Where to Now?

So Moses led the people to the promised land…and they followed. It was a long perilous journey, but they had their eyes on the prize: Freedom. The ability to live that mythological existence for them. A place they had never known. Not all of the perils were external- there were many internal issues for them to have to contend with. Who was really in charge? Was it Moses, the reticent leader who was unsure why God had chosen him to lead? Or was it Aaron, the fighter who had reason at the end of a blade?

Leadership

The people had a choice to make - Moses the visionary or Aaron the fighter. Two completely different styles, but only one could lead the group. Which skill set would prevail and present the people's message? The visionary wins and the journey begins. The choice of a leader has more to do with our own needs and desires than the skills presented by the potential leader. What is it we are truly looking for and, in fact, will we have a clear understanding of it when it stands before us?

A Jewish Life

The IJL is beginning a journey to a new promised land. A third stop on our journey to find God and ourselves. First there was Caanan. Second, we came to the Goldene Medinah, "the Golden Land," the United States, in an immigration second only to our departure from slavery in Egypt. We came to the United States to find freedom; of life, liberty and faith. We came to the melting pot of a new world and finally fit in.

But we have lost a great part of our uniqueness and specialness. Over 80% of the Jews in the US are unaffiliated with any synagogue at all, wandering through their lives devoid of a Jewish touchstone other than, perhaps, the Passover Seder. Intermarriage is tilting at 40% and increasing. If we don't step up to the plate NOW, we will disappear into the same melting pot we so dreamed of joining. The proverbial yarmulke on the Easter bunny picture will become more and more real.

Now the time has come to create the merger of the life we've created with the life we need. We need to reclaim our Jewishness. If we let it sail like an arrow from the quiver, flying towards the sky only to see it fall to the ground, we will disappear.

The Institute for Jewish Living will LEAD THE WAY!

As Moses before us, the IJL will lead the way forward. We look to find those who choose to engage their Jewishness in ways never before presented to them, packaged in high level classes, spiritual services that cause you to reach inside and see your authentic self, to hear music that celebrates the genius of the Jewish vision and takes you on a journey inward AND skyward.

Listen to the clip we are attaching to this blog...a song called Journey. Hear the questions and search for the answers. Write and let us know how your journey is to begin and how the IJL can become your partner and help you reach your place.

The Journey



Of the many names of God listed in the Torah, to me the most compelling is haMakom: "The Place." Perhaps it is the place inside of you that needs to belong, needs to stand proud and needs to see the world through Jewish eyes. The journey begins. The way to serenity and genuine compassion for others is there to be found. Join with us as we look inside for the new promised land: your heart and your soul.

Join with us and put your foot into the Sea of Reeds as did Nachshon ben Aminadav.

Faith is not based on proof...it is a moment of belief. Come believe with us.

If you’re so nice, where are your Ethics?

I’m a Jew and proud of it…Let me go one step further: I’m a REFORM American Jew and proud of it. I believe with all my soul that the Jews have a special place in the world, and that place is fueled by our vision of living on the ethical high ground. Historically, we are the victims and the target of the world’s anger, self-loathing and hate. We hold ourselves, as does the world, to a higher standard. (Remember the commercials for HEBREW NATIONAL Kosher hot dogs? “We answer to a higher authority”?)

So if we feel so special and so “good”, why is it OK for synagogues, under the umbrella of organized religion, in the name of expediency and finance to adapt the definition of a profession at will? Why have a good number of synagogues succumbed to the fiscal shenanigans and political expediency of many secular “businesses”?

I am a Cantor, a Chazzan, an educated graduate of a formal seminary, (Hebrew Union College –Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music, in New York). I spent years in study perfecting a craft that goes back centuries. I made a choice to spend a lifetime learning old and new visions of Jewish music, living a Jewish life, and producing ways for current communities to combine the old and the new in semi-equal measure.

Reaching that goal takes what my student colleagues and I understood as a one-word answer: commitment. We temporarily separated ourselves from the rest of our generation to seek out our roots and connect the old with the new. We made the choice to serve our faith and Jewish community at large. AND, after our commitment, how has our community received us? Invested Cantors, in many circumstances, have been minimized by those looking for expediency and the all too powerful “fiscal reduction.” We have become the ideal commodity defined by congregational inexpensivity. (Yup-I’ve said it… I also invented the word)

Soloists are soloists. I know many of them and their place in communal Jewish prayer as committed Jews, teachers and lay leaders only helps to make the community stronger. But, our community has now taken the title, MY title, and given it to anyone who can sing and will take the position regardless of his or her ability, commitment or education. Impersonations of a physician or lawyer, and practice of those professions without a license, are offenses for which one can incur prison time. A pleasing voice, the ability to read Hebrew, even the skills to chant Torah or lead a service, doesn’t make you a Cantor. Being a Cantor is a skilled, trained profession, and the academic and spiritual journey required for ordination or investiture is a lifetime commitment that begins with a formulized course of study. Self study to fill in the gaps of knowledge does not a curriculum make, and simply ignoring the normative flow chart of: 1.) decision to become one, 2.) the requisite study to become a knowledgeable one, etc. To usurp the title without the requisite work diminishes both Cantors and soloists alike – Cantors, because the false claimant did not do the work necessary to reach the destination, it’s a matter of achievement; and soloists, because their genuine efforts to contribute their talents to the Jewish community as volunteer or paid lay leaders and/or teachers are often misinterpreted, especially for those who do NOT claim or want the title. To assume the title “Cantor” or “Hazzan” when you have not fulfilled the requirements, either by study at a seminary or smicha by a recognized accrediting body, doesn’t make you a Cantor. Yet much of those people are the same ones who most vocally insist on being called what they are not.

For individuals who have been using the title for years and have years of “experience” they claim to justify their title, their time in the chair is irrelevant. To top it off, it’s not even their fault! Whether it’s economic crisis, reduction of overhead, or a power grab by other clergy, our community has decided that soloists and songleaders should take on the responsibility of the Cantor because they are cheaper and easier to find. (There’s nothing like dropping an unprepared person into a job way over their head!) The value that a Cantor can offer to a synagogue goes far beyond music, especially for a large congregation. Our community has justified mimicry under the guise of “fiscal responsibility.”

And yet that same community complains that traditions are being diluted, wonders why attendance is at an all time low, and can’t understand that, in a society as liquid as ours, where people have more choices of things to do than time in which to do it, we are searching for ethics and honesty. We preach ethical living, yet we are so easily led astray from our ethical barometer by placing the undereducated and untrained into mock clergy positions with no respect for either history, position or reality. We then wonder why a generation is walking away.

Look at the numbers: 80% of US Jews are not affiliated with a synagogue or any formal Jewish institution. Now consider the 18-20% that ARE affiliated and look at the strength of that support. Many remain on the periphery through the Bar Mitzvah and leave, as if Bar Mitzvah is reaching Mount Sinai and, looking out over the heights of Jewish life, they have come to the end of their journey. They believe that they have reached the pinnacle of needed knowledge…the end of the spiritual Yellow Brick Road. It has to make you stop and wonder why….

If we want Judaism to thrive and survive, we better take note today, because it won’t be long before it will no longer be relevant. Respect is free - it doesn’t cost a dime. Your dues payment doesn’t cover it. But the cost of letting it disappear is consequential. It will cost you much more than your yearly dues. On the other hand, respect isn’t free. It takes energy; it takes the strength of purpose and resolve that sometimes respect requires a rigorous adherence to that, which can be a tad painful - commitment to something that might actually cost you more than your community can feel truly comfortable with. That would create a two-sided approach to success and honesty.

So what do we do? First, let’s call a spade a spade. There should be no embarrassment in being called a Cantorial soloist. It is also a position of honor within a community. But the ethics of using a misnomer lowers the bar to an unacceptable level, suggests that the Jewish community holds to no ethical boundaries, and would then, by it’s own demarcation, be seen as redefining the edges of ethics at will.

Being a Jew was never all that easy. There were 12 Jews in my High School. Being a Jew forces us to reach further, live according to that “higher” standard. Taking shortcuts, trying to fool congregants into believing they are paying for a commodity they are not getting, and minimizing our clergy by intimating that their role is purely “musical,” leads our community down a dark and dangerous path to the obsolete. Let’s get it right: Call a spade a spade, a Cantor a Cantor, a soloist a soloist, and value each for their unique role in Judaism and our traditions.

On the other hand: HHHmmmmnnnnn- I read Hebrew, I read English, I can give a speech and call it a sermon- Hey!! Wait a minute! So -now I can be- NO! I AM a Ra…

Oh heck--Anyone need a Rabbi?? Give me a call… א–ב–ג….