Rabbi's Message . . . December 2008
A half century ago, Harry Golden wrote a book entitled “Only in America.” The title seems even more apt today as our nation has recently elected the first Afro-American president to the highest office in the nation. Barack Obama, he of the unlikely name, has proved himself worthy of the greatest challenge to any human being, as he takes the reins of the presidential office and a White House residence. We pray God will grant him and his family the strength to undertake and succeed in the Herculean task that awaits.
The challenges are there for every president. The inspiration is something else again. Whatever our political affiliations, we have to agree that there were few events more inspiring than Mr. Obama’s victory speech and charge to his supporters and the people of this country. For a people who have suffered and endured as much futility as the African-American community, this will always remain a time of enormous achievement and fulfillment. May we, the Jewish people, who have walked many miles arm in arm with the African-American community during the Civil Rights Era and the ensuing years of struggle for equal opportunity, pledge our support to the new leadership in our country. And may we continue to walk together for the pride of none and the betterment of all.
We too, the Sabbath after the election, have experienced a service of rededication to the Temple pulpit and community. How privileged I am to be elected your rabbi, and how fond I have already become of this congregation, which strivesearnestly for spiritual growth and commitment. No one said it would be easy, but I remain optimistic about our future together. Allow me the time to meet you, teach you, and to share the joys and difficulties of life as I reside in your midst. May we, inspired by the message of Judaism and by years of Temple Israel’s historical narrative, move together from strength to strength and blessing to blessing.
Thank you for your confidence. I hope you have enjoyed a beautiful and warm Thanksgiving season.
B’Shalom
Rabbi Richard Chapin
Rabbi's Message . . . November 2008
Although I am learning that the weather does “change” in Florida, it clearly has less of an impact here than experiencing the Fall season in the Northeast. Throughout my life, the harvest festival of Sukkot has always been accompanied by a turning of leaves and sharply cooler weather. As winter approaches, the words of Ecclesiastes resonate with the colder weather, evoking thoughts of warm fires and the poetry of Robert Frost.
Changing weather is one of our great metaphors for the passing of life. But wherever Judaism is practiced, those reflections are contained in our observance of our Sabbath liturgy and study of the biblical text. The Bible asserts in its beginning chapters that man is the crown of creation; yet, at the same time, we learn that he is not an angel, and thus subject to the laws of mortality. As we view our lives and those of our loved ones who have already departed their earthly confines, we recognize that the Lord both “giveth and taketh away.” The message we must integrate? Thank and bless God for the gift of life on a daily basis, and be humble in all our actions. The rabbis teach that we must repent one day before we die. Since this is impossible to know, the obligation is to repent every day of our lives.
It’s a good formula, dear friends. This does not mean we need to have overarching and morbid concerns about our mortality, but a healthy understanding of the limits of life leads us to appreciate every day we are granted on earth. Appreciating the gift of life will bestow blessings upon us and our families. We will be more attentive to the concerns of others, more concerned with performing good deeds in the community, more sympathetic to our loved ones in times of sadness and joy.
These are the lessons Judaism imparts. And these are the lessons available when you study, pray and perform mitzvos with your fellow congregants at Temple Israel. There are so many material concerns all of us have. Judaism recognizes this. An old expression avers: “If there is no flour, there is no Torah.” That is, we need to work and provide for our families. But we must also work on nurturing our souls. They are God’s greatest gift to humanity. The soul allows us to reach heavenwards for something more elevated in our existence, some idea of the holy. Without this soul searching, are lives can be reduced to vanity. It is the soul which “gives us assurance of our higher destiny and imparts to our fleeting days an abiding value.”
Despite the warm weather in Florida, we know that the seasons change. As a dedicated community, let us continue to care for one another and to share both life’s joys and tribulations. And may this season, and all seasons, bring all of us a renewed sense of warmth, communal dedication and good health.
B’Shalom
Rabbi Chapin
Rabbi's Message . . . October 2008
Traditions are more powerful than law. This is a concept known in many areas of life, but Judaism lends it an air of sanctity. What we call MINHAG HAMAKOM – the “Custom of a Place” – not only overrides what is legally accepted (we call this HALAKHAH), but often that MINHAG becomes the law itself. We find in the rabbinic literature many examples of a decision rendered by the rabbinical court overturned by the phrase: “But here we follow the custom of the place.” How do we say the SHEMA – sitting or standing? Do we rise for Kaddish as individuals or as a community?
Most interesting is how we pronounce the language of our ancestors. Many of us over the age of 50 remember learning Ashkenazic Hebrew (which substitutes “Aws” for “Ahs” and S’s for T’s) for our Bar or Bat (Bas) Mitzvah. Certainly, most of our parents and grandparents read the liturgy and the Sabbath blessings in the East European linguistic tradition. Then came 1967 and the Six-Day War. Israel moved into our American-Jewish consciousness and we were anxious to embrace her customs and people. Therefore Sephardic Hebrew – the way Israelis “speak” – became the desired way to pronounce a language that was only revived as a “spoken” language in the late 19th century.
When I studied in Israel during my first year of rabbinic school, I learned to speak and read Hebrew in the Sephardic fashion. At Temple Emanu- El of New York, I returned to the old Ashkenazic pronunciation. In Greenwich, back to Sephardic, and I continue that – that is the Temple Israel MINHAG – in West Palm Beach. However, I do retain one Ashkenazic element in the service – the reading of Kaddish. Why? That is the language in which my father and grandfather davened, and when I recite that prayer in the “old style” I feel as if I am connected more closely to them.
Meanwhile, it would be illuminating for you to know how many “Ashkenaz-isms” we retain in our pronunciation, despite our preference these days for Sephardic Hebrew. If you would like to pursue this on an academic level, please contact me directly. I will be teaching courses in Beginning Hebrew and Biblical Hebrew. I have often subscribed to the concept that “Judaism is Hebrew and Hebrew is Judaism.”
Study with me. You’ll see what I mean.
B’shalom (Sephardic)
B’sholom (Ashkenazic)
In peace,
Rabbi Chapin
Rabbi's Message . . . September 2008
Since the genesis of the world, God has asked all of our ancestors from Abraham to Moses the Hebrew question AYECA – Where are you? The answer God expects in Hebrew is HINENI: I am here.
What does this mean? Certainly God knows where we are. He knew that Adam and Eve were hiding from Him after disobeying his command not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the Garden of Eden. The question God truly asked was metaphysical. That is, God wanted to know the spiritual dimension of the crown of His Creation. And God wanted Adam and Eve to know what they had risked and what they had lost in submitting to the wiles of the serpent. He seemed to be saying: “Consider well how you have fallen from the heights; where is your exalted status?”
How we live our lives, Jews believe, is God’s primary concern. We are put on earth for a purpose and it is the acceptance of our mission that God wants: “to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before the Lord.” These words of the prophet Micah should inspire and motivate us each day of our existence, and although there are a multitude of trials and temptations we all face, it is through belief in the God of our ancestors that we have strength to carry on.
I have had the privilege of serving Temple Israel since the 28th of Sivan 5768 (in our secular calendar, July 1). I am here physically each day in our new administrative offices on Harvard Circle, but I am also on the move – visiting hospitals, meeting representatives of various Jewish institutions in the greater West Palm Beach community, and dining with congregants at breakfast, lunch and dinner – if “we are what we eat” then I’d say we have every reason to be optimistic about our congregational future! The generosity and warmth bestowed upon me have been overwhelming!
Like our beloved emeritus rabbi, Howard Shapiro, I believe it is a privilege to serve the Jewish people. In my career as a rabbi I have always encouraged congregants to seek higher elevations in their lives. We have so many mundane concerns that pervade every area of our existence. Take the time – through study, prayer, community service – to raise the level of your spiritual presence. The physical world is tempting, but its fulfillment is not our religious destination.
I have been welcomed in numerous and gratifying ways – beginning with the ministrations of the Search Committee a full year ago. I am enjoying the wonderful members of our staff and the Board, led so ably by our temple president, Roslyn Leopold.
Let me take the opportunity to welcome you now inside and outside of Temple Israel. We have moved only physically. Everything else, we pray now and throughout the length of our sojourn, remains intact. Let us anticipate an exquisitely fulfilling Yom Tov season together.
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