Dear Friends:
This quarterly message to friends and family about my rabbinic exploits marks the fortieth such missive and ten years of electronic summaries. (As always, if you want to opt out of these messages, please just send me a note to that effect). 

The number “forty” has special Jewish meaning.  We recall the forty days that Noah and company were on the ark and the forty days that Moses was up on Mt. Sinai.There were also the forty days that the spies were in Israel, and the Israelites heeded the majority who warned of the dangers of proceeding to the Promised Land rather than listening to the minority vote of confidence in Adonai.  The resultant punishment, a year for a day, was the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. More positively, Rabbi Akiva was 40 when he started studying Torah, and according to Maimonides (M.T. Hil. Avodat Kochavim 1:3) “Abraham was 40 years old when he became aware of his Creator.” 
 
It is central to my philosophy of Jewish education that we can approach serious engagement with Judaism even (or especially) well past the age of Bar or Bat Mitzvah.  My own experience is that not long after becoming Bar Mitzvah, I distanced myself from Judaism, only to return when, after a decade, I discovered that Judaism was far more insightful, wise, and profound than what I’d thought as a child. My primary rabbinic goal is to share this insight with other adult Jews who have negative connotations based, I think erroneously, on misunderstandings of our tradition.
 
To that end, we revived Saturday morning (Zoom) services this quarter at the Jewish Center of the Moriches (JCM), and our focus is on a discussion of the Torah portion, with an eye toward contemporary events. With Zoom, I also was able to lead Torah discussions with HaMakom in Santa Fe, share a teaching with Kehillat Beijing on Chanukah, and chant from the Chumash at Temple Beth El here in Patchogue. 

These and other events like our in-person (outdoors) JCM Sukkot, Simchat Torah, and Chanukah celebrations and my Zoom talk on the Mitzvah of Voting  to Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe hopefully provided adults with the opportunity to enjoy the beauty and wisdom (and challenges) of Judaism, even for adults who didn’t experience those pleasures as children. Life cycle ceremonies are other teaching moments for me, and I was officiant this past quarter at a wedding, a mezuzah attachment, a headstone dedication, and a funeral.
 
Whether you’re looking at age 40 from above or below, you can still gain an appreciation of Judaism.  New studies even suggest that 70 may be emerging as the new 40. A study conducted by Oddfellows, a non-profit friendship group, has identified 70 and beyond as one of the happiest times in our lives.  Perhaps they were thinking about adult Jewish education when they did the study!
 
B’shalom,
Rabbi Jack

Last quarter’s reading list, with highlights denoted by an asterisk*

The Stranger: Immigrant, Migrant, Refugee and Jewish Law – ed. Walter Jacob
Apropos of Nothing* – Woody Allen
Relational Judaism – Ron Wolfson
Pain – Zeruya Shalev
The Invitation: Living a Meaningful Death – Miriam Maron and Gershon Winkler
Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Genesis – Francis Nataf
Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Exodus – Francis Nataf
Joseph: Portraits through the Ages – Alan Levenson
Mishkan Aveilut: Where Grief Resides – CCAR ed. Eric Weiss
Melekh Ravitsh: The Eccentric Outback Quest of an Urbane Yiddish Poet From Poland – Anna Epstein
Responsa in a Moment I – David Golinkin
The Dairy Restaurant – Ben Katchor
Fifty Shades of Talmud – Maggie Anton
Scripture Windows: Toward a Practice of Bibliodrama* – Peter Pitzele
Ben Hecht: Fighting Words, Moving Pictures* – Adina Hoffman
Ernst Toller: Plays Two – tr. Alan Pearlman
Lessons from Lucy* – Dave Barry (infused with Jewish lessons though not explicit about it)
House on Endless Waters – Emuna Elon
In Potiphar’s House: The Interpretive Life of Biblical Texts – James Kugel
Robin Williams: A Singular Portrait – Arthur Grace (while virtually devoid of Jewish content, a singular comic genius worth examination, IMHO)
Pepper, Silk and Ivory: Amazing Stories about Jews in the Far East – Marvin Tokayer and Ellen Rodman
Midrash Aleph Beth – Deborah Sawyer
Darkness at Noon – Arthur Koestler
The Mystical Study of Ruth: Midrash HaNe’elam of the Zohar to the Book of Ruth – ed. and trans. Lawrence Englander with Herbert Basser
The Aleph Beit of Rebbi Akiva – tr. Yaacov Dovid Shulman (2 vol.)
Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
My Wild Garden – Meir Shalev
A Passage In the Night – Sholem Asch
Prince of the Press – Joshua Teplitsky
The Land of Truth: Talmudic Tales, Timeless Teachings* – Jeffrey Rubenstein

Dear Friends:
I was never very skilled in languages and only learned as I prepared this message that “mignon” is the French word for “cute,” as in “filet mignon.” But what about the word “minyan?”  The Hebrew word “minyan” refers to ten adult Jews who are required for public prayer according to Jewish tradition.  Note that these adults need not have celebrated the occasion of becoming an adult (at age 13) through a Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony to be included in the headcount.  And note also that we continue to worship together even without a minyan – there just are certain prayers (Kaddish, Boruchu, Torah reading from a scroll) that we reserve for those occasions when we have a minyan.
 
What does “minyan” have to do with voting, however?  “Minyan” is related to the word for “count” and also to the word for “vote.”  And in that sense, when we attend a worship service, when we help make up a minyan, we are casting our vote.  I incorporated this thought in my Erev Rosh HaShanah sermon and have been preparing an extended talk on voting from the Jewish text perspective.
 
The High Holidays themselves were a mixed blessing this year.  Although I spent many hours in my office/closet in our apartment rather than in a synagogue with others present, it was a treat to have relatives and friends from outside the Jewish Center of the Moriches (JCM) participating with us.  In addition to the regular services, we Zoomed children’s activities on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, including a skit performed by a dozen budding thespians.  JCM did hold a few in-person events (a pre-High Holiday presentation, a memorial/kever avot ceremony at the cemetery, shofar blowing and tashlich at the canal near the shul).  And I officiated at both a funeral and a wedding over the past few months.  For my JCM congregants I’m planning on carving out some live office hours if there’s interest.  But most of my rabbi-ing has been remote – conducting weekly Friday night services with JCM, leading Torah discussions for HaMakom in Santa Fe, reading from a chumash for Temple Israel in Riverhead, and leading services for my Dad’s Yahrzeit at Temple Beth-El in Patchogue.
 
Just as one can attend services either remotely or in person at many shuls, so, too, one can vote either in person or by mail-in ballot.  The important thing is to VOTE, and to get everyone you know to vote as well.  Let’s all help make a national minyan on November 3!
 
B’shalom,
Rabbi Jack

Last quarter’s reading list, with highlights denoted by an asterisk*

Out of My Later Years – Albert Einstein
Jews on Broadway – Stewart Lane
Siberia – Abraham Sutzkever
They Changed the World: People of the Manhattan Project – aj Melnick
The Miracle of Intervale Avenue* – Jack Kugelmass
Living a Meaningful Life Without Purpose* – Gershon Winkler
My Uncle the Netziv – Baruch HaLevi Epstein
Three Times Chai – Laney Katz Becker
Jerome Robbins: A Life in Dance** – Wendy Lesser
Rosh Hashanah Readings – ed. Dov Peretz Elkins
Sparks of Mussar – Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
God of Becoming and Relationship – Bradley Shavit Artson
The Great Escape* – Kati Marton

Dear Friends:
I am often struck by how meaningful, timely, and powerful our Jewish texts can be. Psalm 69:14 says, “May my prayer to You, G_d, come in a favorable time.”  The Talmud (B. Ber 7b-8a) asks what it means that a particular time is a “favorable” time, and answers by teaching us that a favorable time is whenever the congregation prays. Our prayers are offered whenever we feel so moved, but there is something synergistic about praying in community or even at the same time as others in the community, whether we can be physically present or not.  Perhaps this teaches us something about the value of Zoom in a time when it is difficult at best to worship inside our public spaces.
 
These past three months I indeed had my share of Jewish Zoom experiences.  At the Jewish Center of the Moriches (JCM), we’ve continued weekly Friday night Zoom services, and we’ve gotten a few folks from outside the Long Island area to join us, one “upside” of Zoom.  I’ve also co-led Zoom services on occasional Saturday mornings with HaMakom, nominally based in Santa Fe, and I was able to make it back to NY for lunch!

Speaking of no jet lag, Beverly and I had a wonderful week’s tour of Israel through JNF (Jewish National Fund) without leaving the comfort of our living room – and as the oldest (and only) rabbi on the trip, I got to lead the Shehecheyanu when we “landed.”

Beverly and I also took a Jewish-centered tour of Cuba through Ayelet Tours via Zoom.  Even more distant, there was a reunion of sorts on Erev Shavuot with many friends from the Beijing expat Jewish community, Kehillat Beijing.  Dozens of individuals joined in as we lit candles, listened to the talented klez musicians, learned about the traditional 613 mitzvot in the Torah, and caught up on everyone’s latest adventures. It was a tremendously enjoyable way to start the holiday.
 
On more than one occasion I taught a class I created during the pandemic entitled “My Son (or Daughter) the Doctor: Physicians in Jewish Texts,” sharing this talk with Limmud New Mexico, the East End (of Long Island) Jewish Community Council, and HaMakom. On a recent Saturday night I taught a mini-course for JCM on a book I read called “The First Book of Jewish Jokes” (see below), after which we shared some Jewish jokes (thanks, recent-bar-mitzvah Max, for your contribution!), and then I led a Havdalah service for those present.

Venturing into unfamiliar territory, I shared a story of isolation at a Story Slam for the nearby synagogue, Temple Beth El in Patchogue.  But my favorite Zoom experience was chanting the Priestly Benediction for a couple whose wedding plans went quite awry as a result of the virus. That text, from the Book of Numbers 6:24-26, continues to guide us to this very day, and may Adonai show each of you kindness and grant you peace.
 
B’shalom,
Rabbi Jack

Scroll down for last quarter’s reading list.

Last quarter’s reading list is below, with highlights denoted by an asterisk*

God’s To-Do List – Ron Wolfson
A Jewish Refugee in New York – Kadya Molodovsky (tr. Anita Norich)
The Ineffable Name of God: Man – Abraham Joshua Heschel
Between Sky and Sea* – Herz Bergner
The First Book of Jewish Jokes – ed. Elliott Oring, tr. Michaela Lang
The Holy Brothers: Reb Elimelekh of Lizhensk and Reb Zusha of Anipoli – Simcha Raz
Making Physics: A Biography of Brookhaven National Laboratory, 1946-1972 – Robert P Crease
Hasidic Commentary on the Torah – Ora Wiskind-Elper
Hasidism – Buber
Fly Already – Etgar Keret
The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming – Lemony Snicket
Dear Zealots – Amos Oz
Karl Marx* (Jewish Lives series) – Shlomo Avineri

Dear Friends:
If ever there was a time to feel thankful for all of my many blessings, it is indeed now. Though we live on eastern Long Island and are immersed in a coronavirus hotspot, Beverly and I are healthy, I am still employed, and we have no problems getting groceries or other necessities.  Indeed, we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to eat three meals a day together and often take a walk to the ocean or to see the trees blooming. 

Sadly, so many have lost their livelihoods, their support network, their health, their friends and family, or even their lives.  May their memories not only be a blessing to us, but may they spur us to combat this disease and discover therapeutics and vaccines as swiftly as possible.  Keyn y’hi ratzon – so may it be G_d’s will.
 
Beverly and I spent a week in Israel just as the virus was gaining attention outside China; I was involved in a meeting at Soreq Nuclear Center south of Tel Aviv and visited a colleague at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’ersheva. We enjoyed spending time with Beverly’s relatives and experienced Shabbat services in Shohom and Tel Aviv. My Hebrew improved slightly but not nearly enough to follow the lyrics of the many Israeli songs that Beverly has danced to via Zoom in our living room of late (that song list has mercifully NOT included the old classic from my youth, Zum Gali Gali).
 
My rabbinic duties this past quarter involved a mix between live events (adult education classes, a Tu BiSh’vat seder, Friday night and Saturday morning services) before the stay-at-home orders went into effect, and electronic events once we began our lives in the age of Covid-19.
 
As rabbi of The Jewish Center of the Moriches and with Beverly’s help as technical back-up, I’ve taught classes, led services and seders, read stories to the Sunday School, and worked with Bar and Bat Mitzvah students, almost all from the comfort of our apartment.  The electronic platforms have also allowed us to participate in Limmud Beijing and learn about a wonderful new Haggadah created by our friend from Kehillat Beijing, Leon Fenster (see https://leonfenster.com/about-the-beijing-haggadah). 
 
I hope each of you stays healthy, and as we become increasingly aware of the importance of staying in touch with each other, please drop me a line at physicsrabbi@gmail.com and let me know how you are doing.
 
B’shalom,
Rabbi Jack

Adjusting to the stay-at-home order has taken a toll on my attention span, so many short pieces make up the bulk of my reading list this past quarter (*denotes favorites).
 

• Entire Yerushalmi Tractate Eruvin in one burst of two days while traveling
• Blood Covenant – Mitchell Chefitz  (my first e-book, a consequence of overseas travel)
• 1948* – Yoram Kaniuk
• Joe the Waiter – Y.Y. Zevin
• Voyage of the Visionary: Commentary of Rabbi Moshe Alshich on Jonah
• Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?: The Four Questions Around the World – Ilana Kurshan
• Maimonides on Listening to Music – translated by Henry George Farmer
• Journey of the Soul: An Allegorical Commentary on Jonah adapted from the Vilna Gaon- adapted by Moshe Schapiro
• Five Cities of Refuge* – Lawrence Kushner and David Mamet
• God and Man in Judaism – Leo Baeck
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – Charlie Mackesy (filled with wisdom though not specifically Jewish)
• A Chronicle of Hardship and Hope: An autobiographical account by Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller translated by Avraham Finkel
• Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish People – Menachem Kellner
• Talmudic and Rabbinical Chronology – Edgar Frank
• The Song of Songs: A New Translation – Marcia Falk
• The Sabbath Epistle of Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra – translated by Mordechai S. Goodman
• The Abarbanel on the Yom Kippur Service in the Beis Hamikdash – tr. Rabbi Elimelech Lepon
• War and Terrorism in Jewish Law* – ed. Walter Jacob
• A Midrash Reader – Jacob Neusner

In December, the Jewish Center of the Moriches–where I currently serve in a rabbinic position–was invited to be part of the Center Moriches annual tree lighting ceremony. Despite the chilly weather, I felt it was important for the Jewish Center (JCM) to be represented at this event; I spoke to those gathered, as the large public Hanukkiah was turned on. The week prior, I got to offer a special birthday blessing to Beverly’s father at a Friday night service at JCM, and a few Friday services after that, I had the privilege to conduct a baby naming ceremony at the Jewish Center. During Sunday religious school at JCM, I enjoyed sharing teachings with the students and learning about some of the challenges Jewish pre-teens face today. Although I was never a Cub or Boy Scout, I led JCM’s annual Scout Shabbat service, and I was even provided with a patch.

Our move across the country has disrupted my reading, so I can only provide below a modest list of recent books I’ve enjoyed.  (As always, an asterisk denotes an especially noteworthy selection).  I’m hoping my reading pace will pick up once we’ve settled into our Patchogue apartment, and if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
 
B’shalom,
Rabbi Jack
 
 
The Kingdom* – Amir Or
Everything is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism – Jay Michaelson
Claper – Alicia Freilich
Have I Got a Cartoon For You! – Bob Mankoff
Yitzhak Rabin (Jewish Lives series)* – Itamar Rabinovich
From the Four Winds – Haim Sabato
Late Beauty – Tuvia Ruebner
Jews and Words – Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger
A Death: Notes of a Suicide – Zalman Shneour
A Field Guide to the Jewish People* – Dave Barry, Adam Mansbach, and Alan Zweibel
These Mountains: Selected Poems of Rivka Miriam – translated by Linda Stern Zisquit
Jewish Community of Long Island – Rhoda Miller

This past quarter has involved many changes, most notably a transition for Beverly and me from northern New Mexico to eastern Long Island, New York.  My science (mostly program development) is now based at Brookhaven National Laboratory where I often see wild turkeys, geese, deer, and even woodchucks (outdoors, not in the Lab buildings). 

Rabbinically, I am now serving as the spiritual leader at The Jewish Center of the Moriches (JCM) https://www.jewishcenterofthemoriches.com.  JCM holds weekly Friday night services, and monthly Saturday morning services, so Beverly and I have made the rounds to four other synagogues so far on Shabbat mornings, and we expect to try out some others in the future. 
 
As a means of attracting families with younger children on Friday nights, once a month the Friday evening service at JCM is held earlier than usual, often with a fun oneg theme.  Following in the JCM tradition, the November oneg involved making your own ice cream sundae (apparently ice cream has an appeal all year long, not just in the warmer weather).
 
To prepare for the service, I discovered that Ben and Jerry’s, Haagen-Dazs, and Baskin Robbins were all started by Jews.  The latter, I learned, adopted the “31 flavors” slogan to suggest that each day of the month could be a different flavor. The multiple synagogues which Beverly and I have been attending imply that there might be “31 flavors” to Judaism as well.  Each shul we go to offers different tunes, different teachings, a different physical layout, different leadership, a different liturgy, different prayer books, and a different congregational feel.  Yet each has some things we enjoy and from which we derive satisfaction and fulfillment. 

Especially in these times of divisiveness, I try hard not to think of Judaism as a set of disparate denominations but rather as a large array of flavors.  All are legitimate, and all have something worthwhile to offer if we remain open-minded in our approach to the particular style of worship in which we find ourselves.
 
Over the course of the last four or five months I have led Shabbat and holiday services in Los Alamos, Santa Fe, and Center Moriches, and I’ve been the officiant at events honoring wedding anniversaries, special birthdays, and Bat Mitzvahs.  I’ve also shared songs, stories, teachings, and even reprised my slideshow talk on the Jews of China for a Hadassah meeting.  My hope is that those in attendance enjoyed the “flavor” of what I presented and extracted some pleasure (though not any calories) from the experience.
 
Despite the chaos of moving, I did manage to squeeze in some reading, and I provide my reading list below.  An asterisk denotes a particular favorite, but each book was “tasty” in its own way.
 
B’shalom,
Rabbi Jack
 
After One-Hundred-and-Twenty* – Hillel Halkin
An Egyptian Novel – Orly Castel-Bloom
Six Memos from the Last Millenium* – Joseph Skibell
Collected Poems – Avraham Ben Yitzhak
Yiddish for Pirates – Gary Barwin
Number Our Days – Barbara Myerhoff
Maimonides’ Principles: The Fundamentals of Jewish Faith – Aryeh Kaplan
One God Clapping* – Alan Lew
Yom Kippur Readings – Dov Peretz Elkins
Submarine Z-1 – Lon Chanukoff
Whose Little Boy Are You? – Hanoch Bartov
The Quitter* – Harvey Pekar (and Dean Haspiel)
Hazor: The Rediscovery of a Great Citadel of the Bible – Yigael Yadin
Julius Rosenwald: Repairing the World – Hasia Diner

June 18th marked the anniversary of my first day at Los Alamos National (then Scientific) Laboratory; I arrived as a clueless graduate student many years (alright, decades!) ago. Over the course of my career at Los Alamos, I have been privileged to rub elbows with some of the brightest scientific minds on the planet, and I have been honored to lead both Physics Division, and most recently, Theoretical Division.

Non-fiction
My Life: From a Russian Shtetl to the Golden Land – Samuel Osipow
Faith and Trust – Chazon Ish
From Prejudice to Destruction: Anti-Semitism, 1700-1933 – Jacob Katz
Minor and Modern Festivals (JPS Popular Judaica Library) – Priscilla Fishman
Jabotinsky* – Hillel Halkin