While last Shabbat could have been called “Groundhog Shabbat,” this coming weekend marks the first of a series of “named” Sabbaths to help us prepare for the holiday of Passover. Shabbat Shekalim is followed in short order by Shabbats Zachor, Parah, and HaChodesh, and two weeks later we observe Shabbat HaGadol immediately preceding the first seder. As with the High Holidays when an advance period of self-evaluation is conducted, the rabbis encourage us to use this period of named Sabbaths to search and destroy the things in our lives which have fermented or turned sour. These can include bad habits and negative attitudes, for example, and this process of making a fresh start is part of the meaning behind Passover.
As I look back on the past three months, I feel especially blessed by the wide variety of rabbinic opportunities I’ve had. At HaMakom in Santa Fe, I’ve had the great pleasure to serve on the “left” side of the bench (as Chazzan with Rabbi Malka), on the “right” side of the bench (as Rabbi with Chazzan Cindy), and even in the “middle” of the bench when both members of the A-Team were away, while at the Los Alamos Jewish Center I’ve led services on the front and back sides of Shabbat (Friday night and Havdalah respectively).
Bringing other dimensions into the equation, I’ve also been truly privileged to perform life cycle events ranging from the joyous (conducting a wedding ceremony on the 21st floor of a downtown San Francisco hotel for an expat Los Alamosan whom I’ve known for decades) to the mournful (escorting the remains of a Los Alamos Jewish Center founding member to his final resting place). One of my favorite teens became an Eagle Scout last month, and I was deeply honored to deliver the invocation at his induction ceremony, even managing to sneak a little Torah teaching into my remarks before anyone knew what was happening.
My favorite rabbi-ing, however, is still teaching, and this past quarter was filled with teaching moments. The talk I put together over a year ago on Jews in Theoretical Division at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project got ample exposure with presentations to a Pittsburgh-based Jewish singles tour group, Santa Fe Hadassah, a Road Scholars (formerly Elderhostel) group, and the Los Alamos Historical Society, this last version captured on DVD for posterity. I also completed a year-long weekly discussion series at HaMakom on the Torah portion of the week as viewed through the eyes of five different medieval commentators.
For now, I am taking advantage of the extra hour of sleep, but I suspect that the pull of a willing group of students will eventually lure me back to a text-based program before Saturday Shabbat services. The Los Alamos High School Humanities classes invited me back again this year as part of their comparative religion unit, and I spent a good fraction of a day in December teaching Talmud (well, sharing a few passages) to seniors. Beverly and I were encouraged by a dear friend from New York to head for a warmer climate with her over Thanksgiving, and while enjoying unseasonably warm temperatures in Tucson, I was welcomed as Scholar in Residence at Bet Shalom, offering a D’var Torah and an after lunch talk entitled “Stuffing Ourselves with Torah: A Thanksgiving Postlude.”
There’s always time for learning as well – it gives me a feeling of satisfaction to stay on track with a page of Talmud a day in the world-wide Daf Yomi program, but I’ll be happy (I think) when we finally finish Tractate Shabbat. My other reading this quarter has again spanned the spectrum from the “quite” scholarly (Abortion in Judaism by Daniel Schiff, The Student’s Guide Through the Talmud by Zevi Hirsch Chajes) through the “moderately” scholarly (Jewish Mysticism by Rachel Elior, A Book Forged in Hell by Steven Nadler) to the “popular” (Kosher Sutra by Shmuley Boteach) with some Israeli fiction in English translation (Heatwave and Crazy Birds by Gabriela Avigur-Rotem and Scenes from Village Life by Amos Oz) thrown in for good measure. Sadly, my book-buying has trickled to nearly zero this quarter, but I did purchase a copy of Arise!Arise! Deborah, Ruth and Hannah with illuminations and commentary by former Santa Fean and gifted artist Debra Band. Anticipate a HUGE list of recent purchases in my next quarterly missive when I make up for this dry spell, and have a Hag Kasher V’Sameach at the end of March.
B’shalom, Rabbi Jack