuel Sinai in Worcester, MA for the last few years and has now moved to York, Maine to pursue a chaplaincy training program. Yes, she is a friend of Sue Horowitz’s and they will enjoy being neighbors when Sue in on the east coast! Some of you may have met Canto Rachel earlier this year when she helped to lead a havdallah service for our community.

Cantor Rachel will continue to work in a very part-time position as a cantor in the greater Boston area. She loves working with B’nai Mitzvah students, however, and is looking forward to teaching the students in our community through the amazing technology of Zoom. Cantor Rachel received her investiture as a Cantor in May 2016 at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at HUC-JIR in New York and received a Cantorial Arts Certificate at Hebrew College in Newton in 2007. Before that she served congregations as Cantorial Soloist for in the Greater Boston area for many years. Welcome Cantor Rachel.

Warm regards,

Rabbi Shoshana Perry

April 2021   Keeping Connected

Dear Friends,

The book of Exodus shares many insights about the Jewish understanding of leadership. Exodus opens with a story we are all familiar with. A new Egyptian leader arises; one who is threatened by the Israelites seeing them as the “other” and a risk to Egyptian society. As a leader the king is guided by fear and animosity and as a result decides not only to persecute the Hebrews but to actually engage in a genocide. Pharaoh’s first command of violence towards the Israelites, however, is met by another model of leadership.

Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives, Shifrah and Puah, to kill all the baby boys that they deliver. My rabbinic thesis was about these two women and I have always been in awe of their bravery and integrity. The Torah says, “The midwives, fearing Go, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them: they let the baby boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, ‘Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?’ The midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women: they are chayot , like animals and are vigorous. Before the midwife can come to them they have given birth’.” The text of the Torah tells us that Shifrah and Puah were rewarded by God for their heroism and resistance to violence; even though they were standing up to the leader who had the power to take their lives.More

March 2021   Keeping Connected

Dear Friends,

Just over a year ago I signed onto a Zoom gathering and said to a screen filled with little boxes: “Mah nishtanah halailah hazeh…? Why is this night different? To these two rhetorical questions I offered some answers.

• “We are not wondering about opening day and Fenway”
• “We are not with family and friends in a physical sense”
• “We are not celebrating the second night seder in our synagogue building for the first time in over 40 years”
• “We may or may not have all the traditional Passover foods in front of us”
• “We are feeling strong emotions and experiencing personal challenges that are new to many of us”
• “We are all learning to use a technology that is new to us”

Ironically that night, I was quickly booted off the internet and could not sign back on without rebooting my router; thereby experiencing a new kind of panic. It was not long after that that I added a new word to my pandemic vocabulary: ethernet cable!More

February 2021  Keeping Connected

Dear Friends,

Most months, for 32 years, I have written a newsletter article for whatever congregation I have been serving. That is a lot of articles! Oftentimes I look to the holidays or happenings in the month ahead for inspiration, which is what I did for this February’s Keeping Connected, and as you all know, February 7^th is the SUPER BOWL! You might be asking yourself, what’s Jewish about the Super Bowl and why would the rabbi write about it. I often challenge myself to see what’s Jewish about things especially when the connection might not be evident. For instance, what’s Jewish about re-cycling? That’s an easy one, because as a Jewish community we are obligated to perform the mitzvah of Shomrei Adamah; to protect the earth. Here’s another one. What’s Jewish about inviting so many people to your seder that your family thinks you are meshuganah? That’s an easy one as well. As Jews we are commanded with the mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim; to welcome people into your home. Yes, hospitality is a Mitzvah! You might also ask yourself, why is that when someone you love isn’t feeling well, you feel compelled to make chicken soup for them. Of course there is a mitzvah about that as well! Bikkur Cholim is the responsibility of caring for or visiting those who are sick.More

January 2021   Keeping Connected

Dear Friends,

As we enter the new year of 2021, I have been reflective about lessons learned over the past year and there have been many; far too many to fully explore in one short newsletter article! One lesson that is particularly important to me is that the pandemic has taught folks to slow down and appreciate what is close to home. Personally, I have enjoyed feeding and watching birds, taking long walks with our dogs, even in cold weather, learning to make a really good cup of coffee starting with grinding the beans myself and reconnecting with the pleasures of cooking and baking.

I know that these lessons, simple as they are, feel familiar to many of you. We have all heard stories of how folks have taken up cooking with a vengeance during the stay-at-home months. We saw this first hand when in the early days of Covid-19, it was impossible to find the most basic of cooking supplies on the supermarket shelves. I could understand why the shelves with cleaning supplies, anti-bacterial gels and even toilet paper were bare. But flour? Yeast? What did people know that I didn’t? It didn’t take me long to realize that people had come to the conclusion that if they were going to have to spend long hours and days at home, learning to bake bread might be a meaningful and fun activity. There were many days, that flour and yeast were being rationed to small amounts per individual. For the first time in my life, I could empathize with what it might have felt like for my parents and grandparents to use ration cards during the World Wars.More