Page 30 - Jewish News_Oct2021

30A October 2021 COMMENTARY

Shabbat surprise “Mar Heshvan,” the bitter
The Jewish year 5782

By Joel Kreiss month of Heshvan
’ve been Jewish for a very long Congregation of Venice held his study
time, ever since that fateful day in class on Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. This I am thrilled to be here in Saraso-
ISeptember 1936, when I popped was the time I usually “met with the ta, where the sun shines all year long,
out into the world, whether or not the guys” for our lunch to solve the world and especially to have begun my pro-
world was ready for me! problems. I couldn’t let the world down, From fessional journey with my new family
Basically, having no say as to my so I was never able to attend Torah at Temple Beth Sholom. I have been
future religious affiliation, I opted into study. Now I could and did. In addition, the welcomed warmly by our congregants’
the default position of my mother’s I invited my partner’s brother to join us. Bimah enthusiasm, soulfulness, Jewish sensi-
religion and became Jewish. My Jew- He had been studying Torah at his tem- tivities and a unique eagerness to get
ish life was pretty basic, and living ple, Rodeph Sholom in Philadelphia, back into our normal routines, despite
in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, for a very long time. He really knows the pandemic that has kept us away
it seemed to me that Judaism was the his stuff. Well, he invited us to join him Rabbi Stuart Altshuler from each other for far too long.
world’s major religion. Saturday mornings in his study group, The Sarasota Jewish community
Cheder (a school for Jewish chil- and wouldn’t you know it, another Tempe Beth Sholom will only grow in the years ahead, and
dren) was at our local Orthodox shul, cousin pops up. She lives in Lawrence, he holiday season has passed, I am looking forward to our congrega-
the Talmud Torah of Flatbush, and I Kansas, and also studies with a group and in the Jewish calendar, this tion’s full slate of classes in Judaism
probably hold the record for being the that meets right after the Philadelphia Tmonth is called “Mar Heshvan,” and Jewish history, our guest speakers
one most kicked out for who knows group. I know, it gets a bit confusing, the bitter month of Heshvan, because from across the globe, and our weekly
what. That is something, since that and also, where is this leading? there are no holidays, except for Rosh Shabbat services that are filled with ru-
meant the loss of $6 or $8 bucks a It’s leading to a very unexpect- Hodesh, the day of the new month. ach (spirit) and the joy in affirming our
month for the shul. Not something to ed result, anxiously waiting for those We all enjoy the holidays, our time Jewish continuity.
be given up lightly. As a result, I was times when we are to study with our for reflection, renewed commitments There is no better prescription for
prepared for my Bar Mitzvah by an new Jewish families in Pennsylvania and celebrations culminating in our the success of all our brilliant congre-
itinerant young rabbi who came to our and Kansas. For the first time, I can Simchat Torah dancing and singing. gations than that of Pirke Avot (Mish-
house, painfully listened to me read say that I am now “Studying Torah,” However, one could proclaim Hesh- nah – Chapters of our Sages), which
Hebrew and told me stories from the thinking about each word and sharing van/October this year as the most im- taught us that the world is built upon
Bible. It was only in later years, when thoughts with others, and hearing their portant month of the year because we three pillars: Torah (study and doing),
I learned the meaning of rachmones interpretations of the texts as well as all now have the opportunity of living Avodah (worship and prayer) and
(pity), that I developed a deep sense those from our learned Rabbis. It has the reality of our new goals, new af- Gemilut Hasadim (taking our blessings
of it for that poor soul. He should get awakened in me a greater need to listen firmations and new dreams that need and bringing our gifts to others).
extras in Heaven for having to endure and learn about our incredible religion, fulfilling. The prayers and blessings set We hope that this month will
those sessions. Thus ended my formal with its moral and ethical contributions the tone, but Heshvan/October gives us bring relief from Covid-19, which has
Jewish education. to the world. the chance to act upon those lofty di- brought too much pain to too many
Through the years, as with most I truly feel like I am a part of a rectives from our tradition. people in Sarasota-Manatee and across
of us, I took courses, read books and much larger Jewish presence, sharing At this time last year, I was in the globe.
learned lots about our faith and the faith my life with “families” I never would London, where I served a congrega- Let us all continue our own Jew-
of others. In this and my former life, I have known. Another surprise is that tion there for more than 10 years. The ish journeys beginning with Mar Hes-
was deeply involved in temple affairs. Shabbat has become a real day of study most difficult part about being in Lon- hvan (a not-so-sad month!) and learn,
However, it wasn’t until this pandem- and rest. The whole tenor of my life don was not the cold (temperatures are support Israel in every way possible,
ic that I can say I really studied Juda- has changed, and I experience, perhaps actually very moderate in London all support our local community and con-
ism. I always had something else to for the first time, the peace of Shabbat. year round), but the darkness that be- gregations, and be a part of our eternal
do when study sessions were planned. What is the future of our study? I gins to set in. During the darkest part people – the Jewish people – so that we
Now, there was nothing else to do and don’t know, and neither do any of those of the autumn ahead, it is dark at 4:00 might play a significant role in mak-
Zoom had made it easy to be present at I study with. The pandemic brought us p.m., the sun not appearing until 8:30 ing this world a better place than it is
the “study hall.” Not only that, but any together. I hope its cure will not drive a.m. – short days with little sunlight. today.
study hall anywhere in this world was us apart.
now equally accessible. Joel Kreiss is a resident of Venice,
Rabbi Ben Shull of the Jewish Florida. COMMENTARY BRIEFS

y woman
ver
E
Every woman ANTISEMITISM IS chanted, “Jews will not replace us,”
they were explaining away real anxi-
GENUINELY UNIQUE
matters here. AMONG THE WORLD’S eties by misdirecting them onto a ne-
matters here.
farious Jewish power. To European
th
WGC
WOMEN’S GIVING CIRCLE HATREDS conservatives of the 19 century, Jews
The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee The early Zionists shared the idea that were communist agitators. But in the
The Women’s Giving Circle [ “Ma’agal the Jews must be liberated from their th
Nashim”] is a giving circle that empowers otherness by becoming a nation like all Soviet sphere in the 20 century, they
quickly became the regime’s favorite
women as funders, decision makers and other nations. Normalize the Jews and target, depicted as a capitalist van-
agents of change. Each member contributes you’ll end or at least “normalize” an- guard.
$518, and each has an equal voice in directing tisemitism, transforming it to mere ba- Antisemitism isn’t simply a dislike
our funds. The giving circle model multiplies individual actions, nal prejudice. Jewish nationhood and of Jews. It involves the role Jews are
creating a tremendous collective impact. self-reliance would end the world’s ob- forced to play in the political imagina-
session with the Jew. tions of non-Jews as the incarnation of
In the last seven years, we have distributed more than $307,000 But the problem is that “antisemi- and explanation for their deepest fears
in grants to nonprofits in Israel that help women and children of tism is something entirely unique and and most vexing social ills. It is not the
all backgrounds live safer, healthier and more meaningful lives. that it has nothing to do with the Jews,” idea that Israel is doing wrong, but the
Our Mission said Ruth R. Wisse, a now-retired Har- idea that Israel is what is wrong with
vard historian of Yiddish and Jewish
the world. It is the political device that
To enhance the lives of Jewish women history. Jews became stand-ins for the brought Adolf Hitler to tell the Reich-
and children who are in need of help fears and anxieties of competing polit- stag in January 1939 that if a world war
and live in Israel. ical camps in a fast-changing world, was coming, it was the Jews who will
first in Europe and later in the Arab and
Muslim worlds. They became a vocab- have started it. No other people and no
other country serves a similar role as
ulary for distracting populations from the go-to culprit for malaises they can’t
their troubled leaderships. possibly have caused. (Haviv Rettig
When the white supremacists Gur, Times of Israel)
marching in Charlottesville in 2017
Opinions printed in The Jewish News of Sarasota-Manatee
do not necessarily reflect those of The Jewish Federation
QUESTIONS? Contact Jeremy Lisitza at 941.343.2113 or jlisitza@jfedsrq.org of Sarasota-Manatee, its Board of Directors or staff.