Dear friends:
Let me begin this next installment in my series of ~quarterly rabbi-ing updates by thanking the many people who responded to my pre-Pesach missive. All of your ideas for improving these e-mails were read carefully, and I hope this message reflects your suggestions.
Our weekly Talmud study at HaMakom in Santa Fe has taken on a life of its own – we are exploring an extended passage in B. Bava Metzia 83a ff., and the discussions have been wonderful. Who would have guessed that Jewish texts provide so much insight into the sex lives of corpulent rabbis?
My shabbatons in the southeastern part of the state have also continued with visits this past few months to both Roswell and Carlsbad. I’m hoping to become a regular presence at these two small but special congregations, and in addition to conducting services, I’ve delivered talks on Romantic Love in Jewish texts and The Messiah from a Jewish Perspective, the latter to address a growing concern with Messianics (Christians who adopt many traditional Jewish practices) in these areas of New Mexico.
Over Memorial Day weekend, my most supportive and significant other, Beverly, and I participated in Limmud Colorado, an intensive three day adult Jewish retreat and educational festival (see http://www.limmudcolorado.org/). I was privileged to teach a class as well as chant Torah at one of the services, and I found the talks by some of the other presenters to be absolutely inspirational.
It seems like every time I turned around there was another opportunity to offer a brief rabbinic text to suit an occasion. Hadassah held its 2nd annual Israel Independence Day celebration, and I shared a few Talmudic words about the importance of medicine in our lives. Jay Wechsler, iconic leader of the Los Alamos Jewish community for nearly 60 years, was honored at this event, and then only a few months later, with his family surrounding him, my son Dov blew a shofar and I chanted the Priestly benediction to wish Jay a safe journey to Wyoming where he is now recuperating and living with his son.
My European home away from home, Vienna, was my destination for a 10-day excursion in conjunction with a scientific conference, and it was an indescribable delight to worship again with my dear friends at Or Chadasch. I got to chant a bit of Megillat Ruth, and we studied together (in German, English, and Hebrew) on Erev Shavuot; it was probably just fatigue at a late hour, but I thought I even understood some of what we were saying!
The Los Alamos Jewish Center renewed and expanded my contract starting on July 1, but the Las Conchas fire (which began just as Dov, Orli, and I joined many members of the Los Alamos Jewish Center in a surprise birthday celebration for a dear friend) forced us to spend the first shabbat in forced evacuation in Santa Fe while we feared, once again, for our town. All the Santa Fe (and several Albuquerque) Jewish institutions rallied to our support, and we arranged an impromptu ceremony on July 3 when the town was reopened as we escorted the Torah scrolls safely back into their Los Alamos home.
Almost 80 people, with a wonderful balance between Los Alamosans and Santa Feans, joined in a potluck thanksgiving this past Friday evening as Los Alamos said “thanks” to our Santa Fe neighbors. (The August issue of the monthly publication of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico, a.k.a. the New Mexico Jewish Link, is posted at http://www.jewishnewmexico.org/section.aspx?id=3 and has an article about our experience).
My rented apartment continues to fill up with more books – some highlights of the past three months were the latest JPS volume (Numbers) in The Commentator’s Bible series, a used copy of The Jews of Poland by Meir Lew (1944) and The Cardboard Valise by the brilliant Ben Katchor. And yes, I have been reading as well. A few of my favorites these last few months were Sacred Trash (Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole), a truly fascinating account of the treasures and personalities associated with the Cairo Geniza, Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes by Tamar Yellin whose writing continues to captivate me, and the massive Memoirs of Elias Canetti (those overseas flights are good for something), this last tome a suggestion from an alert reader of my previous message who wanted to feed my hunger for descriptions of fin de siecle Vienna.
May your month of Av be followed by introspection and celebration, and may all your experiences be re-Jewvenating.
B’Shalom, Rabbi Jack